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Peace Came Down at Christmas PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

John 14:25-27
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"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. 6 Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Summary and Purpose
Summary: When God entered our world in the form of a little baby named Jesus, peace came with him. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross. On the third day, he rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and evil on our behalf. This enables us to receive God’s forgiveness and have a restored, intimate relationship with God. As people with a restored, intimate relationship with God, we receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that God is in control and will take care of us, no matter what happens. This is the peace that came down with Jesus.
With this peace, worry will no longer consume us and control our lives. We can deal with our problems without being incapacitated by worry. We can even enjoy life during the good and bad times because we know that God is with us. Wow, what a wonderful God we serve! Let’s take this peace that is freely offered to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Glory, halleluiah!!
Purpose: To help the congregation to latch on to the peace that became possible for all people with the coming of Jesus Christ.
The Sermon
I. Introduction:
1. We all need peace
  • When laid off with young mouths to feed, we need the inner peace that enables us to calmly rework our finances while we search for another job
  • When a loved one dies, we need the inner peace that enables us tp pick up the pieces and continue on.
  • When falsely accused or reputations have been maligned, we need the inner                peace to continue to do the right thing
  • When called to active military duty in Afghanistan or Iraq, we need the inner peace to do our duty
2. With this peace, we can face and succeed against life’s challenges. This is
illustrated in opening pages of John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath”
  • The book begins with a picture of a scene right after a terrible dust storm. The crops were totally ruined and the men were standing on their porches looking out at their ruined crops.
  • The women, however, didn’t look at the crops. They were looking at the men’s faces to see if they were broken men. As long as the men weren’t broken, they would be ok.
  • The women were wondering if their men still had a peace inside them.
3. Without this peace
  • All of life’s challenges would overwhelm us
  • We would be incapacitated by worry and fear
  • For the rest of our lives, fear would dictate everything we do
4. There is, however, some very good news. This peace that we all need came down
at Christmas.
II. The peace that came down at Christmas: How we get it and what it is
1. When Jesus, God the Son, came down to this earth as a little baby, he brought
peace with him. When he went to be at the right hand of God the Father, he
left this peace with us.
2.  Jesus said, "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will
remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I
give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be t
troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)
3. So, because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we can receive God’s
peace.  Here is how it works.
  • We have sinned by disobeying God and this separates us from God. We deserve hell. We are in need of God’s salvation.
  • God, however, still loves us and provided us a way to receive His forgiveness.
  • As God in the flesh, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross.
  • On the third day, he rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and evil on our behalf.
  • This enables us to receive God’s forgiveness and have a restored, intimate relationship with God.
  • As people with a restored, intimate relationship with God, we receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that God is in control and will take care of us, no matter what happens.
  • This is the peace that came down with Jesus.
4. The peace we receive through Jesus is the assurance that God is in control and
will take care of us, no matter what.
III. What this peace does for us
1. This peace (assurance of God’s love) keeps us focused on the solution (Jesus)
rather than our problems
2. Philippians 4:4-7: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let all
men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. 6 Have no anxiety about
anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all
understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
3. The solution to all our problems is Jesus. We must give all our cares and concerns
to him. The peace (assurance of God’s love) enables us to do this.
IV. The example of one of my seminary professors
1. This professor lost her fiancé in a car crash. Some years later she lost her
husband to aids. He was in a car crash and given aids infected blood.
2. This lady has a peace about her that keeps her connected to Jesus. God has
given her a peace that enabled her to lead a wonderful life with her teenage
daughter.
3. When my wife was killed in a car crash, I was able to look at her and think, “If God
took care of her, then he’ll take care of me and my son.” In this way, God gave
me a peace and I was able to continue my life.
V. Conclusion
1. This peace begins with repentance and trust in Jesus. You must decide that you
want to turn away from sin and live a Godly life and then trust Jesus as your
Savior and Lord.
2. If you have not done this, you can do so right now.
 
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