The Gift of Peace
[Due to technical difficulties we do not have a recording of this week's message. Because this sermon was the first in a series of Christmas messages, a brief summary of the message is provided to make it easier to follow along next week.]
Bro. David's series of Christmas messages called The Gifts of Christmas utilizes the book of Romans to enumerate several of the gifts given to us by God. This first message focuses on the Gift of Peace and Romans 5:1. Christians have been given some incredible gifts by God, the most wondrous of which is the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, whom we celebrate this season.
We have many blessings and those blessings come from God and might rightly be called gifts; After all, they were given to us because of Jesus. By taking a look at the gift of peace, we see that we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus. Often when we think about peace we see it as an end result: a state of quiet or an absence of conflict or trouble. These ideas are true, but most people don't realize that the Bible often focuses more on how that peace is won.
Peace is all about resolving conflict. To find peace, the key is dealing with the thing that is bringing chaos and confusion in the first place. Unless you deal with the root cause of stress, any peace you achieve will only be short-lived. Take a look in your own life; What is the cause of your lack of peace?
In Romans we see that sin has been keeping us at odds with God and when that sin is removed through salvation, we can find true peace for our souls. The verses of Romans make it clear that we are all sinners and are separated from God but God's gift makes it possible for us to be at peace with Him. He Himself has perfectly fulfilled the law in our place. He became a willing sacrifice for love and it is because he forgave us that he also granted to us the gift of peace.
Other sermons in this series: