Love

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 24th of December, 2017, the fourth Sunday of Advent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent.  It is also Christmas Eve – the end of the annual huge build-up of spending and shopping and gift buying.  The culmination of what the Christian world celebrates as the day our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born!

Now His birth most likely occurred sometime in September, but the early Christian church chose to honor it on December 25th.  No matter the actual date, sometime one night, before the morning dawn, Jesus came to us in the form of a small, helpless baby, and in the meekest, lowliest of circumstances.  On that night, God’s love came down to earth.

Listen and follow along as I read about that love from the Gospel Account of the Apostle John, chapter 3, verses 1 through 21, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

--John 3:1-21 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we cannot even begin to understand the depth of Your love for us.  That You would send Your Son Jesus to earth, knowing full well how He would be mistreated and killed, is beyond our grasp.  How could You love us so much, Father?  Help us to show our love of You by loving others as Jesus commanded us.  Speak to us now, Father, that we might better hear Your voice and see Your will for our lives.  In the blessed name of Your Son Jesus we pray.   Amen.


Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents' house the week before Christmas. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers. The younger one began praying at the top of his lungs:

"I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE..."
"I PRAY FOR A NEW GAMING SYSTEM..."

His older brother leaned over, nudged him and said, "Why are you shouting?  God isn't deaf."  The little brother replied, "No, but Grandma is!"


Grandmas do love their grandchildren, don’t they?  And so do grandpas.  We often show that love by buying and giving gifts.  But love is more than that – much more.  How would you define love?  How do you say “I love you”?

The teacher in an adult education creative writing class gave an assignment to write "I love you" in 25 words or less, without using the words "I love you".  She set a 15 minute time limit and said, "Go!".  One woman in the class spent about ten minutes staring at the ceiling and wriggling in her seat. Finally, in the last five minutes she wrote frantically to complete the assignment on time.  What did she come up with?
     "Why, I've seen lots worse hairdos than that, honey."
     "These cookies are hardly burned at all."
     "Cuddle up -- I'll get your feet warm."

One of the many things I remember about my father is how much he loved my mother, his wife.  You may have heard me say that Mom was a great baker – she could make deliciously wonderful cakes – but she wasn’t a very good cook.  Sometimes our meals were… well… strange.  But Dad never complained, and always complemented her meals.  “Tastes like more!”, he’d always say, making a little word-play on our last name.

It’s easy for grandparents to love their grandchildren, for parents to love their children.  It’s easy to love those who love us.  But there’s more to it than that.  Jesus told us all about love, such as we can read in the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 22, verses 34 through 40…

34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

--Matthew 22:34-40 (NKJV)

Yes, it’s real easy to love those who love us, who treat us good.  But Jesus commands us to love everyone, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  That is not always so easy, is it?  But there are some tricks we can employ to make it easier.  In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote:

"Do not waste your time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor, act as if you do.  As soon as we do this, we find one of life's great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."

That’s why we need to pray for those folk who would do us harm.  Pray, so that not only might they see the light, accept Jesus, repent and be saved, but also pray for them because it becomes increasingly difficult to dislike or hate someone we are praying for.  Pray, so that we can grow to love them like God loves us.

The Apostle Paul spoke of that love in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8 verses 38 and 39, when he wrote…

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

--Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

Nothing can separate us from the love of God that comes through our Lord Christ Jesus!  This is an unconditional love, an undeserved love.  Unconditional because we need His love!  Undeserved because we are sinners.

Jesus came to us when we were lost in sin and gave us hope for salvation through belief in Him, through our faith.  A little earlier in that letter to the Romans, in chapter 5 verses 1 through 8, Paul writes…

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

--Romans 5:1-8 (NKJV)

We don’t deserve God’s love – He willingly gives it to us because we have been justified by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and by our faith in Him as the one true Son of God.  When we were dead in sin, unrighteous and ungodly, Christ Jesus died for us.

And in that act, God demonstrated His own love toward mankind, toward us.  That alone should be good reason to glory in our tribulations.  The love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Holy Spirit, who lives within us.  We were without strength, so God gave us His.  In Psalm 18 verse 1, King David writes…

1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

--Psalm 18:1 (NKJV)

Who among us hasn’t faced a seemingly hopeless challenge in this life where we saw no way to get through it, no way to win?  Wasn’t there some point where we were just ready to give up, that we thought we couldn’t go on?  But yet we did, or we wouldn’t be here today.  We did, because God strengthened us.  Whether we prayed and asked for help or not, God gave us some of His strength to see us through.


God could have sent Jesus, His Messiah, to condemn and punish the world right there on the spot!  But He didn’t.  He sent Jesus that the world might be saved.  This is God’s love, that He would sacrifice His own Son to save us, that He would give of His own Spirit to guide us, that He would share His own strength to strengthen us.

God gives of Himself to us, because He loves us.  Return that love, share that love.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You sent Your Son Jesus to the world to offer mankind salvation.  We deserved punishment, but You gave us love.  By this You showed Your love for all of Your creation, if we would only accept and believe in and obey Your Son.  Thank You, Father, for Your undeserved and unconditional love.

Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You straight from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, repenting of our disobedience, seeking Your forgiveness…

Lord Jesus, You did everything our Father asked of You, even to the point of dying on the cross, of taking the punishment we deserve.  You came to save us, but too often we seem ungrateful of Your tremendous sacrifice.  Help us, Lord, to understand the great love You and our Father God have for us.  Help us to return that love and to share it with a world that desperately needs love right now.  Help us to love every day, not just at Christmas time.  Help us to love as You love - without reason, without conditions, without judgment.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

Joy

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 17th of December, 2017, the third Sunday of Advent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

We’ve been looking at what Advent means to mankind, and especially to Christians.  Typically we look at Advent as a build-up to Christmas, even though we’ve seen how it can also remind us that He is coming again someday.

Both of those events should fill us – Christians – with great joy!  We are celebrating the birth of our Savior and the sacrifice He made for us, and we are awaiting His return when this wicked world will be set aright and peace will hold fast forever.  A peace known only once before, on a night long ago.

Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel Account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 2, verses 8 through 20, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

--Luke 2:8-20 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You sent a very special messenger to some very lowly people - shepherds.  That alone shows that You sent Your Son Jesus to earth for all of us, the lowly and the mighty alike.  Help us to understand the full and true meaning of Christ Jesus coming to this world, both then and some appointed day yet to come.  Speak to us now, Father, that we might better hear Your voice and discern Your will for our lives.  In the blessed name of Your Son Jesus we pray.   Amen.


At a conference hosted by a Presbyterian church in Omaha, Nebraska one time, the attendees were given helium filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the worship service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts.  Now these were good Presbyterians, who didn't often, if ever, really feel free to shout out an occasional "Amen!" or "Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord!", but all through the service balloons rose to the ceiling, one by one.  Yet when it was all over, a third of the balloons were still held unreleased.


I wonder how many balloons would be released this morning if we tried this.  How much joy do we feel in our hearts?  Better yet, how much joy are we releasing so that other people can see it?  How much of our joy do we share?  Family, we need to let go of our balloons.


The shepherds certainly shared their joy.  First they were afraid – but who wouldn’t be if all of a sudden a bright light glowed everywhere and a messenger of God appeared out of nowhere?!?  But they did as the angel directed them and saw the baby Jesus.  In the middle of the night, they left their sheep untended to go see a baby.

What did the shepherds do next?  They spread the word.  “They made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.”  They glorified and praised God for all the things that they had seen and heard that night.  Then what happened?  Everyone who heard what the shepherds proclaimed marveled at the news.

That, Family, is feeling and sharing the joy of salvation by God through Jesus Christ our Lord, and what can result when we do!  In Psalm 5, verse 11, King David urges us…

11 Let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.

--Psalm 5:11 (NKJV)

Rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in Him!  Shout for joy, let everyone see!  For being openly joyful brings its own rewards.  In Psalm 32 verses 10 and 11, David tells us…

10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

--Psalm 32:10-11 (NKJV)

Be glad and rejoice, for God’s mercy surrounds us!  And again, shout for joy!  Don’t hide it, let it out - let go of the balloon of joy!

The great prophet Isaiah, in chapter 55 verse 12 of his book of prophesy writes of how our joy is echoed…

12 “For you shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall break forth into singing before you,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

--Isaiah 55:12 (NKJV)

The whole earth will respond to our joy.


We know that Isaiah spoke for God and clearly foretold the coming of Jesus.  Through God, Isaiah knew Jesus, and knew what would befall Him.  The prophet knew that Jesus would experience little joy in this life.  Isaiah told us of the life Jesus would know, when he wrote this in chapter 5, verses 1 through 5…

1 Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

--Isaiah 53:1-5 (NKJV)

Jesus was indeed a Man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief.  I can only imagine that what grieved Him the most was that the people He came to save despised Him, disrespected Him, rejected Him.  And He was wounded for our transgressions!  He was bruised for our iniquities!  He took our sins upon Himself and suffered chastisement for them!

But by His stripes, we are healed.  By His sacrifice, we are redeemed.  This is good news of great joy to us, we who call ourselves Christians, we who follow Christ as Lord!

As a third-century man was nearing death, he wrote these last words in a letter to a friend:  "It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world.  But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret.  They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life.  They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.  They are masters of their souls.  They have overcome the world.  These people are the Christians - and I am one of them."

Have we learned that great secret, Family?  Have we overcome the world?  Have we found that joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure this sinful world might offer?

The prophet Habakkuk did.  Listen to his words from chapter 3 of his book of prophesy, verses 17 and 18…

17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls —
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

--Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NKJV)

No matter what goes on around us, no matter what happens to us, we should still be able to rejoice in the Lord.  The sheer joy of knowing we are saved by the grace of God, paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, should overwhelm us and overflow from us for all to see!

This is what the angel meant!  This is what he was referring to when he said, “I bring you good tidings of great joy”!  Do we understand?!?  Do we really feel that joy welling up inside us whenever we think of or hear the name Jesus?  Can anyone else see that joy?  Do we ever express it in ways they can see and comprehend?  If not, maybe we need to pray to our Father God as King David did in Psalm 51 verse 12…

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

--Psalm 51:12 (NKJV)

Let go of that balloon of joy.  Be joyful, rejoice, make a joyful noise.  Rediscover that joy which is a thousand times better than any sinful pleasure.  For I bring good tidings of great joy.  Unto us a child is born, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ our Lord.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You sent Your Son Jesus to the world to offer mankind salvation.  But You also sent Your messenger to let us know our Savior had been born and was among us.  And You sent Your angel to the lowliest of men, even as Your Son was born in the lowliest of places.  By this You showed us that Your grace extends to us all, no matter our position in life.  Jesus came to save all of us who would believe in Him and follow His voice.  Thank You, Father, for Your wonderful grace, Your beautiful gift.  Help us, please Father, to feel the true joy of our salvation and to share that joy with others, so that they too might be saved.

Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You straight from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, repenting of our disobedience, seeking Your forgiveness…

Lord Jesus, You came to mankind once, long ago, as a small and helpless baby.  And yet Your birth, in the most humble of places, was heralded by a heavenly chorus singing “Glory to God in the highest!”  A shout of joy began that night, for unto us a Savior was born.  Help us, Lord, to keep that shout going.  Help us to share the joyful news of salvation with others so that they too might be saved, and might fill their own hearts with joy.  Help us rejoice and be joyful.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

Peace

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 10th of December, 2017.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Last week we looked at some of the prophesy written about the Messiah, and how Jesus fulfilled that when He came to earth, and how He will fulfill even more when He returns.  The greatest prophet was Isaiah, who clearly and accurately foretold of our Lord’s birth and His life on earth.  And we said he also foretold of what will happen when Jesus returns.  I read part of a very familiar text to you from Isaiah, and today I’d like to look at that scripture again, and include a second verse that looks to the future for us.

Listen and follow along as I read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 9, verses 6 and 7, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

--Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You looked down and had pity on mankind, so You sent us Your own Son, that we might be redeemed of our sins and disobedience if we would only believe in Him and follow His voice.  Forgive us, please Father, when we reject Your Son with our doubts and our refusal to give Him of our time and resources.  Help us to be more faithful and true to both You and Jesus.  Speak to us now, Father, that we might better hear Your voice and discern Your will for our lives.  In the blessed name of Your Son Jesus we pray.   Amen.


There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace.  Many tried, and the king looked at all the pictures, but only two really caught his attention.

One pictured a calm lake, a perfect mirror for the peaceful towering mountains all around it.  Fluffy white clouds filled a clear blue sky.  All who saw it thought that it was indeed the perfect picture of peace.

The second picture had mountains too, but these were rugged and bare.  Above them lightening played across an angry sky from which rain fell in torrents.  Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall.  This did not look peaceful at all.  But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock.  In the bush a mother bird had built her nest.  There, in the midst of the rush of angry water and with lightening splitting the sky, sat the mother bird on her nest… in perfect peace.

The king chose the second picture, explaining, "Peace does not mean being in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.  Peace means being in the midst of all those things and yet still being calm in your heart.  That is the real meaning of peace.”


I think that little story sums up pretty well how personal peace has little or nothing to do with the circumstances around us.  Rather, it has everything to do with what is in our hearts.

So many people search for peace and never find it.  We look for peace from our enemies, from our strife.  When we are at war, we crave peace and petition our leaders to seek it at any cost.  When we do find peace, it is transient, fleeting – here today, gone tomorrow.  But Isaiah tells us true, lasting peace comes only from Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  When Jesus returns, He will establish His government with judgment and justice, and of His peace there will be no end, from that time forward, even forever.


As I told the kids a little earlier, I believe there was one night when all the world knew peace – a true, quiet, humble peace.  In chapter 2, verses 13 and 14 of his Gospel account, the Apostle Luke relates…

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

--Luke 2:13-14 (NKJV)

Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.  We have a hymn based on a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that starts out, “I heard the bells on Christmas day their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men.”  But then Longfellow is drawn back to reality of the war raging in his 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.’”  Finally, our good poet remembers what peace is all about:  “Then peeled the bells more loud and deep: ‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.’”

Longfellow understood what Isaiah was talking about.  If the world did know peace that one night when our Christ entered this world, it sure didn’t last.  Nor, seemingly, was it supposed to.  A little further on in Luke’s account, chapter 12 verses 49 through 53, Jesus warns us…

49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! 51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. 52 For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

--Luke 12:49-53 (NKJV)

The first time He came, Jesus did not bring peace – He brought division.  Why?  Why would the Prince of Peace come to bring division among mankind?  Maybe it was so we could find true peace, like the mother bird on her nest in the midst of all the chaos around her.  But so many people fail to understand, refuse to look in the right place.

In his letter to the Romans, chapter 3 verses 10 through 18, the Apostle Paul borrows scripture from the Book of Psalms and others as he warns us…

10 As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;

11 There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

12 They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.”

13 “Their throat is an open tomb;

With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;

“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;

17 And the way of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

--Romans 3:10-18 (NKJV)

We don’t know peace because we aren’t righteous, we don’t understand, we don’t seek God nor fear Him.  We don’t know peace because we don’t know Jesus.

Our Lord Himself felt great sorry over our ignorance.  The Apostle Luke tells us of His reaction upon entering Jerusalem, in chapter 19, verses 41 and 42…

41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

--Luke 19:41-42 (NKJV)

True personal peace is as close to us as is Jesus, but too many of us, even among His followers, fail to understand.  That which can give us lasting peace is too often hidden from our eyes.  Hidden, because we refuse to see.

Jesus tried to explain it.  The Apostle John recorded Jesus telling us this, in chapter 14, verses 27 through 29 of his Gospel account…

27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.”

--John 14:27-29 (NKJV)

The peace that Jesus gives is not like the peace the world knows.  His peace doesn’t just come and go, it isn’t conditional, based on each group or person doing their part to uphold it.  His peace doesn’t depend on everything around us being quiet and calm and at peace.  No, His peace brings quiet and calm amid all the chaos and conflict.  His peace is eternal, unending, everlasting.  His peace is conditional only upon our belief in Him as the true Son of God, our faith in Him as Lord and Savior.

Indeed, our faith provides the means of peace.  Again looking to his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us in chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 that…

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

--Romans 5:1-2 (NKJV)

Because of our faith in Him, Jesus justifies us to our Father God, the ultimate Judge.  Through Jesus, we have peace with God.  And we receive peace within ourselves - inner peace, personal peace.  We just have to trust Him, have faith in Him.


This morning we lit the candle of peace and lifted a prayer for peace, peace in the world, knowing full well that division and hatred and war still rock the earth.  This is as it must be until Jesus returns to set things right.  But in the midst of all the turmoil, while the storm rages around us, we can find the peace of God that Jesus beings.  Just have faith and trust in the Word of God.

In the blessed name of Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the bringer of peace.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, Your peace surpasses all understanding.  Thank You, Father, for sending us Your Son who brings us Your peace through salvation if we accept Him as Lord and Master.  Help us, please Father, to receive Your gift of peace and carry it in our hearts this Christmas season and throughout our lives.  Forgive us when we let the busyness of life intrude upon that peace, when we let the world shatter that peace.  Help us to remain calm and at rest in You.

Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You straight from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, repenting of our disobedience, seeking Your forgiveness…

Lord Jesus, You came to earth not to bring peace to all mankind, but to offer us Your peace, a special peace unlike what the world gives.  What the world calls peace is shallow and does not last.  Help us, Lord, to remain in the calm of Your peace even as the storm of the world rages all about us.  Help us to share Your love and Your peace with others so that they too might be saved, and might find rest in You.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.