December 16, 2025 • 13 mins
This message by Pastor Lonnie reminds us how the first Christmas was marked by stress, uncertainty, and less-than-ideal conditions. Mary is exhausted and ready to give birth, Joseph is scrambling for a place to stay, and the only space available is a barn. Yet that’s where Jesus enters the world. The point is simple: God’s peace doesn’t wait for life to settle down. It meets us in the middle of the mess. Peace is something we receive, not something we earn or manufacture. We find it when we invite Jesus into the chaos we’re living in.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The song goes, it's the most wonderful time of the year,
but for many of us.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's pretty stressful. Isn't it wonderful time? But it's stressful.
And this year I have a stress.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Issue with the illuminated deers in front of the parsonage.
There's three deers and last year the lights went out
on all three of them.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I was able to repair two, but one is just
stressing me out. Now.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Of course I'm joking about that, but we all have
stories of those things that are challenging during the Christmas season,
during the holidays, where it is stressful.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
All the things to do.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
The two dues list the events to take care of,
and it can be stressful. And I wanted just to
make a point that on the very first Christmas.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
It was no different.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
In fact, if you really put it in context in
an historical setting, it was worse. In fact, when I
think of it, it is a reminder of the context
in which we may find God's peace touching our lives,
because in the story of Advent leading to Christmas, be
(01:28):
find that God's peace.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
It doesn't wait for perfect conditions.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
It doesn't because the conditions are usually never perfect. Mary,
we just read she was nine months pregnant, and she
was nine months pregnant bouncing on a donkey.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And did you know that the journey where she went
on that.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Donkey, it wasn't it's just a local ride around the neighborhood.
It was a journey of seventy miles. Think of that,
the most wonderful time of the year. Okay, seventy miles
going to where you needed to go. Joseph, he's trying
(02:21):
to fight a hotel okay.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And everyone's booked.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
She's laboring, he's panicking, and the GPS.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Says, hey, you've arrived at your destination and it's a barn.
The most wonderful time of the year. Okay, think about that.
That is really not all that peaceful, is it?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Is that really the most wonderful time of the year.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
When you think about it. It's easy for.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Situations like that to be the season of panic attack
waiting to happen. But we need to underscore it is
exactly in times like that, in the midst of our
times like that, that is the place where Jesus was
born imperfect conditions. God's peace is not about having some
(03:30):
kind of calm surroundings. It's about his presence, and I
would underscore his presence in the chaos. And you may
wonder about your chaos, is that you go through trying
to get them cleaned up so the calm can come
and then peace will come.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
But underscore that in the midst of the chaos, Jesus
was born.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And so if you're waiting for a life to all
of a sudden calm down before you'll feel peace, well
you're gonna be waiting forever. Realistically, it's just not gonna
happen that way. Peace does it come from control. It
comes from handing it over to God saying Lord, I
(04:22):
don't understand this, I haven't gone got it all figured
it out, but I know that in the midst of
my chaos, in the midst of what I have, then
it may become the most wonderful time of the year.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
For peace is not the absence of trouble at all.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It is the presence of Jesus being born, being alive,
being the center part of our lives. And so I
think when the angels when they sing glory to God
in the Highest and on Earth peace, they were not saying.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
That the world would suddenly get calm.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
No, they were saying, well, peace has arrived, and the
peace has arrived in a person in the Christ.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
For peace, it's not really a feeling. It's not a vacation.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It's not if you still have kids around the house,
it's not that remember that that kind of five minutes
of quiet time before the kids wake up, or you're
just going to have your coffee and talk together, and
then the kids wake up, and that's a chaos. Peace
is Jesus the one who can calm the storm inside,
(05:47):
even if the storm outside.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Is still raging.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Pretty cold outside, isn't it. It took some effort to
be in church this morning. It's rough out there, But
isn't there a warmth here?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Is that?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Theres something about the dynamic of God's presence in our lives.
And all that is to make the point in the
message that peace is not necessarily received. I mean it
is received, it's not achieved. We just have to embrace
it and take it for what it is, for what
(06:28):
Christ's meant it to be. You don't earn it, You
can't manufacture it. If you could manufacture and bottle what.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You go, but that can't happen. You don't get peace.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
By pretending either that everything is fine, because seldom is
everything fine.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
You get peace when you invite Jesus into the middle
of the mess.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Elsewhere in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus had this instruction, and really
it was a promise for Jesus said, now come to me,
all of you who are weary and burden. And I
think it's important to underscore his words here, and I
will give you rest. Promise of Jesus, come to me
(07:25):
and I will give you rest. Now, I noticed this week,
as I'm grappling with the texts around Advent and of
the coming of Christ, that highlighted me that there I
will give you rest.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Notice it doesn't say Jesus doesn't.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Say come to me and I'm going to fix your problem.
We should not think of Jesus as some kind of handyman,
mister fix it. There's something different there. Things can have
in our lives that hurt. You may get a diagnosis
(08:04):
that will not be healed, that will not be fixed.
You may have to go through a situation that you're
just going to have to go through some hard times
and don't say, well, God fixes take care of it. No,
there's something about that we have when the presence of
God can come into our lives and we can realize
I have reason to move forward and move beyond.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I don't know about you, but I was. I was
was thrilled. A number of weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
We uh it was a big buzz in our community
about a song sung blue story of thunder and lightning.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Some of you may not know Claire.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Uh, Sedina is a part of this church. Claire came
here shortly after COVID. She has a name badge outside
and uh, you.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Know, maybe if you know her story.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
The movie's going to be coming out on Christmas Day,
and it's remarkable because also there's that part of the
story of what happened to her when her leg the
car ran over her leg as she was tending flowers
in her front yard.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Well, it's an exciting.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Story of how her faith and got her through that,
her love for her husband. And on Christmas Day, that
movie is going to be coming out. I called Claire
when they had the opening at the Oriental Theater and
congratulated her.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
You know what she said, She said, I want you
to know at.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
The time in my life when it was really rough,
Fox River, they were the first ones they were the
only ones that reached out to me, and I love
the church so much. She just can't be here regularly,
but she's with us online and where trying to make
an arrangement after the movie comes.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
To have her here and she can share her story.
God did not fix the leg, but fixed.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
A spirit of someone who was able to move on.
What an inspirational life.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Well, you might ask, well, well, how do you God's peace?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Then?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
This Christmas?
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I have some practical suggestions for you to consider, okay,
to allow that peace to come in. First of all,
it really deals with some disciplined living. The first would
be I would say, pause.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Daily and just be still. Just each day.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Maybe it's just five minutes of silence, either in the
morning or before you go to the bed, or in
the afternoon, just five minutes of silence with God to.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Reset your spirit. Say Lord, here I am.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
I want to pause daily, and in the stillness, I'm
going to realize that life is not just about me
being on the treadmill all the time. But I want
to again think of your word where it says, come
to me, all who a heavy burden, and I will
give you rest. Seek that kind of rest, and then
Another attribute of that discipline, as you pause daily to
(10:59):
be still, is to make a trade.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Do a trade off. Trade the worry for worship.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Now, worship isn't necessarily something we do on Sunday morning
when we come into this building. Worship is the time
in which we ascribe value to God, where we give
it to God. We say, Lord, I want to take
this worry in my life and I want to hand
it to you.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I want to give it to you.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I want your peace to give me the stillness that
I need to have to go through whatever I have
to go through. Maybe you'd rather God would fix the mess,
but God is your greatest confidence and assurance in the
midst of the mess. So trade the worry to praise
for God. I trust you Lord in this and what
(11:44):
I'm going through. But then you don't just leave it there.
It's part of what worship is about, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
We gather, we.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Conclude with the bendediction to go out into the world,
to go and be agents.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Of Christ's presence in God's care. Then you go.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
The third thing, you bring peace wherever you go. You
don't wait for it to find you. You bring it
to others, and you might become someone else's calmness as
they pray for it. Would you please stand join me
(12:21):
for prayer. God, we thank you that peace isn't something
that we have to chase. You brought it to us
when you brought the Christ. Remind us this week that
(12:44):
peace is possible, not because life is perfect, but because
you are.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
In Jesus' name, we pray ah Man
The song goes, it's the most wonderful time of the year,
but for many of us.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's pretty stressful. Isn't it wonderful time? But it's stressful.
And this year I have a stress.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Issue with the illuminated deers in front of the parsonage.
There's three deers and last year the lights went out
on all three of them.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I was able to repair two, but one is just
stressing me out. Now.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Of course I'm joking about that, but we all have
stories of those things that are challenging during the Christmas season,
during the holidays, where it is stressful.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
All the things to do.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
The two dues list the events to take care of,
and it can be stressful. And I wanted just to
make a point that on the very first Christmas.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
It was no different.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
In fact, if you really put it in context in
an historical setting, it was worse. In fact, when I
think of it, it is a reminder of the context
in which we may find God's peace touching our lives,
because in the story of Advent leading to Christmas, be
(01:28):
find that God's peace.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
It doesn't wait for perfect conditions.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
It doesn't because the conditions are usually never perfect. Mary,
we just read she was nine months pregnant, and she
was nine months pregnant bouncing on a donkey.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And did you know that the journey where she went
on that.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Donkey, it wasn't it's just a local ride around the neighborhood.
It was a journey of seventy miles. Think of that,
the most wonderful time of the year. Okay, seventy miles
going to where you needed to go. Joseph, he's trying
(02:21):
to fight a hotel okay.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And everyone's booked.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
She's laboring, he's panicking, and the GPS.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Says, hey, you've arrived at your destination and it's a barn.
The most wonderful time of the year. Okay, think about that.
That is really not all that peaceful, is it?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Is that really the most wonderful time of the year.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
When you think about it. It's easy for.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Situations like that to be the season of panic attack
waiting to happen. But we need to underscore it is
exactly in times like that, in the midst of our
times like that, that is the place where Jesus was
born imperfect conditions. God's peace is not about having some
(03:30):
kind of calm surroundings. It's about his presence, and I
would underscore his presence in the chaos. And you may
wonder about your chaos, is that you go through trying
to get them cleaned up so the calm can come
and then peace will come.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
But underscore that in the midst of the chaos, Jesus
was born.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And so if you're waiting for a life to all
of a sudden calm down before you'll feel peace, well
you're gonna be waiting forever. Realistically, it's just not gonna
happen that way. Peace does it come from control. It
comes from handing it over to God saying Lord, I
(04:22):
don't understand this, I haven't gone got it all figured
it out, but I know that in the midst of
my chaos, in the midst of what I have, then
it may become the most wonderful time of the year.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
For peace is not the absence of trouble at all.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It is the presence of Jesus being born, being alive,
being the center part of our lives. And so I
think when the angels when they sing glory to God
in the Highest and on Earth peace, they were not saying.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
That the world would suddenly get calm.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
No, they were saying, well, peace has arrived, and the
peace has arrived in a person in the Christ.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
For peace, it's not really a feeling. It's not a vacation.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It's not if you still have kids around the house,
it's not that remember that that kind of five minutes
of quiet time before the kids wake up, or you're
just going to have your coffee and talk together, and
then the kids wake up, and that's a chaos. Peace
is Jesus the one who can calm the storm inside,
(05:47):
even if the storm outside.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Is still raging.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Pretty cold outside, isn't it. It took some effort to
be in church this morning. It's rough out there, But
isn't there a warmth here?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Is that?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Theres something about the dynamic of God's presence in our lives.
And all that is to make the point in the
message that peace is not necessarily received. I mean it
is received, it's not achieved. We just have to embrace
it and take it for what it is, for what
(06:28):
Christ's meant it to be. You don't earn it, You
can't manufacture it. If you could manufacture and bottle what.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
You go, but that can't happen. You don't get peace.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
By pretending either that everything is fine, because seldom is
everything fine.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
You get peace when you invite Jesus into the middle
of the mess.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Elsewhere in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus had this instruction, and really
it was a promise for Jesus said, now come to me,
all of you who are weary and burden. And I
think it's important to underscore his words here, and I
will give you rest. Promise of Jesus, come to me
(07:25):
and I will give you rest. Now, I noticed this week,
as I'm grappling with the texts around Advent and of
the coming of Christ, that highlighted me that there I
will give you rest.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Notice it doesn't say Jesus doesn't.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Say come to me and I'm going to fix your problem.
We should not think of Jesus as some kind of handyman,
mister fix it. There's something different there. Things can have
in our lives that hurt. You may get a diagnosis
(08:04):
that will not be healed, that will not be fixed.
You may have to go through a situation that you're
just going to have to go through some hard times
and don't say, well, God fixes take care of it. No,
there's something about that we have when the presence of
God can come into our lives and we can realize
I have reason to move forward and move beyond.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I don't know about you, but I was. I was
was thrilled. A number of weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
We uh it was a big buzz in our community
about a song sung blue story of thunder and lightning.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Some of you may not know Claire.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Uh, Sedina is a part of this church. Claire came
here shortly after COVID. She has a name badge outside
and uh, you.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Know, maybe if you know her story.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
The movie's going to be coming out on Christmas Day,
and it's remarkable because also there's that part of the
story of what happened to her when her leg the
car ran over her leg as she was tending flowers
in her front yard.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Well, it's an exciting.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Story of how her faith and got her through that,
her love for her husband. And on Christmas Day, that
movie is going to be coming out. I called Claire
when they had the opening at the Oriental Theater and
congratulated her.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
You know what she said, She said, I want you
to know at.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
The time in my life when it was really rough,
Fox River, they were the first ones they were the
only ones that reached out to me, and I love
the church so much. She just can't be here regularly,
but she's with us online and where trying to make
an arrangement after the movie comes.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
To have her here and she can share her story.
God did not fix the leg, but fixed.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
A spirit of someone who was able to move on.
What an inspirational life.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Well, you might ask, well, well, how do you God's peace?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Then?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
This Christmas?
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I have some practical suggestions for you to consider, okay,
to allow that peace to come in. First of all,
it really deals with some disciplined living. The first would
be I would say, pause.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Daily and just be still. Just each day.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Maybe it's just five minutes of silence, either in the
morning or before you go to the bed, or in
the afternoon, just five minutes of silence with God to.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Reset your spirit. Say Lord, here I am.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
I want to pause daily, and in the stillness, I'm
going to realize that life is not just about me
being on the treadmill all the time. But I want
to again think of your word where it says, come
to me, all who a heavy burden, and I will
give you rest. Seek that kind of rest, and then
Another attribute of that discipline, as you pause daily to
(10:59):
be still, is to make a trade.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Do a trade off. Trade the worry for worship.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Now, worship isn't necessarily something we do on Sunday morning
when we come into this building. Worship is the time
in which we ascribe value to God, where we give
it to God. We say, Lord, I want to take
this worry in my life and I want to hand
it to you.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I want to give it to you.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I want your peace to give me the stillness that
I need to have to go through whatever I have
to go through. Maybe you'd rather God would fix the mess,
but God is your greatest confidence and assurance in the
midst of the mess. So trade the worry to praise
for God. I trust you Lord in this and what
(11:44):
I'm going through. But then you don't just leave it there.
It's part of what worship is about, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
We gather, we.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Conclude with the bendediction to go out into the world,
to go and be agents.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Of Christ's presence in God's care. Then you go.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
The third thing, you bring peace wherever you go. You
don't wait for it to find you. You bring it
to others, and you might become someone else's calmness as
they pray for it. Would you please stand join me
(12:21):
for prayer. God, we thank you that peace isn't something
that we have to chase. You brought it to us
when you brought the Christ. Remind us this week that
(12:44):
peace is possible, not because life is perfect, but because
you are.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
In Jesus' name, we pray ah Man
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