¡Celebration!

While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. Song of Songs 1:12

December ~¡Celebration!~

Waiting; Advent; Look Back; Look Forward

Scripture-based exploration Blue Book chapters: Joy and Celebration, Home, The Dance, Listening to GodThe story of John the Baptist’s birth, Luke 1:5-25, 39-45, 57-80The story of Jesus’ birth, Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-56, 2:1-20, John 1:1-14The story of the Wise Men, Matthew 2:1-12The story of Anna and Simeon, Luke 2: 21-40

Non-Scripture readingsWatch and Wait, Jim BranchThe Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas, Ann Voskamp Behold the Lamb, Russ RamseyAbide, Macrina Wiederkehr

OnlineThe Bible Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OLezoUvOEQ on the birth of Jesus (5:05 minutes)The Bible Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLYORLZOaZE on Shalom (3:48 minutes)

Artwork for the creativesThrough your medium of artwork, create a scene from the birth of Christ.Scroll through an art book on Christ’s birth. Note how the artist creates Mary’s expressions.

MoviesThe Nativity Story (2006) - IMDb www.imdb.com/title/tt0762121/ Rating: 6.8/10 - 8,704 votesA drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph's life where they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

MusicThere are so many Christmas carols! From old favorites to your contemporary hits, make some time to worship using music during this season. We suggest adding these to your playlist:At the Table - Josh GarrelsBehold the Lamb (whole album) - Andrew PetersonWe've Been Waiting - All RogersBorn to Bleed - Ed Cash, Allen Levi, Bebo Norman

QuestionsIn what way is God birthing Jesus afresh in you this Advent season?

Which “Christmas character” are you most like: Mary (open and in ponderous awe), Joseph (resistant, then supportive), the Wise men (earnestly seeking Jesus), Elizabeth (super perceptive and full of celebration), Zechariah (a skeptic who is won over), the Shepherds (watching and wondering, willing to leave to find Jesus)?

Jesus was born quietly and humbly. Are you so busy this season that you are missing His quiet, humble ways?

Week One: Waiting (Summers)During this season of Advent, we have an invitation to enter into a season of waiting. Watching and eagerly awaiting the coming of Christ. The word advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” Christ is coming. God’s way of breaking into our world is coming.

God’s people in the Old Testament watched and waited for 400 years. They rested on the promises of the prophets, prophesies that assured them that Christ the Messiah would in fact come. Imagine for a minute what that 400 years of waiting would feel like. Passing down the hope of the promises generation by generation, yet not seeing or hearing anything for 400 years. Like the game of telephone, I wonder if the hope got slightly less and less through the years. If the waiting got slightly more weary generation after generation.

We live on the other side of the waiting. Jesus has come as was promised. We now are able to receive the gift of waiting for him to come again as he promised. And during this season of Advent, we wait to receive Immanuel, God with us, this Christmas. So what does this waiting look like?

Waiting requires being still and quiet. This is a season of intense busyness, isn’t it? I find myself inundated with bustling activities and festive parties and lists of gifts to buy. It’s nearly impossible to find times of quiet and stillness. And yet we must. If we enter into the busyness and distractions, we might miss the quiet arrival of Christ. Our King didn’t come with trumpets blaring, but instead slipped into this world on a quiet night among barn animals. Our God was not in the fire or the earthquake, but instead showed up with the sound of a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12). A Christmas card I received years ago says it well: "If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things, if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch the stars as did the Shepherds? Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary?" Our waiting requires that we find pockets of quiet times to reflect and listen so that we don’t miss the Living God. Times when we pay attention, our ears attuned, our posture leaning forward to hear and see.

Waiting requires being expectant and hopeful. As believers and followers of God, we wait in full confidence that God is coming, that God is working. We wait with the hope that something is happening, that God is present. God is in the business of showing up. He is a God who comes to us, who is coming to us even now. “It’s not a matter of if, but rather a question of when and where and how” (Jim Branch, Watch and Wait). We must remain alert and poised on the edge of our seats, ready to receive him. Psalm 130:5-6 tells us, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.” The psalmist describes this active and eager waiting on the Lord, waiting with the same confidence that we have that the morning will come after the night. We, too, must wait with hope and confidence, expecting that the Lord is coming to work in us and through us.

Waiting requires a posture of openness. Simply put, we must open ourselves up to receive God. When the angel appeared to Mary to inform her that she would carry and give birth to the Son of God, she replied with a posture of openness: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). Let’s stop and take this in. This young, unmarried girl was just told that she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit and birth the Son of God. This risked complete and utter disaster for an unwed girl. And yet Mary responded with obedience and openness. She opened herself up -- her hands, her heart, her very life -- to the will of the Father. She held herself in an open and vulnerable position, totally willing to be open to however the Lord chose to use her. “It is a frightening posture to hold, unless the one that you hold it for is utterly loving and trustworthy” (Jim Branch). We, too, are called to open ourselves up, knowing that we serve a good and faithful and loving God. We are to live openly, to give God our time, our space, our energy, so that he can do something within us. So that he can birth something in us and through us. For our sake and for the sake of the world around us.

May we wait well this Advent season. Wait in stillness and quiet. Wait with expectancy and hope. And wait with openness.

Week Two: A Pair of Fours (Suzanne) The First “Four” in Movements: The Advent Symphony

The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save… He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

I learned from author Jim Branch that Advent comes in movements like a profoundly moving symphony. The music moves in and out of emotions ranging from mournful cries to sweeping victories, as does the gospel.

Imagine first the silence; the silence between testaments, four hundred years of waiting on tiptoe for the Lord of All to renew life and bring hope. Where is He? Our hearts learn to hold space for the sound of the Master’s voice, to pay attention, to wait for Him.

Movement One, Reality and NeedThen there is a singular sound that breaks the silence, the sound of the Old Testament prophets testifying that the Christ is coming, that He is real, that He saves, that He is God’s Man on and for the salvation of earth. Emmanuel, God with us, is coming!

A tremendous expectation seizes us, because during our silence we have come to terms with our humanity: all is not well. We look around and see how fallen we are: wars, discord, death, manipulation, lies, brokenness, self-centered living. We are homesick for heaven. How desperately we need a Savior, and how we long for Him! Will He come today? The prophets bring us hope, expectation, and God’s faithfulness.

Movement Two, YES and RescueGod chooses Mary and Joseph to participate in His grand rescue of the cosmos. Their YES to being a part of the mystery of God’s salvation costs them greatly, but they choose to give their lives away, and sacrifice their plans and dreams. In them we see the truth that when we lose our lives, we find them.

The cadence and tones become more rich as the YES of Mary and Joseph swirls upward to the YES of heaven, and salvation takes form in a young woman’s womb.

Movement Three, Hidden and HallelujahHarmonies burst through the usual veil between heaven and earth, and the skies are full of the song of life: Jesus the Messiah is born, hidden and small in a manger! Irony of ironies, God comes as a baby. The fanfare comes in the middle of the night as sweat drips down Mary’s brow and birth-blood drips from Joseph’s hands. No one is watching save the animals and the angels.

Lowly shepherds are the receivers of heavenly heralds’ singing of hope and hallelujah. These are ordinary men, not kings; workers in fields, not politicians in halls of power. Yet they are the ones with the capacity to wonder, to run, to see for themselves that Jesus is real and God’s care has come.

The star lights their way, and they navigate through the night to find the Light of the World.

Movement Four, Here and HopeChoruses crescendo and boldly proclaim the mystery of the God who comes to rescue sons and daughters of Adam who have lost their way. Our immortal, invisible, intangible Father becomes synapses and sinew, beating heart and boney hands. Jesus is a living invitation from the Father, summoning us to forsake our sin and rest in the grace and truth of God. He sings over us, welcoming us into the security and mission of being His child.

Listen. Still yourself. Enter into the sweet heavenly song playing this Advent.

The Second “Four”: The Advent Killers

One of my long-distance mentors is author Pete Scazzero. I loved what he wrote last year about his top four Advent killers: anxiety, rushing, ignoring God’s limits, and forgetting the mustard seed. I really appreciate the fact that he also wrote out a simple antidote for each one. See if this helps you as it did me.

1 Anxiety. After thirty years of pastoring, I can now say with authority: “The growth and vitality of your ministry is not dependent on the Christmas season.” It depends on God and how you lead throughout the year. Our anxiety keeps us busy. Hilary of Tours, a bishop from the 4th century, said it best: Busyness is "a blasphemous anxiety to do God’s work for him.” How much of your busyness is really about your anxiety? 

Antidote: Relax

2 Rushing. The one who hurries delays the things of God (Vincent de Paul). Rushing is violent to your soul, to those you love, and to those you aim to serve. Ask yourself: “What am doing that God may not be asking me to do?” What good is it to gain the world and lose your soul? If you are married with children, is it God’s will that they get your leftovers? That you return home often depleted – emotionally, physically, and spiritually? How might you be rushing through Advent? 

Antidote: Slow down and be silent before Him.

3 Ignoring God’s Limits.  Hosting. Decorating, Gift giving. Additional church services. Parties. Pastoral emergencies. Leading. The list is endless. When we violate and cross the line of God’s limits for us, we end up weary. Very weary. Only God is God. We are not. John the Baptist said it best: “A person can receive only what is given to him/her from heaven” (Jn. 3:27). Our limits of time, energy, intellect, spiritual fullness, etc. are His gifts to us. What red lights might you be driving through today?  

Antidote: Receive your limits as a gift. 

4 Forgetting the Mustard Seed. Jesus repeatedly described the nature of his kingdom using agricultural images like the mustard seed. No matter how hard we work, even if it is 60-80 hours a week, a plant can only grow so quickly. We may water and weed the plant, but only God gives the increase. And he does that very slowly – like a mustard seed. Even a Pentecostal outpouring is always followed by the hard work of discipleship and tending to the seeds He has planted. 

Antidote: Remember God’s ways.

Week Three: Looking Back (Suzanne) I find it’s a healthy process to look back over our year in the company of the Holy Spirit and hear what He has to say. Learning to hear Him is like relishing a fine wine or lingering over stimulating conversation or appreciating a piece of fine artwork … it takes time and intention. It’s valuable and worthy. Most of the time for me, it takes a period of quiet.

How do we do that? I recommend that you gather journals or calendars or daytimers or checkbooks or your phone calendar — whatever you use to organize your life. Using those, trace back through your year. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you be discerning and perceptive, then begin.

I might ask myself, “What was January 2017 like? What did I do? Where was I? How would I describe the shape my heart was in?” I would be attentive to the Holy Spirit — what is He prompting me to think about or drawing my attention to? In what way is He encouraging me?

Continue to do this through each month, or try doing it by seasons. How was the summer of 2017 for you? With whom were you in relationship, and how did that work? How was your job? Keep going in this manner. Let the Holy Spirit help you by bringing questions to your mind.

As you go through your year, write down any major lessons, questions, warnings, or truths that were important to you. You can use those words as a code: L for lessons, Q for questions, etc.

You may notice your mood shifting or swinging as you do this exercise. Pay attention to it: write down those words too.

When I bake sourdough bread, I use a starter. It’s a mixture of water, sugar, starch, and ancient yeast. To begin, I put the starter jar on my counter and let it come to room temperature. I add ingredients to help the yeast feed, then let it sit all day. By the end of the day, the mixture is active: bubbling, blooming, changing, moving. There is usually a band of bubbles that rise to the top. At that point I know it’s time to make the bread.

This process is similar. While you’re praying through your year, certain things within you will bubble and stir and move. This is so normal and healthy; keep at it. You may see that you have a pattern of failure in a certain area and that you have a pattern of strength in another. You may see how a relationship has become more rich and deep, or how you didn’t spend money wisely, or that you are too busy in the fall, or that you love early morning time with Jesus and your Bible, or that you let your calendar rule your life instead of God. Pay attention: what is the Holy Spirit saying?

Let me clearly say this: the voice of the Holy Spirit is not condemning, though it is convicting. Satan and self condemn; God convicts. God is crisp and clean like a surgeon removing a tumor (a tumor representing sin); He is not cruel; He is kind and firm. He is holy, so He hates sin; He is kind, so He loves us. This incredible dichotomy is the reason for the gospel: Jesus came to satisfy God’s wrath and love at the same time, on the cross. So don’t buy into a malevolent voice that twists and harms; that’s not God. God calls you up to His side. God wants you close like a loving father who snuggles his children near, but is not afraid to confront sin or warn, like a loving father who cares for his children.

So: What is rising to the top of your life? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

Finish this exercise by creating a poster or page or canvas with your major lessons, questions, warnings, and truths for 2017. Then add another page or paragraph: what are your hopes for 2018? What have you learned from 2017 that you’d like to take into 2018?

Post that on your mirror and pray into it during 2018.

Week Four: Looking Forward (Rebekah) I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. Well, to be honest, I like to make the list of resolutions but I’m horrible about completing/accomplishing them. So since I have discovered that I have such difficulty keeping the resolutions, I have developed a dislike of the ritual. However, several years ago a group of ladies welcomed me into their small group and introduced me to a new idea. They had read a book a few years earlier - it might have been Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gift, but I am not entirely sure. Whatever the book, they had been struck with the idea of having a word or phrase or verse of scripture (I’m just going to use ‘word’ from now on for all three possibilities) that would define the year ahead for them. This was a new concept for me. I had often reflected on a year as it was closing and pondered how I would describe the year. But I had never thought about going into a new year with a word already in mind. A word that the Lord had given me - not necessarily a word about something I was wanting to do better or accomplish. Those are great words too, but not what I want us to focus on. The type of word I’m talking about is whispered over and over again into our ears and heart.

That first year with those ladies, I wasn’t really certain what word I would choose. And right there was my problem. I thought I had to choose a word. And choose the “right” word. In reality what I needed to do was to ask the Lord for the word He had for me. And then to listen. So I asked. And I waited. And I waited. But honestly didn’t put that much thought or energy into it after the first asking. Then towards the end of January, I

noticed a word kept popping up in conversations, books, articles, and scripture I read. And I realized I knew the meaning of the word, but I didn’t fully understand it. So I claimed that word for the year. I dug into the word and began listening to how the Lord was teaching me about Himself through this word. Is this the way you’re supposed to find your word? I’m not sure there is a prescribed manner in which you should go about discovering your word. But over the past several years I have discovered more about this ancient tradition of asking the Lord for a word and have developed rhythms in order to contemplate and listen to what word the Lord is whispering into my heart for the year ahead.

I have discovered that in order to be attentively listening, especially in the month of December, I have to make it a priority to ask the Lord daily about this word. I often begin on the day after Christmas. Because honestly, isn’t that the first day we can even acknowledge that the new year is almost upon us, it’s only a week away! I then set aside the next 10 days to two weeks to pray, listen, and discover what word is breaking through. I try to do something different each day in order to prayerfully listen and observe and as the days go by to confirm that the word resonates within me.

One of the deep thinkers who has helped me to develop these rhythms is Christine Valters Paintner who is a writer, poet and part of Abbey of the Arts (abbeyofthearts.com). She had taught me that this practice of asking the Lord for a specific word can be traced back to the desert fathers and mothers. They would go into the desert to find a place where they could be fully present to God and to their own inner struggles. The desert became a place to enter into the Refiner's fire and be stripped down. The desert was a threshold place where you emerged different than when you entered, a liminal place. This practice is connected to lectio divina (divine reading) which is a traditional Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word. It does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as the Living Word. We approach scripture with the same request – "give me a word" – something to nourish me, challenge me, a word I can wrestle with and grow into. Asking the Lord for a word, for the year, allows us to pause at the threshold before crossing into a new year, and ask for a word of guidance for the season ahead. I invite you all to think of the two weeks of contemplation and listening as your time in the desert, where you ask the Lord to refine you and give you a word for the year to come. This word will be something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months to come. The word offered will be something that will help to usher you toward the next threshold of awareness in your life, a journey deeper into the mysteries of knowing and loving God more fully and knowing yourself.

Ask the Lord for a word, listen for that word, discover the word, experience the word. These are the “steps”. But how do we go about it? First of all, surrender into a place of deep trust and receptivity. What if I trusted that a word would come when the time was ripe? What if I let go of the need to find something for myself and opened myself to receive what comes? If you find yourself obsessing over the “right” word (as I often do), it is time to breathe and let go. Trust that the Lord will bring the word at the right time. Pay attention to patterns and repetitions around you. Listen for images which make your heart stir with delight. Notice what is making you uncomfortable, calling you to grow beyond the known edges of your life. These are the places where your word will make itself known. Eventually. For some of you the word may come right away, but some of you may find the process much slower. I believe last year I was still asking and wondering toward the end of January. Trust that perhaps it is the waiting itself that you are perhaps to be learning first and foremost. You will often know the word through an intuitive experience, an inner sense of Yes. The word is one that will work in you (rather than you working on it). Remember that a word that creates a sense of inner resistance is as important to pay attention to as one that has a great deal of resonance.

Take some time for prayer. In your imagination review this last year. As you walk through your experiences notice which ones stand out, call to you for more attention. There may be more than one, but for this time of prayer select one of them (and you can return to others in future times of prayer). Enter into it with all of your senses; what sounds were there, what smells, what textures can you feel with your (memory) fingertips, what do you see (who is there with you?), any tastes? Remember and bring it in all of its details before the Lord. Experience it from this place you are in now. Ask Him to speak to you through this particular event. Notice if there is a word or phrase which rises up (this may not be “the word” so release the pressure). Then allow that word to unfold in your imagination and welcome in images, feelings, and memories which stir in you. After a

time of making space for these, begin to ask the Lord what is the invitation or call rising up from these noticings? Where is God calling you to a new awareness or action in your life? Close with a period of silence. Then allow some time to journal about what you discovered.

Try going for a contemplative walk. Tempest Williams in her book Finding Beauty in a Broken World, goes to the sea and asks: “Give me one wild word.” This world is full of beauty. And that beauty shouts and whispers of the glory of God. Go out and see it. Experience it. A contemplative walk is a walk when you are not trying to get anywhere. You are not exercising or trying to get your heart rate up - although those are great secondary results. Your sole purpose is to be as present as possible to each footfall. Listen for how your inner life is connecting with the Creator in the world around you. Be present to the gifts of creation around you. Listen to the birds and squirrels, maybe they might have something to teach you. Notice the colors and the temperature. Notice the trees reaching their empty limbs up into the sky in worship of their Creator (as Macrina Wiederkehr says). Ask for a wild word. Allow the word to move you beyond the boundaries of your expectations and call you to a place of freedom. Listen to His voice as you move your body (that He created) through His creation. Try listening intentionally to your dreams in the coming nights. As you go to sleep, lay a piece of paper and pen next to your bed. You might even ask the Lord explicitly for a word to be revealed through night wisdom and see what happens, accepting if your dreams seem silent on the matter. If you wake in the night after a dream, make note of it on the paper, for examination in the morning. Consider strong dream images as possible words calling to you. Pay attention to similar themes and images that follow from dreams throughout the day.  Are there images or words which seem to repeat themselves? If so, take note. In your journal, have a dialogue with the Lord concerning different dream images.  Ask Him what word these dreams are expressing to you for the year ahead.Think about approaching a great (soul) friend, a spiritual director, or a wise elder for help with your word, as in the desert tradition. They might need some time to ponder this with you. This trusted companion can help you discern what you are hearing. And assist you in listening. Maybe they are able to ask you questions that you are unable to ask yourself. Perhaps this is something you can do WITH one another in your group. Listen together. Especially if you feel you are not hearing the Lord or your word clearly.  Ask your sisters to listen and pray with and for you.  It is always wise to consult with a soul companion or community when testing the fruits of prayer.

If you hear a word calling, sit with it for a couple of days. Let it ripen like a good piece of fruit. Repeat the word to yourself throughout your day. Tape it to your mirror so you see it daily. Ask the Lord if this is your word. Listen attentively to the stirrings of your heart in response. Eventually there will be a tugging inside of you, where you feel yourself drawn again and again to this word. Allow yourself to be in a space of unknowing, a place of questing. Practice being present to your anticipation, knowing that things of the Lord unfold in His time. This is a journey of transformation and the word may not make immediate sense to you, but trust that over time the Lord will reveal more of its meaning.

If your word has arrived consider exploring it through a visual medium. (And if it hasn’t yet shown up, can you sit with the discomfort of waiting and not knowing? Continue to ask, listen, observe). Go on a photo pilgrimage, which is essentially a contemplative walk with a camera. Hold the word in your heart and look for images along the way which somehow speak to its meaning. Try not to plan or figure out the images you will capture beforehand, but allow the images to find you. Maybe create a collage from magazine images that express the word to you. Perhaps make a word cloud (https://www.wordclouds.com or http://www.wordle.net) with the word the Lord has given you in the middle and it's synonyms. Do a word/topic search on biblegateway.com to see what scriptures pertain to your word (if this applies). These practices can help you to get a fuller understanding of the word.

Once the Lord has revealed a word to you, consider if there is a spiritual practice which would help you to tend its unfolding in your soul for the year ahead. Keep it simple. The practice might be to do less of something—like watching TV—and to do more of something—like spending time in silence. How does your word impact your daily life? How can you learn and understand the word more throughout the year? Commit to one regular practice which deepens your experience of this word, something that will help support you in creating space for

your own continued growth. Mark regular times of reflection on your calendar to look back and notice movements; every 6-8 weeks is usually a good time frame. Put this on your calendar, otherwise it will not happen. During your scheduled times of reflection, ask yourself: how do I understand this word more than I did before? Am I aware of the word throughout the days/weeks? How am I aware? How is the Lord coming to me through this word? How is the spiritual practice(s) deepening my love and worship of the Lord? In what ways do I want to engage with the word in the coming weeks?

Work on increasing your understanding of your word by seeking out a spiritual teacher/mentor or author you can explore this coming year. Find someone who will support you in understanding this word and growing in relationship with the Lord. There are so many wonderful authors and poets and other artists; not to mention wise mentors/counselors around. Use these resources to develop your heart and soul (maybe some of the books suggested throughout the At the Table curriculum). Sometimes diving deep with one word or idea is just what our heart needs to deepen and root itself firmly in God’s love. Maybe there is an author whose work has been calling to you. Choose one and then read everything you can about them and let them be a companion through the year ahead, a guide to your growing awareness of how the Lord is calling you forward across the threshold, into something new.

As you cross over the threshold into the new year, try something really different for yourself. Maybe it’s painting your word, or your experience with the word at one of your times of reflection. Or write a poem that is inspired by your word. A simple form to use is the acrostic: you write the word vertically on a page and then allow the letters to form the first letter of each line. Engage with the word and notice how the Lord brings it into conversations. Notice how He is teaching you through the word, how He is drawing you ever closer and deeper into Himself. And in this year to come, in all that you do, may your prayer be what mine is:

“Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?— and treat your servants with kindness for a change. Surprise us with love at

daybreak; then we’ll skip and dance all the day long. Make up for the bad times with some good times; we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime. Let your servants see what You’re best at— the ways You rule and bless Your children. And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,

confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!” (Psalm 90:12 MSG).

What if my Group can’t do all this stuff? The short version

Week One: Waiting (Summers)During this season of Advent, we have an invitation to enter into a season of waiting. Watching and eagerly awaiting the coming of Christ. The word advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” Christ is coming. God’s way of breaking into our world is coming.

We live on the other side of the waiting. Jesus has come as was promised. We now are able to receive the gift of waiting for him to come again as he promised. And during this season of Advent, we wait to receive Immanuel, God with us, this Christmas. So what does this waiting look like? Read what Summers thinks and discuss it with your group.

Waiting requires a posture of openness. Simply put, we must open ourselves up to receive God. When the angel appeared to Mary to inform her that she would carry and give birth to the Son of God, she replied with a posture of openness: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). Let’s stop and take this in. This young, unmarried girl was just told that she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit and birth the Son of God. This risked complete and utter disaster for an unwed girl. And yet Mary responded with

obedience and openness. She opened herself up -- her hands, her heart, her very life -- to the will of the Father. She held herself in an open and vulnerable position, totally willing to be open to however the Lord chose to use her. “It is a frightening posture to hold, unless the one that you hold it for is utterly loving and trustworthy” (Jim Branch). We, too, are called to open ourselves up, knowing that we serve a good and faithful and loving God. We are to live openly, to give God our time, our space, our energy, so that he can do something within us. So that he can birth something in us and through us. For our sake and for the sake of the world around us. ORWatch The Nativity Story (2006) - IMDb www.imdb.com/title/tt0762121/ Rating: 6.8/10 - 8,704 votesA drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph's life where they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

Week Two: A Pair of Fours (Suzanne) Look at Pete Scazzero’s "top Advent killers” list. Find what you are most tempted by; how are you going to stare that temptation down and stay in the peace of Christ this Advent?

Week Three: Looking Back (Suzanne) Watch The Bible Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OLezoUvOEQ on the birth of Jesus (5:05 minutes). Discuss the story together.

Week Four: Looking Forward (Rebekah) Listen for what word God is giving you for this year. Read through what Rebekah wrote about this process:

“That first year with those ladies, I wasn’t really certain what word I would choose. And right there was my problem. I thought I had to choose a word. And choose the “right” word. In reality what I needed to do was to ask the Lord for the word He had for me. And then to listen. So I asked. And I waited. And I waited. But honestly didn’t put that much thought or energy into it after the first asking. Then towards the end of January, I noticed a word kept popping up in conversations, books, articles, and scripture I read. And I realized I knew the meaning of the word, but I didn’t fully understand it. So I claimed that word for the year. I dug into the word and began listening to how the Lord was teaching me about Himself through this word. Is this the way you’re supposed to find your word? I’m not sure there is a prescribed manner in which you should go about discovering your word. But over the past several years I have discovered more about this ancient tradition of asking the Lord for a word and have developed rhythms in order to contemplate and listen to what word the Lord is whispering into my heart for the year ahead.”

Merry Christmas!