Love Is Not Afraid of Your Unfinished Places
Heritage Friday Mini-Newsletter
“God Enters the Rooms You Don’t Want Guests To See”
Let’s start with this:
Everybody loves Christmas lights.
Nobody loves internal plumbing.
Which is why we decorate the outside of our homes like Hallmark movies,
but internally we’re more like:
“Please don’t open that closet. Seriously. I will tackle you.”
Advent is the season when God says,
“Actually, I’m going to open that closet.”
And we say,
“Lord… maybe check the neighbor’s house first?”
But here’s the good news of Advent:
God comes anyway.
He enters the parts of you that aren’t ready.
He walks right into the rooms with the emotional equivalent of laundry piles and old pizza boxes.
And He doesn’t flinch.
God is not ashamed to enter our fears, our doubts, or our unfinished places.
Lessons From The Wife…
Let me tell you how I learned this—which is to say, let me confess something.
When my wife and I got married, I didn’t just bring romance, charm, and my award-winning personality.
No, no. I also brought:
a temper that fired faster than microwave popcorn,
habits that needed sanctification (and maybe therapy),
and a whole bunch of “first-date material” I conveniently forgot to mention on the second date.
And my wife—God bless her—did not run.
She did not pack a suitcase.
She did not mail me back to my parents with a note that said, “Your turn.”
Instead, she stepped right into the places where I had growing up to do—
the rough edges, the old wounds, the stubborn patterns—
and she loved me.
Not the curated version of me.
Not Instagram-me.
Not the “first-date-me who actually irons his shirt.”
She loved the whole unfinished mess.
This is how you know someone loves you:
not when they admire the parts you display in public…
but when they see the parts you don’t show anyone, and they don’t back away.
They love you into who you can become.
They call out the person God intended.
Marriage taught me something Scripture has been shouting for thousands of years:
Love enters the mess.
Love rolls up its sleeves.
Love is not intimidated by your not-yet.
Advent Is God Doing Exactly That
Advent is the story of God looking at the mess of humanity—
the sin, the rebellion, the trauma, the generational dysfunction,
the genealogical train wreck (hello, Matthew 1)—
and saying,
“Perfect. I can work with this.”
You and I?
We would’ve sent Jesus through a royal bloodline with sparkly people and soft lighting.
God sent Him through Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba—
the ancient Near Eastern version of:
“Are you sure this is the genealogy we’re publishing?”
Why?
Because God wants you to know:
He is not embarrassed by your story.
He is not hesitant around your wounds.
He is not surprised by your dark corners.
He is not intimidated by your chaos.
If anything, He seems drawn to it.
(Really makes you think, doesn’t it?)
God doesn’t wait for you to be finished before He moves in.
God doesn’t wait for you to have a “testimony with a tidy ending.”
God doesn’t wait for you to break your bad habits before He gives you grace.
Advent is God saying,
“I enter the world as it is.
I enter you as you are.”
The Gospel Doesn’t Just Forgive You—It Forms You
My wife didn’t just love me in my unfinished places—
she loved me toward growth.
Love doesn’t say,
“Well, that’s just who you are.”
No—real love says,
“That’s where you are, but it’s not where you have to stay.”
That’s Advent.
God doesn’t walk into your life to admire the mess.
He comes to renew, restore, reshape, and resurrect.
He comes as a baby in Bethlehem
not because He needed the experience,
but because we needed to know
that He is willing to enter everything fragile and unfinished
to make us new.
Love meets you where you are. Grace refuses to leave you there.
“Jesus knocks before entering your heart…probably because He’s aware you’ll yell, ‘Just a minute!’ and start shoving emotional garbage under the bed.”
Advent Peace Isn’t the Absence of Mess—It’s the Presence of God
Peace is not what happens when you finally fix yourself.
Peace is what happens when God climbs into the mess with you.
He entered a manger—
a feeding trough in a barn—
to show you He’s willing to start anywhere.
He entered a broken family line
to show you He’s not limited by your past.
He entered the world
through scandal and chaos
to show you He is not ashamed of your unfinished places.
So yes—
God sees it all.
The temper, the habits, the hurts, the parts of you that are still under construction.
And still He says,
“Behold, I am with you.”
That’s Advent peace.
Not the absence of trouble—
but the Savior who steps into trouble with redemption in His hands.
“If God can redeem Jesus’ family tree, He can redeem your family group text.”
God enters the parts of you you try to hide.
He is not ashamed of your unfinished places.
He loves you into who you can become.
Advent is God declaring: ‘I am not afraid of your chaos.’”
A Closing Advent Prayer
Lord,
Thank You for entering the mess—
not just the world’s mess,
but mine.
Thank You for loving me in the places I’d rather hide,
and for shaping me into who You intended me to be.
Give me grace to welcome Your presence
in every unfinished place of my life.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Amen
Rev. John Roberts
Misfits at the Manger… and You
This Sunday — ONE SERVICE at 10:30 AM
Led by the Heritage Choir + Traditional Worship
Message by Pastor John Roberts
Alright Heritage Church family—
Pastor John here, and I need to give you a friendly holiday warning:
God dropped a surprising, hilarious, and slightly dangerous message into my lap for this Second Sunday of Advent.
I’m telling you… this one shocked even me.
(And if I’m surprised, you know the Lord is up to something.)
This week we’re diving into the Christmas story Matthew tells—the one nobody reads because it starts with 47 names you can’t pronounce. But buckle up, because those names?
They’re juicier than a Christmas ham and messier than your family group chat.
Let’s just say you’re going to meet some people in Jesus’ family tree that make you feel a LOT better about your own.
If you thought your family was dysfunctional, Matthew says, “Oh honey… bless your heart. Hold my scroll.”
I won’t spoil anything, but:
If you’ve ever felt like a misfit, an outsider, or the one God shouldn’t use… congratulations—you might be His favorite.
So come join us for ONE BIG FAMILY SERVICE at 10:30 AM this Sunday.
The choir’s bringing the beauty.
Traditional worship’s bringing the warmth.
And I’m bringing… well… whatever this message is that God insisted I preach.
Bring a friend.
You know the one who needs Jesus.
And if you don’t know anyone who needs Jesus?
Well… you need to get out more.
See you Sunday.
It’s going to be powerful.
It’s going to be surprising.
And it’s absolutely going to be Heritage Church at its best.
—Pastor John
Get Ready for Something Bold, Spirit-Soaked, and Beautifully Unpredictable…
Introducing The 11 @ Heritage!
Kicking off Christmas Eve at 7 PM — and continuing every Sunday at 11 AM — Heritage is stepping into a brand-new chapter of worship, passion, and Holy Spirit impact.
This isn’t simply another service.
This is a spark. A shift. A fresh move of God.
Worship Pastor Chad Perez and our incredible Praise Band are gearing up to bring a sound that won’t just fill the room —
it’ll wake your spirit up, lift your head, and remind your soul what hope feels like.
Rev. John Roberts will be preaching messages that don’t stop at “inspiring.”
Think:
marriage-restoring, calling-igniting, faith-rebuilding, purpose-clarifying, Holy-Spirit-charged truth for real people living real lives.
If you’ve been longing for a place where you can breathe again…
If you want worship that pulses with life…
If you’re ready for God to turn the page and start something new in your story…
The 11 @ Heritage is ready for you.
Come curious.
Come wounded.
Come laughing.
Come unsure.
Come hopeful.
Come exactly as you are.
Just come — because everyone is invited, everyone is embraced, and no one walks out unchanged.
The 11 @ Heritage
Hope. Heart. Holy Spirit.
And a whole lot of Jesus.
Heritage Family,
Before we say goodbye to this year, can we take a holy second and just acknowledge something?
God. Has. Been. Moving.
Attendance is climbing.
Giving is rising.
Hope is waking up in people again.
And our second service is about to launch.
Not bad for a church that absolutely refuses to fade quietly into the night.
To everyone who’s already given this year:
THANK YOU.
Truly — you’re the MVPs of this beautiful, holy “miracle momentum.”
Now… a gentle venture into the mysterious land of Giving.
(Deep breath… stretch… crack knuckles… proceed.)
A Little Snarky Truth:
We all want God to do big, earth-shaking things.
But even the biggest miracles usually start with something small, ordinary, and sacrificial:
The widow? Poured out her last oil.
The disciples? Handed over their snack packs.
Peter? Stepped out of a perfectly seaworthy boat.
So yes — your gift matters.
Any amount matters.
$5 or $50.
$500 or “Dear Lord, was that extra zero intentional?”
Every gift adds fuel to the fire.
Why Your Year-End Gift Matters
Not because of bills.
Not because “budgets need affection too.”
But because generosity creates spiritual traction — and traction creates revival.
These past 5 weeks alone, we’ve made some major improvements:
New LED wall
New A/V system
New website
New social media platforms
New LED church sign (already ordered!)
A refreshed parking lot that you don’t need a 4x4 to drive on!
These aren’t upgrades for comfort — they’re tools for mission.
What We Still Need:
Money to help pay for all this!
Total faith: high
Total panic: 0%
(Because honestly, we’ve seen God pull off wilder things.)
So Here’s the Ask:
Before the year wraps up, would you prayerfully give a Year-End Christmas Gift?
Small, medium, large, or “Holy Spirit shoved me” size — whatever God puts on your heart.
You can give:
– In person
– At any Christmas service
– Online (choose Year-End Christmas Gift)
– By mail
– Through the Tithe.ly app
– Or scan the QR code like the technologically advanced saint you are
Let’s Finish Strong.
Let’s step into 2026 with faith, momentum, and expectation — because the runway for next year’s miracles begins right now.
Thank you for giving.
Thank you for believing.
Thank you for being the church that refuses to settle for anything less than transformation.
Let’s build a Home for Every Heart — together.
With love, laughter, and ridiculous hope,
Pastor John
I am looking forward to this message—and I hope it is available for streaming later on Sunday! Your messages mean so much to me! Thank you, John! I am also really looking forward to the Contemporary services and hearing the new Praise band!!!