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 2 of The Core of Christmas

Teacher: Ryan MillerHopelessness doesn’t always come suddenly. Often, it creeps in slowly, through a steady stream of bad news, personal disappointments, relational breakdowns, and the quiet pain of deferred dreams. This kind of despair doesn’t just impact our emotions; it shapes our worldview. It convinces us that brokenness will have the final word, that nothing will change, and that hope is naïve. We begin to lower our expectations, protect ourselves from disappointment, and quietly let go of the belief that true joy is even possible. But God does not leave us in our despair. Good news is coming, in the form of a tiny baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The birth of Jesus teaches us how to navigate the complexities of true joy, where joy in the Spirit is not an escape from pain - it’s a defiant presence within it. It’s the kind of joy that lives alongside tears, that sings in the dark, and that stubbornly believes in a King born in a stable even when surrounded by loss. This joy is not manufactured by positive thinking or good circumstances. It’s rooted in the unshakable reality of God’s love, a love that meets us in the birth of a Savior.