so this is the beginning of the season<\/p>\n
of Advent Advent and the word Advent<\/p>\n
means coming it means<\/p>\n
coming uh let me pause here and make<\/p>\n
sure that is the translation up and<\/p>\n
running<\/p>\n
yet okay good thank<\/p>\n
you so Advent means coming and this is<\/p>\n
the time of the the calendar the church<\/p>\n
calendar the Christian year uh and the<\/p>\n
season of the year uh where we mark the<\/p>\n
Christian Church marks uh throughout<\/p>\n
history throughout the world celebrates<\/p>\n
and marks that Jesus Christ has come<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ has come and we also look<\/p>\n
forward so we look forward with hope<\/p>\n
with a sure hope to when he will come<\/p>\n
again so Advent means coming we believe<\/p>\n
and we hang everything on the fact that<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ has come and we look ahead<\/p>\n
to the day when he will come again when<\/p>\n
he will come again so the season of<\/p>\n
Advent uh it leads us to the birth of<\/p>\n
Jesus leads us to the birth of Jesus as<\/p>\n
we begin in this month and in this<\/p>\n
Seasons as we begin to look ahead to<\/p>\n
Christmas day of course the day that we<\/p>\n
celebrate that he was born the day we<\/p>\n
remember that God took on flesh that God<\/p>\n
took on flesh flesh we just sang uh the<\/p>\n
word and and talked about the word<\/p>\n
Emmanuel God With Us God stepping into<\/p>\n
this world uh that he created so the<\/p>\n
Bible uses that language uses that name<\/p>\n
for Jesus Emmanuel he is called which<\/p>\n
means god with us God With Us stepping<\/p>\n
to the world that he<\/p>\n
made over these next four weeks so today<\/p>\n
and the next three Sundays of Advent<\/p>\n
we'll be looking at specific passages of<\/p>\n
scripture in the Bible that will again<\/p>\n
turn our hearts and Minds to this<\/p>\n
wondrous story and we'll also be<\/p>\n
connecting these biblical passages these<\/p>\n
accounts to songs to hymns to Christmas<\/p>\n
carols that have helped to eluate to<\/p>\n
illustrate these ancient truths<\/p>\n
throughout the centuries so we've<\/p>\n
already sung some wonderful songs<\/p>\n
tonight that are beginning to Center our<\/p>\n
hearts again around this truth of who<\/p>\n
Jesus is and his<\/p>\n
birth so we will again focus our hearts<\/p>\n
and allow uh God to move our minds and<\/p>\n
our hearts to this wondrous story of the<\/p>\n
birth of Jesus our savior<\/p>\n
Emmanuel God having come to be with us<\/p>\n
to be with us God With Us let's let's<\/p>\n
pray let's as we begin holy God we thank<\/p>\n
you for this day of rest this day of<\/p>\n
worship let us feed on your word today<\/p>\n
feed our hearts and our minds with your<\/p>\n
truth open our minds and our hearts to<\/p>\n
the truth therein help us help us to see<\/p>\n
you move our imaginations again to be<\/p>\n
captivated by the wondrous story of<\/p>\n
Christmas the story of you taking on<\/p>\n
flesh becoming like one of us wake us up<\/p>\n
wake us up to the mystery the beauty the<\/p>\n
truth of Christmas again reveal to us<\/p>\n
your truth help us lead us we ask and<\/p>\n
pray to a firm and Lasting Hope to be<\/p>\n
found in you and it's in your name we<\/p>\n
pray Lord Jesus we pray<\/p>\n
amen our text today is take from the<\/p>\n
Gospel of Luke just a few verses from<\/p>\n
Luke<\/p>\n
1 and I'll read this to us and then we<\/p>\n
also you can see it's also in tie on the<\/p>\n
screen and we'll refer back to this as<\/p>\n
well this is the word of God in the<\/p>\n
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent<\/p>\n
from God to a city of Galilee named<\/p>\n
Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man<\/p>\n
whose name was Joseph<\/p>\n
of the House of David and the virgin's<\/p>\n
name was<\/p>\n
Mary and he came to her and said<\/p>\n
greetings of favored one the Lord is<\/p>\n
with<\/p>\n
you but she was greatly troubled at the<\/p>\n
saying and tried to discern what sort of<\/p>\n
greeting this might be and the angel<\/p>\n
said to Hero not be<\/p>\n
afraid do not be afraid Mary for you<\/p>\n
have found favor with God<\/p>\n
and behold you will conceive in your<\/p>\n
womb and bear a son and you shall call<\/p>\n
his name<\/p>\n
Jesus he will be great and will be<\/p>\n
called the son of the most high and the<\/p>\n
Lord God will give to him the Throne of<\/p>\n
his father<\/p>\n
David and he will reign over the house<\/p>\n
of Jacob<\/p>\n
forever and of his kingdom there will be<\/p>\n
no end<\/p>\n
let's see I need some help getting to<\/p>\n
the next slide this is going backwards<\/p>\n
not forward<\/p>\n
uh let's<\/p>\n
see I'm not sure what oh there we<\/p>\n
go and Mary said to the angel how will<\/p>\n
this<\/p>\n
be since I'm a<\/p>\n
virgin and the angel answered her the<\/p>\n
holy spirit will come upon you and the<\/p>\n
power of the most high will overshadow<\/p>\n
you therefore the child to be born will<\/p>\n
be called holy the Son of God and behold<\/p>\n
your relative Elizabeth in her old age<\/p>\n
has also conceived a son and this is the<\/p>\n
sixth month with her who was called<\/p>\n
for nothing will be impossible with<\/p>\n
God and Mary said behold I am the<\/p>\n
servant of the Lord let it be to me<\/p>\n
according to your word and the angel<\/p>\n
departed from<\/p>\n
her this is the word of<\/p>\n
God on Christmas Eve in the year 1914 so<\/p>\n
just 110 years ago from this month an<\/p>\n
astonishing event happened in<\/p>\n
Europe it was during the first world war<\/p>\n
and this event happened as British<\/p>\n
forces and German soldiers forces also<\/p>\n
were engaged in trench warfare along an<\/p>\n
area in Belgium and in part of France<\/p>\n
known as the Western Front the Western<\/p>\n
Front there are different account<\/p>\n
accounts of kind of how this happened<\/p>\n
how this transpired but on Christmas Eve<\/p>\n
and into part of Christmas Day the<\/p>\n
soldiers from both sides of these<\/p>\n
forces they<\/p>\n
observed and they came out they laid<\/p>\n
down their weapons and they observed a<\/p>\n
truce and they came out of their<\/p>\n
trenches they left their trenches to<\/p>\n
meet with one another in an area between<\/p>\n
the trenches on the battlefield known as<\/p>\n
no man's land<\/p>\n
and there are accounts of soldiers that<\/p>\n
were exchanging greetings with opposing<\/p>\n
forces they were sharing food and drinks<\/p>\n
they were sharing cigarettes they were<\/p>\n
sharing uh life together singing carols<\/p>\n
together even games of football broke<\/p>\n
out in an area uh between the trenches<\/p>\n
there in that<\/p>\n
Battlefield now uh and here are some<\/p>\n
pictures some historic see if this will<\/p>\n
move for me here<\/p>\n
there we<\/p>\n
go so some actual photos from from that<\/p>\n
time now the truce itself was shortlived<\/p>\n
and it didn't happen all along the<\/p>\n
western front it was really interesting<\/p>\n
it just happened in some different<\/p>\n
pockets of the Skirmish of the<\/p>\n
war and as higher military commands<\/p>\n
found out you they sort of put an end to<\/p>\n
it like get back to your trenches get<\/p>\n
back um to your sides of the battle but<\/p>\n
for a few hours<\/p>\n
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day real<\/p>\n
peace real peace had broken out in the<\/p>\n
midst of War real<\/p>\n
peace so there was hostility between<\/p>\n
these nations between multiple Nations<\/p>\n
at war with one another in World War I<\/p>\n
and yet there was<\/p>\n
Fellowship where there had been just<\/p>\n
hours before animosity<\/p>\n
hatred and there was peace where there<\/p>\n
had been violence where had been<\/p>\n
violence there's a film from 2005 I high<\/p>\n
highly recommend it has some adult<\/p>\n
themes and of course it deals with war<\/p>\n
so take that into mind um for little<\/p>\n
ones but it's called Jo Noel so French<\/p>\n
title Joy Noel Merry Christmas joyous<\/p>\n
Christmas and it's a cinematic retelling<\/p>\n
of this<\/p>\n
event which became known as the<\/p>\n
Christmas<\/p>\n
Truce in one poignant scene in the film<\/p>\n
there's a German soldier who stands and<\/p>\n
begins to sing so silent night which is<\/p>\n
an originally originally written in<\/p>\n
German so he begins to sing that out and<\/p>\n
in the film he's an opera singer in<\/p>\n
Germany and he's sent to war and so he<\/p>\n
begins singing out into the clear Dark<\/p>\n
Night Silent<\/p>\n
Night and the soldiers across the<\/p>\n
battlefield the French uh British even a<\/p>\n
Scottish uh uh Battalion they began<\/p>\n
singing even some of the Scottish<\/p>\n
soldiers get their bag pipes out and<\/p>\n
begin<\/p>\n
playing uh into the cold night air and<\/p>\n
that in the film is what kind of stirs<\/p>\n
up this possibility of Peace possibility<\/p>\n
of laying down their weapons and and<\/p>\n
meeting with their fellow<\/p>\n
men now this story this kind of story<\/p>\n
and it's a real one it's a true one at<\/p>\n
that when we hear something like this it<\/p>\n
stirs<\/p>\n
our hearts right when I watch that film<\/p>\n
I cry in like singing style at night I<\/p>\n
cry why is<\/p>\n
that why is<\/p>\n
that why does something like this why<\/p>\n
does it stir us move<\/p>\n
us is because it points to a deeper<\/p>\n
reality of who we are it points to an<\/p>\n
unveils and reveals our deeper hopes and<\/p>\n
longings and desires<\/p>\n
we long for<\/p>\n
peace we long for<\/p>\n
peace we desire life we desire<\/p>\n
flourishing we desire<\/p>\n
Freedom we desire an end to hostility<\/p>\n
and<\/p>\n
violence and yet we see the world around<\/p>\n
us we see the Brokenness we see War we<\/p>\n
see hostility<\/p>\n
still right now at this very moment As<\/p>\n
We Gather relative<\/p>\n
safety there is war raging right now in<\/p>\n
different parts of the world right now<\/p>\n
people don't have that sense of peace<\/p>\n
they don't have that sense of safety<\/p>\n
that we have right<\/p>\n
now we see hatred among<\/p>\n
people we see<\/p>\n
animosity and we long for<\/p>\n
kindness kindness to fellow<\/p>\n
men we see hostility instead of Peace we<\/p>\n
see it around us we read about it in the<\/p>\n
news we see it and we also experience it<\/p>\n
in our own hearts in our own<\/p>\n
Hearts so we need the truth of Christmas<\/p>\n
we need the truth of Christmas to keep<\/p>\n
breaking into our world breaking into to<\/p>\n
our hearts we<\/p>\n
need a true and Lasting peace this is<\/p>\n
the The Human Condition the human heart<\/p>\n
cry<\/p>\n
this longing for peace is exactly where<\/p>\n
uh Israel the people of Israel were<\/p>\n
found at that<\/p>\n
time Israel itself as a nation as a<\/p>\n
people the Jewish<\/p>\n
people we're not going to go into the<\/p>\n
depth of the the story of the history of<\/p>\n
Israel but we can talk about that soon<\/p>\n
and later as Advent unfolds but at this<\/p>\n
season there was great oppression of the<\/p>\n
nation of Israel the people of Israel uh<\/p>\n
because of the Roman<\/p>\n
Empire and so uh<\/p>\n
Rome a strong strong Empire uh would<\/p>\n
conquer Nations they would uh come into<\/p>\n
these nations and they would establish<\/p>\n
their Rule and so Israel the nation of<\/p>\n
Israel was living under the Roman Empire<\/p>\n
living under occupation that was true of<\/p>\n
the nation of Israel's true of the city<\/p>\n
of Jerusalem city of of the of Bethlehem<\/p>\n
as well all throughout that region and<\/p>\n
so God and some of the other sermons<\/p>\n
will deal with the prophecy of Isaiah<\/p>\n
the book of Isaiah but God had<\/p>\n
promised God had promised to<\/p>\n
deliver the nation of Israel the Jewish<\/p>\n
people so there was ancient prophecy had<\/p>\n
foretold of the one that would come so<\/p>\n
God would deliver and God was going to<\/p>\n
send one that would come to save<\/p>\n
Israel and so of course the Israel<\/p>\n
Israeli people the Jewish people Israel<\/p>\n
uh the nation of Israel was longing for<\/p>\n
that one to come and different parts of<\/p>\n
the scriptures speak to that how long oh<\/p>\n
God how long will we wait but the one to<\/p>\n
come was going to be known known as the<\/p>\n
Messiah the Savior the one that would<\/p>\n
come to deliver to deliver and so that<\/p>\n
people were waiting they were waiting<\/p>\n
there was this<\/p>\n
anticipation generation after generation<\/p>\n
how long oh God how long how<\/p>\n
long and so what would happen would be<\/p>\n
beyond what anyone could possibly<\/p>\n
imagine<\/p>\n
if Rome was this great military force of<\/p>\n
course they thought God is going to send<\/p>\n
a<\/p>\n
military might right a a military ruler<\/p>\n
that will Vanquish our military foe<\/p>\n
right that's what they were waiting<\/p>\n
for and God would send the<\/p>\n
Messiah send the Christ Jesus the Christ<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
Savior would enter this world but it<\/p>\n
would be in an unimaginable<\/p>\n
way<\/p>\n
unimaginable this story and the passage<\/p>\n
we read<\/p>\n
tonight if you are familiar with this<\/p>\n
perhaps the mysterious nature the<\/p>\n
radical nature the unimaginable nature<\/p>\n
of this story has kind of worn off on<\/p>\n
us this is<\/p>\n
unbelievable and yet it's true<\/p>\n
that God would take on flesh<\/p>\n
understandably so Mary was filled with<\/p>\n
fear at the message that she received<\/p>\n
from this Angel<\/p>\n
Gabriel silent<\/p>\n
night I am not sure why this goes<\/p>\n
backwards when<\/p>\n
I press forward if anyone can elucidate<\/p>\n
that for me<\/p>\n
um du would you please go to the slide<\/p>\n
after the photos that's that that's<\/p>\n
perfect right there thank<\/p>\n
you Silent Night steak this great uh<\/p>\n
Carol kind of sets a scene for us silent<\/p>\n
night holy<\/p>\n
night all is calm all is bright round<\/p>\n
Yan virgin mother and child holy infant<\/p>\n
so tender and<\/p>\n
mild sleep in Heavenly peace<\/p>\n
sleep in Heavenly peace next slide<\/p>\n
please<\/p>\n
okay so young Mary understandably she<\/p>\n
was filled with<\/p>\n
Fear With<\/p>\n
Fear and<\/p>\n
confusion probably to see this Angelic<\/p>\n
being this Angel before her and then<\/p>\n
also the message<\/p>\n
the message that this Angel was<\/p>\n
bringing and so immediately Gabriel<\/p>\n
speaks words of Peace over her upon her<\/p>\n
do not be afraid do not be<\/p>\n
afraid Mary for you have found favor<\/p>\n
God do not be afraid the coming birth of<\/p>\n
baby is us in in a new<\/p>\n
reality you need not be afraid do not<\/p>\n
fear this Jesus will be<\/p>\n
great he will be given the Throne of his<\/p>\n
father David he will<\/p>\n
reign and his reign will have no is<\/p>\n
coming into this world coming the<\/p>\n
Eternal King is coming into this<\/p>\n
world this is the Messiah this is the<\/p>\n
promised one he has<\/p>\n
come and Mary said to the angel how will<\/p>\n
this be since I am a<\/p>\n
Virgin Mary questions Gabriel<\/p>\n
understandably how can this be how will<\/p>\n
be and Gabriel goes on to explain to to<\/p>\n
show how God will bring all of this<\/p>\n
about she will bear the Holy One the<\/p>\n
very Son of<\/p>\n
God and at the very same time while Mary<\/p>\n
is hearing this she is also hearing that<\/p>\n
her relative<\/p>\n
Elizabeth has conceived and is going to<\/p>\n
have a son this is miraculous because<\/p>\n
Elizabeth had not been able to conceive<\/p>\n
she was Barren she was unable and had<\/p>\n
not yet conceived had not yet born<\/p>\n
children and yet this was happening in<\/p>\n
fact she was six months along with child<\/p>\n
the text says nothing nothing<\/p>\n
nothing will be<\/p>\n
impossible with God and here we see Mary<\/p>\n
at the end of the passage we read<\/p>\n
tonight as far as we read Mary gives<\/p>\n
praise unto God she submits herself to<\/p>\n
this miraculous unfolding of all these<\/p>\n
events to<\/p>\n
come next slide<\/p>\n
please silent<\/p>\n
night holy night Shepherds Quake at the<\/p>\n
sight glor stream from Heaven afar<\/p>\n
Heavenly hosts sing<\/p>\n
Allelujah Christ the savior is born<\/p>\n
Christ the savior is<\/p>\n
born silent night holy night Son of God<\/p>\n
loves pure light radiant beams from thy<\/p>\n
holy face with the dawn of Redeeming<\/p>\n
Grace Jesus Lord at thy birth Jesus Lord<\/p>\n
at thy birth the lyrics of Silent Night<\/p>\n
They underscore they really underline or<\/p>\n
highlight if you will all that was<\/p>\n
happening all that was transpiring with<\/p>\n
the birth of<\/p>\n
Jesus God's Saving<\/p>\n
Grace God's Redeeming Grace was coming<\/p>\n
into the world in and through Jesus<\/p>\n
this is the message of<\/p>\n
Christmas the Messiah has come the<\/p>\n
Savior has come to<\/p>\n
rescue to save<\/p>\n
us Jesus was coming into this broken<\/p>\n
world to save us to lead this broken and<\/p>\n
sinful World in reconciliation unto<\/p>\n
God so Christians celebrate the birth of<\/p>\n
Jesus we remember that the Savior<\/p>\n
entered the world as a humble<\/p>\n
child a<\/p>\n
baby a<\/p>\n
baby but the narrative Arc of the Gospel<\/p>\n
which we talk about as Advent<\/p>\n
unfolds and as we look at year in and<\/p>\n
year out it points<\/p>\n
ahead to the work that Jesus would do to<\/p>\n
save us so Jesus comes to save us how<\/p>\n
how would Jesus save<\/p>\n
us how would Jesus<\/p>\n
bring the peace that we long for and not<\/p>\n
just a peace for here and now but how<\/p>\n
would Jesus bring the to bring Eternal<\/p>\n
how would the Eternal King come to bring<\/p>\n
Eternal peace to a world full of<\/p>\n
violence how would the Messiah truly<\/p>\n
save the message of Christmas is the<\/p>\n
message of the Gospel Jesus coming to<\/p>\n
save<\/p>\n
us by giving himself for<\/p>\n
us you know that great text that we read<\/p>\n
and sing and hear and preach so much<\/p>\n
John 3:16 and 17 also<\/p>\n
here is all about this very<\/p>\n
for God so loved the world that he gave<\/p>\n
his only<\/p>\n
son that whoever believes in him should<\/p>\n
not perish but have eternal life eternal<\/p>\n
peace Eternal Joy eternal life for God<\/p>\n
did not send his son into the world to<\/p>\n
condemn the<\/p>\n
world but in order that the world might<\/p>\n
be<\/p>\n
saved that the world might be saved that<\/p>\n
the world might be saved through him<\/p>\n
Jesus coming into this world Jesus being<\/p>\n
born taking on flesh to save<\/p>\n
us from<\/p>\n
ourselves to save us from ourselves the<\/p>\n
lasting and true peace that we long for<\/p>\n
only comes it only comes when we find<\/p>\n
the true peace with God through Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ<\/p>\n
Christ the central message of the<\/p>\n
Christian faith is that we are broken we<\/p>\n
are sinful in and of<\/p>\n
ourselves and we must be reconciled to<\/p>\n
God we<\/p>\n
must to reconcile that word to reconcile<\/p>\n
it means to return to a state to a place<\/p>\n
of wholeness rightness of goodness truth<\/p>\n
beauty it's a place of<\/p>\n
restoration renewal<\/p>\n
our relationship with<\/p>\n
God has been severed because of our sin<\/p>\n
it's been broken because of our<\/p>\n
sin God is<\/p>\n
Holy and just and our sinful actions it<\/p>\n
actually it drives us away from<\/p>\n
God and his good will for<\/p>\n
us that is the predicament of humanity<\/p>\n
that is what many scholars theologians<\/p>\n
call The Human Condition it's kind of<\/p>\n
where we find<\/p>\n
ourselves that is the darkness that<\/p>\n
induces<\/p>\n
fear that is the darkness that induces<\/p>\n
violence our sin is the source of hatred<\/p>\n
our sin is the source of animosity<\/p>\n
towards<\/p>\n
others it is the cause of our own<\/p>\n
Rebellion against God<\/p>\n
it's the cause of so much<\/p>\n
pain so much suffering in the<\/p>\n
world so much suffering in our own<\/p>\n
Hearts our own<\/p>\n
lives our sin separates us from<\/p>\n
God but Jesus enters into this Jesus<\/p>\n
comes Jesus comes into a hurting world<\/p>\n
to bring<\/p>\n
healing to to bring<\/p>\n
hope the<\/p>\n
Messiah has<\/p>\n
come and as you read the gospels as you<\/p>\n
read the story of Jesus and this is not<\/p>\n
a spoiler alert but as we read about how<\/p>\n
Jesus would do this he grows into a<\/p>\n
man he uh is teaching and preaching and<\/p>\n
healing and speaking words of peace and<\/p>\n
Truth truth and love to those that He<\/p>\n
interacts with in the<\/p>\n
scriptures and then he would give<\/p>\n
himself he would give himself as a<\/p>\n
sacrifice he would give himself and he<\/p>\n
would die so that we when we turn to him<\/p>\n
in faith may be reconciled to God Jesus<\/p>\n
would do all of this this is the<\/p>\n
trajectory of the this little baby's<\/p>\n
life so this is why we call the gospel<\/p>\n
this is why it literally means good news<\/p>\n
good<\/p>\n
news good news because Jesus gave<\/p>\n
himself for us taking on our sin and<\/p>\n
dying for us so Jesus gives us peace he<\/p>\n
brings us true and eternal peace to be<\/p>\n
found in God alone<\/p>\n
in the Book of<\/p>\n
Romans there's a verse that really sums<\/p>\n
this up well verses uh 1 and 2 of verse<\/p>\n
5 therefore since we have been justified<\/p>\n
by faith we have peace with<\/p>\n
God we have<\/p>\n
peace with God through our Lord Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ through him we have also obtained<\/p>\n
access by faith into this grace<\/p>\n
in which<\/p>\n
we and we<\/p>\n
rejoice in<\/p>\n
hope in the glory of<\/p>\n
God we have peace with God through Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ when we turn to Jesus in<\/p>\n
faith as we call upon him as our savior<\/p>\n
our<\/p>\n
Messiah we find the peace that our souls<\/p>\n
long for<\/p>\n
for peace for<\/p>\n
now even in the midst of all that this<\/p>\n
life holds even in the midst of of<\/p>\n
violence in our own lives around the<\/p>\n
world around us<\/p>\n
peace peace in the Prince of Peace<\/p>\n
Jesus and a peace that is coming in<\/p>\n
fullness<\/p>\n
forever so peace in the midst of<\/p>\n
darkness and fear now and then a piece<\/p>\n
that we look to with an expectant hope<\/p>\n
an expectant hope there's a quote that I<\/p>\n
use uh and share so often because it<\/p>\n
really speaks very clearly to the core<\/p>\n
of who we are it's uh from<\/p>\n
Augustine uh St Augustine he was the<\/p>\n
bishop of<\/p>\n
Hippo city in Africa of<\/p>\n
Hippo uh and this is from a book book<\/p>\n
that he wrote<\/p>\n
confessions and in that book he writes<\/p>\n
this St Augustine writes this he said<\/p>\n
thou talking about God thou Hast made us<\/p>\n
for thyself oh<\/p>\n
Lord and our<\/p>\n
heart is<\/p>\n
restless until it Finds Its rest in thee<\/p>\n
you could also say it this way God you<\/p>\n
created us you made<\/p>\n
us and God we do not have peace peace we<\/p>\n
are not at<\/p>\n
peace<\/p>\n
until our hearts find rest in the one<\/p>\n
that is<\/p>\n
peace the one that is peace so yes we<\/p>\n
are restless do you feel that<\/p>\n
restlessness you feel it we are without<\/p>\n
peace until we come to know the Peace of<\/p>\n
Christ and then even then when we<\/p>\n
experience that restlessness that the<\/p>\n
world will throw at us we again again go<\/p>\n
to the prince of peace and receive that<\/p>\n
peace again and again and again and we<\/p>\n
will do that throughout this<\/p>\n
lifetime as we hope and wait for the<\/p>\n
Eternal and good King that is<\/p>\n
coming next slide and thank<\/p>\n
you as we hope in the Eternal and good<\/p>\n
King that is<\/p>\n
coming the last verse of Silent Night<\/p>\n
reads this silent night holy<\/p>\n
night wondrous star lend thy light with<\/p>\n
angels let us sing<\/p>\n
Hallelujah to our<\/p>\n
King Christ the savior is born Christ<\/p>\n
the savior is<\/p>\n
born friends because Jesus has come<\/p>\n
we may be reconciled to God and find<\/p>\n
peace peace for the here and<\/p>\n
now and peace in the midst of all that<\/p>\n
is still wrong with the<\/p>\n
world and when we become followers of<\/p>\n
Jesus we become<\/p>\n
ambassadors of hope we become<\/p>\n
ambassadors of peace loving and caring<\/p>\n
for others with the love of Jesus<\/p>\n
us the G the love that Jesus has for<\/p>\n
us and we give that we demonstrate that<\/p>\n
to others so we become a people that<\/p>\n
speak peace among<\/p>\n
others because we're a people of hope<\/p>\n
we're are people that have hope for now<\/p>\n
and we look ahead with a sure hope for<\/p>\n
the day when Jesus will come again to<\/p>\n
establish his eternal<\/p>\n
Reign Advent means coming Jesus has come<\/p>\n
and he will come<\/p>\n
again here we see the angels in the song<\/p>\n
singing Hallelujah to our King so with<\/p>\n
the angels it says let us sing so how do<\/p>\n
we respond how do we respond how do you<\/p>\n
take what you've heard and maybe what<\/p>\n
you've heard again I've heard it many<\/p>\n
times and how do we allow it to arrest<\/p>\n
our hearts<\/p>\n
how do we allow it to kind of shake us<\/p>\n
again remind us or maybe for the first<\/p>\n
time in our lives to consider this how<\/p>\n
do we respond to this you know when we<\/p>\n
gather as a church our hope is always<\/p>\n
that we would have people that do not<\/p>\n
yet believe maybe here with us maybe<\/p>\n
coming and people coming saying I don't<\/p>\n
know what I believe about Christianity I<\/p>\n
don't know what I believe about Jesus<\/p>\n
I've heard some things and I have some<\/p>\n
real questions I don't know what I<\/p>\n
believe and here's our hope Grace City<\/p>\n
and here's our hope for you if if you<\/p>\n
would articulate that that I'm not sure<\/p>\n
what I think about all of this and our<\/p>\n
hope is this that first of all we would<\/p>\n
say we are so thankful that you are here<\/p>\n
and we would hope that you would really<\/p>\n
feel a sense of Welcome among this<\/p>\n
community and that your questions we<\/p>\n
honor those questions we I would say to<\/p>\n
you but then what I would ask you is<\/p>\n
this would you consider<\/p>\n
this because what if it is<\/p>\n
true what if it is true what if there<\/p>\n
was a little baby born 2,000 years ago<\/p>\n
and peace real peace was breaking into<\/p>\n
the world and that peace is coming again<\/p>\n
what if it's true so ask those questions<\/p>\n
ask those questions of someone that does<\/p>\n
claim this does claim to believe this<\/p>\n
and say how in the world do you believe<\/p>\n
this tell me tell me because I have real<\/p>\n
questions so engage with this<\/p>\n
today I ask of<\/p>\n
you and then<\/p>\n
Christian we also as every week as we<\/p>\n
look again at the gospel and we say how<\/p>\n
do I believe do I believe this have I<\/p>\n
lived in a way this week that says yeah<\/p>\n
I believe this and so let us be reminded<\/p>\n
again this Advent<\/p>\n
season that the Messiah has come the<\/p>\n
Prince of Peace has come here and now<\/p>\n
Jesus is alive he's reigning and<\/p>\n
ruling in spite of all we<\/p>\n
experience in spite of all we experience<\/p>\n
encouraged again in the Gospel of Jesus<\/p>\n
and ask God to show you how you may<\/p>\n
extend his peace even this week who<\/p>\n
needs to know of the Peace of Jesus in<\/p>\n
your your life right now maybe even have<\/p>\n
someone coming to mind Jesus or God is<\/p>\n
impressing upon you right now even<\/p>\n
someone that you might speak that word<\/p>\n
of peace to this<\/p>\n
week this<\/p>\n
week be encouraged in all of this the<\/p>\n
darkness in this world it still produces<\/p>\n
fear doesn't it it still produces fear<\/p>\n
and people need to hear of the good news<\/p>\n
the great light that is shining in that<\/p>\n
Darkness people need to hear of great<\/p>\n
news of great joy so may we great City<\/p>\n
may we be a<\/p>\n
people that share about this with others<\/p>\n
may we be people of Peace extending the<\/p>\n
Peace of Christ this week this<\/p>\n
week let's<\/p>\n
pray Lord<\/p>\n
Jesus May the story of Christmas ReSound<\/p>\n
in our hearts and Minds again<\/p>\n
may we be a people that speak your peace<\/p>\n
into the dark voids of this<\/p>\n
world you've come to<\/p>\n
save you will come<\/p>\n
again help us as we await that day help<\/p>\n
us to extend love and care and peace to<\/p>\n
others your<\/p>\n
peace help us oh God and come Lord Jesus<\/p>\n
we pray come Lord Jesus<\/p>\n
we pray all of this in your holy name<\/p>\n
amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20241204","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=md3rnuZebmc","video_id":"md3rnuZebmc","video_duration":"37:33","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}