This guide is designed to help your group create a space for genuine connection and conversation within your discussion time. Don't feel pressured to address every question each week. Instead, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you as you lead your group in uncovering what God intends to communicate during your time together.

This guide comprises three sections: Loving, Learning, and Living. Each section aims to steer your conversation towards meaningful discussions about spiritual growth as individuals and as members of the body of Christ.

First moments together as a group to connect and pray (approx. 10-15 min).

• How have you seen God at work in your life since the last time we met?
• What has been one high and one low since the last time we met?
• How did you do with living out what we talked about last time we met?

Open with prayer and invite God to be part of your conversation and relationship.

The majority of the group discussion is devoted to open dialogue, reflecting on God’s Word and its personal application to each of our lives (approx. 60-75 min).

Scripture References from Message: 1 John 1:1-3
Big Idea from Message: The dark of winter is over and done. Our soon coming King has already won.

To get started, ask everyone to think about that Narnia line, “Always winter, but never Christmas.” When you look at your own life, have you ever had a season where everything on the outside said you “should” be joyful, but inside it felt more like cold, gray winter? What was that like for you?

Read 1 John 3:1–3 together. John says we are already God’s children right now, but also that “what we will be has not yet been made known.” How does that “now and not yet” tension show up in your life and faith?

The message talked about Advent as not just looking back at Jesus’ first coming, but also looking forward to His return. When you hear that Christ will come again, does that stir hope, confusion, fear, or something else in you? Why do you think that is?

Pastor Brad said, “Christian hope draws the promised future of God into the present and prepares the present for that future.” Where do you see that happening in your life right now, even in small ways? And where does it feel hardest to believe that Jesus has “already won”?

We ended the message with a communal prayer of confession. When you think about your own “winter” right now, is there anything you need to confess or bring into the light so that hope can actually take root there?

The challenge for the week ahead is to grow in our faith and lovingly hold each other accountable through the community.

This week, BridgePoint is introducing the 2025 Advent Devotional. We are inviting you to slow down and spend 10 to 15 minutes a day this Christmas season engaging with the daily readings and practices. You can find both digital and physical copies at bridgepointfl.com/advent2025. Commit to the journey, and let this season form your heart with real hope.