Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith introduces Christmas stress and the need for peace, then turns to the shepherds in Luke 2. He encourages listeners to give fresh attention to a familiar account and consider how to receive and live in the peace Jesus offers.
Pastor Keith follows Luke 2:8-18, emphasizing God's choice of ordinary shepherds, the angel's reassurance, and the announcement of Jesus' birth. He contrasts Jesus' humble setting with his identity as King and connects the angelic gathering with Psalm 24's picture of God's heavenly armies and Revelation 5's worship of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb.
Using Romans 14 and Galatians 5, Pastor Keith presents peace as a gift of life with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. He applies Colossians 3 to choosing Christlike character and allowing Jesus' peace to guide responses. From Philippians 4, he encourages joy, kindness, and bringing worries to God with gratitude. He closes with an invitation to trust Jesus and prayer.
Take this with you
God's glory meets fear with reassurance
In Luke 2:8-10 the shepherds are terrified when God's glory shines around them, and Pastor Keith treats that as a familiar biblical response, comparing it to Isaiah's glimpse of God's glory. The angel's first word to them calms their fear, directing fearful people toward God's reassurance rather than toward their own courage.
The announcement comes to the lowly and is for all people
In Luke 2:8-11 God announces the birth to shepherds, described as blue-collar, uneducated in the eyes of society, and considered unworthy as legal witnesses, rather than to palaces or religious elites. Pastor Keith reads this as evidence that God wants to reveal himself to anyone, wherever they are, and that the good news is explicitly for all people, religious or not, rich or poor.
Peace is found in Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Pastor Keith connects Romans 14:17 and Galatians 5:22 with peace received through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He applies Colossians 3:15 as a call to allow Jesus' peace to guide responses and decisions rather than simply react.
Bringing worries to God in prayer
Applying Philippians 4:6-7, Pastor Keith urges listeners to bring their worries to God with gratitude. He interprets the passage's protection imagery as assurance that God's peace helps believers face anxiety and the enemy.
Joy, kindness, and prayer are chosen daily
Applying Philippians 4:4-7, Pastor Keith encourages joy rooted in God, kindness toward others, and thankful prayer about one's concerns. He calls listeners to depend on Jesus through ordinary days rather than leave faith at church.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
amen hey Christmas can get overwhelming can't it I mean come on if you if you've got kids or or maybe you're going through a season of transition where your loved one is not with you this Christmas Christmas can be overwhelming now let's face it life can be overwhelming that's your opportunity to shout amen life can be kind of tough sometimes the reality is when you're stressed out it just sucks the life out of you I mean that physically emotionally even spiritually some of you are not where you want to be spiritually right now because you're so stressed out you know being angry is exhausting I mean it's hard to be angry you know when my wife and I get in
fights and by the way we get in fights don't ever think that preachers don't uh don't live life like you we our life sometimes is even more difficult than you and you know when my wife and I we get in a fight it's hard to stay angry at her very long I mean for like a day or maybe two days I'm usually like I'm so right and I'm so mad at you they usually by like day two or three I just wake up and I'm like I totally forgot what I was mad about I mean some of my soul wants to stay angry but I'm like that's too exhausting I don't even remember why I was mad at you and my wife's like I remember why because you're an idiot that's why I'm just paraphrasing but it can be exhausting being angry it's not something you want to keep doing
in fact it's been proven medically scientifically proven that being stressed actually takes life away from you it actually suppresses your immune system it'll mess with your intestinal system it'll stop your reproductive system actually being stressed out can can provoke heart attacks Strokes I read this and all of a sudden it totally made sense being stressed out actually rapidly increases the aging process y'all I'm 25. I'm joking laughs I read this in psychology psychology today the number one reason for doctor visits is stress they're saying today in 2022 that anxiety
anxiety is the number one Mental Health crisis in the world our kids are more anxious than they've ever been before so I set all that up for you not to stress you out but to say what's in this gift today is needed more than ever you need this gift and the gift God has for you today is the Limitless gift of peace peace you need this gift the world needs this gift we need peace so today I'm going to tell you how to get this gift and then how to apply it to your life
how to get and receive the gift of peace and then how to have some practical application to your lives in the Christmas story Luke Chapter 2 you find the story of the Shepherds you all ever heard of the story of the Shepherds it's a familiar Story I mean kids they they can pull this off really cute the little sheep and the Shepherds and we read this story but may I just challenge you as I'm about to read the story there's nothing normal about this story in fact it's supernatural there were real people at a real time in history I'm going to read the entire story and I want to see where this piece is found in this story in Luke chapter two it's this is the original Christmas Story Luke is the author and he's going to tell us something really peculiar starting with
verse 8 and I'm going to read the whole thing so stick with me work with me here Luke chapters 2 starting with verse 8. and in the same region the region where Jesus was born in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping their watch over the flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord Shone around them and they were filled with great fear and the angel said to them fear not for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people For unto you is Born This Day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the lord and this will be a sign for you you will
find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloth and lying in a Manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace among those with whom he is please when the angels went away from them into heaven the Shepherds said to one another let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us and they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a Manger and when they saw it they had made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child and all who heard
it wondered at what the Shepherds told them I want to go back to the beginning of the story it seems like a normal night but Luke tells us something that should capture our eyes he tells us about Shepherds the lowly of the lowly these are the bottom of the totem pole in society Shepherds would be what I would call manly men but not in the sense that they're good-looking rugged men I'm talking guys they've got dirt under their fingernails I'm talking about guys with calluses on their hands I'm talking about men who are unkept they're Outdoors all the time but these aren't just manly men these guys are are so blue collared they're so
uneducated they're actually considered unworthy to be Witnesses in the court of law see Shepherds weren't considered a a reliable source of information these are the guys that you don't dream of your kids growing up to be a Shepherd someday they're out in the fields they're staying up all night they stink because their animals stink and all of a sudden Luke tells us on a seemingly ordinary night these guys are doing their work at night and an angel shows up Luke tells us more than just an angel showing up and we can get the perspective in our mind of some cute angel but that Luke tells us the glory of God Shone around him now if you know anything about manly men just consider maybe the field of construction workers today sometimes
their talk is not exactly Godly talk sometimes after work they're not heading to church sometimes the stuff that happens and with Shepherds when they when they go on vacation to Las Vegas what what happens there just stays there so in Luke chapter 2 verse 8 when an angel shows up in the glory of God Shone around them we're told in chapter 2 verse 9 they are full of fear now you need to know this for your life as well when you come before the presence of God when God's glory is revealed in your life you realize what kind of Sinner you are and if you realize what kind of Sinner you are you're typically full of fear this is ordinary in the scriptures
that's what happened with Isaiah when he gets a glimpse of the glory of God when you realize who you are and who God is typically there's fear I need you to understand this here because what happened in their hearts is still happening today fear is not something new fear will creep into your lives and if you have fear in your life it will typically paralyze you from accomplishing what God wants to do in your life fear is not new when we talk about fear and anxiety today is something that even the early Shepherds had now you look at the whole Christmas Story can you imagine being married just a little girl who gets told by by God that she's going to carry the coming Messiah but it will be before she's even married to her
husband could you imagine the fear of that young little girl could you imagine the fear of Joseph when when the gal that he's engaged to starts growing a bump and everybody starts talking whoa Joseph what's been going on and he's like nothing could you imagine the fear not just a fear of Mary and Joseph how about the parents you ever been a parent before parenting is not for sissies so I'm not just talking about two and three-year-olds I'm talking about the teenagers this is what I love about the Bible it gets real and in Luke chapter 2 verse 9 it doesn't just say these these men had fear it says they had great fear some of you have great fear today you
have great fear of the future you have great fear of the unknown you have great fear of the uncertainty that's faced right before you and just like the Shepherds the glory of God is going to reveal himself to you today and you have a choice what to do because what God does in revealing himself to the Shepherds is he shows us what kind of God he is the holy of holy shows up to the lowly of lowlies which tells me that God wants to reveal himself to every single one of us he does not need to show up to the princes in the palace he doesn't show up to the wealthiest or the rich he doesn't show up to the elite of the religious he shows up to the Shepherds which tells me this today that wherever you are God wants to show up in your life
I need you to hear this God wants to show up in your life at a time when you need it most he wants to show you his glory he wants to show you his greatness some of you have been so broken some of you are beat down and some of you might be like these Shepherds you're blue collared and you wonder where your place is in the kingdom of God God loves you so much doesn't matter what you do for a living doesn't matter where you've been it doesn't matter what you look like God wants to show you who he is and the first message to these Shepherds in verse 10 is fear not say those two words with me fear not I need you to see this because this is the most common commandment and throughout all the scriptures is do not be afraid fear not why are you afraid God wants you to
know that when you have him he's not a God that causes fear he's not a God that condemns he's not a God that's going to shame you and guilty guilt you what God wants to do is make sure that you have the strength and the courage that you need most fear not and the message to these angels is fear not behold I bring you good news of great joy and as if we would come up to our own conclusion of who would receive this good news the Angels made it explicitly clear this is for all people all people this is for the religious and the unreligious this is for the poor and the rich this is for the Young and The Not So Young this is for the single and the married oh we need to better understand this message of good news of great joy is for all people
God wants to reveal himself the holy to the lowly he wants to do it on an ordinary night he wants to do it when we need it the most when we're full of fear and anxiety of whatever we're facing God wants to give you a message fear not he's got a message of good news of great joy and then we're told as they're given this pronouncement and an announcement that Christ has finally come here's how you'll know the sign this baby will be in a Manger this has become a familiar story to us but there's nothing ordinary about taking the king of all Kings and putting
him in a feeding trough that's how you'll know the king of glory has humbled himself in such a way that he does not need a palace a castle he does not need to be born in a temple where he goes he brings Holiness with him he could be in the midst of animals and all of a sudden it's a holy place here's how you know this is Christ the King he'll be in a Manger and as this pronouncement Goes Forth to the Shepherds Luke tells us in chapter 2 verse 13 and suddenly how many all know that the moment you're kind of getting a grip on that fear the moment God's working in your life and you think I think I got this thing figured out
how many all know that there's a suddenly do you know what I mean like you've got fear anxiety uncertainty and now you're starting to think maybe maybe God's with me even at work I don't need to be at church maybe God's with me at night hey maybe God's not going to wipe me out even though I'm a sinner and he's full of glory and and the moment you get that whole fear thing Under Wraps there's going to be a suddenly and suddenly there was with the angel remember this angel that caused fear there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly hosts praising God and saying how have you ever seen a multitude of heavenly hosts probably not they are not like those cute kids that
stand on the stage in a Christmas Pageant they're not even like what Hollywood tries to depict see the multitude of heavenly Hills if one Angel causes fear just imagine what a heavenly host of angels will do see the idea of host here in the scriptures we've got to best understand this holistically if you go to the Old Testament the picture of a host is an army the Lord is often depicted as the Lord of hosts meaning it's a phrase that we can use in our vernacular he is the commander-in-chief of all the Lord of hosts implies he is the Lord of armies and the armies here are angels armies when the scriptures say the Lord of hosts thus says you better listen to this guy because he's got armies and armies behind him
in Psalm 24 verse 10 the question is asked who is this king of glory the lord of hosts he is the king of glory we have a God of angels armies and all of a sudden around these shepherds are an army of angels a multitude a myriad of heavenly hosts this could be the same Heavenly hosts in Revelation chapter 5 when John gets to go to heaven and he sees a throne a throne depicting God's might his power his authority and what John says in heaven in Revelation 5 verse 11 then I looked and heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels and John wants us the readers to understand this there were numbering myriads of myriads and
thousands and thousands this is apocalyptic language saying the angels are innumerable in heaven Millions upon millions of angels in heaven and John says they were saying with a loud voice when you've got millions of angels armies of angels it's going to be loud and what are they proclaiming in heaven Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing so here this multitude that we read about in Revelation 5 the myriads upon myriads they come and they give an announcement the announcement is this the child has been born what will that child do we
read in Revelation 5 this child will be slain this child will be the greatest sacrifice of all time this child will do what needs to be done there will be an image of a lamb going to the slaughter Jesus is the Lamb of God that was slain for our sins once and for all for every single sin God came down and did what needed to be done lived a perfect sinless life and he laid down his life on the cross so that you could live he would bear your sins so that you don't have to he died the death that you don't need to die he defeated death so that you can receive the same power that Rose him from the grave come on that's the life that Jesus gave us and one day we're going to get into heaven and the angels are going to remind you how great Jesus is Worthy is
the Lamb worthy the reason that you have the gift of eternal life is because of the Lamb Jesus Christ Worthy is the Lamb that stepped off of his throne and came to this Earth as a humble child Worthy is the Lamb oh listen to what John says to receive power to receive wealth do you realize that it's all actually his and we get stressed out about finances worthy are you God because you can do anything you can fix anything worthy are you God to receive wisdom because you're the source of wisdom worthy are you Jesus the lamb that was slain for your might for you a almighty God worthy are you to receive honor and glory and blessing because that's who you are Eternal almighty God and as we get a glimpse in Revelation 5 of this heavenly
host it brings us back to Luke chapter 2. the multitude of heavenly hosts come before these Shepherds and the message is glory to God Luke 2 14 glory to God in the eyes the Eternal all-powerful one true God and the highest has come down and this message I can imagine proclaiming we often think they're singing but it doesn't say they were singing they were praising God we often think of Praise as singing one day we're going to see that God is worthy of all praise that's our singing that's our breath that's our worst glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace what God has come to bring in leaving his throne is what we need most peace
among those whom he is please what a message from God to his people I'm not upset at you I'm not ashamed of you this is the message Jesus shares in Luke Chapter 15. yes you've messed up but I still love you I've come to give you exactly what you need in The New International Version the same verse is translated this way glory to God in the highest heaven and on Earth peace to those on whom his favor rests I love that picture of God's favor resting upon your life when you have Jesus you receive peace when you have Jesus you receive favor that that's a picture of Grace which is undeserved it's unmerited
you can't buy this favor you can't be born in the right family it's given by God some of you have heard this verse in the good old King James version which says this glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace Good Will toward men the message of Jesus coming to this Earth this is the message of Christmas is that Jesus gives us peace on an earth that needs peace the most precious commodity on planet Earth is peace we're trying to figure out what's most important and as politics debates this and his families argue over this the most precious commodity that we can
receive from Jesus is peace the King of Kings knew what we needed and came to this earth to show us peace think about this when there's a king there's a kingdom normally throughout history Kings have abused their powers in a kingdom they abused their power and they tax the people so they can get wealthier they use their power to enjoy good food and great wine the kingdom of God is not like the kingdom of this world the king of all Kings we're told in Romans Chapter 14 verse 17 for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit
so if you follow Jesus the king of all Kings what you're going to get is righteousness how do you get righteousness not because of your Deeds he takes your sins and exchanges it for his righteousness in the Scriptures it says that you are literally clothed or you're wrapped in a robe of righteousness the writer of Ephesians says that we put on the breastplate of righteousness we we don't get this righteousness with our Deeds or what we do but is given to you the kingdom of God is that you get the righteousness of Jesus that's pretty amazing not only do you get the righteousness of Jesus we're told you get the Peace of Jesus glory to God on in the highest and on Earth peace you get peace
in the kingdom of God not only do you get righteousness and peace you get joy this is what we all long for pastor Brad did a great job last week sharing with us joy and happiness are not the same happiness is based on what happens to you and if that's the case you'll constantly be let down but joy is based on the Lord and in the kingdom of God that Joy is yours in Jesus how the writer of Romans 14 7 says 17 says it's in the holy spirit that when you believe in Jesus God gives you himself the Holy Spirit this is so important that you understand we have one God and three persons when you get Jesus you also get the Holy Spirit the holy spirit in you is going to produce this Galatians 5 22 puts it this
way but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control so the key to producing this fruit is not something you do it's God doing it in you God's not asking you to try harder to muster this up more here's what God's asking you to do to grow in you who he is that you would Surrender Your Life to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you from the inside out and where you put your focus will depend on what's produced in you if you do not put your focus on Jesus you will not have the Peace of Jesus if you do not focus on Jesus you will have the absence of peace
some of us are wondering why these things are happening why why am I so anxious why am I so worried why am I so stressed out and you say I believed in Jesus I go to church that's not what the scriptures are saying the scriptures are saying that you're going to be in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is going to be in you that when you surrender your life to Jesus he becomes your all in all when you put your faith in Jesus Christ it's no longer about you when Paul wrote the the letter to the Colossians he says in chapter 3 at the beginning he he says that Jesus is for all people I love this he says Jesus is not just for the Jew Jesus is for the Greek and the Jew Jesus is for the male and the female Jesus is for all people and if you would receive Jesus he goes on to say this is what you do when you receive Jesus Colossians chapter 3 verse
12 he says you put on then there's a picture here of clothing yourself just like you put on socks just like you put on your underwear today you've got to put on then as God's chosen one holy and beloved here's what you're going to put on compassionate Hearts kindness humility meekness patience bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against the other forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you so also you must forgive let me just give you the idea of what the writer is saying here just like you have to put on socks and underwear and pants and a shirt every day so it is with the Christian characteristics you've got to choose to do these things forgiving other people is not natural you didn't wake up with clean underwear on today you chose to do that
you should be thankful the people around you put on some fresh clean clothes for church today they didn't have to but they chose to and Paul says if you want to follow Jesus you have to choose to be kind you have to choose to be humble and meek like Jesus this is not going to happen naturally you got to choose this hey when there's just a child a baby they're not going to choose it they don't even know better they came into this world naked they think they could stay that way the parents put on the clothes for them then there comes a point when they get older you say put on your own clothes and they come out and they've got different colored socks on they're put the underwear on the outside of the pants and they're wearing all kinds of different clothes in different ways but then you grow you mature and that understanding and eventually you become an adult and you just know when you wake up you know where your underwear drawer is you know where your socks are you know where your pants are
you know where you're sure Paul says you've got to put on the characteristics of following Jesus every day you track them with me so far well then he goes on even further in verse 14 just like just like a mother he says and above all these put on love which binds everything together in Perfect Harmony above all these don't forget love I've got three teenagers one of them is in middle school and undoubtedly every day when I drop her off at school I I see some 13 year old kid get out of the car at 10 degrees outside wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt every day every single day and I can actually hear with all the windows and the doors closed you know what I can hear the mother say take your jacket put on a jacket and the kid will usually argue back I don't need a jacket
you got that Mama say you put on that jacket I'm not driving away until you do here's what Paul's saying this is a dark cold world you might have underwear on you might have socks on you might have a short sleeve t-shirt and shorts on but if you don't put on love you're gonna get sick you don't put on love eventually you're going to get cold I don't care how strong you think you are I don't think how good you you can't forgive people without love you can't be kind to people without love you can't be humble and meek without love you really want to live out the ways of Jesus you've got to work for this God doesn't just give you an easy life you gotta work at this now then he goes on to say this when you have love you got that jacket did you remember your jacket you got that jacket on then he says in verse 15 and Let the
Peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful I love how he just throw that and be thankful now I need you to note this here everything else was put on outside the pieces on the inside it's the Peace of Christ and he notes this is going to rule in your heart that word rule in the Greek I'm going to tell you it's here's what it means it means to umpire it means to decide it means to determine this is a beautiful picture here's what Paul's saying you're going to let the Peace of Christ now make the decisions for your day you know when you send your kid to school they're going to make their own decisions I can't follow them down the halls of their schools I can't follow them at recess anywhere they I can't go into the
bathrooms with them but here's what Paul says when you've got Jesus he's in your heart and he should be following with you everywhere you go you know I'm in baseball you've got umpires that make the final decision the players don't in basketball you got referees making the final decision when you trust in Jesus he becomes the Umpire of your heart that means someone offends you someone hurts you someone mistreats you you don't make your own decision you go to the Umpire you say Jesus what we going to do Jesus will tell you every single time you just punch them in the throat that's what you do oh wait a second maybe that's not Jesus maybe that was me because Jesus is counter-cultural Jesus doesn't work like me that flesh is
strong that not old me is strong the old me wants to keep creeping up but I've got to let Jesus rule in my heart I've got to let Jesus be the king of my heart I've got to recognize that without Jesus I will not have peace and so if there's the absence of Peace I've replaced Jesus with the things of this world what is the absence of Peace it's anxiety the absence of Peace if you read the book of Revelation chapter 6 we're going to read that one day there's going to be these seals that are going to be opened up on the entire world it's God's judgment and in the second seal God allows this is God allowing because he wants us to trust in him repent to turn to him God allows peace to be taken from the Earth and you know what happens when peace is taken from the earth War and some of us are shocked why do Wars
still happen we should be way smarter than this we could look back in history why does Wars happen between Jesus said that in the last days there will be Wars and there will be rumors of war and as you read Revelation 6 this is exactly what happens why do Nations fight against Nations because there's an absence of peace now bring this home practically we live in a great nation why would we be divided in this great nation that we live in why are is there so much racial tension why why is there so much political what's going on here it's the absence of peace now now bring this home even closer bring it home to your family why are so many families broken let me just tell you Christian families are as broken as non-Christian families I've watched the last three years people that I so respected man you couldn't get more perfect than you get divorced and
nasty divorces at that why the absence of Peace okay let's make this personal you wake up in the morning and you look at that beautiful person in that mirror and you wonder why is there anxiety why is there fear why is there war in my own heart the absence of peace we've got to start to recognize that where there's no peace we don't have Jesus ruling umpiring making the decisions in our hearts so this peace is received in Jesus now Jesus right before he went to the Cross he knew what he was going to do he knew that he would Ascend into heaven so he said it's better that I leave you and he says in John 14 25 these things I've spoken to you that while I'm still with you I want you to know these things he says but the helper the Holy Spirit
whom the father will send in my name there's the Trinity Triune God one God and three persons the Holy Spirit the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit he says will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you the holy spirit is going to remind you who Jesus is what he offers you and then Jesus said Peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid so it's through the Holy Spirit we have the Peace of Jesus that he's given us nothing like the world the world is constantly looking for peace the world will tell you you're going to get peace through a pill the world will tell you you're going to get peace through this or that but the Peace of Jesus is not
like the Peace of the world in fact Jesus said this world is going to get way more messed up before he comes again in Luke chapter 21 this is Jesus speaking he's talking about the times he said he's coming again but this is so important you know this he promised he'd come the first time and he did that's what we celebrate Christmas the Lord promised a messiah and he came through Jesus Christ he is the Messiah he's the promised one of God he did what he promised now this is so important he promises to come again so if he did what he promised the first time Christmas should be the reminder wait he did it when we least expected it he did it in a way that we didn't expect it it was on a day and an hour that the whole world didn't know was happening and then Jesus says this in Luke 21 verse 25 and there will be signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth distress of Nations and perplexity
because of the Roaring of the Sea and the waves time out real quick the whole world saying why is the global warming why is there climate change why are these things happening Jesus said by the way they will happen the world's going to get messed up before he comes back again and Jesus said people will be fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world for the powers of the heavens will be shaking and they will see the son of man there's the promise this will happen coming in a cloud with power and great Glory just like he came the first time glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace we're going to look up and see the glory and Jesus says now when these things begin to take place they've begun when you see chaos confusion when you
see War when there's anxiety fear Jesus said this straighten up your heads because your Redemption is Drawing Near Jesus said these things will happen look at verse 26 people will be fainting with fear people will have to go to the doctor because of stress they're going to think marijuana will settle them down they can't sleep at night because of anxiety they're gonna think a pill will help them all along Jesus said there's a person that can do for you what no one nothing will do for you but only the Peace of Jesus will give it to you now I told you I told you how you received this it's through Jesus that's how you get the Limitless peace now I want to bring an application to life because some of you are like okay fine that sounds good at church on Sunday but the moment I leave here my life goes to hell in a
handbasket can anyone relate to that it's not just me Monday's coming Christmas is next week you all know that Christmas there's always going to be something that's going to totally stress you out I don't know who it is for you maybe it's an X maybe it's a mother-in-law maybe it's a crazy cousin I don't know who it is for you but something's going to totally stress you out something so where's the application can we just look at the application I've got eight minutes and 52 seconds to give you application you ready for this y'all could look at the time when the preacher starts to get nervous and he's like wrapping it up yeah I got the time right there if you're watching on television I just tell you because the time is back there telling me how much longer I got so here I go I'm going to race through this here's the application here's how you have it we're going to learn it from a guy that had peace you always want to learn from someone who's been there and done that this guy lived a very
difficult life this guy impacted and influenced many people he did not have an easy life he was mistreated yet he still had peace in fact he tells us how to have this peace in prison this is a guy I can learn from his name is Paul and he writes a letter to the Philippians it happened to be a church in a city called Philippi but as he writes to the church we are the church this is for you so if you receive Jesus you are the church so this is the message for those who have received you if you've not received Jesus in just a moment I'll tell you how to do that super simple it's going to be in your heart and you're going to do it today and you're going to say God I give you my life and I want to receive your peace that hasn't happened yet I'm going to do it in just a moment but if you've received Jesus here's what you do all right step one look at Philippians chapter 4 verse 4. he says rejoice in the lord always again I will say rejoice if you want peace if you want peace it starts with this a
choice I know that Paul did not say anything about peace right here but he says rejoice in the Lord when shout it out some of you all think that you should only rejoice when everything's great that's not what the Bible says rejoice in the lord always the way we say it around Journey Church is choose Joy so you do not have joy just because everything's fine and dandy you don't have joy because the weather's great you don't have joy because everybody's being nice to you you rejoice in the lord always so the first step to getting the Limitless peace of God is choosing Joy that's what Rejoice means it's Joy Rejoice is a choice in Psalm 118 verse 24 says this is the day the Lord has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it some may think that God made a mistake
today he didn't he's still God still sits on the throne so today what are you going to do you choose Joy no matter what you're going through if you want the peace of God you've got to start by recognizing your joy is in the Lord not other people people will let you down your joy is not in in some other substance that will let you down your joy is not your finances that will let you down your joy is in the Lord so you choose Joy you want peace choose Joy Second Step let your reasonableness verse 5 let your reasonableness be known to everyone the Lord is at hand Paul says Jesus is coming live like it here's what reasonableness means and y'all aren't going to like this one I'm so sorry second step to receiving peace is this be kind be kind this world is way too angry way
too mean even Christians I would love to say the church is doing a good job of this one but we're not let your reasonableness be known to others the reason I say this is be kind is in the Living Translation it says it in a very Elementary way it says be unselfish be unselfish don't don't hold on to things like it's mine when you think about others something changes in your life if you really want the Peace of Jesus you got to stop thinking about yourself some of you say you don't understand Pastor my life sucks so bad I have to have this pity party and when you live your life in a pity party nobody wants to come to it the first few times people will come and they'll try to counsel you to try to come for you and then they'll come again maybe a second or third time but after the fourth or fifth pity party people like that party sucks
nobody likes it so here's what Paul says quit focusing on you and be kind to others let your reasonableness be known in the NIV it just says let your gentleness be known to others this world is way too mean that means you should have way more five stars on Google than you do have one star reviews you got a bunch of one star reviews the Lord is speaking to you through this verse let your reasonableness be known that means no matter how bad the service was you're still going to be kind quit being a jerk Jesus is coming and you're going to be shocked when he comes and you're writing that one star review that I'll tell you what let me tell you what maybe it's just in your head maybe it's not even in your fingertips so here's number one here you go and choose Joy here's number two be kind now here's the secret sauce this is like the prescription if you do not take this prescription this is like antibiotics
you could take it and you think you're doing good and then you stop taking it again this is like antibiotics you got to take this the rest of your life all right this next one is the secret sauce that if you do this you will not have a peace that God wants to give you here's here's it is verse six do not be anxious about what anything do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God if you want peace in your life you have to remove anxiety if you want peace you have to remove anxiety peace and anxiety they're terrible roommates they fight all the time they don't fit together they don't work together anxiety always leaves the dishes out anxiety never picks up the wet towel on the floor and and peace steps into the heart of your home and says hey I wanna I wanna take care of this and anxiety says no I want to take care of it and they just fight you cannot have the
peace of God with anxiety so how do you get rid of anxiety thankfully Paul told us you have to pray thankfully the Bible doesn't just be a nice person be nice no no the Bible says you need God's help you need God's help so you need to pray so the third key of having the Peace of Jesus is to pray I'm not talking about praying the rosary I'm not even talking about safe prayers I'm talking about messy prayers Peter says this you should be casting all your anxiety on him why because he cares for you why should you cast all your anxiety on him because you can't bear the burden you're not strong enough why should you cast all your anxiety on him it will kill your life if you keep that anxiety you cast it on him not because all of those things but because he actually
loves you he actually cares for you so let's go back to Philippians 4 6 do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be known to God prayer supplication Thanksgiving does the same thing I often say prayers communication with God but it's more it's being one with God some of you say I'm terrible at praying you're not alone there's a lot of people during Journal I'm terrible been going to church my whole life and I still suck at praying how do I pray I'm going to teach you how to pray can I teach you how to pray this is really simple you should write this down or else you're going to forget it ready I'm going to teach you how to pray first thing you're going to do is you're going to get a binder you've got to buy a binder to pray it's just the one way you praise with a binder all right so you get a binder I want you to start with the first page lines you got all these lines I want you to write down a list like a bullet point list of everything that's causing you to worry everything the little things the big
things uh whole list if it takes two three four five pages that's totally fine if it's one page that's fine so you write down a list of everything that's causing you anxiety everything that you're afraid of everything that's causing you fear everything that's making you worried you got this so far write down a list for some of you it's going to be really really long just write down a whole list of all those things now at the top of that list I want you to write down these words Lord I give you are you tracking with me you didn't even know you were already starting to pray you say Lord I give you and you already know what to give God what are you giving him your anxiety like I don't know how to start prayer you know what the Lord is so good you don't have to start off with dear Lord you don't have to start off with the right words prayer is surrendering your life to his so you start off with Laura I give you then at the then at the the front of the
binder here's what I want you to put prayer list because you got to keep bringing this back some you're going to take back what you just gave God in the same prayer because you don't see God and you don't think that he's going to do what he's going to do you can trust God with this list so you keep coming back to this list and then at the end of this prayer here's what you're going to write underneath all your worries you're going to just simply write these words thank you Jesus now why would you write thank you Jesus he hasn't even answered prayer because he's going to answer the prayer he's able to handle your burdens you write thank you Jesus because you just cast all your anxieties on him you write thank you Jesus for the Breakthrough he's about to do you write thank you Jesus because he proved what he can do through the resurrection of Jesus Christ you write thank you Jesus because he's a god that is love and he never stops loving you you write thank you Jesus for his promises which are endless they
never run out oh the grass withers or the flowers fade but the word of the Lord lasts forever you say thank you Jesus that your God and I'm not that's how you pray I just taught you how to pray just start with your anxieties because if you got anxieties and you're trying to think Jesus that's hard but do not be anxious about anything write down that list and you say God I give you I give you and you know what that is I don't even need to say what those things are and here's what happens I told you that's the prescription you don't take that antibiotic of Prayer you will not have peace instead you'll have anxiety so choose Joy be kind pray and here's what comes here uh verse verse 7. and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding you get this can't find it in a pill you won't even find it in a book I wish
I could tell you read this book and everything will be okay you're going to find it in Jesus and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus this is so profound the peace of God now will protect you from anxiety and the enemy there's a real enemy the devil and he wants to destroy you he is launching lies into your life Ephesians 6 says they're like fiery darts there's arrows going into your head and into your heart but the more you have the Peace of Jesus guess what happens the less you receive the lies of the enemy the more you have the Peace of Jesus the less anxiety you have we could put it this way peace protects us from anxiety and the enemy peace protects us what do I mean by protects us the word guard here I wish the Greek did a little better or the English did a little better telling you what the Greek means the word guard here
in the original Greek is is a powerful word I'm just going to show it on the screen it means to guard by a military guard that God of the angels armies is going to protect your heart and your head guard this this is what it means God's going to protect you the idea of the peace of God guarding your mind and your heart is this God is for you if he's for you who can be against you when you have the peace of God you can face anything in your life if you have the peace of God you could be merry and carry the Christ child into this world when you have the peace of God you could be a shepherd and leave all your sheep behind and go without haste to go see the promised Child come on God is still doing this today some of you need the Peace of Christ to go face something you can never face on your own because God is for you he's protecting you he's
guarding you he's fighting your battles for you what the enemy wants to do is to get into your mind and the mind is the greatest battlefield of all and some of you are losing the war it's time to let King Jesus into your life the Lord of hosts the commander-in-chief to start guarding your heart and your mind in Jesus oh if fear slips into your life I'm here to tell you fear is a liar it's of the devil you have any fear you're going to push it out how through the spirit the Holy Spirit God gave us we're told in the promise of his word a spirit not a fear you have fear about anything the government finances your future not of God you go to God In Prayer you cast that out you give it to God right there because God has given you a spirit of power love and a sound mind he's giving you a spirit of self-control in your life so that you would trust him you
turn to him you know what self-control looks like it means this I'm going to choose Joy today if I have no self-control I'm like a toddler I just grab it and I say mine but when I have the Holy Spirit in my life I'm self-controlled I choose this day whom I serve and I serve the Lord Jesus Christ I'll serve anyone else I serve the Lord I'm gonna let God be the comfort of my life not another person that's too much pressure to put on somebody you know that don't make someone else the Lord don't make your kids your parents a spouse anyone don't make a preacher you you put Jesus in his proper place and this is what you get can we can we go to there can we go there this is what you get this is so good oh you're gonna have peace that you haven't had for a long time
and it's going to be better than anything else you tried to find it in food and it didn't work but you're going to have the Limitless piece of Jesus and then what's going to happen is man we're going to go through some economic Times where everybody's saying listen the world's going to go to a financial crisis and you're everyone's going to be worried but you've got the Limitless peace of Jesus well here's what's going to happen when something happens in your life maybe you lose your job and you didn't expect to lose your job you're you're still going to have peace listen I can grab this list on and on and on and on but here's the reality this is a piece that you're going to find through the person Jesus now I got to tell you you've got to choose this Ephesians 6 verse 15 Paul says we got to have the whole armor of God because this is war and it's against the enemy he
says you need to put on your feet for your feet here's what you got to have having put on the Readiness given by the gospel of peace gospel means what shout it out good news what was the announcement good news of great joy that there's going to be peace on Earth now I don't know about you but when you put on your shoes it's a choice if you saw Moshe today I don't know where he was on the he was over here you watched this guitar player over here today he's got flip-flops on and I think it's like negative million degrees outside he he chose to put on flip-flops he chose oh I see all kinds of different kicks in this place we got work boots and we got rain boots and we've got all kinds of different shoes in the you choose what shoes you're going to put on and Paul
says when you go out in your day wherever you go choose your shoes of the gospel of peace the peace here is shalom it's God's perfect peace it means wherever you go in your heart God is guarding it for you you choose it some of you choose everywhere you go busyness and bitterness that's what I'm gonna do you gotta quit given the answer how you doing busy the devil would love for you to give that answer how you doing I have peace with everything going on right now I have peace there's a shift do you see that shift some of you put on the shoes of anger and you don't know why you're exhausted all the time I need more coffee I need more I'm just always exhausted it's because you're angry would you forgive you know what's going to give you peace
so the gospel of peace is Jesus we've talked about this before with the armor of God every piece of the armor is Jesus Let Jesus go with you let him live life with you just wherever you go bring Jesus with you and by the way he said I'll never leave you nor forsake you so he wants to be with you we have to leave him behind intentionally you have to choose to be angry you have to choose to be bitter you have to choose to be anxious you have to choose all those things so what I'm advising for you today the application of your life is peace is found in Jesus and the application is choose Jesus some of you have never done that want to ask you to do that right now just with every eyes closed head bow I'm just going to ask you if you want to choose the Peace of Jesus today this
could be the first time you've ever done this in your life would you just throw your hand up in the air I want to pray with you praise God yes I see that praise God praise God yes praise God praise God praise God all over the place praise God you came to church today and the Lord wanted to exchange your anxiety with his peace all over the room pray with me something like this in your heart Jesus I give you my life I give you my heart I Need You Now I need you to take my anxiety I need to receive your peace I've received the gift of Salvation and most importantly I have received the Holy Spirit I do not do this on my own that God I want you to live in me I want you to work through me that if the world sees peace as the Fruit of the Spirit thank you Jesus all this is possible in your name we pray amen
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God Speaks Peace to the Fearful
In Luke 2:8-10, the shepherds respond with fear to the angelic appearance. Pastor Keith compares this with Isaiah's response to God's glory and emphasizes the angel's reassurance as encouragement for fearful listeners.
Luke 2:8-10
- Pastor Keith says fear paralyzes a person from accomplishing what God wants to do. Where have you seen fear do that in your own life recently?
- How does Pastor Keith apply the angel's reassurance to the shepherds?
The announcement reaches ordinary people
Pastor Keith presents the shepherds in Luke 2 as socially overlooked people whom God chooses to receive the announcement. He emphasizes the message's reach to people of every background and applies this as encouragement to those who feel excluded.
Luke 2:10-11
- Pastor Keith describes shepherds as the bottom of the social order. Who in your world might feel that way today, and how would this story speak to them?
- Where do you personally assume God's gifts are for other people but not for you?
The King in a Manger and the Armies of Heaven
In Luke 2, Pastor Keith highlights Jesus' humble setting and the gathering of angels. He connects this with God's heavenly armies in Psalm 24 and Revelation 5's worship of Jesus as the Lamb whose sacrifice saves people.
Luke 2:12-14 · Psalm 24:10 · Revelation 5:11-12
- Why is it significant that the King of glory was found in a feeding trough rather than a palace or temple?
- How does Pastor Keith connect Revelation 5's worship of Jesus with his sacrifice?
Putting On Peace and Letting It Umpire
Using Colossians 3, Pastor Keith compares choosing Christlike character with getting dressed each day. He emphasizes love and describes Jesus' peace as an umpire guiding responses in conflicts.
Colossians 3:12-15
- Pastor Keith says characteristics like kindness and forgiveness don't happen naturally; they are chosen. Which one is hardest for you to put on each day?
- What does it practically mean to let the peace of Christ umpire a conflict rather than letting your first reaction decide?
Choose Joy, Be Kind, Pray
From Philippians 4:4-7, Pastor Keith encourages joy rooted in God, kindness toward others, and thankful prayer about one's concerns. He interprets God's peace as protection for believers facing anxiety and spiritual opposition.
Philippians 4:4-7 · Psalm 118:24
- Pastor Keith says to choose joy before circumstances change. What would choosing joy today actually look like for you?
- How does Pastor Keith connect kindness toward others with his application of Philippians 4?
- Pastor Keith says prayer with thanksgiving is how anxiety is addressed. What makes thanksgiving difficult to include when you are worried?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Why does Pastor Keith say the shepherds were an unlikely choice to receive the announcement?+
In Luke 2:8-11, Pastor Keith emphasizes God's choice of ordinary shepherds whom society overlooked. He applies this as encouragement that a person's work, background, or appearance does not exclude them from God's care. He highlights both the angel's reassurance and the announcement's wide reach.
Where does the sermon say peace actually comes from?+
Using Romans 14:17 and Galatians 5:22, Pastor Keith presents peace as a gift of relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. He applies Colossians 3:15 as allowing Jesus' peace to guide responses, and John 14 as assurance that Jesus gives peace through the Spirit's presence and reminders.
What practical steps does the message give for experiencing God's peace?+
Applying Philippians 4:4-7, Pastor Keith encourages joy rooted in God, kindness toward others, and bringing worries to God with gratitude. He interprets the passage's protection imagery as assurance that God's peace helps believers face anxiety and spiritual opposition.
What does Pastor Keith mean when he says peace should umpire your heart?+
Drawing on Colossians 3:15, the message notes that the word behind 'rule' carries the idea of an umpire, something that decides and determines. The picture is that when someone offends or hurts you, you do not simply make your own decision; you bring the situation to Jesus, the umpire of the heart, and let his peace make the call. Pastor Keith contrasts that with the old self that wants to react first, saying that without Jesus ruling in the heart, peace is absent.
How does the sermon connect the first Christmas to the second coming of Jesus?+
Pastor Keith connects the fulfillment of God's promise at Jesus' birth with confidence in Jesus' promised return. Using Luke 21:25-28, he encourages believers to respond to frightening events with hope in Jesus rather than treat chaos as the end of the story.
