IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!!! What is one of your favorite traditions you celebrate every year with your family?

Your group probably shared some great ideas about traditions. Traditions are a great way to create a rhythm in your family that you will look forward to year to year. What is one new tradition you’ll start this year?

When you think about your relationships, maybe with your spouse or a very close friend, how has perspective played a role in your conversations–positive or negative?

What did you know about Joseph leading up to this message?

Toby explained that there “is a little bit of Joey in all of us.”  Toby shared the following three points about Joseph. Which one of these three characteristics of Joseph resonates with you the most in this season? Share with the group if you are comfortable.

• Joseph was faithful to the law. He honored God, like David, above all else.
• Joseph was a planner. Sometimes we do things that are hard because God called us to it.
• Joseph went back to God’s promise.

Toby shared that we need to feel our feelings but we should not be driven by them. How do you keep your feelings in check when you are making a decision?

How will you honor God and honor people this week?

Here are the three non-negotiables that Toby and Mika used as they raised their kids.
We honor God above everything else.
We honor other people because we honor God.
We honor authority in your life.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,  because he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”  (which means “God with us”).  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

(Mt 1:18–25).