Week Four

We can all agree that we need a bit more peace in this world. This week we will reflect on the peace that we have in Jesus. How he brought us peace and how he gives us peace in the midst of a broken, chaotic world. Let the peace of God renew your spirit this season as you spend time in this week’s readings and activities.

Every Good Gift Prayer Box

As a family or in your own quiet time, grab 2 small pieces of paper and write down a sentence or phrase that answers the following:

How have you experienced the peace of God in your life this year?  Name a specific time, event or circumstance when God gave you peace.  Write it down and celebrate it.

In what areas of your life are you asking God to give you peace?  Write it down and pray for His peace.

Place those pieces of paper in the box to be opened on Christmas day.

Peace

Luke 2:1-20

In today’s reading we read of Jesus’ birth. The savior of the world is not born into wealth or property. Instead, we find him in a manger that has been used as a crib, which is intended to feed animals. The angel of the Lord that promised his coming to Mary is back. This time he is visiting some shepherds to tell them about the miraculous things that have occurred. It’s noteworthy that God sent word to shepherds. The labors and often poor men who could barely scrape together enough to care for their families. Caring for livestock in a field is hardly glamorous work and when I imagine this scene they are exhausted from a hard day, and they are just laying down to sleep when an angel shows up! This good news from God is not only for the rich and powerful but it is for the lowly and those of humble station.

The angel’s words are echoes of Isaiah 9 where God promises that there will be a child born to Israel, of the line of David, who will bring peace. The titles “Savior” and “Christ the Lord” show the importance of this child and grounds his identity in Israel’s hope for a deliverer. This is the promised Messiah that God’s people have been waiting and longing for centuries to come and it is good news.

The next thing we know a whole choir of angels arrive on the scene declaring God’s glory and peace for his people. This peace is not the absence of a baby crying or the rustle of the animals near. It also does not mean that there is not chaos in our lives.  It is a deeper peace than all that. In Isaiah there are images of an all-encompassing peace that drives people to beat their weapons into farming tools and brings predator and prey together as companions. It’s hard to imagine this kind of peace. There will be no need for a military or a police force or even locks on doors, not because these things are bad but because their work has been completed by God our father who sent his son to defeat death on a cross. This is peace that has come in the form of an infant in a manger that is coming again for his people to bring about the new Heaven and the new Earth. Praise God for the advent of His son as an infant and for the advent of His son that is still to come!

Family Activity

Because of Jesus, we can have peace!  Pick a night this week to slow down and spend some time celebrating that peace. Stay home, invite a friend or neighbor and turn off all the tech as you create some memories by building a gingerbread house together.

While you build, talk about all the ways God has given you peace this year.  Challenge your family to describe a time that God gave them peace during a difficult or scary time.

When you’ve finished building your gingerbread masterpiece, share it with us by doing one of the following:

Tagging @northeastbible on social media

Commenting on our Facebook post with your photo

Create a post on social using #nebcgingerbread2021

Email your picture to nextgen@nebc.ch

Daily Reading