Oh, me.
If you have sent or received a Christmas card this year,
you most likely have found at least one
that had this phrase,
peace on earth, goodwill to men.
We sing that too, don't we, in a carol.
That is a paraphrase from Luke chapter 2, verse 14,
from the King James translation of the Bible.
It says, glory to God in the highest and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men.
Those words were spoken by angels to shepherds
right after Jesus was born.
Now, ever since those words were said or recorded,
a lot of things have been written,
written questions asked about that phrase, peace on earth.
And one of the questions is, why?
Why would they say that?
There's never been peace on earth.
You know, the United States has the largest number
of professing Christians of any country in the world.
But if you just look around at what has been
and is happening in our country right now,
peace is the last word anyone would use
to describe the attitude or the mood
in our country right now.
You just think about it.
The coronavirus pandemic has, for now over nine months,
produced one of the most stressful environments
that most of us have ever experienced in our lives.
Throughout this past summer and fall,
almost every day,
a riot took place somewhere in this country.
We've just gotten through with an election,
and almost every emotion except peace
has come out all along the campaign trail.
So when you see that phrase,
peace on earth,
in a Christmas card,
or in a Christmas carol,
the question in our minds,
at least sometimes,
were the angels wrong?
Now,
if you really believe the Bible
is God's inerrant word,
you know the angels were not wrong.
You know that the message that they proclaimed
would not have been an erroneous message.
So I think a better question is,
what kind of peace were the angels singing about?
What kind of peace were they proclaiming that night?
Well, that's the question I want us to answer this morning.
And the fact is,
the angels were not announcing
the end of all hostility kind of peace
that we might wish for.
They were not saying
that peace and goodwill
would be experienced
between all people
at all times on the earth.
The angels were really praising God
for what he was going to do
through Jesus
to bring peace
between himself
and sinful people.
That message is clearer
in other translations.
For an example,
the English Standard says,
Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace among those
with whom he is pleased.
The NIV says it this way,
Glory to God in the highest,
or glory to God in the highest heaven
and on earth peace to those
on whom his favor rests.
The angels were saying
that God will bring peace
to the life
of a specific group of people.
Look at it.
Those with whom he is pleased.
Those on whom God's favor rests.
On that first Christmas,
the angels were announcing
truly good news of salvation
that would come through that baby
born in Bethlehem.
The message of peace
was about peace with God
and the peace of God.
That's what I want us to look at
and think about this morning.
That's the kind of peace
that Jesus came to provide
in this world.
Look, number one.
Jesus came to provide peace with God.
A good example of just a clear statement
of that is Romans 5.1.
Look at it.
Therefore, since we have been justified
by faith,
declared right with God
by faith in Christ,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, the Bible describes
a universal human problem.
We're sinners by nature
and by choice.
You know, the Apostle Paul
goes to great lengths
to describe how all people,
people who've never even heard
of Jesus,
as well as people who have His word,
how all people have really
ignored God
or rebelled against God
and are rightfully declared
sinners in His sight.
Romans 1,
beginning in verse 18,
all the way through chapter 3,
verse 20,
describes that.
I want to do a little plug
for my Wednesday night Bible study here.
We're doing a study
in the book of Romans.
We started it a little while ago.
And we're just getting started
in the study.
And we've looked at,
you know,
what all the Bible says
about why all people
reject what God does reveal Himself,
how God does reveal Himself to them.
We're going to really start moving
in the book of Romans,
which is the greatest explanation
of the good news of Jesus
found in the Bible.
I mean, just a comprehensive study
of what God has done
for us in Christ.
We're going to start back
on Wednesday night,
the first Wednesday night
in January,
in here at 630.
And I want to encourage you
to come and be a part of that
just in a couple more weeks
on Wednesday nights,
about 30 minutes worth of study.
I hope you'll come
and be a part of what
all the riches of Romans
that we're going to find
from the pen of the Apostle Paul.
But the Bible describes
sin as a universal problem.
And I've said on many occasions,
because I think it's the best example,
children illustrate that.
Your children, my children,
our grandchildren,
your nieces and nephews,
especially when they're real small
in the nursery,
and as they get a little bit older,
children just break the rules.
They'll tell you a lie
to get out of getting in trouble.
They'll jerk something away
from another child.
It's just a part of their nature.
No one has to teach them
to be that way.
That was our nature
when we started out in this world.
And you know,
we are now sinners by choice.
Now I want to make a sort of a point
of clarification here.
Everybody is not
just what we would call wicked
and evil.
Some children grow up.
They're more compliant.
Some children you just sort of look at,
and they're going to do
whatever they think will please you.
Some are more defiant.
Some are,
you know,
they're looking for a rule to break.
One of my sons,
he was a real little fella.
I forgot exactly the context,
but we asked Michael.
Played a little game.
Asked Michael.
Things would be better if,
and he filled in the blank,
if there were no rules.
Who taught him that?
His mama did teach him that
by her example.
But really and truly,
it was just in him.
It's in all of us.
The more compliant ones,
they're not being compliant
because of just the goodness
in their heart.
They just have a gentler way.
Some of them learn to manipulate adults.
By being more compliant.
To get their way like that.
We can all look back on our own lives
and see that we have never outgrown
these tendencies
to just be selfish.
Do what I want to do.
The way that I want to do it.
This is a serious problem
that the Bible calls sin.
We ignore God,
or we rebel against God.
We just sort of
close our eyes to him,
or we shake a fist in him,
at him,
or we're somewhere in between.
The Bible talks about this
being a problem called sin.
It separates us from God.
It prevents us from having
and enjoying a right relationship with him.
That's the bad news of the Bible.
But the Bible's main message
is good news
about how that relationship
can be made what it ought to be made.
The good news of the Bible
is that God sent his son
into this world to save us.
That message has already been
announced
in the Christmas story.
It was presented last week
in the great job the choir did.
It's one of my favorite Christmas statements
about the gospel,
why Jesus came.
Look at Matthew 121.
The angel told Joseph,
She will bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people
from their sins.
Jesus came into this world
to save sinful people,
people who would trust him.
And the way he did that,
he came into this world
and lived a perfect life.
He always obeyed his heavenly father.
He always followed the rules.
When we trust Jesus,
his perfect, righteous life
is credited to us.
But Jesus was crucified
by evil people.
But that was a part of God's plan.
As he hung on the cross,
Jesus became our substitute.
He became our sin bearer.
And on the cross,
God unleashed the fury of his wrath
against sin.
Look at it.
Romans 5, 8 explains this very well.
God shows his love for us
in that while we're still sinners,
Christ died for us.
We don't do a thing.
We enter the world as sinful people.
We live life our way,
instead of God's way.
At some point,
you who are a Christian,
somehow or another,
God got your attention.
He made it clear to you
that you are a sinner
separated from him.
You may have had it explained to you.
The penalty for sin is death.
God so worked in you
to awaken you spiritually
to that reality.
To cause you to want to
change or be changed.
God gave you the desire
and the ability
to turn from the way you were living,
your way,
the sinful way,
and turn to God.
God is the one who gave you
the thoughts and the desires.
I don't want to live this way anymore.
I don't want to dishonor God,
disrespect him any way anymore.
I truly want him to change me.
And God opened your eyes
to see
that when Jesus died on the cross,
he was dying for you,
paying the penalty for your sins.
God so worked in you,
if you're a Christian,
that you called upon Jesus to save you.
You started trusting him
as the Lord of your life,
whenever that was.
And by God's grace
and his spirit's working,
you're still trusting him that way.
If you are not trusting him like that now,
I want you to know
today can be your day of salvation.
If God's opening your eyes,
softening your heart,
turn from your sin,
trust Jesus,
call upon him to save you.
The Bible promises,
look at this,
from Romans 10,
but whoever calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
Jesus came into this world
to give us peace with God.
Now if you're a Christian,
are you experiencing that peace right now?
That peace with God.
If you're truly a child of God,
trusting Jesus and him alone
for your salvation,
do you realize that
you don't have to perform a certain way
for God to accept you?
You see, Jesus did all the performing for you.
You're accepted in Christ.
You don't have to try to undo your past.
The penalty for your sin has been paid.
You're accepted in Christ.
I want you to understand,
if you are a Christian,
you should not be afraid to go to sleep at night.
If you are a Christian,
you should have this sense of rightness with God.
The Spirit of God should be working you
in such a way that you know him
as your heavenly Father.
You have a true love for him
and a desire to please him
and do his will.
That peace of God,
or that peace from God,
or with God rather,
is something that we all as Christians
should experience.
And if you're not experiencing it,
there's something wrong.
It may be that
there's some things going on in your life
that you know aren't pleasing to God.
Sinful, selfish things
that you just won't turn loose with.
Well, you'll never know
peace with God
until you confess it
and repent of it.
Jesus came into this world
so that we might experience
peace with God.
But I want you to see
that that's not all.
Jesus came to provide also
the peace of God.
And I think one of the best statements
about that
is in Philippians chapter 4.
We're going to look at verse 7.
But I want you to understand
verse 6 tells us
that instead of worrying,
we need to learn to pray.
And if we'll substitute prayer,
prayerful trust in God
in place of our worries,
we can experience
the peace of God in our lives.
Look at this.
Paul writes,
and the peace of God
which surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts
and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
The peace of God
refers to some type of
unexplainable,
supernatural,
inner peace
that we as children of God
can experience.
I want you to think
for a minute.
Who are some of the people
in your life
that you have a real
close relationship with?
I mean,
everybody in this room.
There are people
in our lives.
For some of you,
some of the people
you think about
that are in the past.
But all of us,
we have people
in our lives.
A spouse,
child or children,
parents,
siblings,
close friends.
We have people
in our lives
that we have had
a real close
relationship with
for a long time.
We've lived life with them.
We've enjoyed life with them.
We've shared life with them.
What does it feel like
when you have
unresolved conflict
with that person
or with any of
those people?
You know what it's like.
Don't you tell me
you've never had conflict
with anybody close to you.
Don't ever say,
my wife and I
have never had a conflict
at any point in our lives.
People who say that
will lie about other things
as well.
You know that.
Think about how it feels.
There's conflict
between you and your spouse,
between you and your child,
between you and your parent.
You feel stressed,
don't you?
You feel sort of
maybe depressed.
Maybe you feel hurt.
Maybe you're just angry
right now
if it's going on right now.
If the anger goes on too long,
you feel bitter.
Well, how do you,
how do you talk
to a person
you're having conflict with
like that?
Your conversation is
sort of strained, isn't it?
Sort of cold.
Sort of harsh.
They ask you,
how you doing?
Fine.
What are we going to eat
for supper?
Food.
I've heard that
for 40 something years,
you know.
Oh, me.
Don't you tell them
you've heard that
for 40 something years now.
You know what
I'm talking about though.
Life is not good
good
when there is
this strain
or conflict
between someone
that we do
have a relationship with.
We love them.
They love us.
But we don't
experience the peace.
Now think about
when everything,
when the conflict
is resolved
in a healthy way.
When the conflict
is resolved,
you feel relaxed.
The anxiety is gone.
You feel just
at ease.
You smile.
How was your day?
It was a good day.
What would you like
for supper?
Whatever you would like.
It's totally different,
isn't it?
You let down your guard.
You talk freely.
You laugh.
You just
sort of
share life together.
You go along
living life
together.
Life is good
when those
who are
close to you
and you have
a real healthy
relationship
with them.
And life is good
even in a pandemic,
isn't it?
You know,
no one
in their right mind
would say,
well,
I have
just thoroughly
enjoyed this
past year
with the
coronavirus pandemic.
No.
But I have
heard
and I have
said,
you know,
there are some
positive things
that have happened
as a result
of this pandemic.
Lisa and I
have spent
more time together,
especially back
in, you know,
March, April,
and May.
We ate more
meals at home
together.
And some of you
have a,
this might tear
some of you up,
but I don't
really care.
My boys
and I,
we played
more golf
during the spring
than we have
in a long time
together.
There was just
some positive
things
relationally
that happened
in a lot
of our lives
during the
worst
pandemic
or the only
pandemic
we've ever
experienced.
Well,
experiencing
the peace
of God
means
that we
know
that all
is well
deep
within us
even
when
everything
is not
well
all around
us.
The peace
of God
described in
verse 7
there,
as I said,
is actually
the result
of praying
instead of
worrying.
Look at it
in verse 6.
Do not
be anxious
about anything
but in
everything
by prayer
and supplication
with thanksgiving
let your
requests be
made known
to God.
That was
the first
message I
preached
back in
March,
March the
22nd
when we
shut things
down for
the pandemic.
In fact,
March the
22nd was
on a Sunday.
I preached
that standing
here to an
empty sanctuary
except for
Michael and
Colton
on Thursday.
We don't
need to be
anxious about
this.
We don't
need to worry
ourselves sick
about this.
We need to
pray,
we need to
trust God
and we
can experience
peace,
the peace
of God
within our
souls
as we face
who knows
what
in the days
to come.
That was
the message.
Praying
instead of
worrying is
the key to
experiencing
what we're
talking about
this morning.
But there
is no
prayer,
I want to
make this
clear,
there is
no promise
anywhere in
scripture
that our
prayers will
make all
of our
sources of
worry
disappear.
Paul's
point is
that we can
experience the
peace of
God in
the midst
of our
problems.
Joe Thorne
is a
pastor.
He describes
how God
provides
peace in
the midst
of life
storms.
I think
this is a
good reminder.
This is
sort of the
most un-Joel
Osteen-ish
thing you'll
see today.
Look at
it.
And by
the way,
for those
of you who
don't know,
one of my
goals every
Sunday is to
be non-Joel
Osteen.
Because Joel
Osteen is
non-biblical.
or theological.
Joe Thorne
says,
God does
not promise
to rid
your life
of affliction
and difficulty.
He does,
however,
offer to
give you
the grace
needed to
suffer well.
It isn't
wrong to
ask God
to relieve
you of
your pain,
but it is
more important
that in
the midst
of the
pain,
you rely
on the
promise of
God to
work such
experiences
for His
glory and
your good.
To use
these times
as a means
of perfecting
your faith,
strengthening
your spirit,
and transforming
your life
in such a way
that you are
becoming more
like Jesus.
As we've
looked down
many times,
that's God's
goal,
to make us
more like
Jesus.
God does
not promise
to always,
or even
most of the
time,
rescue us
from our
troubles,
but He
does promise
to replace
our anxiety
in the midst
of troubles
with His
peace.
And note,
Paul describes
this as
something that
cannot be
explained,
a peace that
surpasses
all understanding.
It's a
supernatural
experience
that we
cannot explain,
but it is
something we
can experience.
some of us
in this room,
you know
exactly what
I'm talking
about.
Some of you
in this room
have gone
through a
job,
a family,
a health
crisis.
You didn't
know what
the next day
would hold,
none of us
ever do.
But God
gave you
what you
needed.
He didn't
take all
the stress
of the unknown
away,
or what
should I do,
but He
gave you
what you
needed to
be calm,
to be
wise,
to think,
to make
good decisions.
I've heard
some of you
talk about
that.
Explain
the experience
of having
the peace
of God,
but you
couldn't really
explain it.
I don't
know what
the new
year is
going to
bring,
but there's
going to
be some
kind of
hardship.
There's
going to
be times
of uncertainty
for every
one of us,
and when
those times
come,
we have
two choices.
We can
just worry,
panic,
subject
ourselves to
all kinds
of fear
and anxiety
and misery,
or we
can pray.
We can
trust God
to do what
only He can
do.
We can
seek His
wisdom to
help us
know what
we ought
to do.
And when
we do
those kind
of things,
He will
give us
that supernatural
peace that
we can't
describe,
but we can
experience,
and that
will help
us to
better weather
life's
storms.
Now,
what I want
us to
understand is
this choice
I'm talking
about is
something we've
got to make
in every
situation.
It's not a
once and all
decision.
You can't
pray some
kind of
prayer this
morning or
make some
kind of
commitment.
I'm never
going to
worry again.
I'm always
going to
trust God.
I'm always
going to
seek to
experience His
peace in
every situation.
No, what I'm
talking about is
something that
it's just a
daily thing.
You and
I, we've
got to learn
to trust God,
that He really
is in control,
that He's
sovereign.
He's working
everything according
to His good
purpose because
He is good.
He loves us as
His children.
If we'll learn
to do that
day by day,
situation by
situation,
sometimes hour
by hour,
I truly believe
we can count on
God to replace
our fears and
worries with His
confident peace
peace deep
within our
soul.
The Christmas
story.
Jesus came
into this world
so that we
might know
peace with
God and
the peace
of God.
That's what the
angels were
praising God
about that
first Christmas.
and I want
you to so
respond this
morning and
every day that
we can praise
God this
Christmas for
the peace we
have with Him
through faith in
Jesus and for
the peace we
have that is
His that He
gives to us by
continuing to
trust, to
love, to
obey Him.
Let's bow
together in
prayer and ask
Him to help
us that way.
Father, show
us now what
needs to take
place in our
lives, our
thinking, our
attitudes, our
relationships.
that would
help us to
leave here
today truly
experiencing
peace with
you because
we're united
to you by
faith in
Jesus.
Show us how
we should
respond so
that we can
live each
day, even
in the hard
times,
experiencing
that supernatural
peace within
us.
because we
trust you
that you're
working
everything for
your glory and
for our good.
That's just an
attitude of
prayer.
Not just
listen to the
Lord, but
obey the
Lord.
Let's use
these next few
minutes to
make that kind
of commitment.
Heads bowed,
eyes closed.
Jesus.
Tie
16
�� análise
rieben
korp
受
mãs
pos
Madison
mel
answering
senin