God With Us Brings Peace

Introduction:

The Christmas Truce of 1914

It was the 5th month of WWI - Pope Benedict XV (15) asked for a cease fire - officials rejected the appeal - but the British and German soldiers on the western front didn’t listen and laid down their arms for one day.

Movie - Joyeux Noël Joyeux Noël (English: Merry Christmas) is a 2005 war drama film based on the Christmas truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, British, and German soldiers. It was written and directed by Christian Carion, and screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

What a sight that must have been.

The Christmas season is filled with joy, love and hope.

Many people however are fighting battles in an exhausting war with pain and loss.

We are celebrating Christmas this year for the first time without Inez’s mama.

Scotty and Macee are facing a Christmas without Sonya.

Others still are battling in other areas.

We may not be able to put an end to those pains, or other battles but we can press in to the fact that Immanuel has come, He is God is with us.

Today we get to celebrate the 4th week of Advent - “The Arrival”

We join the ancient people who were looking forward to the birth of the Messiah who would rule the nations.

We also wait with great hope and anticipation of Jesus’ return for His people.

Each week we have explored how God With Us brings us, hope, love, joy and now we explore how Immanuel brings peace.

Lets unpack it together

The Announcement

Luke 2:8–15 NLT

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Its very interesting that the Lord sent His messengers to Shepherds.

Society did not have a high view of shepherds. They were considered a lower class citizen

It wasn’t always that way - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David are examples of Israel’s great shepherds.

But along the way, the religious elite took center stage and the shepherds were nothing more that low class citizens.

They (the religious elite) were the ones who declared God’s written word and explained to the people how they were to live

They saw themselves as God’s gift to society. After all, where would they all be if it had not been for the Pharisees and Sadducees?

But that is not how God saw things

The shepherds themselves must have been surprised and thought that they were the last people to receive a visitation from an angel of the Lord.

Wouldn’t you think that God would choose a pastor? (The Religious Elite)

Did the angel get lost or make a mistake? No, certainly not!

God knows what He is doing!

He showed up to the shepherds! (Oh what a sight this must have been.)

Not only did the angel appear but the angel spoke: “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.”

It doesn’t stop there (as if that were not enough)

Suddenly the angel was joined by a vast host of others (the heavenly host)

They were praising God and saying: “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

I love this and see it as the heavenly host proclaiming that peace has come! Finally!

No wonder the shepherds dropped what they were doing and made their way to Bethlehem! Wouldn’t you?

Listen to what Luke records:

Luke 2:16–20 “They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.”

As those dirty, dusty shepherds caught sight of that beautiful baby boy, they saw PEACE wrapped in strips of cloth and nothing could keep them quiet.

I love what my friend, Pastor Gary Walker, said recently on our prayer call: “I want to take the place of the shepherds.” Because I have experienced Immanuel, I am going to praise God and tell everyone I know!

The Shepherds glorified God because Peace had come but let’s look at this word, PEACE:

The Peace We Need

Long ago, God gave the Law to Moses and established the roles and duties of the priests to guide the spiritual life of Israel. He gave instruction to speak blessing over the people. You hear it here almost every Sunday:

Numbers 6:24–26 NLT

‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’

The Hebrew word for peace is so much more than what we get in English.

The word for peace is Shalom and it reflects absence of fighting, safety, completeness and wholeness.

This is the kind of peace that is brought on by God with Us.

Isaiah spoke some 2724 years ago about Him:

Isaiah 9:6–7 “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!”

Those who were living during Jesus’ day were looking for the Messiah to come and give justice to the people from the oppression of their captors, Rome. They wanted an absence of fighting but God wanted to do more.

They were a people who were a conquered nation. But they longed for Shalom.

How could a baby be the answer everyone was looking for?

That baby is the one that would bring peace to all the nations. He is Shar Shalom - the Prince of Peace.

Peace is more than a feeling:

Peace is a Person

John 14:27 ““I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

Jesus was nearing the end of his earthly ministry when he spoke this to his disciples

Jesus knew that his departure would be devastating to his followers

Only Jesus can give a gift at his own funeral

He gave them something that no one else could, he gave something that could not be taken away

Peace is not the absence of chaos and confusion but the presence of Jesus. Said another way: When Jesus is there, peace is there!

Jesus was saying to his disciples that day, “Don’t worry I will always be with you.” I am the peace that you need and I won’t leave you.

Jesus had promised them the Holy Spirit when he made a physical departure but He would always be with them through His Holy Spirit living in them.

God With Us - Brings Peace because He is Peace.

Even though there was a day of peace on the battlefield on that Christmas day in 1914 the war was not over; battles began the next day.

That does not have to be the case for any of us. We can experience true and lasting peace because God is with Us.

Peace on Earth

Luke 2:14 MEV

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will toward men.”

There are many countries who work tirelessly to accomplish peace.

We have been watching and enjoying “Madame Secretary” and admire what great lengths the imaginary Elizabeth McCord, the Secretary of State played by Tea Leoni goes to in order to keep peace in the world.

Not only are there people working for peace but we know there are bad actors (people who intend harm) out there who want to cause an war and imbalance.

Jesus told us that the enemy’s purpose was to steal, kill, and destroy. So it should not be any surprise to us.

But peace talks will only produce a temporary truce. It will not produce true peace. Peace can only come from a heart that has been cleaned by the regenerating power of Jesus Christ.

Jesus promised that there will be wars and rumors of wars.

There will be a time where it will get so bad, a time that I don’t think we fully understand.

There will be a Messiah like person who will claim to bring peace but it is a lie.

Jesus, the one and only true Messiah has already come and He brought that peace.

prepare to close

Romans 5:1–2 “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

To have any peace whatsoever, you must first have peace with God and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.

To have peace in the world without Jesus Christ is simply impossible.

Today is the day to turn to Him and let Him be the Peace that you so desperately need.

And that is the good news, God is still offering the greatest Christmas present ever given.

Will you accept His gift today?

Would you pray with me today?

It all starts with surrendering to Jesus in Salvation and becoming a new creature. Is there anyone here today that would be bold enough to pray that prayer today?

(Lets all pray this today if you feel led)

ADMIT - God I am a sinner who needs your forgiveness

BELIEVE - I believe Jesus lived a sinless life, died on the cross for my sins and

CONFESS - I declare that Jesus is Lord of my life. I will follow you from this day forward.

Fill Me - with your Holy Spirit so I may live for you and serve you. In Jesus name!

I want to invite you to respond today and allow the Holy Spirit to draw you.

The altars are open and we are here to pray with you.

Closing Thought

Peace came with the birth of Christ

Peace was purchased with the death of Christ and

Peace will be completed with the return of Christ