Peace on Earth
Notes
Transcript
When you think of the holiday season, in preparation for Christmas Day…buying gifts, decorating, wrapping presents, family visits, the snow…
What theme would you place on that thought?
What adjective describes the season for you?
Peaceful?
Peace is hard to come by today.
This weeks advent candle is peace. The peace of God that comes from knowing that He is with us. Immanuel, God with Us.
Isaiah 7:14
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
That word…Immanuel means “God with Us”
And Jesus himself promised us peace...
John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
We read about it…we talk about peace. We are promised peace…but do we know how to access it? Have we unwrapped it? Do we truly know the peace of God?
Because the peace that this world wants to offer is so much different than the peace of God.
The world’s view of peace is tranquility. It’s quiet, calm. FREEDOM FROM DISTURBANCE
World peace is a world without conflict.
But the peace of God is not of this world. It’s not like this world’s view of peace.
Do you want to unwrap the gift of peace this morning? Do you want a peace that transcends what this world can offer?
Then we need to understand what Jesus was saying in John 14:27 and to do this, I want to look at the story of Mary found in Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Peace is not the absence of conflict or disruption… Jesus was coming to bring us peace…but he did so in the very presence of major conflict...
When God shows up, our lives are disrupted.
Mary’s life was taking a turn here that she could never have expected. As far as she knew, she was about to marry a nice Jewish boy named Joseph when suddenly she had been chose to give birth to the Messiah, the Savior of the World. Yea, I would say this is a disruption.
For Joe, all of the sudden, your fiancé gets pregnant and its not your baby… How are you going to explain this one away? I know Mary says that an angel told her, how convienient right?! For him, this was a disruption, a major conflict.
This conflict came because of the promise that God loves his people so much that He would come to dwell with them through this humble young girl.
I believe there are two choices that we have when God shows up, births something new in our lives and disrupts things. Either we avoid it, or we embrace it. We can choose to embrace conflict and allow it to draw us closer to him, or we can avoid conflict.
Maybe this morning as you came to church, you are wrestling with something in your life. Maybe it’s a new job you are not sure what to do about. Maybe it’s a loss of some kind that is painful. Maybe its a sin that has finally found you out. Maybe it’s a relationship that has hit a dead end. Maybe it’s a need that you see around you that you cannot get off your mind. Maybe it’s an internal wrestling that you just don’t know what to do with it yet... Could this be God trying to get your attention. Could this be God’s grace at work in your life trying to bring his love to you and birth something new?
Some of us this morning have spent years avoiding a conflict that God has been trying to use within our lives to birth something new. My prayer today would be that all across this room there would be people who stop avoiding what God is trying to use to help us experience Him and start embracing the work that God wants to do within us.
Like Mary and Joseph, God is wanting to do something through our lives that will change the world. But we have to choose how we will respond.
Let’s look at how Mary responds…
33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
Mary asks a fair question. “How can this be? How is this possible?” I am a virigin! There is no natural way that God could bring about what has been promised. There is no humanly possible way that this could actually happen. And to that I say, Amen! This is a work of God, not humans. And thank God that he is able to do the impossible. But we need to be careful to not let our excuses block what God wants to birth within us.
We all have new-birth excuses.
We all have reasons why God cannot do a new work within us. I want to speak to those excuses for a moment.
Excuses like…
“There is no way God can save my marriage, it’s too far gone.”
“I will never see the relationship with my child restored, there has been too much damage done.”
“There is no way God can forgive me, I’ve made too many mistakes.”
“I will never be able to get on top of my bills, I’m destined to be in prison to debt my whole life.”
“I will never be able to get clean, stay sober, the temptation is too strong.”
Each of these issues bring about a chaos inside of our souls, a true absence of peace that we all long for.
Each one of these excuses block what God wants to do in your life.
I won’t pretend to know what your excuse is, but allow the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind right now.
Write it down. Take a little note of that phrase that is popping up in your head. What is holding you back from believing that God is able to birth something new within you?
We all, like Mary point out from our human perspective all the things that make it impossible…
But do we not know that what is impossible for man is possible with God?
Look at how the angel responds to Mary’s excuse.
“The Holy spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
Essentially he was saying…Mary!!!! What is impossible with man is possible with God.” This is not a work of mere men; this is a work of God. All of our excuses are correct and valid about why this Christmas should not be a fresh start, and a new birth. In and of ourselves, it is impossible, but through the love of God, expressed in his miraculous birth, anything is possible.
Dare to dream that God is able. That he is willing to bring a fresh start, a new beginning. That he is able to use you, and wants to use you and he wants to give you a peace that transcends our understanding.
The nativity, the birth of the savior, 2,000 years ago changed the world. This birth though is still changing the world because the same spirit of God that came upon Mary is the same Spirit of God that overshadows us today. God wants to birth something new within you today.
It’s not about…
your ability.
your effort.
your qualifications.
your gender.
your track record.
your status.
It is simply about seeing that whatever conflict that God has allowed or brought into your life is an act of his love and is something to be embraced rather than avoided.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Our response then is to surrender.
We like Mary, submit to God.
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
What if this were the kind of posture we were committed to this Christmas season?
“I am the Lord’s servant, may your word to me be fulfilled.”
How would our lives be different? Our submission to God has everything to do with what we perceive to be our greatest need.
Max Lucado put it this way…
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; if our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; if our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; if our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; but our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
Then we need to prepare the way. We need to clear the road. We need to make room for Him (Immanuel) to actually be present with us.
The peace of the Savior is 3 fold…
Peace of Reconciliation - Ephesians 2:11-18
Peace of Reconciliation - Ephesians 2:11-18
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
We have been made right with God. Forgiveness. Peace with God. He is now with us. He is ours and we are his.
But in order to unwrap this peace of being made right with God we need to believe and repent.
Believe in the gospel.
Repent from our sin.
This is clearing the way. This is making paths straight.
We confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead…then we will be saved. Then we will have Immanuel, God with us.
Then we will experience the peace that this world cannot offer. The peace of knowing that our sins are paid for. That we are forgiven. That we are free.
Peace from Heaven because of the blood of the Lamb.
Peace of Presence - Philippians 4:4-7, Psalm 23
Peace of Presence - Philippians 4:4-7, Psalm 23
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Because we are His and He is ours, now we have his presence with us. He is God with us. His peace in our souls.
His peace will stand guard over your hearts and minds.
A psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Peace of God’s presence with us. God with us. in the mountain tops, in the quiet time as well as in the darkest of valleys.
Let’s think back to Mary and Joseph’s current situation. The valley they are about to enter.
I can just imagine Mary bringing this conversation up with Joseph...
“Um, Joe…we need to talk… I’m pregnant, but don’t worry…I didn’t cheat on you! This baby is from God.”
The birth of the Savior comes through the worst news any engaged guy could ever get.
This man was engaged to be married to his nice young fiancé…he just started working in a nice trade that would take care of him and his family and then this news comes…
When you get knocked down off the mountain and you start to enter into a valley experience…You don’t feel God’s presence as well as you did when you were on the top.
In the valley, when you don’t sense God’s presence or you don’t hear his voice…Darkness has a way of playing mind games with you.
Ok…let’s play best case/worst case
Best Case: She’s crazy…but then I’m betrothed(engaged) to her…what does that make me?
Worst Case: She’s lying and did cheat on me…Why couldn’t she wait for me?…Wasn’t I enough?
Worst yet: What if this really is God’s child…what am I going to do then?
Ok, I want to do the right thing and honor God but also not make her out to be a horrible person…
I better just divorce her quietly and that will be that.
It’s not a matter of if a valley comes in our lives. It’s when you come to a valley. You might not be in one now, but you may have just come out of one and you may be heading towards another.
IT’S NOT A MATTER OF “IF” BUT “WHEN” AND When you enter a valley, when it’s dark and lonely and your afraid…not sure what to do, how do you deal with it? IS THERE A WAY OUT?
The way out is the realization that peace isn’t the absence of conflict in your life..but the presence of God in the midst of conflict.
The way out is the spoken word from the Lord...
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God.
The pathway to peace is found in the presence of God himself. It’s recognizing that the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. I have his presense with me in the good times and the bad times. His rod and his staff are guiding me.
Peace with God is not something that we can attain. It’s not something that we can climb up to and experience. It is again given to those who are humble enough to simply receive it like Mary...
“I am the Lord’s servant, may your word to me be fulfilled.”
So we have the peace of reconciliation with God, the peace of the presence of God and lastly we have the
Bond of Peace- Ephesians 4:1-4
Bond of Peace- Ephesians 4:1-4
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
We have peace with one another. I have been given peace with God, you have been given peace with God. We have a bond of peace.
Harboring unforgiveness, bitterness or anger towards your brother or sister in Christ.
Matthew 19- Unforgiveness is like a prison.
This Christmas season may we all enjoy the peace of Christ. The peace of knowing God is with Us.