Christmas God has come to bring freedom and peace

What do I want them to know? God has come to bring freedom and peace by the grace of God.

Why? We all want freedom and peace with God.

What do I want them to do? Accept and believe in the Prince of Peace

Why? It brings freedom and peace

ME

Have you ever found yourself in a hole that you could not get out of? I speaking more metaphorically…A hole so deep that no matter how much you tried it seems you would get closer an inch and then you find yourself a foot deeper....You found yourself in hole at WORK or WITH A FRIEND or FAMILY? you were stuck and no matter how hard you tried you could not get out of it?

Maybe you were like me with my the former elders at the church I was at as a youth pastor....It seemed like every time I turned around he would see me slipping up… He did not see me all other times, but he saw me at those not opportunistic times.

One of the times was when he found out that I decided to play wiffel ball with some of our youth group kid in our BRAND NEW worship center…I thought we did this in our church growing up....BUT OUR CHURCH WAS NOT BRAND NEW....it wasn’t just that it was brand new....but what I did not factor in is there was a glass communion table 20 feet away and I didn’t think it would be possible for a wiffel to get to it or damage it…and what happens a middle school students swings the bat and the bat flies out of his hands and shatters the communion table…and guess who found out, guess who I had to tell?

Or who was the person who discovered on Monday morning that the youth group kids ripped nursery door handle right of the door during a game of tug of war? Clean off door, wood and all

The other team thought the way we win because they were loosing is tie the end of the tug of war room to the nursery door handle....and that door handle did not stand a chance against 50 kids.....

And other incidents happened throughout the years I worked there....

And what I really desired between me and this elder was not just forgiveness…he gave me forgiveness....what I want was I wanted was reconciliation....Forgiveness brings relationships to ZERO I want the relationship we had when I first was hired.

TENSION

I wonder how many of us feel this same type of tension or struggle not with a human....but with God....

Some of us in this room having been trying, or not trying, so hard to get things right with God and it just seems no matter what you do.

Your sin got in the way...

You did that thing again

You messed up again

Your history with God is 1” up a mile down....and you feel like what am I to do???

YOU FEEL HOPELESS

If you are here today online or in person you are feeling the same weight the nation of Israel experienced for 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus (they wanted things to be right between them and God)....for a thousand years before the birth of Jesus the nation of Israel was ruled by a lot of bad leaders, and few good leaders, but this bad leaders were really bad who would not just sin, by lying, cheating, and stealing but but wholey walking away from God all together to worship other gods…

…you would see bad leader, bad leader, bad leader, good leader, bad leader, bad leader....it was hopeless

God warned them

1 Kings 11:4 ESV

For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

God warned them sins have conse

PEACE = make things whole and right

Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him....rest in His Peace

Isaiah 53:5 ESV

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

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Me and the elder have reconciled