Are you peaceful?

Luke 2:8–15 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

Msg Title: Are you peaceful?

Luke 2:14 ESV

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

And on earth “PEACE” among those with whom he is pleased

Are you a peaceful person?

I wonder if you are a holder, a possessor, a recipient of PEACE?

(i wonder today —-Whats your default—do you exist, reside… operate… from a place of peace, or are you a bit of a hot mess… is chaos a predominant feature of your life, a consistent theme, a steady companion

I mean we all have our moments but i wonder what is the prevailing voice?

We live in a world that is FULL of CHAOS -

Population growth - more and more people

Sped up daily lives - More and more to do, more things on our proverbial plate

Technology pressing in

all this in what is just a busy busy world.

Can seem a bit chaotic at times doesn’t it!

It doesn’t have to be - but it can be - But the bible (like joy) talks ALOT about this thing that seems to be able to be possessed called PEACE

a quick search for the word in the ESV across both testaments its in there and referenced 367 times.

But whilst the word is interwoven in…. you can really see that at a 30,000 foot view the bible is really a story of PEACE

A theme of the bible is peace / And a theme of advent is PEACE

“Peace on earth, Goodwill to all man-kind”

Peace means a few different things but its always associated with God and his nature and his character. I like to think of this this way - God is peace and offers peace. He is a god of ORDER, Not chaos and when there is order to things naturally there is peace that accompanies it - Fathers of you dont have order in your daily life with your family - chaos will abound. the remedy for a chaotic world, is the peace of God.

But its expressed to us in a myriad of ways”

peace in daily life

rest from enemies when war is mentioned

calm in the midst of difficult circumstances

….…But then the gospel itself is caught up in this

the gospel is called a gospel of PEACE…

Jesus said it himself:

John 14:27 “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

The apostle PAUL writes to the believers in EPhesus and calls the GOSPEL a peace GOSPEL:

Ephesians 6:14–17 (ESV)

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Why this matter this time of year as we remember teh coming of JESUS - but also why it matters every day of our lives:

1.GOD BRINGS PEACE TO CHAOS

Fundamental truth about Him.

Genesis 1:1–3 (ESV)

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Haggai 2:9 (ESV)

9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ ”

Nahum 1:15 (ESV)

15 Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him

who brings good news,

who publishes peace!

Keep your feasts, O Judah;

fulfill your vows,

for never again shall the worthless pass through you;

he is utterly cut off.

GOD IS PEACE

But God gives peace - Where there is no God. There is no PEACE: and not just any GOD - the one who publishes peace:

Ezekiel 7:25 ESV

25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none.

God is a GOD of PEACE

and 2

2.JESUS US OUR PEACE

What was the angel declaring - That PEACE had FULLY Come

Want a PEACEFUL.. PEACE-FILLED EXISTENCE?

THIS IS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS TRULY ABOUT

“PEACE ON EARTH - GOODWILL TO MEN”

But what does earth do? do we keep shopping…o we keep cooking…. do we keep delaying the attention this requires

do we recognize our peace has come?…

Recognize your need of JESUS, and invite him into your life, get saved - Experience eternal peace - REST

when you KNOW JESUS is your peace - the search is over.

But realize that HE WANTS TO GIVE IT TO YOU EVERY DAY

Write this down: (Biblical Peace)

Not the absence of trouble, but rather the presence of JESUS

Think of the disciples in the boat - in the midst of a great troubling event - They didnt have a gurantee of NO trouble, but they had JESUS. thats the biblical picture given us

No matter what you are facing today - JESUS can show up in your life - and Give you peave

What a promise.

But we have to get GOOD and engaging with this GIVEN PEACE

How to have more peace:

Focus on GOD - When we focus on him we get PEACE. When you focus on your problems, they get BIGGER. WHen you FOCUS ON GOD in light of your problems, you get PERSPECTIVE. and its the perspective that even when things are difficult. God is good, Hes in control and he LOVES me. Now i have PEACE in that. I have REST IN THAT

Set your mind to stay on HIM: when we set our minds on his things - We have to train our minds to get our minds STAYED on Him.

On a sailboat in the permanent righting there is what is called “Stays”

BackSTAY’s. ForeStays. These are fixed cable shrouds that are part of a sailboats permanent rigging. That is attached from the deck of teh boat and runs all the way to the top of the mast. To keep the mast in place so it doesn’t fall over under the weight of the wind on the sails - — —its what is one of the main-parts by which the sails go up, and they STAY there. One of the sails that attaches to this rigging is a smaller sail called “The stay sail” - funnily enough - when the conditions are rough, the wind is high - you know what sail a good sailor will use? a STAY-SAIL> its calle dthat because its tends to be the sail that can STAY there in rough conditions - in high winds

and thoat boat keeps sailing - even into the wind

STAY-SAIL

Isaiah 26:3 ESV

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

When your mind is “Stayed on him” you are kept by him. Not in chaos but in peace. and the w

Focus on God

Set your mind to STAY ON HIM

When we self regulate our emotions & feelings

when we allow peace to LEAD us:

How do we do this - The holy spirit - leads is un a peace