“Unexpected Guests”: video and audio sermons, and sermon series guides, for this series from Trinity Methodist Church, Linden

30 November to 25 December 2025

…making room for the holy in ordinary places

The Christmas story isn’t predictable or neat; it’s God consistently breaking into our routines, using everyday people—like Mary and Joseph. It’s a powerful reminder that we’re all invited to make room for something divine inside us, letting it take shape and show up in the world.

The series is structured around the idea of God as an Unexpected Guest who interrupts our lives through a series of encounters—from the Guest who wakes us, to the Guest who speaks, challenges, costs, comes as a child, and finally becomes the Host who welcomes us home.

Each week of Advent invites us into a movement of grace:

• Week 1 – The Guest Who Wakes Us: From sleep to awakening — as hope stirs where we thought nothing new could grow, and God’s quiet presence interrupts our comfort.
• Week 2 – The Guest Who Speaks from the Wilderness: From noise to listening — as peace begins to form in the still, and where we finally stop striving and start to hear.
• Week 3 – The Guest Who Challenges Our Expectations: From certainty to surprise — as joy breaks in, not because everything makes sense, but because grace turns our expectations inside out.
• Week 4 – The Guest Who Costs Us Everything: From anticipation to surrender — as love takes on weight and risk, asking us to carry the promise even when no one else understands.
• Christmas Eve – The Guest Who Comes as a Child: The moment of arrival. Wonder takes over as we realise the Creator of the universe shows up as someone small enough to hold.
• Christmas Day – The Guest Who Becomes the Host: The final invitation. The Child we welcomed is now the Host who gathers us together and sets the table of grace.