Advent Week One: A Genealogy of Hope
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Release Date: 12/01/2025
Ann Arbor Community Church Sermon Podcast
Drawn Towards the Center (John 12:20–33) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this second sermon of the 2026 series Moving Towards the Center, Pastor Donnell Wyche invites the congregation to reflect on faith in a chaotic and fear-filled world. Building on the Epiphany theme of attentiveness, he reminds listeners that the Spirit of God does not operate through fear or coercion, but through presence, desire, and attraction. Gathering together, he says, is itself an act of resistance to isolation and despair, a declaration that we are not...
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Joining God’s Unfolding Story ( Matthew 2:1–12) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Pastor Donnell Wyche launches a new year sermon series by inviting the church to “join God’s unfolding story,” beginning with the Epiphany account of the Magi in Matthew 2:1–12. The Magi notice a light breaking into the ordinary pattern of the world and choose to follow it, even without a map, a timeline, or certainty about where it will lead. Their journey becomes a picture of faith as attentiveness—learning to recognize where God is already at work...
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Christmas Eve - The Power of Our "Yes" - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this Christmas message, Pastor Hannah walks listeners through Luke 2, inviting us to slow down and step into the wonder of the first Christmas night. She highlights how God enters the world not through power or prestige, but by interrupting ordinary lives—Mary, Joseph, and later the shepherds—with an unexpected invitation to trust Him. Though none of them seek the spotlight or have the accolades the world celebrates, each responds with a simple but courageous...
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Advent Week Four - Jonathan Hurshman - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am -
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Advent Week Three - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am -
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Advent Week Two - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am -
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Advent Week One: A Genealogy of Hope - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: Pastor Hannah introduces Advent as a season of waiting and reflection, inviting the congregation to remember Jesus’ first coming and anticipate his return. This leads into the reading of Matthew 1, emphasizing that the genealogy is an origin story rich with meaning rather than a list to skip. Pastor Hannah highlights three themes in Jesus’ lineage: it is multi-ethnic, featuring women like Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba; it is full of broken yet beautiful...
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The Parables of Jesus - The Least of These (Matthew 25:31-46) - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this week’s message, Pastor Donnell Wyche concludes our journey through the parables of Jesus by taking us into Matthew 25:31–46—the well-known but often misunderstood story of the sheep and the goats. Rather than presenting a God eager to condemn, Pastor Donnell reminds us that Jesus is revealing the true heart of the Father: one grounded in self-giving love, mercy, and a desire for relationship. Jesus paints a picture of...
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The Parables of Jesus: The Bags of Gold - Pastor Hannah Witte - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this week’s message from Ann Arbor Community Church, Pastor Hannah invites listeners to enter into Jesus’ parable of the bags of gold from Matthew 25:14-30 with fresh eyes. Pastor Hannah helps listeners see that the story isn’t primarily about productivity or comparison, but about faithfulness and trust in the character of the master—who represents Jesus. She explains that each servant received what they could handle, revealing a master who knows,...
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The Parables of Jesus: Awake and Waiting (Matthew 25:1–13) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - . Like us on or watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - Summary: In this sermon, Pastor Donnell Wyche explores Jesus’ parable of the ten young women waiting for the bridegroom, highlighting how it invites us to live with spiritual readiness, not fear. He reminds listeners that the parable isn’t about purity or moral worth, but about preparation — about having “oil” that lasts through the long night. The wise and foolish alike had lamps and fell asleep, but only those who brought extra oil...
info_outlineAdvent Week One: A Genealogy of Hope - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch
Summary:
Pastor Hannah introduces Advent as a season of waiting and reflection, inviting the congregation to remember Jesus’ first coming and anticipate his return. This leads into the reading of Matthew 1, emphasizing that the genealogy is an origin story rich with meaning rather than a list to skip.
Pastor Hannah highlights three themes in Jesus’ lineage: it is multi-ethnic, featuring women like Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba; it is full of broken yet beautiful people, showing Jesus’ solidarity with humanity; and it reveals a God who keeps promises across generations. The story of Abraham and Sarah becomes a picture of hope—God bringing life from impossibility and remaining faithful even when we doubt.
The sermon ends by grounding Advent hope in Jesus’ birth and Isaiah’s vision of God’s future peace. The congregation is encouraged to create space for Advent reflection, remember God’s faithfulness, and cultivate hope as they follow Christ’s light into a world longing for restoration.