The Gift Table - Week One
January 04, 2026
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God’s gift — Jesus!
Introduction:
Jesus is God’s gift to the world, the divine becoming human, Emmanuel, God-with-us. At Epiphany the Magi brought three distinct gifts to identify Christ as prophet, priest and king. As we gather round the Gift table we rejoice in God’s gifts freely bestowed on us that sustain us. As we take a seat at the table we ask: what gifts have we received at the table.
Seeds to sow:
We are just past Christmas which can often bring an excess of gift-giving that can strain our bank balances, living spaces and relationships! January is often a time of renewed clarity and focus and (often short lived) resolutions to clear away the old and change habits.
When we come to God’s gift table there’s no demand to bring a bunch of gifts! God wants us to receive the gift of Jesus. This January are you up for rediscovering anew the gift of God’s son? To rediscover who he is?
Read Jeremiah 31: 7-14
Coming to the table to discover something new. The gift of gladness!
There are many ways to meet Jesus, to receive God’s gift to humanity. This passage from the Old Testament shows us a multicultural, multigenerational scene of restoration, reunion and rejoicing. Celebrating the simple things of food, music and being reunited together gives us an opportunity to experience Jesus’s love for us through one another. This reading is from several centuries before Christ walked the earth and we live many centuries later — and yet we are all united through God’s firstborn son.
Q: What words or phrases leap out at you from this reading?
Q: What are the simple God-given things that we are glad for this year? The things that sustain us? The things that make us sing out with joy? How has your Connect group helped you to ‘meet Jesus’ in one another?
Read Matthew 2: 1-12
The gift of discernment! The Magi brought discerning gifts that marked Christ out as prophet, priest, and king.
Jesus does not ask us to bring such tributes to him. We don’t need to follow the Magi’s example and bring our own gold, frankincense and myrrh to Christ. The greatest gift we can bring to God is the knowledge of our need of God, our humility, and our open hearts.
Q: What do you want to bring to Jesus this year? Not in the sense of material gifts, but in terms of attitude, outlook and approach to life?
Read Ephesians 1: 1-14
The gift of adoption! Jesus welcomes us into an incredible family that knows no borders!
The first followers of Jesus were a ragbag of very diverse people from various cultures and backgrounds. We live in a world today used to large international organisations but the inclusive welcome of the early church would have been radical at a time when outlooks were more limited and tribal.
Q: Christians in the first century lived in an insular, inward looking time of divided people that was gradually becoming more global in perspective…
Christians in the twenty first century live in a globally connected age that is gradually becoming more insular and inward looking again, with people being divided against each other…
How can our Christian perspective help us to value the local and the global — the glocal!
Discuss!
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