The Christmas season can be anything but peaceful, but you can find it, and we’ll tell you how.

Steve Brown:
The Christmas season can be anything but peaceful, but you can find it. And we’ll tell you how, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you’ve suffered too long under a do more, try harder religion, Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free. Steve invited Matt Heard to teach us all this week. Matt is a speaker, teacher, writer, pastor, coach, and the author of life with a capital L.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matt. Hey Matthew.

Matt Heard:
Hey Steve.

Steve Brown:
No, the other one is Matthew. You’re Matt. It’s hard to keep this straight.

Matt Heard:
It really is.

Steve Brown:
Especially as you get older. Get these things confused like that.

Matt Heard:
I understand.

Steve Brown:
If you’re just joining us. We’re during the Advent season, spending Mondays, and I asked Dr. Heard to come in and teach us on Advent themes on Mondays during the Advent season. And we’ve had an absolutely wonderful time looking at a text in Isaiah 9. Let me read it to you. By the way, give us your website again, just so people, if people, I can’t imagine somebody not knowing you, but If they don’t, what’s the website?

Matt Heard:
ThriveFullyAlive.com

Steve Brown:
ThriveFullyAlive.com check that out, that is an incredible website, and you’ll be glad you did. This is the passage.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of great darkness, a light has dawned. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Matt, you’ve been teaching on those names, and it’s been so good.

Matt Heard:
You know, it’s just a great kind of framework to accompany us as we’re navigating through all of the tinsel and the Christmas cookies and the Christmas carols. And I know you’re such a sentimental guy and you love all of that. And we’ve joked because oftentimes Christmas can be a little pretend and everybody, but the beauty of the true Advent. And if you’re new to this Christian stuff and, or at least the word Advent. Advent just means coming. And there are two Advents that Christianity celebrates, the first Advent of Jesus when he came, and that’s what we’re celebrating during Christmas. And the second Advent is his return and we’re in that in between time and It’s a good place to be in that we have a way to navigate the darkness. Now, the downside is it’s still dark, but Isaiah says the people walking in darkness, and just think through, don’t just put the Bible reading filter on and just fly through, that people walking in darkness, the people navigating darkness, the people that are going through the pain of darkness or the confusion of darkness, relationally, financially, maybe some medical news. A lot of times people say, if you’re going to celebrate Christmas, you don’t want to, don’t go, don’t embrace your darkness.

Steve Brown:
You don’t even think about that.

Matt Heard:
And actually to truly celebrate is to think about that, while also being honest about the reality that that light has come, that light has a name. And so, we’re looking, this is our fourth week of Advent. We’ve got Christmas Eve coming tomorrow. And by the way, yes, that is an indication, a little reminder for you to get those Christmas presents for people. But in a sense, we’re looking at the gifts that God has given us in his Son. And he’s a son who has been given to us. Yes, he’s a child that was born, but he’s a son who’s been given and his name’s Wonderful Counselor. So, we’re taking the four Advent themes, if you’re from a liturgical background of hope and joy and love and peace and companioning those with these four names of Jesus that Isaiah gives us. So, we’re navigating the darkness. We need hope, that first word. Well, he’s our Wonderful Conselor. And He comes along and He cares for us, He empathizes, but He gives us direction. And more than anything, He gives us realistic, substantive hope. And then there’s the, He’s the Mighty God. Yes, the joy of the Lord is our strength, but the strength of the Lord is our joy. Is he enough? Is he enough for whatever you’re dealing with? And you know, that’s the good news of the gospel. We can say he is enough. So, embrace that, open that present maybe today. And then that third advent theme of love. And last Monday we looked at the fact that he’s not just a, He’s not just the Mighty God. He’s not just the Wonderful Counselor. He’s our Everlasting Father. And Jesus used the word Abba. And so often we just, we don’t go to that place where we know he’s got his chair, his red chair, as we talked about last week, turned towards us before we are even born, much less before we even sing a note, but God’s for us, he’s not against us because of what Jesus has done. And what reminds me of that is this nail that I carry in my pocket. And I hope you’ve maybe got one somewhere. And if you did, I hope you didn’t get a really sharp one cause it’ll ruin all of your pants. But it’s just this little nail that’s a couple of inches long that reminds me that Christmas is not just a sentimental holiday. It is the great celebration of the Advent of hope and the Advent of joy and the Advent of love that we found an Everlasting Father. And so, today we come to the fourth name of the one that you’re spending Christmas with this year. And it’s that name Prince of Peace.

Steve Brown:
Oh, man.

Matt Heard:
And I mean, there is, it’s something, it’s a powerful thing, the turmoil that so often we have going on. I mean, Steve, you mentioned, Christmas can be pretty hectic, can be anything but peaceful.

Steve Brown:
Do you know, my favorite service is Christmas Eve, but I, all the stuff that happens before that, and most pastors would understand what I’m talking about. There’s so much pain, there are, if people are depressed, they’re more depressed at Christmas. There is the loss of a loved one, the footfalls that you can’t hear, who’s going to wind the clocks. There is, it goes on and on, and I just hate it. But Christmas Eve, it’s all done and I sit there and what you’re talking about becomes a reality in my life.

Matt Heard:
I love that. And it’s a gift that we unwrap. It’s not something that we, we have to be intentional. I mean, the gift can sit there and

Steve Brown:
you never open it

Matt Heard:
never open, but it’s so often we think, all right, this whole hope and joy and love and peace. I’ve got to come up with it on my own. And the reality is we can’t come up with any of those on our own. It’s interesting, you see all of the Christmas cards. I mean, how many Christmas cards would have the word hope on it or love on it or peace on it and joy. They’re all over the place. But they’re incomplete because they’re not acknowledging the cost.

Steve Brown:
They don’t have a nail.

Matt Heard:
Yeah. They don’t have a nail. And it’s, there’s, you’ve got to be careful to include that, that nail in those Christmas cards. You remember the story of the 90 year old grandmother who was this elaborate gift giver. And at Christmas time, she would give everybody, very thoughtful about the gifts and everybody. She was paying attention in July to something somebody mentioned. And then this one year, she was just, she was just worn out, tired. She’s dealing with some health issues and she couldn’t do it. And it was, you know, they had, she has 30, 35 family members, kids, grandkids. And she said, I just can’t do it. And so, she decided, okay, this year I’m just going to give them money and I’m going to write them a check. And so, she wrote checks out to everybody and the card she gave was a meaningful card. And then at the end, she just said, Buy your own present this year. And she signed it. And low and behold, in January, she discovers on her desk, all of the checks, she had not included the checks in these cards. So, everybody got a Christmas card from grandma. And she says, buy your own present this year. And you’ve got to make sure that the Christmas card is complete. And our Christmas cards, when I wish you peace, Steve, when I wish you joy and hope. When I wish you love, I’m not doing it in a sentimental way. I’m including this nail that says, you know what? The Prince of Peace, we can have the Shalom of God because of what Jesus has done. Well, you’ve got to have peace with God before you have the peace of God. But once we do, and when Jesus says in John 16, we mentioned it a couple of weeks ago.

In this world you will have trouble.

And remember you got a Greek lesson that day and the Greek is in this world you will have trouble. We can’t avoid it. The gospel is not a get out of jail free offer. We need to acknowledge the darkness and in the darkness though, he says, take heart. Because I’ve overcome the world, in me, you will have Shalom. And Shalom is not the absence of stress and conflict and difficulties, but it’s an inner presence that his grip on me is immovable. And he says, I’ve got this.

Steve Brown:
Oh man. Oh, Matt, this has been such good things to think about.

Matt Heard:
It’s been a delight. Isn’t it?

Steve Brown:
Will you stay around with me for the Christmas Eve tomorrow?

Matt Heard:
Let’s do it tomorrow. Yeah, let’s do it. That’d be great.

Steve Brown:
I mean, when you think about it, this is not a very peaceful time, unless you know the Prince of Peace.

My peace I give unto you,

he said

not as the world gives unto you. Mine’s different.

You think about that.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve Brown and Matt Heard. This is the fourth and final Monday installment of our exploration of Advent, and I hope it has helped you prepare your heart for the season. But hey, guess what? As a little extra bonus, Matt will be back tomorrow for our special Christmas Eve edition of Key Life. Hope you’ll join us for that. Have you ever wondered what God was like? Well, God told us about himself, and Christmas is a big part of that story. Steve gave a classic sermon called Grace: The Heart of the Incarnation and it speaks to this subject. What is God like? What does it mean to live by God’s grace? We put that sermon on a CD and we would love to send it to you for free. Claim your copy right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. If you’d like to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of the CD called Grace: The Heart of the Incarnation. And finally, will you help share Key Life with others through your financial support? Giving is easy. Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can now give safely and securely through text. Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Just text that to 28950. And if you can’t give right now, all good, but please do pray for us, would you? Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.