Advent Guide
Advent brings meaning and depth to Christmas
Journey with us each week as we light the candles at our 10:30am Sunday gatherings. We also invite you to light the candles each day in your homes and engage the four themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love through scripture readings and questions to ponder found in the guide below. Join us Christmas Eve 6pm for the lighting of the final center candle called the Christ candle.
The CANDLES + DEVO
As Grace & Peace continues to live as a church without walls, it is important to have ways to feel connected to one another, to feel like we belong, that we are still a community together. The season of Advent invites us to immerse ourselves in the story of God’s people as they eagerly awaited their coming King. It also challenges us in the present to cast our imaginations forward to the day when Jesus finally brings His kingdom here to Earth in its fullness.
SCRIPTURE READING
These selected scriptures and action steps can help us establish rhythms and habits that shape us inwardly as well as outwardly in our walk with God.
We recommend marking specific times in your day to light the candles, read and meditate on the scripture, and live out the action steps throughout your week.
Setting Up Your Advent Wreath
- Find five candles - ideally one candle should be larger than the other four, but any candles will do. - Arrange the candles in a circle with the larger candle in the center
- For each night of Advent, light one candle corresponding to each theme
- The final candle gets lit on Christmas eve as a community.
Devotional
Each week includes one theme verse for the entire week as well as suggested daily readings.
Begin with Prayer. Before reading the scriptures or doing the action steps -- acknowledge and invite God through prayer. If you’re unsure what to pray -- you can use the following prayer as a guide:
Our Father in Heaven, thank You for the gift of scripture. Use it to open the eyes of our hearts, so that we would not only hear these words, but allow them to transform our lives, inside and out. In reading Your word, help us to feel a deeper sense of the unfathomable love You have for us, and help us to share that love with everyone around us. We pray these things in the name of Your Son, Jesus, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, Amen
Guided Questions
After reading each verse, take time to reflect and discuss the following questions:
What has this scripture taught you about who God is?
What did this scripture teach you about yourself in the story of God? What would it look like to begin living this out in my daily life?
These questions are just a jumping off point.
Feel free to let the conversations around these scriptures and actions steps grow as you feel led.
Share
In order to inspire and encourage our broader community, be sure to follow Grace and Peace Church on Instagram and Facebook and post photos of your Advent Wreath, or you and your family spending time together participating in either the devotionals or the action steps!
Be sure to use the hashtag #graceandpeaceonearth and tag @graceandpeacechurch
Advent Week 2; PEACE
If inside, you feel anxiety, worry, conflict -- we invite you to be still, breathe in, and experience God’s peace which he offers to you freely. We also encourage you to step into the world as an agent of God’s peace -- his radical, earth shattering, life transforming, world changing peace!
SUNDAY — Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
MONDAY — Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
TUESDAY — Ephesians 2:15-18
By setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
WEDNESDAY — John 14:27 & Matthew 5:9
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
THURSDAY — John 16:32-33
Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.
FRIDAY — Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
SATURDAY — John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Action Steps
Invite - Peace is not passive but active. This week, as we strive to both experience peace as well as exist as peacemakers would we look around in our own lives and communities for ways we can remove barriers and create a sense of “Shalom.”
Invite Neighbors - Find time this week to meet someone new in your neighborhood. Create excuses to be inviting. Host a movie night or potluck, or maybe even a game night! If you don’t want to do it alone, pair with others from the Grace and Peace community and multiply the inviting potential!
Invite Other Peacemakers - as you engage with the worship guide this week, find ways to share what you’re doing with others. Post to social media, write about it, share photos, and of course invite others to participate. The more we experience God’s peace, the more we ought to desire sharing that peace with others around us.
Be Still - take time each day this week to simply be still and silent in the presence of God, believing that he truly is all we ever need, placing trust in him and asking him to allow his peace to reign in your heart. Find a good time that works for you, set a timer on your phone for two, five, ten minutes -- whatever amount of time you feel will be achievable but still challenging. Once you set that timer, simply close your eyes and focus in on GOd’s presence. You can even use one of the scriptures as focal point, repeating it either in your mind or out loud. Notice what begins to shift within you and around you each day as you engage in this practice.
Advent Week 3: Joy
the Shepherd’s Candle
When God finished Creation, He declared it to be very good. It stands to reason that God’s people find joy in things that are good, beautiful, pure, and life-giving. Weddings, celebrations, friendship, childbirth, tasty food, victory over struggle -- all of these things and more are named as sources of joy in scripture.
We act sometimes like joy and sorrow are two poles on a light switch -- one negating the other. Biblical joy takes a radical shift. It isn’t tied to circumstances, but lives in God’s love and promise. When things get rough, we remember all that God has done in the past or look ahead to a day when God’s promise of salvation is fulfilled. When our focus shifts from us to God, we can truly and honestly rejoice!
Biblical joy doesn’t ignore or suppress sorrow -- that is neither wise nor healthy. Rather, to have joy in Christ is to understand that joy not only lives, but truly thrives even in the very presence of sorrow.
Daily Scripture Reading
SUNDAY, DEC. 11 — Luke 2:10-11
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
SUNDAY, DEC. 15 —Luke 2:10-11 MONDAY, DEC. 16 — Galatians 5:22-23 TUESDAY, DEC. 17 — 1 Chron. 16:32-34 WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18 — Psalm 16:8-11 THURSDAY, DEC. 19 — Hebrews 12:1-3 FRIDAY, DEC. 20 — Isaiah 61:6-8 SATURDAY, DEC. 21 — John 16:21-24
Action Steps
Discover Joy -- List things in your life that bring you joy and reflect on this list throughout the week!
Share Joy -- Send out Christmas cards to people who may not typically be in your circle - let your joy infiltrate their lives! Share without them knowing or feeling obligated to return the favor!
Spend Time with Littles! - Children are masters of joy! If you have kiddos, find time to experience their joy! If you don’t have kiddos, find a friend or family member who does and schedule time to hang out with them!
Mini Dance Party! -- Choose a time and place to blast your favorite tunes and dance like a buffoon for at least one full song!
Laugh! -- Get together with friends, family, ANYONE -- and experience joy together
“Joy, which is here a technical term
and must be sharply distinguished
both from Happiness and Pleasure.
Joy (in my sense) has indeed one
characteristic, and one only, in
common with them; the fact that
anyone who has experienced it will
want it again... I doubt whether
anyone who has tasted it would ever,
if both were in his power, exchange
it for all the pleasures in the
world. But then Joy is never in our
power and Pleasure often is.”
- C.S. Lewis Surprised by Joy
Questions
1. In what way is joy different than happiness?
2. What has been your greatest source for joy this season? Express the gratitude with someone.
3. Who do you know that needs to experience some joy this season? How can you help them?
4. Is it possible to experience joy in spite of our circumstances? How?
Advent Week 4: Love the Angel’s Candle
Love is a complicated word. In our culture, Love is often viewed as a feeling. But the Love we find in Christ is something so much deeper.
Love originates in God and emanates from God, an essential element of God’s own character. God loves his creation -- in particular humanity -- not because we do anything to earn it, but simply because of who God is. For God, love is feeling -- a genuine affection he has for us -- like the love between spouses, or the love of a parent to a child -- but it’s also action-- creating, sustaining, restoring, redeeming -- and sometimes even rebuking.
We are designed for the purpose of receiving God’s love. However, scripture tells us that our purpose is fulfilled when we also reflect God’s love back to him -- by walking with him, honoring him, and humbly abiding by his words. We also reflect Christ’s love in the way we love the rest of creation, including other humans. We’re called not just to love those who treat us well, but in the same way God showed us selfless love when we were lost in our own sin, we are called to love those who we consider to be our enemies.
Daily Scripture Reading
SUNDAY — John 13:2-5
MONDAY — John 3:16-17
TUESDAY — 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
WEDNESDAY — Romans 5:7-8
Questions
1. Why am I here? This helps us be mindful of our purpose.
2. Who do I see? This helps us grow in awareness of those we share space with.
3. What do I have in my hands? This helps us remain aware of what God has equipped us with that can be used to bring his name a good reputation.
4. Do I look to Christ as my own source of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love?
5. What if everyone shared the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love of Christ the way I do?