When God's good news doesn't feel like good news, the answer is don't grumble, be humble.
Christmas is the story of hope being born, but the very first Christmas didn't feel like good news to Mary or Joseph — it threatened their security and their reputation. Pastor Bill shows that when God's news doesn't feel good, grumbling comes from fear, but choosing humility, trusting God no matter what it looks like or costs, is how we don't miss what God is doing.
A story from life
Preacher describes being stuck in Black Friday freeway traffic returning from Thanksgiving with his family
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 1 of 6
Grumbling comes from fear; being humble comes from faith
Pastor Bill tells a story of being stuck in stopped traffic on the way home from Thanksgiving, noticing how grumbling rises out of fear of the unknown and the feeling of being stuck. He connects this to the Christmas season, when the pressure to feel joy can instead expose feelings of being stuck in life with no hope.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 2 of 6
Christmas is good news of great joy for everyone — but what if it doesn't feel that way?
Reading the angel's announcement to the shepherds, Pastor Bill points out the news is framed as good, joyful, and for everyone, then raises the problem: what do you do when God's good news doesn't feel like good news to you? He says both Mary and Joseph found themselves in exactly that spot at the first Christmas.
“Grumbling comes from fear. Being humble comes from faith”
— Pastor Bill Bush
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 3 of 6
Mary's favor from God put her security and her life at risk
Working through Luke 1:26-37, Pastor Bill explains that the angel's word 'favored' means grace, not merit, and that Mary's pregnancy as an engaged virgin could have cost her her marriage or even her life under the culture's covenant laws. God's grace, he says, invited her into something that legitimately endangered her security.
“God's good news is, by my power, I invite you into my story to be who I made you to be”
— Pastor Bill Bush
“Our definition of good news is grumble to God, we call that prayer, until our news becomes his news”
— Pastor Bill Bush
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 4 of 6
Mary chose humility over grumbling
Despite the risk, Mary answers, 'I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true.' Pastor Bill holds this up as the model of humility: surrendering to whatever God does, no matter what it looks like or costs.
“I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true”
— Pastor Bill Bush
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 5 of 6
Joseph's good news cost him his honor and his plans, yet he also chose to trust
From Matthew 1:18-25, Pastor Bill walks through Joseph's heartbreak at Mary's pregnancy, his decision to quietly break the engagement rather than expose her, and the angel's appearance in a dream reassuring him. Joseph obeyed, married her, and lived the rest of his life under the shame of appearing the betrayed, foolish husband, and abstained from marital relations until Jesus was born — real costs that never went away.
“They got to behold the glory of the Messiah by holding the Messiah of glory”
— Pastor Bill Bush
“If we can be humble, we won't miss Jesus”
— Pastor Bill Bush
A story from life
Preacher's daughter Micah almost refused to join a family trip to New York City, then was overwhelmed with gratitude once she arrived
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 6 of 6
Beholding Jesus is worth every cost of humility
Pastor Bill imagines the wonder Mary and Joseph felt holding the Messiah, the God they were entrusted with as a baby, and contrasts this with what they would have missed had they said no. He tells a personal story of his daughter grumbling about a family trip to New York City who, upon seeing the skyline, realized what she almost missed — a picture of what we risk missing when we grumble instead of beholding Jesus.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Take it into your week
Pastor Bill's charge is to stop grumbling and be humble with whatever news God brings this Christmas.
Application
Name what you're grumbling about
Pastor Bill asks listeners to identify what in their soul they are grumbling about right now, and to notice where fear rather than faith is driving that response.
Surrender to the process instead of demanding a new address
Rather than praying for God to change your circumstances, be willing to let Him change who you are in the middle of them, trusting Him with the outcome.
Say yes like Mary and Joseph did
Tell God you'll let Him do whatever He's going to do in your life no matter what it looks like or what it costs, instead of resisting His plan.
Sign up to serve at a Christmas Eve service
If Rock Point is your church, commit to attend one of the 10 Christmas Eve services and also sign up to volunteer at least one, trusting that serving brings the greater joy.
Let anything that points you to Jesus count as good news
Whatever feels hard this Christmas, look for how it might be leading you to Jesus, and receive that as the good news of great joy, even if it doesn't look the way you expected.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI