Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin

Episode: Martin Family Christmas Special 2025
Date: December 25, 2025
Host: Pastor Joby Martin
Guests: The Martin Family

Overview

This special Christmas Day edition of "Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin" brings listeners inside the Martin family's holiday traditions, memorable moments, and faith journey. Featuring candid stories, playful banter, and honest reflections, the episode offers a relatable look at family dynamics, change, faith, and traditions within the household of the Church of Eleven22's lead pastor. Listeners will enjoy rapid-fire holiday questions, funny family anecdotes, and thoughtful encouragements as the family navigates life, ministry, and personal growth.

Family Holiday Traditions & Memories

Christmas Favorites (00:17–06:55)

• Real vs. Fake Tree:

  • Family consensus is a fake tree, due to convenience, allergies, and wanting to put it up early.
  • Gretchen shares childhood memories of cutting cedar trees on the family farm, despite being allergic.
    • Gretchen: "Every year, I would get so sick, and we still always had cedar trees, but we cut down a cedar tree. It was the ugliest tree ever, but my dad put it up." (01:49)

• Present Opening Style:

  • Joby prefers "one at a time" to savor the experience, while Gretchen is okay with some organized chaos.
    • Joby: "I just don't know what anybody got. So that's when it's revealed...it's a surprise for me. All four times." (02:47)

• Timing of Christmas Morning:

  • The family now starts festivities later than when their kids were small. Presents and breakfast stretch into lunchtime.

Favorite Christmas Movies (04:06–05:54)

• Joby: "Die Hard all the way."
• Reagan: "The Santa Claus."
• JP: "Home Alone...and I like The Grinch too."
• Long discussion about the Jim Carrey Grinch and the lengths he endured in makeup.
  • Host: "He had to go through, like, torture hostage training with the military because of how hard the suit and the makeup was." (04:48)
• Gretchen prefers "Four Christmases" and "The Holiday."
• The family loves classics like "The Christmas Story."

Best and Worst Christmas Presents (05:54–09:21)

• Favorite Memory:
  • The family agrees: getting their dogs was a top gift and memory.
    • Reagan: "The dogs...I liked watching my dad ride his motorcycle in his robe." (06:02)
• "Worst" Gift:
  • Gretchen received a mattress one year, which didn't go as planned despite good intentions.
    • Joby: "It was a sleep number...it adjusts to you and does all the things...She was mad about it." (07:27)
  • JP and Joby defend their choice, Gretchen jokes about trying out mattresses.

Traditions & Family Dynamics (09:21–14:40)

• Tradition Adjustments:
  • As a pastor’s family, consistent traditions are hard due to church responsibilities and seasonal changes.
  • One tradition: visiting Daruma Japanese Steakhouse after Christmas Eve services—although this is getting harder due to crowds.
  • The family only did matching pajamas once: "We took a picture and that was it."
• Favorite Christmas Songs:
  • Joby: "Merry Christmas from the Family" (a humorous country song) (10:55)
  • Gretchen: "Maybe It’s Cold Outside," but only the original, and "Last Christmas" by Wham.
  • Reagan: "White Christmas," despite never having seen snow in Florida.
• Hot Takes:
  • Florida never feels like Christmas physically to Gretchen.
    • Gretchen: "Florida will never, ever feel like Christmas to me physically, you know?" (12:24)
  • JP: Christmas Day "kind of boring" after presents; playing Fortnite is a highlight.
• Movie Opinions:
  • Joby: "Polar Express is the creepiest movie I've ever seen in my whole life." (14:17)

The Jaguars & The Super Bowl Dream (14:42–19:00)

• The Martins discuss their excitement about the Jaguars' successful season and Super Bowl hopes.
  • Joby: "If the Jaguars go to the Super Bowl, we're going." (16:22)
  • JP: "Super Bowl. Jacksonville." (15:23)
• Discussion about potential Christian artists at an alternative halftime show, media rumors, and generational perspectives on music and halftime shows.

Life Updates & Family Rhythms (21:00–32:40)

JP and Reagan's Year in Review (21:00–24:50)

• Reagan: Now a sophomore in high school, recently got her license, enjoys the freedom but is a "speed demon" according to her mom via Life360 app.
• JP: Moved back to Jacksonville, planning to travel for ranching and guiding across the Midwest and Canada as part of Fellowship Adventures, as well as working at the church.

Life as a Ministry Family (25:29–34:36)

• Busy Season:
  • Gretchen and Joby describe their current season as incredibly busy but good, enjoying when the family can be under one roof.
  • Joby values that, despite church growth and travel demands, home life is strongest: "If things weren't good at home, it wouldn't even matter, you know?" (26:17)
• Touch Points as Kids Get Older:
  • Finding family connection gets harder as children get more independent.
  • Family dinners and retreats are rare and precious moments.
    • Joby: "The four of us, it's usually just dinners, man. Which is. It's probably only like once a week where it can happen." (28:48)

Looking Ahead: 2026 Hopes & Changes (30:24–34:36)

• JP: Excited for his travels with Fellowship Adventures; grateful for mentorship and new skills.
• Gretchen: Turning 50 in 2026—hasn’t planned celebrations, but marks it as a milestone.
• Reagan: Choosing to be homeschooled junior and senior years for flexibility and more family/church involvement; wants to travel with parents more, considering attending Liberty University.
  • Reagan: "A big part of, like, most of the times that my dad is home is when I'm at school...I'll be able to travel with my dad a lot more, which will be good." (32:18)
• Family Favorites:
  • Retreat center getaways and family dinners are top quality-time picks.
    • Reagan: "Sometimes we'll just have dinner together, and it's really nice, just, like, talking...small moments catching up like that." (34:19)

Family Culture: Fun, Trust, and Faith (34:36–44:21)

Humor and Fun

• The Martins pride themselves on not taking themselves too seriously; they love jokes, sarcasm, and inside humor.
  • Joby: "We have a pretty lighthearted...we’re a very sarcastic family." (35:08)
• The "fun one" is debated—Gretchen claims it, JP pranks Reagan, and inside jokes about JP’s punching dummy "Bob" abound.
  • Gretchen: "I walk out in the garage...it scares me...Holly...texts me: there's someone naked in your garage. No, that's Bob." (37:08)

Personal Faith Growth (37:51–44:21)

• JP: Consistent mentoring sessions with former youth group leader, Josh, have deeply impacted his faith.
  • JP: "We meet every week we can, and we just talk for like three hours in a coffee shop." (37:58)
• Reagan: New friendships and involvement at camp and St. John’s campus have built her community and faith.
  • Reagan: "Having that community has really helped me." (38:14)
• Joby: Daily disciplines and small faithful steps matter; "incremental steps over time have an exponential impact." (39:45)
  • Joby: "There’s no easy button to your walk with Jesus."
• Gretchen: Learned to release control of her children's futures, trusting God's unique path and timing for each.
  • Gretchen: "The Lord had to reveal to me that I'm not in control of our kids’ future." (40:46)

Final Encouragement & Reflections (44:21–51:07)

Words to the Church & Families

• Joby: Stay faithful in the "small deposits" of faith, even when life is not as expected—God is always working.
  • Joby: "Just hang in there, get up one day at a time, be faithful, trust God, and He will make your path straight." (46:09)
• Gretchen: Reject perfection; embrace God's pursuit of your kids and yourself.
  • Gretchen: "It's not about being perfect...God's not pursuing you to get to them. Like, God has to pursue them, and you have to let it happen. And it might not always look the way that you think it's going to look." (46:40)
• JP & Reagan: The value of older mentors, group leaders, and supportive faith community for teens.
  • JP: "Stay connected with your group leader or try to find older people that are smart and doing the right thing." (48:28)
  • Reagan: "My group leader...her name’s Kendall...I don’t think I would be wanting to go to Liberty for college if it wasn’t for her." (48:43)
• Joby (gratitude):
  • "As a family, we want to say thanks to the church of 1122. We are so blessed by this community of people. It is our great honor and privilege to serve..." (49:18)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Faith and Family:
  • "There’s not that we don’t have any kind of secret sauce at the house that made my kids love Jesus and made our marriage work. It’s just kind of the normal everyday. You just get up, love God, try to love each other. When you screw up, say you’re sorry, repent, and go at it again." - Joby (39:45)
• On Parenting:
  • "The Bible says train up a child in the way they should go, not the way you want them to go." - Joby (43:09)
• On Release of Control:
  • "The Lord had to reveal to me that I’m not in control of our kids’ future." - Gretchen (40:46)
• On Fun:
  • "We don’t take ourselves very seriously." - Joby (34:45)
• On Community:
  • "We get to have presence because people here are generous…we just, I just don’t have enough words to express how grateful for you we are for this church family." - Joby (49:18)

Notable Timestamps

• 01:49 – Gretchen’s childhood Christmas tree story
• 02:47 – Why Joby prefers presents opened one at a time
• 06:02 – Favorite Christmas memory: getting the dogs
• 07:27 – Story of gifting a mattress
• 10:55 – Joby’s favorite Christmas song
• 12:24 – Gretchen on Florida never feeling like Christmas
• 14:17 – Joby’s take on Polar Express
• 16:22 – Jaguars Super Bowl optimism
• 21:18 – Reagan on getting her driver’s license
• 25:29 – Family describes their current busy season
• 28:48 – Family touch points: “usually just dinners”
• 32:18 – Reagan on choosing homeschool for flexibility
• 34:19 – Reagan on simple dinners as valuable connection
• 37:58 – JP’s mentors shaping his faith
• 39:45 – Joby on the power of spiritual habits
• 40:46 – Gretchen: learning to trust God with her kids’ futures
• 43:09 – Joby on biblical parenting
• 46:09 – Joby’s closing advice on faithfulness

Tone

The episode is warm, humorous, candid, and encouraging, laced with gentle sarcasm and honest vulnerability, reflecting a genuine, down-to-earth family committed to faith and togetherness.

Closing Prayer (50:42)

• Joby closes with a heartfelt prayer of gratitude and blessing for the church and family, emphasizing reliance on Jesus.

Summary prepared for listeners seeking the spirit and substance of Christmas in the Martin household—full of real-life, laughter, and a faith that grows through the ordinary.