Jesus: Our Prince of Peace Amidst Life's Chaos

"This is always kind of a unique week. It's almost kind of an awkward week, and maybe you've experienced it this morning. Like, what do you say? Do you say, Happy New? Do you say, Merry Christmas? Do you somehow bunch them two together? I say, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's. But this is a season, the Christmas season, where so many good things happen. You have Christmas lights. You have hot chocolate. There's gifts. There's eggnog. Hopefully, there's rest." [00:01:17] (33 seconds)


"And I pray that you will work in such a way that we can grab hold of that, that it would not just be some intellectual concept, this far-off idea, but it can really be ours today. That we will look at you and see you as the Prince of Peace. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated." [00:05:14] (24 seconds)


"Like every time you hear it, it never gets old. I pray that the wonder of this story never gets dull for you. And if that's the case, I pray that you will, like David did in Psalms 51, that you will begin to pray, God, restore the joy of my salvation. Like this can't be dull for us. Pray that God will awaken our hearts to the beauty and the wonder of the Christmas story." [00:12:12] (34 seconds)


"Through Jesus, justified by faith, believing and trusting in him, and all of his promises to us, we have peace with God. Ephesians chapter 2 puts it this way, remember this, that at one time, you were separated from Christ. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. That was our story." [00:19:00] (28 seconds)


"Like, could you or could you not enter a room? Could you use some more peace, like real peace, experiential peace in your life? You and I, because of Jesus as the Prince of Peace, we have access to real peace in our lives. Because Jesus is the Prince of Peace, he gives us rest. There's this tagline that you've probably seen before. It says, no peace, no Jesus. And it says, no peace, no Jesus. No, K-N-O-W. If you know Jesus, you can K-N-O-W, no peace." [00:22:44] (47 seconds)


"Jesus says this in the book of John, John chapter 14, verse 27. He says, peace, I leave with you. He says, my peace, I give to you. And I love this. This is the point he says, not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let them be afraid. I love that he points out that he doesn't give peace like the world gives peace. So it poses the question, how does the world give peace?" [00:23:41] (33 seconds)


"Because the world's peace is no troubles, now we can have peace. God offers something so much better. And maybe this is just like the one thing that you need to hear. Like maybe you've tuned me out. I'm going to say bring it back in. If you are a person that deals with anxiety, I want you to like rest in, remind yourself, think about, read this over and over. Here's the peace that God offers. God's peace is an absence from trouble, rather it's his presence in it." [00:32:13] (31 seconds)


"Peace that triumphs over everything. Tim Keller puts it this way. Christian peace is not that you stop facing the facts, but that you get something in your life, a loving power that comes into your life that enables you to triumph over those facts. Peace is available for you today. The Prince of Peace is here. And he himself is our peace. Because as the Prince of Peace, Jesus gives us rest." [00:35:13] (40 seconds)


"Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 says, Do not be anxious about anything. I love that when the Bible, oftentimes when the Bible says don't do, don't do this, it's going to invite us into something greater. And we see this here. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition. Don't be anxious. What do you mean don't be anxious? But in everything, by prayer and petition, when Thanksgiving, present your request to God." [00:36:50] (27 seconds)


"To say, God, here it is, is to cast. It's this aggressive, God, I'm going to throw this on you. And here's the problem. You can't carry and cast. You can't carry and cast. Either you're doing one or the other. Either you are carrying or you're casting. My question to you today is, what are you carrying that you need to cast? You came in here with a weight of anxiety and stress and maybe even depression." [00:41:37] (38 seconds)