This summary provides the high-level information from the document in 3 sentences: The document is a prayer calling on God, the source of justice and peace, to raise people's heads in expectation for the coming day of the Lord so they can stand without blame before Jesus Christ. It expresses a desire for God's marvelous deeds to cause people to stand in awe and for the kingdom of God to be fully realized. The prayer concludes by asking God to reign forever and ever.

1. A Prayer For The People of God
God of justice and peace,
from the heavens you rain down mercy and kindness,
that all on earth may stand in awe and wonder
before your marvelous deeds.
Raise our heads in expectation,
that we may yearn for the coming day of the Lord
and stand without blame before your Son, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

2. ADVENT ~ Week 1

3. a feeling of expectation and desire
for a certain thing to happen
Hope as a Noun
to want something
to happen or be the case
and to work towards
seeing it become reality
Hope as a Verb

4. Hope is a fine thing,
but removed from
context and labor,
is largely indistinguishable
from a wish.
Matt Goldberg

5. It might be said of Advent that it is not
for the faint of heart. To grasp the depth
of the human predicament, one has to be
willing to enter into the very worst…
Entering into the very worst means
giving serious consideration to
the most hopeless situations.
Fleming Rutledge

6. ADVENT ~ Week 1

7. J.M. Everts
Every statement Paul
makes about Christian
hope is also (grounded in)
God’s (original) promises
to Israel.

8. Pre-Messiah Post-Messiah
Paul‘s Old
Way of
Jewish
Thinking

9. J.M. Everts
The resurrection of Christ
is the beginning of a new
age of hope determined
by God’s promises in
Christ and empowered
by God’s gift of the Spirit.

10. Pre-Messiah Post-Messiah
Paul‘s New
Way of
Overlap of
the Ages
The Kingdom of God
Present Evil Age
Paul‘s Old
Way of
Jewish
Thinking

11. Overlap of
the Ages
The Kingdom of God
Present Evil Age
We live
in the already
but not yet...

12. Since we have been declared “in the right”
on the basis of faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.
Through him we have been allowed
to approach, by faith, into this grace
in which we stand; and we celebrate
the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2

13. That’s not all. We also celebrate in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces patience,
patience produces a well-formed character,
and a character like that produces hope.
Hope, in its turn, does not make us ashamed,
because the love of God has been poured out
in our hearts through the Holy Spirit
who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5

14. Hope In the O.T.
In the O.T. hope is closely
related to the character
of God…Hope in God
in the present is also
a hope in God’s future
eschatological intervention
which will put an end to
all earthly distress.

15. Hope In Paul’s
Letters
Christian hope rests on God’s
eschatological act of salvation
in Christ…In Paul’s letters,
the church is addressed as
an eschatological community
of hope: grounded in God’s act
of salvation in Christ, living in the
power of the Spirit and moving
toward the full realization
of the purposes of God.

16. Christian Hope
…is based on two things: the reality
of God’s victory over evil in death
and resurrection of Christ, and the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Hope is the
source of present strength for
believers because it is grounded
in what God has done in Christ,
is experienced in the power of
the Spirit, and moves toward the
glory that is to be revealed.

17. Christian Hope
Hope is an encouragement to
believers in the midst of suffering,
but it also prevents believers from
being content with present
circumstances. Hope insists that
Christians wait with eager longing
for the great day when all of
God’s promises are fulfilled.

18. ADVENT ~ Week 1
A church in the Netherlands is holding an around-the-clock
service that has lasted more than 800 hours, to shield a family
from deportation...Theo Hettema, chairman of the General Council
of Protestant Ministers in the Netherlands, told CNN the service
will continue "as long as it's necessary.“ (as of 11.29.18)

19. ADVENT ~ Week 1United Methodist Church sign in Washington, D.C.

20. ADVENT ~ Week 1
“I‘m not so much concerned with the specifics of Federal policy,
as I am the perspective of followers of Jesus on the impact of Federal
policy. As an American citizen, I am free to have an opinion on the
tear gassing of immigrant parents and children, one way
or the other; for us as a followers of Jesus, I believe that opinion
has been settled for us. "I was a stranger, and you didn't welcome...
in as much as you have not done it to the least of these,
you have not done it unto me.“ (Deacon Godsey)

21. ADVENT ~ Week 1
LaSagrada
Familia
JoseyMariaKelly Latimore Everett Patterson

22. ADVENT ~ Week 1