Jesus Is King: The Gospel of Mark Pt 1 | Jesus’ choice to be baptized fulfilled God’s plan, demonstrated His identification with humanity, and revealed His authority through humility and sacrifice, rather than through strength and might.

While waiting on God can be difficult and vulnerable, we must realize that waiting on and trusting in God go hand in hand, and that those practices can cultivate hope and peace in our lives.

Christ reigns forever, including now. Even when our lives feel ordinary and mundane, we can recognize the divine in everyday moments, challenge assumptions about our faith, and embrace the surprising love and grace of God.

On this third Sunday of Advent, we find joy in the fact that God’s love is personal, unconditional, and actively pursuing each one of us.

When Jesus was sent to earth as a baby, he bridged the gap between us and God the Father, allowing us to enter into personal relationship, despite our human suffering and mess, with God through Jesus as Emmanuel (“God with us”).

From Genesis to the cross, God – the Creator of the universe – demonstrates that Jesus – the Word made flesh – provides victory over sin and death, offering us the opportunity to be adopted into God’s family and live in His victory, no matter what our past, present, or future looks like.

We are called to cultivate gratitude, not as a mere thank you to God, but as a posture of the heart that transforms our lives, deepens our faith, and leads to peace and joy even in the midst of suffering.

Jesus is the central focus of Christian faith, and believers are called to live missionally, following Jesus’ example of prioritizing people and sharing the gospel in both word and deed.

The church today is called to embrace peace and reconciliation in relationships despite differences – prioritizing peace over division, and trust that God is sovereign and holds our lives, our neighbors’ lives, and the whole world together.

As we bring our anxieties before God through prayer, our perspectives are transformed, allowing us to see our challenges through the lens of His sovereignty and faithfulness rather than our own limitations.