Guess Who's Coming to Christmas | Matthew 2:1-12
December 17, 2023
Guess Who's Coming to Christmas | Matthew 2:1-12

Magi

Magi, or "the Wisemen” as they’ve come to be known, were invited to the first Christmas. They didn’t get an angel invitation like Mary and Joseph. They were studying and thinking and God was stirring their hearts as they studied. Scholars from far away sounds very mystical to us but the people of Israel weren’t that excited about ‘people from far away’. Foreigners were just more Gentiles. Amazing! Even at his birth God was showing his cards, showing us that the whole world was going to be invited into the Kingdom where Jesus is King.

 

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Matthew 2:1-12

1. Tell of a time you engaged with people from a different ethnic background. How did that go?

2. Herod and all of Jerusalem were “disturbed” by the Magi and about the news of a ‘king of the Jews’ who’d just been born. Why were they disturbed?

3. The Magi, on the other hand, were overjoyed! They worshipped him. What does worship look like in your life? What would ‘full on worship’ look like in your life?

4. What’s the dividing line between those ‘upset by Jesus’ and those who “bow down and bring gifts”? What changes in a person to move from one group to the other?

5. What gift do you have for Jesus this Christmas? What will giving Him your best look like this year?

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