Stonelaw Church

Sunday Morning Worship: 30 November 2025 (ADVENT 1)


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In this first week of Advent, we open the season not with celebration, but with honesty — the kind of honesty the Bible doesn’t shy away from.

Drawing from Isaiah 9 and the story of Mary in Luke 1, Neil leads us into the deep truth that Advent always begins in the dark: in our waiting, our longing, and our quiet questions about whether God sees, remembers, and still moves.

Through Isaiah’s prophetic promise of a great light breaking into the gloom, and Mary’s courageous “yes” in the midst of confusion and uncertainty, this message invites us to rediscover biblical hope — not optimism, not wishful thinking, but a hope rooted in the unchanging character of God.

We’re reminded that the God who came quietly in Bethlehem still meets us in our smallness, still speaks into our night, and still works in our waiting. Advent teaches us that the darkness is real — but it will not win. A light has broken in, and hope is rising again.


📖 Key Texts: Isaiah 9:1–7, Luke 1:26–38
🔥 Theme: Hope that grows in the waiting
🎧 Takeaway: God often begins with the small — a small town, a small flame, a small “yes.” And in those small beginnings, He brings His light into our darkness.

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Stonelaw ChurchBy Rev. Neil H Watson