Microchurch Minute
On Sunday we looked back on our year and followed up with Samuel’s story of raising an ebenezer, an altar in recognition of God’s faithfulness. It’s easy to fixate on the tragedies of your year, traditionally we look at the negatives from last year and make resolutions to fix/improve or save ourselves from them moving forward. But friends, we don’t have to live this way. We have a good Father in Heaven that has shown up for us time and time again, no matter the hurts we have faced in this fallen world. Because we trust that God is good, we can simultaneously mourn with our spiritual family while recognizing and celebrating what He is doing and has done in our lives.
What did God do for you this past year? I saw God bring new families into our church family. I saw spiritual growth in so many people. While we have cried and prayed with those that have received hard news, we have also seen favorable diagnosis and God’s hand in aligning His perfect timing in circumstances that we couldn’t have imagined otherwise.
Loving God and resting in His promises doesn’t guarantee an easy life, Jesus even told us that we would face trials in this life. However, when we choose to look back and reflect on God’s faithfulness, we raise our own ebenezers – in recognition of where we saw Him shine. I have seen God’s goodness too many times to not believe that He will do it again! I have seen His “not yet” turn into a delayed blessing that wouldn’t have made sense if He handed it over in my timing.
Brothers and sister, I encourage you to go before the Father in prayer and petition for the yearnings He has placed on your heart. But, before you do, build Him an altar of your own, out of the ebenezers – the real life examples of what He has done for you. When you remember what God has done in your life, it builds your faith into what you know He is capable of doing (spoiler: it’s everything, He can do it all). You will pray bold prayers. You will expect God to show up, like He’s done before.
We each took a stone and took time to write words on it that served to remind us of events from the past year that wouldn’t have been possible without God. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to keep it going, until I have a front yard rock garden full of reminders that God loves us.
Heavenly Father, I know the circumstances we face are not always perfect in our eyes. Yet I have seen You delay what I wanted so You could bless me in Your perfect timing. I have watched You move in the hearts of others to accomplish Your greater plan. God, I trust that Your ways are infinitely better than my own. As I place my confidence in the evidence of Your goodness, I will continue to build my altar—stone by stone—each one a reminder of where You have shown up before and a declaration of my faith that You will do it again.
Microchurch Minute
Seder, meaning “order,” is a tradition we joyfully observe, remembering how God’s redemptive plan was fulfilled through the coming of Jesus.
The Several Annunciations
Luke 1:24-38 Elizabeth’s Conception & Gabriel’s Appearance to Mary
Matthew 1:18-23 The Angel of the Lord appears to Joseph to announce the birth of Emmanuel
Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and John’s birth
The Birth of Jesus and visit of the Wise Men
Luke 2:1-20 The census in Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus, the visit of the shepherds.
Jesus’ naming and what He came to do
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, we remember the great love God has shown us—a love revealed in sending Jesus to walk among us and ultimately die in our place, bridging the gap that sin had created between humanity and God. God could have wiped out mankind and started over, yet instead He chose redemption, remaining faithful to the covenant He made with Noah. This reminds us that God can be trusted; He does not go back on His word. When He speaks, His promises are final.
Through Jesus’ death on the cross, we see the fullest expression of sacrificial love. God no longer requires great sacrifices from us to come near to Him. We are simply invited to receive the grace given through the agape love of our Father and to rest in the promises He has made. In doing so, dying to our old selves is no longer a burden or loss, but a redeeming opportunity—to release what belongs to a fallen world and step fully into our new identity in Christ.
Microchurch Minute
Advent Week 3 — Joy
Theme: The Joy That Has Come
Primary Text: Luke 2:8-20
1. Joy Begins With Good News
Joy flows from the announcement of what God has done, not from our circumstances.
Luke 2:10 — “I bring you good news of great joy…”
Romans 10:15 — “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
2. Joy Comes From God’s Nearness
Joy is found in the presence of God with us—Immanuel.
Luke 1:46–47 — “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Psalm 16:11 — “In your presence there is fullness of joy.”
3. Joy Can Coexist With Fear and Suffering
Biblical joy does not deny pain; it endures through it.
Luke 2:9–10 — “Fear not… great joy.”
2 Corinthians 6:10 — “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”
4. Joy Overflows Into Witness
When joy is received, it naturally spills into praise and testimony.
Luke 2:17–18 — “They made known what had been told them.”
Psalm 96:2 — “Proclaim his salvation day after day.”
5. Joy Is Completed in Christ
Our joy is secure because Jesus has come, died, risen, and will return.
John 15:11 — “That my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
1 Peter 1:8–9 — “You rejoice with joy… obtaining the outcome of your faith.”
“True Joy Is Grace Realized”
Grace is God’s unearned favor toward us—His initiative to save, forgive, restore, and dwell with His people.
Joy is what happens when that grace is no longer abstract doctrine, but personally apprehended, received, and trusted.
In other words, joy erupts when grace moves from concept to conviction.
As we frequently associate the hymn Joy to the World with the arrival of our infant Savior in celebration of the holiday season, could I challenge you to observe it on a continual basis? As we live in a perpetual state of advent, in preparation and anticipation of the return of our Savior, Joy to the World, indeed! We can sing this song year round as we rest in the promise of the returning Joy that is Jesus Christ our King.
Microchurch Minute
Who hasn’t struggled and felt torn between the earthly power of sin and the divine power of the Holy Spirit? While we may have always known that some things are outright bad… such as murder and theft, the more intimate details of our souls are revealed in the law. It is wrong to desire what your neighbor has. It is wrong to worship anything that is not God. These convictions strike us deeply when we align ourselves with Jesus. I don’t know about you, but even with a genuine desire to serve the Lord alone, I still find myself wrestling with the flesh far more than I wish. I don’t want to give in to sin, but the facade of worldly happiness has such a pull about it that it truly takes an act of calling upon the Holy Spirit inside of you to free you from those temptations. Paul uses the analogy of marriage to show that just as a woman cannot enter a new covenant while her husband still lives, we cannot fully enter into relationship with God until we put to death our former “marriage” to sin. Our freedom from sin was bought through the act of Jesus’ death on the cross. By our own doing, we cannot rise above the law, we are never free from it. But when we choose to lay down the chains that entrap us to the world, we are free to live under the presence of our Savior. The bible never promises us that walking in faith would be an easy journey. In fact, it turns the whole idea of “earning” holiness upside down. Instead, we see that we must only accept the grace and forgiveness that the Father has opened up to us, and we will be inspired to want to do good deeds because we have already been bought, forgiven and accepted.
Microchurch Minute
ADVENT WEEK 2 — PEACE
Theme: Peace
Primary Texts:
Outline
1. Peace Is God’s Initiative, Not Human Achievement
- Shepherds hear the declaration of heavenly peace
- Peace is announced before it is felt
2. Peace Comes Through a Person—the Prince of Peace
- Isaiah’s prophecy of a righteous, gentle, restoring King
- Jesus brings peace with God (reconciliation) and the peace of God (inner calm)
3. Peace Invites Us to Respond in Worship
- The Magi travel far to worship the newborn King
- True peace leads to surrender, awe, and devotion
4. Peace That Pushes Back Fear
- Angel’s first words: “Fear not”
- Peace doesn’t remove all troubles; it reorders our hearts in the midst of them
Teaching Summary
Jesus brings the peace our world cannot manufacture. God sent peace down from heaven through His Son, restoring what sin destroyed. The angels proclaim it, the shepherds witness it, the Magi worship it. In Christ, we find peace with God and the peace of God—a peace that conquers fear and anchors our souls.
The peace God gives—and the peace we have with Him—looks nothing like the fleeting calm the world chases. Financial security, relational harmony, physical well-being—good as they are—can never compare to the deep, soul-settling peace that comes only from the indwelling Holy Spirit. True peace is a gift of the Prince of Peace Himself, a rest the world cannot offer and cannot take away. Do you carry a peace that surpasses understanding—a peace rooted in the unshakable promises spoken by your Heavenly Father?
Microchurch Minute
Traditional Theme: Hope
Primary Texts
● Isaiah 9:1–7 — Promise of a coming Light
● Luke 1:26–38 — Gabriel announces the hope of a Savior
● Matthew 1:18–25 — The hope embedded in the name Jesus (“God saves”)
Outline
1. The Darkness That Makes Hope Necessary
● Israel’s political and spiritual darkness (Isaiah 9:1–2)
● Our world’s darkness: broken systems, suffering, distance from God
2. God’s Promise of a Coming King
● God doesn’t ignore darkness—He sends Light
● A Child, a Son, a King who brings endless hope (Isaiah 9:6–7)
3. Hope Arrives Through Ordinary People
● Mary’s humble obedience (Luke 1:38)
● Joseph’s trust in God’s plan (Matt. 1:20–25)
4. Hope Is Not a Feeling—It’s a Person
● Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecy
● Christian hope = confident expectation based on God’s character
Teaching Summary
Advent begins with hope—not vague optimism, but the confident expectation that God keeps
His promises. Into real darkness, God sent the Light. Through Mary and Joseph’s obedience,
Jesus came as the long-awaited Messiah. Our hope today is rooted not in circumstances but in
the unchanging character of God who entered our world to save.
