Description
This week marks the beginning of Advent, a season of waiting, anticipation, and preparation as we journey towards the coming of Jesus.
Over the coming weeks, these resources will invite us to notice where God is at work in our world, bringing hope, peace, joy, and love, and to consider how we might join in that work. This week, we begin by exploring the theme of ‘hope in the mess’.
The world can feel messy. Conflict, injustice, division, uncertainty, grief, and suffering can leave us wondering where hope can be found. Advent doesn’t ask us to ignore the mess or pretend that everything is okay. Instead, it invites us to look honestly at the world while remembering that God is present within it. Christian hope is not simply wishful thinking; it is a confident trust that God is at work, bringing renewal and new life.
This week’s Bible readings hold together the tension between the mess of the past and present, and the hope of what God is doing and will do. The readings remind us to stay awake, pay attention, and live differently because God is coming.
Through four activities of reflection, creativity, prayer, and action, we will explore the messiness of our world, notice signs of hope, and consider how we can become people who carry God’s hope into the places that need it most.
