Excerpted from 2023 Advent Guide: A Season of Renewal, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Luke 1:26-38 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel […]
2023 Advent Guide: Second Sunday of Advent
Excerpted from 2023 Advent Guide: A Season of Renewal, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 40:1-11 Comfort, O comfort my people, says […]
2023 Advent Guide: First Sunday of Advent
Excerpted from 2023 Advent Guide: A Season of Renewal, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Corinthians 1:3-9 Grace to you and peace from […]
2023 Advent Guide: Third Sunday of Advent
Excerpted from 2023 Advent Guide: A Season of Renewal, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Luke 1:46b-55 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, […]
2014 Advent Guide
The Council’s 2014 Advent Devotional Guide is now available as a free download. Each year, Council staff take a social justice theme as a focus for these guides to be used during […]
God With Us: A Social Justice Advent Guide for Families
Because the season of Advent is a time of awaiting the Christ child and the risen Christ, it is a perfect time to think about social justice issues. Christ’s ministry, […]
2013 God With Us: A Social Justice Advent Guide for Families
Because the season of Advent is a time of awaiting the Christ child and the risen Christ, it is a perfect time to think about social justice issues. Christ’s ministry, […]
Advent: The Season of Perpetual Hope
Advent is here. If you look around, it may seem like Christmas showed up weeks ago, at least in stores and on the radio. But it isn’t Christmas yet. It is […]
Hope for the Holidays: 2017 Advent Calendar to Defend Immigrants and Refugees
Last year, we created an Advent Calendar to Support Immigrants and Refugees. This year, as the futures of tens of thousands of refugees, DACA recipients, and immigrants who are at […]
2023 Advent Guide Launch: Embracing Equality and Inclusion
Join us for the launch of our 2023 Advent Guide, a resource designed to lead you, your friends and family, and/or your faith community through a transformative Advent season. This […]
2023 Advent Guide: A Journey Towards Justice for Women and the LGBTQ+ Community
This Advent season, coinciding with the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, aligns secular principles with Christian doctrine in the shared pursuit of ending oppression. This year’s Advent […]
2023 Advent Guide: First Sunday After Christmas
Excerpted from 2023 Advent Guide: A Season of Renewal, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 148 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise […]
2023 Advent Guide: Epiphany of the Lord
Excerpted from 2023 Advent Guide: A Season of Renewal, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 60:1-6 Arise, shine, for your light has come, […]
2023 Advent Guide: Christmas Day
Excerpted from 2023 Advent Guide: A Season of Renewal, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 9:2-7 The people who walked in darkness have […]
2021 Advent Guide: First Sunday of Advent
[…] remains visible enabling other faithful followers to know the way. So, begins the journey of Advent, the time of preparation, training for a life of truth, justice, and righteousness. In […]
2021 Advent Guide: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted […]
2021 Advent Guide: Third Sunday of Advent
Luke 3:7-18 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear […]
2021 Advent Guide: Second Sunday of Advent
Philippians 1:3-11 I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in […]
Advent Guide Focuses on Social Justice
Because the season of Advent is a time of awaiting the Christ child and the risen Christ, it is a perfect time to think about social justice issues. Christ’s ministry, […]
Advent Guide: Baptism of the Lord, January 8
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John […]
Advent: A Call to Action
The themes of Advent are particularly resonant and difficult this year. For me, this is in light of two major events, the recent election and the recent birth of my […]
2022 Advent Guide: Keep Awake
The central calling of an Advent ethic is waiting. But this waiting is not a passive or idle activity. The root word for wait is the same root word for […]
Advent Reflections on Immigration
In this season of Advent, we remember how the Holy Family walked this earth as refugees. As they followed the Roman decree -- as they fled across the border to […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday, December 2
Excerpted from My Soul Magnifies the Lord, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches. This post contains the scripture passage, a brief commentary on […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday, November 29
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Mark 13:24-27 But in those days, following that distress, the […]
2023 Advent Guide: A Journey Towards Justice for Women and the LGBTQ+ Community
ncchurches.org/2023/11/2023-advent-guide-a-journey-towards-justice-for-women-and-the-lgbtq-community
Advent offers the double purpose of waiting for two things while preparing for both—waiting for Christmas and waiting for the in-breaking of God’s kin-dom. The preparation for Christmas is […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday, November 27
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. The word that Isaiah son of Amoz […]
Advent Calendar to Support Immigrants and Refugees
[…] conversations about faith using the lenses of progressive theology, technology, and geek culture. It was an Advent Calendar for Dismantling White Privilege. As a white person who has been dealing with […]
Advent Guide: Christmas Eve and Day
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. The people who walked in darkness have […]
Advent Guide: Second Sunday, December 10
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to […]
Advent Guide: Baptism of the Lord
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching […]
Advent Guide: Second Sunday, December 9
Excerpted from My Soul Magnifies the Lord, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches. This post contains the scripture passage, a brief commentary on […]
Advent Guide: Fourth Sunday, December 22
Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 80: 1-7; 17-19 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, […]
2014 Advent Guide: For To Us a Child is Born
The Council’s 2014 Advent Devotional Guide is now available as a free download. Each year, Council staff take a social justice theme as a focus for these guides to be used during the […]
2022 Advent Guide Keep Awake
The central calling of an Advent ethic is waiting. But this waiting is not a passive or idle activity. The root word for wait is the same root word for […]
Advent – What Peace?
This second week of Advent is often set aside to reflect on peace. Reflection is a starting place; it does not take much reflection time to recognize that peace is […]
Advent — As Yourself
[…] the holiday season, we celebrate the love of friends and family, and this week of Advent we anticipate the love of the coming Christ. As we seek to live out […]
Advent Guide on Refugees — First Sunday
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and […]
Advent Guide on Refugees — Second Sunday
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius […]
Advent Guide on Refugees — Fourth Sunday
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a […]
Advent Guide: Second Sunday, December 4
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. A shoot shall come out from the […]
Advent Guide: Third Sunday, December 11
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. The wilderness and the dry land shall […]
Advent Guide: Fourth Sunday, December 18
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, […]
Advent Guide: Epiphany, January 6
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. In the time of King Herod, after […]
Advent Guide: A Season of Hope
The theme for our Advent Guide this year is hope. After considering various themes, we chose hope for the reminder of eternal Hope rather than the spurts of an optimistic […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday, December 1
Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 122 I was glad when they said to me, […]
Advent Guide: Third Sunday, December 15
Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 35:1-10 The wilderness and the dry land shall be […]
Advent Guide: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. John 1:1-14a In the beginning was the Word, and the […]
Advent Guide: Epiphany Sunday, January 5
Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Matthew 2:1-12 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday after Christmas, December 27
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 148 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the […]
2018 Advent Guide
The lectionary readings for this advent season bring us Luke’s account of the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. In that narrative we have a beautiful piece of prose penned to […]
2022 Advent Guide: Second Sunday
Excerpted from Keep Awake, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 71: 1-17 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness […]
2022 Advent Guide: First Sunday
Excerpted from Keep Awake, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 2:1-5 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and […]
2018 Advent Guide: My Soul Magnifies the Lord
The lectionary readings for this advent season bring us Luke’s account of the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. In that narrative, we have a beautiful piece of prose penned to […]
2017 Advent Guide: A Season of Hope
The theme for our Advent Guide this year is hope. After considering various themes, we chose hope for the reminder of eternal Hope rather than the spurts of an optimistic outlook. We […]
2022 Advent Guide: Epiphany of the Lord
Excerpted from Keep Awake, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 60:1-6 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of […]
Advent — Joy to the World
[…] heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing….” It is the final week of Advent, and Christmas is almost here. Today, we celebrate joy. I know I often let the […]
Advent Guide on Refugees — Third Sunday
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by […]
Advent Guide on Refugees — Christmas
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday After Christmas Day, January 1
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. Now after they had left, an angel […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday, December 3
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. “But in those days, following that distress, the sun will […]
Advent Guide: Third Sunday, December 17
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were […]
Advent Guide: Fourth Sunday, December 24
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the […]
Advent Guide: Christmas Eve and Day
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday After Christmas Day
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise […]
Advent Guide: Epiphany
Excerpted from A Season of Hope. An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the […]
Advent Guide: Third Sunday, December 16
Excerpted from My Soul Magnifies the Lord, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches. This post contains the scripture passage, a brief commentary on […]
Advent Guide: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Excerpted from My Soul Magnifies the Lord, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches. This post contains the scripture passage and reflections on its […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday after Christmas, December 30
Excerpted from My Soul Magnifies the Lord, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches. This post contains the scripture passages and reflections on their […]
Advent Guide: Epiphany Sunday, January 6
Excerpted from My Soul Magnifies the Lord, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Matthew 2:1-12 Epiphany celebrates God’s presence with humanity through the […]
2019 Advent Guide: Cultivating Care for Creation
This advent season, the Council decided our theme would be focused on Climate Change. As people of faith, we proclaim our belief that our world is God’s creation, that God […]
Advent Guide: Second Sunday, December 8
Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 11:1-10 A shoot shall come out from the stump […]
Advent Guide: First Sunday After Christmas, December 29
Excerpted from Cultivating Care for Creation, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 148 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him […]
Advent Guide: Second Sunday, December 6
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 40:1-11 Comfort, comfort my people, says your […]
Advent Guide: Third Sunday, December 13
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is […]
Advent Guide: Fourth Sunday, December 20
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Luke 1:26-38, 46b-55 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, […]
Advent Guide: Christmas Day
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Luke 2:1-20 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree […]
Advent Guide: Second Sunday after Christmas, January 3
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. John 1:(1-9), 10-18 In the beginning was the Word, and […]
Advent Guide: Epiphany, January 6
Excerpted from The Heart of the Work, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year B from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Endow the king with your justice, O […]
2022 Advent Guide: Third Sunday
Excerpted from Keep Awake, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Isaiah 35:1-10 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert […]
2022 Advent Guide: Fourth Sunday
Excerpted from Keep Awake, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. […]
2022 Advent Guide: Christmas Day
Excerpted from Keep Awake, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 96 O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the […]
2019 Advent Guide: Cultivating Care for Creation
This advent season, the Council decided our theme would be focused on Climate Change. As people of faith, we proclaim our belief that our world is God’s creation, that God […]
Advent Worship Resources on Peace
Date: Advent 1 - Dec. 1, 2013
Topic: Peace
Focus Text: Isaiah 2:1-5
To take Isaiah’s words to heart is to envision a world without hunger, poverty, war, violence, […]
Topic: Peace
Focus Text: Isaiah 2:1-5
To take Isaiah’s words to heart is to envision a world without hunger, poverty, war, violence, […]
Advent Worship Resources on Responsible Leadership
Date: Advent 2 - Dec. 8, 2013
Topic: Responsible Leadership
Focus Text: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
If we are willing to read Psalm 72 with the early church as pointing […]
Topic: Responsible Leadership
Focus Text: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
If we are willing to read Psalm 72 with the early church as pointing […]
Advent Worship Resources for Resisting Oppression
Date: Advent 3 - Dec. 15, 2013
Topic: Resisting Oppression
Focus Text: James 5:7-10
Drawing on the Old Testament, James speaks of the prophets who endured suffering and, for […]
Topic: Resisting Oppression
Focus Text: James 5:7-10
Drawing on the Old Testament, James speaks of the prophets who endured suffering and, for […]
Advent Worship Resources for Vulnerable Mothers
Date: Advent 4 - Dec. 22, 2013
Topic: Vulnerable Mothers
Focus Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Drawing on the Old Testament, James speaks of the prophets who endured suffering and, for […]
Topic: Vulnerable Mothers
Focus Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Drawing on the Old Testament, James speaks of the prophets who endured suffering and, for […]
2020 Advent Guide: The Heart of the Work
[…] solidify what was begun in the previous four years. It is its own sort of Advent, ripe with expectation and mixed with a bit of fear of the unknown. In […]
2020 Advent Guide: The Heart of the Work
[…] solidify what was begun in the previous four years. It is its own sort of Advent, ripe with expectation and mixed with a bit of fear of the unknown. In […]
2015 In Those Days and In These: An Advent Guide
[…] who have nothing. The staff of the Council decided that the theme for this year’s Advent study guide would be refugees. Clearly the issue is of pressing importance, but we […]
2015 Advent Devotional Guide Focuses on Refugees
[…] who have nothing. The staff of the Council decided that the theme for this year’s Advent devotional guide would be refugees. Clearly the issue is of pressing importance, but we […]
Advent Guide Focuses on Peace
[…] the policies our elected officials put in place, in who has enough. For this year’s Advent Lectionary Guide, the Council’s staff chose to focus on peace. The reasons may be […]
2021 Advent Guide: First Sunday after Christmas
[…] to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people. Advent devotions are meant to be inspiring and encouraging, mostly. Not only that, but today’s […]
2021 Advent Guide: It Is Well With My Soul
[…] things have not been fine—individually or collectively—we encourage you to pause during this season of Advent/Christmas/Epiphany to consider the soul. In the Christian tradition the soul might best be understood […]
2022 Advent Guide: First Sunday after Christmas
Excerpted from Keep Awake, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the North Carolina Council of Churches. Psalm 148 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! […]
2021 Advent: It is Well with My Soul
[…] things have not been fine—individually or collectively—we encourage you to pause during this season of Advent/Christmas/Epiphany to consider the soul. In the Christian tradition the soul might best be understood […]
2016 Advent Guide: How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace
[…] the policies our elected officials put in place, in who has enough. For this year’s Advent Lectionary Guide, the Council’s staff chose to focus on peace. The reasons may be […]
Third Sunday in Advent, Year A
For 10 years I have served a very poor church. The church's total income is way below the poverty level, especially for a family of 45. Many of the folks who worship with and have leadership at the church are homeless or unemployed. Many have black or brown skin. Monthly fellowship meals are really a feeding of the hungry as the majority of guests at every meal are without work. The church pays utilities for a day shelter for the homeless in its small basement. With only weekly offerings for income, somehow the church has no debt and a little surplus. It must be that God cares about the poor and still makes a way out of no way.
Advent Guide: Introduction
In the absence of kindness and consideration, we have become less civil and more mean-spirited with one another. Lord have mercy. In the presence of fears and hurts, we have […]