Experience Advent Season at Lakeland Community Church
As we enter the Advent season, we are invited to journey through Mary’s song, the Magnificat, found in Luke 1. This powerful declaration from a young girl who received extraordinary news reveals how God’s kingdom operates in surprising ways.
Mary’s response to the angel’s announcement captures the essence of what happens when Heaven breaks into our ordinary lives:
My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely from now on, all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Luke 1:46-55
Why Is Mary’s Song So Important for Christmas?
The Magnificat isn’t just a beautiful poem — it’s a revolutionary declaration. When Mary proclaims these words, she understands something profound: God is using her, a lowly teenage girl, to flip the entire world upside down. Through her, the Messiah would enter our world and change everything.
This year’s Advent theme, Deep Faith: A Surprising Story, invites us to discover that depth in God’s kingdom looks vastly different from what the world considers significant. While society often equates depth with complexity or sophistication, God’s depth is found in surprising simplicity and unexpected choices.
What Will We Explore During Advent?
Each week of Advent at our Lee’s Summit church will focus on a different section of Mary’s song, revealing surprising aspects of God’s character:
Week 1: A Surprising Hope (Luke 1:46-48)
We’ll examine how hope emerges from unexpected places. Mary’s humble circumstances became the very soil from which the world’s greatest hope would spring.
Week 2: A Surprising Peace (Luke 1:49-50)
God’s holiness and mercy create a foundation for true peace—not as the world gives, but as only God can provide through generations.
Week 3: A Surprising Joy (Luke 1:51)
Joy isn’t dependent on circumstances but on God’s strength. As Dallas Willard describes it, joy is “a pervasive sense of well-being” that remains even during difficult questions and challenging seasons.
Week 4: A Surprising Love (Luke 1:55)
God’s faithfulness to His promises demonstrates a love that spans generations and fulfills ancient covenants in unexpected ways.
How Can You Engage With Advent Beyond Sunday Morning at Lakeland Community Church?
Advent is a season of intentional spirituality — a time to prepare our hearts to celebrate Christ’s birth. In addition to joining us on Sunday Advent services, consider these practices:
- Use our curated Advent guide with your family or friends
- Read Mary’s song repeatedly, allowing different themes to emerge
- Gather with neighbors (whether they attend church or not) for simple Advent celebrations
- Light Advent candles weekly as a reminder of hope, peace, joy, and love
- Create space for both celebration and reflection
These practices don’t need to be complicated. Even 15-30 minutes each week can create meaningful, spiritual rhythms during this season.
Lakeland Community Church will be kicking off the Advent season with Hanging of the Greens on Monday, November 24th at 6 p.m. Join us as we come together and prepare our hearts.
Why Is Advent Important During Difficult Seasons?
The holiday season brings both joy and challenges. For some, it might be the first Christmas without a loved one. Others might be establishing new traditions with young children. Some may feel the weight of loneliness more acutely during this “most wonderful time of the year”.
Mary’s song reminds us that God works powerfully in our lowliness. When we feel inadequate, overlooked, or broken, we’re in precisely the condition where God loves to demonstrate His strength.
The Magnificat acknowledges that God’s work isn’t just personal but communal and cosmic. He “scatters the proud,” “brings down the powerful,” and “lifts up the lowly”. This is good news for anyone feeling marginalized or forgotten.
How Does Mary’s Song Connect to the Bigger Story?
Mary concludes her song by connecting what’s happening in her life to God’s ancient promises:
He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham, and to his descendants forever. Luke 1:55
She recognizes that her pregnancy isn’t an isolated miracle but the fulfillment of promises God made centuries earlier. The baby in her womb represents the beginning of a new chapter in God’s redemptive story — a story that continues to unfold today.
As we journey through Advent, we’re reminded that we too are part of this ongoing narrative. The promises fulfilled in Jesus continue to transform lives and communities today.