The Real Peace of Advent

Announcements (We will have our announcements at the very beginning)

Pastors Coffee (December 29th, following morning Worship)

Discover the Journey (Membership Class January 18th 9:00 a.m. sign up in the back or online at https://www.thejourneykilleen.com/become-a-member

Discover the Journey (Membership Class January 18th 9:00 a.m. sign up in the back or online at https://www.thejourneykilleen.com/become-a-member

Family Reunion (Journey members meeting January 25th @ 6:00 p.m. pot luck meal, bring a dish to share)

Family Reunion (Journey members meeting January 25th @ 6:00 p.m. pot luck meal, bring a dish to share)

Connect Cards (place in the wicker basket on the back table or just leave in your seat and we will pick them up)

Connect Cards (place in the wicker basket on the back table or just leave in your seat and we will pick them up)

No Journey kids for older and pre-K we will be having 5th Sunday Family worship.

No Journey kids for older and pre-K we will be having 5th Sunday Family worship.

We would not exist without the people that God has so graciously sent to the Journey over the years. You have shared your time, talents, and gifts beyond measure, and we are eternally grateful for all of our partners at the Journey. God has much greater things in store for the Journey in 2020. We can accomplish so much more together than we can apart. God calls all who call themselves followers of Christ to steward our gifts and resources to the furthering of the kingdom of God. We would like to invite you to partner with us here at the Journey. Giving does not gain us any greater favored status with God or guarantee us any greater financial success. It is the way that we invest in the kingdom of God for His glory instead of building a kingdom for our own glory.

You can give in several way’s at the Journey. There is a box on the bake table underneath the balcony where you can place your offering or you can go to our webpage at thejourneykilleen.com and give that way. Please pray about what part God would have you play in helping us fulfill the mission of God here in Killeen and to the very ends of the earth.

SONG #1

Bumper Video

INTRODUCTION

How in the world can there ever be peace? It’s a world where planes are bombed, judges assassinated, children are molested, police are ambushed, gangs control the streets, drug lords corrupt whole neighborhoods. It’s a world of Serbs and Croat and Muslims, of Iran, of Palestine and Israel.

In the realm of subtler warfare watch the employer and the employee, each protecting his own back. Watch the husband and the wife, each unwilling to lose the advantage over one another. Hear the cries, “Just leave me alone. Don’t get in the way of what I want.”

What peace? We identify with the line in the Christmas song, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” “And in despair I bowed my head; there is no peace on earth, I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”

And he [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 

The peace comes from God Himself. It is an unparalleled expression of love, it let justice be carried out and upheld the honor of the law, it was an amazing, shocking love.

The principle use of the word for peace in the Hebrew bible is salom.

The root of the word can be found in several Semitic languages. The closest to the root meaning of the word is to be whole, complete. In one form or another the notions of wholeness, health, and completeness follow this word.

Salom is the daily greeting in Israel; salom alekem “peace be upon you” is a common expression we could translate today as “good day.” But it is really closer to “may you be well.” To do well of course is to be “whole, to be complete,” to have physical and spiritual resources sufficient for ones needs. The prophets point beyond the crisis of exile and setbacks to a time when shalom, was characterized by prosperity, and well being, absence of conflict, right relationships, restoration, harmony, and salvation. As in where the future Messiah is termed, the “Prince of Peace”, in which his eternal reign will be one of peace, not just for Israel but for the whole earth.

Historical Background

We must first go back to the reign of King David. King David established the Golden age of Israel. David who had humble beginnings as a shepherd boy would unite the tribes together into one nation and major power in the world. Davids wisdom and skill in accomplishing this would usher them into a great age of prosperity and peace, so much so that the prophets saw the coming Messianic age as a new Davidic era.

Because of the sins of Davids line, the golden age of David and his son Solomon’s reign could not last. Idolatry was pervasive in the land and nations like Assyria, Babylon, and Persia would conquer the people of Israel and rule over them. But God promised that the peoples suffering under these pagan rulers would not be the last word for them. Today’s passage reveals the specified time - after Assyria’s capture and invasion of Jerusalem when God would put a new leader on the throne, a son of David who would be greater than his forefathers.

Isaiah saw the coming king to be an everlasting father. A title that convey’s the kings willingness to put the needs of his children first, just as a good father would do. Also this King would be a “Wonderful Counselor.” Not longer would the king need trusted advisors, for by His wisdom he would make the right decisions. This kings throne would be upheld and established with justice and righteousness. The name of this king will endure forever.

BIG IDEA: PEACE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF TROUBLE BUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD

We proclaim today the Joy to the world that the very presence of God born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago still rules and reigns with truth and grace today. Sing with the great cloud of witnesses that has come before you, Joy to the world the Lord is Born.

Song #2

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3 Facets of Peace

I. It is Peace with God

II. It is the peace of God.

III. It is the God of peace.

I. Peace with God.

1.Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of God’s rule in our lives.

Romans 5:1-11

“Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

ILLUSTRATION:

It’s a familiar scene. A child dressed like an angel stands with arms outstretched as the narrator reads, “Fear not …” Then the entire children’s choir stands as the narrator continues, “and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying…” On cue, our precious little ones sing, “Glo-o-o-o-o-o-ria, in excelsis Deo!” We delight for those few moments in our children’s Christmas joy. But it isn’t long before we leave their world and return to the disappointments, challenges, and threats that surround us. And many of us are left wondering, “How can any reasonable adult be merry at Christmas?”

Our world is fond of talking about peace. We hold peace summits and rallies. We establish peace accords and treaties. We even hand out peace prizes. Yet, for all of its summits, accords, and prizes, the world ha s not accomplished peace. Wars and rumors of wars continue. This is because there is no peace so long as sin remains.

Peace is the absence of hostility and the establishment of prosperity and tranquility. It is what the Bible calls shalom — a wholeness and integrity of life established in righteous relationship with God and others. Peace is what was lost in the garden of Eden because of sin. And peace is what is established once again in Christ Jesus through His blood. The only way to bring an end to hostility and enmity in the world is to bring an end to the source of hostility and enmity, namely, sin.

As Christ came to bring an end to our sin (), so Christ came to bring peace.

Peace with God reminds us that we are divinely loved by God.

a. No love satisfies like God’s love.

“ A daughter was listening to the beating of her mothers heart. “What is that?” “Love” “What is love?” “Look into my eyes. What do you see?” “A little girl” “Who?” “Me” “That’s love. That’s what is in my heart.”

b. God’ great love is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin.”

*This makes Christ the source of, “all our strength, all our comfort, and all our peace.”

Peace with God divinely controls our life.

ILLUSTRATION

Imagine constructing a building with no design! This is exactly what many people are doing with their lives when they are not being divinely controlled by God.

6  All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Peace with God happens when we accept God’s design for our lives.

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Illustration

Without justification it is impossible to have real peace. Conscience forbids it. Sin is a mountain between a man and God, and must be taken away. The sense of guilt lies heavy on the heart and must be removed. Unpardoned sin will murder peace. The true Christian knows all this well. His peace arises from a consciousness of his sins being forgiven, and his guilt being put away. ... He has peace with God, because he is justified.

Matthew 10:34–39 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 10:34

The peace he came to bring is not simply the absence of struggles and strife; it is a peace that means the overcoming of sin and the bringing of Salvation of God. And that means war with evil and hostility against those who support the wrong way of peace.

Peace with God brings finality to the war

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

- 

When the sinner is justified by faith in Jesus Christ the war is ended.

Historical Connection: The Israelites would give a peace offering to God in the temple to appease the wrath of God. Jesus came to be the perfect peace offering that would do away with the enmity between God and man.

Cultural Connection: The whole world are basically rebels against God’s rule and reign. As rebels most of the world has determined to fight to the death.

32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Scripture makes it absolutely clear that peace with God is the foundational source of the Peace of God. This reminds us of how God has set His love on us and orders all of our circumstances for our Good.

Do you have this kind of peace? If not why not?

Perhaps it’s because are never satisfied with Jesus being enough in your life; perhaps you are still trying to control and order your life according to your own design and plan; perhaps you do not truly know the peace of being saved, rescued, redeemed by Jesus Christ.

The Peace that rules and reigns in our lives today happens when we learn to adore the Christ the Lord the new born King. O Come let us adore our Savior and Lord today.

Song #3&4

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II. Peace of God

2.Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of God’s path to peace in our lives.

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul say’s don’t be anxious about anything.......................

There is a path to follow if we are to attain the Peace of God.

So the peace of God is a sense of well being and security! Up to this point in history there was no sense of the Shema! true peace of God. The true peace of God had been broken in the Garden of Eden, not the peace of God doesn’t bring anxiety into our lives.

How Does it guard our hearts and minds?

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”

Our suffering turns to perseverance because He overcame.

Our Character turns to strength and hope because He overcome.

Our life becomes a ministry of reconciliation because He overcame.

The peace of God makes it possible for us to make peace with others and make peace with God.

ILLUSTRATION

While elaborating on loving one's neighbor, apologist Michael Ramsden spoke of a colleague who while in Asia asked his audience to close their eyes and imagine peace. After a few seconds the audience was invited to share their mental pictures of peace. One person described a field with flowers and beautiful trees. Another person spoke of snow-capped mountains and an incredible alpine landscape. Still another described the scene of a beautiful, still lake.

After everyone described their mental picture of peace there was one thing common in them all—there were no people in them. Ramsden commented, "Isn't it interesting, when asked to imagine peace the first thing we do is to eliminate everyone else."

There is a Peace we make with Others.

When the relationship between man and God fell the relationship between man and each other also fell. We have a two fold broken relationship.

ILLUSTRATION

Many well-meaning people seek world peace, but as Christians, we know that this will not be possible until all the world is at peace with God. The only way to bring about lasting peace between people and nations is to proclaim the gospel. As this happens, the elect will repent and believe in Jesus, and once at peace with God in Christ, they will begin to seek peace where they are.

“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

“And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

1) We are peacemakers who present the reconciler. (giver of peace)

2) We are peacemakers who represent the reconciler. (we serve on his behalf with divided people)

There is a Peace we make with God

RECONCILIATION: Restoration of friendly relationships and of peace where before there had been hostility and alienation. Ordinarily it also includes the removal of the offense which caused the disruption of peace and harmony. This is especially so in the relation of God with humanity. The scripture speaks first of Christ’s substitutionary death in effecting reconciliation of God with sinners; of sinners by appropriating this free gift by faith; and the promised forgiveness of salvation.

There is a gulf between us and God wider than the Grand Canyon caused by sin. WE have been enemies of other people because of the same thing. Christ fills the gap. Reconciliation through Christ has a divine result. You and I are joined back with God. And it has a human result. You and I are rejoined with each other.

Song #5

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III. The God of Peace

3.Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of God’s assurance in our lives.

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.”

“Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant” ().

Of His peace and of His covenant there will be no end.

The God of Peace knows His sheep

God has chosen for Himself one flock and has appointed the Shepherd to guard over it. The power and worthiness of Jesus guarantees that not one of His sheep shall ever be snatched from His hand.

The God of Peace gives us assurance of Salvation.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

In his book Faith and Life, B.B. Warfield gives a very helpful exposition of this text and its parallel, . He demonstrates that this witness of the Holy Spirit “to or with” our spirits is never separated from the other two components of a biblically based assurance. On the one hand, for someone to claim he has an infallible assurance given by the Holy Spirit while not trusting in the promises of God and manifesting the “birthmarks” of the true child of God, is to be guilty of the grossest form of damning self-delusion.

“Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (vv. 5-6).

Romans 8:4–6 ESV

in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Humanities fundamental problem is Estrangement from God, which results it eternal death if it is not ratified.

Condemnation is the only end for those who do not have their sins covered, but for those who have been justified in Christ, there is no condemnation (). This state of being free from the Lord’s condemnation is permanent and perpetual—there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, for in Him we are set free from the law of sin and death (8:1-2).

Cultural Connection: The problem with most of the world today is that they still stand condemned and don’t even know it.

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CONCLUSION

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for one day or one hundred years, we all must be reminded that we have complete peace with God because of His Son Jesus. There is no condemnation.

There is no sentence of wrongdoing. But haven’t we done so much to be condemned for? Yes. But Jesus paid it all. God did what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. Read .

So if you are sitting there weary of your sin, repent and rest in Christ knowing that it has been covered. Your sin has been forgiven not in part but the whole—every bit of that filthy sin has been covered and paid for by the blood of the Lamb. No more crushing condemnation for you and me.

If God doesn’t condemn us, why do we condemn ourselves? Remember the truth and sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross.

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. . . .

The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

a light has dawned. . . .

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given. (, )

Into a world of darkness, a light has dawned. Into a world of despair, hope has risen. Into a world of money and power and war . . . a child is born?

CONFESSION -

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Invitation

All who are baptized followers of Christ, and who have expressed their love for Jesus within the fellowship of the church are welcome at the Lord’s Table. Come, for all things are now ready.

COMMUNION/THE LORDS SUPPER - (will come forward and be served)

One of the greater purposes of taking the Lords is to not only remember why Jesus Christ came to this earth over 2,000 years ago but to look forward in great anticipation of the day when all HOPE, LOVE, JOY, and PEACE will be fully realized.

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55  “O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”.

By his death, resurrection, and ascension he established a new and eternal covenant of grace and reconciliation

that we might be accepted of God and never be forsaken by him. We come to have communion with this same Christ

who has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world. In the breaking of the bread he makes himself known to us as the true heavenly Bread that strengthens us into life eternal.

In the cup of blessing he comes to us as the Vine in whom we must abide if we are to bear fruit.

We come in hope, believing that this bread and this cup are a pledge and foretaste of the feast of love

of which we shall partake when his kingdom has fully come, when with unveiled face we shall behold him, made like him in his glory. Since by his death, resurrection, and ascension Christ has obtained for us the life-giving Spirit

who unites us all in one body, so are we to receive this supper in true love, mindful of the communion of saints.

Candle Lighting - (everyone will have candles that we will light while singing “Silent Night”)

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,

You are our eternal salvation,

The unfailing light of the world.

Light everlasting,

You are truly our redemption.

Grieving that the human race was perishing through the tempter’s power,

without leaving the heights You came to the depths in your loving kindness.

Readily taking our humanity by Your gracious will,

You saved all earthly creatures, long since lost,

Restoring joy to the world.

Redeem our souls and bodies, O Christ,

and so possess us as Your shining dwellings.

By Your first coming, make us righteous;

At your second coming, set us free:

So that, when the world is filled with light

and you judge all things,

We may be clad in Your spotless robes

and follow in Your steps, O King,

into the heavenly hall. Amen!

– Unknown Author, 10th century (adapted)