Bible Study Companion Guide
Second Sunday After Christmas (Year A)
St. James Presbyterian Church, Harlem, NYC
 
Texts:
Psalm 147:12–20
Jeremiah 31:7–14
Ephesians 1:3–14
John 1:1–18
 
Theme: Dwelling in the Word: From Praise to Mystery
 
How to Use This Companion Guide
 
• This study follows the liturgical movement of worship.
• We begin with the Psalm, allowing praise to shape perception.
• Each text deepens the invitation rather than resolving meaning.
• Silence, reflection, and holy patience are essential practices.
 
I. Psalm 147:12–20
Praise as the First Way of Knowing
 
Why We Begin with the Psalm
Praise places us in right relationship before interpretation and assumes God is already at work.
 
Key Images
Gates strengthened, children blessed, broken hearts healed, God’s word sent swiftly.
 
Reflection Questions
Where have you noticed quiet forms of repair?
How does praise shape the way we listen?
 
 
II. Jeremiah 31:7–14
Joy That Comes After Rupture
 
Context
Spoken to a people shaped by exile and loss.
 
Theological Emphasis
God gathers the wounded and promises joy after devastation.
 
Reflection Questions
What losses remain beneath celebration?
Where do you long for consolation rather than explanation?
 
III. Ephesians 1:3–14
Chosen for Purpose, Not Privilege
 
Core Claim
We are chosen in Christ for participation in God’s work.
 
Key Themes
Blessing precedes achievement. Purpose precedes understanding.
 
Reflection Questions
What changes when life is already claimed by grace?
 
IV. John 1:1–18
The Word Who Dwells
 
What This Is
A cosmic announcement of God’s nearness.
 
Key Images
Word, Light, Life, Flesh, Glory, Dwelling.
 
Reflection Questions
Where might the Word be taking flesh in ordinary places?
 
Drawing the Threads Together
Praise opens perception. God gathers the wounded. Purpose claims us. Mystery dwells among us.
Christmas ends not with clarity, but with presence.
 
*Note on How to Receive the Gospel of John
As we come to the close of this study, it is important to remember that the opening of John’s Gospel speaks in a different register than most biblical texts. John is not trying to give us more information about Jesus, nor is he trying to settle our questions. He speaks in a way that invites us closer to God rather than explaining God from a distance. His language is meant to be lived with, prayed with, and trusted before it is fully understood. John does not rush us toward clarity. He assumes that some truths are too large to be grasped all at once and that knowing God often begins with being addressed by God. His words are meant to awaken recognition rather than provide instruction, helping us notice what has been present all along. In John’s telling, the mystery of God is not hidden away for a select few. It is offered openly, generously, and intimately. The Word comes near. The light shines in the darkness. God chooses to dwell, to make a home among us. This is not secret knowledge; it is relational knowing—the kind that grows through presence, trust, and attention. John invites us to rest inside the mystery rather than solve it. Faith often begins with wonder.
 

Bible Study Companion Guide
Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)
December 21, 2025
St. James Presbyterian Church,
, NYC
“Dawning with Power: Light and Blackness in Harmony”Advent Focus: Accepting to give birth to love is not easy—but it is worthwhile, and it is the only saving grace we have.Guiding Question for the WeekWhat does it cost to make room for love before the world is ready for it?
Opening Orientation
The Fourth Sunday of Advent draws us close to the mystery of incarnation—but not yet to celebration. This is a week of waiting under pressure.
The texts before us insist that God’s saving work does not arrive through clarity, control, or comfort—but through:
·       bodies that carry risk,
·       communities that pray from pain,
·       promises spoken in uncertainty,
·       and love that must be received before it is understood.
This study invites participants to consider how love is conceived, carried, and protected in the midst of darkness—and why this costly process remains humanity’s deepest hope.
Isaiah 7:10–16
Promise Conceived in the Middle of Fear
Textual Focus
Isaiah addresses a moment of political instability and anxiety. King Ahaz is threatened by surrounding powers. God responds not with strategy or force, but with a sign: a child—Emmanuel, “God with us.”
Key Theological Insight
God’s promise is born before conditions improve.
·       The sign is intimate, embodied, and vulnerable.
·       Hope arrives not as certainty, but as life still forming.
·       God chooses presence over prediction.
For communities shaped by struggle, this is a familiar truth: life is often carried in hostile conditions, and faith requires trust without assurance.
Discussion Questions
1.     Why might God choose a child—not power or protection—as a sign?
2.     What does it mean to trust God’s presence when circumstances remain unresolved?
3.     Where have you experienced hope that arrived before clarity?
 
Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19
A Cry for Orientation, Not Erasure
Textual Focus
Psalm 80 is a communal lament. The repeated plea—“Let your face shine”—is spoken from within suffering, not beyond it.
Key Theological Insight
The psalm does not ask God to destroy darkness, but to guide people through it.
In African American spiritual wisdom, darkness has often been:
·      shelter rather than threat,
·      preparation rather than punishment,
·      a place where God whispers rather than shouts.
Light, here, is not blinding—it is sufficient.
Discussion Questions
1.     What kind of light do people need when they are weary or disoriented?
2.     How does this psalm resist the idea that darkness equals evil?
3.     In what ways has your community learned to survive—and even grow—without full illumination?
Romans 1:1–7
The Gospel Rooted in Flesh and History
Textual Focus
Paul opens Romans by grounding the gospel in lineage, body, and time. Jesus is not abstracted from human reality but fully embedded within it.
Key Theological Insight
God’s saving power is revealed through commitment to embodied life.
·      The gospel honors flesh.
·      Salvation unfolds in history.
·      God does not avoid vulnerability.
This challenges any spirituality that treats bodies, suffering, or social conditions as secondary or disposable.
Discussion Questions
1.     Why is it important that the gospel begins with flesh and history?
2.     How does embodiment deepen our understanding of salvation?
3.     What does this mean for communities whose bodies and histories have been devalued?
Matthew 1:18–25
Love Announced in the Dark
Textual Focus
Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth unfolds quietly and at night. Revelation comes through dreams, not public spectacle.
Key Theological Insight
God entrusts the mystery of incarnation to hidden spaces:
·      dreams,
·      wombs,
·      silence,
·      waiting.
Love does not arrive loudly. It arrives asking for room.
This text invites reflection not on certainty, but on receptivity—the willingness to make space for God’s work before it is fully visible.
Discussion Questions
1.     Why might God choose dreams and night as the setting for revelation?
2.     What does this say about how God communicates with humanity?
3.     How do we learn to trust what is still forming?
Thematic Integration: Light and Blackness in Harmony
Taken together, these texts proclaim a mature Advent faith:
God’s promise is conceived in fear.
·      Prayer rises from within pain.
·      Salvation is rooted in flesh.
·      Revelation comes in darkness.
 
Core Affirmation
Light does not conquer darkness—it collaborates with it.
Darkness makes room for light;
Light honors what darkness held.
The womb is dark.
The dream is dark.
The night is dark.
And yes—this is where love is born.
 
Closing Reflection Practice
You are invited to reflect silently or in journaling:
·       What love am I being asked to carry before it is affirmed?
·       Where might God be working quietly in my life or community?
·       What does it mean to trust the dark places that hold becoming?
Closing Question for the Week
What would it look like to honor the slow, costly work of love as holy?
*Rev. Dr. McQueen’s Marginal NoteMatthew 1 also includes Joseph’s quiet decision to act mercifully even when the law permitted harm. His choice can be read as an example of righteousness that exceeds legality—a form of holy moral courage. While not the focus of this study, it offers an important ethical echo alongside the incarnation story. Keep this in mind as you hear of civil disobedience discourse.
Prepared by Rev. Derrick McQueen, Ph. D. ©December 15, 2025
Pastor, St. James Presbyterian Church

Bible Study Companion Guide Advent 2 for 12 07 2025 
St. James Presbyterian Church, Harlem, NYC
Theme: Peace That Grows Where We Least Expect It
(with the 2025 Advent arc: “In the Dark We Wait, In the Light We Rise”)
 
Introduction: Advent as Holy Anticipation
Advent continues in the deep places, where God’s promises take root before they are visible. This week’s scriptures teach us that:
• Peace is practiced, not passive.
• Hope grows in what looks like a stump.
• Wakefulness is a spiritual discipline.
• God often arrives through ordinary people and unnoticed moments.
We keep watch not to escape the darkness, but to discover what God is already growing within it.
 
1. Isaiah 11:1–10 — A Shoot from the Stump
Summary & Key Themes
Isaiah promises that new life will rise from what looks cut down. A tender shoot grows from a dead stump, and peace reshapes the world—predator and prey together, justice guiding leadership, healing reordering what once harmed.
 
Subtle Thematic Connection
In Advent, darkness is not the death of hope. It is the soil where hope germinates. God often begins renewal where we see only loss.
 
Questions for Reflection
• Where in your life does something feel like a stump?
• What small “shoots” of hope can you name today?
• What would peace look like if it were rooted in justice, not comfort?
 
Daily Practice
Spend one minute noticing something small but alive—new growth, breath, memory, desire. Let it remind you that God’s work begins quietly.
 
2. Psalm 72:1–7, 18–19 — Peace That Works for Justice
Summary & Key Themes
The psalm prays for leaders who protect the poor, deliver the vulnerable, and let peace “flourish” like rainfall.
 
Subtle Thematic Connection
Peace is not passive; it is practiced—in choices, policies, relationships. Advent asks us to embody the justice we pray for.
 
Questions for Reflection
• What does flourishing peace look like in your community
• How might you practice justice this week?
• Where is God inviting compassion in your daily life?
 
Daily Practice
Offer a simple prayer for one neighbor, block, or community need. Hold it before God without rushing.
 
3. Romans 15:4–13 — Hope That Welcomes
Summary & Key Themes
Paul describes a community sustained by Scripture, endurance, encouragement, and mutual welcome. Hope grows where people create space for one another.
 
Subtle Thematic Connection
God often arrives through ordinary welcome—the open-hearted act of making room.
 
Questions for Reflection
• Who has welcomed you in a way that revealed grace?
• Where might God be calling you to extend welcome?
• What strengthens your hope right now?
 
Daily Practice
Extend one act of welcome, greeting someone new, checking on a neighbor, sending a note of encouragement.
 
4. Matthew 3:1–12 — Wake Up and Prepare the Way
Summary & Key Themes
John the Baptist calls people to awaken and turn toward God. His voice in the wilderness prepares hearts for Christ’s arrival.
 
Subtle Thematic Connection
Wakefulness honors both darkness and dawn. We prepare not by prediction, but by openness to transformation.
 
Questions for Reflection
• What needs turning or releasing in you to make space for Christ?
• How do you stay spiritually awake?
• What “fruit of repentance” might look like in your relationships or community?
 
Daily Practice
At day’s end, ask: Where was I awake to God today? Where was I asleep?
 
Closing Prayer for the Week
Creator of new shoots and quiet beginnings, teach us to look for Your life in unlikely places. Open our eyes to peace that grows slowly, justice that takes practice, and hope that rises from the dark. Guide us into the light you are preparing. Amen.

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