Rooted Church
December 28, 2025
  • Goodness Of God

      • Micah 5:2–5ESV

  • His Glory And My Good
  • There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood
  • How Great Is Our God

  • Matthew 1:18-23, Isaiah 9:6

    I can’t stand things that are fake. I’m just not wired for it anymore. I don’t play pretend very well, and I’m drawn to people who are real. So when I sense a persona—I struggle to play along.
    Early on in ministry, that actually created some tension. Because there’s a lot of pressure, especially this time of year, to present a certain kind of polished, picture-perfect environment. Churches can feel like they have to manufacture a mood—warm lights, cozy smiles, endless cheer.
    But the truth is, even in a season full of celebration, not everything feels like gumdrops and mistletoe.
    And so today, we enter into Advent with prayer and reflection, and I want encourage you to be real before the God who loves you immensely.
    Some of us are carrying the weight of fractured or complicated families. Some of us are grieving the loss of someone we deeply love. Some are feeling their bodies slow down with age. And many of us are simply tired—trying to muster up the joy this season seems to demand.
    Today is Shalom Sunday.
    “Shalom” means peace—but not just the absence of conflict. It’s the fullness of wholeness. It’s the echo of Eden, where God walked with humanity in perfect relationship, and where creation, untouched by the fall, never demanded more than we could give.
    But when sin entered the world, shalom was shattered—both horizontally and vertically.
    Horizontally, creation now resists us. Vertically, God can feel distant because of our sin, and all that beckons our souls attention.
    And this is exactly why the season of Advent is so important:
    Matthew 1:18–23 ESV
    Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
    You just heard the announcement of the most astonishing truth in all of human history: God is with us.
    But Matthew doesn’t drop that on us out of nowhere. He has been carefully preparing us for that declaration from the very first verse of his Gospel.
    Last week, as we began our Women of the Word series by looking at Tamar, we saw how God wove her broken and complicated story directly into the line of the Messiah. And Tamar is only one example. In the opening genealogy, Matthew walks us through a long list of names that may seem ordinary at first glance, but each tells a story of promise, mercy, and redemption.
    And together they form a tapestry of God’s unwavering faithfulness. Through victories and failures, through exile and return, through faithful saints and deeply flawed sinners, God has done exactly what He said He would.
    From Abraham to David to the exiles and all the way to Joseph, every thread in this genealogy pulls us toward the same conclusion: God is bringing His Redeemer into the world.
    This is not just another figure stepping onto the stage of Israel’s history. This is the fulfillment of a promise God has been weaving since the very beginning— the promise to restore shalom, the peace that was lost in Eden.
    From the very beginning, when Adam and Eve’s disobedience fractured humanity’s relationship with God, the Lord promised to send Someone who would restore what was broken. That promise was repeated to Abraham, whose descendants would become a great nation and through whom a Redeemer would come—One like Isaac, but greater, who would not be spared. From Abraham’s family grew Israel, who longed for a king until God raised up David, a man after His own heart, and again reaffirmed that the true and perfect King would come from his line. Generations later, when God’s people were weary from waiting, the prophet Isaiah renewed their hope with the promise that a virgin would conceive and bear a son called Immanuel….God with us.
    But the wait would be long—400 years of silence was coming—but God’s promise would not fail.
    The faithful needed grace and strength to endure, just as we do today in a broken world, but Isaiah reassured them that the promised child would be worth the wait, and God would sustain them in their waiting.
    And so, they prayed:
    Micah 7:7 ESV
    But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
    And they trusted: Lamentations 3:25-26
    Lamentations 3:25–26 ESV
    The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
    And, they waited...
    Isaiah 25:9 ESV
    It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
    Then—just like that—their waiting ended.
    After centuries of anticipation, God’s promise began to unfold. The Light was stepping into the darkness. Jesus Christ, the Savior of all, Immanuel, has come.
    The rescue plan whispered in Eden, repeated to Abraham, reinforced through David, and proclaimed by Isaiah was finally here. And with His arrival, the peace we lost—the shalom our hearts were made for—was returning.
    Isaiah 9:6 ESV
    For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
    The Prince of Peace has come to us, in other words: the shalom that was broken is being restored.
    Because the Prince of Peace has come, peace is not just a word we sing about or a feeling we try to manufacture this time of year.
    It is a person who draws near to us. It is a gift given to weary people. It is a presence that steadies us in the chaos and comforts us in the ache.
    Shalom is possible, even in a world still waiting for its full restoration.
    You can experience peace in the middle of uncertainty. You can rest in God’s nearness even when life feels fragile. You can walk through this season—whatever it holds—with a confidence that does not come from circumstances, but from Christ Himself.
    So this morning, we begin Advent at the communion table—this small but sacred table where we remember the One who came to restore shalom.
    And after our gathering, we’ll continue that celebration around a much larger table as a family.
    But right now, Jesus invites you to come and dine under the banner of His peace.
    Here, sin has lost its claim. Fear has lost its power. Death has lost its sting.
    At this table we declare that the Savior has come—and in His coming, He has made shalom possible even today.
    The Prince of Peace is with you, restoring what was lost, healing what is broken, and holding you fast until the day His peace is made complete forever.
    So if you believe this, come to the table with hope; take a moment where you are to receive His peace and remember that Christ has come, and He will come again.
    And if you do not yet believe, we ask that you refrain—but know that this table can be for you, you need only to put your trust in Him.

      • Matthew 1:18–23ESV

      • Micah 7:7ESV

      • Lamentations 3:25–26ESV

      • Isaiah 25:9ESV

      • Isaiah 9:6ESV

      • Romans 5:12ESV

      • Luke 2:29–32ESV

      • Job 13:15ESV

      • Romans 8:35ESV

      • Romans 8:37ESV

  • All Glory Be To Christ

      • Isaiah 2:2–5ESV

Rooted Church
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