The Prince of Peace: “Trust Me”

So Merry Christmas, everyone. It's great to see you here today. Oh, thank you. Yes.

It's great to see all of you here today. If you've been with us the past few weeks,

you'll know that this is the verse that we've been talking through, looking at the different

names of Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and today we're on to

Prince of Peace. And if you have looked at the news this week, this might seem like a weird topic

to talk about. Because the news headlines in the world this week include terror attacks in Berlin,

Russian ambassador murdered in Turkey, complaints about China militarizing the South China Sea,

Donald Trump putting tension on US-China relations before he even takes office,

more violence in Aleppo. The list could go on and on and on. I even saw an article this week about a

man who murdered his stepmother because she was cheering for a sports team and he felt like she

was rubbing it into his father. He got very angry and killed her. We live in a world that is full of

violence, that is full of discord, and where peace seems to be the furthest thing from reality for so

many of us. And it's not just something on the world scale. It's something on an individual level

too. I've talked to numerous friends this week who are like, well, I was planning to have a little bit

of a vacation, a holiday, a break, and then work. And I have to work through the holiday. I have to,

I'm just overwhelmed with work. I can't, I can't do it all and have a break right now.

I have other friends who are getting hard times from their family because of where they're choosing to

spend Christmas, not with that part of the family. And then I'm sure there are probably people in here,

hopefully not, but possibly some children or spouses or friends in here who are a little bit

upset at each other because of certain gifts that weren't included under the tree this morning.

Or maybe even a spouse who's upset because of the amount of money that was spent on the gifts that

were under the tree this morning. We live in a world full of tension, full of strife. And we come

here to talk about Jesus and about peace. And it can feel like, is this just a sick joke? Is peace

possible? But I'm here today to tell you, yes. Yes, peace is possible because Jesus came as our Prince of

Peace. And he offers each and every one of us a peace that cannot be found anywhere else. And the

reason that he's able to be our ultimate hope for peace is because our problems go way deeper than we

realize. So I have a question. I'm going to throw it out there. And I think if we took a poll of everyone

in here, we'd get at least dozens of different answers. But I want you to think about how you would

answer this question. What is the biggest problem in the world right now? And how do we solve it?

Good job. You're way ahead of the game.

So I think if we were to go around, there are lots of different answers that we could get. But there

are probably a few that would be a little bit more prevalent. Maybe some people would say it's education.

That we need more schools. We need better schools. If we could just educate the world,

then everything would be okay. Other people might say the biggest problem is war. If we could just get

rid of the weapons, stop the fighting, bring peace, we'd be good. Other people might say it's overpopulation.

There's just not enough resources to go around. We need to either increase our resources or

lower the population and everything's going to be okay. But I think our problems run deeper than this.

I think our problems go deeper than simply education, war, overpopulation. These things,

maybe they see parts of the problem and address it, but they miss the heart of the problem.

See, I'm going to throw out there for your consideration that the biggest problem in the world today,

the cause of all of these problems is selfishness.

And here's where I'm coming from. If you think that education is the biggest need in the world today,

I agree with you. Education can fix a lot of things. But the 2008 financial crisis

was not caused by a lack of education. It was caused by a bunch of very highly educated people

manipulating a system for their own gain at the expense of the rest of the system.

Education would not have fixed the 2008 financial crisis. There's something deeper going on in the world.

If you think that the problem is war, what causes war? At the core, it's that they have something

that I don't have and I want it from them. And they're not going to give it to me,

so I'm going to go take it by force. It could be land, it could be resources, it could be basic human rights.

But at the core of war is someone has something that someone else doesn't have,

and we're going to take it by force because we want it.

Or if you say overpopulation, we need either less people or more resources, think about this.

The world produces enough food to feed 10 billion people, which is far more people than we have on the planet.

In fact, the world produces enough food that we could feed every person on the planet

a 2,800 calorie diet every day.

And yet there are still billions of people starving on the planet.

Because what happens is food gets wasted.

The UN says that if one quarter of the food lost or wasted on Earth each year was saved,

we could feed 870 million people with that food.

Which means that if we took all the food thrown out in the world every year,

we could feed 3 billion people with it.

There's not a lack of resources.

The problem is people like me,

who go to the grocery store on the weekend

and stock up their fridge with food for the coming week

and then go eat out multiple times during the week

and get to the end of the week and realize,

oh, all the food I put in my fridge at the start of the week has gone bad,

it needs to go in the trash.

Can anyone relate to that?

The problem is people like me who stockpile resources

until they rot and then throw them out rather than being generous.

The problem is selfishness.

And as we go throughout each different topic,

we can see how our selfishness brings these problems into the world.

And the problem with selfishness is it's not an easy fix.

Because if I go to try and fix your selfishness,

any attempts at me fixing your selfishness

are going to be shaped by my selfishness.

And any of your attempts to fix my selfishness

are going to be shaped by your selfishness.

We can't have a simple, easy, band-aid solution

to the problem of selfishness.

No, we need someone from outside the situation

to step in to bring us our solution.

And that is why Jesus is,

as one of the very brilliant kids pointed out earlier,

the solution to this problem.

See, the Bible tells us

that each of us was created for a relationship with God.

And that in this relationship with God,

we were supposed to find perfect joy,

perfect peace and contentment,

perfect love.

And each of us has a longing in our hearts

for these things that we were created to experience.

And yet, as the Bible story continues,

we see that each of us rebels against God.

Each of us forfeits our opportunity

to have this relationship.

And as a result, we forfeit the benefits

that come out of this relationship.

We forfeit perfect peace.

We forfeit perfect love.

We forfeit perfect joy and contentment.

But each of us still has a craving

and a longing inside our hearts

for all of these things.

And because we've severed ourselves

from the true source of them,

we grasp for other things

that we believe can give us hope,

joy, peace, love.

We say, I think that money

is going to buy me happiness.

And so we stockpile all the money that we can,

even if it comes at the expense of others,

because we want it.

We want to get back to what we were created for.

We think that power will bring us

this peace and contentment.

So we work our way up the corporate ladder

and we trample other people under our feet

if they get in our way,

because we're craving the security

that we're supposed to find

only in a relationship with God.

And no matter how hard we try,

no matter how much we grasp,

we always come up empty.

And when Jesus came to the earth,

when Jesus was born in a manger,

he came as God

in human form,

which is mind-boggling if you think about it,

that the creator of the universe

who spoke the universe into existence

would step into the creation

that he had made

as one of the creatures

to live a life among them.

But he did it because of his love for us.

He came down,

and the Bible tells us

that Jesus was the only one ever

to live the perfect life

that we were supposed to live,

to live in this perfect relationship with God.

And at the end of his life,

they killed him.

And the Bible says

that when they killed him,

that the penalty that we owe

for our rebellion against God

was paid by him on our behalf,

which makes a new relationship with God

possible for each and every one of us.

And this is very good news for us

because this is the only way

that this problem of selfishness

in our hearts can be healed,

the only way that we can have a path

towards true peace.

Because as long as my deepest need

for this relationship with God

and for the peace and love and security

and joy and hope that come from it,

as long as this need is not met,

I'm going to grasp for it

in anything that I think

can possibly sustain me.

But once this need is met,

then I have the ability and freedom

to respond with love

and patience to others

when they bother me.

I have the responsibility,

or I have, yes, the responsibility,

but also the ability

to forego my rights

for the sake of other people.

Peace with God that we get through Jesus

leads to peace with others,

and it's the only true path to peace.

Which brings us to one of

the most important things

that I want to talk about today

about Jesus coming,

the fact, as we discussed with the kids,

that Jesus came for us.

Jesus wasn't just born in a manger.

Jesus was born in a manger for us.

You know, I think it's easy sometimes

in the world today to talk about peace

because it's such a big, broad topic

that it's easy to talk about it

at arm's length

and not have to get involved in anything

because there's such a big problem,

there's nothing we could ever do about it.

But Jesus coming as the prince of peace

for us tells us

that what he did

and what he calls us to

in the cause of peace

does involve us,

and we can't talk about it

at arm's length anymore.

We have to respond.

You know, this,

the past couple days,

my wife and I have had gifts

under the tree for each other,

and as long as the gift

was wrapped up underneath the tree,

it didn't require any type of response.

We just look at it

and remain neutral

because it could be something awesome

and it could not be.

But this morning,

we went and we opened those gifts.

And the moment that the gift is opened,

you can't remain neutral to it anymore.

If you just look at the gift

that your wife gives you

and you're like,

oh, I'm remaining neutral.

That's rejecting the gift.

That's saying,

I don't appreciate your gift.

I cannot respond with a smile

or a thank you.

I'm rejecting it.

As soon as a gift is given,

we have to respond to it.

Not responding is no longer an option.

And what we see when it comes to Jesus

is that he has been given to us.

That's what Christmas is about.

Jesus has been given to us

as this perfect prince of peace.

And we now need to respond.

Every single one of us,

whether you're a Christian or not,

we need to respond to this gift.

Neutrality is no longer an option.

Neutrality is a form of rejection.

So if you're here today

and you have never trusted in Jesus before

to be your prince of peace,

to give you this relationship with God,

my question for you is,

will you trust him today?

Will you receive this gift?

Will you have this new relationship with God?

And if you are here and you're like,

I don't know what this guy is talking about,

please come find me or Chris or Jeremy

or someone around you after the service

and ask us more about it

because we would love to talk to you.

But what we see from the fact

that Jesus is the prince of peace

is that rejecting him

is choosing to hold on to our strife,

to our selfishness,

to the things inside our hearts

that lead to these bigger problems in the world.

And trusting in Jesus,

accepting this gift

of him as the prince of peace

is taking a step

towards contributing to peace in the world.

If you're here today

and you are a Christian,

if you have trusted in Jesus before,

you also have a choice.

Are you going to take Jesus

and just sort of put him on a shelf

that you can look at

but not really have to have it interact with your life?

Or are you going to take this message

and this truth about Jesus

and let it shape the way that you live?

Because Jesus came

to bring peace on earth.

If you look at the life that he lived,

he was concerned about

our relationship with God

and peace in that relationship.

He was also very concerned

about peace among people on the earth.

He came healing.

He came restoring relationships and people.

And he came to bring peace on the earth.

And he said,

blessed are the peacemakers

because he expects that if we trust in him,

if we are following him,

we will be people contributing

to the peace of our world.

So if you are a Christian here today,

how will you respond

to this prince of peace?

Are you going to still feel the need

to hold on

to what you think can get you

satisfaction apart from him?

Or are you going to place your hope in him

and respond with selflessness?

Because each of us comes into conflict

every single day.

Each of us has an opportunity

to respond with selfishness

and grasping for control,

for power,

for money,

for whatever it is that we want.

Or to respond with love,

with patience,

with joy.

But we're only going to respond

with love, patience, and joy

if we know the prince of peace

and have a relationship with him.

So how will you respond

to this gift today?

I encourage you

to accept this gift

that God is offering to you

and to trust in Jesus

as your prince of peace.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for Christmas.

We thank you for this amazing gift

that you have given to us

for the fact that your son

came as one of us

to rescue us,

to set us free

from our selfishness,

to set us free

from the things

that cause so many problems

in the world.

We thank you

that you have given us

this prince of peace

who is the path

to true peace

with you

and with each other.

We pray that today

that we would accept this gift,

that we would trust in him,

that we would,

through him,

be able to love

and serve one another.

In Jesus' name,

amen.