Welcome to our weekly Friday Check-in for December 27th, 2024 ✅
If you are new to Soul Care, WELCOME!! We are so glad you are here. We have a weekly rhythm of checking in together on Fridays. We use Mindy Caliguire's Page, Person, Plan framework to create a weekly rhythm and prepare ourselves for Sabbath rest.
Merry Christmas! In the ancient Christian tradition, Christmas is a beginning! It sets Christmas as the pinnacle rather than the end of the Advent season. Then we celebrate “Christmastide”—a season that begins at Advent and continues on after Christmas day for 12 more days. It may be the end of the commercial season, but the entrance of Jesus into the world is the beginning of light and life, not the end. So... Merry Third Day of Christmas!
Invite God’s Spirit to guide you through this time, as you pause to prayerfully reflect...
Let's begin with;
Page; An Invitation to Reflection
How has returning to and meditating on Matthew 5:14-16 throughout this month shaped you and your experiences this season?
Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-born. If we love the One who conceives the child, we’ll surely love the child who was conceived. The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.
Every God-born person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus—the Divine Christ! He experienced a life-giving birth and a death-killing death. Not only birth from the womb, but baptismal birth of his ministry and sacrificial death. And all the while the Spirit is confirming the truth, the reality of God’s presence at Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion, bringing those occasions alive for us. A triple testimony: the Spirit, the Baptism, the Crucifixion. And the three in perfect agreement.
If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God’s testimony. Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God’s own testimony regarding his Son.
This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.
Spend a few minutes journaling in response to this passage:
- What stands out to you most? Is there a particular word or phrase?
- As you read through it a second time… ask God, “to what area of my life does that particular word or phrase connect?”
- And as you read a third time, be asking God, “Is there an invitation for me?” Is there a response of some kind that God is inviting you into?
Next up is;
Person: An Invitation to Connection
Share with a friend or family member about your thoughts on today’s scripture reading & journal prompts.
Finally we have;
Plan: An Invitation to Intention
Take a minute to imagine a child who, days after Christmas morning, continues to delight in and play with the gift he/she has been given... and reflect:
- If Christ is the gift we’ve been given, how can you continue to “play the Gift”?
- What brought you the most peace, joy, hope, and love throughout Advent? How do you want to be intentional about living out the peace, joy, hope, and love we’ve been given?
- How might you and your loved ones consider Christmas Day as a beginning, not an end... as something that extends well beyond Christmas morning?
- What “new thing” is the story of Christmas, the story of hope, inviting you to create?
Take a few final minutes to turn your thoughts into a closing prayer, especially thanking God for the gift of Christ and life in Him.
Thanks for checking in today.