December 14, 2025
Advent 25 – Joy
Josiah’s Advent message reframed joy not as a fleeting feeling but as a faithful practice rooted in the gospel itself. Wrestling honestly with Martin Luther’s challenging claim that Christians are called to be joyful, Josiah explored Luke 2 to show that the good news of Jesus’ birth is *great joy for all people*—not an escape from the world, but God dwelling within it. He argued that joy is cultivated through abiding in Jesus, much like fruit naturally grows from a healthy vine, and that it develops over time through prayer, gratitude, and re-centering our minds on what is good. In a world marked by fear, cynicism, and darkness, Josiah named joy as an intentional act of resistance—against despair, against injustice, and against the lie that there is no good news—inviting the community to practice joy as a lived expression of hope during Advent.