The Pursuit of Peace: Overcoming Conflict in Everyday Life | Advent

Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is Bryan, and I am part of the online team here at Sandals Church. We are so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown teaching from our advent series. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. But for now, let's get into the message.

Welcome to Sandals Church. We are in a series about Advent. How many of you grew up in traditional churches where you celebrated Advent? Anybody? Yep.

Crickets. Most people are like, I don't even know what that means. Advent means arrival. It comes to us from Latin, and in English we translate it advent, but it literally means arrival. The arrival of something.

The long awaited, occurrence of something. And so today we're gonna talk about the arrival of peace. Anybody been watching the news? You need a little peace today. Amen?

A lot of peace. Like, there's war everywhere. So Christmas brings us, listen to this, a long awaited peace, a long awaited peace. Isaiah, 800 years before the birth of Christ, said these words. There was conflict, famine, war, fear.

Maybe there were aliens. I don't know. Right? Isaiah 96 through 7, he said these words, 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, and listen to this, Prince of peace. Okay?

And his government and its peace will never end. Can I get an amen for that? Amen. The world needs Jesus, not just the baby Jesus, but the returning, conquering savior, Jesus. But it's so hard to wait, isn't it?

It's so hard. So in our family, we are awaiting the arrival, the advent of our first grandchild, a grandson. And I gotta be honest with you. I'm not good at waiting. I'm telling my daughter.

I'm, like, hurry this up. Let's go. Come on. What's going on? Because it feels so long.

Like, I don't remember when it was our kids, like, it felt this long. I felt like, oh, we gotta get ready. And now I'm, like, come on. Come on. Come on.

Put that thing in the microwave. Let's go. And a doctor in our church said, listen. He said, you don't want that baby rushed. You want him to come when he's ready.

And I was like, that's good advice, doctor. Thank you very much. So here's the thing. Baby Jesus came at just the right time. Listen to me.

When everything was ready. Amen. Everything was ready. Everything was perfect. 800 years before, I've had to wait like 9 months, Israelites waited 800 years.

And when everything was ready, when the world was ripe for a savior, for the first time in history, the entire known world was connected by roads. The entire known world spoke a common language, Latin. And in that moment, through a tiny tribe of mountain shepherds, God brought a savior at the perfect time. So we are celebrating the arrival of the child of peace. And here's what I want you to know.

Some of you, you came to church this weekend, and you're not sure what you think about religion. You're not sure what you think about Jesus. Let me tell you this. The peace of God can only be found in Jesus. That's it.

It can only be found in Jesus, and you need to know that. Jesus offers a different kind of peace. Jesus says this, I am leaving you with a gift. Listen to this. And the gift is peace of mind and heart.

Can you imagine peace? It's called shalom, where it affects the way you think and how you feel. It's complete peace. He says, the peace that I give is not the peace the world can give. Right?

All peace agreements are temporary. They're all temporary and oftentimes are broken as soon as one nation sees an advantage or a weakness to take control of. All peoples everywhere have done this for history. God doesn't do that way. When he declares peace, it's forever.

It's forever. He never goes back on his word. He never changes the agreement. He says, and the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. You cannot get this peace through shopping.

You cannot get this peace through giving. You cannot get this peace through meditating or whatever it is that you do. You can only get this peace through Jesus. He said, so you shouldn't be troubled or afraid, amen, even if you live in New Jersey. Anybody been watching the news?

Everybody's freaking out. Listen. I don't know what it is, but if it is aliens and they wanna invade New Jersey, should we be that afraid that they've selected? That's the land that they've selected. That's the state they wanna call home?

Now I'm not knocking on New Jersey, but I just I take over Hawaii. Amen? Anybody else? You know, I mean, I just Hawaii. Maybe San Diego.

So don't stress out that much, man. But, man, the news is full of, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Could it be angels? Could it be aliens? Whatever it is.

Listen to me. We're not awaiting aliens, we're awaiting the return of Jesus. And just so you know, for those of you who wanna freak out a little bit, he did say in the end times there would be signs in the heavens. So enjoy your sleep tonight. Colossians 315.

This is a verse when I was battling anxiety that I memorized. I was really, really battling. And by battling, let me be honest, I was losing my battle with anxiety. And so for for those of you who listened to the debrief, I had doctor Josh Knab on a couple weeks ago, and he shared something that I had never heard before. He said that anxiety is the need for humans to have certainty.

And when we don't have certainty, we fill in the gap with anxiety. And here's what he said. There's nothing in life that's certain. Everything is up in the air. Everything is uncertain.

And that's why we're growing more and more anxious because with social media and the Internet, we're aware of all the uncertainty that in the eighties, we just, you know, it was a rumor. You know, you didn't know about it, and now it's right there. So if you're losing your battle with anxiety, I wanna encourage you to memorize this verse, Colossians 3:15. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts, for as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And here's the key, and always be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

And so here's how I would pray this. Lord, let the peace that comes from you rule in my heart and help me, Lord, to be grateful. And I would say that over and over again as my mantra. Let the peace that comes from Christ when do you pray that? When you don't have peace, when you're feeling anxiety.

Because here's the good news. There's one thing you can be certain of, one thing. Jesus is Lord, and he's coming for you. And no one, Jesus says, and nothing can keep him from you. Come on now.

That is certainty. And that's why the world is so anxious. So how do I practically let peace rule over me? How about let's start here with my emotions. Can I get an amen?

Anybody? Raising teenagers. Like when you have teenagers, you don't need to go to a theme park, you are a theme park. Right? It's like, yes, no, yes, no.

We're gonna die, we need to die. Right? But the truth is that's life. Life is ups and life is downs. What keeps you steady through the uncertain times is Jesus.

Hey, everyone. My name is Morgan, and I'm a part of the digital media and online team that reaches tens of thousands of people every week through content just like this. In everything our team creates, our hope is to serve you as you grow in your own spiritual journey. Before we end the year, I wanna take a moment to ask, has this podcast inspired you, challenged you, or helped you grow closer to God? If so, would you consider partnering with us through a financial gift?

Every dollar you give helps us to share this vision of being real with ourselves, with God, and with others. You can make a gift today by visiting sandalschurch.com/support. Thank you for believing in this mission, and thank you for being a part of it.

So where are your emotions? Some of you don't worship Jesus. You worship your emotions. And this is what the world says, follow your heart. What they're saying is worship your emotions.

And your emotions are not God, they're the devil. And they'll rob you of joy. They'll rob you. Jesus is the author of joy. Next, how about your desires?

Let Christ rule over your desires. Some of you are in financial just disarray because you have followed your desires and you didn't follow God's will. Any major purchase. And if you're poor, every purchase. Amen?

Pray about it. Pray about it. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something. Tammy and I are in the process of of trying to buy a house. We've been in a rental for a couple years, and I was talking with our our, the the loan officer, and and I told him, I said, listen, you need to understand.

My wife and I, we give about 12% of our income to the Lord every year. He said, well, that's not a bill and they don't need to know about it. I said, but you need to know about it because the Lord is first. And just because on paper it says we can afford something, doesn't mean I wanna buy it because I'm not gonna say no to God so I can say yes to a house. I'm not gonna do that.

And listen to me, some of you have done that and have paid the consequence. And you're wondering why the Lord doesn't bless you. I got news for you, the Lord tends to bless what's his, and if it's yours, you're on your own. Okay. Did I scare you next?

My fears. My fears. Oh, my gosh. How many of us constantly run immediately to the worst case scenario? Right?

We're all gonna die. We'll never make it. Why even try? Man, hand your fears to the Lord. Say the Lord say say say, Lord Jesus, this scares me.

You know what he's gonna say? Doesn't scare me. Doesn't scare me. Jesus is afraid of nothing. I don't know what you're afraid of, but whenever I get spooked or I get worried, I go to the book of Revelation, which is kind of a scary book.

But there's one passage in there that just reassures me. It's when the Lord sends an angel to grab the devil by the neck and chain him. Who wants to see that angel in heaven? Come on. You know, I hope so bad he looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I just I just do. You know, wouldn't that feel comforting? I knew it was you. I knew it was you. But think about that.

The Lord doesn't even subdue the devil. He sends one of his minions. That's how powerful God is. God's like, hey, you angel, take him, and he does. And Satan doesn't put up a fight, he just gets captured.

Don't be afraid. If if God has that kind of control over the devil, how much control could he have over your life if you surrendered? Think about that. 2nd Thessalonians 3 16. Now may the Lord of peace wow.

The Lord of peace give you his peace when, where, how, at all times in every situation. The Lord be with you all. Wow. Come on, man. Some of you just need to just tattoo that, like, on your forehead so when you're brushing your teeth every morning you read it.

You need that every day. In all times, in every situation, ask for the Lord's peace. Lord, give me your peace. Because here's here's what we gotta remember at Christmas, Christmas is the fulfillment of God's promise of peace. And just like He did it 2000 years ago, He will do it for you today if you ask him, if you ask him.

But if you're a Christian today and you have this peace and you're aware of this peace and you've believed in this peace your whole life, listen to me, the peace Jesus offers is meant to be shared. When's the last time you shared it? When you offered it to somebody else. When you said, hey, here's why I'm not freaking out about the orbs or the drones or whatever it is. Because you know who's in control of drones?

You know who's in control of orbs? Jesus is. Jesus is. And we don't know what's out there. We don't.

But we know who they worship because some of you have not read your bibles. It says Jesus is the lord of all creation. All creation. And when he comes back, some of you've never thought about this, he will make things right by bringing peace to the heavens and the earth. Matthew 59.

God blesses those who speak their mind. Oh, wait. No. Sorry. Let's look at this.

God blesses those who freely share their opinion. Wait. Sorry. Let me read it again. God blesses those who, what?

Work for peace. Some of you have a job you haven't showed up for in years. You haven't punched your time card in years. You have a job. Your job is God blesses those who work for peace.

Listen to this, for they will be called the children of God. Can you imagine at work if you were known as the peacemaker? Man, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in religion. I I got no room for Christianity.

But I'll tell you what, that Ted, he's different. And whatever he has, I know I need. Because when we're around the coffee pot and we're ripping our boss and we're ripping our system and we're we're just so angry at this job we prayed to God we'd get remember that?

Lord, give me this job. Lord, get me out of this job.

The Lord's like, which prayer do you want me to answer? We need to work for peace. Now the reason I want you to see that word work is it doesn't mean it's easy. Work is work. It's hard to be the peacemaker.

So I must work for peace, and if you didn't like the message before, you're gonna hate it now. Are you ready? I must work for peace, wait for it, with difficult people. Man, wouldn't that be great if the Lord is just like, you know what? Love lovely people.

Pray for peaceful people. I mean, we all have that friend. We all have that friend when we're around. They're just so chill. Like, you're just like, you know what?

I could hang out with you forever. And then we have that friend where every second feels like an hour. You're like, okay, okay. I remember why we don't connect. Those are the people we need to work hard.

And it's not easy. Because here's the thing, people that you have to work for peace with usually don't want peace. They want gossip, slander. They want it bad. They're addicted to it, and it's hard.

I'm sure every single one of you has a person in your life, someone at work, a family member, or a friend that's difficult for you. K? Psalms 3414 turn away from evil and do what? Good. Do you see it?

Turn away from evil. Yeah. But pastor, you don't know what they said. So some of you don't realize this is exactly what Jesus is talking about when he says when someone slaps you on the cheek, turn the other cheek. And then there are Christians who get stupid and think that if someone breaks into your house to kill your family, that means you're supposed to let them.

That means you're dumb. K? He's not talking about murder. He's talking about offense. He's talking about difficult people.

He says that we need to search for peace and work to maintain it. We need to work to maintain it. So I want you to think about that difficult person in your life. And they're just frustrating. They just are too free with their opinions.

We all have that. We all have that person in our life. Right? They're just too free with their words. Isn't it funny how the dumbest people have the most opinions?

You know? And they're like, you know, if I ran the world, you're like, we would all die. But let's take this one notch deeper. Let's let's go beyond defense. Let's go beyond difficulty, and let's talk about people who have hurt me.

Man, I'm sure many of you have been hurt. I meet people all the time and they say this, I don't go to church anymore because I was hurt. There's not one believer that's gonna stand before Jesus on judgment day, and Jesus is gonna say, don't worry about it. I understand you were hurt. It's cool.

Because the reason you get into heaven is he was hurt by religious people. He expects you to work through that. In 1914 during World War I there were a 100,000 German and British soldiers fighting each other, killing each other every single day in trenches, gassing one another. Their bodies were covered in lice and sores. The influenza was killing more people than bullets.

It was an awful, awful time. It's considered the worst war ever fought. And on Christmas Day in 1914, German soldiers began to sing in German Christian songs at Christmas. And the British who could not speak German but understood the tunes start singing as well. And then pretty soon on Christmas Day in 1914, a white flag went up on the on the German trench, and then a white flag went up on the British trench, and then they met in the middle and sang songs, exchanged coffee, and gave each other gifts.

And they were literally killing each other the day before. You know what they did on that day? They allowed Germans to come to the British side and get their wounded and bring them back. And the Germans allowed the British to come get their wounded and bring them back. And they sang songs and drank coffee and exchanged gifts until midnight.

Ain't that amazing? Look, I don't know what's happened to you. And maybe it's worse than what those soldiers went through in World War 1. But for most of us, is it? It's just not.

It's just not. Come on guys. Most of you have never even dug a trench. Amen? Much less lived in one for years.

You say, well, pastor Mann, I I I can't do that. You don't have to do it. You can ask God to do it through you. Psalm 2911. The Lord gives his people strength.

The Lord blesses them with peace. Think about the first soldier to stand up in that trench and walk out onto the battlefield wide open knowing that there were 50,000 guns pointed at him. Takes courage, doesn't it? But one soldier had to make the first move. And then another soldier did it, and then another, and then another.

And before you knew it, a 100,000 rifles were set down and a 100,000 handshakes were exchanged. If you want peace in your life, make the first move. You want peace in your marriage, make the first move. You want peace with your son or your daughter or your estranged family member, pick up the phone, you make the call. You make the call, and you say, well, they might hang up, and they might not.

Listen to this. I I have a good friend of mine. She's got trauma that I can't even comprehend, the things that have happened to her, and there's just so much in her life that's so painful and so awful. Sleep is something that she just struggles with. Her whole life, she gets maybe 2, 3 hours of sleep at night, wakes up with nightmares.

And we've worked through this. We've prayed over this. We've asked God for healing in this. Psalms 48, listen to this. In peace, I will lie down and sleep.

Listen to me, parents. If you got kids that have nightmares, this is your verse. This is your verse. In peace, I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, oh Lord, will keep me safe. You alone.

You know, you don't tell your kids? You wanna know what's scarier than what's in that closet? The Lord. That's not what you say. You say this.

You read the verse together and you tell your kids that the Lord has always been there with you and He's always kept you safe, and let me tell you something, you start inviting Him to guard your sleep. But do you know why many of us can't sleep? Because we can't forgive. The Lord isn't gonna take away what you won't let go of. I get it.

People hurt you. They've done you wrong. But listen to me. Forgiveness doesn't make you weaker. It actually makes you stronger.

It makes you stronger, and God wants you to become stronger. What did Jesus say on the cross? Father, judge them for their hurting me. He said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. They don't know.

Next, I wanna encourage you to work for peace for people who think differently than I do. Anybody got a family member or friend that thinks a little differently than you? Come on, raise your hands. Every hand should be up. And if you think everyone thinks like you, you are delusional.

You're delusional. Who are those family members in your life, those friends in your life who think differently than you? I'm married to a woman. Guys, you ever met a woman? You know what most men think?

Most men think that a woman is just a prettier version of a man. It's not bro. It's not. I am called to love for my whole life someone who agrees with me on, like, 2.4 things. Our faith in God, our love for our kids, and that's that's about it.

I mean, it's just like you know? We are so different. We think so different. And then we got family members. We got friends.

Let me tell you something. You know, your friends, they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, they're not gonna get Jesus the way you do. You know why? They don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, so stop expecting that and learn how to share how this personal relationship with Jesus has blessed your life. Don't share how it's gonna condemn them for eternal life.

Share the blessings of having faith. Romans 12 18, do all that you can to live in peace with what? Everyone. Everyone. Now you can pray about who everyone is, but I think you know.

Next, I wanna encourage you to be at peace with people who have a different idea of preferences. We have a pastor in our church, I'm not gonna say his name, but he hates vegetables. I'm like I'm like, what are you for, David? What are you are you for? You know?

And I'm not gonna hate on him, you know? But I am gonna make fun of him. But right, some people like vegetables, some people don't. You know? It's, you know, like people now I I tell people, Yeah, I don't drink that.

Oh, did you did you have a problem? It's like, No, I just I just decided not to drink. I mean, if I if I tell you I don't want mayonnaise, you're like, Oh, what's your problem with mayonnaise? It's like, I just don't I don't want mayonnaise on my burger. It's not like an issue.

Have grace for people who have different preferences than you. You know? It's okay. Sometimes we go out to dinner, I like a booth. I'm a booth guy.

Some people don't like booths. You know? They're wrong. It's okay. I give them grace.

I give them grace. How about this next one? Difference in politics. You wanna you wanna ruin your Christmas? Just start off with, okay, who voted for Trump?

Who voted for Kamala? Let's share. Christmas is over. Do you know how many times I've heard major Christian leaders say these words, I can't believe somebody calls themself a Christian and voted for blank. And I've heard Christians say it on both sides.

And now you're all offended.

Well, I can't believe they don't think like me.

You're not listening to the message. Next, and this one's deeply personal to me, theology. Theology. Man, do you know who picks on me the most? Christians that go to other churches.

Oh, I just don't understand why.

I can't we just say that we we we we both love God, we both read scriptures, and we've come to a different conclusion. I mean, that's just it. Like, I I I can't tell you how many times I say this to pastors. I humbly disagree. I and by the way, if everybody thought the same way, there'd be 1 church.

But we're Baptist. There's 260 different denominations of Baptist. K? Of Baptist. You know?

I mean, there are churches.

I just don't understand how you could watch on

a screen. I I I don't understand why you don't. And the truth is at our church I'm preaching on on Sundays at HP. You know what you're all doing? I'm like, hello?

I'm right here. But do you know why you stare at the screen the picture's better? You can see my mug from a better perspective. It's true. But think about this, man.

You know? You don't have to defend Sandals Church. Just say I I I really feel God's called me to be there. I feel the holy spirit is growing me there. And and and, you know, and the reason it's growing, that's my favorite criticism, well,

why is it so big? I'm like,

oh, I didn't know success was a problem. You know? It's because we are scratching an itch that this society has for Jesus. That's why. That's it.

That's it. Okay. Here's the landmine I'm jumping on. Sexuality. You're you're gonna show up for Christmas and people are gonna find out you're a Christian, and and the first thing they're gonna ask you about is gay marriage or sexuality.

And you gotta be ready, and you gotta be able to say, look, obviously that's a hot topic issue. Our church believes in a traditional view of marriage, and and and that's what we're trying to do. But I love you, and God loves you, and I respect you. I respect you. Could you respect me and my views?

That's it. Pass the potatoes. You know? It's okay. Next, any families here?

Raise your hand if you're in a family. The people I live with.

Whoo. Whoo

hoo hoo. Man. Look at this verse. Hebrews 12 14. Oh my gosh.

Work at living.

Did you

say that word? At living in peace with everyone. Why would it say living? Because even puppies are hard when you take them home. You know what's super cute?

A puppy at the store. You bring that thing home 3 in the morning. It's puked, pooped, and peed all over your carpet. You're losing your mind. And it's a puppy.

Like you can't even love a puppy. Because living with anything is difficult. And for some of you, you live with yourself. Look at it. That's why you're mad every day.

The closer you live to someone, the more you need to practice peace. K? Anybody got kids, multiples? Siblings, you know what they're learning to do? They're prepping for marriage, that's why they're fighting so much.

You know? It's practice. It's practice. You know? Our kids are complaining, she's in my room.

I'm like, I don't even have my own room. Nothing in this house is mine. Let's go to my closet, let's look and see if someone else's things are in my closet. Man every husband in here should just this week say hey honey can I store this in your closet? It's tough.

Kids are tough. Siblings are tough. They're learning. You gotta practice grace. Schoolmates.

Anybody have I I was praying with somebody this week doing a group project. I was like, That's how professors torture you. Because everybody knows in a group project, somebody's getting carried to the finish line. Amen? You know?

I mean, if you're in college and you got Pothead Joe and your team, you're like, oh my gosh. He's like,

project. What?

It's tough. Right? Roommates? Oh, roommates are super fun. Man.

Maybe call them cellmates. It's like prison. I can't get out. Roommates are brutal. You know?

Because at least your spouse loves you. Your roommates just need you. It's like you're only here because I can't afford this without you. It's so true. Look, your spouse, The most important skill in marriage that is never talked about is negotiating.

Nobody ever talks about that. And then we lie on our wedding. I'm gonna do whatever you want for about 5 minutes. So here's the good news. If you don't have this peace here's the good news.

Jesus offers his peace to anyone who asks for it. Anyone. Look at 2nd Thessalonians 12. May God our father and some of you are like, I don't have a dad. Oh, maybe not on earth, but you do in heaven.

May God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace, look at this, and peace. Let me tell you how important those two words are. In almost every letter that Paul writes to churches, he begins with those words, grace and peace, charis caiarene, grace and peace to you. So I wanna encourage you. Have you ever placed your faith in Jesus?

Have you ever done that? It doesn't matter where you are, what you've done. If you want a relationship with Jesus, Jesus wants a relationship with you. In Luke chapter 7 verse 50, there's this woman. She's a prostitute, And she interrupts a meal that Jesus is having with some very religious people.

Luke 7:50

They don't anoint his head. They don't welcome him as Jewish customs said that they should. She comes in and she weeps at his feet and she washes his feet with her hair. And people make fun of Jesus, and they said, if if you knew who this woman was, you would have nothing to do with her. But Jesus says, I know exactly who she is and I know what she's done.

But listen to what Jesus says to her in Luke 750. And Jesus said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Look at these words. Go in peace. Go in peace.

You see, Christianity is not just about going to heaven. It's about living at peace on earth, living in peace on earth. You don't have to just wait for heaven. You get to experience it now. But the reason many of you are not at peace with yourself is because you have never been at peace with God.

And you don't understand why there's Christmas, why there's Easter, why Jesus had to be born, why Jesus had to die. It's so that you could have peace. Look at Romans 5:1. Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what I do, what I believe. No.

Romans 5:1

No. No. Because of what Jesus Christ, our lord, has done for us. There's only one person that can give you peace with God. His name's not Buddha, Mohammed, or anyone else.

His name is Jesus. The only way to have peace with God is through Jesus. And listen to me. Until you have peace with God, you will never truly be at peace with yourself. So here's what I wanna encourage you to do.

If you're at one of our campuses at the end of service, I want you to come forward. And I just want you to say these words. I don't have peace with God, and I need Jesus in my life. That's it. I'm not I don't have peace.

I need Jesus in my life. And if you are watching online, I just want you to type in the chat. They're gonna they're gonna tell you how to do this exactly. Because we, no matter where you are, man, if you're in Europe, you're in Asia, and you're watching this right now, listen to me. God doesn't care about your nationality.

He cares about your soul. He wants to save you. And Christmas isn't just for Christians. Christmas is for the world. Jesus came to save the world.

He came to save you. But if you are a Christian, and you're like, I've done that, okay, would you invite Jesus to change the way you live your life today? Okay. You believe in Jesus. You know what the Bible says?

So does the devil. Are you following Jesus? 2nd Peter 12. Look at this verse. May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

Now let's stop there. Let's leave that verse up there. How many of you know Christians who've been in the church their whole life, and they have not grown more and more in grace or peace? Some of the grumpiest people on Earth sit in pews on Sundays. If you're becoming more irritable as you get older, what it means is you are not following Jesus.

Listen. As you grow old, may God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God. The longer you've been a Christian, listen to me, the kinder, more gentle, more peaceful you should be. And look at all these Christians judging the world, angry, awful, terrible. And you know that why why that is?

Because at one point in time in their life, they made a statement of faith, but they've never actually followed their faith and grown more and more in more grace. When you become a Christian, that's the beginning of grace. When you become a Christian, that's the beginning of peace. Listen to what Romans 14 17 says. I mean, this is so good.

For the kingdom of God, this is this is Jesus' language for what he's trying to invite you into. You know, it's not just about going to heaven. It's about living under God's rule and reign on earth. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness, do you see the word, and peace and joy in the holy spirit. Christians should be the happiest, most people, peaceful people on earth.

And some of you don't even wanna go to Christmas Eve service.

There's gonna be people there. There's gonna be crowds. There's gonna be a bunch of non Christians.

Yeah. It's not like I'm asking you to go to the mall and shop. I'm asking you to come and worship Jesus. Amen? I mean, come on.

This is what it's about, becoming more peaceful. When you come to church and there's no seat for you, you should be glad. This is great. Because there are way too many churches with too many seats and no people. So what I wanna do is I wanna end today with a benediction.

And if you don't know what a benediction is, it's just a prayer blessing over you. And so a lot of traditional churches do this, but we we we desperately need peace. So I'm gonna pray this over you, and then I'm gonna close in prayer. But if you know that you need more of this peace, more of this grace in your life, if you know that, all I want you to do is just lift up your hands like this, and I'm gonna pray this over you. So just extend your hands out like this, and I'm gonna pray this over you.

And all I'm praying is scripture. This is just scripture. Romans 1513. Listen to these words as I pray this over you. And now may God, who gives us His peace did you hear that?

God, who gives us His peace, be with you all. Let's pray. Father, I pray that right now we would receive this peace. Even though the world is not at peace, many of us are not at peace in our marriages, in our relationships, we ask for this peace that was settled on the cross, that was birthed on Christmas morning. We ask for this peace to be in our hearts and in our lives this week.

Let us be ambassadors of peace. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I just

wanna take a quick second and thank you so much for joining us online today for the service. We pray that as you enter into the Christmas week that you would receive the peace of Jesus. And for those of you who made a decision to follow him and receive his peace for the first time, I wanna encourage you to go to sandalschurch.com/request prayer. Myself and my online team wanna follow-up with you personally to help you understand what it looks like to follow Jesus. And lastly, I would encourage you that if at any level our church has served you over this last year, would you consider making a year end gift?

Even for those of you who maybe would you attend another church, and you tithe regularly there, amen to that, but you also enjoy what we do here. And so would you just consider and pray through what it looked like to support us and help position us, to bring the gospel to more people in 2025? Grace and peace.

Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this series, we have a YouTube playlist linked in the description.

And if

you want more information about who we are and what we do, you can go to sandals church.com.