This Advent season, we find ourselves waking up to a deeper awareness of God’s dream for the world: a vision of peace, justice, and hope that has been unfolding all around us. Our theme, “Waking up to God’s dream,” invites us to reflect on how we’ve been a part of that dream, whether we realized it or not. As we approach the Christmas season, we’re not just preparing for the birth of Christ; we’re also waking up to the ways God has been at work in our lives, shaping us, challenging us, and calling us into deeper connection with each other.
Our stewardship theme “Imagine Together” has challenged us to imagine what could be if we truly worked together to live out God’s vision of the Kingdom. We’ve dreamt of what it might look like if we were all more fully engaged in the work of justice, compassion, and love. And now, as we wake up to God’s dream, we begin to see how those dreams have taken root in our lives, communities, and the world.
The music we’ve chosen for this season, written by artists like John Phillip Newell, Sally Ann Morris, and David Gambrell (to name a few), has a particular power to help us hear this awakening in a new way. Many of us experienced profound moments of connection through their words over the past year, especially during trips to Scotland and Montreat, where they have had a direct impact on our journey. Their work has been a soundtrack to our shared experiences, a melody that has helped shape our understanding of what it means to imagine together and then live into God’s dream.
This Advent, we hope the music you hear will remind you of all that has unfolded over the past year. Each song like a dream you’re recalling, with familiar faces, places, and moments that now appear through a new lens. You know that feeling in a dream when you’re not sure if it’s really you, or if it’s all somehow different, but somehow it still makes sense? That’s the vibe we’re going for. Allowing the music of the past year to carry us into the present moment, and helping us realize how God’s dream has been unfolding in ways we may not have even noticed at the time.
By weaving together the themes of “Imagine Together” and “Waking Up to God’s Dream,” Advent becomes an invitation to live out the dream in real and tangible ways. Through song, through reflection, and through shared community, we can wake up to the truth of God’s vision and our place within it. Just as we imagine together, we awaken together, recollecting the dreams of the past and moving forward with renewed hope and purpose.
This Advent, let us hear the music in a new way, feel God’s dream stirring within us, and imagine what is yet to come.
Yours in harmony,
~Garrett