In a war-torn world, peace sounds pretty nice. But can it be more than just a carol? Is peace something we can actually achieve, or is it an unrealistic aim? The memorable carols of Christmas can calm our anxiety and fill us with nostalgia. But when we pay attention to the Christ-centered message of our Christmas carols, we realize that Jesus has come to be the Prince of Peace, to bring us true hope today and forever.

One of the most significant obstacles to gratitude is worry. If we're ever going to learn to be thankful, we must overcome worry! What does God's WORD have to say about overcoming worry with Gratitude?

The Israelites were wildly blessed by God while wandering through the wilderness – but it was never enough for them. Grumbling misses the blessings God gives. Contentment is the first step in learning to be thankful.

On All Saints’ Day, we celebrate all saints. These include those now in eternity and all who trust in Jesus. In just a few verses, the preacher of Hebrews tells us a lot about saints. He says saints surround us and encourage us to endure. He says faith in Jesus leads to obedience to Jesus. And he reminds us that Jesus is the one who creates and completes our faith!

Why would God do that? Why would He tell us to test Him to see if He keeps His

promise? When God invites us to test Him by giving a tithe and He promises to more than make

up for it, He knows we can measure whether or not He keeps his promise. God’s agenda is

simple. We test and He is faithful. And every time God comes through, our faith gets

stronger.

One of the ways God gives us to grow our faith is through being generous financially. If we learn to trust God with money, we learn to trust God with anything. One of the reasons we struggle to be generous is because we worry about tomorrow. Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, encourages us to not look toward tomorrow and worry but to look toward eternity and store up what matters most.

When we don't know what to pray.

Lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil... We might not like to admit it, but there are forces opposing us in our lives: the devil, our own evil desires, death itself. We don’t want to struggle or suffer. Prayer itself can be a challenging task, finding time and space to be still. But God has made a promise- to prepare a table in the presence of our enemies. Jesus has overcome all evil. Prayer re-centers us not in the distractions, but rather in the One guiding us through His holy Word. We have that light for our feet and a lamp for our path to guide us today and always, no matter the temptations and struggles we face. God has promised to lead us through the worst of it into the eternal light of His presence. His is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen!

Our world can be a dark place. From hopelessness and despair to anger and violence: it can be hard to see our way through. But God has broken through the darkness. God shines the light of Christ into our lives. But God does more: He shines the light through our lives, too. We are the light of the world, shining like stars in the universe as we point others to true life!

Forgive us our debts... We don’t like to be in debt: relationally, financially, spiritually. We don’t want to owe anyone anything. And sometimes when we get behind, we promise to pay back what we will never be able to afford. We are in deep, with no way out... Except, God has provided a way out of debt: His Son, who has paid the debt on our behalf. In this prayer, we ask God to make the forgiveness of Jesus abundantly available to us and through us to other debtors.