Group Discussion Guide

Group Discussion Guide

1. Charlie loses her job and is forced to move back in with her grandmother. This could seem like an overwhelming loss, but—as Charlie will see—this is God opening a door for her. Can you think of a time when God, without your initial understanding, used the negative for a positive in your life?

2. Charlie has a beautiful memory of going with her parents to cut down a Christmas tree. Do you have any memories like these, either with your parents, your grandparents, or your children?

3. Charlie tends to shy away from “the classics.” Why do you think she does?

4. What is your favorite Christmas carol? Why is that one your favorite?

5. Charlie’s parents let her down in a significant way when she was a little girl. That disappointment carried on to her adulthood, which made it difficult for her to learn to trust her father, even though he had truly changed. What has God taught you about learning to trust those who have hurt you in the past?

6. Do you have a favorite Christmas ornament? What does it symbolize for you?

7. Charlie volunteers at the homeless shelter her father directs. What do you think she learned about herself and the homeless during that time?

8. What kind of volunteer work have you done? What did you learn from it?

9. Charles Dickens—called “that great Christian writer” by Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky—wrote some of the most beloved classics. These include The Adventures of Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and (of course) A Christmas Carol (to name a few). Do you have a favorite work of Dickens?

10. Ebenezer Scrooge said, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future! The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” What do you think he meant by that? What does it mean to you?