“Not a Silent Night”

Advent 2019

Every year at Christmas we are surrounded by images of the serene young Mary in clean, beautiful robes, holding a perfectly calm baby. We imagine that first Christmas where “all is calm and all is bright.” But come on – any mother who has given birth knows just how “calm” that night must have really been. Mary’s experience, not unlike our own lives, was likely a night of joy mixed with pain, love mixed with adversity, hope mixed with uncertainty, and peace mixed with sorrow. This was true in Mary’s life and ours, blessings and pain intermingled as God shows up in our holy, beautiful mess. This Advent, we’ll prepare our hearts for Christmas by looking at the life of Jesus through Mary’s eyes. We’ll tell her story by starting not at the beginning, but at the end. Each week we’ll seek to experience the story of that first not-so-silent night through the eyes of a young, unmarried mother unexpectedly chosen by God to smuggle God into our world. In the messiness of life, God is still at work, bringing blessing out of pain. That, indeed, is the message of Christmas.

Join the Decatur Methodist Family this Advent as we journey towards the manger together.

Sunday, Dec. 1

“Beginning with the End”

Acts 1:8-15

Sunday, Dec. 8

“Amazed, Astounded, & Astonished”

Luke 2:41-51

Sunday, Dec. 15

Sanctuary –

“Bells and Lessons” | 8:30 am

“winter’s grace” Cantata | 10:50 am

Pecan Street Mission  | 10:45 am

“Mary, Full of Grace”

Luke 1:26-33

Sunday, Dec. 22

“Not a Silent Night”

Luke 2:1-7