Sermon

Christmas Day 2019

December 25, 2019 Grace Evangelical Church Newcastle - Sermons

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That might help.
Okay.
Well, Christmas time has the power to bring peace, doesn't it?
I'm amazed how willing strangers are to talk to me at Christmas time
when any other time of year barriers are up.
But at Christmas, people seem to put them to the side
and they're willing to chat.
Neighbours down the road are much more willing to smile and give a wave,
maybe even pause to have a chat.
But going through the checkout at Woolies,
I have way more conversation than I do all year round.
And for the record, I'm not speaking to the self-checkout machine.
Driving on Christmas Day itself,
people flash their lights and beep their horns not out of road rage.
Christmas has the power to bring peace.
In the workplace, whatever frustrations have happened during the year,
people seem to put them aside and come together for the Christmas party.
It's a time of bonding, team bonding.
Even family often put long-standing arguments to the side
and go to great efforts to be together at Christmas.
Even on a world scale, Christmas can bring peace.
On Christmas Eve, through the Boxing Day in 1914, during World War I,
many of the British and German soldiers put down their guns
and put them to the side.
Trusting each other enough to meet in no man's land,
to greet each other, to exchange food and even play soccer, apparently.
I wish that became a Christmas tradition, to play soccer.
I love soccer.
Cricket's pretty good as well.
Christmas time can even bring peace during war.
That's incredible.
We put aside our differences.
We put to one side our arguments, even our guns.
Christmas has the power to bring peace.
And it's wonderful.
But how long does it last?
Do strangers at the shops maintain their peace till the new year
or is it wrecked by the Boxing Day sales?
Does your family make it through the Christmas meal
before those arguments explode back onto the surface?
The guns broke the silence come December 27th in World War I
and the war blasted on for another four years.
Christmas does have the power to bring peace.
It really does.
And it's special for that.
But it's fragile.
And it doesn't last.
And we all crave this peace, don't we?
I know I do.
We crave peace because life is so good
when in the home and in our world there is peace.
It is so sweet.
But putting our differences and arguments to the side for a few days
just doesn't get to the heart
of what's causing the division in the first place.
The very good news
that God's heavenly messengers proclaim when Jesus was born
is that the peace you crave, the peace we crave,
God promises to give and much more.
I just want to focus on those words of the angels in verse 14.
I want to say three quick things
about this true and lasting peace that God offers you.
The first thing is that the main peace that you and I need
is peace with God.
When God's Son was born into the world,
God who dwells in the highest heaven
came near to us
so that we can know Him.
No one was expecting God Himself to come.
No one.
No one was seeking God
but He came to us.
This gap
needed to be bridged
but God doesn't demand you
to become a better person
before He will talk to you.
Christmas
is celebrating that God
came to us
and bridged that gap.
Have you seen the movie Lion?
Big spoiler alert here.
The only time in the talk
you can put fingers in your ears
if you don't want the movie to be spoiled
because I'm going to give the whole plot.
I love the movie.
It's a powerful movie.
It's based on a true story
of Saru Brearley
who was born in India
but was accidentally separated
from his family
when he was only five years old.
Later he was adopted
by Australian parents
and grew up in Tasmania.
Now even though
he had a loving family
in Australia,
even though he did well at school
and got into uni,
even though he had friends
and a girlfriend,
during his twenties
he was still restless
on the inside.
He didn't have any peace inside
not knowing who he was.
So driven
was he to find
his biological mum.
He devoted himself
to scanning Google Earth
online
all over India
which is no small place.
All he had was memories
of these landmarks
that he was searching for.
He spent months
searching
and against the odds
he found it.
He found those landmarks
and he travels
across the world
and the moment comes
when he is reunited
with his mum
and his sister.
It's a powerful moment.
When it comes
to our relationship
with God
we all have
a deep
inner
restlessness
that can only
be satisfied
when we are reunited
with God.
Nothing else
will satisfy it.
But unlike Saru
it's not us
searching for God.
our lack
of searching
is part of the problem.
The good news
of Jesus
coming to Earth
is that God
humbled himself
to search for you.
The main peace
that your heart
and my heart
needs
is to be
reunited
with God.
Second,
God gives us peace
not by putting
our differences
to one side
but by dealing
with the problem
that stands
between us.
I don't know
about you
but I'm going
to assume
you're similar
to me.
There's certain
topics in our
families that
we all kind of
agree that
you just don't
talk about.
If anyone
even comes
close to that
topic
the tension
in the room
just builds
until it
either explodes
or someone
makes a joke
to move
the conversation
on.
But God
has a very
different way
of making
peace.
He doesn't
ignore our
differences.
He takes
on our
differences
himself.
Born as a
human being
he deals
with the
barriers
to peace.
He doesn't
just leave
us in
ignorance
of what
God is
like
but he
becomes a
human being
so that
when you
read the
story of
Jesus
you can
see God
in action
so that
you can
get to
know him.
He doesn't
just overlook
our
offenses
the things
that we've
done that
have offended
God
but Jesus
himself
deals
with that
offense
when later
as a
man
he chooses
to die
on a
cross.
Jesus
alone
can give
you peace
because he
doesn't put
the barriers
to peace
to one
side
he deals
with them
himself.
He takes
them on.
The last
thing I want
to say
about this
peace
is that
when we
appreciate
God's
love
in sending
Jesus
to give
us this
peace
when we
love that
when we
cherish
it
that's
the very
power
to bring
true and
lasting
peace
into our
families
and into
our
world.
Let me
ask you
what
difference
do you
think
it would
make
if in
your
family
and in
the
world
instead
of
fighting
and
instead
of
pretending
the
differences
aren't
there
what
difference
do you
think
it would
make
if
people
humbled
themselves
even to
the point
of losing
out
themselves
because they
want peace
so much
what
difference
do you
think it
would make
if we
loved
God's
way of
peace
I think
it would
make all
the
difference
in the
world
glory
to God
in the
highest
heaven
and on
earth
peace
among
those
with whom
he is
pleased
this is
good
news
the
person
God is
pleased
with
is the
person
who
craves
true
and
lasting
peace
peace
it's
the
person
who
sees
their
own
inability
to
create
that
peace
who
sees
the
inability
of the
world
to
create
that
peace
it is
the
person
who
sees
Jesus
and
celebrates
that by
this
one
man
God
freely
gives
this
peace
if
you
don't
yet
know
this
peace
with
God
why
don't
you
resolve
in
2020
to
ask
God
to
show
you
to
give
it
to
you
it's
the
best
Christmas
time
does
have
the
power
to
bring
peace
and
it's
really
nice
for
what
it
is
it's
really
nice
but
Jesus
alone
has
the
power
to
give
you
true
and
lasting
peace
peace
with
God
that
overflows
that
will
bring
peace
in
our
families
and
our
world
and
that's
a
really
good
reason
to
celebrate
and
have
joy
not
just
at
Christmas
time
but
forever
and
our
hearts
long
for
peace
please
give
it
to
each
one
of
us
here
in
this
room
today
in
Jesus
name
I
pray
Amen
thanks
for
listening