Looking for a vibrant small-group meeting? Here are 4 distinctives of a successful small-group on the road to redemptive community.
1. Questions and opportunities for group members to tell their stories before getting into Bible study. Many groups utilize “ice-breaker” type questions.
3. Some level or variety of experiences. This can range from creating events as part of the meeting, utilizing the five senses, to engaging a video or movie clip with applicable follow-up questions and conversation.
4. If media is used, the group should focus on a screen for no more than 15 minutes. The longer a group turns away to watch a TV or monitor, the more good group dynamic is lost.
He saved us and he called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. 2 Timothy 1:9 (TEV)
The Bible also teaches that Jesus came to save you for something. God has a purpose and a plan for your life; he created you for a specific mission.
The Bible says: “He saved us and he called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace” (2 Timothy 1:9 TEV). You can live life at one of three levels: survival, success, or the highest level – significance.
Most of the world lives at the survival level. Half of the world’s six billion people live on less than $2 a day. That’s survival. If you’re an American, even if you are the poorest of the poor in the United States, you live at the success level. Most of the world would love to have your problems. But you say, “If I’m so successful, why don’t I feel fulfilled?”
You don’t feel fulfilled because you were made for more than success. The ultimate goal of life is significance, not success. You were made for significance – and significance comes from knowing God, knowing his purpose for your life, and then doing it. Then you realize, “This is what I was made for! This is my niche! It’s me! Now I know why I’m here on the planet.”
All the success in the world can’t give you that.
That’s why the very first sentence of The Purpose Driven Life is a very counter-cultural statement: “It’s not about you.” That’s the exact opposite of what our culture says. Our entire culture says, “It’s all about you.”
You’ll never find satisfaction and significance by living for yourself because God didn’t wire you that way. You were made for God. There will always be a hole in your heart because you need something greater than yourself. You need God’s purpose. You’ve tried everything else. Why not try God?
So Jesus said, “I want to save you from your past. I want to save you for a purpose. And I want to save you by something.”
Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic until Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.
Legend has it "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded-message, a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment.
The song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…" The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, but it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. i.e. the Church.
1st Day: The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them. The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the Cross.
2nd Day: The "two turtle doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.
3rd Day: The "three French hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).
4th Day: The "four calling birds" refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
5th Day: The "five golden rings" represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
6th Day: The "six geese a-laying" is the six days of creation.
7th Day: The "seven swans a-swimming" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
8th Day: The "eight maids a milking " reminded children of the eight beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.
9th Day: The "nine ladies dancing" were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
10th Day: The "ten lords a-leaping" represents the Ten Commandments
11th Day: The "eleven pipers piping" refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
12th Day: The ‘twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.
So the next time you hear "The Twelve Days of Christmas" consider how this otherwise non-religious sounding song had its origins in keeping alive the teaching of the Catholic faith. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- adapted from email messages, from "How To Decode the Twelve Days of Christmas," by Hugh D. McKellar, U.S. Catholic, 12/1979, and from "‘12 Days of Christmas’ is no nonsense, but a serious riddle" by David Crowder El Paso Times, 12/19/1993. Also, Origin of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" An Underground Catechism by Fr. Hal Stockert 12/17/95
