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** God With Us in the Ordinary
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Advent begins with the reminder that God comes close, not in spectacle or grandeur, but in the ordinary. A young woman said yes to bearing Christ. A small town became the birthplace of hope. Shepherds on the night shift became the first to hear the good news.

This is the scandal and the gift of the incarnation: Emmanuel, God with us, dignifies the ordinary. Christ’s presence shows up in kitchens and classrooms, in neighborhood streets and Zoom calls, in our long commutes and our hurried prayers.

As we enter Advent, we are invited to resist the urge to overlook these ordinary places. Anticipation is not about looking for more spectacular signs, but about learning to see what God is already doing among us.

The invitation is simple and radical: prepare room for God-with-us right where you are.

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** Resource Highlight: Caring for the Grieving This Holiday Season
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The holidays can stir joy, but they can also reopen wounds. Many in our congregations will quietly carry grief — and even the most caring leaders can feel unsure of how to walk with them well.
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This month, we’re highlighting How Your Church Can Serve the Grieving During the Holidays ([link removed]) , a timely resource featuring Kate Blackshear — hospital chaplain, pastoral counselor, and former hospice chaplain. Kate brings deep experience and a compassionate, grounded perspective to the realities of loss.

In this session, available in both audio and video formats, you’ll learn:
* What grief actually is
* How to respond with presence rather than pressure
* What not to say or do
* How churches can create rhythms and spaces for shared grief and healing

Whether you’re supporting others or navigating your own grief, Kate offers wisdom and practices that help make the holiday season gentler, more honest, and more connected.
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** Credible Witness podcast
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Credible Witness shares frank, beautiful stories of Christian faith lived in public—where humility meets courage. Robert Chao Romero joins Nikki Toyama-Szeto on Credible Witness to discuss Brown Church, a 500-year tradition of Latino Christian justice. Blending Mexican, Chinese, and Christian heritage, Romero shares his story of faith, belonging, and academic calling.

This Friday, December 5th, Robert’s entry in our Letters for the Church series will go live. Entitled “My Dearest Wormwood (Keep Them Confused),” Robert writes a prophetic missive in the spirit of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, addressing the injustices ensnaring the Brown Church in this cultural moment.

Visit missioalliance.org/letters ([link removed]) to read his letter when it launches!
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A Disruptive Incarnation: Reflecting on the Cost of Immanuel Drawing Near ([link removed]) | Lisa Rodriguez-Watson

“The Christmas story offers us hope amidst our disrupted lives. It reminds us that Love put on flesh to be with us. It reminds us that the Prince of Peace is the comforter to the disrupted and the disrupter to the comfortable.”
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The Longest Night in the South: Winter is a Time for Enchantment ([link removed]) | Karina Kreminski
"I have always loved winter. Maybe it’s because of the fairy tales I read as a child. Most of them seemed to be set in snowy, enchanted forests. Magic happened whenever ice, the cold, and snowflakes were involved. I still think winter is a time for enchantment."
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In Christ, God Has Drawn Staggeringly Near ([link removed]) | Andrew Arndt

“The story of salvation reaches a culminating point right here–with the moving of God into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. At Christmas we remember: the babe in the womb, ‘incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary’ as the Nicene Creed declares–this one, the one called ‘Son of God,’ has come to take up space in our world. In Christ, God has drawn staggeringly near.”

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Waiting with Attention
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This week, take a few minutes each day to pause in an ordinary space—your kitchen table, your desk, a bus stop, or your favorite chair. Sit in silence and whisper, “God, you are with me here.” Take notice of the sights, sounds, and textures around you. Let your waiting sharpen your attention, so that anticipation becomes a way of seeing Emmanuel in the everyday.

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