Well, good morning on this second Sunday of the Advent season. For Christians, the true nature of Advent is actually and should actually be quite somber and reflective. This has perhaps been the busiest time of your entire year these last couple weeks, and the church actually invites us to fight and push against that, and for this to actually be a quiet and a somber and a reflective time. Traditionally, the season is marked by practices that emphasize quiet waiting, spiritual preparation, and a posture of patient participation. And then Christmas Day comes, and we have 12 days of Christmas and feasting and parties. The word Advent, as we learned last week, and you probably already know, comes from the Latin, and it just means coming. Advent just means coming. So for the church, it carries this dual significance for us. During the season of Advent, we anticipate both the Incarnation, Christ's first coming, but we also anticipate His promised return, for which we wait today. The church calendar itself mirrors the entire story of redemption, from creation itself to the second coming still to come. The season of Advent represents thousands of years of God's work among His people. So we have this brief four-week span that we call Advent that actually holds the weight of the entire Old Testament. And it invites us to reflect on the countless centuries that humanity waited for this Messiah. Advent calls us to remember that sense of longing that the people had. and to consider this question for ourselves. Are we ready for Christ's return? Do we today live as people prepared for the fullness of the kingdom of heaven? It is undeniably challenging to step away from what can become chaos of the Christmas season. There is a cultural mania that surrounds it. Yet the church gives us this sacred pattern that invites us to withdraw from that frenzy and enter into a type of holy wilderness. I was reading some reflections on Advent this week by an author. Her name is Danielle Hitchens, and she had a very, I thought, poignant note here. She was writing about how wilderness seasons have always played a significant role in the story of God's people. And you know this, and they have. The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert before they would enter the promised land. God remained silent for 400 years before Christ's birth. Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days before beginning his ministry. These seasons of waiting, these seasons of wondering are often, or maybe always, uncomfortable. But they serve a purpose. God uses them to do subtle but significant work. This is where God does that deep surgery on our hearts, cultivating discipline, patience, faithfulness. And these are qualities that prepare us for what he has planned for us. So Advent offers us a chance to step into this kind of wilderness intentionally. It invites us to embrace waiting as a spiritual practice. It allows God to shape us for what lies ahead. So I think if we lean into the quiet, If we lean into that reflection of this season, Advent can become a time of profound fruitfulness, preparing us not only to celebrate Christ's birth, which we will, but to live with readiness for His return. Listen to these words from Isaiah. In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. O key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, who opens and no one shuts, who shuts and no one opens, come and bring forth the captive from his prison, he who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together. and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's din. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse who shall stand as a signal for the peoples, of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. Well, let's pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Hasten, O Father, the coming of your kingdom, and grant that we, your servants, who now live by faith, may with joy behold your Son at his coming in glorious majesty, even Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advocate. Amen. Well, of the many things we remember at Advent season, always we remember the life of Christ. As Christians, we remember the birth of Jesus. We remember the visit of the wise men, the flight into Egypt, and we remember the boy Jesus in the temple. We remember the baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus, We remember the first miracle and the cleansing of the temple, the teachings and the healings. We remember the 12 chosen and we remember the Sermon on the Mount and the parables. We remember that the winds in the sea obeyed Him, that He fed the 5,000 and He walked on the sea. We remember the transfiguration and we remember Lazarus raised from the dead. Then we remember the Pharisees' plot to put Jesus to death. We fondly remember Christ and the children. We remember the public entry, the last Passover, the Lord's Supper, and we remember that last hour with the disciples, this farewell discourse in John chapter 14. I think more often than we realize, the Bible seeks to awaken and captivate our imaginations rather than simply just fill our minds with information. So it is to this last hour with the disciples that I would invite your imagination this second week of Advent to that upper room with Jesus and his disciples. As the Passover feast approaches, that room is heavy with a sacred stillness. Jesus, who was fully aware that his hour has come to leave this world and return to the Father, begins to express his love in a way that lingers beyond his words. If you can imagine the scene, the flickering lamplight that would cast shadows as Jesus rises from the table. He would set aside his outer garment and he takes a towel and he kneels with a basin of water. There the hands that shaped the universe now tenderly washed the dusty feet of his disciples. The water splashes softly as he moves from one to the next, a portrait of humility that leaves them breathless and should do the same for us. Remember Peter protesting, absolutely bewildered, but Jesus gently explains that this act is more than cleansing. It's a symbol of the spiritual washing they all must accept. If you remember, then Peter says, give it all to me, pour it on my whole body. The room is filled with awe and unease as Jesus resumes his place explaining that his actions are an example of the servant-hearted love that they must now extend to one another. Amid the quiet hum of that evening, Jesus would then speak of betrayal. See the disciples exchanging anxious glances as Jesus identifies Judas with the simple act of giving a morsel of bread. The tension rises as Judas slips into the night, his departure marked by that ominous phrase in John's gospel, and it was night. Yet, Jesus doesn't linger on the darkness. Instead, He turns to the remaining disciples, His words glowing with purpose and hope. He would speak of His glorification, urging them to love one another as He has loved them. A love that will define them as His own. The conversation shifts as Jesus comforts their troubled hearts. painting a picture of his father's house with many rooms, a place he is preparing for them. His voice is steady as he declares, I am the way and the truth and the life. Thomas' doubts, Philip's questions, all are met with reassurance as Jesus reveals the unity between himself and the Father. He promises a future filled with greater works through his followers. The assurance of answered prayer and the coming of a helper, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will dwell with them, teaching and reminding them of all that Jesus has spoken. And as he speaks, the air thickens with both sorrow and hope. Jesus promises that they will not be left as orphans, for he will manifest himself to them in ways the world cannot see. His words echo with this intimacy. He says, because I live, you also will live. So this is no final farewell, but this is an unveiling of a deeper reality, the abiding presence of Jesus through the Spirit, and the invitation into a divine relationship with the Father. The room seems to vibrate with the tension of the moment. Here, the servant king kneels, touches, teaches, and promises, weaving together threads of love, humility, betrayal, and eternal hope. It's a night that is charged with the weight of glory and the ache of departure. And it's a night that will forever shape the hearts of those gathered around Him. And it is at this point in the night that we come to our text for this morning, John 14, verse 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." Well, by sending the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, Christ leaves His disciples a heavenly peace that fortifies them against fear, because He has overcome the world. The Holy Spirit applies Christ's Word to provide this peace, making it real and effective in the hearts of His followers. Of course, we know, though, that being a Christian does not shield us from the storms and trials of life. In fact, Christ Himself may be the one who leads us into difficult places, as He was now guiding His disciples toward the garden where He would be arrested. Yet, it is the inner peace of God given through Christ that empowers believers to persevere fearlessly, even in the face of persecution and hardship. And this peace is not something the disciples were to create themselves or to achieve on their own. Rather, it was Jesus's parting gift to them. Unlike material inheritances like money, influence, or safety, Jesus left his followers something infinitely more valuable, an inner peace that comes from knowing their sins are forgiven and they are reconciled to God the Father himself. Matthew Henry puts it beautifully. He writes, When Christ was about to leave the world, He made His will. His soul He bequeathed to His Father, His body to Joseph to be buried, His clothes to the soldiers, His mother to the care of John. But what should He leave to His disciples, who had left all for Him? Silver and gold He had none, but He left them what was infinitely better, His peace. The peace that Jesus gives can be understood in two ways. First, he gives peace with God. Peace with God. This is the reconciliation that Paul describes as a result of being justified by faith. Jesus' sacrifice ended the enmity between God and humanity, paying in full the price for peace in the courts of divine justice. So the first is peace with God. Second, he gives the peace of God. This is that peace that flows from the presence of the Holy Spirit and sustains us through prayer and faith. This peace allows believers to remain untroubled in life's storms, just as the disciples were to be comforted in the days to come. Jesus promised peace, but again, did not shield his disciples from life's threats. His peace is not like the world's peace, which is often insincere, fleeting, and self-serving. If you are at all a fan or a student of world history, particularly thinking about geopolitical and war history from antiquity or the medieval time, you oftentimes will see that two nations made peace or that peace was made. This peace was usually for the purpose of we need to get more soldiers so that we can keep fighting. or this was the type of peace that our western border is more of a threat right now than you are, so let's make peace over here so we can put all our focus fighting here, and in maybe a hundred years we'll pick up this war. And when that kind of peace was made, sometimes a later king would come along and try to find ways to break that peace. This is the type of peace that the world gives. The world's peace creates a fragile truce at best. While Christ's peace actually transforms the heart and endures through every trial, unlike the peace of the world which comes at the expense of others, Christ gives peace at his own expense through his blood shed on the cross. The peace Jesus offers is certain, it's eternal, and it's transformational. Paul reminds us that God's gifts, which include his peace, are irrevocable. Christ's peace is not the absence of difficulty, but it's the presence of calm and faithfulness in the midst of it. His peace simply is no less than the very inheritance of the kingdom of God. So if you confess your need for atonement and trust in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, He will grant you this peace with God. Then as you live by faith and seek Him through prayer and His word, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This peace then is not meant to make us comfortable, but it is meant to embolden us. Christ gives us peace so that we can rise and face the world, not so that we may have comfort. And that we may be undaunted by its scorn and its opposition. It's through this peace that others may come to know the greatness of God, believe the gospel of Christ, and receive that same matchless gift. The peace that Christ leaves is his greatest legacy to his followers. It is deeper and more lasting than anything the world offers. Again, as Paul declares in Romans, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But to those without Christ, peace will be elusive. A man's conscience may be lulled for a time, but when awakened by the weight of his sin, his failure, and the reality of judgment, he will realize his desperate need for, if nothing else, rest. And there's no human effort, there's no repentance, there's no prayer, there's no religious activity, there's no self-denial that can provide this peace. It's only the blood of Christ. which was shed for the forgiveness of sins that can satisfy the demands of conscience and bring peace to your soul. Without Christ, there is no peace. But for those in Christ, this is the greatest news I can tell you this morning. The war is over. Though we still sin and feel the conviction of the Spirit, we are no longer enemies of God. Through Christ's work, we are reconciled and his peace is eternal. Yes, the full inheritance of this peace is still to come, but the blessings have already begun. In Christ, we live in the assurance of peace now in the hope of its perfect fulfillment in eternity. Well, let's turn our imagination back to this night in the upper room as Jesus continued. As the room fills with the solemnity of his final teachings, Jesus speaks with a tender assurance of one who knows the hearts of his friends are heavy. Peace I leave with you. He says, not the fleeting peace the world offers, but a divine calm that transcends understanding. As his words ripple through the air, he invites them to cast off their fear and rest in the certainty of his love. The shadows lengthen as he rises and leads them onward, his voice carrying the weight of eternity as he proclaims himself the true vine. The image comes alive, branches clinging to the vine, vibrant and fruitful, nourished by their connection to him. Abide in me, he urges, and his tone is both a command, but also a plea, a call to a love that yields joy and purpose. The intimacy deepens as he calls them his friends. Chosen not for servitude, but for communion. Their lives destined to bear eternal fruit. Yet the warmth of this moment contrasts starkly with the sobering truth that he unveils. The world will hate them as it hated him. The words are sharp, yet they're not without comfort. For He promises this coming of the Helper, the Spirit of Truth. In their future trials, the Spirit will testify of Jesus, guiding them into truth and standing as a divine presence amid their persecution. As the night grows even darker, Jesus prepares them for the anguish ahead, likening their sorrow to a woman in labor. But this pain will give way to joy, a joy no one can take from them when they see Him again. The promise radiates hope like light breaking over a shadowed horizon. His words turn from metaphor to plain speech as He assures them of their direct access to the Father, born from the love that they have shared with Him. And the disciples begin to grasp His meaning, their faith swelling with newfound clarity. But Jesus tempers their confidence with a warning. The hour of scattering is near, and he will be left alone, yet not truly alone, for the Father is with him. His voice carries a resolve that steadies the storm of their emotions, even as the weight of the coming hour presses more and more. This is a night suspended between sorrow and glory where divine peace meets the human heart. And the promise of abiding love stands as an anchor for the storms to come. Jesus speaks as the light of the world itself, illuminating the path for those who will walk in his way. And it's at this time of the night that you may look there in John chapter 16, verse 33, that Jesus says, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world." In God's people, we must understand that rest in Christ comes through suffering and cross-bearing. Rest in Christ comes through suffering and cross-bearing. And the Apostle in Hebrew reminds us all are partakers of this. Believers are not shielded from life storms. They must endure them, yet they are secure in the midst of their tribulation. The rock of ages is their unshakable refuge, and in him they find peace. So the church's life is marked by this beautiful paradox, peace in the midst of tribulation. This peace, a gift from God and Jesus Christ, is a foretaste of his victorious reign. Even as the church battles the powers of this world, it enjoys the peace of God's triumph. Tribulation, far from being a sign of defeat, becomes the hallmark of those who already partake in the peace of God's ultimate victory. And Jesus qualifies his promise of peace in two significant ways. First, he says that we may have peace, he says, in me. Believers have peace only in Christ, the rock in whose cleft we are secure. In him, we experience this peace with God. And again, that is the peace of knowing your sins are forgiven. and also the peace of God, as the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with assurance and hope. This peace is accessed through prayer, as Paul teaches us. If your heart feels restless, it may be because you have not turned to Christ in saving faith. Our hearts were created for him, and Paul reminds us he himself is our peace. And this peace is not just a one-time gift, but it's a continual reality. Believers must consciously depend on Christ. We must stay close to him, as this dependence is essential for joy and fruitfulness in the Christian life. Whatever trials we face as followers of Jesus, we can find peace in the assurance that our final destination is secure. There's been a place prepared for us in the glorious eternity of heaven. And what a profound source of peace this is for every Christian heart in this room. Additionally, we find peace in knowing that God hears our prayers. 1 Peter says, cast all your anxieties on Him. Why? Because He cares for you. This confidence should encourage us to take full advantage of our access to the Father in prayer. laying our burdens before Him and seeking His gift of peace. The peace that Christ gives to His people is not only something He provides. The peace of God is not just something He gives to us. This is the very peace that He Himself enjoys. So He's sharing this peace with those who remain in Him and participate in His life. The world, which does cause tribulation, is His enemy as well as our enemy. But it is a defeated enemy. Through the cross, Jesus secured both His triumph and the world's downfall. His victory, like this peace, He shares with you, His people. So are you living in the peace that Jesus offers? If you are not yet a believer, you have every reason to turn to Him. to seek peace with the Father through the forgiveness of sin, and experience the peace of His Spirit living in you. If you are a believer but you lack peace, ask yourself whether you are living in close communion with the Lord, or are you neglecting the blessings of His Word? Many Christians struggle with peace. Sometimes it's because of sin, other times it's because of our own weakness. Yet all believers are called to turn to Christ, turn from sin, and seek his blessing. Jesus gives his people peace, and we should ensure that we receive it through him, by his word, and in response to our prayers. Well, as you know, this night was not over. In the stillness of the night, Jesus' voice carries a calm, yet urgent assurance. Though his disciples will soon scatter, Though he will be left to stand alone, peace is still theirs to cling to. Take heart, he tells them, his words piercing the gathering dread, I have overcome the world. Then lifting his eyes to heaven, Jesus begins to pray, not for himself alone, but for his disciples and for all who will come to believe in him through their word. And this prayer is intimate, it's transcendent, and it's rich with imagery. He speaks of glory that's shared with the Father before the foundations of the world, of branches abiding in the vine, and His followers being one as He and the Father are one. It's a moment suspended in eternity, and it's a glimpse into the very heart of God, pouring out love and hope over those He is about to leave behind. But the serenity of this prayer gives way to the darkness of betrayal. Across the Kidron Valley in the quiet of a garden where Jesus often sought solace, torches flicker and shadows shift. Judah steps forward accompanied by soldiers and Jesus, fully aware of what awaits, meets them with a calm authority. Whom do you speak or whom do you seek? His simple response when they tell him is simply, I am. And this sends the armed crowd reeling. Yet he submits willingly, protecting his disciples, even in his arrest. Peter's blade flashes, severing in the air, but Jesus halts him, reminding him, and all present of the cup he must drink. The night becomes a cascade of trials. In the court of the high priest, Jesus stands resolute as accusations swirl. even as Peter is outside in the firelight denying him three times. Morning breaks and Jesus is led to Pilate, where the governor wrestles with this enigmatic figure before him. Are you the king of the Jews? Pilate asks, to which Jesus replies with words that hang heavy. My kingdom is not of this world. The crowds demand his crucifixion, their cries echoing through the streets as Pilate washes his hands of the decision. At Golgotha, the scene is both horrifying and sacred. Jesus carries his cross through the city, the weight of it pressing on his already battered body. The place of the skull looms, and there he is crucified. between two criminals. Above him a sign reads, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, written in three languages for all to see. Soldiers gamble for his garments, dividing his earthly possessions as he hangs above them. Yet even there, in the agony of death, Jesus' love shines. He entrusts his mother to his beloved disciple, ensuring that she is cared for. Finally, with a voice that shakes the heavens, he declares, it is finished, bows his head, and surrenders his spirit. But the silence of death does not last. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene approaches the tomb in the gray light of dawn. Her heart, weighted with grief, further shatters when she finds the stone rolled away. She runs to Peter and the other disciples who race to the tomb, finding only those folded linens where his body should be. But it is Mary who first encounters the risen Jesus. Thinking him to be the gardener, And in fact, he is the true gardener. She pleads for the body of her Lord until he speaks her name, Mary. And in that single word, her world transforms. She turns to him, the teacher who has conquered death, and becomes the first to carry the news, I have seen the Lord. The story is woven with vivid contrasts of darkness and delight. There's despair and hope, death and resurrection. It's a journey from betrayal to glory, from anguish to redemption. And it draws all who hear it into the breathtaking reality of a Savior who triumphs over the grave to bring eternal life to your world. And this brings us to our final verse, John 20, verse 19. On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. As the disciples heard Jesus's words, they likely remembered how recently he had said, peace, I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Yet, with all that had happened since then, those words must have felt like they were spoken a lifetime ago. These greetings were strikingly similar to the words Jesus spoke to his disciples in the upper room the night before his crucifixion. At that time, he declared his last will and testament. promising them the full reality of his peace. Now having risen from the dead, he appeared in their midst and said, peace be with you. Then to assure them of the fulfillment of his promise, he showed them his hands and his side as if to say, I did what I said I would do and I have won that peace for you. Finally, he repeats peace to you. So through his sacrificial death, Jesus provides peace with God by securing the forgiveness of sins. The marks of his body proclaim that God's holy and just wrath against our sin have been fully satisfied. On the cross, Jesus bore the punishment that we deserved, enduring the fury of God's justice for our violations of his law. So do you know the peace that flows from these wounds of Christ. If you have not yet looked to Jesus in faith, trusting in his blood to cleanse you from sin, then you have no legitimate hope for peace with God. Do you carry bitterness and refuse forgiveness against those who have wronged you? Your soul consumed from within? Well, you will not know the peace of God Do you place confidence in material thinking, if I just had $10,000 more in savings, then I could really sleep well at night? You will not know the peace of God. Do you see yourself as the most righteous person in any room you walk into, the only one who really gets it? You will not know the peace of God. Are you compromised by dishonesty, leading to guilt and fear of being exposed for your lies? Well, you know you will not know the peace of God. Are you a drunkard? You will not know the peace of God. Does pornography have a place in the secret corners of your life? Has your lust taken you even further to the fullness of sexual immorality? Well, you have invited demons into your house. You will not know the peace of God. Has envy replaced gratitude with discontentment? You will not know the peace of God. Does anger and rage build in your heart, leading to resentment and explosive outbursts? Well, you do not know the peace of God. Do you place your trust in anything other than God? You will not know the peace of God. Does spiritual apathy lead to stagnation of opportunity to grow in faith? Well, you will not know the full peace of God. Without faith in Christ's atonement, there is no access to the peace God gives through His word and prayer. But Jesus, having died for sin, offers His peace to all who will trust in His sacrifice. But to the unbeliever and the prodigal son, peace can be yours as well. This peace, a gift from Jesus, belongs to the new age of God's promises. Because Jesus bears the marks of his decisive victory over evil, he does have the authority to give this peace. As Paul writes, Jesus has made peace by the blood of his cross. Yet this peace is not meant for those disciples alone. Jesus chose and appointed them to carry his peace into the world, sharing it with others so that all may come to know the life-changing power of his salvation. As the evening settles, the disciples huddle behind that locked door. Fear gripped their hearts. Suddenly, Jesus appears among them in his presence, radiant with this peace. Peace be with you, he says, showing them his hands in his side, proof of his victory over death. The room fills with joy as the reality of his resurrection sinks in. Breathing on them, he commissions them with the gift of the Holy Spirit, charging them with the power to forgive sins, a foretaste of their mission to the world. Thomas is absent. And when told of this miraculous encounter, his skepticism is firm. Unless I see, unless I touch, he insists. Well, eight days later, Jesus appears again, inviting Thomas to examine the wounds that secured salvation. Overwhelmed, Thomas declares, my Lord and my God. Jesus blesses not only his faith, but the faith of all who will believe without seeing. underscoring the eternal scope of his resurrection. Later on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, a group of weary disciples returned to their familiar trade of fishing, casting nets into the dark waters with little success. As dawn breaks, a figure stands on the shore, calling out with a simple instruction, cast the net on the right side. The ensuing catch is miraculous and realization dawns. It is the Lord. Peter leaps into the water, rushing to meet him. On the shore, Jesus has prepared a meal over a charcoal fire, a setting laden with memory and restoration, a meal of peace. Jesus has prepared a meal of peace for us this morning as well. But after that breakfast, Jesus turns to Peter with piercing questions of love. Do you love me, he asks, not once but three times, mirroring Peter's earlier denials. With each response, Peter affirms his love, and Jesus entrusts him with a sacred calling. Feed my sheep. These words, tender yet resolute, commission Peter for leadership while also foreshadowing the cost of his faithfulness. The narrative closes with a glimpse of the beloved disciple, the witness to all these events, and a reminder of the infinite acts of Jesus, too numerous for the world to contain. The story leaves us standing on the threshold of faith. It invites us to believe, follow, and live in the abundant life that flows from this risen Lord. And it was for this risen Lord that Peter would go on to be crucified, the disciple James executed by Herod Agrippa, the disciples Thomas and Andrew certainly martyred, to say nothing of the persecution the other disciples faced. Never lacking peace. And God's people today will face life's most awful experiences. the ones you try to never think about happening to you, but the kind that is more common than we are comfortable recognizing. Learning that you have cancer, the death of a child, or the death of a spouse, estrangement from children, infidelity in a marriage, financial catastrophe, sexual violence or deep depression, wars or natural disasters, even persecution for your faith, indeed, your own most certain death. And do not be lulled into a sense of peace that you will not die because you will. But with all these things, the believer has peace with God and the peace of God that is never absent. And remember this, all will be made right. But for the one who does not genuinely have peace with God through his forgiveness of their sins, the peace of God in all of life's valleys will be nowhere to be found. And in fact, The pains of this life will be the high point of your existence. May the Lord of peace himself grant you peace at all times, under all circumstances. The Lord be with you all. Amen.