Disrupting Darkness: Light, Love, and the Birth of Jesus • A JustFaith Advent Series

Looking for a justice centered Advent series for your church?

Series Summary

You’d never know it from Christmas pageants and drive through nativities, but the Christmas story was dangerous and subversive in its time, threatening an Empire that oppressed women, poor communities, and religious outsiders. This same story is equally counter-cultural today. Disrupting Darkness: Light, Love, and the Birth of Jesus is for anyone willing to uncover the true meaning of Christmas and discern how it calls them to live differently.

Additionally, for those facing difficult times in their lives, the festivities of the Advent season can feel lonely and painful. This series invites participants to accompany one another in bearing witness to the suffering and darkness of our lives and our world by creating a space for lament and healing. 

Disrupting Darkness: Light, Love, and the Birth of Jesus consists of four 1-hour sessions, an optional half-day retreat, and discussion questions for an optional post-Christmas gathering. 

JustFaith Ministries provides all the resources and support you need to facilitate this series in your own church or community — you don’t need to be a biblical scholar or have experience leading groups.

Session Content

Winter Retreat (Optional, half day): This meditative gathering invites participants to explore what darkness has to teach us. 

Session 1: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (1 hour): What does Advent mean for our world? What does it mean for us? What does it mean for our place in the world? 

Session 2: Yes, Mary Knew (1 hour): Mary’s song is radical: it envisions a world in which hierarchies are leveled, the oppressed are set free, and when women speak, they are heard. 

Session 3: Luke’s Story (1 hour) – Luke and Matthew’s accounts of Jesus’s birth are entirely different with almost no overlap. This session explores Luke’s radical claim that Jesus identifies not with the wealthy (or the church-y!), but with the oppressed. 

Session 4: Matthew’s Story (1 hour) – Explores Matthew’s subversive, dangerous challenge to the Roman Empire – and the American Empire. 

It’s-Christmas-Everyday Dinner (optional, 1-3 hours) – Participants discern how they can live out the Advent and Christmas stories in the new year.

Who Is This For?

This ecumenical series was designed primarily for in-person use with church small groups.

However, it could also be adapted for the following uses: 

• Individually (instead of answering discussion questions, participants would journal or reflect silently)
• With a spouse, roommate, friend, or partner
• With a group of friends or coworkers
• With virtual groups 
• As material for a sermon series

Cost

$150: Register today for $150.

This one time registration fee allows you unlimited access to the materials. (For example, you could conduct one small group, 35 small groups, or a large group of 500 people – the cost is the same).

Want to know more?

An overview and sample session are available for free download. Just fill out the form below.