{"id":658,"date":"2013-12-19T16:00:50","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T22:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=658"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:15:20","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:15:20","slug":"the-purpose-of-christmas-time-for-reconciliation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2013\/12\/19\/the-purpose-of-christmas-time-for-reconciliation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of Christmas: Time for Reconciliation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Based upon the Book,\u00a0The Purpose of Christmas<\/i>, by Rick Warren
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Audio Link<\/a>
\nVideo Link<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 2:8-14
\nMatthew 22:34-40<\/p>\n

Welcome to our third Wednesday in Advent.\u00a0 It may seem like a very short Advent this year, since we only had three Wednesdays to celebrate and worship.\u00a0 As it so happens, my plans lined up with the number of Wednesdays in this preaching series. Or was it that my plans lined up with God\u2019s plans?\u00a0 God did and does have a plan for you this Christmas.\u00a0 The first week I spoke about Celebration as a purpose of Christmas.\u00a0 Last week it was about Salvation.\u00a0 This week I will be speaking of Reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Just what is reconciliation?\u00a0 It is Peace.\u00a0 Peace between us and God, between us and others and peace within ourselves. \u00a0Reconciliation is the restoration of peace that God had in mind all along for all of humanity.\u00a0 Yea yea, that sounds all good.\u00a0 I want peace but so and so does not!\u00a0 That one country doesn\u2019t want peace with ours.\u00a0 John, Brian, Carole or whoever it is, has hurt me and they don’t want peace.\u00a0 I do but they do not so it isn\u2019t going to happen!\u00a0 None of those thoughts are going to bring about peace, period!\u00a0 Reconciliation does not mean that we have to agree with what someone has or is doing.\u00a0 It does not mean that we must forget what has been done to us that we found hurtful.\u00a0 It does not mean that we must compromise on our beliefs and morals.\u00a0 It also does not mean being a doormat to those that continue to hurt you nor should you stay in abusive relationships or work places.\u00a0 None of these are true to be reconciled.<\/p>\n

What it does mean to be reconciled is to take those situations from your past that have been hurtful and forgive the person or persons who have hurt you.\u00a0 Forgiving is necessary not only for peace for yourself but for the one who hurt your and for others that might come in contact with those doing the hurting.\u00a0 Forgiveness begins with the burring of the hatch so to speak.\u00a0 From there moving forward to build relationships.\u00a0 Not dredging up the past but looking towards the future.\u00a0 Hurt is infectious and reflecting back upon those past hurts will never help you move forward.<\/p>\n

I truly believe that if we can make peace, peace on the personal level, that peace can be infectious its self to groups of people, to cities, states and nations and to the entire world.\u00a0 This peace, from within comes through the removal of sin, which as I spoke about last week is centered in the \u201cI\u201d of relationships, in other words, self-centeredness.\u00a0 How do we move from this self-centeredness?\u00a0 We move from the \u201cI\u201d in our relationships to a \u201cwe\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is that \u201cwe\u201d Jesus spoke about in his ministry.\u00a0 One day Jesus was asked, \u201cwhat is the greatest commandment?\u201d\u00a0 In typical Jesus fashion, Jesus does not answer the question directly when he says, \u201cYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38\u00a0<\/sup><\/b>This is the great and first commandment. 39\u00a0<\/sup><\/b>And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Jesus provides two commandments, that when followed, allows everything to fall in place just as God intended.<\/p>\n

When we no longer put ourselves first but put God and others before ourselves, and we learn how not to be self-centered.\u00a0 When this happens, we no longer feel a need to gossip about others.\u00a0\u00a0 We no longer feel a need to reflect back upon hurtful things.\u00a0 We look to build up others as we would want to be and it is then that we can experience the peace from God.\u00a0 This peace as Paul says, transcends all understanding.\u00a0 It is then, that reconciliation begins.\u00a0 This is what God intended with coming of God\u2019s Son.\u00a0 \u00a0It was the multitude of the heavenly host praising God who said to the shepherds upon Jesus\u2019 birth, 14<\/sup>\u00a0Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men. [2]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


<\/p>\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> The Holy Bible: English Standard Version<\/i> (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 22:37\u201339.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> The Holy Bible: King James Version<\/i>, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Lk 2:14.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Based upon the Book,\u00a0The Purpose of Christmas, by Rick Warren Audio Link Video Link Luke 2:8-14 Matthew 22:34-40 Welcome to our third Wednesday in Advent.\u00a0 It may seem like a very short Advent this year, since we only had three Wednesdays to celebrate and worship.\u00a0 As it so happens, my plans lined up with the … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[49,42,10,51,52,83],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-658","6":"format-standard","7":"category-christmas","8":"category-healing","9":"category-jesus","10":"category-peace","11":"category-reconciliation","12":"category-sermon"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-aC","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3011,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2022\/12\/22\/the-purpose-of-christmas-a-time-for-reconciliation\/","url_meta":{"origin":658,"position":0},"title":"The Purpose of Christmas: A Time for Reconciliation","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Fourth Wednesday of Advent 12-21-2022 Isaiah 59:1-4 (NIV)Romans 7:10-25 (NIV)John 8:31-36 (NIV)","rel":"","context":"In "Advent"","block_context":{"text":"Advent","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/advent\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3333,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2024\/12\/24\/the-purpose-of-christmas-reconciliation-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":658,"position":1},"title":"The Purpose of Christmas: Reconciliation 2024","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"12\/22\/2024Fourth Sunday of Advent Isaiah 53:1-6 (NRSV)2 Corinthians 5:16-19 (NRSV)Matthew 11:25-29 (NRSV)","rel":"","context":"In "Advent"","block_context":{"text":"Advent","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/advent\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3323,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2024\/12\/02\/the-purpose-of-christmas-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":658,"position":2},"title":"The Purpose of Christmas (2024)","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"1st Sunday of Advent 12-1-2024Sermon Series, The Purpose of Christmas (Overview) Isaiah 2:1-5 (NRSV)Matthew 24:36-44 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Advent"","block_context":{"text":"Advent","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/advent\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2327,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2019\/12\/08\/purpose-of-christmas-overview\/","url_meta":{"origin":658,"position":3},"title":"Purpose of Christmas Overview","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"12-1-2019 The Purpose of Christmas Sermon Series based upon the book by Rick Warren Isaiah 2:1\u20135 NIVRomans 13:11\u201314 NIVMatthew 24:36\u201344 NIV https:\/\/youtu.be\/0y1Om6oqaXM","rel":"","context":"In "Advent"","block_context":{"text":"Advent","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/advent\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/0y1Om6oqaXM\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2998,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2022\/12\/10\/the-purpose-of-christmas-overview\/","url_meta":{"origin":658,"position":4},"title":"The Purpose of Christmas: Overview","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"First Wednesday of Advent12\/4\/2022 Luke 2:8-14 NIV \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Advent"","block_context":{"text":"Advent","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/advent\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3007,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2022\/12\/18\/the-purpose-of-christmas-a-time-for-celebration\/","url_meta":{"origin":658,"position":5},"title":"The Purpose of Christmas: A Time for Celebration","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Second Wednesday of Advent Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)Psalm 150:3-6 (NIV)John 4:16-18 (NIV) Preached by Jarrod Iversen \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Advent"","block_context":{"text":"Advent","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/advent\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":665,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions\/665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}