December 7, 2025 – Advent 2025 – The Gift of Peace

The Gift of Peace

Psalm 34:11-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Whoever of you loves life
    and desires to see many good days,
¹³ keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from telling lies.
¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;
¹⁶ but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to blot out their name from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

What is the Psalmist going to teach (verse 11)?

What should the one who “loves life and desires to see many good days” keep their tongue from (verses 12 and 13)?

What should they seek and pursue (verse 14)?

Who are the “eyes of the Lord” on (verse 15)?

Who is the “face of the Lord” against (verse 16)?

What cry does the Lord hear (verse 17)?

How does the Lord respond to those who are “crushed in spirit” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

Luke 2:13-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Who appeared with the angel (verse 13)?

What were those on earth whom God’s favor rested on to receive (verse 14)?

When did the shepherds say “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing” (verse 15)?

Who did they find (verse 16)?

What did they do after they had “seen him” (verse 17)?

Who was “amazed at what the shepherds said” (verse 18)?

How did Mary respond to everything (verse 19)?

Who glorified and praised God “for all the things they had heard and seen” (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

In your opinion, what does Luke 2:13-20 reveal about who will find the peace that Psalm 34:11-18 instructs us to seek?

Romans 5:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What do we have “since we have been justified through faith” (verse 1)?

What does faith in Jesus Christ gain us access to (verse 2)?

How do we respond to our sufferings (verse 3)?

What produces character (verse 4)?

Why does hope not “put us to shame” (verse 5)?

What did Christ do “when we were still powerless” (verse 6)?

What will anyone rarely do “for a righteous person” (verse 7)?

How did God demonstrate “his own love for us” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

In your opinion, how does your understanding of the statement in Psalm 34:11-18 that “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” change after reading Romans 5:1-8?

In your opinion, how does Romans 5:1-8 help us understand how God brought the peace that the angels sang about in Luke 2:13-20 to “those on whom his favor rests”?

Colossians 3:12-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

How should God’s holy and dearly loved people clothe themselves (verse 12)?

What should we do if we have “a grievance against someone” (verse 13)?

How should we forgive (verse 14)?

What should we let rule in our hearts (verse 15)?

How should “the message of Christ” dwell among us (verse 16)?

How should we do whatever we do (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

In your opinion, how is the command to “seek peace and pursue it” in Psalms 34:11-18 expanded by Colossians 3:12-17?

In your opinion, how is the gift of peace to those on whom God’s favor rest in Luke 2:13-20 transformed in Colossians 3:12-17?

In your opinion, how does Romans 5:1-8 help us understand how to follow the instruction in Colossians 3:12-17 to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Psalms, Luke, Romans and Colossians teach us about what is distinctive about Godly peace in comparison with how the world might define peace?

In your opinion, how do we who have received the gift of peace because of God’s favor share it with the people around us?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)