Peace, Ice Cream and Chicken

www.MarysvilleNaz.org 

It seems like whenever someone is coaxing me to try some exotic food it always ends up with some version of, tastes like chicken.  It never does but chicken is a good common taste for all kinds of stuff. On the other hand Ice cream is one of those things that definitely does not taste like chicken!  

How would you explain ice cream to an alien from outer space?  Umm..  cold... smooth... um really really good.  Look you just have to try it.  There is no way to explain it until you taste it. 

There are some things in life that have no other adequate common denominator from which we can make an analogy or draw a comparison.  Ice cream is one of those things.  Words just can't cover the cold, smooth sweetness of high-quality ice cream on a hot day. You just have to taste, then the light of will shine and you will wonder how anyone could live without it. 

Real Peace is like that.  I never know how to explain to people what God's peace is like. The Apostle Paul called it the “peace that passes all understanding” and in the Old Testament, the word is Shalom.  Both of these speak about something much bigger more important and substantive than our normal understanding of peace.  

Usually, when we use the word peace, we think of things like peace and quiet. By this we mean the kids aren't screaming, the neighbor's music isn't too loud and we aren't fighting with our spouse.  This is not at all what God means when he offers us His Peace. 

God's Peace is not an emotional state of tranquility. God's Peace is a deep down in your soul confidence that God will have His way in the end.  That's why it's beyond understanding.  It comes from God not our circumstances and it cannot be taken away by the storms of life.  This was such a big deal for ancient Hebrews that greeted and departed from one another with the word Shalom (God's Peace) and still do today.  Early Christians said the same thing with the words, The Peace of Christ be with you and the other person would reply and also with you.  

Real Peace, God's Peace is a gift straight from our heavenly father.  It is the "secret sauce" of being a follower of Jesus.  It starts by having peace with God. Jesus Is our Peace.  He has, by his sacrifice, mended our relationship with God.  He offers us a right and good relationship with God who loves us so much that He would give His life for us in Jesus.  

That alone would be enough but God, being the overachiever that He is, did more.  God also restores our relationships (Peace) with creation.  He is the source of true healing in the broken relationships of this life. He wants to heal that broken relationship with your spouse, child, parent, friend, co-worker, neighbor, and on and on and on.  Truly this is Peace that passes all human understanding.  

Best news of all... although He paid a high price to make Peace, He offers it to you freely. All you have to do is ask. 

Here's how

Ask him to forgive your past. We all have a past

Ask him to clean you up and make you new

Ask him to help you follow him the rest of your life. 

Do that sincerely in your heart and His peace will be yours.  Not only that but in the "bundle" you get forgiveness, new life , and heaven.  Way better than the phone companies bundle. 

My greatest wish for you is that this Advent, The Peace of Christ be with you. 

For more information about who to have God's Peace feel free to e-mail me at PastorCraig@MarysvilleNaz.org

You can also watch or listen to the sermon about this at 

Catch the audio here.

http://www.marysvillenaz.org/index.php/resources/sermons/sermon/87-peace

  

Hope in the Darkness

www.MarysvilleNaz.org

Last Sunday we started a new Advent teaching series called Hope in the Darkness. Hope is one of those things that people are either really interested in or not at all.  The problem with hope is that until you need it, you don't need it, but when you need it, you really need it.  Is that clear?  Probably not. 

The reason we chose Hope in the Darkness is people most need hope in dark times. Have you ever heard someone say, he's in a dark place?  This isn't a comment on cave diving.  It means that life is closing in and they can't see the way out.  It is dark because the path forward has been lost. 

Hope is light that shows the way when nothing else does. Hope is the thing you hold onto when there is nothing else to grasp.  Hope is often represented by light because in darkness light shows the way and provides warmth in the cold. 

The four Sundays before Christmas or what we call Advent, is a joyous time for most, but not all.  For some it is dark time. All around us are folks for whom this time of year is oppressive.  As others rejoice they retreat.  Suicides and psycho-emotional crises go up.  The walls are closing in and life is dark.  It is to these people that Jesus offers a light in the darkness called Hope. 

Jesus came as a baby in a manger not because it makes a cute bedtime story for small children.  He came because the world had, by our sin, plunged itself into dark, dank, oppressive, cold blackness. We were without hope, lost with no way forward.  Into the darkness came a light, just a speck really, one baby to one peasant couple, a tiny, fragile fire giving off light and warmth.  Must say, if you don't know the end of the story, He sure doesn't look like the hope of the world. But then that is the nature of hope. 

Hope isn't a big blazing fire that turns night into day and drives you back by its heat.  Hope is small; you’ll miss it if you're not careful.  It doesn't give off nearly as much light or warmth as you want.  

Christmas Eve we will gather to celebrate the coming of the light in baby Jesus.  We will laugh and greet one another, introduce family and friends.  We will sing Christmas Carols and hear the Christmas story.  Just before we leave we will gather in family units and form a circle around the Worship Center.   We will blow out the four candles of Advent and light the singular white Christ Candle. Then we will do something seriously crazy.  

With hundreds of people present we will kill all the lights leaving that one tiny flame.  It will be completely inadequate. It doesn't put off enough light or warmth to help the person standing next to it.  The people in the back of the Worship Center won't be able to see anything at all...except the flame. The whole thing is ridiculous.  But in that moment of crazy darkness something Holy will happen.   

The leader will take a candle, press it to the Christ candle and there will be two flames.  Then he will turn and press his lit candle against his neighbor's unlit candle and utter the most important truth the world has ever know... the ultimate words of hope.  Jesus is the light of the world!   

As powerful as that moment is, it is not enough.  Even with three lights the place is utterly dark.  Then it starts.  The person who received the light passes it to the next person saying Jesus is the light of the world and then the next person, Jesus is the light of the world and then the next, Jesus is the light of the world and the next and the next and the next.   Jesus is the light of the world. 

If you listen you will hear deep male voices utter this great truth, Jesus is the light of the world.  Then you will hear the soft high voice of a child who has just received the flame from their father say to their mother.. Jesus is the light of the world.  From parent to child, to grandparent to friend to stranger the light is passed.  Faces start to brighten up, the occasional drop of hot wax hits a finger and we are reminded, sometimes humorously, that our flames are creating heat.  Then comes the ancient miracle. 

The flame began with one candle and has been traveling around the circle will meet the flame from the other direction and the circle will be complete.  The Worship Center will be light again.  I almost always wipe away tears during this time.  We have hope!  Jesus is the light of the World!  Jesus is the light of the World! Jesus is the Light of the World! 

To hear the sermons on Hope in the Darkness or catch up on past teaching go to our web page - It usually takes a couple days to get them up. 

Video - 

Audio/Podcast - http://www.marysvillenaz.org/index.php/resources/sermons