Christ Among Us – An Advent Journey from Watching to Living

Christ Among Us

An Advent Journey from Watching to Living

Digital download product

By Philip Garside

Discover Christ in everyday encounters this Advent through a four-session journey of thoughtful reflection, honest conversation and practical hope.

This Small Group Study Resource will help you:

• Recognise Christ’s presence in ordinary acts of compassion, justice and welcome.
• Explore Advent and Christmas readings through thoughtful, inclusive reflections.
• Lead meaningful conversations using prepared summaries and discussion questions.
• Make room for uncertainty, grief and joy within the journey towards Christmas.
• Listen to overlooked voices and discover opportunities to work alongside others.
• Connect the Christmas message of God among us with daily life.
  
  

Features

• Four sessions based on selected Revised Common Lectionary readings for Advent and Christmas 2026, Year B.
• Sessions designed to last 45–60 minutes.
• A final session bringing together Advent 4 and Christmas Day, suitable for meeting before Christmas.
• Sermon summaries for group reading, with all five full sermons included for background and deeper exploration.
• Six discussion questions per session, including an invitation to a practical response.
• Opening prayers, blessings and The Grace.
• PowerPoint slideshow and an image for each week included.
• Suitable for in-person groups or online gatherings using Zoom.
  
  

Your digital resource zipped package includes

• A 35-page A4 PDF Study Guide, with leader instructions and all four sessions.
• A 61-slide PowerPoint presentation, covering the introductions, prayers, reading references, sermon summaries, discussion questions and blessings.
• Four weekly images for promoting your study through your website, church bulletin or social media.

After purchasing the course package for your church or group, you are welcome to share, copy or email extracts among course leaders and participants to help run the sessions.

Video Introduction

Click here or the image below to play a 7-minute video introduction to this study resource

Description

Where might we meet Christ this Advent? In familiar readings and favourite carols, certainly. But also, in a neighbour needing company, a stranger offering kindness, or people working together to restore a damaged community.

Christ Among Us invites groups to explore those possibilities through four sessions that move from watching attentively to living compassionately. Drawing on the Worship at Hand resources for Advent and Christmas 2026, it connects biblical stories with the relationships, questions and responsibilities of everyday life.

The journey begins by noticing where love is already at work. It then explores how we can offer comfort, remove barriers to belonging and participate in the work of healing and justice. In the final session, Mary’s questioning and willingness to respond lead into the Christmas declaration that the Word became flesh and lived among us.

Throughout, God’s grace comes before our response. Participants are encouraged to discover what they can offer and what they need to receive. Rest, listening and accepting help have a place alongside action.

Rooted in the life of Aotearoa New Zealand, the reflections engage with experiences familiar to many communities: loneliness, housing insecurity, exclusion, care for creation and uncertainty about the future. They invite a faith that honours human dignity and recognises God’s activity beyond familiar church boundaries.

There is room here for people whose Christmas includes grief, complicated relationships or unanswered questions. Hope grows through honest attention to life as it is, and through discovering what love makes possible.

The Four Sessions

Advent 1 — Learning to Notice

Sunday 29 November 2026 
Bible readings: Mark 13:24-37 and 1 Corinthians 1:3-9.

Mark’s call to keep awake invites us to look for Christ in the people and circumstances around us. Paul’s assurance of grace reminds us that we are already loved and equipped to participate.

This session explores watchfulness as a daily practice: recognising small signs of hope, noticing overlooked neighbours and discovering where we might join God’s continuing work.

Advent 2 — Making a Way for Love

Sunday 6 December 2026
Bible readings: Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8.

Isaiah speaks comfort to displaced people, while John the Baptist announces a new beginning in the wilderness. Their images of preparing a road connect personal care with the wider work of justice.

Participants consider what genuine comfort involves and what prevents people from experiencing dignity and belonging. The practical invitation is to help make someone else’s road a little easier.

Advent 3 — Joining the Work of Hope

Sunday 13 December 2026
Bible readings: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 and John 1:6-8, 19-28.

Coming home does not immediately heal every wound. Isaiah’s vision of restoration speaks into communities where rebuilding remains unfinished, while John points towards a presence his listeners have yet to recognise.

This session explores practical hope, shared responsibility and the gifts of people who have experienced hardship. It encourages groups to listen carefully, respect people’s choices and work alongside those already helping their communities flourish.

Advent 4 and Christmas Day — Making Room for Love to Take Flesh

Sunday 20 December and Friday 25 December 2026
Main Bible readings: Luke 1:26-38 and John 1:1-14.
Supporting readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 and Isaiah 52:7-10.

Mary listens, questions and responds without knowing everything that lies ahead. John’s Christmas proclamation brings us to the wonder of God sharing vulnerable human life.

Bringing Advent and Christmas together, this final session explores making space to listen, giving and receiving care, and welcoming joy alongside life’s unfinished concerns. Participants reflect on what they will carry from the course into Christmas and beyond.

Ready to Use with Your Group

Clear instructions and a consistent session structure make the course straightforward to lead. Read the introduction, share the opening prayer and Bible readings, then use the sermon summary to begin the conversation. Six questions offer direction while allowing groups to follow what captures their interest.

The full sermons provide additional context without needing to be read aloud during the meeting. Use the accompanying PowerPoint in person or through screen sharing, and the weekly images to invite people to take part.

Christ Among Us is suitable for churches, small groups and individual readers seeking a thoughtful Advent grounded in compassion, curiosity and hope.

Make space this Advent to notice Christ among us – and discover how that encounter can shape the way we live.

About the Author

Philip Garside is a writer, publisher and Methodist Lay Preacher based in Aotearoa New Zealand. His Worship at Hand resources bring progressive Christian reflection into conversation with everyday life, supporting worship and discussion shaped by compassion, inclusion and social justice.

Contents

• About this Study Guide
• Instructions
• Advent 1 — Learning to Notice
• Advent 2 — Making a Way for Love
• Advent 3 — Joining the Work of Hope
• Advent 4 and Christmas Day — Making Room for Love to Take Flesh