Advent Week 1: Hope and Peace
Author: Abi Oxley-Derrick
December 05, 2024
I love this time of year. The traditions, the intentional moments of slowing down to soak in the beauty of the season, the feeling of anticipation. Christmas is truly the most wonderful time of the year, and I am so excited to celebrate the birth of our savior with my church family.
This week we are ushering in the Christmas season on the blog by beginning a time of Advent. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word “adventus”, meaning arrival. Since Thanksgiving was so late this year, we’re going to combine the first two weeks!
In this season of Christmas, we celebrate the baby boy that made his arrival and changed the course of history forever. The first two weeks of advent are “Hope” and “Peace”, and I love that this is how we begin the weeks leading up to Christmas! When I think of hope, I think of being a little girl, feeling so excited because Christmastime was finally here. Time to make the list of toys I was asking Santa for, time to take a break from school, and time to be with my family, eating our traditional Christmas breakfast while the 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story stayed on the TV. I also think of sweet Mary, with all of the feelings of hope, and fear, and excitement, and anxiety that came from the anticipation of Jesus’ arrival.
This first week of December is always filled with Hope! The hope of getting that one gift we want, the hope of making beautiful memories, and for the Israelites, the hope that would come out of 400 years of silence. The candle that represents the first week of Advent is referred to as “the prophecy candle” and is a reminder that God will do what He says He will. That He is trustworthy to stand on His promises. We are reminded that despite 400 years of waiting, the people of God knew that He would fulfill his promise to send the Messiah.
Isaiah 9 says, “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.”
What an incredible description about the coming of our precious savior. I think of all of God’s people anxiously awaiting this prophecy, not knowing how or when it would happen, and the hope that they carried with them for hundreds of years.
The Bible talks a lot about peace, especially in the gospels around the story of Christmas and Jesus’ birth. He is hailed as the prince of peace, the peace on earth, and so on. So how do we seek out and intentionally walk in His peace during a time where the world feels at odds, and life seems to be spinning faster than ever? The Bible gives us a step-by-step instruction on exactly that.
Philippians 4:5-9 says “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
The Lord tells us exactly how we can dwell in His peace. He tells us to not walk in anxiety, but rather a spirit of thanksgiving. He tells us to think on and walk in things that are from Him and not the world. With all of this instruction, you would think it would be easy to live in peace.
One of the sweetest parts about Christmastime is the moments of pausing and reflection, where we look back on the year and remember all that has happened. We celebrate the good and acknowledge the not-so-good, but typically it is done with an attitude of reverence, one of thankfulness. The challenge that the Lord presents us is walking in the spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude all the time. It’s awfully hard to be angry or frustrated when you’re thanking the Lord for all that He’s done in our lives.
As we enter into the season of Advent, and the Christmas season, I want to encourage you to think about hope AND peace this week. What are you hopeful for right now? Are you in a season of waiting? How can we find and lean into the hope of Jesus? Fix your mind and your spirit on Him and let’s abound in the peace only He provides.
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