Tis the Season: HOPE

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT:

Here is an overview of what we’re talking about. Listed below the summary is a “parent sync” to help you dialog with your child about the session. The question is intended not just to be asked by you, but to be responded to by BOTH of you. Use this opportunity to find out what God is teaching your child, and allow your child to see what God is teaching you as well.

Series Overview

This Christmas, probably more than any other in recent years, we are hoping that life will get better. We are hoping that life will look differently next year, even if we’re not sure how. We realize that no one person or institution holds a solution, but we’re expecting something different, even if we’re not sure how that is going to work out. Words like hope, peace and love have a new meaning this year, don’t they? We’re waiting to have hope, peace and love in our lives, in our communities, in our world. Even if we’re not sure how it will all work out. And just like thousands of years ago, Jesus is the one who came to bring hope, peace and love to our lives then . . . and now. Jesus taught us how to find hope, bring peace and initiate love even when our circumstances are less than ideal.

Session One: Hope 12.5.2011

Christmas is a time filled with great expectations. (Just ask Clark Griswald.) We expect snow to fall on Christmas morning. We expect that Martha Stewart-esque gathering. We expect a gift from that special someone. And for many of us, we expect our lives to look a certain way. But what happens when life doesn’t meet our expectations? How can we have hope in something bigger than what we want or dream? And how can that hope in something bigger really affect our lives—for the better?

Session One Parent Sync: What are some of our family’s expectations around the holidays? Are they usually met or not?