On this Third Sunday of Advent—Gaudete Sunday—we explore a deeper, sturdier vision of joy through Isaiah’s promise of a desert in bloom and John the Baptist’s searching question from prison: “Are you the one who is to come?” Drawing on the image of a “superbloom,” this sermon reflects on joy not as fleeting happiness, but as a resilient gift cultivated through faith, patience, and community—one that can take root even in seasons of doubt, dryness, and waiting.

In this second week of our Advent series, Out of the Blue, we explore one of Scripture’s most startling invitations: the call to repentance. But not the shame-filled version many of us inherited. Instead, we look at repentance as a holy reorientation—a turning toward the God who surprises us with renewal in the very places we thought were beyond hope.

We'll hear John the Baptist’s bold call to “prepare the way” and explore repentance not as shame, but as a holy reorientation—turning toward the God who brings new life out of what looks cut down or worn out. Drawing from Matthew 3, the legacy of Elijah, and the imagery of shoots rising from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11), this message invites us to recognize how God still arrives in surprising ways.

If you’re longing for fresh hope, brave truth-telling, and a vision of God who both prunes and cultivates, this episode is for you. Join us as we listen for the Spirit’s call to turn, to trust, and to grow.

In this first week of Advent, we enter the holy tension between the world as it is and the world as God promises it will be. Drawing from Matthew 24:36–44 and Isaiah 2:1–5, this sermon invites us to explore what it means to stay spiritually awake in a distracted age—awake to God’s presence, awake to our neighbor’s need, and awake to the coming peaceable Kingdom.

Reflecting on a scene from A Boy Called Christmas, the advent essays of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the honest realities of our messy, overfull lives, we’re reminded that Advent isn’t passive waiting. It’s an invitation to reorient our hearts, rekindle our hope, and learn again how to see God’s nearness—even in fog, cold, and confusion.

If you’re entering the season a bit sideways—tired, hurried, or unsure—this message offers encouragement for the journey: small practices that keep us watchful, the promise that God meets us in unexpected places, and the assurance that the Kingdom is closer than we think.

Come walk in the light of the Lord, and discover that you may be nearer to home than you realize.