Dear Trinity Family & Friends,

Sometimes life feels like it’s spinning faster than we can hold together. Plans fall apart. Relationships strain. Fear and uncertainty creep in. Turmoil has a way of stealing our breath – and our peace.

This Sunday in our Advent series Heaven Breaks Through, we turn to the story of Joseph, a man caught in a storm he never expected. Mary was pregnant. The child wasn’t his. The future looked confusing, painful, and humiliating. By every social measure, Joseph had reason to walk away. As a man of good character, he chose the kindest option available to him – quietly ending the engagement instead of exposing Mary to shame or even death. On his own, he made a compassionate choice.

But God had more for Joseph, and more for the world, than Joseph could see.

Through a dream, God invited Joseph to take a different path:

Stay with Mary.

Name the child Jesus: “God saves.”

Raise Him with integrity and faith.

It was a choice that meant swimming upstream. It meant judgment, whispers, resistance, and hardship. Nothing about Joseph’s circumstances promised calm or comfort. But the peace God offered wasn’t about circumstances, it was about trust. Joseph discovered that true peace comes not from everything around us being settled, but from trusting and following God’s guidance.

And this wasn’t a one-time moment. Three different times, God spoke to Joseph through dreams guiding him to stay, to flee, to return – all fulfilling what the prophets had spoken generations before. Joseph could recognize God’s voice because he had cultivated a life of righteousness, Scripture, prayer, and obedience. He was in tune with God long before the crisis came. That relationship allowed him to trust when the path made no sense.

Joseph teaches us that peace isn’t the absence of turmoil. It is the presence of God in the middle of it.

As we prepare for worship, consider:

1. Where do you feel turmoil or confusion in your life right now?
2. Are you making decisions based solely on what seems reasonable or are you listening for God’s voice?
3. What might it look like to trust God even when others don’t understand?
4. How have you experienced peace that didn’t come from your circumstances, but from God’s presence?
5. What practices help you stay “in tune” with God so you can recognize His guidance when it comes?

If your heart feels unsettled, if you’re carrying worry, or if the future feels uncertain, this Sunday is for you. Come and discover that when turmoil surrounds us, heaven breaks through with peace.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Carrie