1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,160 Well, what is up, Heights? 2 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,840 Good to be with you this morning. 3 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:05,840 Welcome, welcome. 4 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,640 Those of you online, our online fam, welcome to you guys as well. 5 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,400 So glad that you're joining with us. 6 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,880 Hey, some of my favorite people in the world are grandparents. 7 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,920 I think grandparents are amazing. 8 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:19,520 Yeah, give it up for grandparents. 9 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:22,880 Man, we're pumped today. 10 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,040 I was privileged enough to grow up with both sets of grandparents, 11 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,400 being able to pour into my life, being able to spend time with them. 12 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,800 And I remember every Tuesday, my grandpa would pick me up. 13 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:34,120 We called him Pops. 14 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:35,440 And Pops would pick me up. 15 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,160 And he said, we could go to eat wherever you want. 16 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:43,080 And every single week, I would pick the same Denny's right off the freeway. 17 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,320 We'd go eat there and order the same thing. 18 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:47,560 And we would hang out. 19 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,000 And then he would say, OK, well, you want to go walk the dog? 20 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:52,480 And he didn't just have a dog. 21 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:54,360 He had what was a hybrid wolf. 22 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,280 And this thing was huge. 23 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,520 And so his walks weren't like a nice little walk down the street. 24 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,760 We would go basically on giant hikes. 25 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:02,760 And it was off leash. 26 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:03,800 The dog would be running. 27 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:05,680 It was this long hike. 28 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:07,840 And then afterwards, we'd go back to his house. 29 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:09,560 And he had a rock polisher. 30 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,500 And so every week, we would do a different step in polishing rocks. 31 00:01:13,500 --> 00:01:16,280 And then when they were finally done, we would divide them up. 32 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:17,280 And he would choose one. 33 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:18,440 And then I would choose one. 34 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:19,640 And we'd go back and forth. 35 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:21,440 And every week, we would do that. 36 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:22,800 And I would head home. 37 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,540 And my parents would go, well, how was it? 38 00:01:24,540 --> 00:01:26,320 What did you and Pops talk about? 39 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:27,800 I'm like, well, I don't know. 40 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,040 Not really anything. 41 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,800 And the thing about Pops is he was one of those people 42 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,340 that didn't really have an agenda of what he wanted to talk about. 43 00:01:35,340 --> 00:01:38,560 He was just happy to be in the same room with you. 44 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:40,360 He would sit there and not even say anything 45 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,760 and just be as happy as he could be to spend time with you, 46 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,000 happy to just be with you. 47 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:47,880 And the truth is that's God. 48 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,680 We serve a God that's just happy to be with us. 49 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:52,080 Oftentimes, we get it backwards. 50 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:53,980 And we think God is out to get us. 51 00:01:53,980 --> 00:01:55,680 We think God is angry with us. 52 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,560 We think if we mess up, then God's there to condemn us. 53 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,000 And the truth is, is God is happy to be with you. 54 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,120 And that's the collection of talks we're in right now. 55 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,320 It's called Happy to Be, because the idea is that God 56 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,840 is happy to be with you. 57 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,200 God is happy to just spend time with you. 58 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,200 And it's no coincidence that we're doing this 59 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,680 through the Advent season, because we get to talk about things like joy. 60 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,280 We get to talk about things like peace. 61 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:26,200 We get to talk about things like hope, things like love, 62 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,680 and understand that the Advent season is so important, 63 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,520 because this idea that God wants to be with us, 64 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,280 that he's happy to be with us, is shown all the time, 65 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:35,780 but especially through these things 66 00:02:35,780 --> 00:02:41,520 that we unpack at the Advent season through this Christmas season. 67 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,920 How many of you guys like Christmas is your thing? 68 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:45,680 Like this is your go time. 69 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:46,600 This is your jam. 70 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:48,320 You're like, it's time, baby. 71 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,080 Right, like you've been just setting up your house. 72 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,440 You've got everything decorated and perfectly laid out 73 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:54,680 at your house at all times. 74 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:56,800 And you've got a list of these are Christmas things 75 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:58,600 that we have to do. 76 00:02:58,600 --> 00:02:59,920 The house has to be perfect. 77 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:02,080 All right, we have to bake as many cookies as we can. 78 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:04,600 We have to give some of those cookies to Pastor Todd. 79 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:06,480 We have to. 80 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,480 I'm just adding that to your list for you, OK? 81 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:09,960 I'm just saying. 82 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,320 All right, we've got to go see all the lights that exist. 83 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,320 Every single one of them, we've got to go see all the lights. 84 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:15,560 We've got to go to all the places. 85 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:16,960 Maybe you were at a parade yesterday. 86 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,120 Maybe you were at a lighting downtown last night. 87 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,800 Maybe you were somewhere to see it because it's got to happen. 88 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,920 And then you've got to find the perfect gift for everyone. 89 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:27,800 And you've got like every day is an adventure for the Amazon 90 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,520 driver pulling up to your house. 91 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:32,320 And there's just boxes. 92 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:34,520 And you've been shopping at stores and online and everywhere. 93 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:35,800 And you've got to find the perfect thing. 94 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:37,400 And you've got to do all the things 95 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:38,600 because Christmas is coming. 96 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,800 And man, does that sound like peace on Earth to you. 97 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,000 Right, we Christmas ourself out of peace. 98 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:47,000 We do so much stuff. 99 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,360 We jam it all together. 100 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,640 And when it comes to this idea of peace, 101 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,160 when it comes to all of that, it's kind of hard. 102 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:55,760 But we're talking about peace today. 103 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:57,960 And so I'm supposed to read this because it's Christmas 104 00:03:57,960 --> 00:03:59,440 and we're talking about peace. 105 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,960 Luke 2 says this, suddenly a great company 106 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,360 of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, 107 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,160 praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven 108 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:15,160 and on Earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. 109 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,440 And this is an absolutely beautiful Christmas wall 110 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,360 hanging. 111 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:21,280 This is a wall hanging. 112 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:23,160 This isn't real life, people. 113 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:23,960 Peace on Earth. 114 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:24,760 Are you kidding me? 115 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,160 This is a thing you bought at Hobby Lobby. 116 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,640 Right, you were walking down the aisle in July 117 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,880 when they put their Christmas stuff out. 118 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,680 It's a sin, I'm telling you. 119 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,560 But you saw it and you had to get it. 120 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,000 And it's hanging in your house. 121 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,480 And you've got this peace on Earth. 122 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,320 Peace, oh my goodness, it's so beautiful. 123 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,120 But that's not true. 124 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,240 Peace, that's so much, are you kidding me? 125 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:48,120 This time is crazy. 126 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:49,440 And in fact, that first Christmas, 127 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:50,640 I don't know if there was peace there. 128 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:51,480 You know why? 129 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,240 Because there was a baby being born. 130 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:57,160 And I've seen a couple babies being born. 131 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:58,960 There ain't no peace happening. 132 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,040 I remember when my third daughter was born, 133 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,800 my wife was at that stage of pregnancy 134 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:04,880 where she's just like, man, 135 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,160 I gotta get this thing out of me. 136 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:09,880 I am done, everything hurts. 137 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:11,520 And so I remember we went in, 138 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,440 she was like, I'm in labor, we gotta do this. 139 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:14,640 So we took her into the hospitals 140 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:16,720 about three in the afternoon. 141 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:17,960 We get there and I don't know 142 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:19,920 if the nurse was having a bad day or what, 143 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,400 but she looks at her, she checks her and she goes, 144 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,480 you're totally fine, go home, you're not having a baby. 145 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,640 And my wife's like, I'm gonna kill you right now. 146 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,600 And so we get her, we go home. 147 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:31,920 And in fact, we're only home for a little bit. 148 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:33,920 And then we went to run youth group that night. 149 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:35,600 I've been a youth pastor for a really long time. 150 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,880 So we went to run youth group that night. 151 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:39,080 My wife and I ran it together. 152 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,440 And for some reason, thought it was a good idea 153 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,080 to put her on a stage with a microphone. 154 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,440 While she was in active labor, room full of high schoolers, 155 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,680 she's like yelling at them the whole time. 156 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,200 It was awesome, all right, it was awesome. 157 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:54,360 So we leave youth group and she's like, 158 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,680 man, I'm gonna have this baby right now. 159 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:57,600 And I'm like, I'm taking you in. 160 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,080 She goes, no, they're just gonna send me back home. 161 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:01,360 I was like, okay. 162 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:02,520 So we go home, by this time, 163 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,040 she's like on the floor in a ball in so much pain. 164 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:07,640 And I said, I'm taking you. 165 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:08,960 She said, they're just gonna send me home. 166 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:10,680 I said, I don't care. 167 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,160 So we got in the car and every bump is an adventure. 168 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:14,840 We're like, oh, baby gonna pop out? 169 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:15,920 Nope, all right. 170 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,480 We got to the hospital and she is in so much pain. 171 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,760 Baby had flipped upside down and all these different ways. 172 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:22,080 So she's having back labor. 173 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:23,680 She's in extreme pain. 174 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,000 And she doesn't have any time to have a medicine or anything. 175 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,240 So she goes in, she's there, she's screaming. 176 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,200 I'm standing over here, I'm screaming. 177 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,520 And we're trying to figure out how this is gonna work. 178 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:34,480 I'm like, why does a sheet in the corner? 179 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:35,960 Just like, oh my goodness. 180 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:37,760 And the nurse comes over to me and she looks at me. 181 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,400 She goes, dad, you get in there 182 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:44,160 and you give your wife a pep talk right now. 183 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:45,440 I'm all right. 184 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,120 So I go over, I'm all, you can do this. 185 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:53,320 And she looked at me and she goes, I can't do this. 186 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,800 Now I don't know why I said this. 187 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:57,840 I said, it's okay, you don't have to. 188 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:02,840 The nurse comes over to me, she looks at me 189 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,640 and she says, dad, you get back in your corner. 190 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,640 I always stood in my corner. 191 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:10,680 Turns out I was right though. 192 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:12,040 They actually didn't need me at all. 193 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:13,760 She had the baby just fine without me. 194 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,000 All right, they didn't need me. 195 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,320 Listen, there's no peace if there was a baby involved. 196 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,720 And for most of us in this time of Christmas, 197 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,720 we don't have peace either because our life is crazy. 198 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:27,400 Our life is insane. 199 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:29,640 The reality is we live messy lives 200 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,760 and we have messy situations. 201 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:34,600 And for some of you in the middle of the busyness 202 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,360 of your life, your schedule is so packed 203 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,440 that you're going from one thing to the next all the time. 204 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,560 And you're like, there's no way peace can show up 205 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:42,680 in my schedule. 206 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,000 For some of you guys, you're in the middle 207 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,560 of the marriage problems that you don't know 208 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,520 if your marriage is still gonna be standing a year from now. 209 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:49,920 You don't even know if it's gonna make it a month 210 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,080 because every single fight that you get in 211 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,200 that is inevitably gonna happen, 212 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:55,680 you feel like you're walking on eggshells 213 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,200 and you're going, there is no peace in my marriage. 214 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,920 For some of you, or you're raising kids right now, 215 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:02,160 there is no peace there. 216 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:04,240 And you're in the middle of it 217 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,000 and every day there's something different. 218 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,560 And you're going, there is no peace in this situation. 219 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:10,960 And some of you have already raised kids 220 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:12,680 and your kids are estranged from you now 221 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,600 and nothing highlights that more than this time of year. 222 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,400 And you're sitting in so much pain because of that 223 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:20,960 and you're going, there is no peace right now. 224 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,440 And some of you guys are dealing with illness and sickness 225 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,360 and you're walking through situations in life 226 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:28,720 where you're going, I just want peace. 227 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,320 But the truth is, is our lives is messy 228 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:33,480 and situations that we encounter are messy. 229 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,800 And your life feels a lot more like a storm than it does peace. 230 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:39,640 It feels a lot more like a storm, 231 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,920 like you're in the middle of a storm, 232 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,560 in the middle of absolute chaos in your life. 233 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:49,600 And the truth is we set out and we go, okay, 234 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:51,640 I'm following Jesus, I'm following Jesus, 235 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:53,040 here's what I'm going for. 236 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,120 And then life happens. 237 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,760 And then we go, Jesus feels really distant right now. 238 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:00,640 And we're not alone in that. 239 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:01,880 There are some people in the Bible 240 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:03,560 who followed Jesus very closely, 241 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:05,320 who found themselves in the same situation 242 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,040 in Luke chapter eight. 243 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:11,480 It says this, one day, Jesus said to his disciples, 244 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,520 let's go over to the other side of the lake. 245 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:15,400 So they got on a boat and set out. 246 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:16,520 They were following Jesus. 247 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:17,560 Jesus said, let's do this. 248 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:20,400 And then they said, let's go, we're following you. 249 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,640 So they get in a boat and as they sailed, he fell asleep. 250 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,600 And a squall came down on the lake 251 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,320 so that the boat was being swamped. 252 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:30,520 And they were in great danger. 253 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:31,800 It says they're in great danger. 254 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:32,920 And I think sometimes we think, 255 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:34,840 oh, they're just overreacting. 256 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:36,840 They're just being dramatic right here. 257 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:38,640 No, it says they were in great danger. 258 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,120 In fact, so much so that the disciples went 259 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,080 and woke him saying, master, master, 260 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,320 we're going to drown. 261 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,560 Trained fishermen who do this for a living, 262 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:51,040 this is what they do, are at a point where they go, 263 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,440 this is too much, we might not make it out. 264 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:54,840 This storm is too big. 265 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:56,520 Some of you might be in a place in your life 266 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:57,920 where the storm is so big that you're going, 267 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,120 I don't know if I'm gonna make it out. 268 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,720 I don't know if I'm gonna get through this right now. 269 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:05,600 So they went to Jesus and it says he got up. 270 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:08,400 Jesus got up and he rebuked the wind 271 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,840 and the raging waters and the storm subsided 272 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,360 and all was calm. 273 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,400 Jesus brought peace to their storm. 274 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,880 What if Jesus could bring peace 275 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,400 to the storm that is your life? 276 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,600 What if you could experience the type of peace 277 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:28,240 that the disciples experienced 278 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:29,840 when they were on that lake? 279 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,320 When the storm came up, when they were following Jesus 280 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,520 and then all of a sudden life happens 281 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:37,040 and then Jesus feels distant and they're going, 282 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,560 man, I just need some peace in this situation. 283 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,040 Jesus brings peace to our storm. 284 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:46,480 And when we're going through a storm, 285 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:47,600 a lot of times we go, God, 286 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,640 I just need your peace in this situation. 287 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,280 Whatever situation it is in your life, 288 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,240 we're going, God, I need your peace in this situation. 289 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,640 I need your peace in this situation, 290 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:57,680 but the truth is that God wants to give you peace 291 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:00,960 over everything. He wants you to experience 292 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:05,240 a state of peace, not just peace for a situation, 293 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,960 but living in a state of peace, 294 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,200 regardless of the situation that you go through. 295 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,760 Man, I was thinking this last week about greetings. 296 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,680 Greetings are kind of funny. They're so different. 297 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:20,400 There's different ways that you are greeted. 298 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,600 In fact, on this campus right now, 299 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:24,960 this morning in this building, you might've got greeted 300 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,160 and someone shook your hand and said, good morning. 301 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:28,960 It's good to see you this morning. 302 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,600 But if you go over to H3 where our youth meet, 303 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,280 you might get greeted like this, sup. 304 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,320 Sometimes they don't even use words. 305 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:38,840 They just go, uh. 306 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,040 All right, and if you go down a little further 307 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,080 and you go to H4 where our kids are at, 308 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:46,200 you might've got greeted this way 309 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,600 where you say hi to a kid and you go, hey, how's it going? 310 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,000 And they look at you and they just go, ah, 311 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,200 and just run right past you. 312 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,200 And you're like, hey, good to see you too. 313 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,160 All right, greetings are so different. 314 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,320 But a couple years ago, I had the privilege of going 315 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,360 with a group from the church to Israel 316 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,000 to tour around Israel. 317 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,680 And one of the greetings that they have in Israel 318 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:08,720 is they greet people with the word shalom. 319 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,920 They say shalom, which is so much cooler than what we do. 320 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,960 Our tour guide in Israel, his name is Yoel. 321 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:18,800 And a couple months ago, Yoel got to come 322 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,440 and speak here on this stage. 323 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,360 And so I hadn't seen him since we went to Israel 324 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:24,320 and I was super excited to see him. 325 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,720 And I go to see him and he goes to me and he goes, 326 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,640 shalom, my friend. 327 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:30,440 And I said, what's up? 328 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,920 It's so much cooler what they do than us. 329 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:35,480 But the reason they say this word shalom, 330 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:37,560 what it is is it's peace. 331 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,280 I'm wishing peace on you. 332 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:41,480 It's a wish of peace. 333 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,400 And in fact, the state of peace, wishing peace on them 334 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,800 is one that we see all throughout scripture. 335 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,320 In fact, Paul, as he opens or closes his letters, 336 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,680 it's a greeting hello or it's a greeting hello 337 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:55,880 or it's a goodbye of peace. 338 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,360 He closes or starts his letters with these same things. 339 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,360 It says this at the end of 2 Thessalonians 3.16. 340 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,760 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace 341 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,360 at all times and in every way. 342 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:11,480 The Lord be with all of you. 343 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:13,480 It's a greeting that he gives. 344 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,520 In fact, Jesus himself used to greet people this way. 345 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,120 The resurrected Jesus after he had gone to the cross, 346 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,600 he had died on a cross, he was put in a tomb, 347 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:24,800 he rose again and he would show up 348 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:26,840 and talk to people in person. 349 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,960 It says in Luke 24.36, while they were still talking 350 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,960 about this, Jesus himself stood among them 351 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,640 and said to them, peace be with you. 352 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:38,560 What did he say? 353 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,120 He said, shalom. 354 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:40,960 That's what he said. 355 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,440 He said, shalom, peace be with you. 356 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:46,560 And so I started thinking, well, where did this come from? 357 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:48,240 Where does this originate, this idea? 358 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:49,680 Because in order to truly understand 359 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:51,640 what this greeting of shalom means, 360 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,720 we have to understand what shalom truly means. 361 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,120 So we have to dig deep into that and understand 362 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,560 that the root word of shalom is shalam. 363 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,560 And what this has, it shows up. 364 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:03,960 And this week I was super excited 365 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:05,400 to figure out what this is. 366 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,840 And so I saw it and I was sharing it 367 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:09,760 with one of the other pastors at our church. 368 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:11,320 And I'm like, hey, this is super cool. 369 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,480 The root word of shalom is shalam. 370 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:14,720 And he goes, shazam. 371 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,000 I was like, what? 372 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:18,120 And he's all, shazam. 373 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:19,040 I'm like, okay. 374 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:20,040 And that's Pastor Ben. 375 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,440 So those of you at Prescott Valley, that is your pastor. 376 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,600 I'm just saying, that's who you're stuck with. 377 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,640 But this root word is super important 378 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,960 because the uses of this word show us what this means. 379 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,600 In the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, 380 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:41,960 we see this come up in the book of Exodus, 381 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,160 in chapter 21 and 22. 382 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,640 We see this word used 14 different times 383 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:50,480 in regards to theft or loss of property. 384 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,920 If something is stolen or you have a loss of property, 385 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:55,840 this word is used in the law to describe 386 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:57,640 how the Israelites are to go about acting 387 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,920 when it comes to this situation in their life. 388 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:05,920 And so the translation of this is to make full restitution, 389 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:11,120 to make it good, to make something whole, to restore. 390 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,200 And if you're with us through Center of All Things 391 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,840 as we went through that, we ended in Revelation 392 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,600 and we talked about how the restoration, 393 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,040 the making everything whole, the bringing everything 394 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,840 to how it should be is what God's plan is for the earth 395 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,800 and for humanity and for all of us. 396 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,360 To restore it to what it is, an overall sense of completeness 397 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:33,360 in mind, body, and estate. 398 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,680 The overall sense of completeness. 399 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,000 So I think there's different things in our life 400 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,200 that help us feel completeness. 401 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:41,440 I was thinking about it like this. 402 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,400 I have a younger daughter, she's two years old 403 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,040 and her whole life she has really enjoyed her pacifier. 404 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:49,880 She's loved her pacifier. 405 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:50,880 Okay, she wants all about it. 406 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,120 But when she hit two years old, we're like, okay, 407 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:54,560 we gotta take this away from her. 408 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,640 Now listen, I know there's different strategies 409 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:58,240 in parenting and different thought. 410 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:01,240 I don't need to hear your advice on what to do 411 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,080 with the pacifier or not to do with it, okay? 412 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,840 I only say that because I love you guys, okay? 413 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,840 And so she gets to two years old and we say, 414 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:10,400 hey, you can only have it when you're sleeping. 415 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,320 You can't have it when you're awake. 416 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,240 And for her, she's like, no, no, no, I love this thing. 417 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,680 I'm like, no, no, no, we're gonna enforce this rule. 418 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:18,520 And so I was sitting on the couch with her the other day 419 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:19,640 and she's sitting next to me 420 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,120 and she keeps getting off the couch for like 20 seconds 421 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:23,760 and then getting back on. 422 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:24,760 I'm like, what is going on here? 423 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,680 So I look down and there's a backpack on the floor 424 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:29,240 at the edge of the couch. 425 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:30,520 And she keeps going down there 426 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,000 and she's sticking her head in the backpack 427 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:35,840 for about 20 seconds and then she pops up. 428 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:37,200 And I'm like, what in the world? 429 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,760 So I look down there, in the bottom of this backpack, 430 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,200 there's a pacifier and she'll stick her head in there 431 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,120 like a little drug addict to getting her fix. 432 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,640 And then she pops up and she gets back on the couch. 433 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:52,040 And I'm like, child, what is wrong with you? 434 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,360 But she's like, man, I'm not complete without this. 435 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:58,360 I need it. 436 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:00,960 Some of you have things in your life 437 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,200 that make you complete and you go, 438 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,680 okay, if I have this, then I'm complete. 439 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,960 For me, it's when our whole family is together 440 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:08,440 and we don't have anything on the calendar 441 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:09,720 and we can just relax together. 442 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:11,880 I sit there and I go, okay, I'm feeling wholeness. 443 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,160 I'm feeling completeness. 444 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,520 This idea of shalom, this idea was meant to say, 445 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,600 hey, it's all about being complete. 446 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:24,440 It's all about being whole in mind, body and estate, 447 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:25,760 all of it. 448 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,160 All right, but this greeting that is used, it has evolved. 449 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,880 It's evolved from this true meaning to just kind of saying, 450 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,320 hey, I hope there's no turmoil in your life. 451 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:35,800 I hope everything's okay. 452 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:37,840 I hope nothing bad is happening. 453 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,480 Shalom, I hope that there's no war, there's no issues, 454 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,520 there's no storms of life happening. 455 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:46,200 But that's not what this greeting 456 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,280 or what this blessing was originally meant. 457 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:54,280 We see it this clearly given in Numbers chapter six. 458 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:55,560 It says this, this blessing is, 459 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:57,520 the Lord bless you and keep you. 460 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:02,520 The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. 461 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:07,080 The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. 462 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,200 Which is amazing and beautiful and wonderful, 463 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,000 but we have to understand the context of this 464 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,320 is spoken to them before the Israelites were going 465 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:17,400 into the promised land to conquer the promised land, 466 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,280 before they were going into war. 467 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,760 They can experience war in the middle. 468 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,160 They can experience peace in the middle of war. 469 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,560 It's not in the absence of war. 470 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,360 It's not the absence of tumultuous situations in our life. 471 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,240 It's not about that. 472 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,040 It's not saying, okay, I hope everything's good for you 473 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:37,040 because we live in a world 474 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:38,440 where things are not gonna be good for us. 475 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:39,640 We are gonna be going through storms 476 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,120 and we can experience peace in the middle of that. 477 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,040 And you need to understand that just because you don't have 478 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,360 a storm doesn't mean that you have peace either. 479 00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:50,680 Because some of you go, as long as I don't have conflict, 480 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:52,240 everything's fine. 481 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:53,480 And that's not peace either. 482 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,400 The absence of a storm doesn't mean that there's peace 483 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:58,120 in the same way that in the middle of a storm 484 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:00,040 doesn't mean that there can't be peace. 485 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,680 Because as we look very closely in this, 486 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:04,960 it's an inner peace. 487 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:06,520 It's a completeness that's brought on 488 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,560 by sharing in his countenance. 489 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,320 Israel themself as a nation, 490 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:16,320 Israel has spent most of their time not at peace. 491 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,440 They rarely experienced times of outward peace, 492 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,400 but even in the midst of the battle, 493 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,240 even in the midst of the storm, 494 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:24,880 even in the midst of the trial, 495 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:26,520 even in the midst of the turmoil, 496 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,320 even in the midst of what they're going through, 497 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:31,440 they were to have an inward rest brought on 498 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:36,240 by the presence of the Lord to experience shalom. 499 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,880 That means that in the middle of your busyness, 500 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:40,920 in the middle of when your calendar is full 501 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:42,160 and you've got things that you're running to 502 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,920 from one to the next, you can experience shalom. 503 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,000 That means in the middle of your marriage issues 504 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:49,120 where you're going, I don't even know 505 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:50,600 if we're gonna make it through, 506 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:51,680 in the middle of the fights, 507 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,480 in the middle of difficulty, you can experience shalom. 508 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,320 That means in the middle of raising your kids 509 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:00,080 and the difficulty that that presents, 510 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,720 in the hard days, you can experience shalom. 511 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,360 That means in the middle of the pain of an estranged child 512 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:09,760 that's highlighted by this season, 513 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,480 you can experience shalom. 514 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,680 That means in the middle of sickness 515 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:19,160 and illness and difficulty and storms of life, 516 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,680 you can experience shalom. 517 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,680 Why can you experience shalom? 518 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,480 Back to where we started. 519 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:31,640 Luke two, suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts 520 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,120 appeared with the angel, praising God 521 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:36,920 and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven 522 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,920 and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. 523 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,320 You know why this isn't just a wall hanging? 524 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,480 Because it says on whom his favor rests. 525 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,040 What does that mean? 526 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:49,840 Well, as Pastor John talked about last week, 527 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:53,600 the favor of God is expressed through God's face upon you. 528 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:55,400 All throughout scripture, we see when God's face 529 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,360 is showing upon them, when God's face is turned to them, 530 00:20:58,360 --> 00:20:59,960 when God's face is upon them, 531 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:02,880 they have now gotten the favor of God. 532 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,480 So who does God's favor rest upon those whose face 533 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,880 God's face is turned towards? 534 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,120 Shalom is found in front of God's face, 535 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:14,680 which is great news because God is happy to be with you. 536 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:16,960 God is happy to be with you. 537 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,600 God is happy to turn his face towards you. 538 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:19,760 God wants to be with you. 539 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:20,600 He loves you. 540 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:21,440 He desires you. 541 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,200 And because of that, we can experience shalom 542 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:30,200 because of God's favor and Christmas, Christmas 543 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,360 is God putting his face in front of you 544 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:35,720 in the form of Jesus. 545 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,480 That's what it is. 546 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:39,880 It's the God of the universe saying, 547 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,240 I'm going to send myself in Jesus 548 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,120 and put my face in front of you. 549 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:45,960 But why? 550 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,840 Because peace comes upon those whom his favor rests 551 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:50,440 and who does his favor rest upon those 552 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,000 whose face is turned to. 553 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,400 And what do we know about God is that he is happy 554 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,360 to be with you. 555 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,840 That's why we can experience peace. 556 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,360 And the good news is we need peace. 557 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:09,760 We need peace because we all have this void inside of us. 558 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,920 We have this missing piece that's longing 559 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,000 for something to fill this void. 560 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,920 And we go, nothing else can fill it. 561 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,000 It has to be the right thing in order to fill that void. 562 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,520 One of my daughters, she can't go to sleep 563 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:28,360 without her BB and puppy. 564 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:31,840 BB is her blanket and puppy is her stuffed animal. 565 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:33,600 She has to have them. 566 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:34,880 And you would think for something 567 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,760 that she has to have so much, she needs this puppy. 568 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:40,360 You would think she'd keep better track of it 569 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:43,800 because every single night, puppy seems to be missing. 570 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:46,080 I'm not kidding you. 571 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,480 I have spent more hours searching for this stuff 572 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,080 dog than most of you have done anything. 573 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:51,920 I'm telling you. 574 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:54,920 And sometimes while I'm searching for this stuff dog 575 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:56,280 and I'm like, she's gotta have this puppy 576 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:57,480 or she's not gonna sleep. 577 00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:58,760 I get to a point where I go, okay, 578 00:22:58,760 --> 00:22:59,600 how about this stuffed animal? 579 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:00,440 Will this work? 580 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,160 And she's like, nope, not gonna work. 581 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,000 What about this one? 582 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:04,720 Nope, not gonna work. 583 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:05,680 What about this one? 584 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,000 And finally I go, okay, listen, we're just gonna try it. 585 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,080 You gotta try this one tonight. 586 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:11,760 And she'll go to sleep and the next morning, 587 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,360 she'll wake up and I'll go to her and I'll say, how was it? 588 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,280 She goes, it wasn't good, didn't work. 589 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:17,560 It didn't work. 590 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:18,880 I tried it and it didn't work. 591 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:20,680 I still have this missing piece. 592 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,880 There's this void that can only be filled by one thing. 593 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:24,720 And for a lot of you, that's your story 594 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:26,080 because we have a void inside 595 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:27,920 that you've tried everything to fill and you go, 596 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:29,160 okay, I wanna try this thing. 597 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,800 And if I just eat this or I eat enough of it, 598 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:33,120 then I'll feel good. 599 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,760 And if I can just drink this or I can drink enough of it, 600 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:36,600 then I'll feel good. 601 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:37,960 And if I just try this drug and I just get 602 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,760 in this relationship and if I just have this, 603 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:42,680 am I accepted by these people, 604 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,440 then it'll fill the void in my life. 605 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,080 And if I just try this, I'm not accepted by these people. 606 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,000 Then it'll fill the void inside of me. 607 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,200 And then I'll be okay, but you're always gonna be chasing 608 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:52,200 the thing that'll fill the void 609 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:53,880 because you are missing something. 610 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:56,880 And none of those can fill the void. 611 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,600 The missing piece is peace. 612 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:03,880 The missing piece is peace 613 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,400 and you can search for it forever, 614 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,360 but what the missing piece is, is completeness. 615 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:09,640 It's wholeness. 616 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:10,960 That's what peace is. 617 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,480 That's what shalom is. 618 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,800 You know, 600 years before Jesus showed up on the scene, 619 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,000 there's this book written, this book of Isaiah, 620 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,240 and it's full of prophecies of what's going to happen, 621 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:23,320 what's gonna come. 622 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,160 And we see in Isaiah chapter nine, verse six, 623 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,240 it says, for to us a child is born, 624 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,880 to us a son is given, 625 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,560 and the government will be on his shoulders, 626 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,280 and he will be called wonderful counselor, 627 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,920 mighty God, everlasting father, 628 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,920 prince of peace. 629 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:48,480 So he's coming. 630 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,560 This Jesus guy is coming and he's the prince of peace. 631 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,040 He's the prince of shalom. 632 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,440 The best translation I found for this this week is this. 633 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,160 This is 600 years before Jesus showing up, 634 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:04,200 knowing that we are gonna need peace in our life, 635 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:05,640 understanding what peace truly is, 636 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,320 and this is the translation, the prince of inner fullness. 637 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,720 The prince of inner fullness. 638 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:13,800 And this is the only one who can give you 639 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,320 this type of internal peace. 640 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:17,880 This is the only place you can find 641 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,200 this type of internal peace. 642 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,040 This is the only fix for the brokenness 643 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,840 that you experience and the hole that's inside of you, 644 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:26,240 and the difficult situations. 645 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,680 And here's the thing, it's not to take the situation away. 646 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,160 It's in the middle of your storm. 647 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,720 You can experience shalom. 648 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,280 You can experience 649 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,360 you can experience peace. 650 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:43,680 So here's my question. 651 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,720 Is peace a wall hanging for you this Christmas? 652 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,120 Is peace just a wall hanging for you this Christmas? 653 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,080 Or is it real? 654 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:56,920 Is it shalom? 655 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,280 Because what you do with Jesus 656 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,200 is what will determine the answer to that question. 657 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:11,480 And what we know about Jesus is that He's longing 658 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,000 to be with you. 659 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:15,720 He's longing to be with you. 660 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,000 The gift of Jesus is given to us at Christmas. 661 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:25,440 What you do with that gift, that is for you to decide. 662 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,080 And what you do with that gift 663 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,640 is what determines the peace that you experience. 664 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:32,800 So will you step in? 665 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:36,440 Will you step in? 666 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,920 Because today I know there's people in this room 667 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,400 that need to experience the peace that comes from Jesus 668 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,880 because you've never stepped into a relationship with Jesus. 669 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,160 You've never accepted the fact that Jesus died 670 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:49,560 on a cross for you. 671 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,600 That Jesus went to the grave 672 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,320 so that you could have a relationship with God. 673 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:58,640 That is the good news, that is the gospel. 674 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,800 And today some of you need to take that step and say, 675 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:02,960 yeah, I need to do that. 676 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,640 But what I also know is there's some of you in here 677 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,240 who've made that step before, but you've walked away. 678 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,800 Life has happened, the storm has happened, 679 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:11,880 and you've walked away. 680 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,960 And you need a re-upping of sorts. 681 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:16,680 You need to rededicate and say, 682 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,120 I'm gonna stand firm on the commitment that I once made 683 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,880 and I wanna recommit, rededicate my life to Jesus today. 684 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,480 And I'm gonna stand firm on that commitment 685 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,800 and I'm gonna stand firm on that commitment 686 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:29,760 and I'm gonna stand firm on that commitment 687 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:31,720 and I'm gonna stand firm on that commitment. 688 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,760 And then I know there's people in here that you've done that, 689 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:37,080 you're walking with Jesus, 690 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,520 but man, you just need to refocus today. 691 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,840 You just need to refocus this Christmas season. 692 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:49,840 And you need to realize that Jesus is happy to be with you. 693 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,280 And the only source of peace that you will get 694 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:55,240 is through Him. 695 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,280 The only source of peace 696 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,440 is not through everything else that we try to fill it with. 697 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,640 It's through the shalom, the true inner wholeness 698 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,560 that comes from Jesus. 699 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,240 If you made a decision like that today 700 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:12,200 or you know you need to, 701 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:13,760 there are gonna be people up front 702 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:15,360 after the service that wanna pray with you, 703 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:17,440 that wanna talk with you, that wanna help you 704 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,520 as you've made a decision or a commitment. 705 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,440 But I wanna just end like this. 706 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,880 I wanna just read this verse over you today. 707 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:28,840 Jesus says He was explaining to His disciples 708 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:29,680 that He was gonna leave 709 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:31,880 and that the Holy Spirit was gonna come. 710 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:33,080 These are the words that He said to them. 711 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:34,840 And I want you to just close your eyes right now 712 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:37,360 and I wanna read this over you today. 713 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,240 John 14, 27 says, 714 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:46,240 peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. 715 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,160 I do not give it to you as the world gives. 716 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:55,160 Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 717 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:57,800 God, we just love you. 718 00:28:57,800 --> 00:28:59,320 God, we come before you. 719 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,960 As broken humans in need of peace, in need of true shalom, 720 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,000 God, I pray that you would help each one of us 721 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,680 to truly find shalom in you. 722 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:15,080 I pray for those in here today 723 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:16,960 that need to make commitments 724 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,600 and need to stand up and step out of your way 725 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:21,680 and step out and say, God, I'm willing 726 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,040 to say that I stand for you. 727 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,240 I pray that you would prompt them to make those decisions. 728 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:33,520 God, I pray that your love, 729 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,440 because of the fact that you are face to face with us, 730 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,800 would be shown bright and shown strong 731 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,880 to those of us in this room 732 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:42,720 that need that reminder this morning. 733 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,640 God, you are good. 734 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:48,960 We praise you, God, we worship you. 735 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,120 We continue to sing of your goodness. 736 00:29:52,120 --> 00:30:13,160 We pray all of this in Jesus' name, amen.