Christmas is over. The lights are still up, but the magic is fading fast. And if we are honest, the Christmas story itself gets dark fast. After the wise men leave, an angel warns Joseph to flee. Herod orders the murder of innocent children. Mary and Joseph became refugees in Egypt. This is not the story we put on Christmas cards. Yet it is part of the story of Jesus. God with us does not mean God protects us from every hard thing. It means God is present in every hard thing. This week, as we step into a new year, we will see that even in the darkest moments of the Christmas story, God was faithful. Jesus came into a weary, broken, dangerous world. And He is still with us.
Christmas is here. The waiting is over. The One we have longed for has arrived. His name is Immanuel. God with us. Not God far away. Not God watching from a distance. God with us. Right here. In the mess. In the joy. In the weariness. In the celebration. Jesus is God's promise kept. God's love made visible. God's presence made real. Today we celebrate the greatest gift ever given. A Savior. A King. A Friend. God Himself, wrapped in flesh, laid in a manger, given for us. The weary world rejoices because Immanuel has come. And He will never leave us.
Christmas Eve is the night we have been waiting for. The night heaven touched earth. The night God became flesh and entered our weary world. There was no room in the inn. No grand announcement. No comfort or fanfare. Just a young mother, a newborn King, and a feeding trough. Jesus arrived in the most ordinary, humble way possible. And that is the beauty of it. God did not wait for us to clean up our mess. He came into the mess. He came into the weariness. He came for us. Tonight, we gather to celebrate the arrival of the One who changes everything. The weary world rejoices!
The fourth candle of Advent is Love. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Love is not a feeling. Love is a person. Love is God stepping into our mess, our sin, and our weariness and saying, I will not leave you. The birth of Jesus is the ultimate act of love. God became flesh and moved into our neighborhood. This week, we prepare to celebrate Christmas by remembering that Love came down at Christmas, and that Love has a name: Jesus.
The third candle of Advent is Joy. Joy is not happiness that depends on circumstances. Joy is the deep, unshakable gladness that comes from knowing we are loved by God. The shepherds received good news of great joy. Mary sang of a God who lifts the lowly. Simeon held the infant Messiah and declared he could now depart in peace. Joy is woven into the story of Jesus' birth because Jesus Himself is the source of our joy. This week, we will discover how to access joy even when life is hard and the season feels heavy.
The second candle of Advent is Peace. The angels announced peace on earth, but the wars still rage. Violence continues. Relationships fracture. Anxiety grows. So what kind of peace did Jesus bring? The peace of Jesus is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of God in the middle of it. Jesus is our peace with God and our peace with one another. This week, we will see how the Prince of Peace offers rest for our souls even when the world around us is anything but calm.
Thanksgiving is the doorway into God's presence. The psalmist invites us to come before God not first with complaints or requests, but with gratitude. Why? Because gratitude reminds us who God is. He is good. His love endures. His faithfulness continues. When we approach God with thanksgiving, we acknowledge His track record and character. This posture changes how we pray, how we see our lives, and how we move through the world. As we prepare for Thanksgiving week, we will practice gratitude as worship and trust God to meet us in our praise.
Paul's command sounds impossible until we see the source. We give thanks in all circumstances, not for all circumstances. Gratitude is not denial. It is trust. Jesus has met us in every hard place, and He is present in every season. When we choose gratitude, we are choosing to see God's faithfulness even when the road is rough. Gratitude shifts our focus from what we lack to who we have. This week, we learn to practice gratitude as a daily rhythm that anchors us in God's love.
Love is not a feeling. Love is a sacrifice. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples the night before He died. He knew what was coming. He knew the cost. And He laid down His life willingly. Veterans know something of this love. They signed up. They trained. They deployed. They put themselves between danger and the ones they loved. Some gave everything. We gather today to honor their sacrifice and to say thank you. We also gather to remember that the ultimate act of love was Jesus on the cross. He laid down His life for us. He gave everything so that we might live. This week, we will reflect on the cost of freedom and the love that makes sacrifice possible. We will thank God for veterans and for Jesus, the One who gave His life for the whole world.
The saints are not distant. They are a cloud of witnesses. They ran the race. They kept the faith. They crossed the finish line. And now they surround us. Not as spectators watching from heaven, but as evidence of God's faithfulness. Their lives testify that the race can be run. Their example encourages us to keep going. The writer of Hebrews tells us to throw off what hinders us and fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the pioneer. He is the perfecter. He is the reason we run. The saints point us to Him. This week, we will honor the faithful believers who have shaped our faith and recommit ourselves to running the race set before us. They are with Christ. We are joined with them in the communion of saints. And Jesus runs with us. We are not alone. We never have been.
On Reformation Sunday, we celebrate the unshakable truth that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation. At the same time, Concordia gathers for Loyalty Sunday, committing ourselves to live by faith and stand firmly on God’s promises in every aspect of life.
Stewardship is more than money. It is whole-life discipleship. The Macedonian churches gave beyond their means because they had first given themselves to the Lord in gratitude. Generosity flows from Jesus, who became poor so that we might become rich. Living with open hands means offering God our time, talents, treasure, relationships, and influence. Because Jesus gave His whole life for us, we offer our whole lives back to Him.
Loneliness is one of the deepest wounds of our culture, but God does not leave us alone. In Christ, He comes to us as Father, Savior, and Friend. Through His Spirit, He sets us in a family called the Church. This week we remember: Jesus has not left us as orphans. He has placed us in His body, where we are known, loved, and sent. To be renewed is not only to find peace with God, but to find belonging with His people.
The world says you must earn your worth or reinvent yourself. Jesus says you are already His masterpiece. Baptized into Christ, you have a new name and a new path. This week is about leaving behind the false scripts of culture and walking in the Spirit’s leading, secure in your identity as God’s child.
Burnout is the result of carrying what only Christ can carry. In Him, rest is not laziness — it’s worship. Gratitude turns our eyes from scarcity to abundance, from pressure to praise. Sabbath becomes a holy protest against the world’s endless demands.
Depression does not disqualify you from God’s presence — it may be where His mercy meets you most clearly. Through the cross, Jesus knows your sorrow. Through His resurrection, He promises that sorrow will not have the last word. This week, we lament honestly, pray persistently, and fix our eyes on the One who walks with the brokenhearted.
Anxiety thrives in the shadows, but Jesus calls us into His light. We name the fear, test it against God’s Word, and surrender it to the One who reigns over all. Christ has already defeated the enemy who whispers lies — the cross and empty tomb prove it. Peace isn’t found in fixing everything but in trusting the Lord who holds everything.