Merry Christmas!
We hope you experience peace on earth, and God's good will toward you.
Meditate on these excerpts from last Sunday's Christmas message:
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Happy Christmas - War is Over...(if you want it) Luke 2:14 “...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
1. We were at war against God (although God has always loved you.)
Romans 5:8, 10 “…While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son…”
2. Jesus came to make peace (Christ coming to earth forever changed the way God deals with people.)
Colossians 1:20-22 “...He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
2 Corinthians 5:19 "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them."
Romans 4:8 “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
3.The war is over...if you want it (Your sins have already been paid-off. God is not angry at you.)
(You might not yet have peace with God, but He is at peace with you.)
Application:
* Choose to make peace with God today
2 Corinthians 5:20 “…We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God."
* Rather than focus on sin, receive God's love
1 John 4:19 "We love him because he first loved us."
1 John 5:3 “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
* Tell others the good news that God is not mad
2 Corinthians 5:18 “He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships.”
