- Read Isaiah 40 incarnationally. Where do you find yourself in this text?
- Read Isaiah 9.1-7 how does this prophetic passage encourage you? How would it have encouraged the people of Israel
- In what ways would the people of Israel have believed they were a “lost cause?”
- The promise of Advent is “from lost cause to new hope.” What resonates most deeply in you when reflecting on this truth?
- In what ways do you speak “comfort” and “tenderness”? When was the last time someone spoke “comfort” to you? What difference did their words make in you and through you?
- Whom in your world needs to hear a comforting message of hope? How might God be calling you to share it?
- In what ways are you “making straight the way of the Lord?”
- Isaiah says, “God’s word endures forever.” What would that phrase mean to the people of Israel? In a world that is constantly changing how do you hold fast to the constant Word of God? How do you see the Word today differently than you did a year ago, five years ago?
- How do you see God at work, today?
- Scripture refers to God as our Shepherd, Jesus our Good Shepherd. How are you currently experiencing His shepherding? How might He be inviting you to shepherd others?
