Purpose of Christmas Part 4:
A Time for Reconciliation
Luke 2: 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!"
A secret to happiness this Christmas… Worship fully by giving your presence to Jesus, and to those you love!
Three weeks ago we discussed from Luke 2 the response of the Shepherds to the Angels heralding cry of the coming messiah…
• We’ve talked about having Christmas on purpose this season!
• To take time, like the Shepherds, to pause, reflect on Christ…
• WE’ve talked about how Christmas is a time for Celebration…"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
o Christmas is worth celebrating for three reasons…
• It’s personal – I bring you…
• It’s good – good news of great joy…
• And it’s universal – will be for all people…
• How Christmas is a time for Salvation…
o 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
• And today how Christmas is a time to receive Peace and goodwill from God!
o 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!"
Two weeks ago we discussed Christmas is specifically a party, a birthday party… celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ! A hinge of history, the coming messiah, foretold in prophecy, now has come to take upon the sin of the world on his shoulders, and set us all free… all those who desire to walk with God!
Last week Pastor Mark led us as we discussed the time of salvation… how Christ came on purpose… we have been speaking from Luke 2… and today focus on the final declaration of the Angels…
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!"
Christmas on Purpose…
Why did we call our series that this season… because God sent Jesus on purpose, Jesus came on purpose… and salvation was given to us… on purpose. To bring peace, goodwill to all men… to bring hope, joy, and a promise of a good future!
Believe me, we needed it..
In the last 5000 years there have been 15,000 wars… and these are the ones known about.
We are not good with peace… some say peace is the moment everyone pauses to reload…
What the world needs most… is reconciliation… the restoration of peace that comes from Jesus Christ…
The powerful miracle of healed lives, healed relationships… sincere peace among men… a change or exchange of your stress for God’s serenity… your tension into God’s serenity… a peace of mind instead of panic or worry… strength of heart rather than pressure to succeed.
Reconciliation… Jesus – prince of peace
Luke 2:14 the angels said to the shepherds…
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Peace… how much do we need reconciliation?!
Every day conflict is on the rise…
I have seen conflict between races, nationalities, language, religious groups, political, ethnic, rich and poor… on every front of the planet this tension exists.
In our interpersonal lives… friendships, marriages, families…. All struggling.
Now littered across the landscape of life… Damaged kids, divided homes, discarded friends, discarded partners…
How much do we need the real message of Jesus Christ… Peace on Earth… the heralding angels speak of.
Lord Jesus, how desperately we need you… the Christ child, the prophecied one, the one of hope, of joy… and of peace!
Today, how can we embrace the third message from our heralding angels… a message of peace… as we live in a world of conflict?!
How can we truly worship fully this Christmas season?
1. Make a change from conflict to peace!
Where is it that you need peace most right now in your life?
The problem is… as long as we are human, there will be conflict.
• There is a war inside of us for our souls… what Paul describes as our flesh and our spirit… battling everyday for victory…
• There is a war in our relationships… for control, for power, for our selfish wants
• There is a war in our world for humanity itself… there is a villain in our story, and a hero… that hero is born Christmas morning…
Even when we start trying to change… it’s hard…
A husband was told by the marriage counselor to try and be more considerate of his wife. One day he comes home from work. He’s dressed up in a suit, he has cologne on, and he has a bouquet of flowers and a box of candy in his hands. He rings the doorbell and he’s standing there as she opens the door. He holds out the flowers and the box of candy. The wife opens the door takes one look at he standing there and starts crying. In between her sobs she says, "Oh, I can’t believe it! Little Johnny has been throwing up; the dishwasher just broke; your parents are coming to visit this weekend and to top it all off, you come home drunk!
Conflict or Peace…
In every one of our relationships… think of it like a bank account. What kind of investment have you made into your friends, into your parents, into your spouse, into your kids? Whatever investment is there, enables you to make withdrawals.
Scripture teaches us… that as much as it is up to us, live at peace with all people…
Hear the message of Christ… Choose Peace, not conflict…
Make a choice, no matter the circumstance, the hardship… even if you are in the right and owed something… walk at peace. We can’t respond as everyone else responds… we must be a people set apart by what we do, who we are!
Ephesians 4:26 says, "In your anger do not sin."
So there will be times you will be angry… but guard your response…
Best story I read on this, as I was doing research this week, was about a woman who attacked her house with a forklift. This is the news report: Diane Fittipaldi, 2013 Sunset Lane, told Municipal Court Judge Levi Grantham that she had launched the attack as part of a long-standing feud with her husband about housekeeping. "Oliver is a horrible neat freak," Fittipaldi said, "and he drives me nuts about keeping everything tidy." After the couple argued about the proper alignment of table place settings, Fittipaldi rented a 3,000-pound, pneumatic tire forklift Tuesday evening and drove it through the front wall of their one-story frame house. According to neighbors who witnessed the incident, she used the machine to smash the dining room table. "Oliver yelled at me about where his fork was supposed to go," she said, "and I figured I’d fix it with a forklift." Neighbors said Fittipaldi seemed "wild-eyed" and distraught during the attack and kept screaming "FORK THIS!" at her husband, who took refuge in the kitchen.
In a world of rented forklifts… It’s not that we don’t become angry in life… it’s how we handle, respond, or deal with that tension.
We need the message of Christ coming into the world… hope, joy, peace to all men!
A hard passage of scripture on this is Proverbs 13:10 – Only by pride cometh contention! If there is tension, anger, arguments in your life… read that verse!
Often fights and quarrels come from our desires that we feel are not being met! You want something, but don’t get it… we covet, but cannot have what we want… when ultimately we are desiring deeper truths that can only come from God… Real peace, Real Joy, real contentment… all gifts from our heavenly Father if we choose to walk with Him!
As we encounter Christ this Christmas… hear the message of peace… goodwill to all men… and make a shift to fully worship by removing conflict and bringing peace!
Secondly… to worship fully:
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.
2. Make a change from ‘me’ focus to God focus! (internal to external focus)!
Our perspective is king in life… how we view the things around us… the people around us… and ourselves is all a matter of perspective.
Whatever the shepherds focus was… it changed. Like our kids musical they could be concerned with the stinky, shaggy, smelly sheep.. and feel sorry for their station in life… but angels refocus their hearts… They shifted their focus from “me” to God… and told others about the wonderful story of the now Christ Childe!
Perspective… a change in how we see life… The preverbal cup half full, or half empty… scenario.
And what we focus on gives us the lenses of life we will have. Just as real as putting on glasses... our focus determines our outlook. Do we view God through the circumstances of life… or do we view life through a Godly lens of hope, peace, and joy?
What’s your focus this Christmas… Life is a matter of perspective, view point, and focus… standing at the back of the line shopping… or traffic is slow… or work is difficult… what is your focus…
A bus carrying only ugly people that crashed into an oncoming truck, and everyone inside dies. As they stand at the Pearly Gates waiting to enter Paradise and meet their maker, God decides to grant each person one wish because of the grief they have experienced. They’re all lined up, and God asks the first one what the wish is. ’I want to be gorgeous,’ and so God snaps His fingers, and it is done.
The second one in line hears this and says ’I want to be gorgeous too.’ Another snap of His fingers and the wish is granted. This goes on for a while with each one asking to be gorgeous, but when God is halfway down the line, the last guy in the line starts laughing. When there are only ten people left, this guy is rolling on the floor, laughing his head off. Finally, God reaches this last guy and asks him what his wish will be. The guy eventually calms down and says: ’Make ’em all ugly again.’ It’s all about perspective! NEXT TIME YOU’RE LAST IN LINE. BE HAPPY
Philippians 4: 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Whatever your perspective is now… let it shift from us to God…
Don’t worry about anything… for here is the good news. The Angels spoke to us… told us of this personal yet universal message, they spoke to us about our savior being born, they spoke to us about joy, and peace for all of humanity!!
This is the message of Christmas…
Like the shepherds that heard the message first over 2000 years ago… hear the Angels praising God… and speaking to us all…
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!"
This Christmas, Worship Fully …
• Shift from Conflict to Peace…
• Shift from me focus, to God focus… (internal to external focus…)
This kind of peace goes past understanding…
A peace with God
A peace with ourselves
And a peace with others…
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!
