In the third week of Advent, we turn toward joy, but not the surface-level version we’re often handed. Isaiah 61 and Jesus’ first public declaration in Nazareth reveal a different kind of joy: joy rooted in liberation, healing, and God’s restoring presence among those who carry the heaviest burdens.

Kristen explores:

• Isaiah’s vision of joy as God lifting what crushes the poor and the brokenhearted
• Why Jesus chose Isaiah 61 to declare His mission and why it nearly got Him thrown off a cliff
• How joy and justice are inseparable in Scripture
• The political implications of joy in a climate shaped by fear, exclusion, and power
• The witness of Hanukkah and what it teaches Christians about holding hope in the shadows of empire
• A real Advent practice: stand with someone pushed to the margins, especially when it stretches your comfort

Whether you’re carrying grief, exhaustion, shifting faith, or the weight of the world, this episode offers a grounded, honest invitation into the kind of joy Isaiah promised and Jesus embodied - joy strong enough for weary people in a weary world.

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1–3, Luke 4:16–21, Philippians 2

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Here’s to a faith that flips tables, heals wounds, and pursues justice.

RESOURCES:

www.kristenannette.com

Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list

Justice Coaching options!

"Find your justice mindset" quiz!

Advent Week Two centers on Peace, but not the thin, polite version we often settle for.
Kristen guides listeners through Isaiah 2:1–4, where peace is not the absence of conflict but the reshaping of violence into nourishment. Isaiah imagines a world where people choose formation over fear, learning new instincts that unmake the cycles of harm.

From there, we turn to Joseph in Matthew 1, often overlooked, rarely celebrated as the first person in the New Testament to embody this peace. He holds legal and social standing, yet chooses mercy in the dark, before he understands the full story. This is power used protectively, not defensively. Peace in practice, not just intention.

Then Kristen widens the lens to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose nonviolent resistance demonstrates what peace looks like when it transitions from private choices to public witness. Drawing from Letter from Birmingham Jail, we hear King’s challenge to “negative peace,” the kind that avoids tension instead of confronting injustice. Peace shaped by Jesus is something entirely different: disciplined, courageous, and unwilling to mirror harm.

This episode is trauma-aware at every turn, naming how our survival brains often override our desire for peace. Isaiah’s formation language reminds us that peace is something we learn, unlearn, and practice, not something we magically feel.

Finally, Kristen offers two concrete Advent practices to embody peace this week:

Peace is never just the absence of conflict.
It’s the presence of courage, truth, and love that refuses to harm even when harm would be easier.

KEY SCRIPTURES and more

• Isaiah 2:1–4 – Swords into plowshares
• Matthew 1:18–25 – Joseph’s mercy
• Selections from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
• Poem "Peace at the Door", author unknown

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN (episode highlights)

• • The difference between biblical peace and cultural “niceness.”
  • Why Isaiah 2 calls for dismantling harm, not avoiding conflict
  • How Joseph became the first peacemaker of the New Testament
  • How trauma shapes our instinctive responses and why peace must be learned
  • How Dr. King’s disciplined nonviolence embodies Isaiah’s vision
  • Two practical ways to practice peace this Advent: repair and protection

If you found this episode helpful, the best way to spread the word and help others find the show is to:

• Text this episode to a friend!
• Leave a 5-star rating and review!
• Hit ‘subscribe’ so you’ll never miss an episode!

Here’s to a faith that flips tables, heals wounds, and pursues justice.

RESOURCES:

www.kristenannette.com

Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list

Justice Coaching options!

"Find your justice mindset" quiz!

In this episode of Jesus, Justice & Mercy, Kristen opens the season with “The Advent of Justice: Hope in the Dark,” an invitation to the kind of hope Isaiah and Mary proclaim, honest, grounded hope that rises in the very places where injustice tries to suffocate us.

Kristen explores the surprising history of Advent and Epiphany, then walks through Isaiah 9:1–7, including the beloved lines, “For to us a child is born…” a radical promise spoken into a world under empire. She then turns to Mary’s Magnificat, where a young woman echoes Isaiah’s vision with bold defiance, announcing a world turned right-side up: the lowly are lifted, the hungry are filled, the proud are scattered, and oppressive power is disrupted.

To close, Kristen offers a simple practice for the week.

No perfection. No pressure. Just the courageous honesty Advent requires.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• The surprising history and purpose of Advent
• Why Isaiah 9 speaks hope from within oppression, not outside it
• How “For to us a child is born…” became both a comfort and a challenge
• How Mary’s Magnificat echoes Isaiah’s vision of justice and liberation
• Why Advent hope is active, honest about darkness and rooted in God’s movement
• A simple weekly practice to live hope with intention

Key Themes & Scriptures:

• Isaiah 9:1–7 — Hope, justice, and a ruler who breaks oppression
• Isaiah 9:6–7 — “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace”
• Luke 1:46–55 — Mary’s Magnificat and the world turned right-side up
• Advent as awakening, courage, and justice
• Hope as resistance
• God’s presence in the dark

If you found this episode helpful, the best way to spread the word and help others find the show is to:

• Text this episode to a friend!
• Leave a 5-star rating and review!
• Hit ‘subscribe’ so you’ll never miss an episode!

Here’s to a faith that flips tables, heals wounds, and pursues justice.

RESOURCES:

www.kristenannette.com

Holy Disruption: Reclaiming a Justice-Rooted Faith course info and interest list

Justice Coaching options!

"Find your justice mindset" quiz!