WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:01.600 Amen. 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:03.520 Well again, good morning. 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:05.040 It's good to be with you today. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:09.359 My name is Sam, as Russ mentioned, and I do serve here as Pastor of Students. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:09.919 I like that title. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:13.199 I've always been called student pastor, but pastor to students sounds very official. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.119 Well, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:19.920 If you're anything like me, I know uh family time can be really rich and beautiful. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:25.760 Um, and then also for many of others of us, family time can be uh a little messy, a little bit more complicated. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:30.800 Um since the sudden death of my own father a few years ago, holidays just feel a little different to me now. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:34.399 Um they seem to have lost some of their luster a little bit. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:38.799 Um they don't feel as bright as they used to, or as commercials sell that they will. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:40.399 And maybe you can relate to that. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.439 Uh and even this morning you might find yourself weary. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:51.359 You might find yourself longing for life to look a little differently, for a relationship to be different, for family to look a little different. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.240 In your mess, you are in good company here. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.560 Now, today is the first Sunday of Advent. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:02.399 And Advent is the season in the church calendar that marks the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:09.439 And since it's beginning in the fifth century or so, it has three meanings for us, this journey of Advent. 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:13.120 Number one is remembering and commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:18.560 This is as we gaze back as our Lord took flesh and was born as a human being. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.840 We gaze upon the past of the birth of Christ. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:26.879 And then the second is the present reception of Jesus in our own hearts and lives today. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:32.959 So we look back and then we look to today and we invite the presence of our Lord into our hearts and lives today. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:37.599 And then number three is the longing anticipation of Jesus Christ's return. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:42.000 As we look to the future where God and Christ will make all things right. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:47.680 All of your tears, all of your sorrow, all of your sadness will one day be made right as our Lord comes back. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.319 So Advent is all three of these combined. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.519 As we look back, we look to today and we look to the future. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.959 Now, this morning we find ourselves in this first Sunday of Advent. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:02.480 And we're gonna begin this journey from today until Christmas morning, and it is a journey. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.920 And the scripture we're gonna be in is Psalm 122. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.080 And in this psalm, the people of God are too on a journey. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:14.159 This psalm is right in the middle of what is called the Psalms of Ascent. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:27.360 And the Psalms of Ascent are all of the Psalms between Psalm 120 and 134, as the people of God, hundreds of thousands of them, are coming from all over the nation of Israel and ascending up the hills to Jerusalem. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:33.520 And as they would climb these steps, they would sing these very psalms that we just read. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:37.680 The people of God, all of them who were able, would come from all over the country. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.879 And they would several times a year come to Jerusalem. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.039 And there's a big reason for this. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:53.840 Right, we from John 4 know that we worship God in spirit and in truth, but in the time of the people of Israel, because of the ministry of King David, Jerusalem was where God was. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:55.520 So yes, you could pray in your home. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:04.000 Yes, you could retell the great stories of old, like the crossing of the Red Sea, but if you wanted to be where God was fully, you go to Jerusalem. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:06.479 This is where the Psalms of Ascent come in. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:12.240 Psalm 122 finds itself, the people would be singing this psalm as they ascended the hill to Jerusalem. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.240 The pilgrimage would look something like this picture. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:16.080 Shout out ChatGPT for that. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.120 Um you can use chat for beautiful, godly things like this. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:20.719 Um, it would look something like this. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:24.719 They would be ascending the hill, they would be descending the hill, and all of it. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:31.759 They would be singing these songs together in remembrance of who this God that they worship is. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:40.400 Saint Augustine, this fourth century African bishop, in his commentary on the Psalms, wrote, The soul travels by its affections. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:48.960 And so my question for us today on this dreary, brutal weather outside day, where is our soul traveling? 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:55.039 Where are our affections, our longings, our deepest desires, where are they taking us in our life? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:04.080 Christmas and the now, what we are sold on TV and in stores and online is that Christmas and the joys of it will heal your soul. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:05.039 Right? 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:14.560 That whether that's a new GMC or the perfect Christmas Eve meal, the perfect present, the perfect time spent with family, the sales pitch is right. 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:16.560 Marketers know this. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:27.199 They know that we are hungry people, they know that we are starving for connection, they know that we feel incomplete, and so they think a commercial will sell us, and it does sometimes. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:31.360 I was watching a chewy commercial yesterday and it made me cry. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.079 Because I need my puppy to have better treats. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:38.319 And it literally made me cry as I'm watching uh the Alabama game. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:38.959 Dr. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:44.399 Kurt Thompson in his book, The Soul of Shame, says, You were born looking for someone looking for you. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:51.839 Now, what I know to be true is that every single morning I wake up, I wake up with a longing in my heart. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:05:03.680 Whether it be because of my own shortcomings, something wrong in my life, another thing on the news, the chaos within my mind won't quiet, the fact that my father is still in the grave. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:05.839 I wake up longing. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:07.439 Maybe you do too. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.120 Now, what we are ultimately longing for is peace. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:16.720 And what I want to sell you today, what I want you to leave convinced of today, is that there is a place you can find it. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:23.439 Now, if we're honest with ourselves, there are three typical ways that we try to fix this longing in ourselves, and we're gonna find that they don't work. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.360 So, number one is controlling. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:26.399 Right? 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:28.560 We know we feel this ache within us. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:38.399 We know things aren't exactly how they thought we should it should be or how we dreamed our life to look like, and so we try with all of our might to control every little detail, right? 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:45.199 We know we can't control our emotions or our situations broadly, but we're gonna get into the nitty-gritty and we can control those things, right? 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:53.199 We can control our kids, our schedules, our spouses, our plans, our grades, that relationship, right? 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:54.959 Or even where Lane Kiffin is gonna go. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:56.639 We can't control anything, right? 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:03.920 Now, control gives us a false sense of security and peace. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:10.399 We are believing in our minds that if we can control this, this, and this, that finally we can breathe. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:17.199 And yet, if we're honest with ourselves, what we're gonna find is that the more we try to control our life, the more anxious we're gonna become. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:21.759 Because we're the more we're gonna find out that we actually can't control anything. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.759 So, number one is controlling, number two is pretending. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:32.240 One of the great schemes of Satan, that ancient serpent, is to keep us wearing rose-colored glasses. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:42.240 Because he knows that the more we recognize that we're more broken than we originally thought, the more we recognize that, the more we're gonna see our great need for our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.160 And so what he wants to do is distract you from you. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:53.519 He wants us to put on the good face, to act like everything is going great, even though we each are messy. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:55.839 Many of us are operating like this picture. 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:57.519 Um, maybe you've seen this meme. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:00.639 This girl is known as Disaster Girl in the meme world. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:04.160 Um, and she's standing kind of menacingly in front of this house burning down. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:05.360 I don't know why she's doing that. 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:10.879 Uh man, many of us probably aren't menacingly smiling in front of our pain. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:20.399 But we show up to church, we take the sacraments, we go throughout our weeks, we try to hold it all together, we post the great things on Instagram, right? 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:21.839 We try to put a smile on. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:27.120 We go about life often just pretending that the mess underneath the surface isn't there. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:32.079 And I'd be willing to bet, if you're living like this, I bet you're finding yourself exhausted. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.120 I even find myself showing up to counseling doing this. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:39.600 And I sit before my counselor paying money, uh, and he's like, hey, how are you, man? 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:41.199 And I'm like, brother, I'm doing great. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:42.639 And I'm at counseling. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:43.759 No, I'm not. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:49.040 Even I want to I want to impress my counselor. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:50.720 Right? 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:55.839 So we got controlling, we got pretending, we find out that they're not working, and so maybe number three will be relatable. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:57.199 We self-medicate. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:06.879 Whether this is through binging a TV show, scrolling mindlessly, obsessing over the news, or grabbing just one more cookie or one more drink. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.279 We all seek to numb the pain we face. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.199 And at the end of the day, all of this is just a search for peace. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:18.399 I saw this picture on Facebook, and I do scroll Facebook uh this week, uh, which I thought was funny. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:22.720 Motherhood powered by love, fueled by coffee, and sustained by wine. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.839 And many of you mamas might want to yell amen to that, right? 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:27.600 And honestly, I do think it is funny. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:30.879 And of course, alcohol is not in and of itself sinful or bad. 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:34.399 I love a glass of bourbon meat, as the Lord intended. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:53.039 Uh but what I think pictures like this, without explicitly saying it, what they implicitly say to us is that the pains of life, the pressure and exhaustion of being a mother or a father, the grief of losing a family member, all of it, what that's telling us is that we can't deal with that apart from numbing out. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:58.240 If it's not an extra glass of wine or another episode or another Oreo, I bet it's something. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:08.720 And then inevitably the next morning we wake up with the same ache and didn't actually the same exhaustion, the same longing, because we found that this self-medication didn't actually fix what was wrong. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:09.600 Right? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:15.200 And so if these three attempts, controlling, pretending, or self-medicating, if they don't actually work, what will? 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:25.600 And what I want to argue this morning through Psalm 122 is that we find the peace we long for in three ways: the presence of God, the healing experience of the church, and the justice of the cross. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:27.360 Look at verse one with me. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:31.039 I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:34.480 Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:39.039 So, point number one, we find true peace in the presence of God. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:54.480 Now, I doubt that this morning, especially you families with younger kids, I doubt that as you're getting your kids dressed, getting all of them ready, I doubt that any of your kids looked at you with joyful tears and said, Mom, I'm so glad we're going to the house of the Lord today. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:10:00.879 Frankly, there are mornings where I wake up and I'm feeling tired too, and I'd rather stay in my bed as well. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:06.639 I have friends who, if they got invited to church, they would scoff at me and maybe even laugh. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:11.840 Maybe because of past church hurt, maybe because they're part of the LGBTQ community. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:20.080 Because in many of their minds, when they think of an invitation to the church, they think they're gonna go somewhere that they're gonna be shamed or condemned. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:23.840 And that's not somewhere that the church ought to be, right? 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:29.679 Now I'm confident, pretty confident, that King David probably some days didn't feel like this. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:30.639 Verse one. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:34.320 He probably felt pretty lukewarm about this long journey to Jerusalem. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:36.639 But here he is genuinely happy. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.200 He's really happy at the thought of being in God's house. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.200 So the question, of course, is why? 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.799 It's primarily because of who he's gonna find there. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:46.480 The covenant God of Israel. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:52.000 And many people in our culture today have a lot of presuppositions about what the Christian God is like. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:54.000 And often many of them are wrong. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.039 So the question is, what is the covenant God of Israel like? 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.759 I thought of five, we could do many more, but these five. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:03.600 He is a God slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:11.759 He is a God who redeemed Israel from their oppressors, he is a God who sees his people hurting and intervenes. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.679 He is a God who forgives sin through the blood of sacrifice. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.279 And lastly, he is a God who becomes friends with sinners. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.600 To Aristotle, God can never be a friend with you. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.799 But to Christianity, he certainly can. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:40.159 So the first and most important question as we think about the church, as we think about God, does the presence of God make you want to cower away in fear and shame or find great relief? 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:44.320 When you showed up through these doors this morning, did you feel shame at the thought of God? 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:49.519 Does Christianity feel like a set of burdensome rules upon you or shame on you? 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.960 Maybe because of your past or present experience. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:58.159 I love how Tim Keller, uh brilliant man, separates Christianity from all other religions. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.600 It was in a sermon I saw on YouTube. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:00.960 I'm paraphrasing a bit. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:04.240 He said, all other religious systems add burdens. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:10.320 All other religious systems are driven by good works in hopes that God will accept you. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:21.360 Christianity is the only faith system, not of good works, listen, but of good news, where God takes your burdens from you and accepts you fully by faith. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:30.639 So, friends, as you consider the God of the house of Israel, I pray that you are convinced that Christianity is not a religion of added burdens. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.480 If that was the case, David would have no reason to rejoice like this. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:45.360 The only way for David to rejoice, along with the hundreds of thousands of Israelites, was because they showed up to the house of the Lord and found forgiveness, love, and relief. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:50.639 The presence of God can only bring us peace if we have a right view of who He is. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:13:01.440 Just as the Israelites would meditate on all that God had done for them, the crossing of the sea, the Ark of the Covenant, the Day of Atonement, we too are invited to do the same. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:22.240 Christianity doesn't exist in just random space, it exists in history to reflect on the reality that God left heaven, was born as a human baby, lived a perfect life, and then willingly put himself on the cross to die for those who were nailing him to it. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.960 That's the God of Christianity. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:30.879 And it's in that presence that you find the healing and relief that your soul most desperately needs. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:32.960 Look at verse 3 with me. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:34.879 Jerusalem. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:39.919 Some translations put O Jerusalem almost like it's a romantic letter. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:49.039 Built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:54.720 Point two, we find true peace through the healing experience of the church. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:57.679 Now here's the great problem, friends. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:04.080 The church is full of people like me who are selfish and sinful and who want their own way. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:11.360 It is impossible to spend your life in a local church in deep community with people and not get hurt. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:12.639 It's impossible. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:19.120 Maybe the hurt is huge, maybe you've walked through big church hurt, or maybe the church is smaller, but we will inevitably hurt one another. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.919 So what do we mean by the healing experience of the church? 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.000 And is it possible? 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:29.919 Well, David gives us two descriptions of what Jerusalem or the church is. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.799 Number one is security. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:34.480 It promises security. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:37.440 He says it's built as a city that is bound firmly together. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.039 Verse three could really be translated as built as a city should be. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:41.360 Right? 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.600 Built as the ideal city. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:44.159 Right? 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:45.039 Think about it. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:47.440 Jerusalem was built on a hill. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:49.679 So you had to get up one way. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:56.960 It had huge, perfectly built walls all around it to keep enemies out and to keep the people safe within. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:57.519 Right? 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:02.480 So down the hill was the barren village world that was full of chaos. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:07.200 And so Jerusalem, up on the hill, was a city of light. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:09.120 A city of refuge. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.120 And man, doesn't our world feel chaotic? 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.279 The church can be the one place for us where true peace is felt. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.399 Where we show up together, where we gaze upon the beauty of Jesus. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:23.039 Right? 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:27.360 The design for the church is meant to be a refuge to broken people. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:30.320 It's meant to be a hospital for the sick. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.200 So, first is security. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:39.440 The second thing we find in the church is unity, to which the tribes go up to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.840 So you notice, of course, there it's plural. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:43.600 To which the tribes. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:48.639 These would, of course, be referring to the twelve different tribes within the nation of Israel. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:50.399 Each tribe had a unique culture. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.879 They were different, they weren't uniform, they were different. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:16:00.320 And yet within the house of the Lord, they rallied together around the same purpose to give thanks to the Lord. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:04.559 So we too today show up as different tribes, right? 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:08.480 Different skin colors, different backgrounds, different politics. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:13.519 And what social media is driving into us is that differences are horrible. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:15.600 That it's us versus them, right? 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:21.519 But what we find in the church, in the cross, is a unity that the world does not understand. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.840 Yet can be a testimony to the world. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:34.000 To see people like us who are fully different, different backgrounds, different politics, different socioeconomic statuses, different beliefs, and yet we still rally around the same cry of the cross. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:40.480 Christopher Ash says, commentator, he says, only tribes who worship together remain together. 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:51.360 The church can be a healing presence to you and to your unbelieving friends and family members and neighbors as she practices security and unity within the walls. 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:53.600 Look at verse 5 with me. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:59.519 David says, There, thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:04.240 Point number three, we find true peace through the justice of the cross. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:10.720 I'll be honest with y'all, uh, one of the great vanities and vices in my heart are golf course logos. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:15.680 Um maybe uh that's not your thing, uh, but I joke with my friends that I play golf for the merch. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:23.359 Um and maybe it golf course logos aren't your thing, but maybe it's a brand, a certain style, a new mahjong set that you just obsess over, right? 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.079 Um see, brands and logos represent something. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:38.079 So for the golf course, if I see a guy who has a you know, Holdner's in born hoodie on or whatever, and it's has a cool logo, like I want to go talk to him, I want to go see how he got there, and I want to get that invite too, right? 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:42.400 And so this is what's so upside down about our faith. 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:45.680 The logo of Christianity is a cross. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.000 We see this logo everywhere, don't we? 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:49.519 We get used to it. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:51.839 On necklaces, church steeples. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:18:00.559 And if we really slow down and contemplate it, the symbol of our faith, animating force behind the 2,000 years of church history. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.559 In the first century, Romans would make fun of Christians for believing in a cross. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:13.759 And on this, God Himself would willingly put himself for the sake of sinners. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.119 And the question is why? 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:23.440 John Stott says it this way He says, Moved by the perfection of his holy love, God in Christ substituted himself for us sinners. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:26.319 That is the heart of the cross of Christ. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.279 Here's why this is where your true peace comes. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:34.799 If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you are no longer under the judgment of a holy God. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:37.440 Because you were born under judgment. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.640 But God judged Christ in your place. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:47.279 Christ was the substitute on your behalf, and so now under the thrones of judgment, you stand innocent. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:51.279 And there's nothing that can take away from it, there's nothing that can add to it. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:56.480 Yes, you might feel guilty over a particular sin, like we confess week in and week out, and that's okay. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:59.119 But on the cross, your debt was paid. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:01.759 Bill's it's signed. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.720 Because the thought, the throne of judgment in the line of David is set. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:12.160 Jesus, the better David, sits on the throne, judged on your behalf. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:14.480 The judge has been judged. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.079 So why can we be glad about going to the house of the Lord? 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.799 Because in it we're reminded that we're free, that we're no longer slaves. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:31.359 We have, again, three points: the presence of God, the healing experience of the church, and the justice of the cross, and those three reasons are why we can find peace here. 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.079 So, what's David's final instruction to us? 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:37.839 Verse 6, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.880 May they be secure who love you. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.559 Peace be within your walls and security within your towers. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:48.799 For my brothers and companions' sake, I will say, peace be within you. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.480 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:20:06.640 So if the church is where the chaotic world and our chaotic minds find relief and true peace, then the instructions from King David here make perfect sense, right? 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.319 Pray for God's church to be a place of peace. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:14.960 You notice there's a word repeated three times in those three verses. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:19.200 It's not the word without out there, it's the word within. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:24.559 In light of everything David has said here, the final prayer is for there to be peace within the walls. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:26.559 There's gonna be chaos out there. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:28.480 We know that to be true. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:32.799 But within the walls, there can be peace. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.480 So there's three things we're praying for as we pray for the peace of the church. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:43.359 One, the present peace and health of the local church, the Redeemers, the other churches in Marietta, the churches in Atlanta, right? 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:49.599 Number two, the peace of the global church, the 2.4 billion Christians around the world, many of whom are being persecuted. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:55.200 And number three, the return of Christ, which will bring the new Jerusalem here on earth. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:58.079 Now, the third point might be surprising for you. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:02.640 But as we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we are praying for Jesus to come back. 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.160 For Jesus to come back and renew the world. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:09.519 For Jesus to come and wipe your tears away. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:14.720 For Jesus to come and renew everything and make all sad things untrue. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:21.119 Where one day we'll be united with friends and family again, where we'll gaze upon the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:24.079 John in the book of Revelation describes it this way. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:28.640 He says, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb, talking about us. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:43.839 Verse 10, and he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, bright as crystal. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:54.559 Beloved, as we reflect upon Christmas, we reflect upon the thousands of years of history of God working and redeeming his people. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:22:00.240 We reflect upon God being born as a man, Jesus Christ. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:06.160 We reflect upon his cross, where all of your sin, past, present, and future, was nailed. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:08.640 We reflect upon the Pope of the future. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:12.400 Where we can actually confidently believe that death has lost its sting. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.759 Because one day all things will be made right. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.720 So the invitation this morning. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:25.200 Over this Christmas season, busy as it will be, last minute gifts, stress of family, all of it. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:34.799 Let us be slowed down by the cross, by the hope we have in Jesus, the peace we find in him, and in the hope of the new Jerusalem to come. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:36.000 Let's pray. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.720 Father, apart from your word, we find ourselves hopeless. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:46.319 Apart from your cross, we find ourselves judged. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:51.680 And apart from the hope of the future, we find it hard to keep going. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:23:01.200 So, Father, I pray for everyone in this room this morning, all those who are weary or tired or anxious, lonely, ashamed. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:06.720 Father, would they gaze all the more upon Jesus and his cross this morning? 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:11.839 Would you fill us with a great hope that all is not going to be wrong forever? 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:16.000 But that one day, Jesus, you are going to make all things right. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:25.759 Father, as we gaze upon the birth of our son, of your son Jesus Christ, Lord, help us be humbled that you took the form of a servant. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:32.960 That you are acquainted with us, that you're not a who has never placed God, but that you are active and present in our lives. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:38.880 Father, I pray if there's anyone in here who has never placed their faith in Jesus, would you show them their need? 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:42.079 Would you show them that Jesus is enough for them? 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:50.000 And for all those who do believe, Lord, help us find our purpose, our validation, and our peace in Christ alone. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:51.440 And it's in his name we pray. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:52.000 Amen.