Message by Chad Kelly
Introduction
The slaughtered innocent ones from the shooting in Newtown, CT
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine F. Hsu, 6
Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N. Wyatt, 6
Rachel Davino, 29
Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal
Anne Marie Murphy, 52, special education teacher
Lauren Rousseau, 30, teacher
Mary Sherlach, 56, school psychologist
Victoria Soto, 27, first grade teacher
Nancy Lanza, 52, the shooter”™s own mother
Max Lucado”™s Prayer
Dear Jesus,
It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.
These killings, Lord. These children”¦ Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.
The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off”¦
Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night”¦Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.
Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.
Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.
This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.
Hopefully,
Your Children
There”™s a shortage of peace in our world”¦and in many of our hearts today!
Do YOU need PEACE this morning?
H.G. Wells
The time has come for me to reorganize my life, my peace””I cry out. I cannot adjust my life to secure any fruitful peace. Here I am at 64, still seeking peace. It is a hopeless dream.
Sadly, that is exactly how many think and feel””and truly believe.
But Jesus”™ Advent means there is a different reality!
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
PEACE
Luke 2:13-14 (NLT)
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others””the armies of heaven””praising God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to all whom God favors.”
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)
6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven”™s Armies
will make this happen!
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
For many””maybe for some of us here today””the only peace we can find comes from
Numbing all our hurts with drugs/alcohol,
Going from one relationship to the next, hoping that some person can give you all you need
Staying so busy that you never have time to feel anything and you hope to just collapse at the end of the day before the inner fear, pain, loneliness can come
Working and achieving position or status or more money, pretending that you”™re not empty inside.
Jesus came to heal us more deeply”¦
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 (NLT)
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
The word for “peace” here is shalom””it means a thorough-going wholeness that reaches to the deepest places of who we are and includes being at peace with God.
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
Romans 5:1-2 (NLT)
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God”™s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God”™s glory.
Rick Warren
Real peace of mind is having a relationship with Jesus Christ, God”™s Son, and becoming friends with God. Real peace is knowing that no matter what I do, God will never stop loving me. Real peace is knowing that no matter what happens, God will never leave me alone. Real peace means that no matter what comes in the New Year, or in the years to come, I know that God is going to give me the strength I need to handle it. Real peace is living by God”™s Word, the Bible, so I can avoid a lot of the needless hang-ups and hurts and habits that mess up my life.
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
Further”¦real peace is knowing that one day God will set ALL things right in ALL of creation because of Jesus!
Colossians 1:19-20 (NLT)
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ”™s blood on the cross.
The Message
20”¦all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe””people and things, animals and atoms””get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
Because Jesus was born of a woman, lived the perfect life to give us righteousness in God”™s sight and then went to the Cross and paid the price for our sin by giving His very life and then rose from the dead victorious over all on the third day”¦because of HIM”¦we can have real peace in our lives NOW!
And, we have the certainty of the new heavens and the new earth as our home for ETERNITY!
2 Peter 3:13 (NLT)
13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God”™s righteousness.
I long for that more and more as the days go by.
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
But”¦
HOW does all that we KNOW about peace make its way into our hearts when the unexplainable happens?
I don”™t have an answer to the question of WHY things like this week”™s slaughter happens. And frankly, it seems extremely arrogant and presumptuous when I hear folks talk and act like they DO have an answer to the WHY question.
I think our focus must be not on the question of WHY””that”™s one God never promises to answer””but on the question of HOW we live in the middle of pain and tragedy and disappointment and hurt and injustice.
HOW do I get all of this about peace from God, that, frankly, in certain moments rings hollow and sounds only like empty words, as the reality of my heart?
Like in the moment I hear a news report of the slaughter of 26 innocent people, or the death of a friend”™s 10 year old daughter from some random blood poisoning”¦how do I get this peace in my heart?
2 Corinthians 1:3-10 (NLT)
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.
8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
We stop relying on ourselves and learn to rely only on God, who raises the dead!
THAT is how peace gets into my heart! THAT is how you can enjoy peace in your heart!
Conclusion
Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered.
The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled.
As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd.
A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.
The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?
A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power.
A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil. (Berit Kjos, A Wardrobe from the King, pp. 45-46)
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
And THIS Advent season can truly come to life for you and me, IF we”™ll stop relying on ourselves and wholeheartedly depend on God, Who raises the dead!
Psalm 23 (NLT)
1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
2 He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
4 Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
5 You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
Advent is Jesus bringing real peace to our troubled lives.
Jesus will ULTIMATELY change our world and ALL will be at peace.
But until then, Jesus brings real peace to our often noisy, cluttered, chaotic, undone and just plain hard””even tragic””lives!
That peace becomes our experience when we rely on Him with all our hearts, because we are His in the midst of it all!
Our Father holds us in the palm of His hand, even in the middle of the storm”¦and THAT is the ONLY real peace there is!
John 14:27 (NLT)
27 “I am leaving you with a gift””peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don”™t be troubled or afraid.
This prayer is a short portion of one prayed by Rev. Joseph P. Monahan right after the Virginia Tech shooting. The words of this prayer can apply to things more personal in your life, to the hurts you face today, as well as the tragedy of this week.
There is peace only in honest dependence on Jesus”¦so will you make this prayer your own this morning? Pray it aloud with me as we close:
Rev. Joseph P. Monahan
Lord, we don’t have words for what we’ve seen. There are no words. There are only tears”¦
God of love, heal us”¦
God of love, God of blessing, God of life eternal, God of life all-powerful, God of life beyond all words, beyond all hurts, beyond all pain”¦
God of love, heal us.
Jesus, bring us real peace this Christmas”¦
Amen.