The following outline and discussion questions have been prepared to accompany the sermon on December 8, “My Soul Magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46–56). The questions can be used for discussion in small groups or for personal reflection. 

Outline

1. Subject: My Soul/My Spirit
2. Action: Magnifies/Rejoices
3. Object: The Lord/God My Savior

Main Point: Joy in Christ is at the heart of Christmas. You cannot really respond rightly to Christmas without it. It would be like bread without flour or apple pie without apples, or a root beer float without root beer.

Discussion Questions

• What is the structure of Luke 1:26–56—the four movements of the text?
• In Luke 1:46–56, what is the outline of the message in terms of the grammar of worship—subject, action, object?
• Why is it significant that the subject is “my soul/my spirit”?
• What does it mean that the action of worship or the heart of worship is to magnify and to rejoice?
• Why is it significant that the object of all worship is God himself and not his gifts?
• What is the relationship between worship and spiritual health?

Application Questions

• C. S. Lewis observed that those who are healthiest worship most. Those who worship least are the least healthy—Lewis called them “the misfits and the cranks.” If worship is a mark of spiritual health, how healthy are you today? Assess and discuss. What steps can you take to grow in the spiritual health of worship?
• We are called to magnify the Lord and rejoice in the God of our salvation. How do you respond to hearing that the God of our salvation also rejoices in us? How do those two truths fit together in Christian hedonism’s insistence that God is the happiest of all beings? How does God’s joy come together with our joy in the gospel?
• What part of this sermon or passage do you need to share with others? Plan to share, and pray about who to it share with and when and how to share it.

Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God our Savior.