Anticipation - The Prince of Peace | Luke 24:44-53

So how can we have peace?

Maybe for you the lack of peace is related to a loss.

I have a friend in the room, I won't point them out.

But this will be the first Christmas that he has without his brother.

And we say, Jesus is the prince of peace.

Isn't that nice?

And this thing to say, yet inside our hearts has sorrow, pain.

So where do we get this idea of prince of peace?

The answer to that question is in the Bible.

Specifically the Gospel of Luke that we've been studying since this time two years ago,

eighty-five sermons in as we finish out the Gospel of Luke next week.

And we've noticed that in the Gospel of Luke, one of the main themes of this entire book

of the Bible is that Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God, he's the Son of man.

His humanity is emphasized.

He is not just the deity that created us.

He is the deity who became a man who lived among us.

And if you go all the way back to the beginning of his story in Luke chapter two, there are

a bunch of shepherds that are in the field.

And these angels show up and they announce the coming of Jesus with these words, peace

on earth, goodwill toward men.

Don't be afraid.

The prince of peace has arrived.

And you think to yourself at the beginning, how has Jesus coming brought peace to mankind?

Then the story loops all the way to Luke chapter twenty-four when Jesus Christ has been buried

and he rose from the grave and he enters into a room where all of his disciples are hiding

and cowering.

And the very first thing he says to them is, don't be afraid.

Peace to you.

The story loops.

It mirrors.

It begins with peace, the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Peace.

It ends when Jesus comes back into the flesh and he says peace.

And then we have to look at the Word.

Look at what the Bible says in Luke chapter twenty-four verse thirty-three.

I'll tell the story.

We'll talk about Jesus as the prince of peace and we're going to see how it applies to your

life today.

If you're new to church today, one of the things our church likes to do is study the Bible

deeply and then apply it to our lives personally.

Find out what it actually says and then see how it can help us today or this week.

And if you're ready for the study of the Bible, give me an amen.

Amen.

Luke twenty-four verse thirty-three.

It picks up right in the story left off last week.

So they arose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.

Who is the they?

I mean it's right in the middle of the story.

Who is the they?

Don't you wish sometimes sermons had recaps at the beginning of the episode, right?

Like what were we talking about last week?

And the answer to that is there were two disciples of Jesus who had left this group of disciples

in Jerusalem and they had walked on a road to Emmaus, the town that they were from.

And as they walked on this road, they did not know that Jesus had risen from the grave.

And so they're walking on this road and all of a sudden as they walk on this road, Jesus

appears to them and tells them all that had happened about the death and the burial and

the resurrection.

And they awaken to the reality that Jesus is alive, but they had walked all the way back

home.

It was Sunday.

Sunday is when Jesus rose from the grave.

Let me ask you, what day did Jesus rise from the grave?

You tell me what day?

Sunday.

Sunday afternoon, they got up and they left.

They did not know Jesus had risen from the grave.

They walked seven miles all the way to Emmaus.

How long did it take them to walk those seven miles?

I don't know.

Depends how old they were, I guess, right?

Maybe it took them a few hours.

Maybe it took them three or four.

Maybe they took a slow route.

Maybe they stopped at a gas station along the way and got some snacks.

I don't know.

But they probably arrive around dinner time.

We know this because the story last week tells us they sat down with Jesus, they broke bread,

they had dinner, the sun was going down, they said, do you want to stay with us?

And then Jesus vanishes.

And as soon as Jesus vanishes, the Bible says that they realized that was Jesus.

He rose from the grave and then it says, look what it says next, it says, and they rose

up that very hour.

Now it's probably late at night, like eight o'clock, nine o'clock.

You say, well, how late was it?

I don't know.

Again, it depends on how old they were.

How many of you are like me?

I'm 43, 42.

I'm 43.

How many of you are so old you don't remember how old you are?

I'm 43 now.

And it used to be late at night, used to be midnight, one o'clock, you know what I mean?

You're up watching Netflix late and you're like, oh my word, it's one o'clock, let's go

to sleep.

And how many of you have gotten old enough now?

You're like, it's eight thirty.

What am I doing outside of my bed?

I should be in bed right now.

Why am I not in bed?

So I don't know, it's eight o'clock, nine o'clock at night, and all of a sudden they're

like, that was Jesus, we got to go tell the disciples.

So look at what they do, look what they do.

They returned to Jerusalem.

Another two hours, maybe two and a half hours all the way back.

Now it's midnight, one o'clock in the morning.

They show up in Jerusalem in the upper room that they had rented a week before for the

last Passover with Jesus and they knock on the door and inside the eleven apostles are

there but not just the eleven apostles, the group of seventy disciples we learn more about

in the book of Acts.

And they wake them up and they say, guess what, we have news for you.

And they come back with the exact same phrase, we have news for you.

Look at what the group of people inside the room said, verse thirty-four.

The Lord is risen indeed and appeared to Simon.

So both of them are standing there.

They're like, hey guess what, we just found out and they're like, no, no, no, we have

news, you tell us first.

No, you tell us first.

And they both almost say it at the same time, Jesus rose from the grave.

Now it goes on.

And they told about the things that had happened to them on the road and how Jesus was made

known unto them in the breaking of the bread.

And they're just celebrating that Jesus is alive.

It's almost as if things could get no better when suddenly Jesus himself appears in the

room.

Look, verse number thirty-six.

And as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them.

Notice what it doesn't say.

It doesn't say, and Jesus walked in the room.

It doesn't say, and Jesus knocked on the door and came in and said, hey fellas, it says

He appeared in the midst of them.

In fact, the book of John tells us the same story, but it says the door was shut.

So Jesus like materialized in the group of seventy people.

Have you ever been in a small room with seventy people?

Can you imagine how it went?

Maybe Peter's like, so you saw them, what happened?

And you saw them, and you saw them, and then he points to Jesus and Jesus is like, I am

him, you know?

And everybody's just shocked, in fact they're so afraid.

Look at what it says.

It says that Jesus said to them, notice what he says to them, do you see it?

Peace.

It's you.

The Hebrew word for peace is shalom.

Say it with me, shalom.

Shalom does mean peace, but it means more than lack of conflict.

It means completeness.

It means wholeness.

Jesus is not simply saying, I want you to have no conflict.

He's saying, I want you to be okay.

He shows up in the midst of their terror and says, I want you to have peace.

In the same way that the angels showed up in the middle of the field and said to the

shepherds, no, no, no, don't be afraid.

Peace on earth, shalom.

The story continues.

But they were terrified and frightened and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

They thought he was a ghost.

And he said to them, why are you troubled?

And why are doubts arising in your hearts?

Can I just stop and say this to everybody in the room?

Jesus knows when doubts arise in your heart, and he's not angry.

He gets it.

I love that it doesn't say, and doubts arose in their hearts, and Jesus said, you terrible

people.

He doesn't.

He says, why do you doubt?

Let me ask you this question in the room.

How many of you are disciples of Jesus?

You're not perfect, but you believe in Jesus.

You're trying to follow his way.

You've asked him to save you.

How many of you would say I'm a disciple of Jesus?

I know some of you are not yet.

We're glad you're here.

You're still seeking.

That's awesome.

But how many of you are a disciple of Jesus?

You believe in Jesus?

Raise your hand.

How many of you like that?

Very good.

You believe in the disciples of Jesus.

Sometimes you have doubts.

Me too.

A lot of times as a pastor, I'll sit over a cup of coffee with new believers, and I'll

talk with them even after they get saved.

And they'll say, pastor, I've got to tell you something.

And I'll say, go ahead.

They'll say, pastor, I believe in Jesus, and I'm a Christian, but sometimes they'll

lean in and I'll lean in.

Say, sometimes I have doubts.

And I look at them and I say, get out of this coffee shop and never come into our church

again.

Now, instead, I look at them and say, you know what?

I said, why?

I said, why?

Now, my doubts have changed over the years.

When I was a new Christian, I used to doubt things like, maybe there's not a God.

God has proven himself too much to me to believe there's not a God.

And then my doubts became, well, maybe there are other ways to God other than Jesus, but

my faith in the Scripture has blossomed so much.

I know that Jesus is the way.

So my doubts have changed, but I still sometimes doubt.

I don't doubt God, and I don't doubt Jesus is the way.

Sometimes I just doubt that God kind of knows what he's doing.

Like not in general.

Don't be offended by that.

Like it's not that I don't believe God knows what he's doing with everybody else.

I know God knows what he's doing with everybody else.

I just think sometimes he doesn't know what he's doing with me.

Like I got to correct him.

Occasionally, I got to go to God and be like, God, I know you got this whole thing, but

you're really busy with what's going on all over the world right now.

And I just want to check, can you make sure this happens?

Because I know I think you like me.

I'm one of your favorites, right?

And sometimes I doubt.

Do you ever?

Am I alone?

Am I the only Christian in the room like this?

So Jesus knows when doubts arise in your heart, but he's not angry, but he does have a question.

Look what he says.

Behold, I love this, behold my hands and my feet, that it is I, even myself, handle me

and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as I have.

Instead of getting angry with them, he just lets them know.

I know you doubt.

Come and look.

Jesus did not die and spiritually rise from the grave.

Jesus died and physically came out of the grave with a body of flesh and bone.

He physically lives, and he lives today at the right hand of God the Father.

Not simply in our memories.

He's not like Mufasa up in the sky, and we kind of remember Jesus, and he's like, everything

will be okay.

No, Jesus physically rose from the grave.

That's what it says.

Jesus is not like Mufasa.

That should be the title of the sermon right there.

And when he had said this, he showed his hands and his feet, showing, look at my body.

There are nail prints in my hands, in my feet.

This is the actual body that died that actually rose from the grave.

Verse 41, but while they still did not believe for joy and marveled at what he said, he said,

do you have any food here?

They couldn't believe their eyes.

This was too good to be true.

They marveled for joy.

He thought, there's no way, and Jesus is like, okay, let me prove it to you.

Do you have any food here?

Because ghosts don't eat, right?

Mark it down.

If you have a ghost in your house and you're worried, be like, would you like some fish

and honey?

And if they eat it, they're not a ghost, so that's nice.

All right.

Verse 42, and they gave him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.

I just love that Jesus ate some honey, don't you?

That means he had a sweet tooth.

You're going to get an amen right there.

If you have a sweet tooth, you can be like, I am just like Jesus.

That's who I'm Christ like, amen.

And he took it and he ate it in their presence, proving with physical food that he has a physical

body.

That's the story.

So what do we do with this story for ourselves?

Like what can we learn from this story other than Jesus physically was born and then physically

rose from the grave, proving the incarnation, which is a massive important doctrine for

the time of Christianity as well as the Christmas season.

But beyond that, what does this tell us for our souls today?

And the answer is the Prince of Peace that was announced for Bethlehem is also the Prince

of Peace that was come back from the grave and is the same Prince of Peace who wants

to come in, appear in your life right now and offer you peace.

Peace.

What kind of peace can Jesus Christ offer you?

I'll share it with you.

Three ways.

Peace with God, peace with self, and peace with other men.

The Prince of Peace has come to offer peace with God, peace with self, and peace with

men.

Now some might say, but Pastor, I'm not at war with God.

If you were to ask the average Las Vegas, I am a Las Vegas.

I was born and raised in Las Vegas.

I love Las Vegas.

How many of you are thankful for the city?

Can I get an amen?

All right.

I love Las Vegas.

Again, I said I'm a Las Vegas, not a Las Vegas.

Amen.

That's different, right?

I'm not a Las Vegas.

I'm a Las Vegas.

They're very different.

And as a Las Vegas, I am somebody who knows the city.

I was born and raised here.

I know people.

And I know people in the city do not believe they're at war with God.

They don't.

I think if you ask the average Las Vegas, are you at war with God?

Most Las Vegas, I find, do believe in God.

They actually do.

Most believe that there is a higher power.

There's a God who created them.

There's a God out there somewhere.

And you ask, do you feel like you're at war with God?

And they'll say, no.

In fact, I think most would say, I think I'm pretty cool with God.

And I think God's pretty cool with me.

At worst, they would say, maybe it's neutral.

Maybe God is there.

He doesn't really know about me.

I don't really know about him much.

But it's not like God's at war with me or I'm at war with God.

But they're greatly mistaken.

They don't understand that they are at war with God because their very nature as a human

being is at war against the divine.

Now you might be here today and say, well, I'm not even a believer in God.

That's okay.

Just because you're not a believer in God doesn't mean your very nature is not at war with a

God you don't believe in.

Humans are at war with God by our very nature.

The things you do, the things you say, the things you think, and how we treat each other

and how we treat ourselves declare war against the one who created us.

That's what the book of Romans teaches in Romans chapter eight and verse seven, for the sinful

nature is always hostile toward God.

Your very nature, who you are, what you do and what I do, the things we think, the things

we say, the things we do, they are hostile against the one who created us, meaning we

are at war with God.

The human nature never did obey God's laws and it never will.

The Bible says your very lifestyle, your very nature is at war with God.

And this is why you feel the way you do.

You say, what do you mean?

You feel oppressed and burdened.

I know it because I'm a human too and because the Bible teaches.

I can absolutely guarantee something about every single person in this room.

When you are at war with your Creator, even if you say you don't believe in the Creator,

you feel a burden and an oppression on your soul.

And you feel, and people try to deal with this in lots of different ways.

What is this burden and oppression you feel on your soul?

It's called guilt.

And your very nature that leads you to sin against God carries that burden heavier and

heavier and heavier every day.

So then what you often do in our society today is we give you different prescriptions to deal

with that guilt.

Here's how to deal with that guilt.

Here's how to deal with it.

All you have to do is medicate yourself so you don't think about it.

Or if you've got guilt inside of you, all you have to do is deny that it's a problem.

And if you deny it's a problem, here's what you do with your guilt.

Celebrate your guilt and make yourself feel better about your guilt.

Or if that's not going to work, entertain yourself so much so that you're distracted from the

feeling of oppression and burden.

But here's the secret that I know, and deep down inside you know, that you still feel

guilt over your sin and that you've got a problem with your Creator.

You know how I know this?

God teaches it, I'm a human, but there's a third way.

What I do for a living is not what you see here.

I'm preaching on Sundays.

Do you know what I do for a living?

I spend my days telling people about Jesus and how they can be saved.

So every day I sit with people and I share with them the good news of the gospel.

God loves you, you're a sinner, so am I.

But God loves you and you died upon the cross to pay for your sins.

He was buried, rose from the grave, and He offers you salvation.

All you have to do is repent and receive Jesus and you'll be saved.

You'll be saved if you repent, admit you're a sinner, believe that Jesus died for your

sin, bury in a rose from the grave, call upon Jesus and you'll be saved.

Would you like to be saved?

I spend my days doing this, and this is what I've seen, hundreds and hundreds of times.

I'll share this story with people, share the gospel, and not all the time some people are

like, I'll think about it, it's not really for me, and that's fine, they go away with

the guilt of sin.

But many times I look across the table and somebody will bow their head and they'll pray.

God in heaven, I admit I'm a sinner.

I believe you died for my sins.

I believe you were buried in a rose from the grave and I'm asking you to save me and forgive

me of my sins.

And they'll be what Jesus called born again.

Okay, hundreds of times, hundreds, I'll look across the table and their eyes will come

up often with tears.

And I'll say, okay, I almost always ask the same question.

I'll say, how do you feel?

And do you know what they say to me almost 95% of the time?

This is what they say.

They say, pastor, I feel lighter.

Why?

And the answer is because the burden of guilt that was pressing them down has been taken

and thrown on Jesus.

This is not something new with me.

I'm just a 21st century pastor.

This is what Christians have been talking about for 2,000 years.

There was a writer named John Bunyan.

He wrote a book called Pilgrim's Progress where he described to what it was like for

a Christian to first recognize the death of Jesus and what it meant for them, to get

saved, to be born again, to be redeemed by God.

He said it was like a program, walking up a mountain.

When the moment he understands what the cross does, the burden falls off of the shoulders

and they are free.

Why?

Because they are now at peace with God through the death of Jesus Christ.

This is exactly what Romans chapter number five describes.

It says in Romans chapter five verses one and two, therefore, since we have been made

right with God in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God.

Because of what Jesus Christ, our Lord, is Savior has done for us upon the cross, because

of our faith, Christ has brought us into a place of undeserved.

What does it say?

Privilege.

All right, here's the big next thought that I'm about to transition to.

Peace leads to privilege.

Say it with me.

Peace leads to privilege.

Say it again, say it again, say it again.

Peace leads to privilege, which means this.

If you are at peace with God through Jesus Christ, you have been given a privilege that

every other human does not have.

You say, what is that privilege?

We're on that in a moment.

Let's look at the rest of the passage.

He has brought us into a place of undeserved privilege where we now stand and confidently

and joyfully look forward to sharing in God's glory.

You not only receive peace, you receive privilege.

And when you are at peace with God, you can finally be at peace with yourself.

How does Jesus, the Prince of Peace, bring peace into our life?

Number one, peace with God.

Number two, peace with self.

All right.

Very blunt question.

Are you at peace in your soul?

Are you experiencing anxiety, worry, stress, to a level of unsustainability?

Are you at peace with yourself?

See, sometimes there are Christians who feel all of this anxiety inside themselves and

they think maybe God is at war with them.

Again, no, God is not at war with you.

You are at peace with God through Jesus Christ.

Can I get an amen?

Amen.

So what's going on?

You are not at war with God.

If you're a believer in Jesus, you are saved.

You're not at war with God.

You're at war with yourself.

And the apostle Paul deals with this exact question in the book of Philippians chapter

number four, and it tells you how you can be at peace with yourself.

Look at what it says in verses six and seven.

It says, Philippians chapter four, don't worry about anything.

Instead pray about everything.

Isn't that a beautiful verse?

Would that look like something a 14-year-old would put on their Instagram right there?

Amen.

Right?

Doesn't it?

But it's right there in the Bible.

Don't worry about anything.

Instead pray about everything.

I know it seems trite as a Christian, but my question is, how are you doing with this?

Like really?

It's really difficult.

I should say it's not difficult to see this verse and read this verse.

It's really difficult to live this verse.

Don't worry about everything.

Instead pray about everything.

Tell God what you need and thank Him for all that He has done.

Hey, I said a moment ago that peace leads to, what did I say?

Peace leads to what?

Privilege.

You say, what is the privilege that peace brings?

Here's the privilege.

The answer is prayer.

Prayer is the privilege that you have because now you have peace with God.

If you have peace with God, this is awesome.

It means you have direct access to the guy who made everything.

Like how amazing would it be to have direct access to a very powerful and wealthy person?

Anybody friends here with Steve Wynn?

Let me know.

Anybody?

Anybody?

Adelson?

Anybody?

Anybody?

All right.

Let me know if you are because I'd like to know.

I got a building to build.

Can I get an amen?

I don't know these people.

I know that there are religious leaders that are extremely well connected and wealthy.

I'm not one of them.

I'm just a guy.

But I realized years ago that I actually am extremely well connected.

Because I have peace with God through Jesus Christ, I can actually go into the throne of

God anytime I want and be like, hey, I need to talk to you about something.

And because God is not simply the Creator, because I've been saved, He is now my Father,

I can go to Him and be like, hey, Dad, here's what's going on.

I need you to take care of this problem.

Peace.

And when you live a lifestyle of prayer, this privilege and action, then you will experience

God's peace, shalom, completeness, wholeness, not just a lack of conflict, but everything

that you need provided, which exceeds anything that we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

I like the old Christian phrase, a peace that passes all understanding will be given to

you.

Man, pastor, I've got to tell you, if there's one thing that I need under my Christmas tree,

I'd like to have peace.

And we think of peace like this separate thing.

We think of peace like if I accept Jesus, then I'll have peace and I'll open on Christmas

morning something called peace and then they'll put peace in my heart.

That's not how it works.

Peace is not a thing.

Peace is a person.

That person is the prince of peace.

Meaning the moment you receive Jesus as your Savior, you've got peace and He will never

leave you nor forsake you.

Okay.

How about a metaphor?

Here's an analogy.

How many of you have little kids in the house right now?

Two, three, four, five, six years old.

Raise your hand.

How many of you?

Right now, raise your hand.

Two, three, six.

Okay.

Wow.

And you're sitting right up in here.

Probably, right?

They've been keeping you away.

How many of you, they're not that age, but you remember when they were that age?

How many of you raised your hand?

You remember?

Okay.

Yeah.

And you remember the bad dreams?

Remember when they would have bad dreams?

The bad dreams come.

They wake up in the middle of the night.

Anybody have any sleepwalkers?

Those, that's fine.

Oh, you're pointing.

That's messed up.

Like, hey, do you want to stand up and tell a story?

No, I'm kidding.

I'm sorry.

Poor guy.

The bad dreams scare the kids, right?

They're three, four, five, six years old, and then they come over to the room and they

knock on the door, you know?

You're like, yeah, right, they knock on the door, right?

They get rushed in, right?

And they crawl in bed and you wake up with a foot in your face.

How many remember the foot in your face, right?

And you look at your son and you're like, Jonathan, you're 17 years old.

Yeah.

You know, like, this is too much.

You're in the army.

Like, this is, what are you doing?

I hope he hears this later.

And you know, they're little and so you say, what's wrong?

I have a scary dream.

You're like, okay, well, you can't stay here.

This is where we live.

So by the way, some of you are like, I know you got different parathean philosophies now

and like you're a soft parent and they've lived in your bed for years.

But the right way to do it is, I'm just, come on, relax.

But it's true.

And it's okay.

It's going to be fine.

Come with me, baby.

You know, and you pick them up and you carry them back to their bed and then you put them

in the bed and you pull the covers up and you say, okay, I'm going to go and say, daddy,

can you check in the closet?

Yeah, like there's nothing in the closet.

Why did I watch monster's inks?

Stupid movie, you know?

Can you check?

There's nothing in there.

Can you check under the bed?

Can anybody, I'm 43, but I can still remember the feeling that something was under my bed.

How many of you are adults and you still remember that feeling?

So I actually empathize with this one.

They're like, can you check in the bed?

And I'm like, do you want to check?

Because now, like I'm imaginative.

Now I'm in their paranoia.

You know, I'm like, I don't know.

Maybe there is.

Let's just stay up here together, right?

There's nothing under there.

I watched too many movies and I'm like, oh, I had a check.

Can you check?

And then you start to creep out and they're like, daddy, can you, can you stay here?

With me?

And you're like, I don't know.

Mom wants to finish watching Blue Bloods and I want to, I am really old.

I think that's my show, right?

I sit down and he or she holds your hand and as you hold the hand, they fall asleep.

For them, peace is not knowing that you've said everything's going to be okay.

For them, peace is knowing that you're still there.

And do you know what Jesus says to you?

He says, I will never leave you or forsake you.

I'm not sending another thing to you called peace.

You have me, the Prince of Peace, and I'm not going anywhere.

And so this power of prayer allows us to go to the Prince of Peace at any moment and say,

I'm feeling anxious and worried about this thing.

Can you, can you help me?

And he will give you a peace that passes all understanding through prayer.

So what does the Prince of Peace bring us?

He brings us peace with God through the death of Jesus Christ.

He brings us peace with self through prayer.

And then he allows us to have peace with men because only those who have peace with God

and peace inside can bring peace to men.

I find it ironic, a little sad and a little scary, that there are men and women in places

like Washington, D.C. who are trying desperately to bring peace to the world when they have

no peace with God and they have no peace inside.

How in the world can they bring peace to men?

I admire it, I believe blessed are the peacemakers, but I'm telling you if this world is ever

going to have peace, they need to first get peace with God and get peace internally, which

will lead to peace on earth and goodwill to men.

And so how do you have goodwill and peace toward men?

I can't change the world, neither can you.

We're not in Washington, we're not powerful people.

And I can allow you to have peace internally and with others.

You see, look, look, look, look.

The death of Jesus Christ allowed for a future where there will be complete peace on earth.

That kingdom is still to come.

But if you're a believer, if you're a believer, say amen, you are already a kingdom representative

here, right now, you are.

Which means the principles of the peace of the future kingdom will abide and rest in

you so that wherever you go, you can bring peace to men.

Peace on earth, goodwill to men, Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

That's what it means.

Let me ask you a question.

If you are peace with God and peace inside, how is it that you can practically bring peace

to others?

Are there people that you have to interact with during this Christmas season?

And you're like, I don't think it's going to go well.

Like that crazy cousin?

Like that woke liberal niece.

Or maybe you're like, my Fox News dad.

You know what I mean?

Like, it's Christmas, you're stressed out.

Let's get real.

You're about to go into a Christmas season right now and you're about to talk to people

that you're not used to talking to.

And you're a representative of Jesus Christ.

How do you bring peace?

How do you do that?

The drama that families create doesn't have to be your drama.

I know I have a friend who, I mean, it's just, it's so prevalent, isn't it?

I have a friend who has a bunch of siblings and they wanted to buy their parents something

and they're like, hey, he's like, okay, let's buy this thing.

But it's like 500 bucks and then we'll split it.

And they're like, that's awesome.

And they're like, yeah, you buy it and we'll pay you.

Anybody here ever fall for that one?

And now suddenly this beautiful family experience turns into a collection of debt agency, right?

You're like, you owe me, you owe me, you owe me.

There's always the one guy that never pays, you know, the stress that happens with these

things.

How do you deal with it?

All right.

I'm going to close with very practical thought.

Now I understand the majority of the sermons have already been given.

Maybe that's all you came for.

And that's good.

But God gave me this final thought before I preach today because I think there's a few

of you in this room that are going to go into a family or friend dynamic this Christmas

and you really need to know I'm at peace with God, I'm at peace with myself, and I need

to bring peace to this family dynamic.

What do I do?

And I've learned that there are three paths.

I'm going to give them briefly.

So be quick.

Three paths that can help you bring peace to men in this Christmas season.

Do you want them before we go?

If you do say yes?

If not, leave.

No, I'm just kidding.

I'll do that.

That'll be weird for you.

Here are the three paths.

The love path, the leave path, and the learn path.

If you're worried that you're going into a family dynamic and you're not sure how to

bring peace to the scenario, maybe it's just a relationship situation.

Maybe it's a work scenario.

How do I bring peace?

I'm a kingdom rep.

I'm supposed to bring the prince of peace to this place.

How do I do it?

The love path, the leave path, or the learn path?

Maybe you just need to have the love path.

You say, what is the love path?

The love path goes into that scenario asking this question, what can I do to make their

holiday better?

You are not going into this to prove a point.

You're not going into this to deal with some unresolved issues.

If that's your scenario, choose the opposite, the love path, and that is ask yourself, what

can I do for them to make their holiday amazing this year?

The love path.

Very simple.

See, I don't think that's possible for me this year.

Okay.

Then number two, the leave path.

The leave.

Somebody think you said leaf.

Give them a tree.

It's not going to work.

The leave path.

Say what is the leave path?

This year, I'm setting boundaries to maintain peace.

This year, not forever, but this year, I'm setting boundaries to maintain peace.

That means lack of conflict, which means practically for some of you, you're going to have to call

them and say, I can't come this year.

Oh, man, that's going to cause problems.

No, it won't.

It'll cause less problems because you've got other places to be and other people to be

with.

That's okay.

That's okay.

But Jesus wants me to save them all.

How about you let Jesus save you this year and work on them next year?

Yeah?

The love path, the leave path, and then there's a third.

That's the learn path.

It's kind of in between.

You're not ready to just give up right now this year and separate through boundaries,

but you're also not prepared emotionally to go in there and just love everybody to death.

So what you can do is take the learn path and that is quietly go into that scenario.

See, observe and learn and pray and ask God this question, how are we going to get them

next year?

How are we going to bring peace?

How are we going to bring them love and chart a very strategic path over the next few years

to bring them the Prince of Peace?

Yeah?

Okay.

See, this is what the Prince of Peace does.

It gives us anticipation for the future and for joy that is to come because the Prince

of Peace not only gives us peace with God, it gives us peace with ourselves and it brings

peace on earth, eventually in the future kingdom, but also right now through you, Kingdom Reps

in this world.

Let's have a Merry Christmas.

Let's pray.

Thank you.