Join All Nations this Advent season to consider again the story of Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem – how His peace unfolds, to whom His arrival is announced, and what it means for you today.
Our Advent theme, “Emmanuel Still: The First Advent Still Speaks” was inspired by Kelley Nokondeha’s excellent book. She says: “The first advent was about the arrival of God into a world of woe, and every advent since invites us to grapple with what Jesus’s coming means to our fraught landscapes now” (p. 13).
Advent Week 1: Advent Still Speaks
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Here’s a question for you today, as Advent begins: what difference did Jesus’ arrival make in your life? Did your troubles disappear when Jesus arrived? Did all your relationships heal, your finances fill up, and peace fill the world (or, even just your world)?
Probably not. It was probably something else.
In The First Advent in Palestine, Kelley Nikondeha says, “After the birth of the heralded Prince of Peace, the advent story unfolds with refugees, infanticide, and collateral damage for those in the villages of Judea” (p. 131).
If troubles persist when Jesus arrives, why is His presence so vital? And what do we learn about the kind of peace that He brings, and what it means to live as a peacemaker formed by His advent?
REFLECT
Consider this art by Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour, titled “Flight to Egypt.” Notice what emotions it evokes in you – or their lack.
Today, the first Sunday of Advent, take time to reflect on these questions:
- What difference did Jesus’ arrival make in your life?
- How do you reconcile Jesus coming as the Prince of Peace with the fact that there was (and still is) so much trouble that remains?
- What do the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth reveal about the nature of the peace He brings?
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Works Cited: Nikondeha, Kelley. The First Advent in Palestine: Reversals, Resistance, and the Ongoing Complexity of Hope. Fortress Press, 2022. Kindle file.
Art: Flight to Egypt by Sliman Mansour, a Palestinian artist (also the cover art on Nikondeha’s book)
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Beginning on Tuesday of this week (Giving Tuesday, December 3, 2024), All Nations Kansas City will launch “Emmanuel Still”, a year-end giving campaign with the same name as this Advent series! You are invited to multiply the stories of people around the world who get to experience for the first time that Jesus is, indeed, Emmanuel – still.
