Advent study: light in the margins

Advent is a season of waiting, watching, and wonder. We often turn to familiar scriptures and traditions, but this year, I wanted to invite us to look in different places: along the edges, in overlooked moments, and in the spaces where God’s presence quietly shines. In this four-week Advent study, Light in the Margins, we’ll explore unexpected scriptures that illuminate Advent in fresh ways.

Each week focuses on a theme to spark reflection and conversation: waiting with hope, hospitality as expectation, the small things God chooses, and the light that breaks into darkness. Whether you participate at home, discuss with friends, or use it in a small group, my hope is that these studies will open your eyes to the surprising ways God comes near.

Join me in discovering how God’s light is always at work, even in the margins.

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Session 1: waiting with hope

Advent begins in the tension of waiting. Like the prophet Habakkuk, we know what it feels like to long for answers and wonder if God is listening. This week we’ll reflect on what it means to wait with hope. Not a passive hope, but an active trust that God’s promises will unfold in time.

Scripture: Habakkuk 2:2–3 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Write a vision, and make it plain upon a tablet so that a runner can read it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it testifies to the end; it does not deceive. If it delays, wait for it; it will certainly come. It will not be late.”

Habakkuk stood on the watchtower waiting for God’s answer to his cries about injustice. God’s response was clear: the vision has an appointed time. Though it may seem slow, it is moving toward fulfillment, and it will not fail. This passage reminds us that God’s promises are steady even when our waiting feels long.

Yet waiting is not the same as doing nothing. Habakkuk shows us that patience is active, not passive. He positions himself to listen, to write down the vision, to share it with others. Patience means trusting that God is at work even when we cannot see the full picture, while continuing to live faithfully in the meantime. Passivity, on the other hand, gives way to discouragement or disengagement. The call of faith is not to step back, but to lean in with trust, hope, and perseverance.

In seasons of uncertainty, we are invited to hold fast to God’s vision, encourage one another, and keep moving forward in faith. God’s promises may unfold slowly, but they will surely come to pass at the right time.

Advent is a good season to ponder this tension of “not yet.”

Questions for reflection or discussion:

• How do you usually respond when waiting feels long or uncertain?
• What’s the difference between passive waiting and hopeful, active waiting?
• Can you think of a time when God’s timing surprised you? How did it shape your faith?
• Where do you see our world longing for God’s promises today?

Closing prayer: God of promise, teach us to wait with hope. When we grow restless or discouraged, remind us that your timing is sure. Give us patience and trust as we look for your presence in our days. Amen.

Session 2: hospitality as expectation

To prepare for Christ’s coming is to make room. Hebrews reminds us that hospitality can open the door to God in surprising ways. This week we’ll consider how we prepare space in our lives and communities, and how welcoming others becomes a way of welcoming God.

Scripture: Hebrews 13:2 Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have hosted angels without knowing it.

In Advent, this call takes on fresh meaning as we prepare room for God’s presence in our lives.

In the early church, hospitality was more than kindness. It was a lifeline. With few public inns, welcoming travelers meant offering safety, food, and rest. The writer of Hebrews points us back to Abraham and Lot, who welcomed strangers only to discover they had received God’s messengers. Hospitality opened the door to blessing.

For us, this verse pushes beyond social niceties. It invites us to see every act of welcome as a spiritual practice, a way of making space for God. When we open our homes, extend kindness to a neighbor, or create belonging in our communities, we reflect the same love that made room for us in Christ.

Advent reminds us that God’s arrival often comes in unexpected ways. Hospitality is how we prepare our hearts, our homes, and our churches to receive God’s presence and to welcome others as bearers of that presence too.

Questions for reflection or discussion:

• When you hear the word “hospitality,” what comes to mind?
• How does hospitality go beyond food or a clean house?
• Can you share a time when someone’s welcome made you feel seen or valued?
• What would it look like for you to “make room” for God this Advent? How about as a community?

Closing prayer: Welcoming God, open our hearts and lives to receive you. Help us to see your presence in those we encounter and to practice hospitality with joy. May our waiting be filled with readiness to welcome you. Amen.

Session 3: the small things God chooses

God’s story often begins in overlooked places. Micah names Bethlehem, a small town with little importance, as the birthplace of a ruler. This week we’ll reflect on how God works through smallness and humility, and how we can recognize God in the ordinary moments of our own lives.

Scripture: Micah 5:2 As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, though you are the least significant of Judah’s forces, one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you. His origin is from remote times, from ancient days.

Micah’s words remind us that God’s promises often take shape in unexpected places. Bethlehem was a small, overlooked village, far from centers of power or influence. Yet it was there that God chose to begin a story of redemption. This is a pattern throughout scripture: God lifts up the small, the simple, the humble, and the ordinary to accomplish holy purposes.

Advent calls us to pay attention to the ways God still works in places and people the world might overlook. Just as Bethlehem was not chosen for its size or strength, we too are reminded that God does not measure by human standards. God’s reign breaks in through humility, compassion, and love, often in ways that seem quiet and hidden at first.

This passage invites us to consider where we see God at work in small and ordinary ways today. A kind word, a shared meal, or a simple act of welcome can all be signs of God’s kingdom taking root. Advent teaches us to look closely and to expect God’s presence not only in grand gestures but in the everyday moments that prepare the way for Christ.

Questions for reflection or discussion:

• Why do you think God so often works through humble people and places?
• Can you name a “small” moment in your life where you later realized God was at work?
• How do we sometimes overlook the ways God is present because we’re focused on big or dramatic signs?
• How could paying attention to small things change the way we experience Advent?

Closing prayer: God who works through smallness, help us notice the ways you are present in ordinary moments. Remind us that no act of kindness or faithfulness is too small in your kingdom. Give us eyes to see your light in unexpected places. Amen.

Session 4: the light that breaks in

Advent ends with light shining in the darkness. John’s gospel declares that the darkness does not overcome it. This week we’ll reflect on where we see God’s light breaking through in our world, and how we can bear witness to the hope that Christ brings.

Scripture: John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John’s Gospel opens with this powerful image: Christ as the light that no darkness can extinguish. Darkness here can mean many things: injustice, despair, fear, grief, or anything that hides God’s truth and love. We all know seasons when darkness feels heavy, both in the world around us and in our own lives. Yet the promise of Advent is that Christ’s light shines into that very darkness and cannot be overcome.

This light is not a distant blaze but a steady presence guiding, warming, and illuminating the path before us. The early church clung to this truth in times of persecution and hardship. Today, we hold to it when we see division in our communities, suffering among neighbors, or uncertainty in our hearts.

Advent reminds us to watch for the light, however small it may seem at first. A candle in the window, a community lifting its voice in song, an act of compassion in a weary world–these are all glimpses of Christ’s light breaking in. The darkness is real, but it does not have the final word. God’s light shines, and we are called to reflect that light in the way we live, love, and welcome others.

Questions for reflection or discussion:

• Where do you see darkness in our world today, and where do you see light breaking in?
• How do you hold on to hope when life feels overwhelming?
• What does it mean for us to be bearers of God’s light in our everyday lives?
• How might Advent help us live with both honesty about the darkness and confidence in the light?

Closing prayer: God of light, shine in the darkness of our world and our lives. Strengthen us to carry your light with courage and hope. As Advent turns to Christmas, may we live as witnesses to the promise that your light cannot be overcome. Amen.

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Advent study: tying it all together

As we move through Advent, these passages invite us to watch, wait, and prepare for God’s presence in both expected and unexpected ways. Habakkuk 2:2–3 reminds us that waiting is an active practice. We hold fast to God’s promises with patience and perseverance, even when fulfillment seems slow. Hebrews 13:2 shows that preparing space for God also means creating room for others, practicing hospitality that mirrors the welcome God extends to us.

Micah 5:2 points us to the small and ordinary places where God works. Bethlehem, humble and overlooked, becomes the birthplace of God’s salvation. Similarly, God’s work often appears quietly in our own lives, in the simple and overlooked acts of love and service. Finally, John 1:5 assures us that even in darkness, Christ’s light shines. No matter the fears, injustices, or struggles we face, the light cannot be overcome.

What are our takeaways?

Together, these scriptures call us to live out Advent actively: to wait with faith, welcome with generosity, notice God’s work in the ordinary, and reflect the light of Christ in a world that needs hope. As we prepare for Christmas, we are invited to cultivate hearts, homes, and communities ready to receive God’s presence and to carry that presence into the world.

Advent prayer

God of hope and light, as we wait this Advent, teach us patience like Habakkuk, trusting that your promises will unfold in your timing. Help us not to grow weary, but to remain watchful, attentive, and faithful.

Open our hearts and homes, as Hebrews reminds us, so that we may welcome others with generosity and love. May our acts of hospitality reflect your presence in the world and create space for unexpected blessings.

Show us, as you did in Bethlehem, that your work often begins in small, ordinary places. Help us to notice the quiet ways you are at work in our lives, in our families, and in our communities. May we honor the ordinary with attentiveness and gratitude.

And in moments of darkness, shine your light as promised in John. Let your light guide us, comfort us, and empower us to reflect it for others. May we be instruments of your hope, love, and peace, preparing the way for Christ in every moment and every place.

We wait, we watch, we welcome, and we shine. Our hearts are ready to receive your presence and to share it with the world. Amen.

Advent is a season to pause, reflect, and make room for God’s presence, often in unexpected places. I hope this Light in the Margins study inspires you to notice where God is quietly at work in your life and community. Let’s watch and wait together, ready to see God’s light break into the margins.

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Fondly,

Crysti