“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:12-13
- What makes you feel most loved?
- Look at 1 John 4:8-9. How do Advent and Christmas reveal the character of God?
- When you consider God’s character, what is most prominent? (For example, his justice? Anger? Mercy? Patience? Love?)
- What does it mean for you that love is central to who God is?
- Read Psalm 118:1-9.
- What does it mean that God’s love is steadfast?
- What does it mean that it endures forever?
- Considering these verses, what responses can flow out of knowing God’s love is steadfast?
- When you experience feelings of self-pity, anxiety, fear, or rejection, what do you do with those feelings? How do you get out of them, and does knowing God’s love play a part in that? Could it/should it?
- Read Psalm 118:21-24. Who or what is the stone rejected by the builders that has become the cornerstone?
- How is this the ultimate fufillment of God’s steadfast love for his people, Israel?
- Read John 1:1-5
- What do these verses tell us about Jesus?
- How do these verses compare to Genesis 1:1-3? What does this tell us about Jesus, and his purpose for coming into the world?
- Read John 1:6-13. What do these verses tell us about who John the Baptist was… and wasn’t?
- Why is it both humbling and encouraging to know we also are not the Light but are to be witnesses to the Light?
- Considering v11: Why did the people of Jesus’ day not ‘receive’ him? Why do people today still refuse to do so?
- Considering v12-13: Why did Christ come?
- How does being a child of God feature in how you think of yourself? Is this what your identity is grounded on, or is it something else?
- Read John 1:14-17.
- Why is the Word becoming flesh a stunning event?
- Jesus was, and is, full of grace and truth. How do these contrast with the law (v17)?
- Why do you personally need both grace and truth?
- Read John 15:12-13. How can we love others as Jesus has loved us?
- In particular, how can we bring them the grace and truth of Christ, or lay down our lives for them?
- Read Revelation 22:1-5. How will Jesus’ second advent, and the new heavens and the new earth be a total fulfilment of his first?
- How will the new creation be a full expression of God’s love for his people in Christ?
The Love of Advent for you this season
- How can you remind yourself during this season of the love of God put on display in the Christmas story?
- What could you do this season to share that love with those around you?
Download the complete study: Advent Bible studies (PDF), also available in French (PDF)