As we come to the end of another year, let’s look back with thanks, grateful to God for all that we’ve experienced. For the things which have brought us joy, for challenges, and the hard struggles we have learnt from. In the coming days, weeks, and year, let’s seek to see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly…day by day.

This is the second in a series of three looking at love, peace, and joy.
Today is peace.

Before I get into it, I want to say something briefly about silence. Silence isn’t the same as peace, but it can be an indictor for you of how much you’re at peace.
Are you comfortable with silence, with stillness, or does it make you feel uneasy ?
Be still and know that I am God.
Don’t feel threatened by silence, use it to seek God, to listen to Him, it’s often when He speaks to us.

Okay, what about peace ?
Peace is commonly understood to mean the absence of hostilities. Other definitions include freedom from disputes, silence, harmonious relations, or inner contentment and serenity, as the meaning of the word changes with context.
Peace (used as an interjection) can also be a greeting or farewell, or a request for silence.
Peace may refer specifically to an agreement concluded to end a war, or to a lack of external warfare. It can also refer more generally to quietude, such as that common at night or in remote areas, allowing for sleep or meditation. Peace can be an emotion or internal state. And finally, peace can be any combination of these definitions.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually to notable persons, generally peacemakers and visionaries who have overcome notorious cycles in violence, conflict or oppression through their moral leadership, but also controversially former warmongers and former terrorists who it was believed had helped bring the world closer to ending such situations through exceptional concessions in the attempt to achieve peace.
Here is a partial list of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
• Theodore Roosevelt (1906 laureate);
• Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1964 laureate);
• Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho (joint 1973 laureates);
• Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin (1978 laureates);
• Mother Teresa (1979 laureate);
• Nelson Mandela and Former President Frederik Willem de Klerk (joint 1993 laureates);
• Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin (1994 laureates);
• John Hume and David Trimble (joint 1998 laureates);
Sweden (1814–present). Sweden is the present-day nation state with the longest history of continuous peace. Since its 1814 invasion of Norway, the Swedish kingdom has not engaged in war.
Some people refer to the global loose affiliation of activists and political interests as having a shared purpose and this constituting a single movement, “the peace movement”, encompassing “the anti-war movement”.

The peace process describes efforts by interested parties to effect a lasting solution to long-running conflicts, such as the Northern Ireland peace process, and Peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Peace symbols : CND (semaphore for ND), dove, olive branch, rainbow.
Green-peace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions. It needs change. It needs action.

It is clear that most people in the world desire peace - an outward absence of conflict, and an inner peace and contentment, but that it seems very illusive to most people.

Before I gave my life into Jesus hands, I had no peace whatsoever, it was something I just didn’t experience. Worry, fear, turmoil, guilt, paranoia, hatred – these were the things that typified my inner life – my feelings and thoughts. When I first experienced the peace, love, and joy that Jesus brings, it was revolutionary, transforming, overwhelming.

Read John 14:27.

It’s not a peace this world or anyone in it can give.
Can the world forgive sin and take away guilt ?
Can the world take our fears, anxieties, and worries, and assure us that everything will be alright ?
Can the world guarantee our future and give us a sure hope for when we die ?

Outwardly peaceful surroundings are sometimes helpful, but in themselves cannot bring peace to your heart, only God can do that as you submit to Him.

God’s peace transends all understanding – you can know God’s peace in a football crowd, in a crowded tube train, when your relatives are pressurising you, when everything is going wrong, ….because it is not dependant on external circumstances or on other people.
The Lord’s peace doesn’t make sense.
It’s dependent on simply letting go to Jesus of whatever is causing the dis-ease, and welcoming His peace, which is freely given. And to maintain that peace, doing what we considered last week – fix your focus on Jesus and the things of His Kingdom – wholly and completely.
This is how Paul puts it :

Read Philippians 4:4-8.

Words very pertinent to the Church of this generation in the Western world, where stress, depression, and their related illnesses are so prevelant. (Prozac and water).

Don’t worry, trust God. If you’re worried or anxious about something (define), either :

i) You’re not trusting God (and anything that does not come from faith is sin – Romans 14:23). Because you doubt that He loves you or you doubt He can deal with the thing. So you either doubt God’s love or power. You,ve believed a lie – that God doesn’t love you, or that He’s less than He really is. Get a bigger view of God, a Biblical view. Feed on the truth in the Scriptures, and believe it.

ii) You’re trusting yourself. You think you can deal with the situation better than God. No need to get Him involved you can handle it. Pride and arrogance. If you recognise yourself, repent. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

iii) You’re punishing yourself. You feel you deserve to feel like this. Out of guilt for some sin, that you havn’t forgiven yourself for. You might say Jesus is your Saviour, but you havn’t fully accepted it. You still want to punish yourself. Let it go. God forgives you, everything. Accept it.

iv) Your focus is wrong. The weeds of life are choking the fruit out of you. You worry about things that don’t really matter in God’s Kingdom. Things are out of proportion and God gets pushed out. Repent and fix your eyes on Jesus. Focus on what is important to God.

We tend to see stress, worry, anxiety, as something which inflicts us, like a germ. It’s not.
To see ourselves as a victim of anxiety and worry is a lie of satan.
It’s a choice. We either trust God and submit ourselves to Him, or we don’t.
We either trust in God who is faithful, or in the flesh, ours or others, which will fail us.
Faith or doubt.
Peace or Anxiety.
You chose !

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice ! – whatever is going on around you.
The guy who said these things had great credability.
Through all his trials – shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment, stoning, etc - Paul had learnt something very important.

Read Philippians 4:10-13.

To be content.
Think of the traditional marriage vows – for better and for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.
There are some things which are meant to transend circumstances – love, peace, and joy, are such things, given by God to those who will receive Him.

If you’re ill, if you’re homeless, if you’re unemployed, if you’re poor, if you’re well off, if you’re taken for granted, if your relatives are a pain in the neck. If you’re single, if you’re married - rejoice and be content.

It may help you to get things into perspective to think of others in the world and pray for them :
The prostitutes of Ipswich. The people living in the hell of Baghdad – daily random bombs. The poor of Africa and India, the homeless of Pakistan, living in tents after last year’s earthquake, facing another winter outside, the oppressed, raped, enslaved peoples of Dafur in Sudan. The Christians of China, beaten, tortured, imprisoned for preaching the Gospel.

Get things into some perspective. Don’t make a big deal out of things which really don’t metter that much – you’ll save yourself and others a lot of stress.
God has given so much, and I don’t mean materially.
Let’s not spurn His gift of peace and trample on it. And don’t feel guilty about being at peace, about being content – God wants you to be at peace inside, and to be a peacemaker outwardly.
To be an ambassador of reconciliation.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.

Just make sure first that you yourself are reconciled to God.
Do you believe that all your sin is forgiven and gone, it’s power in your life destroyed ?

Those who receive God’s peace are then to share the good news with others, to call them to be reconciled to God so that they too can know His peace :
the peace of having our sin forgiven and being cleansed inside ;
the peace of having the all powerful creator of the universe on our side ;
the peace of knowing He loves us completely and knows what’s best for us.

Without being reconciled to God and submitting ourselves to Him, that is a peace which is impossible to attain.
True peace can only come through Jesus, the one who came and gave Himself up for us, who suffered violence and horror, that we might have peace and know the love of God.

It’s so important in life to have a right main focus.
To have the right thing occupying your thoughts, the right thing motivating you, the right thing stirring your emotions, the right thing taking up your time and energy.

Is it your problems ?
Is it illness, enemployment, financial concerns ?
Is it work ?
Is it your family ?
Is it your spouse ?
No, none of these, so what is it, what does the Bible say is a right focus ?

“Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness” – Matthew 6:33.

“We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” – 2 Corinthians 4:18.

“Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” – Colossians 3:1,2.

“…fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess” – Hebrews 3:1.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” – Hebrews 12:2.

We so often make life harder than it need be, we make things more stressful, because we have a wrong focus of our minds and hearts.
We might focus on things seen, particularly problems, but the Lord says,
‘Don’t worry, don’t be anxious, don’t be afraid, come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest’.
We walk by faith, and not by sight.
We live for Jesus, according to His Word, in the power of His Spirit.

Is your focus right this morning ?
If not, then do something about it.
Not only will your relationship with God not be what it should, but you will damage yourself and damage your relationships with others.
Fix your eyes, your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings, your motivation, your will….on Jesus, the risen Jesus, and on His Kingdom.

Over the next three weeks we’re going to look at three things which are particularly important for us at this time of year. Love, peace, and joy. This week it’s love.

Why is Christmas such a stressful time for many people ? Why is it so easy to lose that focus on the Lord ?
Well, there’s a lot to do, or to be arranged. There’s relatives to visit or have visit. ……but the key I believe is this – expectations.
Other people’s expectations of us, particularly family, and sometimes our own expectations. In other words sometimes we make things harder for ourselves.
Take the expectations of people out of Christmas and you remove the stress. Think about the truth of that for a moment.

Read 1 John 4:7-21 & 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.

Love is about serving others, not demanding of them. If you have expectations of what others should do for you, then you’re not living in love.
Let them love and serve you if they want to, but don’t have that expectation and don’t manipulate others to do it.
God has shown us what love is about in Jesus, that’s as well as creation, the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and so on. Jesus gave everything for us. Jesus wasn’t demanding for Himself, He served others. And we’re called to follow Him, to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him.

So, in families, don’t be demanding of one another this Christmas, but look for ways in which you can serve the family and be a blessing to others. It can actually be great fun. Giving to others, loving them, can lift your spirits, because it’s what we’re made for – to love God and to love each other.

In marriages, serve one another and don’t be demanding. So what if you don’t have your favourite type of stuffing, so what if you end up washing up after the Christmas dinner, so what if you don’t have sex on Christmas day.
One of the biggest issues for some marriages, is that you make everything a big issue. Ant hills, turn into mountains.
Get your focus right, fix your eyes on Jesus, keep everything in perspective of the big picture.
(My spouse doesn’t squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom. They put the toilet role on the wrong way round. They don’t wash up straight away. They pick their toenails in bed. They forget to take that letter to the postbox for you. They don’t do what I want when I want – so what !). Get a life ! Jesus’ life, life in all it’s fullness.
Marriage is about serving, giving, loving….if you haven’t sussed that out yet, then you need to. It’s not about having your needs met and expectations fulfilled.
God’s love is unconditional.
Get rid of your expectations of other people, throw off everything that hinders….this is one of those things which gets in the way. Accept each other, as through Jesus, God accepts you.

If you’re single and dating, don’t be demanding of your boyfriend or girlfriend. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not, be real, be genuine, and don’t manipulate. Especially don’t use sexuality to manipulate. Be patient, and make sure Jesus is at the centre of your relationship. Without Jesus, any future marriage relationship is very likely to fail. Pray together.

If you’re single and not dating, you are in a place where you probably have more time, and if you’re working more disposable income, than you’re likely to have for the rest of your life.
Use it for God’s glory. Seek Him, serve Him, love Him with all that you are.
Be adventurous, go on missions, get experience of life and what God can do through you.

If you’re elderly or very ill, you may not be able to do things for people physically, but pray for them. What could be more valuable and precious ?

I don’t need to say much about this because I know most of you do this already, but watch out for people who are vulnerable, weak, or alone, at this time of year. Do what you can for them.

Whatever our life situation, we have opportunities to show love to others in some way – inside our families and outside. Especially in these next weeks leading up to Christmas and over the holiday time, let’s fix our eye’s on Jesus, and let’s love one another as He loves us. Amen.

Some people suggest that all ways lead to God in the end, that all religion and spirituality is basically the same.
Firstly, this is extremely naïve and shows an ignorance of world faiths.
Secondly, it doesn’t make logical sense, unless of course you believe all belief in God is man made, a psychological crutch and that God isn’t real.
Thirdly, it’s not true, and cannot be true.

Buddha, Mohammed, Guru Nanak, non of them claimed what Jesus did, or demonstrated the supernatural power that Jesus did.
Jesus is not just another good teacher. Is He mad ? Is He an evil deceiver ?

Jesus is the Son of God, God came to earth in human form – lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our salvation taking our sin on Himself, and rose from the dead – not resuscitated – risen from the dead and alive for evermore.
The evidence that Jesus is unique, is overwhelming.
This morning we’re going to look at some of the things Jesus said, and their potential impact on our lives. Because when you come face to face with the truth about Jesus Christ, it has the power to change your life, to transform you. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, your background, race, or current beliefs……..’the cross of Jesus Christ is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes’.

So, as if to answer the question of people at the time and us who would follow later,
‘Who are you Jesus ?’ He gives us the ‘I Am’ sayings of Jesus.

Whatever you know, or think that you know about Jesus, listen this morning to some of what He says about Himself.

Read John 8:58 ~ I Am
Claim to be God. (ref. Exodus3:14)
It was one of the reasons that the Pharisees wanted to kill Him.
Someone who claims to be God is either mentally ill, or a conman….or is who He claims to be.

Read John 14:6 ~ I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
The Way to go – follow Jesus. He calls people to give up their old life, and to follow Him as His disciples. Who or what governs your life – what are you motivated by ?
The Truth to believe and trust. Seek the truth….not a relative truth….THE TRUTH. There are absolutes, because there is a God who created the universe, and made us to function in certain ways.
We are primarily here, to love God with all that we are, and to love one another - The sort of committed, faithful, sacrificial love that Jesus showed.
There is so much falsehood in the world today. So many lies.
Who are you believing, who are you trusting your life with ?
The Life to live. Living it up can leave people feeling empty. Cars, gadgets, houses, money, sex, drugs – none of it really satisfies. The pleasure it gives is superficial and is temporary. Jesus promises life in all it’s fullness for those who will follow Him.
Eternal life when we leave this world, and but also living life in the way God intends, now. To know love, peace, and joy, in a way that is seemingly impossible, whatever your circumstances. Where are you looking for fulfilment ?

Read John 11:25 ~ I am the Resurrection and the Life
Incredible power to even raise the dead.
Jesus - the first to be raised permanently.
Healings, miracles. People kept asking, who is this guy, even His own disciples ?

Read John 8:12 ~ I am the Light of the world
Holy, pure, good.
Reveals.
Dispels darkness.
Some people don’t like the light. Prefer darkness – hides their actions/sin, and hides them.
What’s better ? To let Jesus take away the darkness and your dark actions now…..or to have them revealed on the day of judgement, when it’s too late ?
It takes courage to invite God to shine His light into your life, but He loves people to come to Him and be saved, …..as they repent, to be forgiven and made clean inside.
Don’t fear coming to God now when He invites you. Fear coming before God on judgement day, when you no longer have the choice.

Read John 6:35 ~ I am the Bread of life
Jesus feeds us – feeds our soul and spirit, the same way bread feeds our body.
Bread is basic to life, and so is Jesus. We need to feed on Him and His words.

Read John 15:1 ~ I am the True Vine
Alive.
Feeds us with what we need.
The source of everything.
Jesus wants us connected, in a real, personal relationship with Him.

Read John 10:11 ~ I am the Good Shepherd
He’s the boss, the One who we look to.
It’s a relationship. An unequal relationship, where God is greater, but a loving relationship nevertheless.
Sharing our lives.
Caring for us.
Sacrifice for us – the cross.

Read John 10:9 ~ I am the gate
The way to paradise, eternity, happiness, life. The access to God. The way to everything that’s good and that we need.
The invitation is to come to God through Jesus.
For every person.

Will you come to Jesus this morning ?