What Will You Do with God's King?

1. At this point in Matthew's Gospel, Christmas is over. The King has been born into this world, and now it is time for the world to respond. What sort of response(s) would you expect from the world upon his arrival? When you read the rest of Matthew's Gospel (and/or look around you today), how do you see the world responding? How does this relate to what you believe he deserves in response?

2. Joe Liu categorized responses into two main groups with the first being represented by the response of king Herod. This group he labeled as "clinging to control." While some obvious examples of this can be seen in power-hungry men who abuse and misuse their authority, Joe challenged us to consider how we are all clinging to control in some way. When do you fear the unexpected? When do you see yourself trusting more in your own plans than God's?

3. King Herod "had the theology, but not the trust." His head was aware of the identity of Christ, but his heart was unwilling to face the implications of a cosmic King. As a church, when we run headlong into our own plans for ourselves rather than God's, what are the consequences?

4. The second group Joe labeled as "clinging to Christ," and it is represented by the response of the wise men. What sticks out to you about the story of their journey and their response to Christ? How do you see their trust in God demonstrated? (e.g. Trusted His Word, worshiped, gave their best, actually obeyed him)

5. What will you do with God's King? How will you respond to the news that he is the Lord of all things? How does your response reflect that of the wise men?