Bible Study During Advent

 

We look around us – things outside our immediate family and friends and things within our own circle of family and friends and community – and wonder “How does a weary world rejoice?”  A question that has been asked for centuries. 

 

Christ was born into a weary world. King Herod ruled the land with a legacy of ruthlessness. The Romans treated the people of Israel with contempt, imposing harsh taxes and land seizures that forced many into subsistence farming. Poverty and destitution were pervasive. And yet, Christ was born, bringing good news of great joy for all people.

 

This season, we invite you to look closely at the details in the opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke. Discover where joy is sprinkled throughout the narrative. Identify the moments when joy arrives—despite trepidation, fear, or grief. And consider how joy can be a companion to you this season, for our joy is rooted in the truth that we belong to God. Can you tether yourself to that deep truth? You deserve to feel joy—fully. The world needs your joy, even if you are weary.

 

This year we are providing a devotional that is designed to help you practice joy in a weary world. Each week offers art, reflections, poetry, and hymns. Journey through these pages at your own pace. May each week offer you rhythms for rejoicing—through acknowledging your weariness, finding joy in connection, allowing yourself to be amazed, singing stories of hope, making room, rooting yourself in ritual, and remembering your belovedness.

 

And so, this Advent, let us hold space for our weariness and our joy. Let us seek a “thrill of hope” in our hurting world. Let us welcome joy—even and especially if, like the prophet Isaiah, we cry out for comfort (Isaiah 40:1). In this weary world, may we find many ways to rejoice.

 

We invite you to join with others during this Advent journey on either Sunday at 9 AM (beginning December 3rd) in the Conference Room or Thursdays at 7 PM (beginning December 7th) via Zoom. We will gather for the four weeks of Advent sharing our experiences of hope, weariness, and joy as we read, reflect, and consider the Advent-Christmas story as written in the Gospel of Luke. 

 

Devotional books are available in the church office.  Please call with any questions. 

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