Session 3 Summary: Power Source
Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution? There’s just something about a new year that makes us want to do something to make this year different or better than the one before it. The problem with resolutions is that we hardly ever keep them! And if we’re honest, we probably don’t think it’s that big of a deal when we don’t. Maybe that’s why we’re so hesitant to create goals that involve our faith. If we fail to meet that goal, we’ve not just let ourselves down—we feel like we’ve let God down too! Jesus’s disciples often felt a similar kind of pressure when it came to following through with what He called them to do. The things He asked of them sometimes seemed impossible for them to actually do on their own—and they were! But as we look back to the book of Matthew, we’ll see that Jesus left His disciples with an unexpected source of help to follow through with anything He called them to do. And what’s even better, He gives us access to the same so that nothing is impossible for us when we’re with Him.
Bottom Line
The Holy Spirit helps you follow through. 
The Goal of Small Group
To help us develop confidence that God can give us power in our everyday lives.

Matthew 28:18-20 New Living Translation (NLT)
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 14:16-17 New Living Translation (NLT)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

God, thank you for your Spirit which works in us. Help us to remember how your Spirit helps us to respond with love to others. Use your Spirit within us to see where you are active in the world around us. In your name we pray. Amen.

Session 2 Summary: By My Side
Think about your best friend. It’s probably someone you think is pretty awesome, right? They like the same things you like, they really make you laugh, they text you nonstop, and of course, they ‘like’ all of your Instagram pics.  You probably feel like they really get you—and that’s a great feeling. When it comes to friendship, we’d all like to be close to someone who knows every part of our story—even the worst parts—and loves us anyway. But if you really think about it, can that kind of friend exist? Nobody is perfect, but what we’re looking for is the perfect friend. And the truth is even the very best friend can’t be a perfect friend. The good news is we do have access to Someone who truly gets us, Someone who has the ability to be the perfect friend to us.  Looking back at the Christmas story, we’ll see how God reminded Mary and Joseph of the kind of friend He was to them and the lengths He would go in order to truly be the friend who understands everything about them. And through their story, maybe you’ll begin to see that He feels the same way about you
Bottom Line
In Jesus, we get Someone who gets us.  
The Goal of Discussion
To encourage us to see God as a friend who knows everything about us and still remains loyal to us.

Matthew 1:20-23 New Living Translation (NLT)
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

Hebrews 4:15 New Living Translation (NLT)
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

God, thank you for giving us a relationship with you through Jesus. Thank you for sending us your Son, to be with us, to "get" us throughout all of our lives. Help us to trust in your Son and to recognize where you are in our lives. Amen