ANNOUNCEMENTS

DISCUSS PLANS FOR THE WINTER QUARTER!

CONFIRM ANY CHANGES, ADDS OR DROPS WITHIN YOUR GROUP
Find out from your group if they know their plans for being part of the group next quarter. They can indicate their plans on the Feedback Forms. Also, let us know of any roster updates that you know of, or changes to your meeting day, time or location for the Winter Quarter when you submit your attendance. 

LET YOUR GROUP KNOW NEXT QUARTER’S DATES

• Winter Sign-Ups: January 8-16
• Winter Quarter: January 16 – March 19

PRAYER FOR NEW WINTER LIFE GROUP LEADERS & HOSTS
Take some time to pray for new leaders and hosts to launch new groups next quarter.

LEADER INFO

REMEMBER TO GET COMMUNION SUPPLIES FOR THE LAST MEETING

ONLINE FEEDBACK FORMS:
If you did not do Feedback Forms at your last meeting, please make sure to have your group complete them this week. Reminder emails went out on November 29 to those who had not yet submitted their form.

ATTENDANCE
Submit your group’s attendance online at northcoastchurch.com/attendance. If you’re not sure how to post attendance, you can check out the guide here: lifegroups.northcoastchurch.com/how-to-post-attendance

 

NOTE ABOUT THIS WEEK’S STUDY: This week’s Study Questions celebrate how God has worked this past quarter. Most of your time should be spent in the My Story and Remembering sections. Listen to the Leader Podcast for more details.

1. The Christmas season brings a number of fun and varied traditions. Take a moment to answer the questions below to check your “Christmas Tradition” IQ.

Have fun with these questions and have everyone respond.

• The movie Miracle on 34th Street is based on a real-life department store. What is it?
  a. Sears                 b. Macy’s             c. J.C. Penney
• Which U.S. state was the first to declare Christmas an official holiday?
  a. Alabama          b. Oklahoma       c. Louisiana
• In which modern-day country was St. Nicholas born?
  a. Palestine         b. Egypt                c. Turkey
• What is the most recorded Christmas song of all time?
  a. “White Christmas”      b. “Silent Night”                c. “Jingle Bells”
• Three of Santa’s reindeers’ names begin with the letter “D.” What are those names?
• In the movie Elf, what was the first rule of The Code of Elves?
  a. Treat every day like Christmas.
  b. Love all kids, naughty or nice.
  c. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

• How many Americans buy artificial Christmas trees?
  a. 32%                   b. 43%                 c. 66%
• What’s one of your favorite Christmas Eve & Christmas morning traditions? (Everyone should get this one right.)

 Christmas Quiz answer key: b, a, c, b, Dancer, Dasher, Donner, a, c.

2. What are one or two things you’re looking forward to this Christmas season?

This question will transition to begin your group discussion. This is a good question to have everyone answer. If are going to skip the Digging Deeper section, you can transition directly into the Remembrance/Communion section.

This weekend we heard of the great hope and thankfulness we can have because of what Jesus has done for us no matter what our past looks like. As you read the following verses, how do they further describe what Jesus has done for us and why we can be thankful for what He has done?

This is a good question to use as a follow-up to TJ’s point of how important it is that we are thankful for what Jesus has done. If you have time, this question works well in conjunction with asking the questions in the next section about Communion and can further help set up your Communion time.    

John 10:10 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 15:13-16 New International Version (NIV)
¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Romans 7:24-8:2 New International Version (NIV)
²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. 8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Psalm 33:18-22 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁸ But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
²⁰ We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.

1 John 3:1-3 New International Version (NIV)
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Looking back at what you wrote above, what is the best reminder to be thankful for as you move into this Christmas season?

You can have each person share their responses here and then include their answers in the next section.  

As followers of Jesus, we have much to be thankful for as our hope remains that God is alive and at work in our lives (Philippians 1:6). As you look back on this quarter (and year), what is something in your own life and your Life Group experience you are thankful for? (It can be a specific way God encouraged you, something new you learned, time spent together in your group, how your group has helped you to continue living your life for Jesus, a service project, spiritual breakthrough, growth, challenge, etc.)

Have everyone respond to this question along with the sub question below.

What are you most thankful for about who God is and what He has done for you in 2021?

The Digging Deeper question can help set up responses to this question. You could also answer this question after you set up your Communion time. (See below #2)  

Communion

IDEAS: You may want to involve others by asking them to read Scriptures. The bread and juice can also be set on a table in the middle of the room, and people can take Communion after you read the Scripture and pray, or while the group sings or listens to a worship song. Note the Advent candle option referred to below.  

1. PURPOSE: Introduce Communion by sharing that it’s all about being intentional in remembering the great love God has for us by sending His son Jesus to die that we might have life. 

2. READ: Luke 2:1-7, Luke 22:19-20 and John 15:12-17. You can have others read it or you as the leader. You could insert the sub question above here and have people reflect on what they are thankful for about God regarding what Jesus has done for them.
   

Option: Advent Candle lighting: Have six to twelve candles on the table in the middle of the group. Have the middle candle lit as the Christ Candle. Before someone shares, they take a candle and light it with the Christ Candle and then share what they are thankful for from this last quarter and/or what Jesus has done for them. All the candles lit represent the light of Christ we have in us and the impact it has on the world when we live from this place of thankfulness. 

3. DISTRIBUTE: As a leader / host team, you may want to serve each person as a symbol of Christ’s love and service to us. Pass the bread, thank the Lord for it and eat together. Pass the cup, thank the Lord for it and drink together. 

Music / Worship Option – Use the video on northcoastchurch.com/communion to lead you into Communion. You can play it while you pass out the Communion supplies or while you take Communion for a time of reflection. 

4. PRAY: Move into prayer time, thanking Jesus for His commitment to love us and how He is working in our lives. Close your time in prayers of praise.

We are able to have hope no matter what life throws at us because of the amazing gift God has given us – the gift of His son Jesus, born that we might have life through His death and resurrection! Communion is about remembering and thanking God for this reality! Your time together this week will conclude by taking Communion and remembering this great gift God has given us through His son Jesus.

To prepare for Communion, read Luke 2:1-7, Luke 22:19-20 & John 15:12-17. What catches your attention in these verses as helpful to remember as you take Communion in your group?

Luke 2:1-7 New International Version (NIV)
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Luke 22:19-20 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

 John 15:12-17 New International Version (NIV)
¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

*If you would like to take Communion individually, feel free to use the North Coast Worship Team song at northcoastchurch.com/communion to help lead you through a time of remembrance and thankfulness for what Jesus has done for you.