Thank you. A message of hope and peace. This world has been in turmoil and strife for so much of time. wars and violence and even we saw in Washington the news came out this morning on social media four people were stabbed I think it was last night in a little scuffle between Trump supporters and Tifa and different things like that just bad stuff going on there's just so much hatred and we look at it And we sit there and we say, what can we do? What is the answer? What can we possibly do? Well, the only answer that this world has is Jesus. Jesus is the only one that can bring peace. We know that the, we talked about it last week, how the Bethlehem star is going to rise in the sky this year for the first time in 800 years. And what a blessing. I really believe that God is going to do something in this nation. I believe that God is going to bring things out. I believe that God is going to make things right. But it has to come through Jesus. It's not going to come through politicians. It's not going to come through orders from government officials. It's not going to come through social media. It's not going to come through people protesting. That's not the way peace is going to come. Peace is only going to come through the Prince of Peace. And I want to share with you what Isaiah prophesied. He read these words in his book in Isaiah 9, verse 6. He said, for unto us a child is born. Can a child truly be the answer to the world's problems? Well, the answer to that is yes. Yes. A child can truly be the answer to the world's problems. But the world has to accept that. will the world accept that? probably not but if enough people accept it then little is much when God is in it we can have a small minority of people that believe in God and that can change the world it really can for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given I love that because not only was he the son of man but more importantly he was the son of God And I love it because social media, 99% of the time, social media is just filled with bad stuff, right? It really is. I mean, I go on Twitter just to see what's trending, to see the news that's trending, to see what's going on in the world. And most of the time, it's bad stuff. But you know what was trending yesterday that I thought was so cool? What was trending yesterday, and I said it on my radio show. trending yesterday on Twitter was the Son of Man. And people were talking about Jesus. And I was like, this is what Twitter should be about. This is what we should be talking about. Instead of talking about social injustice, instead of talking about how bad politicians are, instead of talking about all this mess, we need to talk about Jesus a little bit once in a while. We need to talk about how good God is once in a while. That's what we need to do. He was not only a son of man but he was the son of God Beautiful Under what the son is given I love it it says and the government shall be upon His shoulders I love it A righteous judge, if you will. Because let me tell you, judges can be bought off. But let me tell you, He can't be. Jesus cannot be bought off. No, no, He is a righteous judge. He is going to judge the quick and the dead. He is going to let them know what the truth is. And the truth is going to get wind. And it's going to be brought out. And people are going to be shocked. And this is the point. This is the point. He, the government, is going to be upon his shores. And people say, well, that's talking about some time down the line. When the Lord comes again. And when the world is destroyed. And then this new government comes. Why can't it be now? why can't our government why can't our world be led by God now it can't it can't it's just a matter of his people which are called by his name holding themselves and praying and seeing God's face and turning from wicked ways and then what does it say he would hear from heaven forgive the sins and heal the land that's what it comes and people say get it all mixed up they think that that means that the whole nation has to do that's not what that says read what it says if my people which are called by my name that people is the church that is not the people out there that are talking about social injustice talking about all this other stuff that's not who God was talking about he's talking about the church people he's talking about us we need to start focusing on this more because what we do, what do we do? We focus more on this than we do on this. Ooh, that's not popular. That is not popular. There was a little talk about that this morning and something's going on. I'll tell you, it's true. We focus on phones and tablets and computers and all this, Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and all this. We're focusing on this instead of focusing more on this. Because let me tell you, you can spend half your day on Facebook, but that ain't going to help your soul. Not one bit. You know what's going to help your soul? This. This is what's going to help your soul. This is what's going to help you when the world is collapsing around you. It's not going to be your Facebook friends and your Twitter followers. I'm going to tell you that right now. They're not going to help you when the world, that your little world is collapsing. that's not going to help you. If, God forbid, if you get coronavirus and you're locked up, is your Facebook friends and your Twitter followers going to help you? No, it's not. It's going to be what you've stored up in your heart to make you a strong human being and a strong Christian. That's what's going to help you when things are falling apart around you. And the world is falling apart around us and we need to focus on God and His blessings That's what we need to do. This government shall be upon His shoulders. I love it. And let me tell you something. We can corrupt judges, and we can corrupt officials. Jesus cannot be corrupted. Hallelujah. James chapter 1 verse 13 says this. Let no man say when he is tempted, he is tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither can he be tempted by any evil. I love that. I love it. He cannot be tempted by evil. So maybe we can't be corrupted. This world cannot corrupt him. Beautiful. I love it. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. He's a wonderful counselor in your times of trouble. He will counsel you. He will help you. He will protect you. He will give you that guidance. He's the mighty God! In a world that is filled with gods. Note I put them in air quotes Because there are many gods in this world but there only one God Hallelujah Let me say that again There are many gods in this world but there only one true God and it is Jehovah It is Yahweh It is not Buddha It is not you know any of the other gods in this world. No, it's not. It's none of them. It is only Yahweh. It is only Jehovah. That's the true God. It was proven time after time after time after time in the Bible. With Baal. When the people of Baal wanted everybody to follow him, God had to show up and show off to let them know that Baal is not the true God. And God is going to show up and show off and do something special and people are going to sit there and say, maybe maybe, just maybe, we were wrong all the time and maybe God is still, God Jehovah is still on the throne. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He's the mighty God, the everlasting Father. And now I love this, the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace. Peace. That's what we need in this generation. We need a peace to pass us all understanding. John chapter 14 verse 27 says this. Words of Jesus. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid so why are we afraid in this generation? why are we filled with fear in this generation? why are we scared to death about governments about social injustice about coronavirus about all these type of things when he said don't let your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid. Why? Because God is going to take care of you. If you love Him with all your heart and you pray God's protection on your body and your family God will do it. And you can rest in what? Peace. And I'm not talking about resting in peace like this world talks about. I'm talking we can lay down at night with a peace in our heart. We can rest the night knowing that God is going to take care of us. Hallelujah. I want to share with you one final thing and then we're going to conclude. And it is simply this. It's a beautiful story about a peace that comes even at the end. In the year 1555, there was a man named Nicholas Ridley. he was going to be burned at the stake because he witnessed for Jesus. As he faced the final curtain, as he faced that final day, he sat in his jail cell knowing that the next day he would be burned at the stake. His brother came and visited him inside that jail cell. And he said, why don't you let me spend the night with you. I'll spend the night with you. I'll comfort you. I'll be here with you. I'll be here. Nicholas Ridley looked his brother in the eye and he said, I want you to go home and I want you to rest well because I'm going to lay down tonight and I'm going to sleep like I've always slept because I know my God and I know he's with me. Right up to the end, I'm going to have him walking beside me, and I have peace in my heart, and a peace that passes all understanding. And Nicholas Ridley laid down that night, slept like a baby, got up the next morning, they put him to death, but he went in peace, knowing that he was not alone. and that's the point no matter what we go through no matter how bad it seems God will walk with us and if God be for us who can be against us hallelujah and that the point so we can have peace in the midst of a storm Hallelujah Hallelujah Let bow our heads before the Lord this morning Maybe this morning as you have heard this small little message this morning, and you've heard this and you say, you know what, Pastor Jay, you know, sometimes this world gets so heavy around me, and the evil gets so heavy that I just don't know. I feel like sometimes what peace I do have is gone. I need you to pray for me this morning. And would somebody be honest and say, pray for me, Pastor Jay. I need you to pray for me that I'll have peace in the midst of a storm. Hands going up this morning. I appreciate that. Hands going up all over the place. It's beautiful. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Hands everywhere this morning. That's beautiful. Father God, you saw the hands of your people going up this morning. You know what, God? This world gets so heavy sometimes. We get so bogged down with everything that sometimes it just seems too heavy to bear. Father God, I pray right now for your people. I pray for those ones that raised their hand. If someone was watching the video this morning or listening to the audio, Father God, this week, and they're watching this and they felt that in their heart, I ask you to let you raise your hand up. And Father God, those that raised up their hand there, I ask you that you will put peace in their heart. Father God, put peace in our heart in the midst of this storm that we will know that no matter what it is, whether it's coronavirus, whether it's the social injustice, all the trouble and trials and turmoil and strife and the fighting and the wars and all the stuff that's going on in this world that holds us down. that we will not be bogged down by it, but we will lift ourselves up knowing that God is in control and He will walk beside us. He will put His hand in ours and we will be okay. We will be okay no matter what happens in this world. I pray right now for Your people, Father God. I pray for them right now in Jesus' name. I pray that You will touch their hearts. And Father God, may they have the peace of God in this Christmas season. Father God, and as Christmas ends and as we go into the new year, we will continue to have that peace. Father God, I pray for your people. I pray for your strength, Father God, upon your people today, that they will be blessed. Father God, as we dismiss this service, Father God, I ask you not to dismiss us, but Father God, go with us. Father God, keep us safe, and then Father, bring us back safe into your house. That we might be able to worship you once again, that we will be together once again, And when we celebrate the glorious birth of the resurrected Messiah, the one that would grow up to be a man, die, but more importantly, raise again. We have the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. I pray it right now in Jesus' name. I pray for that blessing for all your people right now in Jesus' name. And now, Father, don't dismiss us, but be with us all this week. We praise you and we thank you for it's truly in Jesus' name. We make these blessings and we say amen and amen. Thank you. Thank you.
0