Well, uh, the last month or so we've been talking about changing lives. As a church, we're gonna be a church that changes lives. We're gonna be people who work to make sure that the change that God is creating in us does not simply stay within us. We want to share that change with people around us. So we are a church that is about changing lives. That's us, changing lives. And we wrapped that series up last week, but we're not done changing lives. We have a goal right now, and we're gonna continue that goal well into next year. Our goal is to make a change in 1,000 people's lives. 1,000 lives. And we're measuring that goal with some stories. At the back four columns, you're gonna find these cards. You're gonna become very familiar with these because I'll be reading these for a long time. And I'm very excited to do that. These are stories about change. You can go back there at any time and fill out a story about how God has changed you, about how God is using you to change others. And we'll share these stories. So remember to keep doing that, even though the series is no longer changing lives, changing lives, in terms of what we're we're talking about on Sundays. This is who we are. This is our identity as a church. I'd like to read just a few of these really quickly. This is uh this is a story we got from my good friend Dale this last week. He said a family with six kids was broken up due to no parents in the picture for unknown reasons. Three of the children are living with grandparents here in Woodstock, and it came to our attention that one of the kids was caught taking food from the school lunchroom. And no kid should have to be that hungry. My wife took care of getting them the staples, and I took care of getting all the kids' friendly food. When the grandmother unpacked the groceries, she and the five-year-old flipped out over the box of fruit gushers. Anyone ever had fruit gushers? They're delightful. It seems that earlier that same day, the child had been at the store with grandma and had wanted those gushers, but was told to put them back, that they couldn't afford snacks like that. We have such a good daddy and a God that never stopped showing us how much he loves us. That's awesome. This person said that last Sunday they delivered a family's presents for the Christmas Angel program and they left in tears. This is something that they've done before, but they've never seen anything like what they witnessed. They said they couldn't fathom the conditions in which these people were living and surviving. And they said, I'm honored that God placed this mission on my children's hearts today. I had a headache and I just wanted to go home, but they said, no, we have to deliver a Christmas angel gift. And I love watching his love transcend our circumstances. The things that I've witnessed in the last 48 hours within the walls of his hands will continue to humble me for months to come. We had another family that we became made aware of that was in a really difficult situation, and this person took it upon themselves to get a bunch of other people here at the church together to try to raise money for groceries and for needs around the holidays. And this person wrote to us that said, with a lot of help, we were able to provide over $600 worth of gift cards to this family. They were overwhelmingly thankful. They said tearfully, they expressed how thankful they were for all the kindness they received from His Hands Church. And they don't go to this church, the family that was in need, but but this person just heard about the need and took care of it. When we have a heart for other people, when we work to love other people, it changes lives. So I want to encourage you to keep doing that, not just this week, not just next week, but for the next year, for the next two years, really forever, for our heart as a church to be one that realizes that we are not here simply for ourselves. The vision of His Hands Church is so much bigger than any of us, but it's it's all of us that make it what it is. And you guys are an amazing family, and I can't wait to see a thousand stories and one day, two thousand and three and four. It's gonna be amazing. Today I'd like to talk for a little bit about Jesus and the moment he came into this world, if that's okay. Uh, Christmas is just a few days away, so I think it's it's an appropriate topic. It's not exactly surprising, it's probably not a shocker. Uh sometimes you just have to talk about what's obvious, right? You've got to address the elephant in the room. Not that Jesus is an elephant or anything like that, but uh but we've got to talk about this because it's such an amazing moment in history. It's really one of the most important moments in history, the day that God became small and came into this earth to be with us, to know us, to live with us, to be a God that not only understands us because he created us, but to be a God that understands us because he has walked in our shoes. He knows our circumstances, he understands our struggles. And we see Jesus come into this world in a beautiful way in Luke chapter 2. If you have a Bible, turn to Luke 2, 14 through 18. If you have a phone and you want to pull it up there, that's great. We'll have the verses on the screen for sure, but sometimes it's uh it's really nice to just have it in hand. It really is. I say we're gonna have the verses on the screen, but they're black. But hey, you know, technology, what do you do? Um Normally I would read this to you, but there's someone I know that that's just a lot better at reading this one particular set of verses. They they really own it. And instead of me just trying to do some hatchet job on what they do, I'd rather just have them read it, and then we'll come together and talk about it. So, assuming it's gonna work, it may not, uh Linus. I'd like to bring Linus up on screen. Is it gonna happen? Okay, it is gonna happen. All right. I'll come back after Linus shares these verses with you.

And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them. The glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were sore afraid, and the angel said unto them, Fear not. For behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, it shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

There you go. That's iconic. I was uh I was gonna actually just read it, but every time I started to, I just pictured that scene, you know. Anyone who's been here since 1965, which is all of us, knows that that Linus' version of Luke 2, 14 through 18, it's the definitive version. There's no reason to redo it. We don't go King James very often here, but I think it works when Linus does it. That's such a rich story. It's a very, very small amount of words, it's a small package, but so much happens in those few verses. When Jesus is born in this earth, he's not the only one that's there, he's got his parents. They're in a manger, they're in a place for animals, so if you've got a nativity scene at home, you know that there's at least a donkey, a couple sheep. You know, some people have really fancy nativities that have tons and tons of animals. We have three at our house, three. So that's how my kids will always picture Christmas. Three animals, very strange-looking people, you know. We have one of those, one of those nativities. But but so much is going on here, right? There's shepherds. Shepherds are invited to be the guests of Jesus when he's born. And this is an interesting choice because shepherds were not very valued in the society that Jesus was born into. If you were a shepherd, it probably meant that you were also a thief, you were also a criminal. They were often ruffians and very dangerous people. Shepherds were completely excluded from the Orthodox Jews because their lifestyle, their job made it impossible for them to keep up with the Jewish laws. They couldn't keep up with the hand washing rituals and all those things, so they were just the lowest of the low. But Jesus wanted them there. And that is so like Jesus. That's just who he is in Matthew chapter 20, verse 16. Jesus says, Those who are last now will be first then, and those who are the first will be the last. I love the fact that Jesus just backs up what he says. And the moment he comes into this world, the first people that got to see Jesus, apart from his parents, were the last people anyone else would ever want to invite. The shepherds aren't the only ones there, by the way. There's angels. I love it in scripture. When angels show up, we don't know what angels look like. If you look at art, they're always very scantily clad, uh, muscular people. Sometimes babies, though, it's weird, and they have wings, and you know, they're just wearing sort of cloths that are draped just appropriately in different places, and they don't look very intimidating. If you saw an angel based on the way art portrays angels, the first thing you would think would be, hey, let me get you a shirt. Uh, but you wouldn't be intimidated, right? But when angels actually show up in scripture, everyone freaks out every single time. The very first thing that angels say, every time, almost every time, is don't be afraid. Do not be afraid. These angels show up to invite these shepherds, but that's not the only reason the angels are there. The angels are there to sing. They're there to sing praises to God. There was this amazing tradition in the Jewish culture at the time Jesus was born. When a boy was born, the whole town would celebrate because it meant that that family's bloodline would continue. And so local musicians would always come to the home and they would play music and celebrate that this boy had been born, but there was no, there was no group of musicians there for Jesus. And so God took care of the music and he sent his angels. And what they sang was really powerful. It's in Luke 2.13. It said, suddenly the angel was joined by a vast host of others, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased. That's what they're singing, that's what they're shouting out. Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth. Peace on earth. It's funny because Christmas is a time where we associate the word peace with Jesus. We see the word peace often, but Christmas does not feel very peaceful. It may be the least peaceful time in the year for most of us. It is hectic, it is stressful. Christmas rarely feels peaceful. Yet these angels show up and they say, peace on earth. Jesus is often associated with peace. He was prophesied to be the prince of peace. In Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. It says, For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, the government will rest on his shoulders, and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Jesus brings peace. Now the word that Isaiah used, prophesying about Jesus centuries before he came, is the Hebrew word shalom. And it's a very powerful word. It means more than just peace, like we might think. It means more than simply absence of conflict. What it actually means is completeness, wholeness, health, safety, tranquility, prosperity, fullness, rest, and harmony. Could anyone use a little bit of peace today? Can anyone use some completeness? Do you feel a little incomplete, like something is missing in your life? Some wholeness, some health, some safety, some tranquility in your soul, in your spirit. How about prosperity? Does anyone just need to be blessed a little bit this morning? I mean, can't we use a little bit more shalom peace, right? That's what Jesus brought to this world. That's what the angels said. They said, Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth. But see, there's a disconnect there for us sometimes because we look at the earth, we look at our lives, and we don't see a lot of peace. I mean, Nathan was talking about that a little bit this morning, about this last week for him, he got really sick, and then he got me really sick, which was awesome. And then uh and then as he got over it, his wife got sick, and then he had had hives break out as a reaction to either the medication he was taking or all that kind of stuff. He's got to be here this morning, and he's he's on Benadryl, so he's barely awake. I mean, it's just not very peaceful for Nathan this last week. It hasn't been very peaceful for me. I'm sure many of us are in the same boat saying, hey, Jesus, I'm glad you brought peace to the earth. Where is it? Just point me in the right direction. Because oftentimes our lives do not feel very peaceful. And that can be confusing. Jesus can actually be really confusing. I love Jesus. I love him so much. One of the things I love the most about Jesus is that he is very much like my wife, that beautiful woman that baptized Molly earlier. Uh, I cannot figure him out. Just when I think I have Jesus pegged, just when I think I've I've solved the equation, nope, something happens and I'm confused again. Ladies, you need to understand, men, and how hard it is for us just to get you. It's so hard. My son, my son is four years old. And I found out this last week that two little girls in his preschool have been arguing over who's gonna marry him. Okay? And he doesn't understand what an amazing problem this is and how rare, how rare this is to have women arguing over, no, I want to marry him, no, I want to marry him. And so I talked to Liam about it and I said, So are you gonna marry one of them? He said, Yeah, probably. Um I said, which one? He said, Well, both of them. And I said, No, son, that's that's not how we do things at his hands, okay? That's not how it works. Um he said, Well, I told both of them that I'm gonna marry them, but I'm not gonna marry both of them. And I just looked at him and I said, You don't understand women, do you? And before I even finished those words, Liam said, Nope, not at all. Not at all. Sometimes I don't understand Jesus. That's the amazing thing about Jesus. He's God. If it was easy for us to understand him, it would make him a little a little less God. He's a mystery in so many ways. And so he comes to this earth, and angels are proclaiming peace on earth, and and he's prophesied to be the prince of peace, but then he does things, he says things that just make you go, Jesus, if you only had not said this or done this, it would be so much easier for me to figure you out. Matthew chapter 10, verse 34. Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth. Well, why would we imagine that, right? What would possibly lead us to imagine that Jesus came to bring peace to the earth? It couldn't have been that vast multitude of angels singing peace on earth, right? That wouldn't be a subtle hint or anything like that. He said, I came not to bring peace, but a sword. And you read that and you say, What? A sword? Jesus was not a violent man. It's actually one of the things that distinguishes Jesus from other, from other leaders of different faiths in history. Jesus did not come to power by means of force. Jesus never picked up a sword and attacked anyone. In fact, when his followers picked up a sword and attacked someone, he said, If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. That is not my way. But yet here he says, I came not to bring peace but a sword. He said, I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and her daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, just as if that needed to be done more. Your enemies will be right in your own household. So how does this mesh with peace on earth? I mean, we're told that Jesus brings peace, that he's the Prince of Peace, and then he says, I didn't come to ring peace on earth, but a sword. And if that's true, all of our Christmas songs need to be very, very carefully rewritten. Right? See, the amazing thing about Jesus is that he's so honest. He's not a contradiction. He's not changing his story. He's talking about something very specific here. Anytime we read scripture, we've got to be really careful to know the context in which that scripture is taken from. We've got to know not just the words that were spoken, but the context in which they were spoken. And right here, Jesus is talking to his followers about the fact that because they follow him, they will experience strife. They will experience troubles. I mean, we have this amazing blessing of living in a country and living in an area when being a follower of Jesus does not mean we have to watch our backs. We might endure a little bit of ridicule from some people. We might have a few jokes at our expense. Maybe. But it's pretty easy where we live to be a follower of Jesus and to be open about it and experience peace in relationships. To have a lot of other people that believe the same thing, but we have to remember that that peace that we have as the followers of Jesus is not shared by everyone in this world at all. There are still places where instead of Christians meeting together like this out in the open, celebrating their meeting in secret, having to be very careful that no one finds out. We have to remember that the peace that we have was purchased through conflict and through blood. The earliest Christians, simply to say I'm following Jesus, it meant being excluded from your family, being cast out of the synagogues, being killed in several situations. And Jesus is saying, look, there are people that are gonna hate you simply because you belong to me. Earlier in the same chapter, Jesus said, A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. All nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus said, Look, there's just gonna be people that hate me. For no good reason. I mean, look at the life that Jesus lived and find flaws with it. That's one of the unique things about Jesus is that other major religions include Jesus. And it would be so convenient if they could just say, Yeah, forget Jesus, but they can't, because you can't look at Jesus and find flaws. You have to at some level admit that he's amazing, that he's incredible. Maybe he's just a man, in your own opinion, but he's a good man, right? And yet there are people in this world, there's there's whole cultures that just hate Jesus, that are offended by Jesus. A few months ago I was watching Dancing with the Stars because I am married and I have no choice, okay? Not that I was watching it for my own amusement, but that's the way marriage works. I have kind of a deal with Megan. I will watch as much Dancing with the Stars and Say Yes to the Dress and House Hunters International and Property Brothers. She acts like she doesn't think the property brothers are cute. I know she does. I'll watch as many of those shows as I have to. So that when college basketball season starts, I can say the TV is mine. It is mine. And I don't care if there's the 40th season of Dancing with the Stars. I'm watching college basketball. You gotta find somewhere else to watch it. I'll endure as much as it takes so that I can have my TV come college basketball season. But we're watching Dancing with the Stars a few months ago, and there was a contestant, a celebrity, that was an outspoken Christian. And during one of these practice sessions that they film and they show as a teaser before their live performance, she had a shirt on that said Jesus or Jesus, I'm not sure. But it said one of those two. And it was amazing because you could tell it said Jesus. When she was turned to one side, you would see the S-U-S, and when she was turned to the other side, you would see the J and the E. But if she faced the camera and all the letters lined up together, they blurred it. I'm like, what? They blurred Jesus. For fear, I'm sure, that certain people would be offended. And it doesn't make sense. You look at that and you go, What is the point of that? But that's the that's the truth that Jesus said. He said, Look, it won't make sense, but there will be people that just hate me, that hate my name, that do whatever they can to keep me out of the limelight, to keep me out of focus. And sometimes those people will make life less peaceful for you. You will have to endure some things as my followers. So Jesus told his closest friends, look, I I didn't come to create instant peace between people. The fact that I'm here is going to be divisive. Some people will follow me, some people will not. He never encouraged us to be divisive, by the way. Some people like to use verses like this as an excuse just to be a jerk, but but no, no, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. But because Jesus came, many people have experienced less peace on this earth in relationships with others simply because they were his followers. So what does this whole peace on earth thing mean? What is this whole Prince of Peace thing about? Well, if we go back to Luke chapter 2, what the angels actually said was peace on earth for those with whom God is pleased. They weren't declaring political peace on this earth, they weren't declaring peace among all types of people. They were declaring peace for the very first time in history between people and God. That because Jesus came, and because of what Jesus has done, we can have peace in our spirit with God. We can have tranquility with God, we can have harmony with God, we can rest in God's presence, we can look forward to prosperity from God's hands. We can Have peace with God. And that has never happened before Jesus. That has never been possible with Jesus. I mean, these shepherds that were invited that night, they were Jewish men. And the whole Jewish faith was built on this idea of sacrifice. This notion that we are so far from God, there is such a huge gap between us and God because of sin, because of God's holiness and perfection and our sin that something has to pay a price. Something must be sacrificed. In Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22. The Bible says, in fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. There's no atonement for sin. So the Jewish faith was all about sacrifice. Every year there was a very special day, the Day of Atonement. And on that day, a spotless, perfect lamb was sacrificed on behalf of all the sins of Israel. That lamb was sacrificed in the temple, a place where sacrifice happened every single day. Every single day was a reminder that we are far from God and somebody has to pay the price for our sin. There is no free lunch. Someone has to pay. And Jesus came into this world to end that. I mentioned this last year at Christmas Eve, but it's it's such a cool fact that it's totally worth repeating. People would bring sheep, other animals to be sacrificed to make an atonement for their sins. And those sheep had to meet certain standards. Those animals had to be spotless, blameless, they could have no visible flaws. But there were certain sheep that were set aside from birth for sacrifice. From the moment they were born, they were set aside and chosen to be the sacrificial lambs in the temple. That sheep that was that was sacrificed on the Day of Atonement was not a sheep that they found the day before. It was a sheep that was born, destined to be that blameless sheep. And all of those sheep, all of those Day of Atonement sheep came from one flock. There was one flock in all of Israel that was in charge of raising the sacrificial sheep. That was their whole purpose. And it just so happens that that flock was kept in Bethlehem. So it's it's very possible, it's even likely, that the shepherds that came to see Jesus were the very shepherds that watched over the sacrificial lambs for the sacrifice every single day of their lives. They got to witness the birth of the sacrificial lambs every single year. And they got to be there to witness the birth of the final sacrificial lamb in Jesus. If you've ever heard Jesus call the Lamb of God, it's because he became that final sacrifice. He paid the ultimate price. And because of that, we now have peace with God. There is no other way to have peace with God than through Jesus. It's impossible. Think about relationships you have in this world and the peace that you have in those relationships. There are many different ways you can have that peace. You can have a peace through compromise. It's called parenting. That's how you have peace at home, right? The least peaceful time in my home is bedtime. My son hates going to bed. He hates it. He's hated it since he was a little child. He loves being with people. It's not that he's defiant, he's an amazing kid. He's full of life, he's fun, he's a delight. It's that he loves being with us so much that he absolutely hates going to bed. He mourns the end of every single day. And so putting him to bed is an experience. And I'd love to say that as a father, I just put my foot down and say, you will obey me, you will go to bed, and you will not make any noise and wake up your sister, because if she wakes up, we're done. But what it actually is, for me at least, is an is an exercise and compromise. Because I'm like, I'll do whatever it takes so that you stay in bed and stay quiet. Because I just want to rest, I want Lily to rest, so what do you need? And we have this routine now that sometimes I go, how did it get to this? He is so good. How has he gotten us to this point? Every night he gets his back scratched, his legs get scratched, his arms, and he doesn't even ask, he just reaches his arm out. You go like this. Like he's some like he's some prince, right? And he asks us to sing to him, but with me, we we have this new thing that started about six months ago. He does not want to hear a song he has heard before. Every night it has to be a new song, and if I don't know a new song, he'll say with his arm out, make one up. And so here I am, scratching my son's back, singing to him some on the fly song made up for his amusement. We pray together, we let him have toys, we we just compromise a lot to get him to go to sleep. And it's so hard. Rarely does it work. Megan had this amazing idea about two weeks ago. She realized that Liam just hates to be alone. He loves to be with us, so she put a picture of all of us in his bed, thinking that would help. And I thought it was a great idea, but it backfired completely. Totally. Liam was screaming at the top of his lungs, and I ran upstairs and I'm like, Liam, what's wrong? And he held up the picture and he said, This reminds me of how much I love to be together with you guys. And it's like we can't win. We just can't win. I try to compromise with him to get him to go to bed, but the compromise rarely works because I'll just be honest, he holds all the cards, right? He knows how badly I want to go to bed. He could care less how long he stays up. In fact, he would love it if he could stay up the whole night. He's he's holding all the cards, so I will never have true peace in that moment through compromise. It won't work. We can never have true peace with God through compromise. Because let's just be honest, guys, God holds all the cards, right? What do we have that he needs? He's God, he's eternal, he's everything. He is not like He's not like Tinkerbell in the fairies and Disney movies, where if people don't believe in him, he dies. He's God, he will exist forever. He doesn't need us, he loves us. He craves relationship with us, but but he holds the cards. Sometimes we we treat our relationship with God like it's a compromise. We say in our hearts, okay, God, I'll I'll do this if you do this, as if we have some bargaining power with God. But we don't. And that's not to make us feel small and to act like God is some distant, angry God. He's not, but we have to be honest and say, hey, he's God, we're not. He holds all the cards. We could never have peace with him through compromise. There's another kind of peace that you can have with people through ignorance, purposeful ignorance, right? Avoidance, you just look the other way and ignore things. That's called marriage, by the way. Um I think about how much how much peace I've had in my home, in my relationship with Megan, because she's just willing to ignore certain things about me. But but avoidance doesn't last very long, does it? There's always this moment, and I've experienced that in my marriage, where one spouse just decides, hey, this behavior that you have had forever is no longer tolerable. Starting now, starting today. In fact, when you avoid something and you just put it aside and ignore it, usually it simmers under the surface and and ends up causing more conflict later on. I'll never forget the moment that happened in my marriage. It was several years ago. Megan and I were out to dinner with some friends, and I was doing what I always do. I was I was talking and telling stories, and and I will I will share stories about anything with anyone. I have no shame, I have very few filters, I do not get embarrassed. I wet the bed till I was in the eighth grade every single night. And I don't care if you know that, I'm fine with it, okay? Some people are more private than that. People like my wife, who would prefer that some things just stay between us. But if it's a funny story to me, it's like, oh, gotta share it. And just so you know, I did ask permission to share the story. So but but I used to not. I used to just share things with friends, and then afterwards I would hear that Megan would rather me not share that. But I didn't really know how much it bothered her. In fact, I thought she enjoyed it at times. I thought, hey, everyone always laughs, and there's no awkward silence at Get Together's because I don't let there ever be any silence, and and you seem to enjoy that. I'll do most of the talking, you can just kind of be there. One night we're out with friends, and I was telling this hilarious story about Megan and I, and I felt a sensation under the table. It was almost as if my wife had kicked me. And and I remember pausing and being like, huh, well, that was weird. And so I went on with the story, and then I felt it again, and this time I was like, I know what this fit. She is kicking me. She's kicking my leg. So naturally, being myself, I just said out loud in front of everyone, why did you just kick me underneath the table? And that led to a third kick that was significantly harder than the other two. And I got the hint at that point, and in the car, I I asked her, I said, What was that about? She said, Justin, you just you tell stories about us all the time, and it really gets on my nerves. And and I could understand that, but but I'd been doing that for seven years, and I'd heard nothing about it. And I said, Honey, why didn't you say this earlier? We've been we've been together so long. She said, I thought you'd grow out of it. You know? No. No, not at all. We had peace for a while because she was avoiding something about me that that bothered her, but that could only last for so long. Sometimes we we hope there's a sentiment that we could have peace with God through avoidance. That if God would just kind of ignore our sin and our mistakes, there could be peace, right? Why can't God just look the other way? Can't God just look at us and say, ah, they're people, they make mistakes, no big deal. And let's be honest, God is so forgiving. He is completely and totally forgiving. His mercy far outweigh his wrath. Some people like to act like God's wrath and God's mercy are equal, like they're two sides of the same coin. If you have heard that, whoever said that is wrong. In the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy, in Exodus, God says, Hey, uh, I'm a just God. I do not let the sins of people go unpunished. I'm a just God. He says, I make sure that sins are dealt with, and the sins of the Father pass to the Son, even up to seven generations or four generations. I can't remember off the top of my head. Has anyone ever heard that verse that the sins of the father pass to the son even up to a few generations, right? I heard that verse a lot growing up, and it terrified me. Because I felt like everything my father had already had ever done was already on me. That verse was emphasized often, but God also says in that same verse, but I'm a God of unfailing love, and I pass my love to those who follow me up to a thousand generations. So his love goes to a thousand generations, his wrath goes to four. God is not equal wrath and equal love and mercy. He is so merciful. But he is just. So that when we're wronged, when we're hurt, we don't have to worry about taking things into our own hands. We know that we have a God that loves us and wants to fight for us. And He will right every wrong. We'll never have peace with God through avoidance. We don't want that kind of peace. That's not real peace. See, there's only one way to have true peace. There's a certain kind of peace that can only be one. You look at situations in history like World War II. People tried to have peace with Hitler through avoidance. There were many nations that just looked the other way, pretended like he wasn't doing what he was doing. There were others that tried compromise. You probably know who Winston Churchill is. Winston Churchill was one of the first to stand up to Hitler, and his predecessor tried to compromise with Hitler's predecessor actually met with Hitler and said, Hey, we'll let you take these territories if you promise to go no further. Do you promise not to take anything more if we let you have this? Hitler said sure. And then six weeks later, he conquered France. He took so much more than what they had agreed upon. Compromise didn't work, avoidance didn't work. The only peace that came in that point in history was a peace that was won. It was a peace that came through conflict. It was a peace that was purchased. I had an amazing honor about a month ago. I was doing a wedding, and this person brought their great-grandfather up to me, I think, and they said, Hey, this is Sal. And he fought in World War II and he stormed Normandy. And I shook his hand. I got to shake the hand of a man that fought on the beaches of Normandy. And there was just this instant awe about him. And he's an old man, but you could just tell in his eyes the weight of what he had done in his life. We have a peace in this world that can only exist because it's been fought for, because it's been won. And that is the peace with God that Jesus brings us. Jesus came to this earth 2,000 years ago and he won peace for us. He won peace with God in our souls for us. He fought the battle that we could not fight, and he has won peace with God for us. You read 1 Peter 3, 18 through 19. Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. Hebrews 2, 17 through 18 says, Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful high priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. We have peace with God because it's been won for us, because Jesus sacrificed his own life, himself, he paid the price for us to have peace. So when those angels sang, peace on earth, for those with whom God is pleased, they were saying that for the first time ever, for the first time in history, we can live with peace in our hearts between us and God. Amen indeed. Here's the thing. You can have a relatively peaceful experience, you can have peace in your finances, you can have peace at home. But if you don't have peace with God, if your spirit cannot rest in the love of God, what does it matter? I mean, Jesus said, hey, if you you gain the whole world but lose your soul, what do you really gain? And I want us all to know and appreciate the honesty of Jesus. Your life may not feel very peaceful right now, and it's not because Jesus has not come through on his promises. Jesus is so honest and he tells us, hey, you're gonna have trials, you're gonna have problems. I mean, Christmas time has this weird way of magnifying that, right? It should be a time when there's no troubles, it should be a time when our minds are so far from anything negative, but sometimes this season has a way of magnifying hurt and disappointment and struggles and stress. If those of us who have lost loved ones in the past, I mean, don't we feel it more at Christmas? Those of us that have friends that are struggling that are sick, if they're struggling and sick during this time, doesn't it in a way make it harder? This is not a season that just highlights how easy life is. That's not the peace that Jesus promised. That's a peace that'll come when he comes back the second time. But you can have peace with God. You can rest today and enjoy peace in your heart with God. You can leave here this morning and know that no matter what your life looks like, no matter what problems you're facing, no matter the circumstances, it's okay because you and God, you're good. You are good with God. And if you're good with God, you're good. You don't have peace with God because you've earned it. You have peace with God because Jesus won it for you. He brought it to you. And there's nothing, there's nothing more that I would hope for us as a family than to know and to have confidence that we are those with whom he is pleased. God is pleased with you. He is so pleased to call you his child. Yes, we have sin. Yes, we have problems, yes, we have struggles. We may not be at peace with ourselves, we may not be at peace with the world around us, but we can be at peace with God. We can walk out of here today and say, I am loved by God. I am someone with whom he is well pleased. Not because of what I've done, but because of what Jesus has done, because he came to this earth and he brought me peace. So I challenge you this morning to enjoy peace. That's what peace is meant for. To be enjoyed. When you win, you enjoy it. You celebrate it. Celebrate today the peace that you have with God. We're gonna sing another song if the worship team wants to come back. Celebrate as we worship the peace that you have with God. When you go out to a meal today with your family or you go home, celebrate the fact that no matter what your circumstances are, you have peace with God. If your boss looks at you and he is not well pleased with you, if your spouse looks at you and he or she is not well pleased with you, if everyone around you feels like they are not pleased with you, celebrate today that you can look up to heaven and know that he is well pleased with you. If you belong to Jesus, if you'll accept what he has won for you. This was a really, really interesting week for me. I got really sick on Monday, and and I'm a big whiner when I'm sick, I'm just gonna be honest. And and my wife is, God rest her soul, beautiful, smart, talented, an amazing leader. I love her. She was my my my sweetheart in high school. I got to marry my high school sweetheart. She is so beautiful. And for all of her accolades, she's just not that good of a nurse. And it's because she's she's given birth. That's the only reason. Once you give birth as a woman and your husband has a cold, there's just not a lot of sympathy. And I get that, right? And so I spent this last week and I was so stressed because we were having a Christmas party at our house on Friday, and a lot needed done. So I was at home sick trying to get that done, and then I had to prepare the message for this morning, and and I love, I love preparing messages. But I prepared this message, and on Friday I practiced it right before the Christmas party. I was right about to leave the office. Nathan was the only one here, and Nathan's like, hey, how's the message? I said, It's terrible. I hate it, and I have to rewrite it tomorrow. Totally different. It was awful. You're so be even if today hasn't been that good, hey, be blessed that you didn't hear what I had on Friday. It was bad, okay? It was bad. And so I walked away on Friday night. Usually that's the time where I'm like, okay, now Saturday is a day off, I'm gonna rest, but I was like, oh, I have no idea what I'm gonna talk about, no idea what I'm gonna share. This was the least peaceful week for me in a while. And at the end of the day, I think I just need peace today. I was even blown away by the fact that we had peace on earth as part of the worship today, that the last couple songs before the message were just kind of calm and peaceful songs. I need peace. I need to be reminded that my hope is not in the peace I experience in this world. My hope is in the peace I have with God. That's where all of our hope is. So let's enjoy that peace. Let's enjoy that favor that we have with God. Let's enjoy the fact that we can be people that live with shalom peace with God. You can have tranquility, prosperity, wholeness, completeness, fullness in your relationship with God today. That is worth celebrating at Christmas time. That is what Jesus brought. So let's stand up together, let's celebrate some peace. And let's pray. Jesus, thank you so much for your love. Thank you so much that we don't have to put our hope in the flimsy peace of this world. That we don't have to put our trust in the fragile peace that exists in our circumstances, but that our hope is in a peace that can never be taken away from us, Jesus. Our hope is in a peace that you won for us, that you came to bring us, and we love you for that, Jesus. We are in so much debt to you and thank you that it's a debt that has already been paid. We love you, Jesus. Give us peace today in our hearts. Help us celebrate the peace that we have with you. We love you. Amen.