Good morning, everyone.
I'm thankful to open up God's Word with you today to focus on peace.
!
Please bring it back.
And I was just looking back on the last Advent sermon that I did on peace, and it actually
was 2020, like right after COVID had started.
And so it was like another tumultuous time that I actually had to speak on peace.
But this is the Advent season long ago in ancient times, God preparing and promising
to send a Redeemer.
However, as we've said, Advent really just means coming or arrival, and also to focus
on the birth of Christ and His first Advent, but also the second coming, which we greatly
look forward to.
Christ has come.
He is our hope.
He is our peace.
And today, that is going to be our focus, Advent peace.
And when you're learning to preach and to teach God's Word, a lot of the times some guys just
kind of run straight to a text and begin to read it and walk through it.
Another way to do it is actually to kind of create the problem first, and then through
God's Word, show how God meets that particular need.
And I just find it fitting to first talk about why there is an absence of peace in our personal
lives and in our world.
We can't find it.
So the opposite of true spiritual peace, as most of us are aware, is anxiety.
If our elders could count how many times we talk to people in our church, that anxiety is
in those top two or three things that always come up of members in our church, godly people
who are just struggling with anxiety.
And the definition of anxiety in the Scripture, the word, just hurts to even hear it.
It means to be inwardly divided, to be inwardly torn in different directions, so that you're fracturing
basically from the inside out.
You felt that?
Like just different things pulling on you in your heart and in your soul, dividing you so
that you're fracturing spiritually, and then physically following that.
Very real.
All of us have dealt with it.
Some are eating up with it more than others.
But anxiety is a very real and present thing.
It's the opposite of peace.
And we have an absence of personal peace, family peace, national peace, international peace.
We're missing this in our world.
There's been a lot of political unrest and national strife.
Back in 2020, as we remember, we were struck with COVID-19.
And for the first many months, none of us had any idea what was going on.
And it was the first little disruptor, I guess, to our normal, comfortable lives.
And it changed the world in many ways.
One historian calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there's been less than 300 that could
be actually roughly referred to as peaceful.
That's not a lot.
Basically, there's peace in the world just for enough time for both sides to stop and reload
for the next thing.
Do you want to think of it that way?
In the last four to five years, we've watched a lot, a lot unfold before us.
We watched the botched, disastrous, non-strategic withdrawal from Afghanistan that a lot of our
members in our church and other men that I know were sort of the 9-11 generation over the
last 20 years.
There's just all of that disorder fall apart, probably worse than Saigon, leaving many people
behind and many others dead.
We watched the first major war ramp up since Vietnam, which would have been Russia invading
Ukraine.
The CCP in China, saber-rattling to conquer Taiwan and in many places the world.
And about a year ago, in October, we witnessed the evil, wicked, demonic atrocities against
Israel on October 7th.
The slaughter and mutilation of innocents and hostages taken and the war in Gaza that followed.
Iran firing hundreds of rockets and missiles and drones at Israel.
We live in a world without peace.
And many of my military friends scattered all over the place say they get briefed on war to
war, world war ideas with China and other superpowers regularly.
If this does happen, here's going to be our response.
A world without peace.
And on a domestic level, we witnessed crime go up in major cities and small communities.
We witnessed LGBTQ ideology crammed down and enforced in our schools and our society.
And for the last five to four years, there's been just great unrest.
And it's hit you personally, if you're listening to this, from January 2021 to October 2024, this
past October, the Bureau of Labor reported that the overall household expenditures were up
by 20%.
Groceries up 21%.
Energy up 29%.
Auto insurance 57%.
And rent up 23%.
All in the last few years.
Many lost jobs.
Many of you are still struggling to find work, changing jobs, cutting hours, working multiple
jobs just to put food on the table.
But all these different things expose a reality that there is a lack of peace in ourselves,
in others, and in the world.
It doesn't look or sound very peaceful.
It's exposed it.
Because for many years, we just had it so well, we thought.
And it just revealed this false sense of security that we possess.
And so the absence of peace leads people like you and I to search for it.
Because we all long for it.
We want to attain peace in our communities, our families, and the world.
We want to be free from trouble, free from strife, free from fear, free from anxiety and
conflict.
And we long for true peace.
We all do.
Every human does.
It's a relentless search.
And we do it in different ways.
Many of you do it with vacations and escapes.
You just think, if I can escape the context I'm in and go have fun and disconnect.
But the problem is, sin follows you wherever you go, and it's waiting for you when you get
back.
Others, you've sought peace through financial stability.
I can just build that bank account up enough.
But we know, particularly in the last four or five years, how that just drops.
And I can't tell you how many men in our church I've talked to who have lost jobs, had to work
multiple jobs just to provide.
Others, by diversion.
Alcohol, drugs, entertainment, online shopping, take your pick.
Others in relationships, you just find that this person is strong and capable.
If I just lean into that person, they will be the one who gives me peace.
But then they turned out not to be Jesus.
And then they crack and let you down.
And in the process, you end up crushing them as well by putting that kind of hope in them.
A lot of people search through peace by health.
They just think, if I just eat right, work out, exercise, if I do the right thing, like,
I will be ready for whatever comes.
But yet, sickness still finds the most healthy of us.
And others, by boosting up your own protection, security cameras, firearms, ammo.
But you have found that, like, the bunker can never be deep enough.
And there never can be enough ammo in the shelf.
You're going to the next gun store and looking at the next gun.
The next, how many ammo, how much ammo can you store away and et cetera.
But even after you have all that, there is a lack of peace.
It's not there.
True spiritual peace cannot be found.
It eludes us.
So, why can't we ever be at peace in ourselves?
And why can't we be at peace with those who are around us, others?
What's burning your soul?
What is it?
I probably, if I named it, if I didn't name it, what is it?
What's tearing your soul apart from the inside out?
So, many people see Christmas and the holiday season as a pleasant distraction away from the burdens and cares of life.
But food, family, fun, that idea, gifts, presents.
The worldly view of Christmas, the, you know, cheer up.
It's Christmas.
It'll all work out.
It's the season to be kind to each other and nice to one another.
Be extra kind to everybody.
But that warm, fuzzy feeling doesn't really help us with, like, how broken our world truly is.
The worldly view of Christmas cannot patch up the world that has been wrecked by sin.
No man-made, superficial peace can actually do that.
So, if you're going to figure out why there's a lack of peace, we know there's a problem.
But with any good doctor, you try to find out, like, the source of that problem, not just the symptom.
The symptoms are we have no peace.
What causes that?
What is the true condition?
And Scripture is not bashful about telling us that.
But the reason we can't have peace within ourselves, with others, around the world, are they're just symptoms of a spiritual condition.
That symptom is, or that source is, that we all have sinned and rebelled against God.
We all have turned away from the God of peace and made war on Him.
Sin causes an absence of peace in an individual soul, collectively as people, than a lack of peace in our world.
It's just a trickle-down effect.
Sin has caused us to rebel against God directly and indirectly.
Hey, those days that we just ignore God, don't think about Him, don't give Him first in our lives,
those are days that we rebel against God.
It isn't just the atheists out there shaking their fists.
It's the times that we ignore Him and count Him as little and insignificant.
And we have no peace because our sin has made us enemies of God, our Creator,
that we were meant to know and enjoy and worship and have a relationship with.
All have sinned and fallen short of His glory.
James says that we all have turned against God and we love sin.
He says,
You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
This is a picture of spiritual unfaithfulness to God,
holding the things of this world in a greater affection than the one who made them.
That if you find that your life revolves around things, stuff, everything else,
it exhibits that this is being controlled by those things.
Know that God says here that He is jealous for the Spirit He created in you.
A holy jealousy.
He made you.
You belong to Him, but yet you give it to other things.
We have turned against the Creator and worshipped the things of creation.
George Whitefield, the great awakening preacher,
he basically, I remember I'm paraphrasing him,
but he said,
How can you ever dream of peace when God is your enemy?
You cannot be at odds with the sovereign, good, glorious, almighty God and have peace.
You can't be at odds with Him.
Isaiah 57, verse 20, very familiar.
The wicked are like the tossing of the sea,
for it cannot be quiet,
and as waters toss up mire and dirt,
there is no peace, says God, for the wicked.
God cannot give us true joy and true peace apart from Himself.
There's just no such thing.
So, if you need to be reminded of that reality as a believer today,
or if you're hearing that for the first time,
know that until your own soul is made right with God,
you will have no peace or anything else.
So, the true meaning of Christmas that we celebrate,
even though it's stressful and busy,
and boy, I get drownded in that a lot,
I just want to slow down.
But like, it just seems like there's this inevitable current that you get into,
and you just take off,
and you're just along for the ride for a lot of that stuff.
But, it is an opportunity to pause and elevate our souls to a higher place.
It's good for God's people, particularly,
to put their mind and their heart on the true meaning of it,
and to rediscover what it means to have true inner peace with God.
Just really quickly, Scripture calls God,
God the Father, the God of peace.
Hebrews 13.20
God the Son is the Prince of Peace,
which we'll look at in a moment.
Isaiah 9.6
And God the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of Peace.
So, He is a God of Peace.
So, how can we know that God of Peace?
But really quick, let me define roughly what peace means
as we see it, like in the Scripture.
Ready?
Peace is the inner confidence, rest, and trust
in God's wise, sovereign control of our lives,
resulting from being restored to Him through Jesus Christ.
Peace is the inner confidence, rest, and trust
in God's wise, sovereign control over our lives,
resulting from being restored to Him through Jesus Christ.
kind of a spin-off of our Old Testament word,
shalom.
In essence, a desire for completeness,
a wish for contentment,
a blessing for satisfaction.
In short, a blessing that all that is good from God
would flow into your life.
I wish all that is good would come upon you.
That satisfaction, completeness, and contentment.
New Testament word,
iron, where we get Irene, the name Irene from,
really means a tranquil state of the soul.
A soul that is at rest.
A satisfied soul.
We can have that by being made right with God
through Christ.
Augustine, one of the earlier guys
that I was reading in my journey to Reformed theology,
his famous quote in prayer to God,
God, you have made us for yourself.
Oh Lord, and our hearts are restless
until it rests in you.
Very true.
So, let's look at three things today.
Jumping into God's Word.
Peace promised.
Peace arrives.
And peace experienced.
First of all, peace promised.
Turning your Bibles to Isaiah 9.
Isaiah 9.
We will start in verse 6.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given.
The government shall be upon His shoulders,
and His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government
and of peace there will be no end.
And on the throne of David
and over His kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness,
from this time forth and forevermore,
the zeal of the Lord of hosts
will do this.
Sounds awesome.
So this was a foretelling of peace.
700 years before that instrument of peace,
Christ actually arrived on the scene.
God would bring salvation to His people.
And if you notice that last part,
the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this,
that's a short way of saying
that nothing is going to stop God
from doing this.
Like, nothing is going to prevent God
from bringing this salvation
and this peace to His people.
He is going to accomplish it.
So long ago, He spoke through Isaiah,
a child is born,
a son is given.
That son, as we are aware of,
is the embodiment of Emmanuel,
God with us.
Isaiah 7,
Therefore the Lord Himself
will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive
and bear a son
and shall call His name Emmanuel.
So the Messiah's character
being tied to God
proves His divine origin
and His character.
He is the wonderful counselor,
the one who makes good
and wise plans
and has the ability
to execute them
on behalf of His people.
He is the very might of God,
the everlasting Father,
a kingly, noble ruler,
the powerful one
who will lovingly embrace His people
as a Father,
the King who also is our Father.
The birth of Jesus,
the Messiah,
has come already.
He's establishing His kingdom
and when that happens,
it won't just happen temporarily.
You study history,
you're going to see kingdoms
and empires just go
from the greatest ones.
We haven't even scratched
the surface here in America
if you read anything about Rome
or anywhere else.
Christ's kingdom will last
for all eternity.
That's what it says right here.
This government,
His throne,
will last forevermore.
You know me,
I'm always feeling around
with some kind of history something.
Picked up an old book
a good many months ago
on King Arthur
who's part history,
mostly legend.
And,
as you're aware,
Arthur was born
in humble circumstances
and became
the rightful king.
And,
as many people
don't really know this,
he was more of a British,
Celtic king
from Wales.
He wasn't like
an Anglo-Saxon king.
So he was Welsh.
The Welsh would be very offended
if you said
he came from somewhere else.
And,
he was born of humble means
and he was born
the rightful king
possessing Excalibur.
And,
his rule
was to both rule over
and unite
the people
of the British Isles
to bring about
unending peace
and prosperity
to the British Isles.
And,
Arthur
sacrificed himself
by dying in battle
to secure
his kingdom.
On and on
the parallels,
right?
But,
Jesus
is the true
born king
who rules
by right
and power,
not our
consent.
Jesus
will
unite
his people
and he will
bring about
an unending
kingdom
of peace.
As Arthur
died on the battlefield,
Christ died
on the cross
to secure
his kingdom.
Jesus
is called
the prince
of peace.
His noble reign
will last
forever.
Boy,
that will be
great.
I hate to
shock you,
but there's
no president,
no matter who
you voted
for,
they're not
going to be
the prince
of peace.
It doesn't
matter who
you voted
for.
Only Jesus
is going to
bring about
everlasting,
perpetual peace
to the nations.
This is what
God's word
says.
Believe it
and be
satisfied.
Messiah will
rule with
perfect justice
and righteousness.
Man,
that's something
that we have
been missing
in our world.
The mark
of his kingdom
that will
have no end.
So yes,
there's going
to be,
between now
and then,
conflict
and strife
in the world.
But,
that doesn't
deny or
disprove that
Jesus is the
prince of peace.
It only really
shows why he
came and the
need for him
to come,
to bring about
that perpetual
peace.
So this was
peace promised,
again,
700 years
roughly before
Christ came.
This brings
us to point
number two.
Peace
arrived.
So,
we have just
a couple
places for
you to look
at,
but look
at Luke
chapter 2.
Our very
familiar,
what we
refer to as
the Christmas
story or
Nativity
story,
whatever you
want to
call it.
Some country
people call
it the
Nativity
story.
We will
look at
Luke 2
verse 8.
This is
peace
arrives.
And in
the same
region,
there were
shepherds
out in
the field
keeping
watch over
their flocks
by night,
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.
And the
angel said
to them,
fear not,
for behold,
I bring
you good
news,
gospel,
of great
joy it
will be
for all
people.
For unto
you is
born this
day,
in the
city of
David,
a Savior,
who is
Christ,
the Lord.
And this
will be a
sign for
you,
you will
find the
baby wrapped
in swaddling
clothes,
and laying
in a
manger.
And
suddenly,
there was
with the
angel a
multitude,
the heavenly
hosts,
praising God
and saying,
glory to
God in
the highest
and on
earth,
peace
among
those with
whom he is
pleased.
Underline that
last part.
So,
if you're an
outdoor person,
you've been
out in the
wilderness,
out in the
mountains by
yourself,
and particularly
like when the
sun goes down,
very calm,
how quiet it
is.
And imagine,
like all of a
sudden,
there are angels
there talking
to you,
the shock
that they must
have felt.
But Christ
came here,
he humbled
himself to be
born in
Bethlehem in
a stable
to poor
parents,
humble
accommodations,
not five-star
hotels or
castles.
He came
as shepherds,
as his
witnesses,
not religious
elites,
the humble
magi,
not powerful
kings,
and all of
it just to
frame the
mighty God
who came
here to
save us
with humility.
Christ took
on himself
flesh and
came to
save the
world that
he created.
Just get
your head
around that.
Angels
announces
arrival to
these lowly
shepherds.
And Jesus,
our Messiah
King,
arrived.
Notice,
glory to
God in
the highest
and on
earth,
peace among
those whom
he is
pleased.
Note that
God's peace
isn't just
a general
goodwill
to everybody.
It's not a
reward.
God's peace
is not a
reward to
those who
have good
will.
That's not
what this
says.
Rather,
it's the
gift of
God's
sovereign
grace,
his good
pleasure,
namely
towards his
redeemed
people,
those who
would trust
and give
their lives
to the
Messiah.
And so,
a beautiful
picture here
of Christ
arriving.
Just for
sake of time,
I'd like to
just keep
reading more,
but we'll
just stop
there with
the arrival
of peace.
This is the
first advent.
Right?
This leads
us to
point three.
Peace
experience.
So,
not only can
we have
peace,
right,
we can
experience
that peace.
How do we
do it?
It's out
there.
It's available.
How do we
have it?
Look at
Romans 5.
Go over
to Romans 5.
One of my
favorite
explain the
gospel to
somebody
passages.
Romans 5,
verses 6
through 10.
Just read
verse 1
with me.
Therefore,
since we
have been
justified by
faith,
we have
peace with
God
through
our Lord
Jesus Christ.
There's your
summary verse.
Okay?
If you want
peace,
you have to
have peace
with God.
And the
instrument of
that peace,
the conditional
part,
is through
Christ.
Not anything
else.
Like,
you can't
fill in
that blank.
It's just
Christ.
Alright?
Then you
jump down
to verse 6.
For while
we were
still weak,
at the
right time,
Christ died
for the
ungodly.
So,
our gospel
is not
God helps
those who
help
themselves.
We are
weak.
ungodly.
Verse 7.
For one
will scarcely
die for
a righteous
person,
though perhaps
for a good
person one
would dare
even to
die.
But God
shows us
his love
for us,
and that
while we
were still
sinners,
Christ died
for us.
Since
therefore,
we have
now been
justified
by his
blood,
much more
shall we
be saved
by him
from the
wrath of
God.
for if
we were
enemies,
we were
reconciled
to God
by the
death of
his son,
much more
now that
we are
reconciled,
shall we
be saved
by his
life.
So many
good things
in there,
but look
at the
words that
scripture
uses to
describe
us
before
we were
in Christ.
They're not
great words.
Weak,
helpless,
ungodly,
sinners,
enemies.
Those are
not things
you want
to be
described
by,
of those
who are
outside
Christ.
In
Celtic
history,
Scotland
Irish,
Welsh
history,
a lot of
you know
the pagan
Druids
would consider
the mistletoe
to be a
sacred plant.
And when
enemies met
under the
mistletoe,
hanging from
the sacred
oak,
they would
lay down
their weapons
in their
arms and
they would
embrace
peace.
The kiss
of peace
under the
mistletoe
wasn't a
romantic
idea at
that point.
It was
the way
enemies
would make
peace
with one
another
under the
mistletoe.
God
has
graciously
brought a
means of
peace to
us by
us kissing
the sun
at the
cross.
Underneath
the cross
of Christ
we can
have peace
through him
Jesus
to reconcile
all things
to himself,
all things
whether on
earth or in
heaven,
making peace
by the
blood of
his cross.
Colossians
1.20
So God
is basically
saying,
yeah,
though you've
rejected me,
though you've
rebelled against
me,
though you've
given your
love,
your money,
and your
time to
other gods,
you've
spurned my
rightful rule
over your
life,
by my
grace,
I have
made a
way for
you when
you couldn't
make a
way to
me.
I've
offered
you peace
through the
blood of
my son.
Many of
us are
aware of
Psalm 2,
the prophecy
of the
coming king
Jesus.
What does
it say at
the end,
kiss the
son,
lest you
perish in
the way.
We are
to kiss
this Messiah
and make
peace with
God through
him.
So Christmas
is a chance
for us to
celebrate that
idea that
God sent
his son in
order that we
might not have
strife with
him, but
have peace
with him.
No longer
enemies, but
friends and
sons.
We can have
peace knowing
that Christ
died in our
place and
suffered as
we just
read.
Not soft
words, saved
us from the
wrath of
God.
You will
have no
peace if
the wrath
of God
is still
over you.
But knowing
that Christ
bore your
punishment,
shed his
blood so
that you
could be
made right
with him.
That word
justified is
mentioned many
times in this
passage in
Romans, but
shorthand to
be made
right, to
have right
standing with
God, only
to be done
through Jesus
who reconciled
us to
himself.
I was
thinking of
the hark
the herald
angel sing,
glory to
the new
born king,
peace on
earth and
mercy mild,
God and
sinners
reconciled.
You will
not be
experiencing
peace if
you are
not
reconciled
to God
through
Christ.
Great
gospel in
our
Christian
hymns for
Christmas,
so eat
those up.
And we
can experience
that true
inner peace
by having
this divine
part in
being
reconciled
to God
through
what his
son has
accomplished.
He was
born for
this purpose.
And we
can experience
this peace,
it's not
just like,
yeah,
I can
have peace
with God,
but you
actually can
know it
and experience
it.
Jesus said
to his
disciples,
we were
reading in
John 14
earlier today,
and John
14,
verse 25,
telling his
disciples before
he is going
to be
arrested and
beaten and
crucified,
he said
this to
them,
these things
have spoken
to you,
to his
disciples,
while I'm
still with
you.
But the
helper,
the Holy
Spirit,
whom the
Father will
send in
my name,
he will
teach you
all these
things and
bring to
remembrance
all that
I have
said.
So there's
a good
one,
the Holy
Spirit helps
us remember
what Jesus
said,
not just
tells us
anything
all the
time,
remember
God's
word.
Then Jesus
says,
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
nor let
them be
afraid.
So peace
is not
just the
absence
of strife,
conflict,
and turmoil.
There's not
a single
place in
the Scripture
that peace
isn't mentioned
outside of
craziness.
It's always
in the context
of something
going on
that's like
not awesome,
a lot of
strife,
a lot of
conflict.
This idea
that our
souls,
we can say
all is well,
right?
that true
spiritual
peace
manufactured,
not manufactured
by human
hands,
but by God
himself we
can possess.
Jonathan Edwards
once commented
about this
passage.
He said,
the believer's
peace is
both the
strength,
beauty,
and dignity
of the
saint.
The beauty
and dignity
of the saint.
It's like
this garment
we put
on that
makes us
stand out
in a world
full of
strife
and conflict.
The beauty
and dignity
of the saints
is the peace
that Christ
gives.
The settled
confidence
that your
soul is
not at war
with God
anymore.
It is
right with
God through
what Christ
has accomplished.
It's a
possession and
a privilege
that he has
given us
as saints.
The world
can't have
this.
It all
comes only
through
Christ.
We read
this earlier
today.
Again,
we don't
get peace
by not
facing the
facts and
turning around
and trying
to push
the negative
thoughts out
of our
life,
but rather
turning in
God to
help us
overcome
those
realities.
I've
learned it.
Not just
the absence
of danger,
but it's
also feeling
protected.
And no
matter what's
going on
around you
by a sense
of God's
real presence
with you,
God's
peace with
you,
regardless
of what's
happening
out here.
Isaiah 26
that we read
earlier,
you keep
him in
perfect
peace
whose mind
is stayed
on you
because he
trusts in you,
trusts in the
Lord forever,
for the Lord
God is an
everlasting rock.
I wrote
that verse
in my
whiteboard
in the
hospital
back in
my recovery
days of
early
transplant.
I had
those
three,
four month
stays in
the hospital.
My mind
was not
at peace.
I was
trying really
hard to
remind myself
of that
reality.
But it's
peace in
the midst
of the
storm,
not the
absence
of the
storm.
They can
exist
simultaneously.
And a lot
of people
here will be
able to tell
you many
stories of
having the
peace of
Christ when
everything else
is burning
down around
them.
Paul wrote
to Timothy,
Now may the
Lord of
peace himself
continually grant
you peace
in every
circumstance.
The Lord
be with you
all.
2 Timothy
3.16
So a good
reminder for
us is that
Jesus never,
never
promised his
followers anything
would be easy
and comfortable.
Not one
promise in
the scripture
says that.
Never
promised security
and comfort
in this
world.
Christ doesn't
want you to
be comfortable
in this
world.
To the
contrary.
He doesn't
want you to
get comfortable
in this
world.
He wants
to shake
you up
to remind
you that
this is
temporal
and fleeting
and we
need to
put our
minds on
eternity.
But he
promises
something great
to his
people.
I'm going
to close
with this.
John 16
33.
Jesus said
to his
disciples,
I've told
you these
things so
that in
me you
may have
peace.
In this
world you
will have
tribulation,
trouble,
trials.
But take
heart, I
have overcome
the world.
So as long
as we are
united to
Christ, we
also will
overcome.
come.
So just a
reminder to
use this
season, and
I'm preaching
this to
myself, that
we can have
and experience
that real
peace with
God through
what Christ
has accomplished.
And ending
on a jolly
note, Spurgeon
at a Christmas
sermon, he
says,
feast,
Christians,
feast.
But in
your feasting,
think of the
man in
Bethlehem.
Let him
have place
in your
hearts.
Give him
the glory.
Think of
the virgin
who conceived
him.
But think
most of
all of
the man
born, the
child given.
I will
finish again
by saying a
happy Christmas
to you all.
Let's pray
together.