December 18, 2025 – A Christmas message from Pastor Jason

Dear People of God at St. Michael & All Angels,

For the past three weeks, we have counted the weeks of Advent by lighting candles on our Advent Wreath. In the first week of Advent, we learned that God’s people have spent time waiting, wandering, and wondering about the timing of God’s eternal plan. In the second week, we learned that God gives strength and peace to the weary ones who wait. This past week (week three), the scriptures challenged us to embrace the glory of God with joy as we await God’s coming. Next week, we will hear of God’s promise to love us as we are wounded by life.

God appears among us and guides us constantly. We hear about God’s guiding presence in biblical times:

  • Samuel hears a voice calling his name and responds to God, “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen” (1 Samuel 3:10, The Message).
  • Nehemiah gets up during the night and leaves his home because “God had put into my heart [what] to do for Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 2:12, NRSVUE).
  • Paul was “compelled to go to Jerusalem” because the Holy Spirit had “let [him] know repeatedly and clearly” (Acts 20:22-24, The Message).
  • Jesus told the disciples in Galilee that he would be with them “every day until the end of this present age” (Matthew 28:20, CEB).

All of this prepares us to recognize something essential: God has always been a God who guides. God’s voice is not a relic of the past. God continues to speak and guide. God continues to place holy nudges in our hearts, to whisper our names, to steady our steps, to walk beside us in every season of our lives.

As we move toward the final week of Advent, we carry this truth with us: The God who spoke to Samuel, Nehemiah, Paul, and the disciples is the same God who speaks to us now—sometimes in a whisper, sometimes in a stirring, sometimes in a quiet certainty that we are not alone.

And so we keep lighting candles. We keep watching for the light. We keep listening for the voice that calls us by name.

As we move through these final days of Advent, I invite you to pause and notice the ways God is already speaking in your life. God’s voice may not come as a shout or a spectacle. More often, it comes as a quiet tug on the heart, a word of encouragement from a friend, a moment of clarity in prayer, or a sense of peace that arrives when we least expect it. The same God who guided Samuel, Nehemiah, Paul, and the disciples is guiding us now—right here, in our homes, in our work, in our waiting.

This holy season is meant to be shared. We are not meant to listen for God alone. We listen together. We watch for the light together. We practice hope, peace, joy, and love together. And in doing so, we become a people who can recognize God’s presence in our midst.

So I hope you will join us in the days ahead as we celebrate the fullness of this season. Come to worship. Come to pray. Come to sing. Come to sit in the quiet glow of the candles. Come to hear again the story of the God who chooses to draw near to us in Jesus – God-with-us, God-for-us, God beside us in every step we take.

May this Advent be a time when your heart is open, your spirit is attentive, and your life is touched by the gentle, guiding voice of the One who calls you beloved.

I look forward to celebrating this season with you, listening with you, and welcoming the Christ child with you.

Grace and peace,

Jason+ signature

The Rev. Jason Miller
Priest-in-Charge