Advent 2024: Gathering the Pieces

Christ’s birth was both an ending and a beginning for Mary and Joseph, as well as Elizabeth, the shepherds, and the magi. King Herod tried to bring this new beginning to an end, but God protected it. Despite all odds, hope lived within the shadow of the Empire and new life unfurled. In Advent, we celebrate Mary’s hope in a God who brings new life.

Every ending is the point of a new beginning. The church calendar has come to an end amidst a fragmented and conflicted world in crisis. Yet this ending is also a beginning. New life will unfurl amidst the challenges we face. How do we, like Mary and Joseph and the other biblical characters in the nativity stories, find the strength and courage to begin again this church year?

We can begin by gathering up the pieces, collecting material that we can stitch together into a quilt of comfort, resistance, warmth, advocacy, blessing, and guidance.

We gather up words.
In this new beginning, affirmations remind us of what we know to be true. Throughout Advent and Christmastide, our weekly themes will gather up the deep wisdom that has sustained us in the past and will sustain us in the future.

These weekly themes may seem simple, but put into practice, they are lifelong ventures:

(1) You are a blessing

(2) We don’t go it alone 

(3) Do the good that is yours to do

(4) Hope is worth the risk

(5) Christmas Eve: Love knows your name

(6) Christmastide: Laughter is resistance 

(7) Epiphany: The road isn’t straight.

What are the words and messages that have shaped and sustained you in new beginnings or seasons of uncertainty?

We gather up songs.

We gather up practices.  
We take time to ground ourselves with practices. Gathering together is one of these practices. We gather together to sing, speak words of affirmation, and recommit to practices that ground us. What other practices can you draw on this Advent?

With the materials we gather, we create.
We are quilt makers, gathering up pieces and putting them together to make something new. Nothing is wasted. Every scrap, all the diverse pieces of our lives can be brought into this quilt. As we do so, we knit our community together. We make ourselves stronger.

With these materials God gathers, God recreates us.
We are also the quilt. We are living, breathing, pieces of art, part of the new beginning God is making in our world, a source of comfort, resistance, warmth, advocacy, blessing and guidance. Everyone who wants to be involved gets to be part of the quilt. We are more than the sum of our parts. We are a sign of the new beginning God is doing in our world. 

Together, as we sing, remember, gather, create, and are re-created, we find our way forward with hope and courage. We are a part of the new beginning. 

Deep peace and blessing,

—Anne

Rev. Anne Baxter Smith
Pastor, Southpoint Church

Sun Dec 1   Christie Goode
You Are A Blessing Luke 1:26-38, Isa 43:1-7

Sun Dec 8 Anne Baxter Smith
We Don’t Go Alone Ruth 1, Eccl 4:9-12

Sun Dec 15 Anne Baxter Smith
Do the Good That’s Yours To Do

Sun Dec 22 Anne Baxter Smith
Hope is Worth the Risk Matthew 1:18-25/Luke 1:46-55

Tue Dec 24 Anne Baxter Smith
Christmas Eve Service, 4:00 pm
Love Knows Your Name Matthew 1:18-25/Luke 1:46-55

Sun Dec 29 ALL OUT
10:00-11:30 Annual Skating Party!
No service in the Sunnyside building

New to Southpoint?

At Southpoint, it all begins with God’s love. Just as a plant grows, it receives sunshine, so we grow as we receive God’s love. At Southpoint, we are growing in our capacity to love God, ourselves, one another, and Creation.

We seek to be a community of grace that is intentional yet organic, spacious yet authentic, grace-filled yet accountable. * We are fully welcoming. *

We encourage relationships rather than run programs, yet we recognize the importance of intentionality and structure as we nurture life together.

As a community, we seek to put our love in action. We value helping out on Sunday mornings, sharing food, and showing up in hard times. We keep our church life simple so folk have time to build relationships with family, friends, and neighbours. We encourage folk to serve in tangible ways within the wider community. We rent space rather than own a building, allowing us to do more with less, supporting missions at home and abroad.

Curious to know more?

These six slides express what motivates our ministry (best viewed on a monitor). Here’s the bio of our Pastor, Rev. Anne Baxter Smith.

If you’d like to really peek inside, sign up for our weekly Southpoint News (scroll to brown footer at bottom of page). The Southpoint News is a MailChimp distributed email—you can unsubscribe anytime and will not be added to our contacts list. Email us at office@southpoint.ca. Website: southpoint.ca.