During advent, we look back to those waiting for the messiah. However, our current celebration of waiting is that he has already come into the mess to take up our pain and suffering. That requires faith during trying times of waiting, which brings hope that the arrival has happened. It also exemplifies God’s glory that came down to us in a way we least expected.

We often hear the word glory thrown around this time of year, but don't always understand its true meaning. When we see the glory of the lord descending down to the lowly shepherds announcing the arrival of the messiah, we see that God's power works through our individual stories.

Advent is the season of waiting for the arrival of the messiah. As we look back to the first coming of Jesus, that gives us hope for his future promise to return and make all things new. The challenge of looking back is understanding God is always doing something new and unexpected, so where do we look for hope when things don't turn out the way we expect? The answer isn't in looking to the majesty of Jesus, but instead looking to the manger–his humility. 

As we enter into a season of Advent - we join in human history celebrating a time of anticipation for the arrival of the messiah. In our time of waiting, we often find it difficult to keep faith when things around us seem to be crumbling, yet if we look to the Christmas story, we see what faith actually requires and how it helps us in times of need. 

In Luke Chapter 1, we see the how the faith of Mary guides us into relationship with Jesus. We see how even in times of doubt, God welcomes our questions, and we also see her response of humility. We know we can have faith because Christmas points to God with us, suffering alongside of us, and the promise of his coming back to make all things new. 

As we conclude our series on who we are to be now, as models of the city that Jesus promises upon his return, we look to how it is that we begin to do that. In a world that has become so divided, unity has to start with God who is communal in nature. That is where we draw power to be led by the spirit, guided by the love of Christ, in order to live a life of self-sacrifice. 

As we continue our series "City on a Hill," Joey helps us unpack the question: why are we as followers of Jesus supposed to be hospitable? As we dig deeper into scripture and the history of the Church, we see that it has always been a part of God's character to practice hospitality. God modeled that for us through his gospel as God became human in the person of Jesus, and died for us so we could experience life.  

Jesus calls his followers to be a City on a Hill–a light that reflects out into the world. That means that we are to be now, a model of what God promises will one day come when Jesus returns. 

We do that through learning how God prioritizes his love for the city throughout scripture. Specifically in Jeremiah we learn that we are to love the city through praying for and seeking prosperity and peace, but also not allow the city to fully influence us. We do that through how we relate to the city, and ultimately looking to the future hope that God promises to bring. 

God created with light, and dwelt amongst us through temple to bless us. We are to reflect his light back out to all the nations as a blessing to others. That calling is to be the city now, as a microcosm and model of what God will one day do when Jesus returns and his new city comes down to fully redeem us as we live within the new heavens and new earth fully with God. We have been given the tools through the Gospel to live that calling out eagerly.

As Tara concludes our series in Prayer, we look to the hope of God who is with us both as we pray for endurance, and also gives us the perseverance to continue praying. 

Presence is often something we take for granted until it's gone, but God gave us the gift of being proximate with each other. We feel that when we are together, but where is God in all of that?

When we look to the Biblical story, we see it's a story about the God of with. That even when we can't feel him, his promise is to draw near to us. As we experience his presence, it reveals the reality of our lives, but also always provides a way forward.

We are continuing in our Prayer series, and talking about the power that prayer brings. We are told in Genesis that God shares in his power with us, his human creation. Many times we think of power as ruling over, but when we look at how Jesus exercised his power we see he modeled power under through self-sacrifice. We are given power freely by God, but are we being filled by him in order to access his power and use it to further his kingdom.