As we enter the Advent season for 2022, we will seek to grow deeper in our understanding of the free gifts available to us through Christ and his coming. Gifts we cannot earn and do not deserve.

Today we focus on the gift of Peace.

-The word for peace in the Old Testament is 'shalom', which literally meant 'completeness or wholeness'.
-The speak 'shalom' over someone was to declare 'may God take the broken pieces of your life and put them together as they should be'.
-Think about what this meant that Isaiah is prophesying a 'Prince of Peace'.

“Glory to God in Heaven” and “peace to those on earth.”
There is no need to proclaim peace to Heaven, since it is already there. But it those of us still living in this broken world desperately need the promise of peace.

According to Jesus, there is a difference between the God's peace and our own version of peace.

Have you experience the gift of God's peace?

The world's version of peace ignores the real problem.
The world's version of peace is fleeting.
The world's version of peace cannot offer you hope and healing.

Verses for further study/reflection:
John 16:33
2 Thessalonians 3:16
Isaiah 26:3
John 14:27
Colossians 3:15
Philippians 4:7