Christmas on Elm is coming!

Unless you're a total Scrooge, mark your calendar for this year's Christmas on Elm! On Sunday, December 7, we'll be taking over the top floor of the Fair Plaza Parking Garage from 12 - 8 PM. There will be food trucks, games for both kids and adults, live music, and lots of craft market vendors so that you can knock out some of your Christmas shopping while you munch and hang. The garage is right across the street from the Foundry and has working elevators to help everyone reach the top. Bring a cooler and some camp chairs, park on one of the lower levels, and head on up for some Christmas fun with your Downtown community. (And, if you need some convincing, click the image or button below for some wisdom from Eric-nezer Scrooge. Bah, humbug!)

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

Come get your shoeboxes! Operation Christmas Child is an incredible opportunity to help “take the gospel to the ends of the earth.” Through partnerships with local churches and volunteers in over 170 countries, you can help tangibly share the love of Jesus.

There are three ways for you to get involved:

1. Pick up a shoebox at the church, fill it with gifts for a child, and return it to the 3rd floor lobby by 11/23. (Click the link below for gift ideas!)

2. Bring gift items to the 3rd floor lobby by 11/19 so that our youth can use them to pack shoeboxes.

3. Donate to Missions to help cover the cost of supplies and shipping. (Designation: Op Christmas child/Samaritans Purse.)

Questions? Text Gena Morrison at ‭(903) 521-7310‬.

Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army

Bethel Downtown has signed up to bell ring for the Salvation Army on Saturday, December 6 at the Brookshires on Roseland Boulevard. We need to fill six separate 2-hour shifts from 8 AM to 8 PM. Wearing festive gear and bringing a friend or family member is encouraged. To sign up, visit the 3rd floor lobby on 11/23 or 11/30 or text (‭972) 207-3260‬.

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Life Group Discussion Questions

1. Describe a time when a group you were part of “did the right thing the wrong way.” What happened? What did it reveal about how we make decisions together?
2. What should Israel have done when they heard the report from the Levite about what happened in Gibeah according to Deuteronomy 19:15 or Numbers 35:30? How does this apply to us today according to Matthew 18:16 and 1 Timothy 5:19?
3. Israel asks God who should go first (20:18), not whether they should go at all. What does this reveal about Israel’s assumptions? How might we do something similar in our own decision-making?
4. Judges chapter 21 describes the chaos that happens due to Israel taking a foolish vow. When they realized their mistake, what could they have done according to Leviticus 5:4-6 to correct their sin?
5. How did the way Israel secured wives for the tribe of Benjamin display a lack of respect for innocent lives as bad as the men of Gibeah who abused and killed the concubine?
6. The chapter ends with the summary line: “In those days there was no king… everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25). How does this entire story (as well as the previous story) illustrate that statement? What can happen in own lives when “what seems right” becomes the guiding principle?

1. What helps you stay grounded in what’s right when the culture around you blurs moral lines?
2. What does Micah’s creation of a shrine, ephod, and household gods in Judges 17:1-3 reveal about how people in Israel were redefining worship during this time in contrast to what God said in Deuteronomy 27:15? Why do you think we sometimes overlook what is spiritually obvious?
3. Judges 17:6 sets the context for how dysfunctional Israel is in these chapters. What events in these three chapters may have been prevented if there had been a king in Israel who feared and obeyed Yahweh? How do healthy spiritual boundaries of our Savior and the under-shepherds that He has placed in the church help protect the purity of our lives and worship? 
4. How does Micah’s feeling that he is worshipping God because he has a Levite Priest and religious objects, compare to how we can be deceived that if we just “check all the boxes” religiously then we are really worshipping God? 
5. In Judges 18:18-20 and 27-28 we see the tribe of Dan taking the idols Micah had made, obtaining Micah’s priest with a better offer, and conquering a defenseless city. How may their actions be a reflection of their hearts that may have contributed to their inability to trust God for conquering the land He had given them in Joshua 19:40-47? 
6. In Genesis 19 we see moral depravity in Sodom, but in Judges 19 the Israelite city of Gibeah has too many parallels to Sodom to be coincidental. How does seeing how depraved Israel acted when they “did what was right in their own eyes” act as a warning to us about how potentially far we could get from God if we are not careful? 
7. These chapter scream that “we need a king who is perfect”. How does Jesus, the true King these chapter point toward, reverse the chaos of Judges through His life and sacrifice? 

1. Samson’s birth was announced by an angel, and he was set apart from birth (Judges 13:3–5). What does Samson’s calling teach us about God’s grace and purpose, even before someone has done anything to deserve it?
2. How do Manoah and his wife respond to the angel’s message (vv. 8–20)? What does their response reveal about their faith and character?
3. After being in bondage for 40 years you might expect Israel to call out to God for deliverance, but they don’t. Why do you think they became comfortable in their condition? What does it say about God that He would raise up a deliverer? What happens when we get comfortable in life and neglect or spiritual lives?
4. We are instructed in scripture to counsel each other to do good and to be an encouragement to each other (Galatians 6:1-2; Hebrews 10:24-25). How did Samson respond to his parents when they tried to counsel him (14:3), and when do we see other times, he could have benefitted if someone were there to counsel him.
5. Samson’s story mixes power, passion, and poor choices, yet Samson is listed in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. Despite his character weaknesses, what reasons listed in Hebrews 11:32-38 might apply to Samson? 
6. Can you think of other Biblical characters who made poor choices, yet God redeemed their lives for His glory? How have you seen God redeem a situation in your life to His glory?