In a world that celebrates independence as strength, what if needing others isn’t a sign of weakness but wisdom? The opening message of this series challenges one of our culture’s deepest lies: that we can hold life together on our own. Scripture reminds us that we were never meant to be self-sufficient. We were made to be God-dependent and people-connected.
Christmas is over. The wrapping paper’s gone, the cookies are stale, and life is getting back to the same, old normal. But what if “normal” is where God stays at work? Even when life gets quiet, God isn’t absent. The same God who came to us in Bethlehem is still at work – doing something big, quietly.
The first Christmas wasn’t perfect, and that’s exactly how God planned it. When everything was messy and uncertain, God didn’t shout from heaven or send more rules; he showed up. We remember that Jesus came not to reward our perfection but to rescue us from our imperfection. The story of Christmas isn’t about a perfect presentation but about the presence of God, Immanuel, “God with us.” When we couldn’t get to him, he came to us.
