Written in Heaven

WHEN LOVE COME TO TOWN: A U2 CHRISTMAS
I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR

***Before you begin! Reaffirm the ‘Vegas’ rule with your group – what happens in small groups stays in small groups. This is very important to talk about every week. Encourage everyone that the environment is safe, and that there is no judgment.

***The reason we do small groups is to ‘belong and become’ – Have a safe group of friends to belong to and become more like Jesus every day. This is the vision of small groups – remind your group of this each week.

1. If you could have one material possession for Christmas, and money was no object, what would it be? When you were a kid, what was the one thing that you wanted for Christmas more than anything in the world? What are some of the feelings that we long to feel around Christmas time?

2. Can anyone in the group recap Jonah’s story? What two themes controlled Jonah’s life? What justice and judgment did Jonah desire to see fall against the Ninevites? Are there groups of people that we wish would suffer judgment and justice?

3. Read John 8:1-11. From this story we can see the two messages of Jesus’ life – what were they? Why does Jesus want us to focus on a life of repentance and restoration rather than a life of judgment and justice? What benefits are there to a life lived in the message of Jesus?

4. Read Jonah 4:11. What is Jonah’s response to God’s question? Why do you think Jonah kept seeking judgment and justice even though he knew God was about repentance and restoration? Why do we seek judgment and justice rather than repentance and restoration when someone wrongs us? Are there people in our lives that we’ve been seeking judgment for that we should start praying for repentance and restoration for?

As always, end the group with general sharing of prayer requests and prayer. Some groups have found it effective to pray for each request as it’s given, rather than creating the list of requests. Use your discretion as a leader.