The Ultimate Christmas Tree (December 24, 2025)

This week’s sermon:

Christmas has a way of feeling like a destination—the carols, the decorations, the nativity—as though the manger is where everything finally arrives. John 1 won’t let it stay there: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and the question John presses is what exactly that birth was launching toward and what it means for us now.

God Didn't Wear a Costume (December 21, 2025)

Sunday night’s message:

We all reach for something we can actually recognize and hold on to—some concrete person or presence we can truly know, not just a philosophy about. That hunger is exactly what John 1 puts its finger on: the Word who was with God in the beginning became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

The Grace Blizzard Has Come (December 7, 2025)

This week’s sermon:

When a winter forecast keeps bouncing around, most of us know better than to cancel everything over what might never arrive. Luke opens his Gospel with the opposite claim: this is no chance of grace next week, but the report of what has already been fulfilled among us—Jesus actually coming in history.

This Week at Little Hills (July 27, 2025)

Pastor Tim is celebrating Christmas in July by thinking about how God gives us gifts available all year long, not just at Christmas.

The Son's Glory is the Father's Glory (January 13, 2025)

Tonight’s Steadfast:

God’s glory is God’s glory — there is only one God. So if we want to share God’s glory and see it spread through the world, we share the hope of Jesus.

Who's in Charge Now? (January 6, 2025)

Tonight’s message:

Pastor Tim talks about how we live and understand God’s control of the world in the time before Jesus returns.

In Defense of Snowmen

It’s New Year’s Day. As a kid, I noted it as the day Christmas ended. The music cut off on the radio, the lights went off around the neighborhood and, curiously, the snowmen came down all over, too.

Who Gets a Car for Christmas Anyway? (December 30, 2024)

Tonight’s message:

Pastor Tim talks about extravagant gifts and what the Bible says about the truly extravagant gift we receive at Christmas because of the very first Christmas.

The Joys of Christmas

Celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas

Does joy end when the clock strikes midnight, closing out Christmas Day? Tim Butler’s new twelve days of Christmas devotional booklet the Joys of Christmas, which is our Christmas gift to you, invites us to embark on a journey to “store up” Christmas joy well beyond December 25. Following the Medieval meditative list known as the Joys of Mary, often encountered through the carol of the same name, we will explore a total of thirteen “joys” that all of us can experience from the life of Jesus. The following is an excerpt and you can download the rest for free in PDF form. A Kindle or print copy is also available inexpensively on Amazon.

A Year's Changes Come Slowly (December 23, 2024)

Tonight’s Steadfast:

Pastor Tim spent time in Busiek State Forest to better think about the time between the Newborn servant coming into the world and when we, His followers, will get to experience His triumph.