On the first week of Advent, we wait AND we prepare. We wait for the world to be as God intends it, the world as it should be. We wait for a world free of injustice, pain, and suffering. But it is not enough to simply wait, we must also prepare. Preparation goes beyond dreaming and invites us to participate in building a better world. As we wait and prepare, we look ahead to the hope of a better world that comes because of our partnership with God, not in spite of it. This preparation is a holy act of hope. In a culture obsessed with power, control, and immediate change, hope can seem inefficient and risky. Strategy dominates dreaming, cynicism dominates imagination, and what has been overshadows what could be. Unfortunately, hope cannot be manufactured out of thin air. It must be chosen and cultivated. When we choose hope, we choose vulnerability, risk, and the possibility of disappointment. We hold tension as we expect things beyond our present moment. This type of hope coupled with courage is the fulcrum to change. We look back to Mary, the mother of Jesus, to find an example of this combination of courage and hope. In the Advent, Jesus has a human body to come through because a courageous young woman believes in God’s justice enough to courageously say yes to what seemed impossible. Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. Our vision is to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did so that we may love all people in Jesus' name. EthosOH.com Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community ServeColumbus.org

The consumerism, romanticism, and hallmark-ness of our Christmas season can often leave us feeling less than fulfilled. We, in light of the “season”, often force ourselves to live outside of the present realties in favor of performing a merry or joyful Christmas. This does violence to our souls. It prevents us from moving through pain in favor of moving around it. As we disconnect from ourselves, whether by platitudes or coping mechanisms, we reinforce the need to perform a “spirit of Christmas.” The advent is an invitation to be real and human. It is an invitation to feel the full range of complex and conflicting feelings that may come and, in moving through them, discover a peace that goes deeper than anything we can manufacture. The advent is an invitation to be real and human. As Jesus comes, he doesn’t erase the stories of our past, nor does he immediately reveal where everything is going. Instead, he invites us to hold onto an everlasting peace found only in him. An invitation to live as though a better and good world is yet to come, even when all hope seems silent. Jesus wants to give you peace, but it only comes when you journey with him through the emotions and struggles that are robbing you of peace. Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. Our vision is to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did so that we may love all people in Jesus' name. EthosOH.com Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community ServeColumbus.org

When Mary finds out that she is pregnant, she goes to spend her first trimester with her elderly cousin Elizabeth who is in her last trimester. It is likely they are both, given their ages, in the midst of the most challenging parts of their respective pregnancies. It is from this place that they enter into community. We might expect Elizabeth, who has waited her whole life for a child, might approach her cousin with scorn, jealousy, suspicion, or a spirit of competition. But not so. When Mary arrives, Elizabeth literally cries out loudly to bless Mary and the thing that God is doing in her. These women, absent the voices of men in their lives, have a holy moment of honoring the thing that God is doing in both of them. This is an opportunity for them to share their stories, believe each other, and be together. This community between the women is a gift from God to them for their health, their joy, and their belief in what God is doing in them. Our spirituality may be tied up in finding God in specific ways – reading the bible, praying, and going to church. We have been taught a lie that all things spiritual happen separate from community. But one of the greatest “joy gifts” in your life are the people who make you think, laugh, and celebrate your life with you. Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. Our vision is to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did so that we may love all people in Jesus' name. EthosOH.com Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community ServeColumbus.org

The work of advent is to believe that God loves the world enough to rescue it from oppression, evil, violence, and death. Many of us have been taught this in concept, and then heard Bible stories used to reinforce that the way God works is always – if there is enough faith or will – dramatic and immediate. We are taught to have faith and wait. But if you really have enough faith, we are told that you will see God move. This, while not ill intentioned, has convinced many of us that the everyday things of our lives are not spiritual enough to count as God “moving”. We may begin to believe that God is not with or for us in the less extraordinary moments of life. This idea has convinced us that our prayers are not spiritual or fervent enough, and that our spiritual activity is not up to par. It has told us that we are not enough because if we were, God would come. The “God-with-us” narrative of advent turns this on its head. The coming of Jesus is much more about a movement than a single spectacular moment. It is about everyday things converging with the divine to make it all sacred and holy. This is a way that God loves us. Allowing ourselves to be immersed in a story where God is making everything, every moment, every bit of growth and change, sacred. Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. Our vision is to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did so that we may love all people in Jesus' name. EthosOH.com Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community ServeColumbus.org

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. Our vision is to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did so that we may love all people in Jesus' name. EthosOH.com Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community ServeColumbus.org