Get Ready for the Re-Awakening – Advent 2023
An invitation to re-awaken to the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love of God in our lives might just provide the sustenance we need.
This week we begin a new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Hope. I can attest that RAT has been working hard to ensure Living Table has a meaningful Advent season!
We are going to be using The Magnificat as our guide through Advent. Each week, we will examine a few verses. Skits and poems will help us explore how The Magnificat can inform our search for Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.
Mary’s words in The Magnificat are some of the most beautiful, Spirit-filled words in scripture. I am looking forward to exploring them more deeply as the season of Advent unfolds.
Our guiding theme for the season is “Re-awakening” based on Matthew’s warning to “stay awake” in vs. 24:42. While I don’t think we’ve fallen asleep exactly, weariness is real. An invitation to re-awaken to the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love of God in our lives might just provide the sustenance we need.
Don’t miss the weekly opportunities for companionship on the journey to Bethlehem this year. It’s never an easy journey and this year could be more difficult than others. This Advent journey is one best made in community.
May your Advent be meaningful as you re-awaken to Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.
About Rachael Keefe
Rev. Dr. Rachael Keefe is the pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ. She was called to Living Table in 2015 after serving in many varied ministry settings since her ordination in 1992. She holds graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Seminary at Yale (formerly Andover Newton Theological School). Her ministry and leadership often center around advocacy and accessibility. Her writing has been published by Chalice Press, The Christian Century, Red Letter Christians, Working Preacher, RevGalBlogPals, and others. She is grateful to be in ministry with Living Table today.
Copyright
Unless otherwise specified, all content on this site is copyrighted by the author, when designated, or by Living Table United Church of Christ. This means that you cannot copy-and-paste content from this website to reuse elsewhere without express written permission. All images are copyrighted and may not be used elsewhere. With any questions, please contact us. You can still share everything from this site by sharing a link to the exact page of interest. What is prohibited by this policy and standard U.S. copyright law is reusing or republishing our content without license.
Please keep me in your prayers during this time when we are traveling and staying in Florida.
We will keep you in prayer, for sure.