My prayer for us all as we observe Advent together and as we prepare to gather with friends and family this holiday season is that we experience and recognize the hope that is Jesus. Christ, who came to the earth in the most humble of forms, to live a life full of hope for His people. For me. For you. May our weary souls rejoice. For we have a thrill of hope; a hope that is just what we need when we need it. A hope that anchors the soul and brings a new and glorious morn.

Hope is expectant, forward-looking faith, and in such trying times, it can be hard to hold onto hope. That's why we need to surround ourselves with supportive community—other Christians who can point us to our hope in Christ when our hope dims, and for whom we can do the same.

God’s love is generous. My Grammy and Papa taught me so much about what it means to be a generous person. Their generosity throughout my childhood taught me what it meant to become a generous adult. They never ran out of love for us kids, and apparently, that meant the Candy Drawer never ran out of candy, even after Christmas, and even into adulthood.

There are three functions that I want to encourage us in from our Scripture as we prepare ourselves for the message of hope throughout this week. Being a hope bringer, being a hope carrier, and a hope establisher.

Biblical peace is more than just the absence of conflict. As a follower of Jesus, peace is an intentional action toward restoration in humanity’s brokenness. It’s not something we can just conjure up or manipulate, but in reality, it’s something that can only be achieved by practicing peacemaking (not to be confused with peacekeeping) in community.

The word for peace in Hebrew that is used throughout Scripture is shalom. The “peace” that shalom is speaking of actually has less to do with happiness or calmness and more to do with wholeness and completeness.

Peace is not found in the experiences of your life or the lot that you have been given. Peace can only truly be felt deep in your soul. So, what does it mean to me to have soul-level peace?

The Advent season is a season of waiting. Waiting for the coming of the revelation of God Himself in human form. The revelation of salvation. The revelation of the fullness of God’s love, joy, hope, and peace. Peace. The anticipation of the coming of peace.

We begin a season called Advent and a series called God With Us. Over the next four weeks, we’re talking about peace, hope, love, and joy. I think we need more of all four.

The Spirit of God is looking to rest upon you and our calling is to yield to this, give up and allow full control so the Spirit may lead us and when we do we can find rest.