December 7, 2025: Faith in God's Promise - Micah 5:2-5a; Luke 2:4-7

This morning we are continuing to work our way through Advent

on our way toward Christmas. Remember that Advent means

coming. We remember a time in our lives

before Jesus came into our hearts.

We remember Old Testament Israel before Christ's first coming,

when he was born in Bethlehem. And we look forward to Christ's

return and the resurrection of the dead, His second coming.

Last Sunday our morning services were cancelled due to the

weather, but Sunday evening we still had our Hanging of the

Greens service and church decorating party.

And Pastor Matt kicked off our Advent series with an inspiring

message that reminded us about the traditions we look forward

to every year. For Matt and Julie, they look

forward to wrapping presents on Christmas Eve.

All the presents together sounds like a pretty late night, while

at the same time they like watching.

It's a Wonderful Life also sounds like a pretty late night,

but that's a tradition they look forward to every year.

They don't tire of it. For my family, we have special

food that comes to mind that we make only at the holidays.

In the morning, we have a breakfast casserole with

grapefruit, and then in the evening we have a Portuguese

dish that we've nicknamed seaweed soup.

And if you're curious about what that is, the UCC cookbook is on

sale through the end of the year, so you're welcome to give

it a try. So those are some private family

traditions, but what about the gathered body?

Our church family, we have traditions as well.

And during Advent, we light the Advent wreath.

It's rich with symbolism and the focus is not the wreath itself,

but what it points to. The outlets look forward to

their movie watching and their gift giving because it reminds

them of a deeper generosity and thankfulness it represents.

My family looks forward to the food because yes, it is

delicious, but it also links us to people we enjoyed Christmas

with years ago. Without a deeper purpose, these

things can easily become dead rituals.

For us here at UCC, the Advent wreath is a way that we tell the

Christmas story in five movements.

First we have the Hope and Prophecy candle, then we have

the Faith and Bethlehem candle, the Joy and Shepherd's candle,

the Peace and Angels candle, and finally the Purity and Christ

candle. And when we light it on

Christmas Eve, Pastor Dan comes up and he lights his candle from

the center candle of the reef, the Christ candle, and then more

people light from that candle and it's Christ's light

emanating out into the world, representing Christ as the true

light coming into the world at Christmas.

It is beautiful imagery and always very moving.

So we've walked through the candles and song together.

However, it's only the second Sunday of Advent, so.

So we're going to focus on the Faith and Bethlehem candle.

Our text, which Rob and Kelsey read earlier in the service, is

from Micah chapter 5. But before we read it again,

Micah 5 · chapter mention

let's have a little bit of background first, who is Micah?

Micah is an Old Testament prophet and he's speaking to

God's people, Israel. His ministry is spanning about

50 years, from around 7:40 to 687 BC.

During this time there is war going on between God's people

and another Kingdom, Assyria, and in 722 BC the northern part

of God's people is carried away and defeated by Assyria.

So then we ask, who is Micah talking to?

We remember that the Bible is written to a specific group of

people in a specific time, but it's also written for us, and we

can understand the message better for us when we understand

who it was first written to. So it's the southern part, the

southern Kingdom, God's people, threatened outside by Assyria

and inside by its rulers. During Micah's life, King Jotham

does what is right in the eyes of the Lord, but the people are

still bowing down to false gods at the high places.

King Jotham's son, King Ahaz, is awful.

He's literally burning his own son to try and please a false

God. Ahaz.

His son King Hezekiah does better.

There is spiritual renewal, there's reform all over.

But in his arrogance, Hezekiah boasts so much about their

wealth that he provokes the future plundering of the Kingdom

over all things are not looking good for their future, and the

people of God are spiritually starving.

In the middle of all of this uncertainty, where will God's

people put their faith? What will the people of Israel

trust in when all of the rulers fail and horrible exile is

promised? God opens Micah's mouth to speak

words of assurance. And in case it feels abstract,

in case the promises feel far off, the Lord makes it concrete

for them. He gives them a place, a

physical location to look for the fulfillment of their faith.

He's sending help, and it won't appear in the distance.

Their rescuer will come down right in their midst.

He's coming in a little town called Bethlehem.

So we'll read in our passage Micah chapter 5, beginning in

Micah 5 · chapter mention

verse 2. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you

shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose

coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is

in labor has given birth. Then the rest of his brothers

shall return to the people of Israel, and he shall stand and

shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the

majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall dwell

secure for now. He shall be great to the ends of

the earth, and he shall be their peace.

There's a lot that we could digest here, but right now we're

going to focus on the concrete locational aspect of the

promise. Bethlehem is an ancient town.

The book of Ruth takes place here.

She's the ancestor of King David.

And this is David's hometown, the place where he is anointed

to be king of Israel. Nearly everyone connected with

Bethlehem in the Bible is also connected with shepherding.

David himself was a shepherd. This is a very humble profession

and an obscure origin story. This town used to be called

Ephrathah, as we saw this fall in Genesis chapter 35, Rachel

Genesis 35 · chapter mention

Jacob's wife, she died, and the text says she was buried on the

way to Ephrath. That is Bethlehem.

So they're the same place. Micah here writes Bethlehem

Ephratha to distinguish it from another town named Bethlehem, up

in the northern Kingdom of Israel and probably already

conquered by the time that Micah is writing.

So the prophet is talking about a very specific place.

Bet Lechem means House of bread and Ephrathah means

fruitfulness. It probably got this name

because of the fertile soil and typically good harvests in the

area. It's a small town.

Bethlehem never grows to be very big.

It's overshadowed by the nearby cities of Hebron and Jerusalem,

only 5 miles away. But back in our passage, Micah

52. But you owe Bethlehem,

Ephrathah, House of bread and fruitfulness.

You who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, you

easily overlooked insignificant little town.

From you shall come forth for me, one who shall be ruler in

Israel. God is going to use this near

obscure place that is hardly noticed in order to do something

amazing. We expect great things and great

people to come from great places.

We expect the best football players to come from the biggest

and wealthiest colleges. We expect the best music and art

to come from New York City. We expect the most reliable car

to be the most expensive car. But God totally subverts our

expectations. It's just how He works.

Later in the Bible, in First Corinthians chapter 1, Paul

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

writes this for Consider your calling, brothers and sisters.

Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.

Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.

God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even

things that are not to bring to nothing, things that are, so

that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

God has a way of using humble places and unlikely people.

And this brings us to our next text, straight from the

Christmas narrative, Luke chapter 2, beginning in verse 4.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of

Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to

be registered with Mary his betrothed, who was with child.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth,

and she gave birth to her first born son, and wrapped him in

swaddling clothes and laid him in a Manger, because there was

no place for them in the inn. God has a plan.

It's pretty amazing. Joseph and Mary don't live in

Bethlehem. Their baby should have been born

in a different small town. No one expected their baby to be

born 100 miles from their home. Politically, anyone would expect

the city of David to be associated with Jerusalem.

After all, that's where King David ruled for most of his

life. That's the capital city of

Israel, in the stronghold where they placed their faith and

their trust in the past. But didn't even that stronghold

once become defeated? God knew all along what would

happen, He told us through Mike a hundreds of years earlier.

God knew Joseph, a descendant of King David, would be the adopted

father of Jesus. He knew his census would just

happen to be called when Mary was ready to give birth,

requiring Joseph to return to the home of his ancestors at

this time. And God knew that he wanted the

Messiah associated forever, not with the powerful political city

of Jerusalem, of David's rule as king.

No, God wanted the Messiah associated first and foremost

with the humble origins of David, the insignificant singing

shepherd boy, the one who looked as unlikely to slay a giant as

it looked for him to lead a nation.

And yet from boyhood, his faith was in something far greater

than himself. How insignificant do you feel?

How unlikely does it seem that God would want to use you in his

perfect plan? The message of Bethlehem is that

God wants you not because of your resume, but because of His

love. You see, we don't have to prove

ourselves to be worthy of His love.

We don't have to worry that we haven't done great things for

God. That's not the point.

The point is that God is doing great things through us and even

in spite of us. God makes streams in the desert.

He makes the barren womb give birth.

He makes the tiny overlooked town the birth place of the one

true King that will reign forever.

God makes the unimpressive life significant.

The strength of your faith does not depend on you, but on the

strength of what you put your faith in.

Let me put that another way. Our faith is only as strong as

its object. If you put your faith in

something that seems strong, like financial security, or an

impressive list of accomplishments, or even just

your own capabilities, that is sure to fail at some point when

all of those things fail. But if your faith is in

something like the testimony of Bethlehem, if your faith is in

something unlikely and yet absolutely sure because of God's

promise, then that is a strong faith.

It will not fail you because at the end of the day, it depends

on an unfailing God. faith in God and His promises, no matter

how distant and unlikely they seem, will never fail you.

That is the story of Bethlehem, and that is the story of our

Savior's humble birth. Would you please pray with me?

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the goodness of Jesus in

the message of Christmas time. Lord, we thank you that when we

find ourselves weak, all the more we find you to be strong.

We thank you for calling us to be part of your Kingdom, and we

thank you for the humble example of your Son, Jesus Christ.

We pray that at this Christmas time, in the midst of the glory,

we would see His humility and be moved to behold and adore our

Savior. We pray this in Jesus name and

by the Spirit, Amen.