There’s Hope Series

Christmas Eve 2025

There’s Hope

Dr. Marty Baker | Luke 2:8-14 | December 23/24, 2025

Merry Christmas and welcome to Stevens Creek Church. I also want to welcome our Grovetown Campus, our South Campus and our North Augusta Campus. I also want to welcome those of you watching online.

How many of you are from out of town? Let me see your hands. We’re really glad you’re here. People have been traveling at Christmas for a long time — ever since Mary and Joseph made that journey to Bethlehem.

Now, if we’re honest, just getting here tonight took some effort. Some of you fought traffic. Some of you wrestled kids into holiday clothes they didn’t want to wear. Some of you were trying to get out the door on time while holding everything together.

And yet — you made it. You’re here.

Now, if you’ve been around Stevens Creek for any length of time, you know I like to start with something funny.

Did you hear about the man walking on the beach right before Christmas? He’s exhausted. He’s stressed. Credit cards are maxed out. Still missing a few gifts. Finally, he prays, “Lord, I need a Christmas miracle.”

Suddenly, God speaks and says, “My son, what do you want?” The man says, “Lord, I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii for Christmas, but I’m afraid to fly. So, I want You to build a bridge across the Pacific Ocean.”

There’s a long pause. Finally, God says, “Son… that’s a lot of concrete. A lot of man-hours. Can you think of something else?”

The man says, “Okay, Lord. Then help me understand my wife. How she thinks. How she feels. And what she actually wants for Christmas.”

And God says, “Tell me more about that bridge… do you want two lanes or four lanes?”

We laugh — because it touches something real.

December has a way of reminding us how little control we actually have. And that’s why we cling so tightly to our traditions — the trees, the lights, the music. They bring a little normal into the middle of the crazy.

Whether you’re trying to make the magic happen for your kids, or you’re navigating this season on your own, we are all looking for that same feeling.

But here’s the truth. December is what I call the great magnifier. When life is good, it magnifies the good.

But when life has been heavy, December makes it feel heavier. An empty chair feels emptier. Financial pressure feels more urgent. Questions you thought you had settled start coming back.

You drive past houses glowing with lights and think, They must be having the perfect Christmas.

But behind every perfect photo is a real story.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, some of you walked in tonight and started looking around thinking, These people have it all together. This isn’t really my world.

Can I tell you something? You’d be surprised who you’re sitting next to. You’re surrounded by people who’ve walked through divorce, addiction, doubt, and regret.

But Jesus changed them – not because they were perfect, but because they mattered to Him.

This is the Story of Christmas.

God didn’t send His Son for the polished and the put-together. He came for the weary and the worn out.

Most of us come into Christmas hoping for a miracle that fixes our circumstances — a way out, a break, a bridge to somewhere easier.

But the message of Christmas isn’t about God building a bridge for us to escape. It’s about God building a bridge to us — right where we are.

And that’s why I love the original Christmas story.

We picture it as calm and quiet — a silent night, a peaceful scene.

But the first Christmas was anything but perfect. It was messy. It was complicated. It was chaotic.

A poor couple on a forced road trip. A baby born in a stable because there was no room.

And right there — in the middle of the mess — God showed up. That’s what God does. He doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. He steps into imperfect ones.

And if God could bring hope into that kind of world, He can bring hope into your world too.

Big Idea

Christmas reminds us that no matter how dark or broken life feels, there is hope because Jesus has come.

When the angels appeared to the shepherds that night, they gave us a glimpse of what real hope looks like. We pick up the story in Luke 2.

Luke 2:8-11

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.