Paul writes in Romans 12:9 and 18: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. . . . If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

One thing I think we all can agree on is that we live in a competitive society.

Knowingly or unknowingly, out of the dualism we’ve been taught and embrace, we’ve set up systems that celebrate winners and losers, and make no mistake, I will be found on the winning side. It’s to this reality the peace of Christ speaks this Advent/Christmas season. The words of Paul refocus our competitive nature, offering a path of “Oneing” through Christ: “outdo one another in showing honor; let love be genuine.” Howard Thurman writes:

"I will make of my talents, whatever they are, a High Priest of Truth. This I do when I use them to enrich life, to render life more human, to make life more gracious and personal than it was otherwise. ... I will make of my remembering a High Priest of Truth. I purpose in my heart that I shall not use my memory to store up those things which fester, poison and destroy my living, my life, or the living and the life of others. ... I will make myself a High Priest of Truth. I will recognize the supremacy of the Ideal of Godlikeness to which more and more, by God’s help, I will give myself. ... I will make of my life a High Priest of Truth.”

Come home this Christmas to Peace; receive God’s peace, and be a presence of God’s peace in the world around you! “Let love be genuine ... outdo one another in showing honor.” Strive to make life a High Priest of this Truth. I look forward to seeing you in church!

Advent Blessings,

Pastor Doug

Join us this Sunday for the 9am praise and 11am traditional services when we continue the series, A Charlie Brown Christmas, with the message, Longing for Peace, drawn from Matthew 3:1-12.