The Bible is a wonderful, beautiful, and (if we're being honest) confusing book. It contains some of the greatest stories, moral advice, and life giving wisdom while at the very same time it can be complicated, startling, and hard to understand. What do we do with this wonderfully strange book? How do we read it? How do we engage with it in ways that lead us into a deeper relationship with Jesus?

Parties are central to the work and life of Jesus. His very first miracle was turning water into wine so that a wedding party could get lit and on his travels, Jesus would party with pharisees, outcasts, tax collectors and anyone else who invited him. In fact, Jesus partied so much he was accused of being “a glutton and a drunk” (Luke 7:34). 

Is the gospel good news for us today? For many, it seems like our faith has little to offer the world around us. Our gospel has become too small--it looks nothing like the Jesus who embodies good news in the flesh. The good news about is good news is that it looks and sounds like Jesus. 

After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and friends in order to help them understand why the resurrection was such good news. Each of these appearances are different, graciously and intimately personal. And yet, at the same time, they share a common thread as Jesus invites each person to experience new–resurrection–life in him. 

The book of Ruth is often read like a love story but Ruth is no rom-com. Instead it’s a story of real suffering and genuine courage as characters experience famine, death, and poverty. In this short Old Testament book we read the story of real people who are trying to trust God in their everyday. It isn’t easy. It isn’t pretty. It isn’t a rom-com with a meet-cute, but a story of hard fought faithfulness and hope.

In our series, I am not, we will be looking at common identity stories. Then we will counter those false, small, or reduced stories with the good news of God’s story. We are not our hustle, our production, or our image. We are not how responsible we are nor are we our mistakes. We are image bearers, created in goodness and named loved. Nothing, not anything, can change that. 

Advent is a season intended to root us in the biblical story of Jesus. A story marked by anticipating, expectation and waiting. This series explores four key words of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. These words help us name the startling, surprising, wonderful dream that is Advent.