December 23, 2025 • 35 mins
This week, it’s just Tony on the porch. No co-host, no script, just a heart-to-heart about the season we all feel differently each year. With Christmas just two days away, the pressure, the exhaustion, the “shoulds,” and even the grief can feel heavier than the holiday cards promise.
In this solo episode, we pull back the curtain on the myth of the “perfect Christmas” and explore what the first Christmas really looked like: messy, inconvenient, ordinary… and yet, miraculous. Through personal stories, biblical reflection, and a gentle reminder to pause, breathe, and notice God’s presence, we’ll discover that Christmas isn’t about perfection; it’s about presence.
If you’re tired, overwhelmed, grieving, or just feeling like Christmas isn’t “your Christmas” this year, this conversation is for you. Pull up a chair, pour a cup of cocoa, and let’s explore why the ordinary, messy, and unexpected moments might be exactly where God wants to meet you this season.
#PulpitAndPorch #Christmas2025 #FaithfulChristmas #GodInTheMess #PresenceOverPerfection
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to the Pulpit and Porch.
If you're a regular listener, you might notice today's episode
sounds a little different. It's just me here on the porch,
No Robert today. And honestly, that maybe feels
kind of fitting for where we arein the season.
Sometimes life doesn't go exactly as planned.
And maybe that's the point. We're two days from Christmas, 2
(00:20):
days. And if you're anything like most
people I know or most people that I talked to this time of
year, this is usually the point when the questions start
creeping in. You start noticing the little
disconnects, the things that feel off.
Why don't I feel more excited? Why does this feel heavier than
it used to? Why am I exhausted instead of
joyful? Why does Christmas feel
(00:42):
different this year? Maybe the biggest question of
all, the one that keeps tugging at your heart, is this is
something wrong with me? I want to say this clearly, and
I want you to hear it slowly. If Christmas doesn't feel the
way you think it's supposed to feel this year, you're not
broken. You're not faithless.
You're not doing Christmas wrong.
In fact, you might actually be closer to the heart of Christmas
(01:04):
than you realize. Let me explain, because here's
something that we don't talk about enough.
The first Christmas didn't feel merry either.
It didn't feel calm. It didn't feel magical.
It didn't feel tidy or well planned or Instagram ready.
Think about it. Mary is traveling while heavily
pregnant, going on foot over hundreds of miles to get to a
census that she didn't ask for. She's scared.
(01:26):
She's tired. She's probably wondering.
She's doing the right thing. Joseph.
He's wrestling with questions about responsibility, shame,
doubt. The Shepherds, They're cold,
tired and lonely. You've got a Rome's empire,
Taxes, oppression, displacement.It seems hardly like a serene
backdrop. Christmas didn't arrive in a
(01:46):
quiet, peaceful, perfect setting.
It arrived in confusion. It arrived in inconvenience.
It arrived in risk. It arrived in disruption.
And yet that's the moment that God chose to step in, and that's
when he chose to show up. So today I want to do something
different. I want to just sit with you for
a while. No rush, no checklist, no
(02:08):
pressure to feel any certain way.
I just want to talk with you about what Christmas really is
and what it might mean when it doesn't feel the way that you
expected it to. O ULL UA chair, you're welcome
here. Welcome to the pulpit and porch.
I'm Tony Maher and with me, as always, is my friend Robert
(02:29):
Kell. Hey everybody, we are so glad
you're here. The pulpit and porch is where we
kick back, put up our feet and have real conversations about
life, faith, growth, and maybe even a little sports and pop
culture. If you're looking for a
perfectly polished sermon, you're probably in the wrong
place. Yeah, around here it's more
about those honest heart to heart conversations, like the
one you'd have on a front porch with good friends.
Sometimes we stay on track, sometimes we take the.
(02:51):
Scenic Group and honestly, that's half the fun, isn't it?
We dig into the highs, the lows,and all the in betweens of
living out your faith in real life.
Along the way, we may pull up a few extra chairs and invite some
friends under the porch to sharestories and ideas that just may
change the way that you see things So.
Whether you're chasing your purpose, building your faith, or
just trying to live a little more fully, pull up a chair,
grab some sweet tea, and join us.
(03:12):
This is the pulpit and porch we got to see waiting for you.
Well, welcome into the pulpit and porch.
I am your solo host today, Tony Maher, and my cohost Robert Was
(03:37):
not feeling so well. We were supposed to record this
morning and we had our episode all ready to go.
And I know that it was an episode that a lot of you were
looking forward to. It's kind of a Part 2 of a
little series that we were doingon Christmas movies.
And this week was going to be Christmas TV specials.
And maybe we'll get that in and it'll come to you after the week
after Christmas. Because let's be honest, the
(03:58):
Christmas season continues on until January 1st.
And if your family's anything like mine, we keep watching
Christmas specials and Christmasmovies a week between Christmas
and New Year's. So hopefully Robert will get to
feeling better and we'll be ableto get that episode recorded for
you and put out sometime next week.
But we had to call an audible and we didn't have anything
(04:20):
prepared for an audible like this.
And so I'm going to take just a few minutes and talk through
some things with you that have been heavy on my heart recently,
some ideas that have floated through my head over the course
of the last couple of of days and weeks especially.
And I want to start by just pausing for a moment.
I want you to picture something with me.
(04:41):
I want you to imagine a winter night a long time ago.
Everything quiet except for the stars above, except that it's
not really quiet. There's the sound of animals in
the barn. There's the Creek of wood.
There's the whisper of wind. And in the midst of all of that,
(05:01):
a baby is born. Not in a palace, not in a
perfectly decorated nursery, butin the most ordinary and
unlikely of places. God wrapped himself in skin and
stepped into the chaos of human life.
And here's the thing. That same God steps into the
(05:22):
chaos of your life today. Into your stress, your
exhaustion, your grief, your worry.
He doesn't wait until the timingis perfect.
He doesn't wait until you feel ready.
He doesn't wait until you've gotit all together.
He comes in the middle of it right there.
I remember Christmas a few yearsback after a particularly brutal
(05:44):
autumn life. Life just felt heavy.
I was the lead pastor at a church and I had way too many
responsibilities, too many meetings, too many shoulds piled
on top of each other. And I remember walking into the
church auditorium for the first Christmas service of a Christmas
series that year. I just wasn't feeling it.
(06:05):
I couldn't feel the music, I couldn't feel the decorations, I
couldn't feel the magic. I was.
I was just tired and I thought maybe Christmas was passing me
by that year. And then I heard the words Fear
Not simple, small, yet entirely unexpected.
(06:26):
And for the first time that season, I realized that I didn't
have to manufacture joy. I didn't have to decorate my
emotions or perfect my feelings.God was already in the room.
God was already near. And that changed everything.
I think that's what I want us tosit with today.
The first Christmas didn't feel like the Christmas cards that we
(06:47):
hang on the wall. It didn't feel like the cheerful
movies that we binge in December.
It didn't feel like a perfect Hallmark scene.
And yet that's the Christmas that changed the world.
So if your Christmas feels heavy, if it feels small, if it
feels quiet, or if it doesn't feel like Christmas at all,
don't panic. Don't try to force something.
(07:10):
Don't believe the lie that your feelings are a reflection of
your faith. This is exactly the moment where
God might be doing the most significant work in your life.
And that's kind of beautiful, isn't it?
Because it tells us something profound about God.
God isn't intimidated by our mess.
God isn't frightened by our chaos.
God doesn't need a pristine backdrop to do extraordinary
(07:31):
things. He doesn't measure our worth by
the number of lights that we have on the tree or the amount
of money that we spent on gifts this year.
God's presence is the gift, always has been and always will
be. So I want you to imagine that
first Christmas scene again, butthis time put yourself in it.
You're not Mary, you're not Joseph, you're not the
(07:52):
shepherds. You're just you and God shows up
anyway. He chooses you.
He invites you anyway. And that invitation doesn't come
with A to do list or a burden. It comes with an open hand and a
promise of I am here, I am near,I am with you.
(08:18):
Oh, and fear not, you're not tootired.
You're not too busy. You're not too anything.
God is already here, and he's waiting.
So let's start with something I think all of us wrestle with,
whether we realize it or not, the myth of the perfect
Christmas. Somewhere along the way, we've
(08:38):
absorbed this idea that Christmas is supposed to feel a
certain way. And I don't mean just
culturally. I mean deep in our bones,
socially, emotionally, even spiritually.
It's supposed to be warm. It's supposed to be cozy.
It's supposed to be cheerful, nostalgic in a very Hallmark
approved sense of the word. Maybe a little snow, maybe a
fireplace. Carol's in the background,
(08:59):
cinnamon in the air. Everyone's smiling, hugging,
loving, laughing. Gifts perfectly wrapped,
cookies, perfectly bake, cards perfectly sent.
And here's the thing, If it doesn't feel that way, many of
us immediately assume that we'vemissed something, that we
failed, that we've messed up, that we've not done Christmas
right. And I want to pause right there
because I want you to hear me. That is a lie.
(09:22):
That pressure, that expectation,it isn't from God.
It's from the world around us, from decades of movies,
marketing, social media, and cultural storytelling.
And the danger is, if we buy into it too deeply, we can end
up missing the real Christmas entirely.
Because the truth is, if we actually slow down and look at
(09:43):
the biblical story, really, really look at it, it doesn't
match our expectations at all. Not even close.
Think about Mary for a minute. She isn't calm.
She's not sitting in a cozy roomsipping tea with a fire
crackling in the background. She's terrified, She's confused.
She's probably asking herself, how is this possible?
(10:04):
How will I even survive this journey?
What are people going to think? And what about Joseph?
He isn't joyful. He's wrestling with doubt.
He's wrestling with shame, responsibility that he didn't
ask for. He's trying to make sense of a
situation that he can't control in a world where failing to
follow the rules could cost him everything.
What about the Shepherds? They're not cozy.
(10:26):
They're working the night shift,forgotten, overlooked, doing the
work that no one else wants to do.
They're the outcast from society, the lowest of the low.
They're dirty. They're tired.
They're alone in the fields until an Angel shows up and
everything changes in a moment of divine interruption In the
world that Jesus entered into, it definitely wasn't peaceful.
(10:48):
It was oppressive, violent, unjust.
Rome ruled with fear. People were overtaxed, families
were displaced, A census uprooted their homes.
And in the midst of all that, God chooses this exact world to
step into. That's not what we picture when
we think Christmas, but that's exactly what Christmas looked
(11:09):
like. So why does that matter for us
today? It matters because it tells us
something about the heart of God.
God didn't wait for the world tocalm down before sending his
Son. He didn't wait for Mary to be
ready, Joseph to be perfectly sure, the shepherds to have
cleaner clothes. God entered into the noise.
He entered into the mess. He entered our human reality at
(11:31):
the most inconvenient, chaotic and difficult moment imaginable.
And I think that's, I think that's a radical invitation for
us today because when we compareour real life Christmas to the
manufactured images on TV and the movies are on Pinterest,
it's easy to feel like we can fall short.
But maybe, just maybe, those moments when Christmas feels
(11:53):
messy, heavy or chaotic are actually the moments as closest
to what it's always been. I remember a few years ago for
Christmas, we had big plans. It was one of our first
Christmases as a family and we were doing Christmas with my
wife's family and my son was sick.
We couldn't make it. We had to make a choice that
(12:14):
that we either go be miserable and risk infecting the whole
family or I stayed home with my son.
And so while all the rest of my family was off celebrating
Christmas, me and my son were curled up watching Christmas
movies putting rags on his head to try to get down a fever.
I can remember sitting there thinking, well, I guess this is
Christmas, this year completely passed me by.
(12:34):
But then I looked and saw my sonlaying next to me asleep, had
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer playing on the TV in front of
me. And I remembered the story of
Mary and Joseph, of the shepherds of a world that was
far from perfect when Jesus arrived.
And in that moment, something shifted.
I realized that Christmas wasn'tabout my perfection.
(12:56):
It wasn't about the flawless decorations.
It wasn't about the Pinterest worthy meals or the perfectly
wrapped presents. It was about, well, presents.
The presence of God, the presence of love.
The presence of grace. The presence of peace.
This pressure to make Christmas feel a certain way isn't just
(13:18):
tiring, it's distracting. It keeps us from seeing what God
is really doing. Because the first Christmas
didn't happen in a quiet, calm, picture perfect world.
It happened in a noisy, messy, complicated, ordinary human
world. And God stepped into it anyway.
And here's the kicker, He still does.
(13:40):
Maybe your house is chaotic thisyear.
Maybe the kids are louder than usual.
Maybe your spouse isn't feeling Christmas either.
Maybe you're grieving someone that you lost.
Maybe your calendar is overstuffed.
Maybe your patience is thin, your heart feels heavy.
And that's exactly where Christmas wants to meet you.
Not in the perfect light, not inthe perfect setting, not in a
Hallmark movie moment, but in the reality of life.
(14:03):
Think about that for a moment. God chose to enter our world not
when everything was tidy and neat, but in the middle of the
mess. And that tells us something
really important. He doesn't need perfection.
He doesn't require ideal conditions.
He simply asks us to be present,to open our hearts, to recognize
him in the midst of our lives. And I want to challenge a myth
right here. The myth that Christmas has to
(14:26):
feel perfect or it's not real. The myth that joy must look a
certain way to be valid. That myth is cultural.
It's not biblical. The Bible doesn't set up this
expectation of Instagram ready emotions.
That sets up real people, real lives, and a God who steps into
them anyway. So if Christmas feels heavy or
lonely or chaotic, let that be your invitation to pause.
(14:48):
Let it be a reminder that God isshowing up in unexpected ways,
in unexpected places, and at unexpected times.
I want you to imagine a picture really quick.
Imagine Christmas morning not asa perfect movie scene, but as it
really might look for most people.
A messy living room, wrapping paper everywhere, kids fighting
(15:12):
over toys, coffee spill, dog barking, most of us still in our
pajamas. And then imagine God walking in,
not metaphorically, not as an abstract idea, but as a presence
that you can notice. An interruption in the midst of
the chaos, a whisper of hope in the noise.
That's Christmas. That's where the real joy is
(15:33):
found. And here's the thing that joy
isn't dependent on circumstances.
It doesn't wait for the tree to be perfect, for the meal to be
flawless, or the gifts to be exactly right.
It doesn't wait for you to feel a certain way.
Joy shows up because God shows up always.
(15:55):
Faithfulness isn't about perfection.
It's about presence. The thing about that Christmas
is that everything was messed up.
Christmas Day, my family was supposed to come over to our
house. My mom, my dad, my brother and
his family, everybody was supposed to come, but because my
son was sick, they all decided not to.
(16:19):
Christmas didn't turn out the way that we thought that it was
supposed to be. I remember another year, just a
few years ago when we had a a major snowstorm and, and the
weather came in brutally, brutally cold.
We, we froze our pipes. We did everything we were
supposed to do, but we have wellwater here at our house and our
well pump actually froze up. So for two days before Christmas
(16:42):
up through two days after Christmas, we didn't have any
water in our home. It was total chaos.
We were brushing our teeth and washing our faces out of jugged
water. But we lit a few candles.
We gathered the kids in the living room.
We read the Christmas story fromLuke, and it wasn't perfect.
In fact, by all cultural standards it was a complete
(17:04):
disaster. But most of us hadn't showered
in days. We were snowed in, so we
couldn't even get out to get supplies.
But that night I felt Christmas more deeply than ever before.
Not because of anything that I did because, but because in the
middle of our imperfection, we experienced presence.
Real, tangible, holy presence. And that's the invitation for
(17:30):
you today. Let go of the myth.
Let go of the expectation that Christmas must feel a certain
way. Let go of the lie that if it's
not perfect, it's not holy. Step into the season with open
eyes and open hearts, trusting that God shows up in the mess,
in the noise, in the chaos, in the ordinary.
(17:51):
Christmas isn't about perfection.
It's about presents. It's about God stepping into our
ordinary, messy, complicated lives and maybe, just maybe, the
moments when Christmas feels theleast like Christmas, or the
moments when it's actually closest to the heart of God.
Take a moment and just let that sink in.
We're going to pause, have a break.
(18:11):
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The reality of Christmas is this.
It doesn't wait for us to have it all together.
It doesn't need our perfect plans, our perfectly wrapped
gifts, or our perfectly decorated homes.
God is in the ordinary. He's in the messy.
He's in the inconvenient. He's in the spaces where we feel
(18:55):
least prepared, least capable, least worthy.
And he shows up there with more power, more grace, more love,
and more hope than we could everpossibly imagine.
And here's something else that Iwant to highlight.
God's approach at Christmas is counterintuitive.
He doesn't come with pomp and grand.
He doesn't come in a palace or on a throne.
He doesn't overwhelm with spectacle.
He comes quietly, humbly, vulnerably.
(19:18):
A baby in a Manger. That's it.
That's the form he chooses. And maybe that's God's gentle
reminder to us that the heart ofChristmas is not about what we
can control or create. It's about receiving what he
gives presence, grace, love, andhope.
Some of the most profound spiritual truths in our lives
(19:40):
happened in moments that feels small, awkward, inconvenient,
messy. And Christmas is no different.
The first Christmas was messy. The first Christmas was
inconvenient. It was ordinary.
And yet it changed the course ofhuman history.
That should give us hope, because the same God who entered
Bethlehem can enter your home, can enter your life, your heart,
(20:02):
exactly where you are, exactly in the mess, exactly in the
chaos, and exactly in the ordinary.
Because of the first Christmas tells us anything.
It's this. God loves the messy.
He loves the ordinary. God chooses the overlooked.
God meets us in the middle of life, not in the ideal, not in
the perfect, not in the magical.He meets us where we are.
(20:24):
And that's an invitation. It's an invitation to let go of
unrealistic expectations, to letgo of pressure, to let go of the
need to perform, to let go of the fear that I don't have it
together because God shows up. He's faithful, He's present,
He's powerful in the midst of the ordinary.
He's transformative in the middle of our mess.
(20:47):
So as we sit here on the porch together reflecting on the
season, I want to invite you into simple posture of openness.
Imagine yourself stepping into that stable with Mary and
Joseph. Imagine yourself among the
shepherds, looking up at the sky, overwhelmed by fear and
awe, but noticing the presence of God in a tiny, helpless
(21:07):
infant. Imagine yourself realizing the
Messiah came not to a palace, but to the ordinary.
Not to the perfect, but to the messy.
Not to prepared, but to the human.
That's where Christmas begins, that's where hope is born,
that's where joy is found, and that's where we're invited to
(21:31):
meet God. Right here, right now, exactly
where we are. Take a deep breath.
Let that sink in. Let the image of the messy,
ordinary, vulnerable first Christmas settle into your heart
and let that prepare you for thenext step.
(21:53):
To pause, reflect, to receive God's presence in your own life,
exactly where you are. Because the first Christmas was
messy, inconvenient, ordinary and holy.
And ours can be too. Let's take a quick break.
(22:15):
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make a greater impact. All right, we're back.
(22:39):
And if you're still with me up to this point, I want to say if
you're listening right now to this, maybe you're tired.
Maybe you've been running at full speed for weeks, maybe for
months, maybe even the entire year.
And now suddenly it's the day before Christmas Eve.
And instead of excitement, you feel complete exhaustion.
Exhaustion that doesn't just live in your body.
(23:00):
It's in your mind, it's in your heart, it's in, it's in your
soul. You're still carrying last
year's grief, last week's disappointment, last month's
unanswered prayers. And and here comes Christmas,
demanding joy, demanding magic, and demanding perfection.
And maybe you just simply don't have it to give.
Maybe now, sitting here a coupledays before the big day, maybe
(23:23):
you don't feel like celebrating.Maybe the carols make you ache.
Maybe the lights make you feel exposed.
Maybe the parties make you feel like another set of obligations
that you didn't sign up for but feel compelled to attend.
If that's where you are, I want to say this 1st and loudest
You're not failing. You're not broken.
(23:43):
You're not unspiritual. Your tiredness, your grief, your
emptiness. They don't disqualify you from
Christmas. In fact, I would argue that they
place you closer to the heart ofit than you realize.
Because as we've already talked about, Christmas doesn't require
perfect energy or perfect circumstances.
It doesn't require perfect families or perfect faith.
(24:05):
It requires presents. And I don't mean presents
wrapped in a box in a bow. I mean presence simply being
present. And presence is something that
you already have. So I'm going to do something
weird. Whether you're sitting in a
living room, whether you're driving in a car, or maybe
you're on on a treadmill, I wantyou to take a deep breath with
(24:27):
me. In and out, one more time.
In and out. Just sit here for a minute,
right here on this porch with me.
(24:50):
Because this is the kind of Christmas moment that I want to
create for you. Not the kind filled with
expectation or Pinterest perfecttrees.
Not the kind that measures joy in gifts bought or light strung,
But the kind where God meets you, where you are.
Some of you this morning are grieving.
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Maybe this is the first Christmas without someone you
love. Maybe it's the second.
Maybe it's the fifth. Maybe it's the 10th.
Maybe the holidays still hit as hard as the day they left.
And that's the case. I want you to know that God sees
you. God sees your pain.
God sees your longing for what once was.
(25:34):
And he's not distant. He doesn't pass judgement on
your tears. He's not confused by your
sadness. He is present, right here in the
middle of it. Some of you are lonely.
Maybe your family isn't near. Maybe your family is difficult.
(25:55):
Maybe the memory of family feelslike a window that was closed
long ago and this time of year just slams it shut.
Maybe social media doesn't help because everywhere you look,
everyone is celebrating the perfect Christmas.
They're all smiling, they're alllaughing, they're all
decorating, they're all smiling some more.
I want to tell you something critical.
You're not forgotten, you're notinvisible, and you don't need to
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manufacture joy to meet God. Let's go back to those shepherds
again. These were ordinary overlooked
people out in the fields doing the work that no one noticed.
Certainly no one celebrated it. And the Angel shows up and says
fear not, I bring good news of great joy for all people.
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Notice that for all people, not just the ones with the perfectly
decorated homes or the Instagramworthy living rooms, not the
ones with the perfect faith, notthe ones who have it all
together. All people, Even the tired, even
the lonely, even the overwhelmed.
(27:03):
And yes, even you. You may feel small, you may feel
forgotten, but the message of Christmas is loud and clear.
God sees you and more than that,He comes to you.
Some of you are burned out. Maybe you've been giving and
(27:24):
serving and leading and planningall year.
Maybe you've been the one holding everyone else together,
making sure the lights go up, the meals are cooked, the gifts
are purchased, the school concerts are attended.
And now, Now it's Christmas Eve and you're running on empty.
You're not alone. I want you to hear this as
clearly as I can. You do not have to do it all.
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God doesn't measure your faith by the number of Christmas cards
you send or the gifts that you wrap.
God doesn't evaluate your devotion by the cleanliness of
your house or the perfection of your cookies.
Presence matters more than performance.
Faithfulness matters more than perfection.
Sometimes the most faithful thing that you can do is to slow
down, to breathe, to acknowledgethat you're tired and still open
(28:11):
your heart to Him. Let's talk for a minute about
grace, because so often this is the season where we forget what
grace looks like. Grace isn't warm, cozy.
It's not a feeling that comes when everything goes according
to plan. Grace isn't a reward for good
behavior. Grace is not dependent on your
energy or your mood. Grace is God showing up right
(28:33):
where you are, right in the mess, in the chaos, in the hurt
and the exhaustion. Grace looks like the Angel
appearing to the shepherds on a dark night.
Grace looks like Mary holding a baby in a stable, exhausted and
overwhelmed. Grace looks like a weary parent
hearing their child laugh in themiddle of a chaotic morning.
Grace looks like God whispering,I see you, I'm here, and I won't
(28:56):
leave you. And here's the beautiful thing.
Grace is contagious. Even when we're tired, even when
we feel depleted, even when we think we have nothing left to
give, God can work through us. Our presence, our attention, our
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small acts of love. They ripple outward.
They bless people we may never know, and sometimes even bless
ourselves in ways that we never expected.
I want to pause for just a moment and speak directly to
parents. This is a hard season.
Kids are excited and their excitement can feel, can feel
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exhausting. Their cookies to bake, plays to
attend, decorations to hang, traditions to maintain.
And maybe in the midst of all that, you feel like you're
failing. Let me tell you the truth.
I've seen this play out over andover and over again.
Your kids don't need the perfectChristmas.
They need you. They need your presence, your
(29:58):
attention, your listening ear inyour hand to hold your knee, to
sit on your voice reading the story even if your throat is
sore, your patience when everything goes wrong.
And it will. They remember the moments when
you show up, not the ones when everything looked Instagram
perfect. They remember the laughter, the
shared wonder, the quiet prayers, the stories told over
(30:19):
hot chocolate. These are the holy moments.
These are the moments that shapea lifetime.
Now, I know that some of you listening right now are
grieving, lonely, exhausted, andoverwhelmed all at once.
And if that's you, I want to invite you into this moment
right now. I want you to picture a quiet
room, a candle flickering on thetable, a Bible open in front of
(30:45):
you. Maybe no one else is around.
Maybe it's just you and you say a simple prayer.
Jesus, I'm tired, I'm hurting, Idon't know what to do.
But I want you here, I want to see you, I want to feel you.
(31:08):
And here's what happens. He comes.
He always comes because the first Christmas didn't happen in
the palace, It didn't happen in perfect comfort, happened in a
(31:29):
stable, among animals, among strangers, among people who are
just doing life. And yet, in that mess, the world
changed, the Savior arrived. And the same is true for you.
Your room may not be perfect. Your house may not be decorated
the way you imagined. Your family may not be
cooperating. Your circumstances may be messy,
(31:54):
and yet Christ can still show up.
He can still bring peace, hope, joy, and love right there in the
middle of your life, exactly where you are.
So as this Christmas season comes to an end, I want to leave
you with a few practical thoughts.
(32:16):
Give yourself permission to rest.
Stop trying to do it all. Stop trying to manufacture
feelings that you don't have. Rest, sit, breathe, and let God
meet you there. Focus on presence or
performance. One moment of authentic
(32:37):
connection, reading a story, sharing a laugh, holding a hand
is worth far more than 10 perfectly executed traditions.
Why not invite God into the ordinary, Into the dishes, into
the car ride, into the laundry, the quiet evenings?
These are the places that He shows up.
So look for Him in the small things.
(33:00):
Lean into community, call a friend, text someone, share your
struggles, listen to someone else.
Even a short conversation can beholy.
And finally, celebrate the smallvictories. 1 Candle lit, one
verse read. 1 moment of laughter.
Remember that it's about presence.
(33:23):
God's presence meeting us exactly where we are, and our
presence showing up even when we're exhausted, even when we're
broken, and even when we're tired of trying.
Take a deep breath with me again.
In and out, one more in and out and hear this truth.
(33:54):
Christmas doesn't require perfection.
It requires honesty. It requires openness.
It requires presents. So as we move into the final
stretch of this episode and the final stretch of the Christmas
season, I want to leave you withthis.
Christmas doesn't end with a feeling.
It ends with a person. Jesus isn't intimidated by your
(34:16):
exhaustion. He's not unsettled by your
questions, and he's not distant from your grief.
He still comes near. So if your Christmas this year
feels smaller, slower, quieter, maybe that's not a failure.
It might be an invitation. An invitation to slow the pace,
to lower the noise, to open the door.
Because the Savior of the world still comes the way that he
(34:38):
always has, quietly, humbly, faithfully.
And he still comes close. If this episode met you where
you are, I want to encourage youto share it with someone who
needs permission to breathe thisseason.
Join the conversation with us onFacebook and Instagram.
Subscribe to the Pulpit and Porch Podcast wherever you
listen. And remember, there's always a
seat for you here. Pull up a chair on the porch.
(35:01):
Merry Christmas friends, we'll talk soon.
Welcome back to the Pulpit and Porch.
If you're a regular listener, you might notice today's episode
sounds a little different. It's just me here on the porch,
No Robert today. And honestly, that maybe feels
kind of fitting for where we arein the season.
Sometimes life doesn't go exactly as planned.
And maybe that's the point. We're two days from Christmas, 2
(00:20):
days. And if you're anything like most
people I know or most people that I talked to this time of
year, this is usually the point when the questions start
creeping in. You start noticing the little
disconnects, the things that feel off.
Why don't I feel more excited? Why does this feel heavier than
it used to? Why am I exhausted instead of
joyful? Why does Christmas feel
(00:42):
different this year? Maybe the biggest question of
all, the one that keeps tugging at your heart, is this is
something wrong with me? I want to say this clearly, and
I want you to hear it slowly. If Christmas doesn't feel the
way you think it's supposed to feel this year, you're not
broken. You're not faithless.
You're not doing Christmas wrong.
In fact, you might actually be closer to the heart of Christmas
(01:04):
than you realize. Let me explain, because here's
something that we don't talk about enough.
The first Christmas didn't feel merry either.
It didn't feel calm. It didn't feel magical.
It didn't feel tidy or well planned or Instagram ready.
Think about it. Mary is traveling while heavily
pregnant, going on foot over hundreds of miles to get to a
census that she didn't ask for. She's scared.
(01:26):
She's tired. She's probably wondering.
She's doing the right thing. Joseph.
He's wrestling with questions about responsibility, shame,
doubt. The Shepherds, They're cold,
tired and lonely. You've got a Rome's empire,
Taxes, oppression, displacement.It seems hardly like a serene
backdrop. Christmas didn't arrive in a
(01:46):
quiet, peaceful, perfect setting.
It arrived in confusion. It arrived in inconvenience.
It arrived in risk. It arrived in disruption.
And yet that's the moment that God chose to step in, and that's
when he chose to show up. So today I want to do something
different. I want to just sit with you for
a while. No rush, no checklist, no
(02:08):
pressure to feel any certain way.
I just want to talk with you about what Christmas really is
and what it might mean when it doesn't feel the way that you
expected it to. O ULL UA chair, you're welcome
here. Welcome to the pulpit and porch.
I'm Tony Maher and with me, as always, is my friend Robert
(02:29):
Kell. Hey everybody, we are so glad
you're here. The pulpit and porch is where we
kick back, put up our feet and have real conversations about
life, faith, growth, and maybe even a little sports and pop
culture. If you're looking for a
perfectly polished sermon, you're probably in the wrong
place. Yeah, around here it's more
about those honest heart to heart conversations, like the
one you'd have on a front porch with good friends.
Sometimes we stay on track, sometimes we take the.
(02:51):
Scenic Group and honestly, that's half the fun, isn't it?
We dig into the highs, the lows,and all the in betweens of
living out your faith in real life.
Along the way, we may pull up a few extra chairs and invite some
friends under the porch to sharestories and ideas that just may
change the way that you see things So.
Whether you're chasing your purpose, building your faith, or
just trying to live a little more fully, pull up a chair,
grab some sweet tea, and join us.
(03:12):
This is the pulpit and porch we got to see waiting for you.
Well, welcome into the pulpit and porch.
I am your solo host today, Tony Maher, and my cohost Robert Was
(03:37):
not feeling so well. We were supposed to record this
morning and we had our episode all ready to go.
And I know that it was an episode that a lot of you were
looking forward to. It's kind of a Part 2 of a
little series that we were doingon Christmas movies.
And this week was going to be Christmas TV specials.
And maybe we'll get that in and it'll come to you after the week
after Christmas. Because let's be honest, the
(03:58):
Christmas season continues on until January 1st.
And if your family's anything like mine, we keep watching
Christmas specials and Christmasmovies a week between Christmas
and New Year's. So hopefully Robert will get to
feeling better and we'll be ableto get that episode recorded for
you and put out sometime next week.
But we had to call an audible and we didn't have anything
(04:20):
prepared for an audible like this.
And so I'm going to take just a few minutes and talk through
some things with you that have been heavy on my heart recently,
some ideas that have floated through my head over the course
of the last couple of of days and weeks especially.
And I want to start by just pausing for a moment.
I want you to picture something with me.
(04:41):
I want you to imagine a winter night a long time ago.
Everything quiet except for the stars above, except that it's
not really quiet. There's the sound of animals in
the barn. There's the Creek of wood.
There's the whisper of wind. And in the midst of all of that,
(05:01):
a baby is born. Not in a palace, not in a
perfectly decorated nursery, butin the most ordinary and
unlikely of places. God wrapped himself in skin and
stepped into the chaos of human life.
And here's the thing. That same God steps into the
(05:22):
chaos of your life today. Into your stress, your
exhaustion, your grief, your worry.
He doesn't wait until the timingis perfect.
He doesn't wait until you feel ready.
He doesn't wait until you've gotit all together.
He comes in the middle of it right there.
I remember Christmas a few yearsback after a particularly brutal
(05:44):
autumn life. Life just felt heavy.
I was the lead pastor at a church and I had way too many
responsibilities, too many meetings, too many shoulds piled
on top of each other. And I remember walking into the
church auditorium for the first Christmas service of a Christmas
series that year. I just wasn't feeling it.
(06:05):
I couldn't feel the music, I couldn't feel the decorations, I
couldn't feel the magic. I was.
I was just tired and I thought maybe Christmas was passing me
by that year. And then I heard the words Fear
Not simple, small, yet entirely unexpected.
(06:26):
And for the first time that season, I realized that I didn't
have to manufacture joy. I didn't have to decorate my
emotions or perfect my feelings.God was already in the room.
God was already near. And that changed everything.
I think that's what I want us tosit with today.
The first Christmas didn't feel like the Christmas cards that we
(06:47):
hang on the wall. It didn't feel like the cheerful
movies that we binge in December.
It didn't feel like a perfect Hallmark scene.
And yet that's the Christmas that changed the world.
So if your Christmas feels heavy, if it feels small, if it
feels quiet, or if it doesn't feel like Christmas at all,
don't panic. Don't try to force something.
(07:10):
Don't believe the lie that your feelings are a reflection of
your faith. This is exactly the moment where
God might be doing the most significant work in your life.
And that's kind of beautiful, isn't it?
Because it tells us something profound about God.
God isn't intimidated by our mess.
God isn't frightened by our chaos.
God doesn't need a pristine backdrop to do extraordinary
(07:31):
things. He doesn't measure our worth by
the number of lights that we have on the tree or the amount
of money that we spent on gifts this year.
God's presence is the gift, always has been and always will
be. So I want you to imagine that
first Christmas scene again, butthis time put yourself in it.
You're not Mary, you're not Joseph, you're not the
(07:52):
shepherds. You're just you and God shows up
anyway. He chooses you.
He invites you anyway. And that invitation doesn't come
with A to do list or a burden. It comes with an open hand and a
promise of I am here, I am near,I am with you.
(08:18):
Oh, and fear not, you're not tootired.
You're not too busy. You're not too anything.
God is already here, and he's waiting.
So let's start with something I think all of us wrestle with,
whether we realize it or not, the myth of the perfect
Christmas. Somewhere along the way, we've
(08:38):
absorbed this idea that Christmas is supposed to feel a
certain way. And I don't mean just
culturally. I mean deep in our bones,
socially, emotionally, even spiritually.
It's supposed to be warm. It's supposed to be cozy.
It's supposed to be cheerful, nostalgic in a very Hallmark
approved sense of the word. Maybe a little snow, maybe a
fireplace. Carol's in the background,
(08:59):
cinnamon in the air. Everyone's smiling, hugging,
loving, laughing. Gifts perfectly wrapped,
cookies, perfectly bake, cards perfectly sent.
And here's the thing, If it doesn't feel that way, many of
us immediately assume that we'vemissed something, that we
failed, that we've messed up, that we've not done Christmas
right. And I want to pause right there
because I want you to hear me. That is a lie.
(09:22):
That pressure, that expectation,it isn't from God.
It's from the world around us, from decades of movies,
marketing, social media, and cultural storytelling.
And the danger is, if we buy into it too deeply, we can end
up missing the real Christmas entirely.
Because the truth is, if we actually slow down and look at
(09:43):
the biblical story, really, really look at it, it doesn't
match our expectations at all. Not even close.
Think about Mary for a minute. She isn't calm.
She's not sitting in a cozy roomsipping tea with a fire
crackling in the background. She's terrified, She's confused.
She's probably asking herself, how is this possible?
(10:04):
How will I even survive this journey?
What are people going to think? And what about Joseph?
He isn't joyful. He's wrestling with doubt.
He's wrestling with shame, responsibility that he didn't
ask for. He's trying to make sense of a
situation that he can't control in a world where failing to
follow the rules could cost him everything.
What about the Shepherds? They're not cozy.
(10:26):
They're working the night shift,forgotten, overlooked, doing the
work that no one else wants to do.
They're the outcast from society, the lowest of the low.
They're dirty. They're tired.
They're alone in the fields until an Angel shows up and
everything changes in a moment of divine interruption In the
world that Jesus entered into, it definitely wasn't peaceful.
(10:48):
It was oppressive, violent, unjust.
Rome ruled with fear. People were overtaxed, families
were displaced, A census uprooted their homes.
And in the midst of all that, God chooses this exact world to
step into. That's not what we picture when
we think Christmas, but that's exactly what Christmas looked
(11:09):
like. So why does that matter for us
today? It matters because it tells us
something about the heart of God.
God didn't wait for the world tocalm down before sending his
Son. He didn't wait for Mary to be
ready, Joseph to be perfectly sure, the shepherds to have
cleaner clothes. God entered into the noise.
He entered into the mess. He entered our human reality at
(11:31):
the most inconvenient, chaotic and difficult moment imaginable.
And I think that's, I think that's a radical invitation for
us today because when we compareour real life Christmas to the
manufactured images on TV and the movies are on Pinterest,
it's easy to feel like we can fall short.
But maybe, just maybe, those moments when Christmas feels
(11:53):
messy, heavy or chaotic are actually the moments as closest
to what it's always been. I remember a few years ago for
Christmas, we had big plans. It was one of our first
Christmases as a family and we were doing Christmas with my
wife's family and my son was sick.
We couldn't make it. We had to make a choice that
(12:14):
that we either go be miserable and risk infecting the whole
family or I stayed home with my son.
And so while all the rest of my family was off celebrating
Christmas, me and my son were curled up watching Christmas
movies putting rags on his head to try to get down a fever.
I can remember sitting there thinking, well, I guess this is
Christmas, this year completely passed me by.
(12:34):
But then I looked and saw my sonlaying next to me asleep, had
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer playing on the TV in front of
me. And I remembered the story of
Mary and Joseph, of the shepherds of a world that was
far from perfect when Jesus arrived.
And in that moment, something shifted.
I realized that Christmas wasn'tabout my perfection.
(12:56):
It wasn't about the flawless decorations.
It wasn't about the Pinterest worthy meals or the perfectly
wrapped presents. It was about, well, presents.
The presence of God, the presence of love.
The presence of grace. The presence of peace.
This pressure to make Christmas feel a certain way isn't just
(13:18):
tiring, it's distracting. It keeps us from seeing what God
is really doing. Because the first Christmas
didn't happen in a quiet, calm, picture perfect world.
It happened in a noisy, messy, complicated, ordinary human
world. And God stepped into it anyway.
And here's the kicker, He still does.
(13:40):
Maybe your house is chaotic thisyear.
Maybe the kids are louder than usual.
Maybe your spouse isn't feeling Christmas either.
Maybe you're grieving someone that you lost.
Maybe your calendar is overstuffed.
Maybe your patience is thin, your heart feels heavy.
And that's exactly where Christmas wants to meet you.
Not in the perfect light, not inthe perfect setting, not in a
Hallmark movie moment, but in the reality of life.
(14:03):
Think about that for a moment. God chose to enter our world not
when everything was tidy and neat, but in the middle of the
mess. And that tells us something
really important. He doesn't need perfection.
He doesn't require ideal conditions.
He simply asks us to be present,to open our hearts, to recognize
him in the midst of our lives. And I want to challenge a myth
right here. The myth that Christmas has to
(14:26):
feel perfect or it's not real. The myth that joy must look a
certain way to be valid. That myth is cultural.
It's not biblical. The Bible doesn't set up this
expectation of Instagram ready emotions.
That sets up real people, real lives, and a God who steps into
them anyway. So if Christmas feels heavy or
lonely or chaotic, let that be your invitation to pause.
(14:48):
Let it be a reminder that God isshowing up in unexpected ways,
in unexpected places, and at unexpected times.
I want you to imagine a picture really quick.
Imagine Christmas morning not asa perfect movie scene, but as it
really might look for most people.
A messy living room, wrapping paper everywhere, kids fighting
(15:12):
over toys, coffee spill, dog barking, most of us still in our
pajamas. And then imagine God walking in,
not metaphorically, not as an abstract idea, but as a presence
that you can notice. An interruption in the midst of
the chaos, a whisper of hope in the noise.
That's Christmas. That's where the real joy is
(15:33):
found. And here's the thing that joy
isn't dependent on circumstances.
It doesn't wait for the tree to be perfect, for the meal to be
flawless, or the gifts to be exactly right.
It doesn't wait for you to feel a certain way.
Joy shows up because God shows up always.
(15:55):
Faithfulness isn't about perfection.
It's about presence. The thing about that Christmas
is that everything was messed up.
Christmas Day, my family was supposed to come over to our
house. My mom, my dad, my brother and
his family, everybody was supposed to come, but because my
son was sick, they all decided not to.
(16:19):
Christmas didn't turn out the way that we thought that it was
supposed to be. I remember another year, just a
few years ago when we had a a major snowstorm and, and the
weather came in brutally, brutally cold.
We, we froze our pipes. We did everything we were
supposed to do, but we have wellwater here at our house and our
well pump actually froze up. So for two days before Christmas
(16:42):
up through two days after Christmas, we didn't have any
water in our home. It was total chaos.
We were brushing our teeth and washing our faces out of jugged
water. But we lit a few candles.
We gathered the kids in the living room.
We read the Christmas story fromLuke, and it wasn't perfect.
In fact, by all cultural standards it was a complete
(17:04):
disaster. But most of us hadn't showered
in days. We were snowed in, so we
couldn't even get out to get supplies.
But that night I felt Christmas more deeply than ever before.
Not because of anything that I did because, but because in the
middle of our imperfection, we experienced presence.
Real, tangible, holy presence. And that's the invitation for
(17:30):
you today. Let go of the myth.
Let go of the expectation that Christmas must feel a certain
way. Let go of the lie that if it's
not perfect, it's not holy. Step into the season with open
eyes and open hearts, trusting that God shows up in the mess,
in the noise, in the chaos, in the ordinary.
(17:51):
Christmas isn't about perfection.
It's about presents. It's about God stepping into our
ordinary, messy, complicated lives and maybe, just maybe, the
moments when Christmas feels theleast like Christmas, or the
moments when it's actually closest to the heart of God.
Take a moment and just let that sink in.
We're going to pause, have a break.
(18:11):
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(18:33):
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The reality of Christmas is this.
It doesn't wait for us to have it all together.
It doesn't need our perfect plans, our perfectly wrapped
gifts, or our perfectly decorated homes.
God is in the ordinary. He's in the messy.
He's in the inconvenient. He's in the spaces where we feel
(18:55):
least prepared, least capable, least worthy.
And he shows up there with more power, more grace, more love,
and more hope than we could everpossibly imagine.
And here's something else that Iwant to highlight.
God's approach at Christmas is counterintuitive.
He doesn't come with pomp and grand.
He doesn't come in a palace or on a throne.
He doesn't overwhelm with spectacle.
He comes quietly, humbly, vulnerably.
(19:18):
A baby in a Manger. That's it.
That's the form he chooses. And maybe that's God's gentle
reminder to us that the heart ofChristmas is not about what we
can control or create. It's about receiving what he
gives presence, grace, love, andhope.
Some of the most profound spiritual truths in our lives
(19:40):
happened in moments that feels small, awkward, inconvenient,
messy. And Christmas is no different.
The first Christmas was messy. The first Christmas was
inconvenient. It was ordinary.
And yet it changed the course ofhuman history.
That should give us hope, because the same God who entered
Bethlehem can enter your home, can enter your life, your heart,
(20:02):
exactly where you are, exactly in the mess, exactly in the
chaos, and exactly in the ordinary.
Because of the first Christmas tells us anything.
It's this. God loves the messy.
He loves the ordinary. God chooses the overlooked.
God meets us in the middle of life, not in the ideal, not in
the perfect, not in the magical.He meets us where we are.
(20:24):
And that's an invitation. It's an invitation to let go of
unrealistic expectations, to letgo of pressure, to let go of the
need to perform, to let go of the fear that I don't have it
together because God shows up. He's faithful, He's present,
He's powerful in the midst of the ordinary.
He's transformative in the middle of our mess.
(20:47):
So as we sit here on the porch together reflecting on the
season, I want to invite you into simple posture of openness.
Imagine yourself stepping into that stable with Mary and
Joseph. Imagine yourself among the
shepherds, looking up at the sky, overwhelmed by fear and
awe, but noticing the presence of God in a tiny, helpless
(21:07):
infant. Imagine yourself realizing the
Messiah came not to a palace, but to the ordinary.
Not to the perfect, but to the messy.
Not to prepared, but to the human.
That's where Christmas begins, that's where hope is born,
that's where joy is found, and that's where we're invited to
(21:31):
meet God. Right here, right now, exactly
where we are. Take a deep breath.
Let that sink in. Let the image of the messy,
ordinary, vulnerable first Christmas settle into your heart
and let that prepare you for thenext step.
(21:53):
To pause, reflect, to receive God's presence in your own life,
exactly where you are. Because the first Christmas was
messy, inconvenient, ordinary and holy.
And ours can be too. Let's take a quick break.
(22:15):
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make a greater impact. All right, we're back.
(22:39):
And if you're still with me up to this point, I want to say if
you're listening right now to this, maybe you're tired.
Maybe you've been running at full speed for weeks, maybe for
months, maybe even the entire year.
And now suddenly it's the day before Christmas Eve.
And instead of excitement, you feel complete exhaustion.
Exhaustion that doesn't just live in your body.
(23:00):
It's in your mind, it's in your heart, it's in, it's in your
soul. You're still carrying last
year's grief, last week's disappointment, last month's
unanswered prayers. And and here comes Christmas,
demanding joy, demanding magic, and demanding perfection.
And maybe you just simply don't have it to give.
Maybe now, sitting here a coupledays before the big day, maybe
(23:23):
you don't feel like celebrating.Maybe the carols make you ache.
Maybe the lights make you feel exposed.
Maybe the parties make you feel like another set of obligations
that you didn't sign up for but feel compelled to attend.
If that's where you are, I want to say this 1st and loudest
You're not failing. You're not broken.
(23:43):
You're not unspiritual. Your tiredness, your grief, your
emptiness. They don't disqualify you from
Christmas. In fact, I would argue that they
place you closer to the heart ofit than you realize.
Because as we've already talked about, Christmas doesn't require
perfect energy or perfect circumstances.
It doesn't require perfect families or perfect faith.
(24:05):
It requires presents. And I don't mean presents
wrapped in a box in a bow. I mean presence simply being
present. And presence is something that
you already have. So I'm going to do something
weird. Whether you're sitting in a
living room, whether you're driving in a car, or maybe
you're on on a treadmill, I wantyou to take a deep breath with
(24:27):
me. In and out, one more time.
In and out. Just sit here for a minute,
right here on this porch with me.
(24:50):
Because this is the kind of Christmas moment that I want to
create for you. Not the kind filled with
expectation or Pinterest perfecttrees.
Not the kind that measures joy in gifts bought or light strung,
But the kind where God meets you, where you are.
Some of you this morning are grieving.
(25:11):
Maybe this is the first Christmas without someone you
love. Maybe it's the second.
Maybe it's the fifth. Maybe it's the 10th.
Maybe the holidays still hit as hard as the day they left.
And that's the case. I want you to know that God sees
you. God sees your pain.
God sees your longing for what once was.
(25:34):
And he's not distant. He doesn't pass judgement on
your tears. He's not confused by your
sadness. He is present, right here in the
middle of it. Some of you are lonely.
Maybe your family isn't near. Maybe your family is difficult.
(25:55):
Maybe the memory of family feelslike a window that was closed
long ago and this time of year just slams it shut.
Maybe social media doesn't help because everywhere you look,
everyone is celebrating the perfect Christmas.
They're all smiling, they're alllaughing, they're all
decorating, they're all smiling some more.
I want to tell you something critical.
You're not forgotten, you're notinvisible, and you don't need to
(26:19):
manufacture joy to meet God. Let's go back to those shepherds
again. These were ordinary overlooked
people out in the fields doing the work that no one noticed.
Certainly no one celebrated it. And the Angel shows up and says
fear not, I bring good news of great joy for all people.
(26:41):
Notice that for all people, not just the ones with the perfectly
decorated homes or the Instagramworthy living rooms, not the
ones with the perfect faith, notthe ones who have it all
together. All people, Even the tired, even
the lonely, even the overwhelmed.
(27:03):
And yes, even you. You may feel small, you may feel
forgotten, but the message of Christmas is loud and clear.
God sees you and more than that,He comes to you.
Some of you are burned out. Maybe you've been giving and
(27:24):
serving and leading and planningall year.
Maybe you've been the one holding everyone else together,
making sure the lights go up, the meals are cooked, the gifts
are purchased, the school concerts are attended.
And now, Now it's Christmas Eve and you're running on empty.
You're not alone. I want you to hear this as
clearly as I can. You do not have to do it all.
(27:49):
God doesn't measure your faith by the number of Christmas cards
you send or the gifts that you wrap.
God doesn't evaluate your devotion by the cleanliness of
your house or the perfection of your cookies.
Presence matters more than performance.
Faithfulness matters more than perfection.
Sometimes the most faithful thing that you can do is to slow
down, to breathe, to acknowledgethat you're tired and still open
(28:11):
your heart to Him. Let's talk for a minute about
grace, because so often this is the season where we forget what
grace looks like. Grace isn't warm, cozy.
It's not a feeling that comes when everything goes according
to plan. Grace isn't a reward for good
behavior. Grace is not dependent on your
energy or your mood. Grace is God showing up right
(28:33):
where you are, right in the mess, in the chaos, in the hurt
and the exhaustion. Grace looks like the Angel
appearing to the shepherds on a dark night.
Grace looks like Mary holding a baby in a stable, exhausted and
overwhelmed. Grace looks like a weary parent
hearing their child laugh in themiddle of a chaotic morning.
Grace looks like God whispering,I see you, I'm here, and I won't
(28:56):
leave you. And here's the beautiful thing.
Grace is contagious. Even when we're tired, even when
we feel depleted, even when we think we have nothing left to
give, God can work through us. Our presence, our attention, our
(29:17):
small acts of love. They ripple outward.
They bless people we may never know, and sometimes even bless
ourselves in ways that we never expected.
I want to pause for just a moment and speak directly to
parents. This is a hard season.
Kids are excited and their excitement can feel, can feel
(29:37):
exhausting. Their cookies to bake, plays to
attend, decorations to hang, traditions to maintain.
And maybe in the midst of all that, you feel like you're
failing. Let me tell you the truth.
I've seen this play out over andover and over again.
Your kids don't need the perfectChristmas.
They need you. They need your presence, your
(29:58):
attention, your listening ear inyour hand to hold your knee, to
sit on your voice reading the story even if your throat is
sore, your patience when everything goes wrong.
And it will. They remember the moments when
you show up, not the ones when everything looked Instagram
perfect. They remember the laughter, the
shared wonder, the quiet prayers, the stories told over
(30:19):
hot chocolate. These are the holy moments.
These are the moments that shapea lifetime.
Now, I know that some of you listening right now are
grieving, lonely, exhausted, andoverwhelmed all at once.
And if that's you, I want to invite you into this moment
right now. I want you to picture a quiet
room, a candle flickering on thetable, a Bible open in front of
(30:45):
you. Maybe no one else is around.
Maybe it's just you and you say a simple prayer.
Jesus, I'm tired, I'm hurting, Idon't know what to do.
But I want you here, I want to see you, I want to feel you.
(31:08):
And here's what happens. He comes.
He always comes because the first Christmas didn't happen in
the palace, It didn't happen in perfect comfort, happened in a
(31:29):
stable, among animals, among strangers, among people who are
just doing life. And yet, in that mess, the world
changed, the Savior arrived. And the same is true for you.
Your room may not be perfect. Your house may not be decorated
the way you imagined. Your family may not be
cooperating. Your circumstances may be messy,
(31:54):
and yet Christ can still show up.
He can still bring peace, hope, joy, and love right there in the
middle of your life, exactly where you are.
So as this Christmas season comes to an end, I want to leave
you with a few practical thoughts.
(32:16):
Give yourself permission to rest.
Stop trying to do it all. Stop trying to manufacture
feelings that you don't have. Rest, sit, breathe, and let God
meet you there. Focus on presence or
performance. One moment of authentic
(32:37):
connection, reading a story, sharing a laugh, holding a hand
is worth far more than 10 perfectly executed traditions.
Why not invite God into the ordinary, Into the dishes, into
the car ride, into the laundry, the quiet evenings?
These are the places that He shows up.
So look for Him in the small things.
(33:00):
Lean into community, call a friend, text someone, share your
struggles, listen to someone else.
Even a short conversation can beholy.
And finally, celebrate the smallvictories. 1 Candle lit, one
verse read. 1 moment of laughter.
Remember that it's about presence.
(33:23):
God's presence meeting us exactly where we are, and our
presence showing up even when we're exhausted, even when we're
broken, and even when we're tired of trying.
Take a deep breath with me again.
In and out, one more in and out and hear this truth.
(33:54):
Christmas doesn't require perfection.
It requires honesty. It requires openness.
It requires presents. So as we move into the final
stretch of this episode and the final stretch of the Christmas
season, I want to leave you withthis.
Christmas doesn't end with a feeling.
It ends with a person. Jesus isn't intimidated by your
(34:16):
exhaustion. He's not unsettled by your
questions, and he's not distant from your grief.
He still comes near. So if your Christmas this year
feels smaller, slower, quieter, maybe that's not a failure.
It might be an invitation. An invitation to slow the pace,
to lower the noise, to open the door.
Because the Savior of the world still comes the way that he
(34:38):
always has, quietly, humbly, faithfully.
And he still comes close. If this episode met you where
you are, I want to encourage youto share it with someone who
needs permission to breathe thisseason.
Join the conversation with us onFacebook and Instagram.
Subscribe to the Pulpit and Porch Podcast wherever you
listen. And remember, there's always a
seat for you here. Pull up a chair on the porch.
(35:01):
Merry Christmas friends, we'll talk soon.
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