What if Jesus came to earth today? Would it change the way we celebrated his birth? Would we still be so overwhelmed by holiday consumerism? Would we continue to be content to just sing about him on Sunday and then shop for ourselves throughout the week? Would it still be just a nice story of the birth of God among us? Or… would it radically change the way the church lived out the reign of God among us in the midst of a culture that runs counter to it in almost every way?
This year Grace will become one of over 400 groups worldwide who will actively conspire to celebrate Christmas in a way that is consistent with its origins and purpose. In doing so, we will be focused on experiencing the birth of Christ in the way in which it was meant to be celebrated. We will be actively resisting the empire (culture) when we are bombarded with its messages that we need more of what we already have enough. In turn, we will conspire to redistribute our wealth in ways that will help others to directly experience the gift of God’s grace.
In short, we want to restore the scandal of Christmas by substituting compassion for consumption because at heart, we believe that Christmas shouldn’t be marked by greed and debt. But, rather, it should be a time where we:
Worship Christ more meaningfully
Refuse to go along with our culture's hunger for consumerism
Give creatively and relationally to our friends and family
Love others as we give to those with the most need around us
Our hope is that as we move into and through the Season of Advent this year that our lives will be further transformed and our world changed. If you are interested in joining the advent conspiracy in a practical way, click on the following links below:
ourselves throughout the week? Would it still be just a nice story of the birth of God among us? Or… would it radically change the way the church lived out the reign of God among us in the midst of a culture that runs counter to it in almost every way?
