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Sermon Reflection Questions

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The 2020 Advent Devotional is here!

Click here to download!

The 2020 Advent Devotional was created in tandem with a special Advent Box containing materials to complete each activity/practice at the beginning of the week. However, if you did not receive a box, most of the activities can be recreated with items from around your house or neighborhood! We look forward to celebrating this season of hope and expectation with you—share your photos on social media and tag us along the way @bethanygreenlake!

Advent Series: Becoming Aware

Luke 1:8–20, 57–66

Abby Odio, Pastor of Teaching and Formation, abbyo@churchbcc.org


A central invitation of Advent is learning to see God breaking into our world in a way that meets the assumptions we carry with a transformed vision of hope and possibility. Zechariah’s story exemplifies this transformation through three key responses: 


I. See and assume 


II. See and wonder 


III. See and perceive


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Discussion Questions 

Before questions, attempt to give the group a bit of a summary of the main points of the sermon and then choose a few questions that fit your group’s needs and style. We don’t intend for you to use all of these. Three to five questions may be a good number.

    • Begin by reading Luke 1:8–20, 57–66 aloud, taking turns reading the passages. 
  • Pray over the group before beginning discussion.
  • Where is your first week of Advent finding you spiritually and in your life circumstances? 
  • In what areas might you be failing to see where God is currently working in your life, family, or situation? 
  • Pastor Abby talked about how our current circumstances can create a “blur” that makes it hard to see God in our story. What is the “blur” of your story right now?
  • In what areas might conventional wisdom be causing you to make assumptions about what God can or will do? 
  • Pastor Abby called out 5 assumptions that we might make. Which of these (if any) resonates most with you right now? 
  • God is silent. 
  • You should be more than you are now to be pleasing to God. 
  • New life does not flourish in barren places. 
  • People forgotten or oppressed by society do not function as divine messengers. 
  • I’ve been forgotten in God’s plan.
  • Pastor Abby pointed out that we see the world through our assumptions. What assumptions might be coloring the way you see the world? 
  • What might be a good question to ask God through these assumptions? 
  • Where might God be looking to get your attention this Advent? To grow in your awareness of Jesus’ presence in your story?
  • Are there small things in your life that you should be paying attention to, but are missing?
  • Suggested practice: Pay attention to what you are paying attention to; pause, notice your experience of a given moment and simply pray: God, in this moment, I am aware of ___________ . I wonder, what could you be speaking to me in this?
  • Note: If a reminder will be helpful, you can use this phone wallpaper to use as a reminder throughout the week. 
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