Hello dear friends,
Today I want to just take a moment to say, “Happy Thanksgiving” to all of you. Our thanksgiving is a function of joy. When we experience joy, our hearts are filled with gratitude and we like to express that. Paul tells the Thessalonians to “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you,” 1 Thess. 5:18. He might as well say, walk in the Spirit—be filled with His joy; and you will experience the gratitude that honors God the Father. As I mentioned in my sermon last week, “There is joy in the kingdom!” There is joy in serving Jesus; and joy in realizing your salvation. That creates a joyful heart. There is also joy knowing that our Heavenly Father has everything under control. He is the Great Sovereign of the universe. As a result, our Heavenly Father can make all things work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. See Romans 8:28. As you gather with your family and friends for Thanksgiving—be sure to give thanks for the many things that He has done in your life this year.
Then, on Sunday the 28th, we begin the Advent Season. This is an annual celebration of Christ’s coming as a babe in Bethlehem. Then, in each of the Sundays leading up to Christmas we will celebrate different facets of His coming. I will be sharing a series of messages called: “The Gifts of Christmas.” Each week will focus on a gift that Christ’s coming has brought us. The wise men brought Him gifts when He was born. They were gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gifts fit for a king! But when Jesus was born—He gave us gifts that help us in our lives each and every day which no king can buy. The first gift He gave us was HOPE. This one is important because it gives us a reason to keep on living and serving Him. In Christ we have a living hope. Peter says, we have this hope through the resurrection of the dead. You see, because Jesus was raised from the dead, we who trust in Him will also be raised from the dead. Now death no longer reigns over us. King Jesus does.
The next gift, is the gift of LOVE. The Bible says that we love because He first loved us, and that His love has been shed abroad in our hearts. This love is not a worldly, shallow, self-centered and self-serving love. Rather, it is an unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the well-being of another regardless of the cost to ourselves. Jesus tells us to “love one another,” and He Himself has given us His love so that we can do just that. Jesus said, “By this the whole world will know that you are my disciples, in that you love one another.” See John 13:35.
The third gift is JOY. Joy is the happy state that results from knowing and serving Jesus. Again, it is a fruit of the Spirit—and it is formed in our lives as we “remain in Him.” I talked about this fruit extensively last Sunday from Luke 10:17-24.
Finally, we find the gift of PEACE. This too is a fruit of the Spirit as is a result of Jesus’ great work for us, see Gal. 5:22-23. He told His disciples that He would give them a peace that the world can’t take away. Indeed, they can’t take it away because it is received supernaturally through the Spirit. This peace is the sense of well-being and fulfillment that comes from God and is dependent on His presence. When we receive His peace; and then as His disciples share this peace, we become peacemakers—then the world will know us as “the children of God.” Why? Because only God can bring and make peace that will last. See Matthew 5:9.
Peace is something that every heart longs for. The Bible says that we have been made “by Him and for Him,” and then when we find Him, we find His peace. In Luke 2:14 the angels said it well, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” Jesus is our favor from God. He is our rest. And He is our precious peace. His coming has made it all possible.
And with that—I want to pray for Christ’s peace to be on you all this Advent season.
Pastor Russ Hilsinger,
Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, Oregon