With just one week to go until Christmas, Richard and Brad kick off this holiday-themed episode of Sermons on the Side with playful banter about the countdown to Christmas, the excitement building in their homes, and the different Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions their families are looking forward to this year.

But as is often the case, a Sermon on the Side comes from an unexpected place.

While battling a major head cold, Richard shares a rather gross - but relatable - story involving sinus treatments, neti pots, and the realization that this is not how his nose is supposed to work. What began as a joking comment to his wife, Rhonda, sparked a deeper reflection that carried him straight to the nativity story.

At some point in Mary and Joseph’s journey - despite angelic visits, divine promises, and deep faith - they had to look at their circumstances and think, it's not supposed posed to be this way. A pregnant virgin, a long journey, no room at the inn, and a Savior born in a manger - none of it fit the picture they likely imagined.

In this episode, Richard and Brad reflect on how so much of life feels like it shouldn’t be this way - especially during the holidays. Yet the heart of Christmas is this: God enters the mess. Like baby Jesus stepping into our broken world, God inserts Himself into our “it's not supposed to be this way” moments and completely changes everything.

As we move through the final seven days of Advent, this episode serves as an invitation to stop resisting the tension, accept the reality of our circumstances, and allow Jesus to come into our world - right where we are.

Because Christmas reminds us that even when things aren’t supposed to be this way…God still comes to us.

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In Episode 47, Brad and Richard share a simple Advent moment that has stayed with Richard for years. At a monthly gathering of local pastors just a couple weeks before Christmas many years ago, Father Bill stood to pray before the meal and offered a line that quietly reshaped the room - and Richard’s understanding of Advent:

“Help us to remember what Christmas teaches us,
that You will always come to us.”

Fast forward to 2025, that short prayer sparked a deeper conversation between Brad and Richard about how easily we can get swept up in the season - the decorations, the nostalgia, even the biblical narrative of Jesus’ birth - while missing the personal meaning behind it all. Christmas isn’t just the story of Jesus coming into the world… it’s the story of Jesus coming to us.

Using Matthew 4:16 - “on them a great light has dawned" - we reflect on how the coming of Christ is always personal, always purposeful, and always for people who need hope. Advent reminds us that God doesn’t wait for us to climb our way up to Him; He steps into our world, our mess, our darkness, and comes near.

It’s a gentle, meaningful episode for anyone needing a reminder in this busy season:
Jesus doesn’t just come - He comes to you.

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Sermons on the Side Bible Readings

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Love the show? If you’re enjoying the stories, laughs, and conversations we share here, we’d be so grateful if you’d consider “buying us a cup of coffee” to help keep things brewing. It’s a simple way to show your support and keep the podcast going strong!

Here’s the link: buymeacoffee.com/sermonsontheside

Thank you for being part of the journey with us!

Coming off a week of Thanksgiving festivities - with crowded tables, family stories, and full hearts - we shift right into the Christmas season with the first of several holiday-themed episodes.

This week’s conversation centers on a very real, very recent story from Richard’s trip to Boston to visit his son, daughter-in-law, and new grandbaby. What should’ve been a simple car-rental experience turned into an unexpected headache: double charges, endless holds, and the dreaded words no one wants to hear… “10–14 business days.”

After weeks of waiting (and believing the refund might never come), Richard called once more to run it up the corporate flagpole - and to his surprise, everything was resolved. But here’s the kicker: the refund landed exactly on the 14th day. Not early. Not late. Not rushed. Not forgotten. Right on time.

That moment brought Richard back to one of his favorite verses in Galatians 4 - Paul’s reminder that Christ came “in the fullness of time.” We unpack what that phrase meant historically, spiritually, and practically:

• Why Jesus’ arrival over 2,000 years ago happened in the most perfect physical, cultural, and economic moment in human history
• How God’s timing - though rarely our timing - always carries intention, purpose, and precision
• And how we can learn to trust Him with our own waiting: our hopes, confusions, delays, desires, prayers, and messy in-between seasons.

As we kick off this Christmas series, we look at that ancient truth lived out in a modern customer-service phone call: God is not late. He is not early. He is perfectly on time.

Send us a text

Sermons on the Side Bible Readings

Connect with us on our FACEBOOK page

Connect with us on INSTAGRAM @sermons_on_the_side_podcast

Check out our website HERE

Love the show? If you’re enjoying the stories, laughs, and conversations we share here, we’d be so grateful if you’d consider “buying us a cup of coffee” to help keep things brewing. It’s a simple way to show your support and keep the podcast going strong!

Here’s the link: buymeacoffee.com/sermonsontheside

Thank you for being part of the journey with us!