Date: December 24, 2025

Speaker: Pastor Ryan Bowman

Passage: John 1

Pastor Ryan concludes our Advent series, Emmanuel: God With Us, with a reminder of the reason for Christmas, that God has come and dwells among us.

Welcome to Christmas at Fellowship! Author and pastor Peter Mead joins us again to discuss an excerpt from his book, Pleased to Dwell. In this discussion, Peter, Stephanie Little, Pastor Tim Montgomery, and Bill Peters discuss the reading as it draws from the book of Galatians, examining God's providence and perfect timing.

Welcome to Christmas at Fellowship! Author and pastor Peter Mead shares a devotional reading from his book, Pleased to Dwell. This week's reading draws from the book of Galatians and examines how it displays God's perfect timing as shown through the incarnation.

Date: December 21, 2025

Speaker: Pastor Ryan Bowman

Passage: Luke 2

What does it mean that God chose to come near? As we continue our Advent series Emmanuel: God With Us, we turn our attention to the account of Christ’s birth in Luke 2. It will be a joyous time as we are reminded anew that the good news of Christmas is not only that a Savior was born, but that He was born for us.

Welcome to Christmas at Fellowship! Author and pastor Peter Mead joins us again to discuss an excerpt from his book, Pleased to Dwell. In this discussion, Peter, Stephanie Little, Pastor Tim Montgomery, and Pastor Brad Canalejo talk about the shortcomings of some common ideas about the Nativity scene, and how the reality of the Biblical story is actually better. They also discuss how to approach having conversations about this subject with your children in a way that is meaningful to them.

Welcome to Christmas at Fellowship! Author and pastor Peter Mead shares a devotional reading from his book, Pleased to Dwell. What do you think of when you consider the nativity? A crowded hotel, last minute accommodations in a barn, with the miraculous birth of Jesus amidst the animals on a cold winter night? In this reading, Peter dives into the world of 1st century Bethlehem to help us peel back some of our common images to help us see that the reality of the nativity scene is both more glorious and more relatable than what we might have previously imagined.

Date: December 14, 2025

Speaker: Pastor Ryan Bowman

When you look at your family tree, do any names jump off the page? We prefer to find people of notoriety rather than public nuisances, yet we may find both! As we continue our Advent series, we turn to the beginning of the New Testament and find a genealogy of Jesus. We see that Jesus's ancestors included both faithful heroes and those who were profoundly flawed. As Peter Mead writes, "Far more imperfect people than paragons of virtue."

In this message, we consider how an unexpected family tree leads us to Emmanuel, God with us!

Welcome to Christmas at Fellowship! Author and pastor Peter Mead joins us again to discuss an excerpt from his book, Pleased to Dwell. In this discussion, Peter, Stephanie Little, Pastor Tim Montgomery, and Lance Leonard discuss Joseph's patient endurance and integrity in the face of enormous social pressure and how he became an underappreciated role model for us today.

Welcome to Christmas at Fellowship! Author and pastor Peter Mead shares a devotional reading from his book, Pleased to Dwell. In this reading, he invites us to consider Joseph's perspective on learning that his betrothed was with child through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In this episode, hear an Advent message from Pastor Ryan Bowman. As we enter the Advent season, our minds are drawn to Bethlehem. Yet the promise of a Savior was first given not at the manger, but in a garden. As our church family reads through the book, Pleased to Dwell, we are reminded that the Christmas journey began in the Garden of Eden, continued through the promises made to Abraham, and was proclaimed by the prophets of the Old Testament. As author Peter Mead reminds us, the devastating effects of sin would not be solved by a “what” remedy but rather a “Who” solution.