Advent: ”The Coming of Peace”

December 10, 2023

Associate Pastor Louise Waller

 

Psalm 91:1-16

John 14:27

Luke 2:14

 

The Peace

Romans 8:1

 

The Veil

 Hebrews 6:19-20

 

Shalom

John 16:33

Hebrews 2:14-15

 

At War for Peace

"A repentant sinner beset again by the devil will ask himself, “How can God love me and bless me?” But as he looks at Christ dying on the cross, buried, and rising again, he says, ‘I know he loves me. I cannot understand it but I know he does. He has done that for me.’ It is not mere sentiment or feeling; he has solid facts of history to prove that God loves him. God does not merely tell us that he loves us, he has given the most amazing proof of it. Nothing is more wonderful than to know that God loves you; and no man can truly know that God loves him except in Jesus Christ and him crucified." -Matthew Henry

 

"Approach, my soul, the mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayer; there humbly fall before his feet, for none can perish there. Bowed down beneath a load of sin, by Satan sorely pressed, by wars without and fears within, I come to Thee for rest. Be thou my shield and hiding place, that sheltered near thy side, I may my fierce accuser face, and tell him thou has died!" -John Newton

"The devil will try to steal your peace by accusing you of your sins. ‘What can I tell him? I cannot tell him that I am a good man, I cannot tell him about my past or even my present. There is only one way of silencing him; “I can my fierce accuser face, and tell him Thou hast died”. The man who believes vaguely in the love of God cannot do so, for the devil will not listen to him. The man who says ‘I feel happy’ will soon be made unhappy by the devil, for he is more powerful than we are. There is only one thing that the devil can never answer and that is the argument of ‘the blood of Christ saves me’. He will come back again, but you will always be able to silence him, and thus continue in a state of peace." -Unknown

"Peace even when you fall into sin? In Jesus, God has dealt with your sin, once and forever. He is now dealing with your righteousness." -Graham Cooke

Philippians 4:5-7