Welcome to another edition of the Weekend Sermon. I am very glad to be with you all today, and I hope that all of you are having a great holiday season.
This has been a very busy week for me. I've had a lot of writing work to do, and I am thankful to the Lord for it. I also went out this week with my brother and nephew for a family holiday dinner. We all had a nice time.
I don't think that I will be doing much on Christmas Day itself. The holidays just aren't what they used to be since my Mom, Dad and Toby have gone to be with the Lord. I may take a drive around the lake if its not snowing.
This holiday season, those who are homeless are really on my mind. The number of homeless in my country has increased this last year, and some of the larger cities in America have a really serious homeless problem. Please pray that people will be able to find a place out of the cold. We really as a nation need to do more to get people into affordable housing. Please try to do what you can to help those in need during this holiday season.
Please continue to pray for those in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Forty percent of the people are still without power. They need much more assistance.
Let us all pray for those injured in Australia, and please pray for those injured in the train crash in the United States.
Remember to continue to pray for peace in the war torn areas of this world. Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and Libya certainly need our prayers.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for Tanzania and Turkey. Pray that many will hear the message of the love of Jesus this week.
Christmas is just a couple of days away as I write this. It is a wonderful time of year when we celebrate the fact that Jesus came to this earth to be with us in order to show us how much God loves us. Jesus came to show us how we are supposed to live in this world. He is our perfect example. He also came to be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He came to provide the way back to the Father's House.
Jesus also came to restore peace to the entire universe. As a result of sin that had entered into this world. The entire universe was thrown into chaos. Nothing was the way that God had originally intended things to be.
Nature was thrown into turmoil. The Bible says that all of creation is groaning in travail waiting for the day when the final redemption will take place.
When sin entered into the world, one of the consequences is that people turned on each other. Greed and selfishness caused people to be in contention with one another even within families and among friends.
War became the norm among humans. Nations and tribes constantly battled one another for dominance over resources.
In to the midst of all of this turmoil, strife and warfare, Jesus came into this world to be the Prince of Peace. When the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds who were in the field with their flocks, the angels said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to men."
When Jesus came into this world on His first Advent on Christmas Day, He brought with Him the beginnings of peace. Jesus taught the way of peace. If people would follow Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, wars could cease right now. Sadly, most people, Christians included, have not followed the words of the Lord Jesus.
Jesus provides a spiritual peace that everyone can know right now. If a person is willing to come to Jesus in repentance and faith and accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, a peace that passes all understanding will come into that person's heart. Jesus will give a peace that only He can provide. This is a peace that let's us know that our sins are forgiven. It is a peace that lets us know that we have Jesus in our hearts, and He will never leave us or forsake us. It is a peace that assures us that the Lord Jesus has prepared a place for us in Heaven, so that when we die, we will be with Him forever and forever.
Jesus will return to earth one day to complete the work of redemption of the universe. When Jesus returns in His Second Advent, peace will come to this entire planet. Nation will know longer rise against nation. People will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Humanity will study war no more. Micah 4:4 says, "Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken."
The entire natural order will be restored to the way things existed in Eden. Animals will not prey on one another anymore. The lion and the lamb will dwell peacefully together. Humans and wild animals won't fear each other anymore. All will be at peace.
The striving among people will be at an end. Greed and selfishness will be no more. Jesus shall reign, and sin and its ramifications will be done away with. I hope that Jesus might return even this very day.
I hope and pray that you have found the peace that Jesus came to bring. I hope that this Christmas season that you will turn to the Lord to receive His love and forgiveness if you have not already done so.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I will post the verses on Tuesday this week. On Wednesday, I will post the cat book of the year. On Friday, I will post the sermon. It will be on a topic that has been on my mind recently. Then, the following week, we will resume and finish our series on the book of Malachi. May God bless you all. Amen.
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