The Virgin and The Village

In one paragraph

This was the third and final week of Tribe's "Hope Is Here" series, wrapping up a look at Old Testament messianic prophecies and their fulfillment in the birth of Jesus. Brian walked the congregation through two prophecies in particular: that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, and that he would be born in Bethlehem. The aim was to let those well-worn truths land with fresh weight rather than...

Read together

1. Isaiah 7:14 primary prophecy text about the virgin conceiving and calling him Emmanuel, read aloud by a congregation member
2. Micah 5:2 prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, read by the pastor
3. Matthew 1:18-19 fulfillment of the virgin birth prophecy, read aloud by a congregation member
4. Luke 2:1-7 fulfillment of the Bethlehem prophecy, read aloud by a congregation member

Talk about it

1. Brian said that even in the miracle of the virgin birth, God left a generous margin of faith required, that people could still choose not to believe. What does it mean to you that God consistently works that way rather than making belief unavoidable?
2. Several people in the room noticed the word 'look' in Isaiah 7:14 and talked about what it means to actively search for and meditate on a sign rather than just hear about it. Where in your own life do you think you might be skimming past something God is asking you to slow down and actually look at?
3. Brian read the Micah prophecy about Bethlehem being a small, overlooked village, and Spurgeon's reflection that Bethlehem means 'house of bread' and Ephrathah means fruitfulness. Why do you think God so consistently chooses small, unlikely places and people to do significant things?
4. The statistical odds of Jesus fulfilling just those four birth prophecies came out somewhere between one in 50 billion and one in 500 trillion. Brian then said the Holy Spirit wants to hold that up against whatever impossible circumstance someone in the room is facing. What is the hardest thing for you personally to trust God with right now, and how does that number land on you?
5. Toward the end of the sermon someone pointed out that Jesus came through a woman, through an actual birth canal, making him a rightful citizen of the world, and that no other spiritual being can claim that. What difference does it make to you in your everyday life that Jesus was fully human and not just an ethereal being looking down on our pain from a distance?