This study explores the contrast between the Tree of Life, which represents God’s invitation into trust, dependence, and flourishing, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which symbolizes the human impulse to define life on our own terms. In the garden, God places humanity before both trees, not as a trap, but as a choice. One path leads to life received; the other to life grasped.

We’ll reflect on what it means to turn toward the Tree of Life today: choosing God’s wisdom over self‑reliance, God’s boundaries over our own impulses, and God’s way of life over the illusion of control. This passage invites us to consider where we are feeding our souls, and how returning to the Tree of Life restores us to the life God intended from the beginning.

In this session, we explore the story of the risen Jesus walking with two discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus. Though they do not recognize Him at first, Jesus draws near, listens to their grief, and opens the Scriptures to them. This study invites us to see Jesus as the Friend who meets us in confusion and disappointment, walks beside us with patience, and reveals Himself in ways that rekindle hope.

In the Gospel story of Jesus’ birth, the magi bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, with myrrh foreshadowing suffering and death. At the cross, Jesus is again offered wine mixed with myrrh, a numbing drink meant to dull pain, and he refuses it, choosing to face suffering with full awareness and faithfulness. Together, these moments point to a Messiah who will not let death or pain have the final word, but instead embraces the cross to transform suffering into life.