Ready for Impact (10 minutes)
Take time to welcome any newcomers and catch up on the past week (over drinks or snacks if possible). Then ask people to discuss:
- If God showed up at your home for Christmas dinner, how would you react?
Over this term, we’re exploring eight of Jesus’ claims starting, each with the words ‘I am.’ Not only will this help us understand Jesus better, but we’ll come to understand ourselves better too.
Ask for volunteers to read John 8:58-59 and then John 1:1-18. Then pray a short prayer asking that, however much group members have previously come to know God, they’d know him better as a result of your time together.
Watch
Download this video to watch offline or read the transcript here.
Impacted by the Word (20 minutes)
- How is Jesus’ ‘I am’ claim in John 8:58 different to each of the others we’ve examined in this series?
Jesus’ declaration in John 8:58 – and the response of the religious leaders in the following verse – indicate that Jesus was claiming to be both God and human.
We close this series by looking at John’s Prologue (Chapter 1) which unpacks this claim, and which is often read at Christmas.
- Make a list of all the things we learn about the ‘the Word’ (verses 1-5).
- What do you think John is suggesting by calling Jesus “the Word”?
- What do verses 6-13 show us about God and humanity?
- What do you think it means to ‘receive’ Jesus? What is the alternative?
- Read verses 12-13 again. How do you think Christians should feel about themselves in the light of these claims?
- John says that no one has ever seen God, but that Jesus his only Son ‘has made him known.’ What do you think this means?
- In verse 14, John says that ‘the Word became flesh’. Which of the following statements do you think John is seeking to convey?
(a) Jesus remained God but added human flesh when he came to earth
(b) Jesus was God but surrendered some of his God-ness to become human
(c) Whilst Jesus was in human flesh, he was sometimes God and sometimes human
NOTE: We don’t normally provide answers, but Option (a) is correct. Options B and C are ancient heresies!
John identifies Jesus as ‘the Word’ at the beginning of his account.
In part, John is probably asking his readers to reflect on the nature of words, especially as they are used in the Old Testament. A word is an expression, and so Jesus is the expression of God to the world. He is God’s ultimate self-disclosure. John loads his introduction with references to the early verses of Genesis 1 (‘in the beginning’, ‘word’, ‘light’, ‘life’). John is saying: if we want to know the Creator who spoke everything into existence, we must look at Jesus.
The word ‘Logos’ (translated ‘the Word’) also had a specific use within the Greek-speaking world. It referred to the organising principle of the universe: the blueprint around which everything is designed. The Apostle Paul makes a similar claim to John when he says all things were created through Jesus and for Jesus (see Colossians 1:16).
John is making a massive claim: if ordinary limited humans are to encounter the living God, we can do so only through the person of Jesus.
Impacting Our Hearts (10 minutes)
The Christian understanding is that Jesus is fully God and fully man, at one and the same time. Jesus isn’t part-God and part-man – or sometimes God and human at other times. He’s 100% of both, all of the time. This is what we celebrate at Christmas.
- Jesus became human to make God knowable and to rescue us. What strikes you about this kind of God?
If you’re able to sing in your group time, there are plenty of songs that will help you worship Jesus as the one who enables us to know God, including: Behold Our God; King of Kings and What A Beautiful Name. Or sing some Christmas carols!
Impacting the University (15 minutes)
This term, we’ve seen that Jesus makes some astonishing claims. Each person needs to examine Jesus and come to a reasoned conclusion. Uncover is a Bible study resource designed to help those seeking find answers for themselves. Maybe that’s you.
Watch this video [2 minutes] of students from Cardiff University CU describing how they’ve used Uncover seeker Bible studies with their friends.
- Have any of you used Uncover studies? What’s your experience been?
- Who might appreciate being invited to go through Uncover studies next term?
(This could be seeking members of your Impact Group, or those you’ve had conversations with over the past term, perhaps even during the Christmas season. More experienced Impact Group members could team up to lead the sessions with those who are feeling nervous).
Extend an invite for members of the group to read Uncover if you are aware there may be those who would appreciate this.
Read John 1:14 and 1:18 aloud, and allow this to move you into a time of prayer. Pray for the holiday times ahead, and for a deeper sense of knowing who Jesus is over Christmas. Pray for friends you’d love to do Uncover with next term!
Wrap-up – think TACOS 🌮
Thank You – Thank everyone for coming, and ask someone to thank God for your time together in prayer.
Ask – Ask those who are new to reading the Bible if they’d like to explore Uncover, a set of sessions in Mark’s Gospel, allowing them to investigate one of the earliest accounts of Jesus’ life alongside one of you.
Church and CU – What does the CU have planned ahead? And what help would group members value in finding a local church?
Others – Who else could you invite to join your CU Impact Group next week? These friends don’t need to be followers of Jesus and may really appreciate being invited.
See You Soon – Tell the group where and when you’ll meet next week, and arrange who will bring snacks. (You might like to alternate healthy and less healthy weeks!). See if anyone would be up for sharing a meal or just hanging out in the meantime!