The Gifts of Christmas: The Gift of Peace, 12/21/14

Sermon 12-21-14 The gifts of Christmas -  peace  Luke 2:8-14 KJV

⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, good will toward men.

Series- the gifts of Christmas

The welcome – Love – Joy - Peace

The progression of love joy and peace

Christmas Card - Peas on earth, gouda wheel, two men                    PICTURE

We are busy people.  Somewhere along the way, we will find time to sit down by the Christmas tree and take a deep breath. There is a peace that comes to our souls. 

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Mt 11:29

Do we enjoy peace?  There are so many activities. 

my kids requested a new kind of Christmas this year.  Smaller

the  joy we have found in helping strangers

Like to talk today about personal peace and world peace..lets start w world

As a race we are not very good at peace

in the entire recorded history, dating back 2000 years before Christ; that would be something over 4000 years, there has only been about 292 years of peace in the world.   They estimate that there have been more than 14,000 wars and as many as 3.6 billion people killed. 

Trip to Washington DC- I was impressed

Peace medals – treaties broken                                          PICTURE

There is much fighting in the world 

We are fighting the Taliban - The Russians are fighting the Ukrainians

The Palestinians and the Israelis are fighting - The Sudanese are fighting each other - Isis is fighting everyone

Why?  We want your land. We don’t like u.  We want a world with u gone.

You won’t do it our way.

There is something that we want bad enough to kill you

Regarding world peace there is a thought that I take comfort in about jesus

An interesting thing that I believe about Jesus

He is not just ours.  not just a Methodist, Presbyt or an American Jesus

We think of Jesus as being ours, or belonging to our denomination.  Methodist Jesus.  American Jesus.

Jesus is global.  Universal.

When he comes back, it is peace to all

All nations will come to the holy mountain Isaiah 2:2 Micah 4:2

2 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:² In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills and all nations will stream to it. ³ Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,     to the temple of the God of Jacob.  He will teach us his ways,    so that we may walk in his paths.”  The law will go out from Zion,     the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations     and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares    and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation,  nor will they train for war anymore.

War, striving and stress come from wanting things

And wanting things to go our way

Do you want to find peace, let go of the thing

Story of the two monks that never fought
There were two monks who lived together for forty years and never argued. Not even once.
On day, one said to the other
Don't you think it's time we had an argument, at least once?
The other monk said, fine, let's start. What shall we argue about?
How about this piece of bread, said the first monk.
Okay, fine. Let's argue about the bread. How will we do it? Said the second.
The first said, this bread is mine. It belongs to me.
The second said, well, if it is, then take it.

our lives are fast paced, heart pounding, go go go go

The postcard that I found in the dickens book vs an email today

in our lives the adrenalin is flowing and the ears are ringing with the jarring sounds of home and work.

It is hard to contemplate the Cross of Christ

we need to Stop the unrelenting schedules in our brain
Stop it. Cut back on activities. Get some air into your life, your soul.
Reduce the external forces - make room for the internal forces

NFM ropes……..all tied up- worried about it

I want to be sure of employment

I want things to run smoothly at church

I want to fix that relationship

I don’t want my great grandma to die

I don’t want to die

          Did I think that I was going to live for ever?

We have to learn to let go and trust God

Healthy people tell others and themselves

relax… everything is ok

It is the work of the Holy Spirit

All is well

We can’t think about two things at the same time

We can be consumed with worry or we can let go of whatever & trust God

We can hold on to one, but not both

Interesting how we try to force god to fix things the way that we want them.

Serenity prayer – long version

God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next.  Amen.

An Interesting scripture   isaiah 26:3 NKJV

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on u, Because he trusts in u

Jesus life begins and ends with a message of peace

Peace on earth, goodwill to men and women

After his resurrection Jesus in jn 20- breathes on them. 

peace be unto you

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  ²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is still breathing a message of peace to all who would hear

To all who would draw near

You want the peace?

Let go of the worries, let go of the stuff and seize upon the heart of our God

Merry Christmas