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Christmas has passed. The decorations are coming down. Schedules are starting to normalize. And for many of us, this space between Christmas and the New Year feels a little… quiet. Scripture often rushes us from the manger straight to the mission, but Matthew pauses to show us something important. Before Jesus ever preached a sermon, performed a miracle, or walked to the cross, there was a season of ordinary obedience. Joseph, Mary, and the Christ Child found themselves fleei

From my family to yours, and from all of us at Rocky Valley Baptist Church, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. In the middle of the lights, the gatherings, the meals, and the memories, Christmas invites us to pause and remember why  this season exists at all. Christmas is not just a celebration of tradition—it is the celebration of a Person. It is the reminder that God stepped into our broken world with love, humility, and hope. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us

After centuries of waiting and silence, God speaks again—and He does so with clarity. Luke tells us that the angel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth, an ordinary town to an ordinary young woman named Mary (Luke 1:26–27). Nothing about the setting suggests significance, yet this is where God chooses to announce the fulfillment of His covenant promise. Grace does not arrive where we expect it; it arrives where God sends it. Gabriel declares that Mary will conceive and bear a

This week our nation was shaken by the tragic deaths of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner — a loss that has reverberated far beyond Hollywood and sparked deeply divided responses  online and in the media. Some mourned respectfully. Others turned immediately to political point-making, even in the face of a double homicide that involved their own son.   In a moment when grief should lead us to compassion , we instead too often see division  — reactions th

There are some moments that just make a pastor’s heart swell with gratitude—and Sunday was one of them. Watching our Rocky Valley kids and adults side-by-side, working hard to bring the parade float to life, reminded me once again what it looks like when the church moves. From painting and building, to decorating, organizing, and then walking the route with bright smiles and joyful hearts—every piece of it was a holy labor. And what a response from our community! The smiles,