Sunday, December 14, 2025
Sermon: “The Advent of Peace: Valuing the Precious Gift of Sacred Relationships”
Steve Davis delivers the message “The Advent of Peace: Valuing the Precious Gift of Sacred Relationships” with music from Neil Dimaggio and the Music Team.
SCRIPTURE
Romans 8:22
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth .... 23 Not only so, but we ourselves…groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship…
Luke 2:6-7
…the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:8–9
8 [The angel said] to the shepherds… 9 “…a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord… You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:13-14
13 The Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt.
Revelation 12:1-17
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman… 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads…The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”
And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God,…9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah…
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child…15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
Ephesian 2
“13 … now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near …14 For he himself is our peace.”
Leader: This is the word of our Lord.
All: Praise be to God!