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"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.” (Luke 12:49-52)
‘Peace on Earth; Good Will to All.’ It’s the perfect holiday slogan: vague enough to avoid offending anyone and recently made gender neutral! Except that it’s not what Jesus came to bring. What the angels actually said was ‘peace on earth to men who have God’s good will,’ referring not to a lack of conflict in the world, but to an inner confidence in the hearts of all who trust that God will redeem His people and remake the world through the Savior, Jesus. That’s why, until recently, believers haven’t spent the days leading to Christmas getting nostalgic for idyllic years past, dreaming happy dreams of future possessions, or wishing wistfully that people could just get along. Instead, Christians observed Advent—a penitential season remembering why Jesus came: because our race has a long history of idolatry and conflict confirming our need for a Savior. Jesus Himself looked forward to kindling the final judgment because only then will we have worldwide peace and end the division of families over the questions posed by Christmas: who was Jesus, really, and why did He come? “Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to suffer hell for us, so that we can experience heaven with Him. Kindle our hearts in this season with the inner peace that comes through confidence in You, and enable us to live thoughtful and hopeful lives, in Jesus’ name, amen.” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CHURCH SIGNS Under the same management for 2000 years! Cremation is your last chance for a smoking hot body! Adam & Eve: the first to not read the Apple terms & conditions Satan called—he wants his weather back! Whoever stole our AC units keep one: it is hot where you are going! With all this rain we need an ark. Fear not! (Wait for it…) We Noah guy! If you are praying for snow please stop Forgive your enemies—it messes with their heads Love is grand; divorce is twenty grand Be the kind of person your pet thinks you are Tweet others as you would like to be tweeted Honk if you love Jesus! Text while driving if you want to meet Him! ‘Highway to Hell’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’ say a lot about anticipated traffic Catch-up with Jesus, lettuce praise and relish Him, ‘cuz He loves me from my head to-ma-toes! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Lord lead you to praise Him this week! Pastor Kirk
2 Comments
12/4/2018 09:38:09 am
The Lord is with us with our desire to have world peace. God will always be there to support us no matter what, and I will always believe that one day we can all achieve that. right now, it may be blurry because of the circumstances we deal with nowadays. But there will be time that all of us would unite and act as one. If there is one thing we should desire for this world, it should be peace among ourselves. I certainly agree that we ought to wish for, work for, and hope for peace on earth! Yet I also think that Jesus was anticipating the resistance to God's rule and the violent divisions that result from our broken relationship with God. Ironically, the only way for Jesus to heal that relationship was by allowing Himself to be broken. Similarly, we are called in this season to break down our pride and turn back to God, so that we can properly appreciate the peace that He came to bring immediately--peace with God--as well as ultimately--a new world, wherein we are all at peace both with God and with each other. Leave a Reply. |
Kirk HilleAs Pastor at Pilgrim, Kirk is fueled by a passion for God's Word and a lot of good coffee. Archives
January 2019
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