Luke 1 - Begin at the beginning

"The angel said to him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news." (Luke 1:19 NIV)

I am in and try to lead a small group that meets each Sunday morning. The purpose of this small group has shifted and changed over the past couple of years. We began as a First Place 4 Health group, and had some success with that, but, even though we still encourage each other with our healthy lifestyle goals, we have shifted more to a Bible study group. We have found that many of us needed to focus more on reading and studying the Bible as part of our Journey. So, last week we decided to begin with the book of Luke. We are taking it very slow so all the members of the group have time to do the study. We are focusing on 2 chapter of Luke each week. I found some Bible study questions that go along with Luke and can perhaps help us to understand it better. I thought my blog friends my like to join us on our Luke Journey!

So, as we get ready to celebrate Holy Week next week, it is fitting that we begin at the beginning of Jesus' life. It is important to understand who Luke was. He was a physician and a friend and follower of Paul. In fact, he was with Paul through much of his ministry. The book of Luke is an accompaniment to the book of Acts. Luke is writing this letter to  Theophilus, who was probably a Roman of wealth and authority and was probably Luke's patron, or the person paying for his travels and work.

Read Luke 1:1-25

Before the birth of Jesus, we read about John the Baptist's beginnings. He was a cousin of Jesus' mother Mary. John's parents were old and had no children or had no hope of any children. When the angel Gabriel told John's father Zechariah what was going to happen, why do you think he was made unable to speak?

Being childless for all those years was probably very frustrating for Elizabeth and Zechariah. What can we learn from Elizabeth and Zechariah about handling long-term disappointments in our lives? What frustrations do you have going on in your life right now that you could entrust to God instead of trying to deal with it alone?

Having an angel appear to you with a message from God is pretty extraordinary and doesn't seem to happen very often in modern day. How do we hear from God instead? How can you listen to that little voice inside you that could be God speaking "good news" to you?