After six incredible years of open, honest, and Christ-centered dialogue, Candid Conversations with Jonathan Youssef is coming to a close as Jonathan Youssef looks back on six years of candid conversations about life and faith. In this final episode, he expresses gratitude to every guest and listener who made this journey so meaningful and shares what’s next as he steps into his new role as Senior Pastor of The Church of The Apostles.

From all of us on the Candid Conversations and Leading The Way teams: thank you for listening, praying, and growing alongside us. It’s been an honor to share this space with you.

Visit LTW.org/candid to revisit past episodes and guest conversations that have encouraged hearts and ignited spiritual growth over the past six unforgettable years.

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This Christmas season, many of us are carrying more than gifts and traditions. We’re carrying fear, weariness, uncertainty, and unanswered questions. We sing the familiar words, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight,” but what do they really mean when the world feels anything but peaceful?

In this special Christmas reflection, Jonathan Youssef explores the meaning behind this beloved hymn lyric and the birth of Jesus, the Light of the World who meets us in our deepest hopes and fears.

Join Jonathan to reflect on:

• Why true peace and security are found in Christ alone
• How Jesus’ grace transforms fear into lasting hope
• What our response to Christ means for our lives today

If you’re searching for hope at Christmas, longing for peace in uncertain times, or wondering where God is in the midst of fear, this episode offers a gentle, gospel-centered reminder: Christ has come and He is enough.

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Our culture doesn’t just move fast—it demands that we keep up. But what do our souls, our families, and our faith lose when we never slow down?

Jonathan Youssef is joined again by author and nonprofit leader Kristen Welch for a deeply honest discussion about busyness, spiritual burnout, and the life-giving invitation to sit with Jesus. Kristen shares how years of faithful work and constant activity slowly led her toward spiritual depletion and how solitude and surrender became the pathway back to intimacy with God.

Together, Jonathan and Kristen explore the dangers of equating productivity with faithfulness, the role of spiritual disciplines in a distracted world, and what it looks like to lead and live from a place of rest rather than striving.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear About:

• Why busyness is often celebrated, but spiritually dangerous
• The difference between doing things for God and being with God
• How distraction can quietly create distance from the Lord
• The role of silence, solitude, and Sabbath in spiritual formation
• Learning to listen for God’s voice in a noisy, over-stimulated world
• Creating rhythms and habits that form us toward Christ
• Rediscovering identity as a child of God, not a performer

About Kristen Welch

Kristen Welch is an author, speaker, and the founder of the global non-profit, Mercy House Global. She is currently writing a forthcoming book titled The Little Big Life: Quieting the Noise to Find the Secret Place with Jesus, to be released in the fall of 2026.

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