Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.

Mary’s courageous response to the angel’s message echoes across the centuries. She had no roadmap, no certainty of outcome, and no control over the consequences of her “yes.” Yet, she opened her life to God’s promise.Mary’s courageous response to the angel’s message echoes across the centuries. She had no roadmap, no certainty of outcome, and no control over the consequences of her “yes.” Yet, she opened her life to God’s promise.

Advent is a season of preparing—of waiting with hope for divine promises to unfold in a world groaning for peace, yearning for justice, and aching for healing. Mary’s story often is read through the lens of anticipation. But we must not overlook her prophetic agility—her ability to respond faithfully to the unforeseen, the disruptive, and the holy unknown.

The term prophetic here does not mean predicting the future. In the biblical tradition, a prophet is someone who speaks God’s truth to the present moment, challenging the status quo and calling people to a path of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Prophetic agility, then, is the capacity to hold our own plans and expectations loosely, allowing God’s surprising truth to break in and redirect our course. It is the spiritual flexibility to pivot away from a well-made plan when the Holy Spirit reveals a more faithful path, even if that path leads into uncertainty.

Prophetic agility is the capacity to hold our own plans loosely, allowing God’s surprising truth to break in and redirect our course.

We see this agility throughout the story of the early church in the book of Acts. The apostles initially focused their ministry on the Jewish community in Jerusalem. Yet, the Spirit propelled them into unforeseen territory. Philip was called from a successful revival in Samaria to a desert road to share the gospel with a single Ethiopian official (Acts 8:26–39). Later, Peter was sent to the home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, shattering his lifelong assumptions about who was “clean” or “unclean” (Acts 10).

In each case, the mission of God advanced, not through a rigid strategic plan but through leaders who were engaged in mission and agile enough to respond to the Spirit’s disruptive, prophetic call.

As we journey through Advent toward Christmas, Mary reminds us that preparing for God’s promises is not about having everything figured out. It is about having hearts ready to receive, spirits willing to trust, and communities prepared to live prophetically—open to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, even when the future is unclear.

The Tension Between Preparation and Uncertainty

Mary’s preparation for Jesus’s birth surely included the ordinary rhythms of first-century life: finding shelter, arranging for the birth, leaning on trusted family. But it also meant living with unanswered questions. What would Joseph do? How would the community respond? Would she survive childbirth? What kind of Messiah was this child to become?

Similarly, our preparation for Christ’s coming—both in this season and in our collective calling as a church—is filled with beautiful intentions and holy disruptions. We discern missional strategies and write plans to implement them. But we must remain open as the Spirit moves in ways we cannot fully script. As the Yiddish proverb says, “Man plans, God laughs.”

This might suggest that we have no control and that all our discerning and planning is a waste of time. But that is not my experience. As the Mission Prayer reminds us, we are called to be awake to the Spirit’s presence and willing to courageously risk something new when we discern change is needed. At that point, we trust that our faithful response is enough, regardless of the outcome.

Mary teaches us how to hold this holy tension: preparation and surrender. She models the prophetic agility we need to move through uncertain terrain. The same is true for us as disciples in Community of Christ. We are being called to prepare—not for certainty, but for trust. Not for control, but for courage. Not just for comfort, but for mission. This is what it means to prepare for God’s promises.

A Spirit-Filled Communityin a Disrupted World

At the 2025 World Conference, the First Presidency painted a vision rooted in Acts 2—a picture of a new community that was Spirit-filled and marked by awe, generosity, unity, and joyful fellowship. The earliest believers didn’t just worship together; they shared their lives. They formed a new kind of human community: open-handed, radically generous, and deeply connected. This vision is not nostalgic or a call to return to a previous time. It is a call to courageously follow the Spirit’s leading and risk becoming the new community that is needed now, right where we live and serve.

We were reminded of this call in 2010 through Doctrine and Covenants 164:5:

It is imperative to understand that when you are truly baptized into Christ you become part of a new creation. By taking on the life and mind of Christ, you increasingly view yourselves and others from a changed perspective. Former ways of defining people by economic status, social class, sex, gender, or ethnicity no longer are primary. Through the gospel of Christ a new community of tolerance, reconciliation, unity in diversity, and love is being born as a visible sign of the coming reign of God.

The world is shifting rapidly. Political divisions, climate crises, economic instability, and global conflict make the future feel uncertain and scary. In times like these, fear tempts us to retreat, isolate, and cling to what we know. But God’s invitation this season is not to fear, but to faith—faith that God continues to reveal a purpose for our faith movement.

The name for this season, Advent, comes from the Latin adventus, pointing to the unexpected and surprising way God’s Son, the Prince of Peace, arrived in the world. It also continues to remind us that God’s future constantly breaks in on us, shaping the direction of our lives. As Isaiah 9:6 (NRSVue) proclaims:

For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Jesus came to reconcile people with God and each other. To remind people of God’s vision of shalom—a state where all relationships with God, others, and creation itself are just, righteous, and thriving, as God created them to be. Today, we continue this purpose by committing our lives to sharing Christ’s peace. This peace is not passive or a feeling of calm that floats above reality. It is the active presence of Christ in the midst of the unknown, calling us to respond with hope and courage, no matter the cost. Just as Mary responded, we are invited to say, “Let it be with us, as you call us onward”.

Prophetic People,Courageous Communities

The vision shared at the 2025 World Conference was not just about inspiration—it was about transformation. We are called to become a sanctuary of Christ’s peace. This means being a community that not only talks about peace, but embodies it: in our worship, relationships, policies, stewardship, and our witness in the world.

This Advent, as we await Christ’s birth, we also must awaken to the birth of something new within ourselves and our community. Mary had to release her expectations for what her life would look like and how her story would unfold. So do we.

As a church, we are pioneers in uncharted territory. The world has changed, and our structures, assumptions, and systems must change, too. But we are not without guidance. We have a lamp for our feet—not a spotlight for the entire journey, but a sacred light showing us the next faithful step as citizens of a new community. Paul called this our citizenship in heaven. We often call it Zion. Jesus named it the reign of God. This identity transcends nationality, culture, politics, and personal preference calling us into a new way of being that requires every one of us.

Preparing the Way

At the 2025 World Conference, the Presidency shared five guideposts for navigating this moment. This is not a checklist of specific steps, but principles for pioneers—wisdom for those who, like Mary, must live faithfully without all the answers.

• Discern continuously what matters most. Mary’s discernment didn’t end with Gabriel’s visit. She listened deeply through dreams, encounters, and silence. We, too, must listen—individually and collectively. What is the Spirit saying to the church today?
• Focus our resources on mission, leadership, and faithful stewardship. We are invited to develop spiritually grounded, prophetically bold leaders and disciples—leaders who serve with humility and courage, and disciples who, like Mary, say yes to God without knowing all it will mean. We are called to inventory all our gifts for mission and focus on how we use them. How is God asking us to use our energy, our focus, and all our resources?
• Nurture local expressions of a global movement. The early church grew through people in relationships forming Spirit-led communities, not programs. We are being called to risk something new in how we live and serve as communities of Christ. How can you partner with others to create a new community of tolerance, reconciliation, and Unity in Diversity as you embody God’s love and share Christ’s peace?
• Expand the sacred ministries of the Temple as a beacon of peace for all. The Temple in Independence, Missouri, USA, is more than a beautiful structure; it is a spiritual symbol of our global identity. Its ministries must expand to reflect our prophetic calling in the world: to be a voice of justice, a place of healing, and a center for spiritual formation and peace. How are you called to embody these ministries where you are?
• Hold ourselves accountable to faithfully reflect, evaluate, and respond. Mary’s song, “The Magnificat,” is a prophetic evaluation of the world as it is and should be: “He has brought down the powerful…lifted up the lowly…filled the hungry…” (Luke 1:52–53 NRSVue). We are called to embody this same vision and act on it. How can we reflect on our journey and evaluate our faithfulness? Where is the Spirit leading us into further transformation as God births something new in and through us?

Prophetic Imagination and Agility

During Advent, we prepare. During Christmas, we celebrate new life. Both invite us to live with prophetic imagination and agility—to discern where God is calling us and faithfully respond even when it leads us off the map. Mary’s story did not end in a Bethlehem stable. Her journey continued through exile in Egypt, confusion in the temple, heartbreak at the cross, and wonder at the resurrection. She didn’t prepare for just the birth of Jesus, but for a lifetime of faithfulness.

What if we prepared the same way? What if, instead of rigid plans, we cultivated responsive hearts? Instead of fearing change, we embraced our role as Spirit-led, prophetic pioneers? Instead of lamenting what is passing away, we celebrated what is being born? This Christmas, may we prepare to be changed, surprised, and ready to say yes to the holy unknown that is emerging.

Children have an open wonderment about Christmas—and about what’s next. They imagine grandiose possibilities, not because they know the outcome, but because they know no bounds. They imagine beyond scarcity with an abundant hope in what is possible, and they respond with flexibility, even when things do not go as planned. This Christmas, we are invited to imagine with that same unbounded freedom of a child as we allow ourselves to prophetically envision what God is doing in the world and be open ourselves to new possibilities.

An Example from Our Past

A wonderful example of prophetic agility and imagination was recorded in the Autumn Leaves, February 1921 issue, and posted more than 100 years later on 21 December 2021 on the Community of Christ Historic Sites Foundation website.

In the early 1900s, the church operated a home for orphaned and unhoused children. As Christmas approached in 1920, eight children contracted diphtheria and smallpox and were quarantined in a detached cottage. With plans for celebrations dashed, it would have been easy to let the season pass quietly. But the healthy children—missing their friends and worried about their well-being—chose a different path.

Each night, the healthy children memorized hymns. Then on Christmas Eve, they quietly filed into the cold, formed a half circle outside the cottage, and sang carols to their sick friends. The quarantined children pressed to the windows, captivated by the voices of their friends. For a moment, their illness and isolation gave way to light and connection.

We do not need certainty. We need faith enough to imagine a new way to act.

On Christmas Day, the healthy children sledded and played as if all were well. But when evening came, they gladly returned for an encore. After their final carol, the cottage lights turned off. Then, unexpectedly, the lights came back on to reveal a pantomimed nativity. The sick children, with nothing but paper, bedsheets, and imagination, had created their own holy response—the timeless story once again birthing light into the darkness.

This is prophetic imagination and agility. Like those children, we do not need certainty. We need faith enough to imagine a new way to act, hearts ready to sing even when the world feels unwell, and communities prepared to respond with humble, holy creativity. 

In the face of life’s circumstances, even when things are beyond our understanding, we can imagine God’s preferred future and adjust our behaviors and actions to follow the Spirit.

This vision of sacred new community is not a distant dream; it is a promise already unfolding. Like Mary, we carry it within us. It is growing, stirring, and coming to life.

Advent Questions for a Prophetic People

As you journey through this holy season, consider these questions:

• What does it mean for me to say “yes” to God’s promise today?
• What ideas are the Spirit leading me to imagine for the world around me?
• What do we, individually and collectively, need to do to live into what we are discerning, and how will we exercise prophetic agility to respond to God’s surprises?
• Where is God inviting us to risk something new and act with courage?
• How might we live our citizenship in this new community in tangible, local ways?
• What are our next faithful steps?

The Light Comes

Advent is active preparation, holy risk, and trusting that God has been, is, and will remain with us—even when we do not know what will happen next.

The light has come and is still coming.
The promise has been fulfilled and is still being fulfilled.
The Christ-child has been born and is still being born in us.

Mary did not wait for clarity to respond. She prepared with love, responded in faith, and moved onward with courage. Let us do the same.

This Christmas, may we prepare the way—
Not only for the birth of Christ,
But for the birth of a new community.
A sanctuary of Christ’s peace.
A people alive with prophetic imagination.
A new community responding to the ever-changing needs of the world with prophetic agility.

Together let us pray Mary’s prayer: “Here we are, servants of the Lord. Let it be with us according to your word.”