Matthew 1:18-25
Full-bodied faith is both intellectual and emotional, enlightening the mind and stirring the affections of the heart. This Advent we’re exploring the emotions of faith, looking at how the movements of God’s Story - Creation, Fall, Redemption - stir our hearts to feel deeply wonder, heartbreak, and hope. This week we look at the emotion of heartbreak, considering how the pain and strain of our lives, our relationships, and our world brings about a deep and abiding sorrow. What do you do with your own heartbreak? Do you minimize it? Look for someone or something to blame? Or do you just check out of reality, finding ways to numb and avoid really feeling anything? Advent invites us to feel deeply the sorrow of the world, and to own our responsibility in it, while also looking for rescue beyond us. Jesus came to save us from our sins and to be God with us, the perfect solution to the heartbreak we all deeply feel.
COMMUNITY DISCUSSION
1. Where are you most feeling heartbreak? In yourself? In your relationships? In our world?
2. Where do you tend to go with that emotion? How do you navigate the sorrow you feel?
3. How does Advent invite us to really feel the sorrow, but not to get overwhelmed or lost in it?
December 13, 2020 - Scott Cooley