Welcome To The River. City Church podcast and a
message by our lead. Pastor Jason Powers our prayer
is that this message would Inspire and encourage you, build
your faith. And point you to the
life-changing love of Jesus, may you enjoy the goodness of God as
you follow him today, Hi everybody.
I am glad that you are. Here.
It is. Good to be back.
I'm really grateful for Nick, Fox, who spoke last week, you'll
be hearing again from him again, during this series.
But I'm here today to talk about peace and I just want to check
in. How are you doing?
Peace is one of those things, right?
It's kind of nebulous, it's a little bit, kind of
touchy-feely, right? It's why.
I like it's one of those things when we pray for it.
Lord, give me peace. And I never Really know, like I
look back and go. Well, I'm less angry than I was
then, so maybe it's going and maybe it's working, but it's
going to hold to the same kind of idea that Nick introduced us
last week when he was talking about Hope and it made this
wonderful point and it kind of holds her.
He said last week, that hope in Jesus has to replace hoping
everything else. And it's such an important idea
and that's wrapped up in a theological, okay?
So sometimes if there's a word that's that's heavy and it's
kind of hard and it's been cast, a great way to kind of Take it
in to look at it again and just make sure that we're talking
about the same thing that the definition, the same.
There's a word that in kind of religious circles.
I think it gets thrown around and it gets heavy.
And when Nick says, you know, that hope in Jesus has replacing
everything else. What he's talking about is
there's this theological word that the word is repent.
And that's what he's talking about when we say that open,
Jesus has to replace of everything else.
What he's talking about is this repentance of hope we repent of
Of our track of hope to find. Another hope the idea is imagine
if you will that you have a job and I hope for most of you that
you don't have to just imagine that.
I hope you actually can have that, right?
But want you to imagine that you have a job and your job is fine,
it's okay, it's good, right? It's like any other job but then
one day somebody comes to you and says, I want to give you a
job and I want you to write what what it what you are good at,
what you are, excellent at, what you put brings you life and joy
and Wholeness, I want you to do just that that is your job that
you can write your job description around those things.
And not only that but we will take that and this job that you
love that you were created for that.
You want to do we will pay you 50 times.
What you are paying well with your boss right now is paying
you. The only thing about it is for
you to have this job that is just what you want to do and the
pays more than going to. The only thing is for you to
take that job, you have to leave your your old job.
That's not a decision. Is it right?
You mean, like, it's going to be better in every conceivable way?
Yes, okay, I will take that. That's the picture of repentance
when it talks about. Hope the invitation is that we
step back and look at all the things that bring us hope and
like, and listen, this can be heavy, right?
Like when we talk about Hope and peace and we talked about, you
know, replacing and repentance and on this, it can kind of
start to fear at. Like I think we sometimes are
hard wired for guilty. Anyway sometimes, right.
And so, We can step back and we can just go yeah man.
I like I do I get you know what are the fear?
You have a lot of fear, have you had an anxiety attack on the
last month? No, condemnation.
I really don't want to say in the question.
Behind all of this is is that indicative is your level of hope
your level of peace is that indicative of something that
only the omnipotent creator of all things could give you Do you
hear what I'm saying? Is your piece is it peace that
has kind of the fragrance and the aroma of Eternity about it?
Or is it the kind of the peaceful that most people have
in some degree or another to a greater degree or to a lesser
degree? And what I would want to say is
if our peace and our joy is not consummate, that there's more
and so here's a little insight into kind of my job.
You didn't ask for it but here it is.
Anyway, sometimes I look at my job, I feel like my job is to
teach, right? Just go.
Hey this is how that is what that means in this.
What that looks like in this is how all of this goes together.
Like and I like that and that's fine.
Sometimes I feel like my job is just to show to hold up a mirror
and to hold up an example and that's kind of what I want to do
today. So just like if you'll look like
this is my Bible, how I prepare like you can see these little
pink tabs, maybe you can't see him.
There's a lot of In full disclosure, if you have your
Bible like your paper Bible. That's awesome.
If you have your electronic Bible, you can go ahead and get
it out because I just want to let you know.
I'm going to wear you out with scripture today for a very
important reason we talk about peace today.
Don't you think we could use some?
Generally in the world. All right.
And so what I want to show today is that this piece that I think
we really hunger for and really search for this piece that that
our hearts cry out for that. We know.
Even if we can't put a finger on it, exactly.
We know when it's not, we know what anxiety.
We know what anxiousness, we know, what lack, we know what
loss feels like. My hope is what I want you to
see today, is that piece that you long for and search for Or
so hard for your whole life is really God's desire for you
since the beginning. God's desire, isn't that we
would toil and futility, and obscurity.
And then someday when we die, No.
Oh, that's what that is. Jesus came.
And he said the Kingdom of Heaven, the government of
Eternity is present here and now and so if there's any peace and
that there should be peace Here. And Now, how does that sound to
you? And so I want to say especially
if you're here and piece is a little bit.
Diminished piece is a little bit lacking for whatever reason,
your marriage isn't going, right?
Your relationships at work aren't going well, maybe the Oz,
have you freaking out, maybe, you're you're bothered and
you're, you're not at peace because what's going on in the
world or in the country or in your neighborhood or in your
school or in your kid's life, and whatever it is just
acknowledging. I don't have the piece that I
think God could give me is a great start and it's a great
beginning. So what could we see in
scripture, we start in the beginning in Genesis chapter 3
and I do want to say in the New Year we're going to start off
the new year with looking at like a 45 week.
Look at Genesis. Two and three.
We're going to call this series blueprint because in Genesis 12
and 3 really is god's picture and God's idea of what creation
and humanity and life in the kingdom is supposed to look
like. But we're going to just
specifically look at chapter 3 today because we find in Genesis
1. God, creating everything and
calling it, good. Whatever it is that you see in
the world and created God looked at it.
God said, yep, I did that. And that's good.
Can you imagine how happy how peaceful an entirely and
thoroughly good world? Would be if everything played
its purpose. Fulfill this function,
everything did its role perfectly and completely.
Can you imagine how it piece that would be?
So in Genesis 1 we had this big kind of 10,000-foot view and we
get in Genesis chapter 2 and it kind of focuses in on one day of
creation or God created Mankind in the garden chose about
purpose. And it shows about his vocation
about his work and we find that even work can be the presence of
God. But when we get to Genesis 3, we
really find where the whole thing starts to Wrong.
It says, in Genesis chapter 3 starting in verse 6.
So when the woman saw that the tree, there was really one tree
and even that God said, Hey, in order for this thing to work, we
have to acknowledge and keep the reality that I'm God.
God said, I am God and you, Adam and Eve mankind.
You're not God, you're my agents.
You're supposed to be in creation, reflecting God's
goodness in the world, but I'm God.
And in order for that to be realized, we have to
acknowledge, I get to say, God says, I get final say what to do
and what he says is just don't eat that tree.
And it's not, is it an apple tree or persimmon tree?
Who cares? The idea is God said, don't.
And what we said, is look when the woman saw that what the tree
was good for food, that's important, isn't it?
Are we supposed to eat most have food, right?
One thing that causes stress and anxiety and unpeaceful in our
world, in our life, is a lack of resource when we feel like we
don't have enough when we feel like we're without and what
happened is Eve. So now you Got to notice is he
was in the Garden of Eden, where literally all the world is
blooming at God's desire in his wishing.
God made all the trees and she looks in at this one.
Yeah but really I want that she saw that it was good for food
and it was a delight to the eyes.
It looked good. It was the perfect shiny red and
that the tree and this is really the one right?
The tree was to be desired to make one wise.
You know, what's significant about the desire to be wise.
If I'm wise and I'm the able to no good and evil just by eating
a fruit. You know what, I don't need.
A boss, a god, a Lord. And so at Eve's, I remember we
just came out of a series on James, right?
We saw about how our desires. Go will Eve saw and her desires
are inflamed. I want what tastes good and I
want what looks good. And I don't really want to have
to be dependent on that. God guy all the time for what
tastes good and what looks good. And so it says she took it, and
she ate it and she gave some to her husband who was there with
her and she, and he ate it and notice what happened.
It says, the eyes of the both were Were open.
I want to real quick. Just acknowledge, it doesn't say
anything changed. The only thing in creation that
changed was they saw. And they saw things as they are,
they saw things that were real, right?
Their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked notice
where they naked before they were. now they knew it and you
know what they noticed they're not like God They really wanted
to be like God and they wanted to have their desires met and
they wanted to have all that and what they missed was and all of
creation, all of their desires have been met, all their
desires, everything that they wanted for food and for is all
available is all readily right there.
But what they wanted was not just to enjoy God's presence.
They wanted to be God and so we find that in what happens is he
sends them out? He says, well if you don't, you
don't get the garden without God who made the garden.
Grow God did who planted the garden?
God did who planted Adam and Eve their God.
Did they were there on God's plan and God's purpose for his
purpose? And so when they threw that out,
when they said, no, we don't want to be where God makes
things grow, we want to be God. Well, that's a whole different
world entirely and so they walk out of it.
And for hundreds of years, things go from bad to worse.
And so, one day out of nowhere, God shows up in a guy's
backyard. And he says this, the Lord God
said to Abram in Genesis 12, Go from your country and your kin
did Kindred and your father's house to a land that I will show
you. This is the Old Testament way of
God saying follow me. Where am I going God?
You're going with me. Well, where will we end up?
You'll end up where I end up, well, what should I take?
You should take me. So, what do I need to know?
God, you need to go that I'm going and I want you with me.
That's the invitation. That's it.
That's how God calls a notice then.
But what else he says, and if you do that verse 2 and I will
make of you a great nation. Now, what does a nation mean?
It means people. It means power.
It means economy. It means military.
It means borders. It means all of the stuff that
goes in. And he says, Abram one guy.
I will make you a nation and all of these things and I will bless
you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
And I will bless those who bless you and to him who dishonors,
you, I will curse and in you all the families of the Earth shall
be blessed. So, the pictures Abram, I will
make you a giant cup. And I will fill you so much that
you get that little surface tension bubble over the Top
right? So you can look at it, he's
gone. Yeah, that's as full as it can
get and then God says and as soon as your full, what I'm
going to do is I'm going to turn on the fire hose and I'm going
to shut it. So the water shoots out all over
the world and everybody gets some because of what I'm going
to give to you. And so now that the contingency
for blessing is, are the criteria for blessing is, how
close are you to the one who's close to God?
You see what God is saying is like I'm going to build and make
a community and so now you go a couple more Chapters over to
Genesis chapter 15. Because remember God has
promised errands that Abram follow me and I'm going to do
something with you. So the question is like, what?
S always going to make us a blessing.
That sounds good, right? Don't you want to be blessed?
Don't you want to be a blessing? So he goes on in verse 15 verse
1. After these things, the word of
the Lord came to Abram again and a vision fear, not Abram, I am
your shield and your reward shall be very great.
So there's a couple things. What is it called when we are
not afraid? We are what at peace.
Don't Be Afraid Abram, why? Because God said, I am your
shield. Now, what does a shield to do
it? Protects us, right?
So what did God say that God. Say Abram!
You better. Go get tough.
You say Abram, you need to have a good lawyer, you need to have
a good attorney to make sure that you get what you want from
the nation Nations around you. He say Abraham.
Listen, you got to listen, you got to fight, you got a raise in
our, you got to go, you got to go do all these things.
What God Said to Abraham is I will take care of you.
Now, what does Abram have to do? Follow.
Did God say everything you got to do all this right since phone
keeps going on, go down to verse 5 and he brings them outside and
he says look towards heaven and Number the Stars.
He literally is like okay Abram go ahead.
I want you to just count all those stars all way.
I remember this was like a long time ago there wasn't light
pollution, he could see all of the stars guys.
Like I'll wait. Captain, right?
And if you can count them, if you can count the Stars to
number them, then he said, so shall your off brings Offspring
being and he believed the Lord and he counted it to him as
righteousness. He believed in.
And so what God told amer's Abram, I'm not just going to
bless you. I'm gonna bless you so much that
you can't even contain it. Like, the stars in the sky
Abram, I'm going to take you and I'm going to make you so
fruitful. And so abundant see, this is
what God is up to. This is what God is about.
When Jesus said in John, chapter 10 says the thief comes to steal
and destroy and kill you. He says, I've come to give you
abundance, we need to think of the order of magnitude when God
describes abundance, the order of magnitude that he's talking
about is the stars and the sky. The sand, the grains of sand on
the beach and he says Abram, I'm going to do that for you.
And now we go down to verse 15. As for you, you shall go to your
father's is a great way of saying you're going to die.
Listen, and there's a great word right here and you shall go to
your father's in. What?
The word for peace, the Hebrew word for peace is you've heard
it Shalom. And what shalom means is, it
means peace. Yes, but it means peace from
being completely full from being at rest from being complete, it
is to say to have Shalom, has to say, I don't need anything.
I have all the food, all the provision, all the protection,
all the company, all that, everything that I want.
I have, I need now. It doesn't mean that all the
world. It doesn't mean it just says, I
am at rest. It is to be at peace.
It is to look around and just go, I have that.
And what God says is you're going to follow me and I'm going
to make you so complete. It's going to Define you and
it's going to be the kind of thing that everybody who gets in
the same room with you is going to see and notice and experience
that fullness and then when you die because you're going to die.
And on that day you will be so full and complete.
You will go to your father's in peace and you shall be buried at
a good ripe. Old age.
See what God told, Abraham, what God did with Abraham is what we
call a covenant of peace and Covenant, Covenant is an
agreement. If I make a covenant with you,
we don't I don't know that in kind of in the west we have
anything anything equivalent maybe a banknote right where the
bank says hey if you don't give our stuff back we're going to
come get everything right and it's an agreement with terms
that everybody has to agree on and everybody has to but what
God did is made An agreement with Abram and his Abram, and
his commitment. His promise was Abram, if you
follow me, I will drench and shroud your life in the
abundance of Peace. So, again, I ask you at
Christmas time, how's it going? How are you doing?
This is the time where all of those things that destroy our
peace, come up, our relationships, our fears, our
failures, our insignificance, our questions.
We want to see just at the beginning, is that when God gets
involved, when God looks at our lives, when God looks at our are
lost in this his desire he engages us with a call number
one to follow him and number two to find in him.
Peace. So now we fast forward thousands
of years and there's a prophet called Ezekiel, right?
And the when profits show up, what that means is that the
people have gone away and ideas the people of Israel.
Now, since he's talked to Abraham, they've gone, they went
in. Avery and Egypt.
God, delivered them from slavery.
He taught him how to be the nation of Israel.
They went and they had their people under King David.
They conquered everybody. Lots of Conquest, lots of
military and God. And David said, I want to build
a temple for you and God said, you can't build a temple for my
people because you're a man of Bloodshed right?
So, real quick, right, when we look at the Old Testament go,
man. God sure is angry, and God, sure
is mean and God sure does like killing people, right?
It's important to know. First of all that the god that
we find in the scripture is a God who goes to Abraham and says
I want to make with you. Even in a piece I want to bless
you and I want to be a bun. You so what's going on in the
rest of the Old Testament with Joshua?
I think God a little bit knows what's in our heart, right?
And he knows what we're like and so he goes, okay, let's see how
that works. Go ahead, go get them.
So the question is, how did it work?
Israel had a nation, didn't they?
They had borders. They had an economy.
Do they ever have peace? No.
Solomon. After King date, right?
And not only that, but David, the king the warrior of metal
budget. God didn't let him build the
temple. Listen if that's what we're
hooking our saddle to that's fine.
Just no just no Solomon. The probably the wealthiest
person who's ever lived the wisest person who's ever lived
and it's on his Reign, his watch that the entire nation of Israel
goes into go starts to go down the drain.
They end up with in just a few hundred years they're all split.
The kingdom is divided, they're all in Exile and all that and
what happens then the prophets come and they start talking
about God. Has God made a promise This
Promise real, right? Like if it's promise is just
for, like, 20 minutes, what, what good is that, but these
profits are coming, and they started talking about his
promise to the people. And he says, this in Ezekiel
chapter, 34 starting in verse 22.
God says, to the people of Israel, and real quick, you're
like, well, we're not the people of Israel in the Old Testament.
The people of Israel are God's people.
The people that God chose that he's saving that he has made a
covenant with who are the people in the New Testament that are
God's people that are under his Covenant.
Remember what Johnny said? Jesus said this is the new
Covenant, in my blood, we are God's people as Believers as
follows him, right? So what does he say?
He says, I will rescue my flock. God begins to build a metaphor
for his people, A Flock. He's talking about sheep, you
know, the great thing about sheep when he makes this
metaphor, they are dumb. I don't I don't particularly
like that analogy but I am that analogy, right?
Like they don't feed themselves. They'll walk.
You seen the videos of that sheep right in the crack and
they pull him out and he jumps down and falls in the crack
again. That's cheap.
That's us. That's right.
This is why God says, I will rescue my flock because we're
always jumping and crevices, right?
I will rescue my flock. They shall no longer be a prey.
And I will judge between sheep and sheep and I will set up over
them one. Shepherd.
Now here's the metaphor, right? So the idea of Shepherd is God's
chosen person to take care of the sheep.
And so, what a Shepherd does is pulls sheep out of the crevices.
Make sure they have food, make sure they don't walk off the
cliff. Make sure that they have that
they're not sick, make sure that they have water, right?
I will set over them a Shepherd, my servant David now, listen,
David was already dead. This isn't like zombies, right?
He's not raising that David upright, like this.
What he's saying is from that, wine it.
When you talk about David, they're talking about royalty,
they're talking about God's people about their identity.
He said, I will raise up my servant David and he shall feed
them. He shall feed them and be their
Shepherd. And I the Lord will be their
God. And my servant, David shall be
Prince. Okay.
When he's talking about that word Prince royalty, what he's
talking about is Messiah and Messiah what he's talking about.
With Abraham, right? Erin, I'm gonna raise my sight.
The word Messiah, it's a Hebrew word, and it means anointed.
It means Royal it's the Greek word Christ.
Okay, so he says, I will send a prince my royalty and he will do
that and I Am Lord but he's the one that's going to come to
trees. And now what is this Prince
going to be? Like I will make with them.
A covenant of Peace. Remember what I did with
Abraham, on the individual level, I'm now going to do with
everybody. So how does God's water?
God's his covenants like peace. When God makes a deal.
It's a deal of Peace. God makes peace, do people make
peace people, make war people, make the cross people.
Make armies people make war, god makes peace and I will banish
the wild beasts from the land so that they may dwell securely in
the wilderness and the and sleep in the woods and I will make
them and the place is all around my Hill.
A blessing, that's what he said. Listen, God hasn't changed
Genesis 3, Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Ezekiel 34.
God's heart hasn't changed his desire for his people.
His peace. So when we talk about
repentance, when we talk about turning away, when we talk
about, not our way, but God's way, when we talk about this,
radical reversal of who we are, when Jesus stood on the beach
and Matthew chapter 4 and said, repent, because the Kingdom of
Heaven is here, this is what he's talking about.
God has made a covenant with his people of Peace.
Listen, are you listening God's desire for you?
Not someday when you Diane are sitting on a cloud, God's desire
for you today is that you would know, deeply and thoroughly and
exhaustively his piece. How's that sound?
How does that feel? God makes a covenant with his
people of peace. And now we go back a couple
books of the book of Isaiah and we already read this today.
Isaiah chapter 9, again, a prophet hearing from God talking
to the people of Israel. He says this he describes now
we're talking about Messiah, right?
That Prince of Peace. The one who comes for unto us, a
child is born. Here's the thing, right?
Like, like babies scream, and they yell and do all that right.
But is there even in all of the screaming, right?
We just love them. Just love them, right?
But the question is is there anything in the world less
strong and scary than a baby? No, when I see a baby, I turn
into an idiot, right? I want to pick up your child and
I want to nibble on it. I want to hold it and squeeze
and all this, right? Like this is the thing because
this is what babies do. And what God said is there's
going to be a child and listen to what the child says.
Are you listening? Listen and the government will
be on his shoulders. We know that that brings up
images in your mind. What does that mean?
The government will be on his shoulders.
And his name will be called wonderful counselor, Mighty God
Everlasting father. And here it is, Prince of Peace.
The ruler, who rules and Reigns over piece.
And of the increased. Now here's here's this metaphor
right of the increase of his government.
So I wanted to ask you, right? If we look at history, if we
look at The Human Experience, right?
If what we do, how do government's increase taxes?
Bureaucracy War battles, right? But what we're told is there's
this baby and it describes his government, right of his
government, it will increase with the increase of his
government. There will be no end.
That's what the Roman Empire was trying to do, right?
The increase of the government spread that Went all the way
around the whole world. We call it imperialism.
Right. The Roman Empire spreading
spring break, but we're told is there's a baby and his
government, this Prince of Peace that is going to expand and
expand expensive. There will be no end upon the
throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to
it. Uphold it with Justice and
righteousness from this time forth and forevermore and the
Zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this Isaiah saying, a baby's
going to come and establish a government and it's going to
keep growing and it's going to keep doing that.
And some of us in here and go, Yeah, but we keep electing
Democrats. So how's it going to happen?
That's not what he's talking about.
Not at all, not even a little bit.
Because that's the question, right?
Like, how do you grow government?
How do you expand government? And the question I would have is
again. How's it going for us?
Has our government brought us. Peace.
And here's the deal, right? Whatever side you're on.
Good news, is, we've had both sides in office and the last
eight years, right? So, if any side in the political
game could bring peace, we would surely have it now.
How's it going for you? Are you at greater peace?
This year than you were last year than the year before and
less? And I know it's not all about
politics. I know it's about relationships,
it's about money, it's about sex, it's about fear.
It's about identity followers. Hints about all kinds of things
that cause turmoil, that stir us up to get us agitated to get us.
Frustrated and all of that we're going to find in just a second
where that comes from. But the idea that I just want to
reiterate and rehome has that gods desire for you is peace.
God's desire for you is that you would live in this world.
Peace and listen to how Micah another Prophet said, Micah 5:2.
But you o Bethlehem Bethlehem sound familiar, right?
Sounds relevant to the Christmas story.
You o, Bethlehem ephrathah, who are too little to be among the
clans of Judah. From you shall come forth, one,
who has to be a ruler in Israel. You could call him a prince,
even a prince of peace. A ruler in Israel whose coming
forth It's told from ancient days.
You know, when it was told it was told in Genesis 3 and I was
told in Exodus and Leviticus and numbers and Deuteronomy and
Joshua and judges and all the way through because this has
been God's plan his desire the whole time.
So now we go down to verse 4 and he this ruler that's coming.
He shall stand and Shepherd, right?
Does that sound familiar? God's person?
God's leader. His Messiah.
He shall Shepherd. His flock in the strength of the
Lord. See, the problem is, the reason
we don't have pieces because we try to Shepherd our lives in the
strength of me. And so I run around and I got to
figure out how many did the shopping done and how am I going
to make the money going on? My gonna raise the kids and do
all this. Listen I'm not going to be able
to do any of those things. Well and when he says is you
want to know how a child, his government grows the child grows
because the child operates in a strength that isn't his I think
maybe our lack of peace is because we're not so comfortable
with that and that's understandable.
I understand that, right? You start talking about a power
that that's not it's not yours. A power that we don't understand
and it can be big and it can be scary but it goes on.
Verse 50 rats and they shall dwell insecure and they shall
dwell secure for now. He shall be great.
To the ends of the Earth and listen in verse 5, and he shall
be their peace. This Messiah.
It says, it doesn't say that that he will come in and bring a
feeding program that leads to peace.
Doesn't say that he'll come in and rule in peace.
It says that he will be there peace.
There's this crazy verse in first John four that says that
God is love and that's so comforting right?
Because when I hear that God is love, it doesn't mean that God
loves me as if someday he could stop loving me.
What it means is that his very nature is to love to be in the
presence of God is to be loved. Loved to be in the presence of
Jesus. Are you listening to be in the
presence of Jesus, is to be at peace?
God told, Micah, and he told Ezekiel, and he told Isaiah.
And he told Eve, and he told all of them that his plan, his
coming was to bring peace. So we go back now, to Luke, Luke
Chapter 2, right? You've heard the story.
This is what Linus reads every Sunday or every Christmas.
Right? Luke Chapter 2 starting in verse
10. Right?
The angel shows up their Shepherds shepherds are just
blue collar guys. They're Outsiders, they weren't
invited to the party because they dirty and they smell right
but you know where the shepherds are there with the sheep that
seems to be a metaphor that seems to be significant to the
Lord. Right?
So the Angels show up to the Shepherds and an angel said to
them fear not what's another way you could, what's another word
that you could use for fear, not peace.
Shalom at rest. He says fear not For behold I
bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people
for unto. You is Born This Day in the city
of David. You know what the city of David
is Bethlehem Remember what Micah said in Bethlehem a ruler was
coming. And so now the Angels go to
these Shepherds and they say hey and that now listen, these
Shepherds, they were not theologically trained.
They did not know. All the Messianic prophecies,
they didn't know they're dealing with sheep poop all the time,
right? So an angel has to come in and
this is good news. He comes, he goes hey, in
Bethlehem and guess I gotta, I know you don't know.
This means that listen today in Bethlehem, there's a savior, who
is Christ the lord? And this will be a sign for you.
You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloth and lying in.
A manger. And suddenly, it says, there was
with the angel, a multitude of the Heavenly Host, praising God,
and saying, and what did they say?
We got the biggest guns. We are strong, we can control
and room and Haley. Did he come and say hey, we're
about to get Rome out. He said, hey, I'm going to lower
interest rates. Know what he says is glory to
God in the highest and on Earth. Peace.
Peace among those with whom he is pleased.
Jesus is the Fulfillment of God's promise of Peace when he
promised peace in Genesis and in Ezekiel and Isaiah and in Micah
and all the way through, when he promised peace, he was talking
about Jesus. Remember what Simian said last
time? Luke chapter 22 verse 29 now.
Lord, you are letting your servant depart in peace.
According to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.
They've seen it. Salvation.
What did it? Simeon.
See a baby. He saw Jesus and he knew.
That's it. That's my piece.
So now let's be real honest, let's acknowledge this, right?
Jesus is our peace. Can we be honest person?
As I would have, there doesn't seem like he's doing a very good
job. Does it?
Billion people in the world, probably, right now.
Professing Christians. Believers.
How you doing? What a piece for piece today
than there was for peace and there was a year ago, two years
ago, five years ago, 100 years ago win When was yeah, we have
probably more piece less war now than you know.
Genghis Khan. I don't, I don't know.
Just doesn't seem like he's doing a very good job.
I would say, even for myself, I don't often live in that sense
of just like this and I'm not what you see on the inside a lot
is happening. On the, on the outside is a lot
happened on the inside to write. This is 1.
This is hard for me. But what I know is I can't draw
close to the story of scripture, the story of Christmas and
Escape From This Promise of Peace escape from this promise
that God is working and that God is moving.
And so what do we do with that? Is it okay to tell Jesus Jesus,
you're not doing a very good job at this.
I think like you should listen to me.
I think we should do that. We'll listen, I would say it's
hey, you got to say that you got to tell him, right?
The worst thing you can do is just go.
Yes this is the peace. That Jesus came to establish.
Let me just tell you if I'm outside the church.
I look at us. I hear us talking about peace.
I look at this and we don't have an answer.
I would tell you the same thing, it's not working.
You need to tell your God to fix it because this is terrible.
What I would say is that God knows, and what I would say is
that Jesus knew to, are you listening, Luke chapter 19, Luke
chapter, 19 is the story, The triumphal entry, which we
usually tell at Easter time, right?
When we hear that Jesus was the Messiah will Triumph the
triumphant entry is when all the people of Israel acknowledge it
and Jesus rides in on a donkey and all the all the prophecies
are fulfilled and what they say is these great Messianic Hosanna
blessed. Is he who comes in the name of
the Lord. There they're celebrating.
Jesus as Messiah. And what they thought that meant
was that Jesus was going to come in and Rome was going to go out.
And so they were so happy because what they expect was
there already to take up arms. They're ready to throw off for.
Why are you listening? Because peace, they wanted peace
and they thought Rome was the problem.
So the question for you is what's the problem in your life.
Is it a person? Is it a system?
Is it a structure? What causes you to not have
peace because we find Jesus still a little bit bowlegged
from the donkey, right? Like, you can hear the shouts of
the crowd behind him. Hosanna blessed.
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord?
And Jesus Walks over to the edge of the mountain and he looks
over Jerusalem. This ancient city where the
temple was? It's the equivalent of walking
and standing on a hill, overlooking Washington DC and we
see the Capitol and we and we see that You know, the
Washington Memorial and Jesus stands over Jerusalem and the
graves of the prophets and all the places where God promised
and said when he drew near and he saw the city, he wept over
it. And why did he weep?
Sang would that you even you had known in this day.
The things that make for peace Jesus acknowledged and
understood that the world had not yet arrived and achieved the
kind of peace that he desired, but what Jesus did his Jesus
didn't take responsibility for that.
He said, the problem is, we don't understand what peace
looks like and then Jesus spoke directly and immediately to
Common and popular concepts of what is and brings peace, right?
So he says, if you had only known what piece was and then he
says, for the day will come upon you when your enemies will set
up a barricade around you, and Surround, you and hem you in on
every side and will tear you down to the ground and your
children with you. And they will not leave one
stone upon another because you did not know the time of your
visitation. And in 70 AD, the entire Roman
army, surrounded the city of Jerusalem, and they be built
sees. Work Siege works and they cut
off the river going inside. So there was no And they waited
it out. And, and the City of Jerusalem
fell, the walls came down the emperor.
Walked into the temple in Jerusalem and sacrificed an
unclean Pig on the altar of God. And the idea, when he says, if
you had only known, they were betting on a political solution
to the ROM problem in Jesus said, as long as you follow
that, all you're going to get our sieges and destruction and
opposition power coming to take what you thought.
Was yours and Jesus. Understood that won't lead.
So the question for us at Christmas is, what are you
counting on for peace? Because you may just say, man, I
bet it all on crypto baby. I knew I'd if I'm going to have
my business, if you did that, if your bed is on the economy for
your piece, oops. If you if your hope for your
pieces in your economy, or in your provision, you're subject
to all kinds of crazy volatility.
If your piece is in winning winning at work, winning in the
economy, winning politically winning with your spouse,
winning with your kids. If your piece is in winning than
everybody else in the world is a threat to you.
Because at any time, somebody else could rise up.
If your pieces and appearances having the most followers, the
best picture, the most curated lifestyle than everybody else is
a threat to you. If your pieces in your strength,
listen, if you bought into the American lie, the mythology that
the whole Go West Young Man, the whole Marlboro, mad your man,
you're a rugged, individualist if that's you.
Do you know what the greatest fear in the world is for you.
Age. Because you're not as strong
today as you were yesterday, I'm 46 years old.
I'll be 46 years old in a couple of weeks.
I just want to tell you. Some of you are like how you
just a kid, right in some of you are like dang, bro, how are you
even walking? I know, listen.
For those of you who are younger, let me just tell you.
You may be surprised and shocked at how much closer the end
themes when you're 46. Then when you're 30.
You may be shocked at how quick those last couple of years with
your kids goes, when you're 46 and not 30.
And some of you are like, I wish I could get rid of some of my
kids. I understand, I remember those
days. but again, so even in that if we step back and we look at
it, aren't we trading one unrest for another because what if our
peace isn't in our kids, What if our peace isn't in our family?
What if our piece isn't in our job or income or home?
Or if any of those things, that's what Jesus knew.
He said, you put your hope and all of these other things and
you end up left and lost moved out and the message of
Christmas, the message of God's promise message, going all the
way back to Genesis and through all the prophets is that you
don't get the Peace of Jesus without living the way of Jesus.
You don't have Christmas without the cross.
Jesus doesn't die. And come back and isn't
resurrected. Then Jesus is just another baby
born in another town and a Backwater of the Roman Empire
and it really doesn't matter to us.
But if Jesus died so that we could be forgiven and in Jesus
was resurrected so that we could have eternal life in him.
I hope you hear me and I hope your I say this with all the
generals, if Jesus is who he said he is and if Jesus did what
he said, he would do, then the life we live apart from him is
fun. Into mentally incompatible with
the eternity that he wants to give us.
The piece that we seek and scratch out for ourselves is
fundamentally incompatible with the peace that he wants to give
us. Jesus said it this way and it's
interesting. He said it in John, chapter 14.
Hours before his death at the time.
When most of us would be the most freaked out.
Most of us would be the least at peace.
We beasts Krantz you know scurrying around trying to
figure it out and try to do whatever and what Jesus said
he's talking to his friends, John 14:26, but the helper the
Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name.
He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all
that I have said to you. Peace.
I leave you who like stop yelling at me about peace, I get
it. Peace, I'm leaving you.
Geez, are you leaving us rules know?
Jesus. Are you leaving us law?
No, I'm leaving you. Peace.
Not as the world gives do. I give to you let your hearts.
Not be troubled. Neither let them be afraid.
God's desire, his plan. His purpose for your life is
that you would live in peace. And I know that's hard.
And I know that for many of us, even this Christmas season
doesn't bring the peace. I want you to know that he has
made provision for peace first. The first piece that he offers
you. His peace with God, right?
It's true. It has to start with there
because our piece started with got the piece started with God
and Adam and Eve and God and with Abram, right?
So our piece starts with god. Listen to what he says, what
Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter.
Where is that 5 verse 17? Eventine if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation. I just want you to say that old
part fighting scrapping digging kicking calling manipulating all
of those things, for the piece, trying to control other people,
trying to force them, trying to get them, that's gone.
The old has gone. The new has come.
Now, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away, behold. The new has come all.
This is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself.
The word reconcile means made peace.
He made peace with God. And he gave us the ministry of
reconciliation. I can't say this enough.
Are Mysteries to make peace with people who are far from God.
If we create a Ministry context where people who are far from
God are not welcome or addressed here, we're not doing what we're
supposed to be doing. If people don't come to know and
make peace with Jesus because of what we're doing here, we're not
doing our job. However, nice.
It feels to us, however, good. It feels for us, right?
Right. That is, that is Renaissance, is
in Christ. God was reconciling the world to
himself. How did he do that?
Not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to
us. The message neck message of
reconciliation. He didn't say saying there's no
sin. He said not counting it against
them. The problem is we look at the
other people in the world and we go you have sinned.
And then we hold it against them and we want them to pay us
rather than leaning in and digging in.
And going, you know, there's a God who loves you very much.
He really wants to have a relationship with you.
Yeah. But I am fill in the blank.
Yeah. But there's a God who loves you
and wants to have a relationship with you.
He has made provision for peace and so listen.
I don't know everybody in here. I don't know where you're coming
from and I just want you to know that's God's desire for you when
we talk about Commandments, right?
When we talk about rules, when don't reach don't start in,
Leviticus start here. Starting John 14.
He went he came to make peace to give you his peace and you know
what? His peace is eternal life and so
he shows you what that life is like and what it looks like and
he invites you into that so that you can walk into that so that
you can be free. That's his desire for you.
And if you're in here and you're not following him, if you never
followed him and you thought he just wanted your money or he
wanted something like that. Today, I want you to say Jesus,
I want peace. I want the peace.
That only you can give and you just confess.
I'm not at peace, that's 10. And I want your piece, I turn
away from all the things that don't cause peace and I turn to
you, if that's you will you do me a favor?
Will you just say, God, I want that.
And it for the first time do you will you send a text message?
Text the word follower 29. 4000, if you've never done that
before, just say I want peace with God and I've never had that
before. What we're told that you're not
saved by sending in a text message.
You're saved by Jesus by the piece.
That he brings your saved by the peace.
That only he can give the second thing that you have to do is let
the Holy Spirit, teach us the way of Peace.
Jesus talked and John chapter fourteen twenty six.
The first thing he talks about is the Holy Spirit and you
remember what he said, the Holy Spirit was going to do, it was
going to remind him of all the things that Jesus had said, here
are some things that Jesus said, are you ready?
If you're offering your gift to The Altar and there remember
that your brother has something against you?
Leave your gift there before the Altar and go first.
Be reconciled to your brother first.
Make peace with your brother and then come and offer your gift.
Jesus said that and if you want peace, the holy spirit will
remind you of that. And it doesn't say if anybody
has hurt your feeling, I think what the Holy Spirit would say
is humbly lovingly, graciously to you Church stop being such
babies Stop getting your feelings hurt.
The world is not going to protect your right to worship.
The one true God. The world is not going to
celebrate your right to speak about a bar that they're not
trying to reach. Stop expecting them to do that
because they won't if you want peace go make peace and what
that means is if you have caused trouble, you go make it right.
That's the beginning of peace. And the Holy Spirit Will remind
us that he says at the end, going on verse chapter, 5 also
verse 23. So if you are off, we already
read that. What's the other thing that he
said? Let's go.
He said this at the end verse 40, something you have heard
that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy but I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in
heaven for. He makes his sun to rise on the
evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust we want. Like goddamn withhold rain from
the people who hurt us on the people who disagree with us from
the people who don't value us like we need like we should be
value and so the holy word, the Holy Spirit teaches us the way
of Peace but listen the way of peace is the way of Jesus.
And you know what, the way of Jesus is going to be, he calls
to all of us die to those things in you that make you take the
Apple from the tree. trust God's way, trust his life and his
light even if it doesn't seem to make sense, walk in it and see
if peace is an attendant and finally Repent of the way of
anger and retribution. Do not be angry at other people.
Nick Fox preached last week. Did he do a great job?
Nick is like, Nick is, my is my best friend.
Nick is a brother and I know that Nick told the story of the
time of the other church when Nick and I work together to
remember that remember what Nick talked about and we had a big
blowup. I'm going to tell the story a
little bit differently and some of you are like whoo, whoo,
whoo. Good stuff right now.
Listen. Every single thing that Nick
said about that encounter was absolutely true.
Here's what I want to add. We would not be here today.
If Nick had not chosen the path of Grace.
He told the story about us going to his house, right?
In his living room and we had a talk out on the deck.
He told that story, right? Remember him telling that story.
Do you know why we were at Nick's house because Nick
invited us in Nick didn't, he didn't make me answer for the
pain that I caused. He forgave me, and he brought me
in and I want you to know that kind of Grace has a impact.
It changes us. It changes everything.
My concern is because that way is harder because it is more
costly to us. We don't choose that way.
We choose to fight we choose to stand.
And we choose to hunker down and to dig in and what we're left is
war-torn battlefields of humanity crying out for peace.
That Jesus says, if only you knew If only you knew I'm
grateful that Nick chose the way of peace.
I'm grateful that Nick chose to forgive and to extend love.
I needed it. More than I knew.
I needed it. That's what Jesus has for us.
And so wherever you are, if you need peace, what I want to
invite you to do is lean into Jesus, fill your life with this
word. Fill your days with his
presence. And every moment, remind
yourself, God, you're here with me.
What do you want to say? What do you want to do?
What do you want to show me? And then obey radically,
especially if it goes against your seemingly.
Best instant. Let's pray Lord, I pray that you
would make us peacemakers You came to fulfill all the promises
you came to give us hope and a future.
You came to give us abundance Jesus.
And I pray that we would I pray for anyone in here today, who
doesn't know you, who hasn't been following you and they need
your peace. I pray that they would know.
that has they confess you don't count their sins against them
that you forgive them and I pray that you would make us in your
church as we live in a divided peaceless society and culture I
pray that we would take our position in the Gap and we would
bring People to you, and it would be models of
reconciliation and redemption in peace.
I pray father, that your church as we trust, you would be a
glory and an honor to you. We ask Jesus these things in
your name and for your glory, amen, this is Harry and Karen,
and this is Jaime and Megan Martinez.
And they would just love to pray with you if you need prayer.
If you need peace today, we stop by and talk to them.
If you're new here and I haven't met you before.
I'm going to be right here and I would love to talk to you and
say hello. Low and just welcome you to
River City. May the Lord bless you and keep
you and make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
Hey, let's count and see. Peace.
Have a great week. We'll see you next time.
Thank you for joining us today. River City Church is all about
experiencing and expressing God's love in our lives and
community. And we hope that you've been
able to experience that today as grateful.
As I am, that you've spent this time, listening in this morning,
this podcast is no substitute for full participation in a
local church. I love it when River City people
listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after
week Faithfully, giving their support and time and resources,
that make all of this possible. If we can help you get connected
to a Cool church. Pray for you or support you in
any way. Click the link in the
description and let us know if you'd like to financially
support the ministry of River City.
Click the give link on our website in the description.
Don't forget to subscribe, and don't forget to share this with
your friends. Thanks so much for listening.
May the Lord bless, and keep you in all Grace and peace.
Cool church. Pray for you or support you in
any way. Click the link in the
description and let us know if you'd like to financially
support the ministry of River City.
Click the give link on our website in the description.
Don't forget to subscribe, and don't forget to share this with
your friends. Thanks so much for listening.
May the Lord bless, and keep you in all Grace and peace.