SPEAKER_00: Well as we continue to uh soak in those words this morning, uh reminded of the lengths to which uh God has come.
SPEAKER_00: Let us uh hear these same words from uh Doctor Luke, writer of Luke's gospel, chapter two, verses eight through twenty this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Here now the reading of God's holy word.
SPEAKER_00: And the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
SPEAKER_00: And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy, that will be for all the people.
SPEAKER_00: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And this will be a sign for you.
SPEAKER_00: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
SPEAKER_00: When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.
SPEAKER_00: And they went with haste and found Miri and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
SPEAKER_00: And when they saw it they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
SPEAKER_00: But Miri treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
SPEAKER_00: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told to them.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious Father, we praise you and thank you for the word that you have given to us, your light.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for the gift of your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: For we know, Lord, that uh we need, even this morning, fresh faith to receive what you would bring to us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we need fresh illumination that you would work and bring us light to have a warming, saving influence upon us.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we know we need you for that.
SPEAKER_00: And so we ask, we pray that you would give us that gift.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray and ask all these things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we come to the second song in Luke in this uh series of Advent.
SPEAKER_00: We've been looking at the songs of Advent.
SPEAKER_00: And um, it's a song that has a heavenly origin, it's a song of the angels.
SPEAKER_00: And for many uh today know it as the greater doxology.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and I and I was reminded this week as I was thinking about this, just how thankful I am for the songs that are given to us in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Um, because songs have a way of traveling with us, don't they?
SPEAKER_00: They they they impress themselves on our minds and they they work their way into our affections.
SPEAKER_00: And and before we know it, we're you know, singing in the car, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're we're we're we're singing in the office or as we do our shopping or in the home.
SPEAKER_00: Songs have a way of working themselves deeply into our consciousness.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to rejoice with you this morning over the wonders that we see in this song, in this text, and that my prayer would be this morning that we too would find reason to join in this heavenly song, afresh and anew.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see some of the wonders in this text.
SPEAKER_00: First wonder is a lowly descent.
SPEAKER_00: A lowly descent.
SPEAKER_00: The second wonder is the way of peace announced.
SPEAKER_00: And then the second and the third wonder is a peace that permeates.
SPEAKER_00: A peace that permeates.
SPEAKER_00: First, the great wonder of a lowly descent.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we look and we read these verses that uh the uh the shepherds were out in the field and they were doing their thing.
SPEAKER_00: They were uh shepherds by occupation, and here they were out in a field.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the sheep were not uh, I guess, in the sheepfalled, as it were, but they were out in the field and they were looking after them in the midst of the starry sky or the pitch black of night.
SPEAKER_00: And then suddenly, all of a sudden, this great light dawns upon them.
SPEAKER_00: This great sudden light comes to be upon them.
SPEAKER_00: The glory of the Lord shines as this angel comes to them to bring them a message.
SPEAKER_00: And we know by experience uh something of that.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps uh perhaps you've been out in the in the middle of the dark, and and then uh this great light comes toward you, whether it's the headlights in a car or whether it's um a spotlight of someone who's looking for you or something of that nature.
SPEAKER_00: But in that moment, we are suddenly we recognize the difference between being the subject of the light shining on us and the difference between that and the person who's actually shining the light.
SPEAKER_00: They can see us very clearly, but we as the recipients are exposed by the sharpness and the tensity of the light.
SPEAKER_00: And so we can uh resonate, I think, with the shepherds who stood in fear over what was taking place.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, if we dig a little deeper, we see God's intention in the midst of this, and it's God's intention that he bring the good news to those who are far off.
SPEAKER_00: And coming to these shepherds, the news of God's glory was coming to those who were far off.
SPEAKER_00: In what ways were they far off?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the fact that we're told of their occupation, them being shepherds, gives us something of a clue.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherds, a shepherd's testimony wasn't uh legitimate in court.
SPEAKER_00: And um perhaps the reason for that was due to the lack of witnesses outside their own cohort.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so they couldn't be trusted.
SPEAKER_00: And so if a a lamb uh was uh taken from the fold, uh they might be accused of having done it themselves, and so they were liable to be taken advantage of by people.
SPEAKER_00: Uh that was one of the realities of being a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Another one was that they had a number of occupational hazards.
SPEAKER_00: You think about the work that they were involved in, it was in the outdoors, it was against uh those that sought to perhaps steal the sheep, those who would uh, or those animals that would try to devour the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: And so they were prey to thieves and wild animals.
SPEAKER_00: And you have to wonder what that kind of line of work would have had upon them and their families if they had families.
SPEAKER_00: I think there would have been some conversations about uh the concern of whether they would come home at night, whether they would find their way back to their families in the midst of the occupational hazards.
SPEAKER_00: And so we get a little bit of an insight into what that might have looked like as they talked with their children and perhaps family members, the risks involved.
SPEAKER_00: The third thing was that they were, because of their work in the fields, they were deemed to be ceremonially unclean.
SPEAKER_00: And that had a social impact that made them like outcasts socially, much like that of a leper.
SPEAKER_00: If a leper was the lowest of the low, shepherds were kind of the next in the social chain, as it were.
SPEAKER_00: And that meant that the reinforcement of distance, the reinforcement of their lack of inclusion in society from others would have been a daily reality worked into their existence and even their own sense of identity.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in light of all this, we can imagine the potential for spiritual dejection.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual dejection.
SPEAKER_00: We know something of that, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: When a troubling or hard circumstance or a hard providence comes upon us, our spirits often sink, don't they?
SPEAKER_00: A hard providence often raises all kinds of questions.
SPEAKER_00: Where is God?
SPEAKER_00: It appears that he is distant.
SPEAKER_00: What meaning, if any, does all of this have?
SPEAKER_00: You know, the search for significance.
SPEAKER_00: Does he even care?
SPEAKER_00: And yet, to the far off, to these people, these shepherds whose names we do not know, to them the angel comes with good news.
SPEAKER_00: And they are completely freaked out until they hear the words, fear not.
SPEAKER_00: Fear not.
SPEAKER_00: How precious and how glorious are the words that the gospel brings, and bringing to us the good words, fear not.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's through the gospel that hearts are transformed from quaking and fear to giving forth a sense of wonder at who God is.
SPEAKER_00: Because it comes to us, the gospel comes to us and it says to us, Fear not.
SPEAKER_00: I have good news for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so and so the prophecy given centuries beforehand through the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled, in which we read, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, mighty or strong God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
SPEAKER_00: Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
SPEAKER_00: There will be no end to the wholeness in which he brings.
SPEAKER_00: And on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever.
SPEAKER_00: So note how personal this good news is.
SPEAKER_00: Fear not, because unto you, it says, unto you is born this day a child in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so here he is, as the as they take the journey over to the manger.
SPEAKER_00: Here is this little baby, Jesus, who was born into a poor family.
SPEAKER_00: He's lying in a manger with no prestige, no status, no social media followers if we're to consider it in light of today.
SPEAKER_00: No ceremony, no riding in the clouds, no trumpets.
SPEAKER_00: He came not to be served, but to serve.
SPEAKER_00: A lowly descent.
SPEAKER_00: And so what does this tell us?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it tells us that the gospel comes to us at street level, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you know what it feels like to be spiritually dejected.
SPEAKER_00: To feel as though God is just distant from you.
SPEAKER_00: That he's not answering you, that he's not responding to you.
SPEAKER_00: And look again then, if that's you, to the manger.
SPEAKER_00: Let that convince you of the lengths to which God is willing to go to in order to stoop down to street level in order to bring you near.
SPEAKER_00: Consider the descent he made to leave the glory of heaven to all that was glorious above, to come down and to stoop into this broken world and to receive broken sinners like you and me, and to forgive all who come to him.
SPEAKER_00: Here is the one who occupies a manger, not a palace, to show us the depths that he is willing to stoop to in order to bring us his light.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see that God is pleased to come to those who are far off.
SPEAKER_00: You also see there's a way of peace announced.
SPEAKER_00: That's the second wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven's gift comes down.
SPEAKER_00: If you look again at the text, you see, you'll notice that while it was one angel that brought this good news to the shepherds, now, in order to give a sense of the significance of what is taking place at this moment, in this time in history, into real life, and to all that we know, all that was happening at that point in time, a host of angels appear and they begin singing heaven's chorus.
SPEAKER_00: Glory to God in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: And the significance of that is that in the coming of Christ, the greatest and purest and most beautiful light that is ever known to touch this world came.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ, the anointed Savior, arrives having both life and light in himself.
SPEAKER_00: And being the eternal God, it's not just a light that kind of goes out.
SPEAKER_00: It's a light that is always self-supplying, always shooting forth and emitting light.
SPEAKER_00: Which means he sends forth his light and into all of the world.
SPEAKER_00: And it never grows dim, it never, it never stops burning brightly.
SPEAKER_00: It's a pure light.
SPEAKER_00: And that he contained no flaws, he contained no blemishes, no faults.
SPEAKER_00: That is the significance of the moment in which these angels were singing Glory to God in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: That's the beauty of Heaven's gift and the significance of this moment in history.
SPEAKER_00: And so we see heaven's gift, but we always see our peace.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven's gift is our peace.
SPEAKER_00: Because we go and read something of his saving purpose here.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they also sing peace among those with whom he is pleased.
SPEAKER_00: We often sing of it, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.
SPEAKER_00: Mild he lays, and is his glory by, born that man no more may die.
SPEAKER_00: Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
SPEAKER_00: Even in this wonderful hymn that we sing, it reminds us that he came to bring light and life, he came to bring healing, he came to deal with death, putting death to death, so that we might live.
SPEAKER_00: Second birth.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven's light is our peace.
SPEAKER_00: And so he came to be born into this world that he might also be born into our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: He came then to be born into this world, but now he has come to be born in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And that's something I think we have to be clear about today because there are a lot of people who look at this, and they, and if they're even familiar with the Bible at all, they look at these passages and they say, Well, it's nice that the angels appeared to them and to those shepherds, and that a lot, a light shone around them, and that they had that experience.
SPEAKER_00: But it's nice that uh he came into the world at that time.
SPEAKER_00: But what does that mean for me and for us today?
SPEAKER_00: You know, what is what meaning does that have for me and all the suffering and the pain and the darkness that we experience at this present time?
SPEAKER_00: You know, it just all seems so far off.
SPEAKER_00: That God did things among them, but not among us.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a real reality for many, many, many people.
SPEAKER_00: But the bit the message that we need to bring, that is good news, is that this light is not just for them then, but is for us now.
SPEAKER_00: For you and I today.
SPEAKER_00: You see, when we tend to think about peace, we tend to think of us having peace with God, trying to have peace with God.
SPEAKER_00: But the gospel is first and foremost about God making a way so that he might make peace with us.
SPEAKER_00: In some ways, it doesn't really matter how we feel toward God if he has not made a way for him to have peace with us.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus came as the way to draw, for him to draw near to us.
SPEAKER_00: He made the way for him to draw near to us no longer with anger and wrath, but with pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: That is the work that Jesus came to do.
SPEAKER_00: And so he came as a baby, but he didn't remain as a baby.
SPEAKER_00: He came into this world to live a perfect life as the only one who is competent enough to live under the law perfectly.
SPEAKER_00: And then he came to die.
SPEAKER_00: And in being buried for three days, he rose again from the dead, and now he is seated at the right hand of God the Father with all authority and majesty and glory bestowed to him.
SPEAKER_00: And now as risen Lord, he calls all people and all places at all times to turn from their ways and to turn to him as the way for peace, for wholeness, for life.
SPEAKER_00: And in receiving him as the way, heaven is opened up to us.
SPEAKER_00: That is what we're offering in the gospel because it's through him that we have access in one spirit to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And so no longer is God judge, no longer is he simply creator, no longer is he someone who is just out there.
SPEAKER_00: He is most intimately known to us in the depths of our heart as Father.
SPEAKER_00: And that changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: He came to be born into this world that he might also be born into our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: He's still bringing peace today.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that peace?
SPEAKER_00: Have you come to know and enjoy that peace for yourself personally?
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to know that Jesus came out into the into the world, but do you know that peace for yourself?
SPEAKER_00: Has his light come to you as a source of life and beauty?
SPEAKER_00: He came to those who had nothing to bring.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the shepherds remind us.
SPEAKER_00: They had nothing to bring.
SPEAKER_00: And yet it was enough.
SPEAKER_00: Because he came to do it all.
SPEAKER_00: And so all that's left for us to do is to receive Him and to trust Him to be all that He is said to be, and all that He has said to have done, and to believe that He did it for you and I.
SPEAKER_00: The only thing that stands in the way of us and receiving Heaven's glory is unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, and yet He came so that we might believe in Him and take hold of the promise that everlasting life can be given to us, and all manner of life given to us in His Son.
SPEAKER_00: And so we sing, What heights of life, what depths of peace.
SPEAKER_00: There's no greater peace that we need, no deeper peace than we need than to know God's pleasure over us.
SPEAKER_00: And that is something He has given to us in the coming of His Son.
SPEAKER_00: When fears are stilled, when striving cease, my comforter, my all-in-all.
SPEAKER_00: Here in the love of Christ I stand.
SPEAKER_00: You know you can stand in the love of Christ today, knowing his pleasure over you.
SPEAKER_00: He brings peace to the far off.
SPEAKER_00: But he also brings peace to those who are near.
SPEAKER_00: Look at those who saw the baby.
SPEAKER_00: All who were there wondered.
SPEAKER_00: But Miri, we notice, took things a little step further and pondered.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, there's still a lot of wonder to be found at Christmas, even for those of us who know and are familiar with the Christian message.
SPEAKER_00: The Christmas news, we've heard it perhaps plenty of times, but there is still wonder to be found because there is a big difference in being content with a glimpse of light and a focused attention on the light.
SPEAKER_00: To wonder means to study the truth of God's word so that it enters the door of our minds.
SPEAKER_00: To ponder, however, means that we we dwell on this light.
SPEAKER_00: We dwell on the light that's given to us, and we turn it over, and we marinate in it, and we and we marinate in it until it enters the door of our affections.
SPEAKER_00: And it steeps into our hearts, and then it starts to bring with it life and beauty and goodness.
SPEAKER_00: And our hearts start to thaw and we start to want to sing.
SPEAKER_00: And a new song comes to us.
SPEAKER_00: And then the things we treasure enter the third door, which is the door of our will.
SPEAKER_00: And it impacts what we do and how we live.
SPEAKER_00: We read in Romans 8:1, the apostle says this, to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.
SPEAKER_00: And so this word to set here means to set the mind, means concentrated effort on heavenly things.
SPEAKER_00: To live and to wait well in light of the second advent, knowing that Jesus is coming back again.
SPEAKER_00: To live well in light of that means that we're aiming to place ourselves more fully and more constantly under his gracious care as the Prince of Peace.
SPEAKER_00: I think there's nothing so comforting to us in the midst of all of the distresses that can plague us in this life than knowing that we have access to this kind of heavenly light.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing more comforting, nothing more beautiful than to know that we can look upon and ponder just as Mary did on the glory of God and the face of Jesus Christ, all that Jesus is to us, all that he has done for us, knowing we'll be doing the same very thing in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: In the light of I am changing God.
SPEAKER_00: And so the psalmist singing of this light says, I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
SPEAKER_00: I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
SPEAKER_00: May my meditation be sweet to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Are you benefiting from God's glorious peace available to you in the midst of all of the challenges that you might face?
SPEAKER_00: Are you struggling with conflict?
SPEAKER_00: God has come to bring and to enter into that conflict to bring you peace.
SPEAKER_00: Observe the willingness here in Jesus' descent to enter into the lives of sinners to bring peace.
SPEAKER_00: And meditate on his love for doing so for you.
SPEAKER_00: It may be through reading, it may be a song.
SPEAKER_00: If it's a song, put it on repeat until it starts to work its way into you, and you start to take the words in, and then you want to sing along.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good sign that oftentimes the word of God is working its way into us.
SPEAKER_00: Warms your heart and it becomes like Mary, a treasure.
SPEAKER_00: And so we read that it's in believing that we are filled with joy and peace.
SPEAKER_00: Believing in him as our Prince of Peace leads to his peace permeating this life.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in light of that, in light of this good news that's announced, there are three relationships that I pray that his peace would permeate as we believe and look to him as our source of peace.
SPEAKER_00: The first relationship is peace with God.
SPEAKER_00: The second peace that I pray that he would give you is peace with yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Peace in yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And then the third, he would give you peace with others.
SPEAKER_00: First, peace with God.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 1 5 1 is a precious text in this regard because it reminds us that the peace of the peace that we have with God, it says, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That is something that we possess in the present.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when I look at the parting of the, you go back to the story and you look at the parting of ways.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherds go off, and it's interesting what they go off to do.
SPEAKER_00: They go off to continue being shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: Mary still has many things to deal with, and this young child and the fear of a soon-to-be oppressor who is after his life, the troubles that they face and being a refugee family.
SPEAKER_00: In one sense, nothing changes, and yet another sense everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: What changed?
SPEAKER_00: What changed was God's view, or may I say, their view of God's posture towards them.
SPEAKER_00: Their view of God's posture toward them.
SPEAKER_00: They knew God and leaving that manger that God's favor was upon them, that his pleasure was given to them.
SPEAKER_00: He knew they knew that his plans were good toward them.
SPEAKER_00: They knew he cared.
SPEAKER_00: And that peace that we have with God is foundational for all other peace.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first relationship.
SPEAKER_00: The second relationship is peace with ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that his peace would permeate your own inner being.
SPEAKER_00: If we're honest, I think Christmas and Advent can sometimes be tumultuous.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we can feel heavy for many reasons.
SPEAKER_00: And we say to ourselves, why am I so anxious?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this ought to be a time of great peace.
SPEAKER_00: And the voice of the flesh can ramp up as though everything is our fault.
SPEAKER_00: And all these voices come.
SPEAKER_00: And what's important to understand about the flesh is that there are times in which it speaks with louder volume.
SPEAKER_00: It ramps up the noise, it dials up the volume and speaks more loudly to us of the things of our old nature.
SPEAKER_00: The other thing it does is it speaks with greater frequency in different times in our lives and different points and circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: And so it starts to speak with greater frequency.
SPEAKER_00: And all of that can add to just a sense of being assaulted, robbing us of peace.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you can resonate with a psalmist who dealt with this in his own soul.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Why are you cast down on my soul?
SPEAKER_00: And why are you in turmoil within me?
SPEAKER_00: He lacked this inner peace.
SPEAKER_00: He struggled with this peace in himself.
SPEAKER_00: And yet it's into that intimate hostility that Jesus would draw near with his peace by his spirit.
SPEAKER_00: He is accessible to you and I at street level, even in the mess of all our emotions.
SPEAKER_00: All of the things that tend to be worked up within us.
SPEAKER_00: And he would have us to throw them on him.
SPEAKER_00: Consider who he is to you.
SPEAKER_00: Wonderful counselor.
SPEAKER_00: That means he's all wise.
SPEAKER_00: He has wise words of wisdom to impart to you in the midst of such situations.
SPEAKER_00: But he's also mighty God.
SPEAKER_00: Not only is he wise, he has power to work his wisdom into the depths of your troubles.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we know that sometimes power is not used for good, but we draw comfort from the fact that his power is also directed for our good because he's everlasting Father.
SPEAKER_00: Which means he wants to help us.
SPEAKER_00: Not only does he have power, but he wants to use that power in such a way that will bring you peace.
SPEAKER_00: And so he is also called the Prince of Peace.
SPEAKER_00: There is no one working so intently for you and I as the Prince of Peace.
SPEAKER_00: Our anxieties and our cares are not things to suppress, but they're things to acknowledge.
SPEAKER_00: And when we acknowledge them, it means we're able to take them and we're able to cast them and throw them on him because he loves you, because he cares for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so he lends you his ear and he lends you his support.
SPEAKER_00: And so the psalmist concludes by singing words of comfort, hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
SPEAKER_00: Peace with ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: The third, there's peace with others.
SPEAKER_00: The psalmist laments at one point, too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
SPEAKER_00: And what's again interesting to note is that the Bible doesn't sugarcoat the peace of the hostility that one experience in a fallen world, does it?
SPEAKER_00: Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
SPEAKER_00: It's brutally honest and it's realistic that this is life.
SPEAKER_00: But it does empower us to enter into the fray with a heavenly light, to enter into the realities of living in a fallen world as peacemakers.
SPEAKER_00: And so living under the government of the Prince of Peace, who is pleased to supply us with this inner peace, peace with him, inner peace, allows us to enter into the fray.
SPEAKER_00: And so the Apostle Paul says, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you may already be considering, perhaps even dreading, that's a strong word, but maybe dreading some of the people you're gonna be with over the next uh few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's a conflict that's drummed up, but you know you need to move in.
SPEAKER_00: Ask the Spirit to help you move into these relationships with wisdom and as an agent of his peace.
SPEAKER_00: It may not always be received well, but entrust yourself in such times to the one who judges justly and he will care for you.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, may the glorious peace permeate the darkness with his light and glorify his name.
SPEAKER_00: Peace with God, peace with ourselves, peace with others.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Oh gracious Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of your light.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the gift of your amazing love that descended to such depths to bring us near.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray that uh you would help us continue to sit under and experience the wonder and the warmth and the joy of your light to us.
SPEAKER_00: We know we need your help and your enabling in this.
SPEAKER_00: We know that we are oftentimes fickle in our faith.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Lord, you are able.
SPEAKER_00: And so we ask and we pray that you would give us peace with you, peace in ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, that you would enable us to be agents of peace in a world that needs peacemakers and your peace.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we ask and we pray all these things in your blessed Son's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.