Use these for group work, or to assist your personal reflection.
- Discuss in your group the different ways in which you ‘give glory’ to God. Is it possible to define what ‘glory’ is?
- How can Christian people best be made aware of the great and glorious chorus of praise and worship that goes u[p to God on Christmas day?
- Do you look forward to the day when God will rule the world with justice? What does this phrase mean to you?
Use the programme which can be found on the link ‘discipleship challenges’. The ‘worksheet’ will help you follow through anything you feel is right to take up. The following notes are for your interest and consideration.
Personal comment:
At one level, ‘glory’ is a word like any other, and we can look it up in a dictionary to find out what it means. Incidentally, in the shorter Oxford dictionary, it says ‘exalted renown, honourable fame, subject for boasting, splendid, magnificent, intensely delightful.’ Frankly, none of this helps me work out what it really means for the angels to sing ‘glory to God!’ But psalm 96 helps us by connecting up a few spiritual ‘dots’ to make us realise that to give God glory is to love Him by choice and with complete sincerity. When we see what God has done in the birth of a baby, then we are moved to give Him all the glory we know how to give.
Ideas for discipleship programme
- Take a few moments of relaxation to sit back and ‘give God the glory’! How do you do this? Don’t be worried about methods or definitions, but just let the Spirit guide your spirit, and as you allow yourself to do so, you will indeed give God the ‘glory’ that is His due!
- Pray for those who find it hard to let themselves go in worship and praise, and are constantly on edge, concerned, critical and inhibited in their response to the ‘greatest story ever told on earth’.
We love You, Lord God! Lift up our hearts to give You glory, to praise Your name, and to say thank You, over and over again for the gift of Your Son Jesus Christ. May we never cease to wonder at the amazing revelation to which we are witnesses by faith, and may we re-tell the story of Christmas many times over, and testify to Your Salvation! AMEN
