This Advent, as we prepare once again to receive the gift of Christ, may the stories of our community help us recognize the gifts God has already been giving us, and remind us that none of us walks through this life alone.
Advent begins in the dark, with people waiting and longing for something to change.
Hope does not ask us to pretend that everything is okay; it reminds us that even in our hardest seasons, God is still at work and our story is not finished.
Psalm 121:1-8
Psalm 21
Isaiah 41:14-20
Romans 8:24-26
Ruth 1:6-18
Psalm 146:5-10
1 Samuel 2:1-8
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Share a moment when you couldn't see a way forward. What—or who—helped you begin to believe there might still be a way?
When have you received hope through another person: a phone call, a meal, a prayer, an unexpected kindness, or simply someone staying beside you?
Think of a difficult season that didn't turn out the way you wanted. Where can you now see signs of hope that you couldn't see while you were living through it?
Sometimes despair doesn’t announce itself. It just shows up as staying in bed too long, or dreading the sound of your own phone. What was the small, unglamorous sign that hope was creeping back in?
Advent can arrive in the middle of very unpeaceful lives, like full calendars, uncertain futures, difficult relationships, and worries we cannot simply set aside.
Into that very real world, Christ comes offering a peace that does not depend upon everything around us being settled.
John 14:27
Psalm 124
Philippians 4:4-7
Isaiah 54:1-10
Isaiah 4:2-6
Luke 12:22-43
Isaiah 30:19-26
“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”
John F. Kennedy
Tell about a time when you were waiting for something you couldn't control—a decision, test result, change, answer, or outcome. Where did you find moments of peace in the waiting?
When has a person, place, prayer, practice, song, or scripture helped quiet the noise inside you, even if your circumstances didn't change?
Think of a time when you finally let go of something you had been trying hard to control. What happened when you loosened your grip?
Picture the specific place your anxiety used to live — the tight chest before a meeting, the racing thoughts at 2 a.m. Was there an ordinary moment, not a dramatic one, when peace just quietly moved in instead?
Advent makes room for both longing and celebration, reminding us that sorrow and joy can exist side by side.
The gift of joy does not erase what we have lost; sometimes it arrives quietly in a laugh we didn't expect, a person who understands, or a moment that reminds us that life still holds goodness.
Psalm 30
Psalm 42
John 10:10
Psalm 80:1-7
Ezekial 47:1-12
Revelation 21:3-4
Revelation 21:5-7
“It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it.”
Amelia Barr
Tell about the first moment you remember laughing, smiling, or noticing something beautiful during or after a season of sorrow. What made that moment meaningful?
When has joy surprised you in the middle of grief rather than waiting for the grief to end?
Think of something you lost or had to let go of. How has love, gratitude, a new relationship, or an unexpected experience allowed joy to grow alongside that loss?
Sorrow can make it hard to believe joy is coming again, but God has a habit of surprising us right in the middle of the ache. When did you feel God’s hand nudging your sorrow toward joy, maybe even before you were ready for it?
The Christmas story is filled with people facing uncertainty and hearing the words, “Do not be afraid.”
Advent invites us to notice where fear shapes our choices and relationships, and where God's love gives us the courage to move toward one another instead of away.
1 John 4:7-19
Psalm 33
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 145
Psalm 147
Psalm 102
John 15:12-17
“Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.”
Emily Dickinson
We all have someone we were afraid to trust, forgive, or truly see. What changed the fear into love, and who share that love first?
When have you been afraid to show up, speak honestly, ask for help, or let yourself be known? Share a time when you did it anyway and someone responded with love.
Think of a time when love helped you do something you were afraid to do: forgive, reach out, welcome someone, stand beside someone, or try again. What gave you courage?
Fear tells us to protect ourselves and keep our distance; God tells us we are already held. Describe the moment God’s love broke through helped you do something you were afraid to do: forgive, reach out, welcome someone, stand beside someone, or try again. What gave you courage to take a step you didn’t think you could?
Advent begins with darkness and moves toward the light of Christ entering the world.
Sometimes that light arrives dramatically, but often it is more like a candle in a dark room with just enough light to help us see where we are, recognize that we are not alone, and take the next step.
Isaiah 9:2-7
John 1:1-5
Psalm 18:28
Micah 7:8
Matthew 4:16
2 Corinthians 5:6-7
"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
Aristotle
Tell about a small light that appeared during a dark time - a person, conversation, prayer, unexpected opportunity, ordinary routine, or moment of beauty. Why did it matter?
When have you realized, perhaps only afterward, that God was present during a time when God had seemed absent?
Think of a time when you didn't suddenly have all the answers, but you had enough light for the next step. What was that step, and where did it lead?
Even in our darkest stretches, God doesn’t leave us to find our own way out. Christ’s light finds us first. What did it look like when God’s light broke into your darkness, and how did it change your next step?
Advent reminds us that God chose to enter an ordinary human life, giving sacred meaning to ordinary places, relationships, and work.
When we wonder whether what we do matters or where our lives are headed, God can meet us there and help us discover purpose, sometimes in a new direction and sometimes in seeing what is already before us differently.
Jeremiah 29:11
1 Peter 2:9
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Matthew 28:19-20
Romans 8:28
Matthew 5:13-16
Ezekiel 34:11-16
"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Tell about a time when a change you didn't choose (a move, retirement, empty nest, job change, divorce, loss, failure, or unexpected detour) left you wondering what came next. Where did you eventually discover meaning?
When life feels aimless, God is often already at work, weaving a purpose we can’t yet see. Write about the moment you recognized God calling you toward something meaningful in the middle of feeling lost.
When has an ordinary responsibility—caring for someone, showing up, listening, volunteering, working, parenting, befriending a neighbor—turned out to matter more than you realized?
Think of a time when something that initially felt like a wrong turn became part of your purpose. What can you see now that you couldn't see then?