But here’s the key: Caring for the vulnerable does not begin with strategies or programs—it begins with envisioning healing.
In Revelation 22, John sees and understands that the Tree of Life is for the “for the healing of the nations.” The Church is not the Healer, but we are the branches connected to the Vine who heals. When we see the vulnerable, we come alongside them and participate in the very work Jesus is doing to facilitate their healing.
This Christmas, consider helping your people answer these questions:
- Who in our community is experiencing the weight of the season?
A single mom, a senior living alone, a family struggling to buy groceries, a newcomer far from home?
- Where is God already at work in our city, and how can we join Him?
Food pantries, homeless ministries, foster care networks, ESL classes, community health clinics.
- How do we go beyond news headlines of war and catastrophe to help people?
Organize prayer nights, connect with global churches, support relief and development efforts, participate in missions in a nation where there’s extreme poverty.
When people understand that acts of compassion are not peripheral to the gospel but intrinsic to it, a culture of Spirit-empowered mission takes root in your church’s DNA.
3. Sing Songs That Reflect God’s Heart for What’s Broken
Singing is one of the most formational elements of this season. The songs we choose do more than set a mood—they shape the imagination of our people. They teach theology. They reveal what we believe God cares about. And if Scripture is our model, then our worship must carry the same heartbeat God himself declares in Mary’s Magnificat recorded in Luke 1:51–53:
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
Mary’s song is a proclamation that the arrival of Jesus is not only personal salvation—it is social reversal. God lifts the lowly, feeds the hungry, and brings justice to the oppressed. When our churches sing songs that reflect this biblical movement toward the vulnerable, we are discipling our people into the mission of God.
Encourage your worship leaders to select songs during Advent that remind the congregation that Christ’s coming compels us outward—toward the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner. These songs anchor our celebration in the reality of God’s compassion.
A powerful contemporary example already mentioned is Andrew Peterson’s “Is He Worthy?” This call-and-response anthem echoes Revelation 22 and invites the church to affirm that Jesus is the One who heals the world’s brokenness. Singing it during Advent helps congregations remember that Christmas hope is not sentimental—it is missional.
Although not a Christmas song, Jon Guerra’s “Let Us Be the Church“ is also a powerful reminder and prayer, “May the world see Christ through his people.”
