NOTES: 1] Epiphany means a revealing. 2] Herod the 'Great' (the 'Pits', really!) was on a par with evil rulers of our day. He ruled 37-4 'BC', so Jesus must have been born no later than 4BC!!! 3] The Magi can be traced back to the ancient wisdom  of today's Iran / Iraq. 4] There is no scientific explanation for the star. It remains beyond our capacity & thirst for explanation.

WARMING UP: Did we receive any equivalents of gold, frankincense, or myrrh for Christmas?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything this week?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

1-2        How much are events shaped by the Herods of this world? Does Shakespeare's, 'The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones..' (Julius Caesar, Act.3 Sc.2) hold good? Is the reverse as true? Does God sometimes bring good out of someone's evil? Why does today's world set so much store on astrology? Why take such predictions seriously when astronomy gives a scientific view of why 'things in the sky' move as they do? Can a swirl of gases in space really affect what happens in people's lives? How do we know when we're just following our own star?

3-9a     Given the Jewish background, how much does the story contribute to our personal belief in Jesus as Messiah? Is its real value God's willingness to reveal himself (in the person of Jesus) to the whole world community? Is there still a timely warning here to people of God not to 'get into bed' too readily with rulers & governments?

9b-12  Are we ever conscious of the kind of (dramatic) guidance God gives the Magi here? What would it take for us to be prepared to embark on such a journey into the unknown for God? Have we ever found some great joy after making such a journey, literally or figuratively? What about those who always seem to be seeking, but never finding?
           How do we know when we've seen God in a person? Is that a kind of experience we're more likely to have in church circles, or in less 'religious' places? How much does the generous giving of the Magi call into question our own generosity to God? Are we ever tempted to hold back what we might have given to God / some person / some cause because we can't bring ourself to believe they're worth it? What lies at the heart of the Magi's willingness to travel, believe, give? Can we match that kind of response to God?
             Do dreams ever play any role in making decisions in our lives? Do we ever experience 'angelic' dreams these days? How do we know whether a dream is 'of God', from our own sub-conscious, or, maybe, indigestion?
             If the days of messages in dreams, by angels, etc. are past, how might God get through to us today that we need to 'go home a different way'..i.e. change our direction in life?
 
 

NOTES: 1] It is the chief priests, rather than the rank & file ones, who led the opposition to Jesus & now to his followers. 2] As faithful Jews, it is vital to the first Christians to establish that Jesus is God's promised Messiah (= Anointed One). They aren't on about some new religion!

WARMING UP: Why has public speaking (often in designated areas) lost the appeal it once had?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything that's happened since last week's Group?

EXPLORING ACTS:
1-4        Do we sense any move from indifference to annoyance in the wider community at our efforts to proclaim that 'in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead'? Or, don't we do much of that anyhow? Even if we're not likely to be arrested these days (except where they persecute Christians) does community attitude have implications for us & our discipleship?

5-12     Do the Jerusalem-based leaders of the Jewish church of the time bear responsibility for Jesus' suffering & death, & the persecution of early Christians (as here) rather than the Jewish people as a whole? Is anti-semitism based more on the latter view, or is it just racist & not religious at all? Are we as a church today capable of acting in such a way as to have people demand of us, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Are we likely to be much use for God if that's not the case? Or doesn't God work that way any more?
            Do we normally explain or justify things that have happened as being 'by the name of Jesus Christ'? If we're not, how have we come to discard (disown?) what Peter & co. established as early church practice? Is Jesus the 'cornerstone' on which not just our church but our lives are built? If our lives aren't built on Jesus as cornerstone, can our church be either? Has it become politically incorrect to believe, let alone say, of Jesus, that 'there is salvation in no-one else', & that 'there is no other name under heaven...by which we must be saved'? What does it actually mean 'to be saved'? Do we tend to think of 'being saved' as a purely religious category, or as something that applies to the whole of life? Is it time we went more 'on the attack' for God / Christ rather than remaining permanently on the defensive? Why are we so defensive anyway?

13-22    Do we ever use being 'uneducated & ordinary', or similar, as the excuse for not 'standing up for Jesus'? Are we readily recognisable as 'companions of Jesus'? What makes us so? (Or doesn't?) In a day when many of us find ourselves  very unpopular if we 'speak or teach in the name of Jesus', does this story help us know 'where to go from here'? How do we discern 'what is right in God's sight', as against what other people think? What keeps us from 'speaking about what we have seen & heard'? Or, haven't we seen & heard anything worth speaking about? How threatening do we find anti-Christian attitudes? Are some of them more anti-church than anti-Christian? Does that make much difference?