Advent – Living Hope CRC https://livinghopecrc.ca Growing in Hope Together Through Jesus Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:31:18 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9.13 https://livinghopecrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/circle-dove-SMALL-Copy-36x36.png Advent – Living Hope CRC https://livinghopecrc.ca 32 32 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Recommended Reads https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-recommended-reads/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:31:17 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7572 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Recommended Reads


Read the rest of the newsletter here


Here are some books recommended by Pastor Steve and Pastor Ben. Consider adding these to your reading list.


How Do I Help a Hurting Friend?

Rod Wilson

Are you a pastoral visitor or caregiver or just someone in the church who knows someone going through a tough time? Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, and it’s helpful to get insights from those who know what helps and what unintentionally brings further hurt. This book offers some practical advice touching on subjects like grief, depression, burnout, and dysfunction in family life.

From the Back of the Book: Each of us know someone who is hurting. We want to help but often don’t know how… Rod Wilson offers you practical insights into helping hurting people. These insights are born out of more than twenty-five years of church and counselling experience.  

*This book can be found in our section on pastoral care and grief. 


Made to Belong

David Kim

We celebrated Kick-off with a series on community and there are a plenty of great resources out there to explore what it means to grow as churches longing to develop deeper connection in community. Made to Belong not only gives good biblical foundations but practical ways in which we can cultivate community in our church.

From the Back of the Book: Left to ourselves, we tend to drift away from relationships. David grew up as a Korean American immigrant and realized how difficult it is to find and cultivate meaningful connections, even in Christian community. In other words, we all want to belong, but we just don’t know how. 


Practicing the Way

John Mark Comer

This year council has been focusing on the question of how we are meant to grow as disciples. We have been using Practicing the Way as a guide into looking at how we can be intentional in forming ourselves as leaders and as Christians.

From the back of the Book: To live by what the first Christian disciples called a Rule of Life—a set of practices and relational rhythms that slow us down and open up space in our daily lives for God to do what only God can do—transforms the deepest parts of us to become like him.


Habits of the Household

Justin Witmel Earley

As we have looked at Practicing the Way, you may have thought to yourself, “This is really great, but I am barely keeping up with the rhythms of parenting!” Whether you have small children or teenagers, the dynamics of family life have an impact on our rhythms and habits; and our heart follows those habits. This book offers up opportunities to shape the faith of your family in the daily rhythms you already engage with. I won’t promise that reading this book will make it easier, but it might make it feel more achievable.

From the back of the Book: You long for tender moments with your children–but do you ever find yourself too busy to stop, make eye contact, and say something you really mean? Daily habits are powerful ways to shape the heart–but do you find yourself giving in to screen time just to get through the day? You want to parent with purpose–but do you know how to start? 

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Lent Series: The Remedy to Sin https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-lent-series-the-remedy-to-sin/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:22:25 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7570 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Lent Series: The Remedy to Sin


Read the rest of the newsletter here


Written by Pastor Steve Berkenpas, Lead Pastor


This year lent will start in February. Seeing as it is just around the corner. We are including a reflection on Lent and Easter in this Newsletter. 


How often do you think about sin? For some of us, it is an unhealthy obsession. We can fixate on particular sins and wallow in our own guilt. For others, we try to play it off as not so bad. We hardly give it a second thought. Sin can be a notoriously challenging subject to approach because of the baggage or different assumptions that people hold about what sin is.

In light of that, this Lent, we will be doing a series called ‘The Remedy to Sin.’ Focusing in on the 7 Deadly Sins and the remedy in Christ. In this series we will have a look at how sin is not just the actions we do – but involves the orientation of our hearts and our distorted desires and loves. Often, in looking at particular sins, we can miss the deeper causes. By focusing on the end results, we miss that sin has been crouching within ourselves for a long time, festering and waiting for its expression.

The thing about sin is, it starts somewhere. I think this is the aspect that stood out to me last time I did a deep dive in the 7 deadly sins. These 7 were not distilled in the ancient church because they were absolute worst things that you can do. No, they are the places where sin begins. They are the places where we begin, in our own pride, to look inwardly instead of towards God. In order to uproot sin in our lives, we need to not only see the end results – we need to go to the very places where they originate.

Sometimes it is helpful to take an extra close look at sin, so we know how we can spot it in our own lives, and so we can know how to rid ourselves of it. And what better time to do this than during Lent? Lent is the season where we journey towards the cross – a time of internal inspection – looking at what it is we have to shed. In the words of the Seeking God’s Face devotional, “It is a somber journey of spiritual preparation and renewal, marked especially be repentance and prayer. In our pain-averse culture, Lent stands apart by not shrinking away from suffering but cultivating in us wisdom that growth often (some might say only) comes through suffering.” Sometimes we shy away from sin, not wanting to face the ugly reality of it in our lives. But in order for us to mark seasons of renewal – we need to be willing to take a long hard look at the dark places within us. We need to be able to see these parts of us that are causing brokenness and put an end to it. This is a painful process, it involves suffering, but this is the way towards growth.

This sort of change doesn’t happen overnight. By identifying the deepest parts of our being, we are identifying things that we can’t simply choose to stop doing. Envy seems to come from within, lust can seem like an inescapable reality, anger just flares up. If it was as simple as willing these things away, we’d be done with them a long time ago. In our series we will see how Jesus not only does the work of offering freedom from the penalty of sin, he also gives a way to the remedy of sin in our lives. He offers ways that we transform ourselves – that we can be agents of resistance and healing in a world of decay and hurt.

The 7 Deadly Sins are listed as: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Which of these do you need to attend to in your own life? Are there any that don’t seem so bad or feel misunderstood? Take time to reflect on these as we look to focusing on this in the New Year.


SMALL GROUPS

This past fall, several of our small groups chose to do the material corresponding with our series on Community. It was wonderful to see people thinking deeply about how to live out community in their lives beyond the sermon series. This winter we will be offering a 7-Part Small Group resource corresponding with our Lent series on the Seven Deadly sins.


BOOK SPOTLIGHT

The sermon reflections will be rooted in scripture, seeing how God’s word illuminates sin and the remedy for it. For those looking to gain more knowledge on the 7 Deadly Sins and a Reformed perspective on it, you are encouraged to check out “Glittering Vices” By Rebecca Konyndyk DeYong from Calvin University.

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Community as Welcoming the Stranger https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-community-as-welcoming-the-stranger/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:17:24 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7566 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | Community as Welcoming the Stranger


Read the rest of the newsletter here


Written by Pastor Ben Wimmers, Pastor of Youth & Family


Pastor Ben created a resource for small groups as an addition to the community curriculum from Practicing the Way. Below is an excerpt encouraging us in our practices that form healthy communities.


Who do you share Christmas Dinner with? For most of us, it is a day for our closest family. We gather to enjoy our most cherished traditions, carried across the generations. It is often a joyful time of connection and comfort, with those who know us best.

In her article Eating with Jesus, Courtney Saldivar notes the importance of having a Christmas dinner with recovering addicts. She notes that the acceptance they felt was deepened because they were gathered at a time that was usually reserved for family. By inviting members of the recovery program to a Christmas Dinner, they were being afforded a family privilege.

It is only natural as Christians that we consider widening our practices of community to inviting “non-family” into the spaces reserved for family. It is natural because we call all followers of Jesus our brothers and sisters. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are adopted into God family together. We are all family through Christ. Kristina and I have reflected on this principle during our time in Abbotsford. Having left all of our biological family behind in Ontario, we no longer have our expected gatherings and celebrations during the holidays. It has been a great joy for us, to be invited to someone’s house for Thanksgiving and Easter; it is an even greater honor when there is family there that does not belong to our immediate church community, showing that we are truly stepping into a time for family; being honored with the privilege reserved for family. It is a wonderful thing to be invited over after church for soup and buns; it is truly spectacular to be invited over for Christmas dinner.

Now, Kristina and I are familiar in the context of Living Hope CRC. I think that the risk of inviting us to your most intimate familial gatherings is low. You know who you are receiving and what type of visit to expect from us. I want to invite you to reflect on the quote from Dr. Christine Pohl on hospitality for the stranger:

“If we are genuinely concerned about the needs of strangers, offering hospitality requires courage. It involves not only a willingness to take some risks in welcoming others, but it also requires the kind of courage that lives close to our limits, continually pressing against the possible, yet always aware of the incompleteness and the inadequacy of our own responses. At the same time, living so close to the edge of sufficient resources increases our dependence on, and our awareness of, God’s interventions and provision.” (Pohl, Christine. “Offering Hospitality”, plough.com)  

To be truly hospitable to the stranger, it requires us to stretch ourselves. It stretches us in our feeling of comfort, but also in our resources (remember the Old Testament practice of Gleaning?). It pushes us to remember that all we have comes from God and is meant to be shared with others; not just those who we know and love, but with everyone who bears the Image of God. John Calvin is especially helpful in articulating who we must extend the hand of love and fellowship to:

The Lord commands all men without exception “to do good” [Heb. 13:16]. Yet the great part of them are most unworthy if they be judged by their own merit. But here Scripture helps in the best way when it teaches that we are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honor and love. (Institutes III.7.6) 

We do not welcome the stranger into our closest community because of who they are, what they are able to provide for the community, nor their ability to be good Christians. We welcome the stranger based on who God is as the creator of the people that we consider strangers. They are not strangers to God; they bear his image the same as we do. In this way, something more significant ties us together with the stranger than separates us.

Throughout Scripture and all Christian history, followers of Jesus have been thinking deeply about the practices of community and how to welcome in the stranger. Jesus lays out a very compelling case for the extension of community and practices of hospitality:

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”  (Matthew 10:40)

What is shocking about this verse is that Jesus takes this and then demonstrates that he is in the stranger, the person who was hungry or thirsty.  

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  (Matthew 25:37-40)

The practice of hospitality is deeper than welcoming in the stranger, it is about welcoming Jesus into our midst. Our practice of hospitality, of bringing the stranger in our closest community should be stimulated by our desire to welcome Christ. This is not optional in the Christian life. We can have important discussion about how we welcome the stranger but should never be caught up asking if we should welcome the stranger.

To close, read the Celtic Rune of Hospitality below, which I believe is a good summary of Jesus’ teaching and call to action on hospitality to the stranger.

We saw a stranger yesterday,  

We put food in the eating place, drink in the drinking place, music in the listening place.  

And, with the sacred name of the triune God,  

He blessed us and our house, our cattle and our dear ones.  

As the lark says in her song:  

Often, often, often, goes Christ in the stranger’s guise.  

Often, often, often, goes Christ in the stranger’s guise. 

]]> 2025 Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | The Jesse Tree https://livinghopecrc.ca/2025-advent-lent-newsletter-excerpt-the-jesse-tree/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:13:21 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7563 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent/Lent Newsletter Excerpt | The Jesse Tree


Read the rest of the newsletter here


Written by Pastor Ben Wimmers, Pastor of Youth & Family


Advent is a season where our minds quickly race ahead. Each year we are caught thinking about the Christmas season earlier and earlier. Each year we try and stay ahead of the event planning and gift buying. We might even find ourselves wishing for Christmas Day to come quickly to either satisfy our anticipation of this season, or for it to hurry away so that we can move onto the next thing. Advent has become a hurried season of looking ahead.

Yet, Advent is supposed to be about waiting, perhaps even slowing down. The Advent season is reflective and retrospective. This year, Living Hope CRC wants to invite you to take a different look this Advent season. Instead of looking ahead and racing towards Christmas day and beyond, we want you to slow down (if even for just a moment) and look back, way, way back.

The Jesse Tree is an old practice of the Christian church. It is a way to mark the Advent season to orient the story of Christmas, of Jesus’ birth, into the story of the Bible. To see how Jesus is a part of the entire story of the Bible, we need to spend time in the entirety of scripture.

I always communicate to our youth that Jesus wasn’t “Salvation – Plan B”. It can be tempting to think that way. We imagine that God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, gave them the law, set them up in Canaan as a nation and let them work it out. We might be tempted to see the law as God’s first try at salvation, that it could have worked. The law and the covenant at Sinai was “Salvation – Plan A”. When it became clear that Israel was never going to pull it together, they were never going to be that holy nation, a city on the hill, God sent them into exile and initiated “Salvation – Plan B”. It is a well-worn path in scripture for our youth, to go back to Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Immediately after the Fall, the moment when humanity willingly stepped into rebellion against God, God put “Salvation – The Only Plan” into motion.

Right in the Garden, God planned to send Jesus as the means of salvation. The Old Testament is shaped by God’s revelation of his character and the means of salvation to his people. We see God’s plan for salvation in the stories of the Red Sea, David and Goliath, Daniel in the Lion’s Den. All the stories of scripture serve a multitude of purposes, but they all share one in common, pointing to Christ.

This Advent season, we want to invite you to slow down and look back (instead of hurrying forward). The Jesse Tree is structured to do just that. It follows a four-step liturgy each day (see below). There are ornaments with symbols to mark each day. You can hang them on your tree, or somewhere special in your home. These symbols connect with the scripture reading and help with remembering the story. As the Advent season moves forward, you can quiz yourself on the stories by looking at your Jesse Tree ornaments.

As a final note, do as many days as you can. There are 25 days for the Jesse Tree. You can do as many as you have time for. Some days will be easier than others to create time for devotions. The best thing about the story of scripture is that you can read it whenever you want. Sure, it would be awesome to have 25 straight days of the Jesse Tree, finishing on Christmas morning. But, if you don’t get through all 25, or you finish by Spring Break, that is okay too. The goal of the Jesse Tree is not to check-off 25 scripture readings; it is about taking time to slow down and look back with thankfulness for God’s one plan of salvation.

  • BREATHE

    Take a moment in this busy season to just breathe. Before coming into God’s word, quiet your mind and slow down to hear what God is saying.

  • READ

    Spend time in Scripture, looking back at the story of God. It is a great exercise to read out loud, to hear the words in addition to reading them.

  • WONDER

    Have fun! The provided question can get things rolling, wondering about an aspect of the story that doesn’t have a definitive answer. I love the questions from children and youth that don’t have any deep theological meaning but are nonetheless important wonderings. “What kind of shoes did they wear?” “How far is that to walk?” “What did the kids do for fun in the desert?”. Entertain these questions with sincerity, even allowing your adult-selves to have these wonderings. You can always wonder about how this passage in scripture points to Jesus as a final question.

  • PRAY

    Anchor your liturgy in prayer. Take your moment of breathing, your time in scripture, and your wonderings to God in prayer.

]]> 2024 Advent Events and Timeline https://livinghopecrc.ca/2024-advent-events-and-timeline/ Sun, 17 Nov 2024 22:48:57 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7355 .flex_column.av-2jchaz-f471d61328d940845ed57dccce41a2ef{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent Events and Timeline


Curious to know what’s going on at Living Hope both in the season of Advent as well as in the New Year? Here’s a timeline of all the events and happenings you can expect to see.

Click to read the full newsletter with more detailed descriptions as well as information on the January and February schedules.

Please note that some of the details will be made available closer to the specific dates.

Read the Full Newsletter Here

  • DEC 1 @ 10am

    Advent Begins

    New sermon series: Announcing Jesus | Hear, Take Heart, Respond

  • DEC 4 @ 7pm

    Congregational Meeting

    Last congregational meeting of 2024. Please bring along a dessert to share following the meeting.

  • DEC 6 @ 5-8pm

    Neighbourhood Christmas

    Everyone is welcome to celebrate the joy of Christmas with us! Join us outside for a time of live music, warm drinks and cookies, kids’ crafts, and free pony rides! Inside you’re invited to shop at the Clayburn Collective market.

  • DEC 6 @ 5-8pm & DEC 7 @ 10am-3pm

    Clayburn Collective | Winter Artisan Market

    Shop for handmade goods made by local artisans in our community. Find items including pottery, artwork, baked goods, skin care, yarn work, candles and more! Enjoy free hot drinks as you browse!

  • DEC 12 @ 10am

    Seniors’ Christmas Luncheon

    Open to those who are 60+ to join for a time of celebration as Christmas approaches. Sign up is required to attend (deadline closes Dec. 4)

  • DEC 14 @ 6pm

    Living Hope Christmas Dinner

    Let’s gather together as a church to partake of Christmas dinner together! Sign up closes Nov. 30.

  • DEC 20 @ 5-9pm

    Food Bank Volunteering

    Help serve the community around us by signing up to volunteer at the Food Bank.

  • DEC 22 @ 6pm

    Lessons & Carols | Manger Throne

    You’re invited to a special evening of worship led by the children and youth of Living Hope Church! Join us for a beautiful service of Lessons & Carols as we reflect on the birth of Christ, seen through the eyes of the magi.

  • DEC 25 @ 10am

    Christmas Day Service

    Join us as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour this Christmas Day morning! After practicing for weeks, our choir will be performing and leading us in song.

  • JAN 1 @ 11am

    New Years Day Service

    Join us as we begin 2025 worshipping our Lord together! Please note the special service time of 11am for this day.

  • JAN 1 @ 3:45pm

    New Years Skate

    It’s time for our annual Church Skate! Living Hope Family, join us at the ARC main rink at 3:45pm (come a little early to suit up and maximize your time on the ice)

]]> 2024 Advent Newsletter Excerpt | SERVE 2025 https://livinghopecrc.ca/2024-advent-newsletter-excerpt-serve-2025/ Sun, 17 Nov 2024 22:17:10 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7353 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent Newsletter Excerpt | SERVE 2025


Written by Pastor Ben Wimmers, Pastor of Youth and Family


Read the rest of the newsletter here


This past summer, Chantal Carrillo and I took a group of 10 youth to Lynden, Washington, for our church’s first experience of SERVE. Going on missions trips is not new to our congregation, but it was a new experience for our youth and Therefore GO is a new partner organization for us. If you had a chance to hear from the youth about their trip, you would know that it was great and they were eager to go in the summer of 2025.

Good news! Living Hope Youth is going on SERVE again! July 26 to August 2 we will be in Woodstock, Ontario! We are looking ahead to a busy week serving the community there by partnering with ministries that address food insecurity, seniors help, and a variety of social support services.

There will be lots to do as we prepare for SERVE. Organizing travel, establishing packing lists, and lots of spiritual preparation. We want to invite the whole congregation to support the team in a couple of ways.

  1. PRAYER | Before, during and after are the best times to pray for the youth. Pray that God would make himself know to them in their preparation, their work, and the way that they come home changed from the experience.
  2. PRAYER PARTNERS | Want to pray more intentionally? Last year our youth were blessed by a hand-written note every day (and a little treat). Would you be willing to write out 8 notes for our youth and leaders for their time away? If you did it last year, you are welcome to again (for the same youth or someone new!).
  3. FUNDRAISING | We are anticipating the costs to be around $1500 per youth. It is our hope to have another fundraising dinner and auction in late February or early March. This will be a fun time for the youth to serve the congregation and showcase what they learned last year at SERVE and what their hopes are for this year.

]]> 2024 Advent Newsletter Excerpt | February Electives | Learning Together at Living Hope https://livinghopecrc.ca/2024-advent-newsletter-excerpt-february-electives-learning-together-at-living-hope/ Sun, 17 Nov 2024 22:15:47 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7349 .flex_column.av-av_one_full-abf61815a02831d116b1aaa4a1b0ed13{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent Newsletter Excerpt | February Electives | Learning Together at Living Hope


Written by Pastor Steve Berkenpas, Lead Pastor


Read the rest of the newsletter here


In 1994 Mark Noll, one of the most respected evangelical historians wrote a book called The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. Though the book is nearly 300 pages long, a good portion of it can be summed in one sentence, “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” In response to that, he calls Christians to think deeply about what it means to engage with the world around us. This is hard work, and it’s not work that all of us enjoy, but it is important. When we don’t do this hard work, we lose credibility, we are vulnerable to the fads of the day, we lack the ability to be culturally relevant, and overall our faith lacks the full heart, soul, mind commitment that Jesus calls us towards. This book won Christianity Today’s “Book of the Year” 30 years ago, and its challenges stay true for us today. While all of us are not called to academia, we are called to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and part of that calling is to engage our minds.

One place we do this at Living Hope is through our Small Groups. Each of our Small Groups is invited to go through different Bible studies, or book studies, to encourage thoughtful engagement of scripture and the world around us. In February we are going to try something new! We are inviting Small Groups to stop meeting for that month, so they can participate in learning electives that we are offering on Sunday evenings where we will look at different subjects like:

  • Truth and Grace: How do we have conversations around sexuality? Pastor Steve 
  • The Canons of Dordt: What does the Christian Reformed Church believe? Pastor Ben 
  • Worshipping Together: How does Living Hope form itself in worship? Alyssa Berkenpas
  • Insert your idea here! Interested in leading a session yourself? Contact Pastor Steve or Ben.

And the wonderful thing about this is that it is not just for those who are part of a Small Group. This is for everyone! Come and join us for conversations that engage our hearts and minds as we learn and grow together at Living Hope.

]]> 2024 Advent Newsletter Excerpt | How Long, O Lord? An Advent Reflection https://livinghopecrc.ca/2024-advent-newsletter-excerpt-how-long-o-lord-an-advent-reflection/ Sun, 17 Nov 2024 22:11:14 +0000 https://livinghopecrc.ca/?p=7346 .flex_column.av-4at2o2-ce5f97680cfe7013b76a32aaf7a063a1{ border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px; }

Advent Newsletter Excerpt | How Long, O Lord? An Advent Reflection


Written by Alyssa Berkenpas, Worship Coordinator


Read the rest of the newsletter here


I don’t know about you, but December always feels like a whirlwind. I begin planning my calendar in October just to make sure I can fit everything in. As a worship planner, I start thinking about Advent and Christmas as early as August! With so much going on, it’s easy for Advent practices to get lost at the bottom of our to-do lists—or to get skipped altogether.

For much of our culture, December has become a month-long extension of Christmas, starting earlier every year. As soon as Thanksgiving ends, the decorations go up, and the countdown to Christmas begins. Don’t get me wrong, I love the cozy, festive feeling of Christmas décor. But with all the gatherings, rehearsals, and pageants, it’s easy to bypass Advent entirely and just extend the Christmas season through the whole month. The result? By the time December 25th arrives, we’re worn out and don’t have the energy to truly celebrate.

That’s the modern Christmas experience. But what if we looked at it differently this year? What if we paused to reflect on what Advent really is—and isn’t?

This year, more than ever, I’ve felt the weight of the world’s brokenness pressing on my heart. There are so many injustices and so much suffering, both globally and in our local communities. It’s easy to lose hope in the face of it all. Will things ever change? I find myself echoing the psalms: How long, O Lord?

This feeling of longing and struggle is precisely what Advent invites us into. Advent isn’t about calm, bright, or cheery reflections—it’s about the discomfort of waiting in a broken world. Advent calls us to look honestly at our present realities and long for the Savior we so desperately need. It’s not just a countdown to Christ’s birth; it’s also a call to remember that Christ will come again to make all things new.

Isaiah 40:1-2 speaks of God’s comfort in the midst of struggle:

“Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” 

For good news to truly be good, it must meet us where we are—in the mess and the pain of the real world. And it did! Christ came into a messy world. We serve a God who has walked among us, became friends with sinners, healed the sick, and cared for the suffering. God challenges us then, as we enter this season, to reflect on what stirs inside you and connects you to the world and its people. Is there something God is placing on your heart to help bring His kingdom more fully into our midst?

Later in Isaiah 40, the prophet says:

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.”
(Isaiah 40:3)

For years, I’ve focused on the first part of this passage—prepare the way for the Lord—thinking of it as something I must do. And yes, that is a part of Advent. But this year, I’ve been struck by the second part: God is making a highway to us. The road God is building is not just a metaphorical journey we take toward Him—it is a real road, carefully planned and intentionally built. It’s a road that God Himself has made to come to us. What a beautiful image of the gospel of grace! It’s a reminder that Christ is the one who has made the way for us to be reconciled to God.

This thought brings to mind a song by Sandra McCracken:

This tiny ship that carries me,
It is not yet, but it will be.
So heaven come, it’s you we need.
Fear not, keep on, watch and pray.
Walk in the light of God’s highway

In a world that often feels consumed by darkness, it’s easy to doubt whether redemption is even possible. We’ve waited so long for healing and hope, we can’t imagine how Christ might return to bring restoration. But that’s exactly what Advent invites us to do: to look toward the horizon and hope.

As Jan Richardson beautifully writes:

In Advent, we are called to lift our heads, to raise our eyes, to look toward the horizon and dream of the way by which Christ will come to us. In calling our eyes toward the horizon, Advent does not draw us away from the present or lull us into avoidance of the world at hand. Advent invites us instead to stand in the thick of this life and open our hearts to the road that Christ wants to make—not only for us, but also in us and through us. For when Christ comes, the horizon He appears on is not so distant, after all. The place where He shows up is always in our very midst.

Advent is a season of hope—hope even in the midst of darkness. We light candles each Sunday as a sign of this hope: that though the darkness may feel overwhelming, there is a light coming that will once again reclaim His creation. Even when we can’t see or feel it, God is always at work. Advent invites us into that waiting, that longing, that anticipation. It is, in fact, part of the process of redemption.

So here’s my challenge for you—and for myself—this season: Let’s not rush through Advent or shy away from the tough realities of our lives or our world. Let’s name the things that weigh heavy on our hearts, and address them in confession, prayer, and worship. Let’s be honest about the darkness we face, knowing that this is precisely why we need a Savior. And then, when Christmas arrives, we can fully celebrate the hope and light we find in the glory of Emmanuel—God with us. May we be a people filled with Christ’s true hope.

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ADVENT DEVOTIONAL BOOKLET

Download the Advent Devotional here

Written by Pastor Ben Wimmers, Pastor of Youth and Family

Advent is a time of preparation. Waiting for the arrival of the Christ, God’s anointed. This year, we will join other Reformed churches as well as churches from around the world in reflecting on the story told through Scripture, using the Revised Common Lectionary. This is a practice that unites us with other churches in our worship and offers a rich variety of scripture readings. The Lectionary is used as a tool to guide our meditations and public worship. It is structured so that the church might read the entirety of Scripture in a three-year cycle.

In anticipation of Sunday worship, where the sermons will draw upon the passages set forth by the Lectionary, these devotionals will invite you to reflect on three of the four readings, twice each week. As you cycle through the three readings, remember that these readings will be the same readings we will turn to on Sunday morning. May the Spirit guide your meditation on the Word of God.


Prayer

Prayer for this Advent season; to be prayed at the end of each devotional: 

“Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in your Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God for ever and ever. Amen.” 

Tish Harrison Warren

WE’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR INSIGHTS!

Are you using Living Hope’s Advent Devotional? We want to hear the different ways that God is speaking to you through it. Whether it is a reflection on the devotional itself, or connections you are making between the different passages of scripture: we’d love to hear about it! Whether it’s a comment from your children, an insight from a spouse, or a question from your own contemplation – you can let us know through a form by clicking here.

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Advent Newsletter Excerpt | Giving at Living Hope


Read the rest of the newsletter here


Each year we seek to be good stewards in our giving! Below you can find a breakdown of where the ‘average dollar’ goes at Living Hope.



MINISTRY | 48 cents (staff + ministry + admin) 

Just under half of the giving at Living Hope goes into making sure ministries can run. This includes our Sunday Services, Youth, GEMS and Cadets, Young at Heart, Small Groups, the Margaret Stenersen Breakfast program and more! Much of our costs can stay so low because of the creative work of our volunteers. We are so grateful for the hours people put in to run ministries that help both children and adults grow in who they are in Christ.

BUILDING | 16 cents (maintenance + facilities/operations, + debt serving) 

We can run many of our ministries because we have a building and the maintenance of this is only 16 cents of every dollar. A portion of the building costs is debt repayment, as we are still financing the sanctuary renovation and parking lot update. What a gift it is to have a well cared for building – allowing our ministries to run and also communicating to our community that we are a hopeful people who love the place that we are in.

SPECIAL CAUSES | 36 cents  (missionaries + global + local)

Over a third of our giving is devoted towards ministries that are outside of our church walls. We are a church that gives generously to the varied organizations that we support both locally and globally! For a full list of our partnered organizations that make up our special causes click here.

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