What if joy isn’t something you manage… but something you abide in?

In Week 3 of our Advent series, we turn to Luke 2:8–20 and the story of the shepherds—men who were no strangers to sacrifice, loss, and longing. These were not ordinary shepherds. By the work of their hands, they had spent their lives tending lambs meant to temporarily cover sin. But on that night outside Bethlehem, they beheld the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world forever.

This message confronts a common misconception: that joy is found in comfort, ease, or fleeting moments of happiness. The joy the world offers leaks away—but God-given joy is eternal. True joy flows from the revelation of how broken we once were and the overwhelming grace that made us whole again.

Through Jesus’ parables ...