Hope - An Advent Journey: Final Version

United Methodist Pastor Olu Brown penned the original version of this book during the COVID-19 crisis and the ensuing months. With COVID-19 and unrest on American streets as a backdrop, Brown reminds the reader that God is still in control and there is still hope for the world. Designed for both individual and group study, Hope: An Advent Journey is the perfect companion for Advent.

In Hope: An Advent Journey, author Olu Brown encourages readers to reclaim Advent as something already here, not a season waiting to arrive. Matthew's gospel speaks of Jesus as Emmanuel, which means "God with us." This name does not speak of the future, but of the present.

In spite of any difficulties we face, we have Emmanuel. Our hope is not based on external situations, but eternal promises. This Advent season can be the best ever if you dare to embrace the hope of Jesus right now, knowing that God's grace and love are present to carry you through the most challenging times in your life.

What Readers are Saying About Hope: An Advent Journey

Now more than ever we're in need of "good news of great joy for all people." Olu Brown has written a meaningful book aimed at helping readers walk in the power, light, and hope of Christmas. Writing amid a global pandemic, political divisions, and protests against racial injustice, Brown's Hope helps us find just that.

Adam Hamilton
Pastor and author of Incarnation: Rediscovering the Significance of Christmas

For a church, small group, Sunday School class or individual, this book delivers an easy to ready and functional guide through Advent. Olu Brown provides a pathway to discover a determined hope for life in Jesus Christ. I encourage groups and individuals to read and use this book as a guide to living hope in Christ.

Bishop Robert Farr
Missouri Conference

Olu Brown articulates a foundation for hope strong enough to withstand the afflictions of life and cruelty of hate. Hope takes readers on a journey to a long ago world not as much unlike our own as we might imagine. Into this world of love and loss, injustice and ambition, hope entered unnoticed in the form of a peasant child. This same hope dwells among us today. As readers will learn, the power to heal our wounds, open our hearts, and mend our divisions has never left us though we have often averted our gaze from its grandeur. To anyone who has ever wondered if it could even be possible for all that is broken to one day be restored, I commend to you Hope: An Advent Journey. In its pages, you will find a gift we all need this Christmas.

Wil Cantrell
Pastor and author of From Heaven to Earth and Unafraid and Unashamed

What a timely resource for a year where people are searching for hope like never before. And there is no better time to take a journey of hope than Advent. Don't only use this resource for existing groups. This is also an excellent opportunity to invite regular attenders not yet participating in small groups, but also people in your community who are hungry for signs of hope!

Kay Kotan
Popular speaker and author of Impact & Mission Possible

Pastor Brown leads us through a well-researched, biblically based journey though Advent. He then places us on a drone and leads us into places where we see the lessons of Advent become relevant in all of today's contemporary issues. As a spiritual guide, he teaches out of his vast experiences as a practitioner and he invites us to immerse ourselves in this Advent journey with fresh eyes and prophetic witness for the days ahead.

Rodney Smothers
Dir. of Leadership and Congregational Development,
Baltimore-Washington Conference