Do you have a prediction Doug? Are we gonna have lots of snow in January? No, okay. So see there it is You heard it. I don't know what channel that comes from Okay, the other thing is Birthday party for Jesus. When's that? next Sunday okay, and You know if we have a party we have to We have to keep the calories up, you know, so anyway, there's a few things here you could sign up for Sunday school, we really would like for you to come for Sunday school Unless there's a hurricane or something. Okay, so We would like more than just the parents of the kids here So come and encourage the kids. Others are going to be playing instruments and stuff. And then that won't take too long. And then we'll go downstairs and enjoy a food fellowship and a birthday party for Jesus, OK? If you're going to have a birthday, you've got to have a birthday party, right? And I didn't think you all wanted to come here on the 25th to do that. So we're going to do it a little early. All right, so you can sign up for the food thing on this one Maybe it should be the other way around. The white one is the snow one, but it isn't, it's blue, so. Okay, anyway, just try to get it across the aisle, one way or the other. Okay, all ready to sing some more Christmas songs, right? How about, Tyler's gonna come and lead us. First one here, come on, ring those bells. 153. Or you can watch up here if I get my little, let my little So it's 153 in your hymnal if you want to follow along there and if you'll stand up we'll sing come on ring ring those bells Come on, ring those bells, light the Christmas tree. Jesus is the way, both you and me. Come on, ring those bells, everybody sing. Jesus, we remember this your birthday. Come on, ring those bells, light the Christmas tree. Then in your hymnal we're gonna go to Silent Night 147 and you can follow along up front if you'd like. 147 and we'll sing all three verses here. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace. Glory stream from heaven afar. Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia. Christ the Savior is born. ♪ I shall see you as God ♪ ♪ Son of God, holy one ♪ ♪ Son of God, love's pure light ♪ ♪ Radiant beams from thy holy face ♪ ♪ With the dawn of redeeming grace ♪ You may be seated and the pastor has a few announcements. Okay, just a few people you might be remembering in prayer. Some of that's on your prayer sheet, but if you can be praying for Kathy, not feeling too good here today. Pray for Tom Tafuri as he's recuperating from his knee injury. replacement, and it seems to be going well. But he's still recuperating, OK? And so appreciate the prayers there. And then if you'd pray for Bonnie and Mike as they travel to Houston on Wednesday, be down there for a week, and soaking up the, hopefully, sunshine and warmer weather. And we've already asked, the back seat's full, so no hitchhikers. Anyway, so you'll be praying for those. I know that they would appreciate it. OK, mentioned there, next Sunday, Sunday school hour, Have the children singing others playing their instruments It'll be something good together. We'll sing a few songs here together and then go downstairs and enjoy our Our foods that's you've signed up and are bringing in here, okay Thanks for those who stuck around here last week and decorated and Thank you joy for doing a great job downstairs making that looking all Christmas like and pretty appreciate that and Everybody using their talents okay for the Lord all right Okay, see if there's anything else here Oh, you might pray for us getting together on Tuesday night and putting together, working on the budget for next year. And hopefully we, you know, God usually is real good about helping us to have an educated guess at what's going to happen next year. And usually it comes out pretty close. But anyway, that we're putting the funds in the right spot. So pray for that. Okay, I think that's probably, oh, I didn't get the up here pray for the missionary this week, but the Beckmans, you might be praying for them. Karen, it's Larry and Karen. Karen tripped when they were into a tractor supply store over a rug or something and fell and got a nice big gash in her head and she's the one who had back surgery and just went back to work back in October. So she probably really didn't need that. But and then also they've got a couple of their grandkids that are staying there with them while mom and dad went back to Thailand. And so praying for direction there. It's different when you're it's grandma and grandpa and then all of a sudden it's you got to act like mom and dad, you know So anyway pray for them. I know that they would appreciate it and family of the week Mike and Connie Connie's having pain in her right arm and shoulder and Is that your your right knee? Okay. All right. We've got to have everybody's got to have one good arm so you can rub the sore spot, you know, but pray for those. Okay. Yes, sir. Is that the one in Georgia? Oh, wow. Oh, my. Okay, wow. All right. And that was your sister. Wow. Okay, all right. Well, let's take a minute to pray for these folks, and then we'll have a few more songs. Heavenly Father, we thank You. You have that ability to minister strength and healing, encourage us in times of grief, We do pray that you might be with Annette and the family there in the tragic passing of her son through this drug overdose. We pray that you'd comfort their hearts and that they might be looking to you for help and strength on a day-by-day basis in the days to come, that even through this, There might be some that realize that they're not ready for eternity and need to trust Christ for salvation. We do pray for others in need of strength and healing. Pray for Kathy. You'll continue to strengthen her. Also, for Tom, as he's recouping from this knee replacement, you'll continue to keep him progressing there, healing there in that knee, and keep him safe from any falls or problems that he might potentially face. Pray for Bonnie and Mike. You give them a good, enjoyable trip down to Houston and back in time with their families. We pray you guide us now through our service today, in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, it looks like we got another one here. It came upon a midnight clear, 128 or? On the screen. So if you wanna stand up, we'll sing 128, it came upon a midnight clear, and verses one and two in your hymnal. Came upon the midnight clear, a glorious song of old, from angels bending near Thee to touch Thy brow. ♪ Peace on earth and will to men ♪ ♪ From heaven's gracious King ♪ ♪ The world in solemn stillness cling ♪ ♪ To hear the angels sing ♪ ♪ Still to hear that glorious song ♪ I love you so. And then, 133. Hark the herald angels sing. And we'll sing all three verses in your hymn while we're here. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Joyful, all ye nations, rise! Join the triumph of the skies! With angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem! O angels sing, glory to the newborn King! Christ, our God, is here at door, Christ, the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of a virgin's womb. Hail, then, Christ, the God I see! Hail, the God and Deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel! Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King! ♪ Hail the Son of Righteousness ♪ ♪ Light and life to all He brings ♪ ♪ Risen King in His birth ♪ ♪ And He lays His glory by ♪ ♪ Born that man no more may die ♪ ♪ Born to raise the sons of God ♪ Hey man, you may be seated. There's one another if you want. Oh my God. th th th th All right, today we're going to be talking about finding peace on earth. We sometimes sing the song of peace on earth, goodwill towards men. And we talk about peace, you hear about it talked about on the news and all. But sometimes the statistics don't hold that up to be something that really happens. These are a little bit older statistics, but I don't think they've probably gotten any better here in the last couple of years. It says only 8% of the time since the beginning of recorded history has the world spent entirely at peace. And I don't know who's keeping these records, okay? They must be scratched in hieroglyphics on Egyptian walls or something. But in the 3,521 years, only 286 have been warless. 8,000 treaties have been broken. 8,000. They're not worth the paper they were written on, okay? They don't last. Something else is kind of sad and surprising too, I think, that, and I don't know who's keeping track of this, but that there are more family fights and feuds at Christmastime than any other time of the year. Somebody got somebody else's present. And that, what is it? Do they still do white elephant exchanges and stuff like that? But yeah. Anyway, the song, the angels sang about it, but sometimes we look around and we're kind of wondering what happened to it? Where's it at? How do we find that peace? Well, today we'd like to talk a little bit about that. I think it's something, again, that we'd all like for Christmas. Again, we sing about it to make it a reality, but how do we find peace? A lot of people are looking for peace. And again, you can probably go, you can find all kinds of, helpful hints and cures at the health food shop, you know. But I'm not sure there's a bottle over there with capsules in it that promises peace, okay. We see here, first of all, that what is peace? Well, peace is that harmonious relationship between God and man. And we see that it's accomplished through the gospel of the Lord Jesus. We have, I think we probably all know that, we all have a problem. This world has a problem. Well, we may have a lot of them, okay? But the main one is that of the sin problem. And the good news is though, we've got somebody that can take care of that, all right? The person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's able to save us from our sins and the punishment, the penalty of it. And God's word tells us that all who believe that Jesus is indeed the son of God, that he came to this earth born of the Virgin, died on the cross, shed his blood, payment for our sins. He died and rose again that third day, and proof of the Father's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice for us, and now seated at the right hand of the Father. What's he doing? Remember what it says there in John 14? He's preparing a place for us. Awesome. Okay. Awesome. And we see here, so peace again, comes about as a harmonious relationship between God and man. He makes it possible. And again, that peace comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. We see a few scriptures there. One of them in John 14, 27, Jesus is speaking here and he says, peace, I leave with you my peace, I give unto you. Notice he says, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And so peace comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. And you might want to write that reference down and memorize that verse. Remember it. to remind ourselves that peace comes through the Lord. And peace is what Christ has left for us. It's what he gives for us, gives to us, and it comes through no other. You cannot give me peace and I cannot receive peace from you. It only comes through the person and work of the Lord Jesus. as the scripture tells us there in John 14, six, that he is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father, but by me. And so peace comes from Jesus. Again, he tells us in another place there in John 16, 33, he says, these things have I spoken unto you and that ye might have peace. In the world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. So we have an overcomer and the person of Jesus. He's helped us to overcome obstacles along the way that seems to kind of rob us of the peace that we desire. He's the overcomer and he gives a peace in trying and difficult times. We see here too that faith, let me back up. My lips are getting ahead of my brain. that peace comes from our faith in Jesus. There in Romans chapter 10, verse 14, it says, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so as we hear the word of God, it sinks into our cranium, lodges there in our brain. We hear, we learn of God's word. We're able to see the truth. We're able to believe the truth. And that's able to change our lives from the inside out. It's able to give us peace. And again, we see that in that familiar passage some of you have memorized, like the Roman's road. and to share with somebody who needs to come to Christ. But it reminds us that when what happens when we trust Christ for salvation, he says there in Romans 10, 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed. And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sin? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Folks, you can be one of those who have beautiful feet, okay? My feet look better when they're in shoes. Here. here a week or so ago, I had a multicolored big toe, because I must have had a wild dream and I kicked the wall and it turned black and blue and it's back to normal now. But yeah, we can have beautiful feet because we're sharing the gospel. and just a little nudge there, take some of those Christmas tracks that you find over there by the door. Again, it'd do them more good if we can get them out than if I just put them all back in a box and stick them back here again for the following year. A lot of people that might not be interested in receiving a track will take one at Christmas time, you know, and many of the headings and things on it might cause them to want interest to open it up and look at it. And so you can be the bearer of good news, okay? Bring about peace in the hearts and lives of other people. And again, we obtain that peace through faith in Jesus Christ there in Romans chapter five, verse one. We touched on this one here in Sunday school class, but it says, therefore, being justified or declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so it enables us to have peace with our heavenly father, with the Lord Jesus. And he's the one who's able to bring it about. I don't know if you're in need of peace today, but if you do, it's because you need Jesus Christ as your savior, Lord of your life. And again, it's justified, meaning declared righteous. We're seen by God as sinless. before God, and we have been forgiven and our sin is removed. And when that happens, we're able to have peace with God. but it also puts us in a better position to have peace with others and peace with ourselves. Sometimes we might be more at war within our own hearts and minds than we are with anybody else, but God can grant us his peace. He helps us to have that peace within. We see here too that peace also comes from the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. of his work on the cross. And as much as we enjoy Christmas and the thought of Christ coming to earth, his coming some 2,000 years ago didn't bring about that peace, okay? It was rather what he did and the result of what he did there on the cross, his death on the cross. Now that may sound a little bit strange to think that peace comes through death, but that, just so we're not confused, it's not your death or mine that brings about peace, but it was that of the Lord Jesus Christ as he died there on Calvary's cross. He died for us as our substitute in our place. And his shed blood is what provides the cleansing that we all have need of. And again, we're all in the same boat, you know, and I like to, if I'm talking to somebody, trying to share the gospel with them, you know, I try to bring that out. It's not, you know, looking down my holy nose at them and, you know, you are a sinner, you know. Like I'm not? No, we're all in the same boat, okay? We're all sinners. And that's what it tells us there in Romans 3.23. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. And because of that sin, we all face the same condemnation. There in Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death. We all deserve to die because of our sin. And yet Jesus went to the cross. He died in our place as our substitute. And not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world. And it's further explained for us there in 2 Corinthians 5.21, where it says, for he, and he's talking about God the Father there, hath made him, talking about Jesus. So the Father has made Jesus to be sin for us. And then it goes on to say, unless there's any question, who knew no sin? Jesus didn't have any sin of his own. that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So Christ had no sin of his own. He became sin when your sin, my sins, sins of the world were placed upon him. And so again, the wages of sin is death. That's the penalty, that's the punishment. And Jesus did that for us. And then, I like to say that sometimes that'd be kind of depressing if there was a period somewhere else along in that verse. If it just said, the wages of sin is death, period, you know, wow, that's tough. But it goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so God wants us to receive that gift. I mean, oftentimes we think about Christmas, you know, and it's a time of giving and receiving of gifts. Well, those are pretty neat. And yet at the same time, most of what we get are temporary things, where this is something that will last for eternity. He wants to give us eternal life. Now, sometimes it's hard for us to wrap our minds around that because everything else has a beginning and an end, all right? There was a point where it was created. There's a point, I don't know, who's got the newest car or truck out there, you know? But at some point, if we live long enough, it's going to end up someplace like Al's Auto. That's a junkyard in case you didn't know, all right? Good place to go get used parts, all right? But yeah, nothing around us lasts forever. You know, you look at buildings and, you know, they're 50 years old, let's tear it down and build a new one. You know, nothing around seems to last very long around here. But here's something's going to, life without end. And it's, we're not going to go into this new life, this eternal life, going to heaven in our current shape, okay? Can you imagine how big that pharmacy would have to be if we went? in our current shape, you know? All the aches and pains stuff that we'd have to be taken a thousand years from now, you know? We'll get a new body. We're gonna get a new mind. And it's not what we're gonna get isn't gonna wear out, okay? But we see here again, what happens between the sinner and the savior there in Ephesians 2, verse 12 and following, it says that at the time you were without Christ, okay, before we came to know Christ, he says, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, okay, we weren't part of God's chosen family there, and strangers from the covenants and promises, okay, having no hope and without God in this world. That would be in bad shape, right? If we had no hope and we were in this world without God. But then it goes on to say, for he is our peace. Well, let me back up, skip the verse here. Verse 13 says, but now we are in Christ. And once we've trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, the Bible talks about us being in Christ. We're in the body of Christ. He says, ye who were sometimes afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace who has made us both one and broken down the middle wall of partition between us. And so we see here, there was a time, we never may have thought about ourselves as being an alien. That's the guys, well, not just coming in from a spaceship somewhere, but maybe those crossing the borders, illegally or whatever, you know, and we weren't always in God's family. You know, there might be some that believe or preach that, you know, I saw one on, I think it was on a, one of the boards out in front of a church. I think it said something to the fact that we are all in God's family. That's giving false hope, folks, all right? Everybody on the face of this earth is not in God's family, all right? The only way you get into God's family is by trusting in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. And folks, there are millions upon millions that don't want anything to do with Jesus Christ. And so he's not just, I mean, the opportunity's there. They have the freedom to come to trust Christ. A lot of them stiff arm God. They don't want anything to do with him. And so there was a point where we too were aliens. We weren't a part of God's family. And yet we're made close, we're drawn in by the blood of Jesus Christ who died for us, provide cleansing for our sins. And we are adopted into God's family. It says, we see the purpose that he came. He came to reconcile, to make things right between God and man. We may never have thought of it that way, but really we were enemies of God. We were God haters, right? We were doing Satan's bidding before we came to know the Lord. And yet God wants to bring about peace between us and him. And the only way to do that is to get rid of that big, overwhelming, that elephant in the room kind of thing, the sin problem in our lives. And so Christ did his work there on the cross. He died in our place as our substitute. And so as we trust in him alone for our salvation to be our savior, he's able to cleanse us and grant us his peace. Colossians 1.20 says, having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. But he's able to make reconcile all of us so that we might have a right relationship. with our heavenly father. And again, it's not automatic. Jesus came, Jesus died on the cross, so we all get to go to heaven. No, that's a false hope. That's not what the Bible teaches. But we have to receive the gift. Now we don't have any gifts. Let's see, what can I give away? Oh, sure, why not? Don't get too excited. A lot of receipts, but not a lot of the full green stuff, you know. But, okay, Keith, if I were, in order, this is a gift. Not for real, but. That's probably not politically correct, but did he, did you grow up, remember, it was an Indian giver? You give it to somebody and you take it back. I don't know how they got that reputation. But yeah, you know, in order for Keith to have the gift, he has to receive it, okay? Just be saying. There's a gift for you. Well, it doesn't become really a gift until he takes it. And the same way with salvation, God offers it to us. He offers the gift of eternal life, but we must receive the Savior. It really comes as a package deal, if you will, not to demean the Lord at all, but we trust Jesus Christ as Savior. We also get along with that, the gift of eternal life. You don't just get Jesus and, you know, skip the eternal life thing. No, it all comes together. And as we receive him, and so then we are adopted into God's family. It's not a, you know, a temporary thing, you know, and try it out and see if you like it kind of thing. We're adopted into God's family. And it tells us there in John chapter one, verse 12, it says, but as many as received him, and it's talking about Jesus, As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." And so we're adopted into God's family. Folks, once we're in God's family, nobody's ever thrown out, okay? You are a part of the family forever, okay? And yet we have to trust Christ alone for our salvation for that to be true. And so it's imperative that we trust Christ for salvation. We receive his gift of eternal life. We're brought into God's family. And then as again, a part of that, there's just extra blessings that go with it, right? And part of that is the peace that he's able to give. I think most of you know this passage, but there might be some that don't. So I'll ask you to, I've been sharing most of the verses here. Look at Philippians chapter four, because this might be something that you can apply to your life, you know, even yet today or in the days to come. You know, because sometimes we get caught up with worry, okay? And we know as Christians, we are not supposed to worry. You know, so we call it something else. You know, we're very concerned or we come up with a different word, but we, it kind of all means the same. All right. We fret about stuff that we shouldn't. And he tells us how to deal with that. He says there in Philippians chapter four, and in beginning in verse six, he says, be careful for nothing. Now that's just a 2000 years ago way of saying, don't worry about anything. Don't be careful, don't be worried about anything. And he says, but instead of worrying, he says, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests be made known to God. Just talk to God about it, right? Worrying, somebody said is kind of like a rocking chair. You know, it gives you something to do, but you don't get very far. And so rather than just worrying and not accomplishing anything, talk to God about it. He can make things happen, all right? And we see here, it goes on to say, and then he says, the result of this, talking to God about it, he says, verse seven, and the peace of God, that's what we want, right? which passes all understanding, okay, it's beyond anything we can really understand, shall keep or guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Okay? So God is able to guard our minds. We don't have to worry and fret and stew, whatever the problem might be, but we can talk to God about it because he's able to do something about it. And then he goes on to say, instead of fretting and stewing and thinking about what it is that this, Keeping you awake, he says, verse eight, finally, brethren, he tells us, here's some things that you might want to think about. He says, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things who are lovely, whatsoever things are a good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things, okay? So we can pick and choose. We don't have to keep on worrying about the same thing. We can choose. I kind of work with pictures. And so I'm looking at my mind as like a big TV screen, all right? And just like you can change channels, you can take down what's up there, whatever it is it's worried about, finances or health or whatever it is, and put something else up on the screen. And it gives us some ideas, some things that we can put up there. And that God will help us to think on these things, all right? So that we can have peace. As a child of God, our lives are not full of bad luck. They're not full of accidents. I mean, we call them that because it wasn't anything we planned, but it didn't take God by surprise. And so God is able to bring things into our lives that if it was up to us, maybe we wouldn't have chosen that, all right? If life was a smorgasbord, we might skip the few things along the way that ended up on our plate. But God knew that we needed them there at that particular time for a reason, which we may not know this side of heaven, what it is for. I'm thinking maybe the Lord will clue us in when we get to heaven. But he says, he tells us that we need to trust him and he will give us his peace. We see here too that, okay, so we see about the fact that we could have peace with God, but now we want to switch gears a little bit and see how about having peace with our fellow man, okay? Ladies, men, whoever, okay? People with skin on. And the first thing we want to notice here is that Christians should try to live at peace with Oh man, just a little word, but it's pretty inclusive. It covers anybody and everybody. And we see there in Romans 12, verse 18, maybe you ought to look at that one too. Okay, just so you're not saying, where's he getting this stuff? Well, it's right here. Acts, Romans 12, verse 18. Yeah, he says, Well, let's back up to 17. That's one part of the outline, but it's a good verse. It says, recompense no man evil for evil. Okay, so if somebody's being evil to you, that doesn't give you right to turn around and treat them the same way, okay? It might justify you in your mind, but not in God's mind. He says, don't treat people. If they're rotten to you, that doesn't justify you to turn around and be rotten to them. He says, recompense no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of men. Then he goes on to say, if, okay, and you can kind of circle that if, if it be possible, as much as lieth within you, live peaceably with all men. Okay, no exclusions, believers, unbelievers, doesn't matter what color, race you are, how old you are or anything else, we're to seek to live peace with all of them. And that's, you know, that's not just at work or at home or at church, it's anywhere and everywhere. And there's no exceptions. Now he didn't say, that there wouldn't be some challenges along the way, okay? Let's face it, there are some people that are just hard to get along with. I mean, they're just kind of like a porcupine. You get a little, a long time ago, I remember using that. There was a, I don't know if it was Dobson or Swindoll talking about the dance of the porcupine. You know, and it's starting to get cold, and the porcupine, Mr. Porcupine and Mrs. Porcupine, and they're, you know, trying to nuzzle up next to one another because it's getting cold outside. But when you get close to somebody who's got quills, you get poked, and so you back off a little bit, you know. Well, sometimes people are a little bit prickly. And there are hard to get along with. And it's kind of like, they're just mad at the world. They may or may not have a reason for it, but they're just hard to get along with. And they're not bashful about telling you take a hike or whatever. Now he didn't say that there was going to be peace with everybody, but he noticed what he does say. If it be possible, it may not be, but if it be possible to have peace with other people," he says, it's worth a try, okay? It's worth a try. And the responsibility of living in peace lies within you and within me. He says, as much as lieth within you, as much as you are able, seek to live peaceably with other people. And so, We are all supposed to do our part in making peace. God wants us to be peace makers, not peace breakers. Hebrews 12, 14 says, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. And so it's essential in our lives as believers that we seek to live peaceably with all men in all kinds of different areas of life. People we work with, neighbors, friends, relatives, and so on. Okay, so that takes care of all men. That's the broad picture. Let's narrow it down a little bit. And it tells us that as Christians, we need to be at peace with our fellow believers. There in Romans chapter 14, verse nine, it says, let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, the things wherewith one may edify another. So in other words, we need to consider what it is that we can do that will promote peaceful relationships. Do we edify our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord? Do we seek to build one another up? See, I figure the world's going to do its pretty good job of tearing us down, okay? Because sometimes people, well, we got to humble them. We got to knock them down a peg or two. Well, the world will take care of most of that, okay? But we as believers are to edify, to build up one another. What do we do to encourage our fellow believers? What do we do that brings about peace? Do we seek for peace? Do we seek for peaceful solutions? What are we doing? I think there are some in this world that kind of delight in pushing other people's hot buttons. You get to know people for a while and you kind of know, okay, this is going to fire them up, you know. And, you know, that's where they get this, you know, don't talk about, what, politics or religion because that fires some people up, okay. And if I didn't get to do that, I wouldn't have much to say. But anyway, we're not encouraged anywhere in scripture to see if we can't rev one another up. And so we're to be peacemakers. And again, this is something we can constantly work on. We're never gonna arrive at this side of heaven. You may have done a great job last week. You might be doing pretty good this week, but you have no clue what's coming up next week. And so there's always some unique tests out there. How are we gonna do? Are we gonna promote peace? Are we gonna throw gasoline on the fire? Ephesians 4.3 says, endeavoring to keep the unity of spirit in the bond of peace. Endeavoring, the idea here is to have a determined effort to keep unity and to keep peace. That's kind of our marching orders. In Colossians, it tells us how we ought to act towards one another. He says in Colossians 3, verse 12 to 15, he says, put on therefore the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another. In other words, be patient with one another. forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of God rule or be in control of your hearts, to which ye also are called in one body, and be thankful." He says in 2 Corinthians, 13, 11, finally, brethren, farewell, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. And so to have peace, first of all, we have to have peace between us and God. And that place takes place as we trust Christ alone for salvation. But then we are also to have peace with our fellow man, the others around about us. And again, sometimes there are things that come into our lives that don't make for peace, but we have to view it that way as something that God has allowed into our lives for a reason. And some things happen that we have no idea why. We'll go to our grave wondering, why did that happen? And here's an illustration of that. And this is back before I was going to pick on somebody, but age is not something to pick on. So back in 1555, a few years back, all right, a few hundred years ago, Nicholas Riley was going to be burned at the stake because of his witness. for Jesus Christ. And the night before his execution, his brother offered to remain with him in the prison chamber to be assistance and comfort. And Nicholas declined and said that he meant to go to bed and sleep as quietly as he ever did in this life, because he knew the peace of God, that he could rest in the strength knowing that the everlasting arms of his Lord will be wrapped around him all that night long and into the next day. Now that's having real peace, folks. I can't say that I might be feeling that way, and hopefully we're never tested to that. But we have to be careful. And just kind of in a closing here, another illustration, but it talks about words spoken in haste. You know, sometimes we could really start a fire with our words, things that maybe we say. You know, everything that comes to our mind doesn't have to come out of our lips, right? You might be thinking stuff, but there ought to be a screen, a filter somewhere between here and here that cuts out some of that stuff, right? Turn the volume down or something. And so we have to be careful that we don't get all wound up about something. And again, like I said, they mentioned here at the beginning, fights and feuds more on the Christmas time, don't be one of those that are involved in that, okay? There might be some others that you're coming across that are kind of that mode, but you don't have to join in. And so we need to think about what we're saying because it's important. Can't take it back. Oh, we can apologize. but it still rattles around in the person's head. And restraint can bring about peace to an ugly situation. And I came across this one. You might forget everything else I said, but maybe if you remember this illustration, it will stick, okay? It was an old Englishman known as Father Graham in his village. And he was greatly loved because of his positive influence. One day, an angry young man came to him because he had been badly insulted and came to see Father Graham. And he explained the situation and said he was on his way to demand apology from the one who had wronged him. My dear boy, Father Graham said, take the word of advice from an old man who loves peace. An insult is like mud. It will brush off better when it's dry. Wait a little until he and you are both cooled off. and the problem will be easier to solve. If you go now, you will only quarrel." The young man heeded the wise advice, and soon he was able to go to the other person and resolve the issue. How often the tongue pours fuel on the fire that would go out if it had been left alone. Solomon said, do not be rash with your mouth. Let your words be few, Ecclesiastes 5.2. Hymn writer William Longstaff put it well as he said this, take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul, each thought and each motive beneath his control. So perhaps you have a problem with somebody and you decide to tell him off. I remember talking to one fellow, he was gonna go give them a piece of his mind. And he was a person that I could, and say this, I might not be able to do that with everybody, but I said, you know, I think you better hang on to that piece of your mind. You might need that later on down the road somewhere. We gotta be careful how much we give away. But telling somebody off. The idea is why not wait? It's easier to brush off mud when it's dry. And to pray for that person who's offended you, that the mud might dry faster. Something to think about. Closing thought here, finding peace on earth. Again, it comes through the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who's enables us to have peace with God. And in turn, when we have peace with God, the Bible tells us we become new creatures in Christ. All things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. We're different. And because we're different, it enables us to have peace and the opportunity to have peace with other people, as well as peace with our own heart in life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, your word talks about peace. Hopefully it's become a little bit more real and how it be something that we or others can possess that we might be able to share with them how they too can have peace within their own heart and mind and peace with God. Your word gives us instructions on how that could come about. We pray that that might become a reality for each of us in Jesus name. I'd like for us to sing a closing hymn, if we would. Number 124, Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus. 124. Okay, 124, and find that on family memorial scene. ♪ Thy praises sing to me ♪ ♪ As I watch at the sky ♪ ♪ The rest of the year ♪ ♪ It is well-spoken consolation ♪ ♪ O God, all the earth adore thee ♪ ♪ Give peace, O Lord ♪ you. All right, so all you folks with smartphones, you can go on your calendar and put 9-15 next Sunday and have it remind you the day before. And so you can All right, did those sheets make it all around? Where do we got? Oh, yeah. Check your mailbox. You've got your new giving box for 25. Oh, are they? OK. I thought. There again, I thought, and I was thoughtful. Anyway, they're out there. OK. Lord bless you, and thanks for coming today. Have a good day. Enjoy the sunshine, and all that you can get out there. and and and Thank you. I don't know. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hang on, I want everybody down. Everybody down. Here, sit in this row. Everybody in this row, except for the big guys. Okay, well, you guys can have people sit down. Go sit in the row. Go sit in the row. I need the teenagers. Okay, I want three on this side. I want three on this side. Top row. Top row. Sit down. Yes. Three on this side. Okay, can you, can you just, okay, that would be easier. Otherwise, I'm just going to put you on this side. No, I'll move it. Okay. All right. Can you go work now? Could you help me? Yes. We're going to practice everything one time and then y'all can go home. You don't have to go home, you just have to go. All I need is enough for them to stand with their feet and their butts. Perfect. That works, too. Okay, so first I need, um... Right in the middle. Okay, um...