There is nothing ordinary about the Advent story. A young girl in a backwater town is met by an angel, told she will bear a child though she's a virgin, and that this child is the long-promised Messiah! Then he lederly - but also miraculously pregnant - cousin confirms it all. And Mary? She breaks into song... but not the gentle lullaby you'd expect. It's a declaration that god is about to flip the world upside down - power, pride, privilege, all shaken loose by the arrival of her son.

It feels like all too quickly, Advent is upon us again. Today is the first of three pivotal moments in the Advent story - all involving Mary - that all reveal something fresh and surprising about what God is bringing into the world.

We're at the end of Hebrews.

36 Sundays. Around 22 hours of seeing Jesus together. If someone asked you to sum it up, what would you say?

Today we're trying to do that - in just two verses and four questions!

We're almost at the end of Hebrews. If everything we've heard about Jesus is true, if we are receiving something eternally unshakeable through him, how does that transform our lives now?

Ever feel like life’s shaking you?This Sunday we’re talking about what can’t be shaken.When we know the ground we're standing on is solid, we can know certainty in shaky times.Hebrews 12: 18-29

*Sound is less like Paul is in a tin can after 5 minutes*

Faith isn't a smooth road - it's a rugged trail, full of twists, stumbles and uphill climbs. But here's the good news: we were never meant to hike it alone. The Spirit is with us, the great cloud of witnesses is cheering us on - and so are the people walking beside us!

The race of faith isn't a sprint - it's a lifelong marathon that's worth pushing for. So what keeps us going when the road gets tough? Spoiler alert: It's Jesus!

Faith is rarely glamorous, but it's often costly. The Bible talks about some people who were "sawn in two" while others "escaped the sword" for their allegiance to Jesus, and that's reality for many followers of Jesus today. Whatever the path involves, he is worth it - and it leads to ultimate victory because Jesus has already won!