Peace | Week 3 of The Core of Christmas

The season of advent is not the same as cultural Christmastime. The hope of the advent season and the anticipation of the Christ child’s arrival gives us wonderful gifts of love, joy, and peace. But instead of a world full of love we often encounter relational conflict and strife. There’s “us” and “them”, and even “us” is far from unified. Wouldn’t it be great to have a Christmas that is marked by love instead of division? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year are what we wish for others but what if we could have real, enduring joy? And amidst the chaos at the end of the school year, the rush to get gifts, and preparing for travel, our holiday can easily become filled with anxiety instead of peace. Join Damascus Road for the Core of Christmas and learn to live hopeful lives overflowing with love, joy, and peace.Week 3 of The Core of Christmas

Teacher: Megan MillerWe sing “Silent Night” at Christmastime, but our world feels increasingly loud, fast, and disoriented. The constant noise - news cycles, digital distractions, relational tensions - pulls at our attention. These nights before Christmas are anything but silent, and instead we are bombarded by anxiety and conflict, both globally and personally. In the chaos and noise, peace feels out of reach. But chaos doesn’t just surround us, it seeps into us. It disrupts our sleep, erodes our relationships, shortens our tempers, and feeds our fears. Over time, we begin to carry the pace and pressure of the world within our souls. The night of Jesus’ birth wasn’t much more peaceful either. Not only were there groans of labor and a crying infant, but the world was full of the chaos of an oppressive empire, jealous kings, and a people looking for the promised savior who would free them. Hard to imagine a silent night - hard to picture peace - in such a world. This week we’ll explore just how a fussy baby brings peace into a chaotic world, and how the Spirit cultivates this peace within us, not just for our own well-being, but as a gift to the world around us. In a culture full of noise, the Spirit’s peace is a healing witness to the God who offers peaceful silence into every chaotic night.