Vineyard Church of Knox County
Peace With God, Peace In God
Sermon Audio from Sunday, December 18, 2005 — As Christmas approaches, the child's request as she sits on Santa's lap still can be asked today, "I want world peace." Our world needs peace, doesn't it? It doesn't take long for us to realize this as we read of the riots among whites and Arabs on the beaches of Australia. One Australian newspaper quoted a public official saying, "What we have seen yesterday is something I thought I would never see in Australia and perhaps we have not seen in Australia in any of our lifetimes and that is a mass call to violence based on race." A November 2nd newspaper report in France read, "Gangs of youths set fire to more than 300 vehicles, fire on police and pelt a commuter train with rocks in the seventh straight night of violence in poor Paris suburbs. Nine people are injured." We were reminded of the lack of peace in Iraq as the Iraqi people went to the polls to vote for a national government. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said to the Iraqi people, "This is your chance to let your voice be heard as a force for peace and national reconciliation." There is a need for peace in every nation including ours. We were reminded that gangs are alive and active in this country this week as Stanley Williams, the founder of one of the largest gangs, the Crips, was executed by lethal injection for crimes he committed years ago.
We know that there is unrest between people, that is we lack public peace, because there is unrest within people, that is, we lack personal peace in our hearts. We Americans are an anxious people. Do you know how many websites are dedicated to anxiety sickness? Guess. 46 million. Listen to some facts about anxiety disorders in our country: * Anxiety Disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. with 19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult U.S. population (ages 18-54) affected. * According to "The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders," a study commissioned by the ADAA, anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year, almost one third of the $148 billion total mental health bill for the U.S We need public peace, peace between people, and we need personal peace, peace within our hearts. Some of you are familiar with the peace process in the Middle East between Palestinians and Israelis, a process that includes what has been described as a "roadmap to peace." Well, God has a roadmap to peace, too, a plan for peace in the world and peace in our hearts. This plan has a central figure, Jesus Christ, whose birth, life, death, and resurrection pave the way for God's peace to penetrate our hearts and transform our world. This is what we celebrate this Advent season, the coming of the Prince of Peace.
