Jesus came to earth for us. That is good news—fear-silencing, joy-inflicting good news! And this good news is that God forged a pathway for you, and that’s what we celebrate at Christmas. Jesus’ arrival changed everything! And following Jesus isn’t about us and what we can do for him but about what he has done for us. He lived the life we were designed to live perfectly and died the death we deserve in order to declare the defeat of sin and death through his resurrection. Jesus came to earth for us because we can’t save or fix ourselves in our mess. But that’s OK. Because he loves us and is gracious to us—and that is fear-silencing, joy-inflicting good news.

The Advent season is the anticipation of our Savior, Jesus. He is the center of grace, the center of faith, and the center of this season. We are in desperate need of Jesus now and forever, just as they were in the time of that very first Christmas. And so we also look to the stories of those God had set in unique places to prepare and welcome his Son. His good news changed the lives of the shepherds, the wise men, Joseph, and Mary. Each of these players is crucial in the story of Jesus. Through their stories, may we find hope, peace, joy, and love—the kinds that can only come from knowing Jesus. As we come to the end of a year full of reasons to forget about hope, peace, joy, and love, let’s stand together in God’s presence, rejoicing in his good news for all people.

Where is God in all of this? Where is God in the tension, in the discord, in the waiting? Where is God in our lives? And where was God in the life of Esther, a woman who won the favor of everyone who saw her but faced so much risk? God is always at work, even when we don’t see him. He is at work even when we don’t see the way out of our precarious present into his promised future. When Esther was uncertain about her peoples’ future, God gave her a providential perhaps. And this same God is with us in this time. God does not make mistakes. The hidden hero in Esther’s story is at work in our story, in your story, too. Though we may be troubled, sleepless, he is there in the miraculous mundane—in every perhaps.

We are imperfect, flawed, and discontent. While we don’t deserve God’s grace, he loves us just because that’s who he is—God is grace. And he offers himself as enough for us, as the greatest sacrifice, so that we may know him as our coming king. God’s grace is an ever-present need in this bittersweet world. By grace, he forgave the very first on earth and by grace, he continues to love us into our future. Grace has to be unearned and undeserved or the transforming work of Christ could not be completed in us. Grace shifts to help instead of harm, and it is the source by which goodness pours forth. Overwhelmed and incomplete, we can believe our gracious God is more than enough. He does not make mistakes. His goodness, his love, his compassion—the fullness of God, our breath of life—it really is all about grace.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? When he invites us to follow him, he is choosing us just as much as we are saying "yes" to him. Following Jesus means being in relationship with him. It means being willing to be changed, to be taught, to be flexible, to be obedient—it means we are willing to be transformed. Following Jesus is a step of faith, knowing that no matter what comes our way, we will still say "yes" to him. And he equips us for and commissions us to a lifelong journey with him.

God is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the first, the last, always with us. And our identity is rooted in him. We are his creation. So how do we live in the natural outflow of these truths? How do we serve this world that is looking for hope?

Through Christ, in community, with a cause that is greater. We were never meant to live this life alone. Jesus was always a part of the plan. Community was always a part of the plan. Faith in action was the plan—is the plan. And all parts of the plan work in concert with each other to play the symphony of God’s hope and grace.

And regardless of our circumstances, throughout our place in history, we are part of the plan, too. We aren’t just going to church together—we are the Church together. For such a time as this.

What is a church supposed to do? Throughout our church's history, we have been reminded of answers to this question. In the early days of Summit, we decided that we weren't going to wait for the "right time" to be a church, that we could be the Church in our present time. We also decided that we weren't going to settle for being just about us, that we wanted to always be inviting others to experience God's grace. We decided to be a church that serves our world, in the broad sense and in the spaces God placed us. We recognized that any amount of pain or failure would not limit God's faithfulness to us. And we were constantly amazed by the incredible reality of individual transformations through the grace of God. This year, as we remember where we have come from and look ahead to where we are going, we remember who God is. And we remember who we are in him.

Oh God, you are a God of peace. You calm storms in our world and in us. You heal and you provide. You extend grace, act in mercy, and make all things new. You are the author of peace. Let us be peacemakers for the sake of your beloved creation. Grant us your peace that surpasses all understanding. May we not smooth over differences but embrace the true understanding that comes when we explore the bends and folds in the paper on which you write. Let us learn from and celebrate what you have made. Our world is not perfect and neither is our work, but your love is enough to help us play our true roles in your kingdom—as far as it depends on us. Oh God, you are a God of peace. Let us show peace in action.

Secrets and lies are some of the heaviest burdens we will ever carry. To begin to unburden ourselves, to find the blessedness of being undeservingly forgiven, we must confess. Confession is imperative to a relationship with God because all sin is enough to keep us away from God. However, through his abounding grace and mercy and love for all of us—his creation—he can set us free from the burden of our sin. We confess and we repent because he paid the price of our sin for us.

My soul longs to know you,
Longs to understand your ways
And to trust that they are good.

My soul longs to love you,
As you say you love me,
And to trust that your love is strong.

My soul longs to be still,
To rest in your justice and peace,
And to trust your promise to sustain.

My soul longs to be yours
And know how great you are.

When we look back at time, we can see all the ways it’s been both kind and cruel to us. We can see time that has helped and time that has hurt. Time that heals and time that feels like an end. Often it seems like we are at the mercy of time, but only because we look at time as something to be defeated. / Yet Jesus did not defeat time—he defeated death. He is the One that winds the hypothetical clocks of our lives and holds our time in his hands. Even when we are slow to hope and quick to wish for suffering to end, he does not waste our time. / In the expanse between life and death, Jesus takes us through death to life. By his great mercy can we live through the pain to look back and call it well spent.