Hope is not found in the temporary things of this world. Your job, your finances, your relationships; these will all fade away. But there is a hope that transcends our earthly circumstances a hope rooted in Jesus Christ. The light of Advent reveals that even in our darkest moments, God has been preparing a rescue plan since the very beginning of human history. From the moment sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, God promised a Savior who would defeat darkness and bring redemption.

This hope is not a promise of an easy life but a promise of eternal salvation. Through prophecies spanning generations God revealed His plan to send Jesus Christ as the ultimate hope for humanity. He would be born of a virgin come as Emmanuel God with us and shine light into the deepest darkness. When you place your hope in Christ, you are not hoping in worldly success but in a promise of eternal life. No matter what struggles you face today, you can have hope because Jesus came to reconcile us to God and offer us a future beyond our current circumstances.

God pardons all our sins, heals our deepest wounds, lifts us out of the pit, and crowns us with loving kindness and compassion. His mercy stretches higher than the heavens and His forgiveness separates us from our sins farther than the east is from the west. Though our lives are brief like grass in the field, His love remains everlasting for all who fear Him. I invite you to see His holiness, His justice, His love, and His faithfulness and to give thanks for how He deals with us.

I urge you to join all creation in praising Him, for His throne is established in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all. Angels obey His word and never cease to cry Holy is the Lord God Almighty. As we walk through moments of joy and moments of sorrow, bless the Lord. As we gather with family and share good food, and even when circumstances disappoint us, remember the goodness of the God who saves, restores, and sustains. Let your soul bless the Lord today and trust in the One whose love never ends.

In this passage, we see Christ shine with a radiance that confirms His identity as the Son of God, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, and the only One able to save. Peter, James, and John saw a glimpse of His true majesty so that we might remember who He is and place our confidence in Him alone.

And the voice of the Father still calls out to us now saying, Listen to Him. In every season of life, in joy and in suffering, Jesus remains the One who has overcome the world and offers hope that cannot be shaken. His glory assures us that He is worthy of our trust and able to redeem all things. Today I invite you to look to Him, believe Him, and follow the One who gives life.

Jesus calls us to a discipleship that costs us everything but gives us more than we could ever gain on our own. If anyone would come after Him, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow. To deny yourself means surrendering the throne of your heart and giving up control. It means letting Christ rule where He belongs and choosing His will over your comfort. To take up your cross is to die daily to sin, to pride, to the pull of the world. It is to live each day in obedience and surrender, even when it hurts, even when it costs. Following Jesus is not about gaining the world but about gaining your soul. For what good is it to win everything and lose yourself?

True discipleship is not a call to comfort but to surrender. It is the daily choice to live for Christ instead of for self, to let your life be a confession of who He is. The call to follow is not an invitation to religion but to a living relationship with the Savior who already paid the price. Salvation is free, but following Him will cost you your old life. Yet in that surrender, there is joy, there is purpose, there is eternal life. Christ conquered sin and death, and through His Spirit we have power to live for Him. So today I call you to come, to follow, to take up your cross and find in Him everything you were made for.

Jesus asked his disciples a question that still confronts every heart today; “Who do you say that I am?” Many in that time thought he was a prophet, a teacher, even a ghost of John the Baptist, but Peter declared the truth that changes everything. “You are the Christ of God.” In that confession lies the foundation of salvation, the hope of eternity, and the calling of every believer. We must know who Jesus truly is, not as the world imagines him, but as Scripture reveals him. He is the Son of God, the Savior who came to take away the sins of the world.

This truth calls us to live differently. When we know who Jesus is, we find courage to face trials, compassion to love others, and faith to trust God’s plan even when it leads through suffering. Jesus was not a political liberator or a temporary fix. He came to bring a spiritual revolution, to die and rise again so that we might live. So I ask you, as Jesus asked His followers, who do you say that He is? May our answer be firm and faithful. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

When we gather to hear this story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, I want you to see more than a miracle of food. I want you to see the Creator at work. The same Jesus who spoke the world into being took five loaves and two fish and created abundance where there was lack. The crowd came for healing and for bread, but Jesus showed them something deeper. He showed them that He alone satisfies the hunger of the soul. Just as He looked to heaven, blessed, broke, and gave, so too does He give Himself for us, the Bread of Life who fills us with what no earthly thing can provide.

When we look to this miracle, we see not just compassion for tired bodies, but divine provision for empty hearts. The Lord takes what is small and uses it for His glory. He takes the little we have and multiplies it beyond measure. In Him, there is no shortage. In Him, there is no lack. Every basket overflows. And today, that same Jesus calls us to trust that He is enough, that He is the one who satisfies every need, and that through Him alone we find the life that never runs dry.

We ask today the question that echoes through all of history: Who is this man? The same question Herod once asked, the same question that still defines every heart that seeks truth. He is not just a prophet, not merely a moral teacher, not a good man with good words. He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The one who calms the storm with a word, who heals the broken, who forgives sins, who conquers death itself. Every baptism, every Lord’s Supper, every act of faith points back to this truth. To know who Jesus is changes everything, for if He truly is God, then He deserves not just our admiration but our full surrender.

Herod sought to see Him out of curiosity, but we are called to see Him in faith. The world still wonders and debates, yet the answer remains unchanged. He is the Christ of God. He came not to overthrow empires but to set captives free. He died on the cross and rose again, that sin and death might lose their hold forever. Who is this man? He is the risen Lord, the Savior of the world, and the King before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess—Jesus Christ, our God and Redeemer.

Jesus called the twelve and gave them power and authority to go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God. Just as He once stilled storms and cast out demons, He now sends His followers as messengers of that same power. We are reminded that being sent means trusting God to provide, not clinging to possessions or comfort. The disciples were to take nothing but the message of salvation, relying on God’s provision and the hospitality of others. The call remains for us today. We are not apostles in office, but we are still sent ones, bearers of the good news that Jesus saves.

We must go with urgency, proclaiming Christ with boldness and humility. When the world rejects that message, it is not us they reject, but the One who sent us. Yet for those who receive it, there is life and hope eternal. So let us go, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, trusting that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us.

Crowds may press in all around us, but only one touch of faith can draw the power of Christ. In the story of Jairus and the woman who reached for the hem of Jesus’ garment, one came publicly and one came in secret, but both came desperate and both were met with mercy. The same Savior who stopped for a broken woman and called her “daughter” is the same Savior who took a little girl’s hand and said, “Child, arise.” In both, we see that no one is too far, too unclean, or too late for the power of Jesus to reach.

This is what faith looks like when everything seems lost. It is not about how strong we feel, but who we reach for. Jesus still walks with the broken, still touches the untouchable, still brings life where death has settled in. When we believe, when we reach for Him, He restores what was lost and gives us a new name and a new life. Today is the day to believe, to rise, and to walk in that living faith.

Jesus has power over all creation. He calmed the raging storm with a word and then faced a man possessed by a legion of demons. Even the forces of darkness recognized Him as the Son of the Most High God and begged for mercy. Yet with a word, He set the man free, restoring him from nakedness and chains in the tombs to sitting clothed and in his right mind at the feet of Jesus. The same Jesus who triumphed over demons then and triumphed over sin and death at the cross is the One we serve today.

We need not fear what is dark or demonic because Christ is all powerful. The townspeople saw His power and were gripped with fear, but the healed man was sent out to proclaim what God had done. That is our call as well. When Christ saves us, He changes us, and He sends us out to tell the world of His mighty power and mercy. The One who transforms the possessed into proclaimers is the One who can transform us too, from broken to whole, from enslaved to free, from sinner to saved.