Why Can’t I Feel God’s Peace? | He Will Be Called: Part 4

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Life.Church with Craig Groeschel
Episode: Why Can’t I Feel God’s Peace? | He Will Be Called: Part 4
Date: December 24, 2025
Host/Speaker: Craig Groeschel, Teaching Pastor (Life.Church)
Episode Theme: Exploring why so many people—especially during Christmas—don’t feel the peace that Jesus promises, and how true biblical peace is found and experienced.

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt Christmas message, Craig Groeschel addresses the disconnect many experience between the promise of God’s peace and the stressful, painful, or anxious realities of daily life—especially during the holidays. Drawing from scripture, personal stories, and reflection, Craig unpacks what it truly means that Jesus is our “Prince of Peace” and how we can tangibly experience His peace, regardless of our circumstances.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Christmas as an Emotional Multiplier

• Christmas heightens all emotions:
  • Positive experiences become more joyful, but difficulties can be magnified—stress, grief, anxiety, or loneliness. (00:26–02:32)
• Common Holiday Emotions:
  • Excited anticipation vs. emotional heaviness (stress, depression, loneliness, grief).
  • Even among Christians, few report feeling true peace at Christmas.
  • “No one said peace. It made me step back and remember. Jesus came to bring us peace on earth.” —Craig Groeschel (02:43)

2. The Promise of Peace in Scripture

• Isaiah’s prophecy:
  • Isaiah 9:6 predicts the birth of Jesus as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”—announced 700 years before Christ. (04:15–05:43)
• The waiting and longing for peace:
  • God’s people waited centuries for true, lasting peace.
  • Angels proclaim “peace on earth” at Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:13–14).

3. Three Biblical Truths About Peace

Craig outlines three distinct but related kinds of peace Jesus brings:

a. Peace With God

• What it is:
  • The foundational peace we receive when we are justified by faith in Jesus—not by works, but by accepting His grace.
• Illustration:
  • Craig’s humorous story about traffic court and being declared “innocent” despite guilt illustrates justification. (09:19–12:33)
  • “Even though we are guilty, when you put your faith in Jesus, you're justified and the debt is cleared.” (11:55)
• Key Scripture: Romans 5:1—Justified by faith, we have peace with God.
• Personal reflection:
  • Craig shares his past uncertainty of salvation:

    “So much of my life I was worried I wasn’t good enough.” (12:33)

b. Peace From God

• What it is:
  • A unique, supernatural peace that only God can give—Jesus’ own peace, not as the world gives (John 14:27).
• Key Quote:

  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” —Jesus, cited by Craig (14:01)

• Contrast with worldly peace:
  • Worldly peace is based on circumstances; God’s peace is internal, unshakeable, and present even in chaos. (15:08)

    “His peace is found when Jesus is close.” (15:38)

c. Peace of God

• What it is:
  • An active, guarding peace that transcends understanding—protecting our hearts and minds, even in hardship. (16:00–17:50)
• Key Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7—Presenting requests to God brings the “peace of God... which will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
• Metaphor:
  • Peace as a military guard, actively keeping fear and anxiety at bay.

  “It literally ... doesn’t just comfort you, but it protects you. Whenever fear tries to come along, peace says, you can’t come here.” (17:10)

4. Personal Story: The Peace that Surpasses Understanding

• Craig’s family crisis:
  • His daughter’s newborn suffered a birth emergency and the doctor reported likely brain damage. Craig describes a flood of fear and grief, projecting years of hardship. (18:54–21:09)
• His daughter’s response:
  • Despite devastating news, she repeatedly says, “Jesus loves her and Jesus loves us and it’s gonna be okay,” with childlike faith and peace.
• Miraculous outcome:
  • The baby is unexpectedly healed; doctors stunned. (22:22)
  • More profound for Craig: witnessing his daughter’s unshakable peace in crisis.

    “There were two miracles that day. One was that God healed little baby. The second one was that in the middle of horrific news, a little girl with faith in Jesus had the peace of God.” (22:58)

• Honest admission:
  • Not all prayers are answered so dramatically, and some situations remain unresolved—but God’s peace can still be experienced.

    “Even though there are some things in my life that are not the way I’d want them to be right now, I’m genuinely experiencing the peace of God. And you can, too.” (24:23)

5. How to Pursue and Experience God’s Peace

• Not by grasping, but trusting:

  “You can’t think your way into it. You trust your way into it.” (24:43)

• Three-fold peace:
  • Peace with God (settles your eternity)
  • Peace from God (strengthens you today)
  • Peace of God (guards your heart moment by moment)

6. The Name of Peace: Jesus

• Jesus IS our peace:
  • Regardless of diagnosis, family trouble, prodigal children, financial pressure, or anxiety—His peace is steady and cannot be taken away. (25:58)
• Salvation invitation:
  • To experience ultimate peace, it starts with a relationship with Jesus—believing, surrendering, and receiving His forgiveness. (30:06–32:36)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On unmet expectations of peace:

  “Why does God promise us peace but so many of us don't yet feel it?” (03:23)

• On holiday emotions:

  “Christmas is a multiplier. Whatever emotion you feel, it tends to multiply it.” (00:26)

• On justification and peace with God:

  “Notice that peace with God doesn't come from our religious efforts. It doesn't come from us trying harder... but it comes by being justified through faith in Jesus.” (08:15)

• On supernatural peace:

  “It’s not something that you find or it’s not something that you achieve, but it’s something only God can give.” (14:35)

• On guarding peace:

  “It literally, it doesn’t just comfort you, but it protects you... When anxiety comes in peace says, oh, no, no, no, no.” (17:10)

• On experiencing peace in crisis:

  “She literally believed it... because of her faith, she had the peace of God.” (21:48–22:55)

• On walking with God through both resolution and tension:

  “But he doesn't always do miracles the way that we'd want him to... even though there are some things in my life that are not the way I'd want them to be right now, I’m genuinely experiencing the peace of God.” (23:17–24:23)

• On trusting, not thinking:

  “You can't think your way into it. You trust your way into it.” (24:43)

• On the unlosable nature of Christ’s peace:

  “Jesus didn’t come to give you a peace that you could lose. Jesus came to give you a peace that the world can’t take away.” (25:58)

• On salvation:

  “How are you made right with God? You're justified with God by faith in the perfect work of Jesus.” (31:20)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:26–02:32: Common holiday emotions, survey results, feeling unseen/unloved, grief at Christmas
• 03:14–04:13: Introduction of the day’s main question about God’s promise of peace
• 04:15–05:43: Isaiah’s prophecy of the Prince of Peace
• 06:38–07:08: The gospel—a promise of peace
• 07:08–09:19: What it means to have peace with God; justification by faith
• 09:19–12:33: Illustration: Traffic court story; personal experience of justification
• 13:52–15:08: Peace from God—Jesus’ peace, not as the world gives
• 16:00–17:50: The peace of God; scripture from Philippians 4
• 18:54–22:27: Craig’s family story of crisis and miraculous peace
• 24:43–25:16: How to receive peace—not by thinking, but trusting
• 25:48–26:55: Jesus as the name and source of peace
• 30:06–32:36: Call to salvation; receiving “peace with God” through Christ

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Conclusion

This episode offers a deeply personal and practical exploration of why many struggle to feel God’s peace—even at Christmas—and how real, unshakeable peace is found. Through stories, biblical teaching, and transparent reflection, Craig Groeschel calls listeners to trust not just in the idea of peace, but in the person of Jesus, who gives peace with God, peace from God, and the peace of God, no matter the circumstances.

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Key Takeaway:

“Jesus didn’t come to give you a peace you could lose; He came to give you a peace that the world can't take away.” (25:58)
Peace has a name—Jesus—and it’s available to all who trust in Him.

Transcript

[Life Church Announcer]

Welcome to Life Church. We're so glad you're here. Christmas is coming soon, and you're invited to celebrate at Life Church. Jesus came with a message of peace this Christmas. Come and see what that means for you. You can find service times and get a sneak peek of what you'll experience at Life Church. CelebrateChristmas. Now, here's this week's message.

[Craig Groeschel]

Well, Merry Christmas from my family to all of you. And as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I want to give you a moment just to look within. And I'm going to ask you kind of a reflective question. And start with, have you ever noticed that in this amazing Christmas season that Christmas can be a multiplier? Whatever emotion you feel, it tends to multiply it. If you got positive emotions, it multiplies it.

[Teaching Pastor]

If you got difficult people in your.

[Craig Groeschel]

Life, oh, it's a multiplier.

[Teaching Pastor]

And that's why what I want to do is I want to ask you.

[Craig Groeschel]

To look back over the past month.

[Teaching Pastor]

And think about what emotions did you feel most often? What emotions did you feel most often?

[Craig Groeschel]

Over the last month, I did a.

[Teaching Pastor]

Very scientific study where I walked out.

[Craig Groeschel]

Of my office and interviewed 30 people. Very scientific study.

[Teaching Pastor]

And I asked them, what emotions did you feel most often? It was really interesting what I heard. There were a lot of people that were just like, excited, excited. Some of you are those people. You're so excited. You've been listening to Christmas music since October.

[Craig Groeschel]

There's some excited people.

[Teaching Pastor]

Honestly, there were some people that were kind of stressed and anxious. They were kind of like, going, I got Christmas parties here and you gotta go Christmas shopping, and, you know, money's tight and there's so much to do. I don't know how am I to.

[Craig Groeschel]

Get it all done.

[Teaching Pastor]

I talked to a couple of people that said, permission to be honest? And said, yeah, please be honest. And they said, I actually feel emotionally heavy. And they used words like depressed, a little bit lonely. And so I pressed a little deeper and like, going like, are you not around people? And they said, no, we're actually surrounded by people, and yet sometimes we feel.

[Craig Groeschel]

Unseen or unloved or unnoticed.

[Teaching Pastor]

I talked to a couple of people.

[Craig Groeschel]

And my heart goes out to you all that are feeling grief, that have experienced deep loss.

[Teaching Pastor]

And for some of you, this Christmas will be very different from the last.

[Craig Groeschel]

Maybe because there's not someone there because of a divorce or because of another type of loss.

[Teaching Pastor]

It was interesting. I talked to all these amazing people, almost all of them true followers of Jesus. And I ask about the emotions they felt. No one said peace. No one said peace. It made me step back and remember. Jesus came to bring us peace on earth.

[Craig Groeschel]

And yet when I look around at.

[Teaching Pastor]

Our culture today, there are not a lot of people who would say they.

[Craig Groeschel]

Have a lot of peace and their hearts.

[Teaching Pastor]

And so today, as we celebrate the.

[Craig Groeschel]

Birth of our Savior, I want to.

[Teaching Pastor]

Try to answer a question. Why does God promise us peace but.

[Craig Groeschel]

So many of us don't yet feel it? Would you pray with me today? Heavenly Father, we thank you for the birth of Jesus, a savior born into this world, the Lamb of God to be slain for the forgiveness of sins. We ask God that by the power of your spoken word and the presence of your Holy Spirit, that you would bring the peace on earth that you sent Jesus to give. No matter what someone is feeling, whatever heaviness or burden. God, we ask for your peace that goes beyond our human ability to understand. And we pray this in Jesus name and everyone who agreed at all our life church locations. Would you say amen and amen?

[Teaching Pastor]

Are you ready for the Word today? If you're ready, kind of give me some love. Give me some Christmas love. Shout it out loud. Say I'm ready.

[Craig Groeschel]

Are you ready?

[Teaching Pastor]

I'm ready. We're wrapping up the message series called he will be called in 700 years. It's amazing to think about 700 years before the birth of Christ. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah prophesied, looking straight into a world much like ours, filled with fear and grief and anxiety. And 700 years before the birth of Christ, he prophesied the amazing news. For to us, Isaiah 9, verse 6 says, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Seven centuries before Jesus was born, the prophet declared that God would send a child. Not a soldier, not a politician, not a king on a throne, but a baby born into brokenness, to bring us a peace that brokenness couldn't touch. And fast forward from that prophetic declaration 700 years later, and guess what God's people are doing?

[Craig Groeschel]

They were still waiting.

[Teaching Pastor]

Many afraid, some feeling forgotten, living in a time where there was no real peace and no stability. Until one night in a place called.

[Craig Groeschel]

Bethlehem, when everyone thought God was silent, heaven started singing. Luke, chapter 2, verse 13 tells us this. Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly.

[Teaching Pastor]

Host appeared with the angel, praising God in heaven and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth. What's the next word. Say it with me. All of our churches and on earth, peace to those whom his favor rests. An angel appears and says, there is one who's coming to deliver peace on earth.

[Craig Groeschel]

And Jesus came, the Prince of peace.

[Teaching Pastor]

Which raises the question, how in this world, in this moment, in this crazy time, does Jesus, a guy born 2,000 years ago, actually give us peace on earth? And what I want to do today is I want to show you three scriptural truths that no matter what you are facing today, I pray God would.

[Craig Groeschel]

Use to speak directly to your heart. How does Jesus give us peace today? The first thing I want you to notice, and it's really good news, we.

[Teaching Pastor]

Call it the gospel.

[Craig Groeschel]

It's why Jesus came. And Jesus came to give us peace with God. He came to give us peace with God, which is really important because all.

[Teaching Pastor]

Of us, we want peace, right? We want a peace of mind. We want peace in our crazy homes. We want peace in the world. And yet you can't have peace from God if you don't have peace with God.

[Craig Groeschel]

So important, some of you. If we just sat down and had a conversation and I asked you, like.

[Teaching Pastor]

Where do you stand with God? You might say, like, I'm not sure. I don't know. I mean, I'm. I've tried to be kind of good. I know I've been kind of bad. I don't know where. I really don't have peace with God. This is what the Apostle Paul said in Romans, chapter 5, verse 1. He said, Therefore, since we've been. And he uses a legal term, he says, since we've been justified through faith, we're not justified through religious works. We're not justified by trying really, really hard. We're actually justified through faith. Faith in the perfect work of Jesus. We're justified through faith. Because of that, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is amazing news. We've been justified by faith. And through that faith, we have peace with God. Notice that peace with God doesn't come from our religious efforts. It doesn't come from us trying harder. I don't care how good you are, maybe you played a whole round of golf and didn't say a single naughty word. Even if you can do that, even if you came to church and, like, you were holy all the way there and didn't say, you know, hey, we're gonna come to church and worship God and then yell at your kids, like, don't make me pull this car over, no matter how good you are, peace with God doesn't come from our religious efforts, but it comes by being justified through faith in Jesus. And the word justified in the Greek, it comes from a legal term which means one who is declared righteous, one who's declared right. Not that you are righteous, but you're declared righteous. I'll give you an example. How many of you are old enough to remember having to go to traffic court?

[Craig Groeschel]

Raise your hands. Yeah, God bless you.

[Teaching Pastor]

You can type in the comment section. I remember traffic court. Now you just pay online. Do you know why you used to have to go to traffic court and not pay online? Do you know why?

[Craig Groeschel]

Because there used to not be online.

[Teaching Pastor]

That's why. Well, I got pulled over one time for an expired tag, license tag.

[Craig Groeschel]

I didn't.

[Teaching Pastor]

Didn't renew the little tag. Had to go to traffic court, sit there for, like, two hours with all these people that did really bad crimes, like, drove 95 in a school zone. And I'm sitting there with that expired. And all these people are going up before this judge, and he say, like, what'd you do? And they say, well, I'm innocent. It wasn't my fault, and I didn't really do it. And I go, like, they're all innocent.

[Craig Groeschel]

It's amazing.

[Teaching Pastor]

I'm going, I'm dumb. I just had a stupid tag. So I came up at the end, and the guy's like, going, hey, what's your name? Craig. It was Craig Groeschel. I'm like, no, maybe. Yes, I guess. And he said, what'd you do? And I said, well, I'm an idiot. I forgot to renew my tack. And he said, you're a what? And I said, well, I'm not very smart. I forgot.

[Craig Groeschel]

True.

[Teaching Pastor]

No, no. He goes, that other word. That other word. I said, I'm an idiot. He goes, I think you are an idiot. And I was like, well, thank you. And the guy started looking at me, but he wasn't being. He was actually being playful. He said, like, can you say that louder? And he looked at me kind of like he was saying, like, work with me. So I'm trying to feel this out, you know, like, just pay the ticket, you know, like, okay. I'm like, I'm an idiot. And he said, are you a really bad, bad, dumb idiot? And he's looking at me, and I go, and I'm okay, I'm a bad, bad. I'm a dumb, dumb, bad, bad idiot. And he took his little gavel and he thinks he banged it down. And he said, I need you to get out of here right Now I don't want your guiltiness to rub off on all these other innocent people. You're forgiven. No ticket for the grocery. I'm going out to my car. The funniest thing, like going, yeah, I mean, I was guilty, guilty, guilty. I didn't pay for it. I was completely guilty. And legally he just. Just as if I'd never sinned. He dropped the gavel. And though I deserved to pay the penalty, he declared that I was innocent. And that's what God does when you put your faith in Jesus like liter. I hate to break it to you and tell you you're guilty, but you are. And so am I. The Bible's real clear. This isn't just a feel good Christmas message. We'll get to the feel good baby Jesus part later. But the not feel good stuff is the Bible said you sinned. All of us have, every single one of us. And you know you have because you told a lie or you're cheating or you thought a bad word or you got jealous of somebody and you might have done it even on your way into church. Like now judge somebody. Like who? She looking so holy. I know things about her. We've all sinned, every single one of us. And even though we are guilty, when you put your faith in Jesus, you're justified and the debt is cleared. Because when you put your faith in Jesus, you can have a very real peace with God.

[Craig Groeschel]

And I'll tell you straight up. So much of my life I was worried I wasn't good enough. So much of my life I was worried I wasn't good enough.

[Teaching Pastor]

And I was the guy that went to Christmas Eve services.

[Craig Groeschel]

I loved them, man.

[Teaching Pastor]

I loved the little nativity scene outside and I loved the candlelight thing. And I went to church just like many of you with a very real head knowledge of who Jesus was, but.

[Craig Groeschel]

Had never really put my faith in him. And it was in college when I was hurting, lost in the middle of a bunch of dumb, bad college like sins. You could say I was building my testimony. Well, I was building up and I read about the grace of Jesus and I knelt down all by myself and I called down on him. And in that moment I became what the Bible calls new, that I was forgiven. And it's still amazing to me that I did nothing to earn forgiveness. It's only by the grace. And I want you to feel that. I want you to feel it. Jesus by faith in him gives us peace with God. The second thing I hope you'll understand is this, that Jesus gives us Peace from God. It's so powerful. He gives us peace from God.

[Teaching Pastor]

You see, once you have peace with.

[Craig Groeschel]

God, you can actually receive peace from our good God.

[Teaching Pastor]

And it's the kind of peace that.

[Craig Groeschel]

Only Jesus can give. In fact, this is what Jesus said in John 14. Jesus said this. He said, peace I leave with you now.

[Teaching Pastor]

Notice what he said. Not like any old peace, but whose peace is it? Jesus said, my peace I give you. And then this is so powerful. He said, I do not give to you as the world gives. So don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Peace I leave with you. Jesus said, it's my peace. It's not just peace with God, but it's peace from God. And what's powerful about this kind of peace is it's not something that you find or it's not something that you achieve, but it's something only God can give. And it's very, very different from worldly peace, circumstantial peace. When you got a bubble bath in your favorite drink, that's not the same kind of peace. Peace from God is different because worldly peace is based on what's happening outside and around you, but God's peace is based on what's happening inside of you.

[Craig Groeschel]

When God does a work that only he can do. And again, I hope you notice that.

[Teaching Pastor]

Jesus doesn't just give you a peace.

[Craig Groeschel]

He says, jesus said, I give you my peace. My peace. In other words, the very same peace that calmed the storm. That peace is the peace that can calm your heart.

[Teaching Pastor]

And it's not found whenever the world.

[Craig Groeschel]

Is quiet and everything is just the way you want it. His peace is found when Jesus is close. He came to give us peace with God. Jesus, the Savior came to give us peace from God. And the third thing is that Jesus came to give us the peace of God. Notice this. The peace of God.

[Teaching Pastor]

It's not just peace with God.

[Craig Groeschel]

It's not just peace from God, but you can experience the peace of God.

[Teaching Pastor]

And from a Roman prison awaiting possible execution, the Apostle Paul penned these words in Philippians chapter 4, verse 6.

[Craig Groeschel]

He said, don't be anxious about anything. But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. That's a word for somebody here today.

[Teaching Pastor]

Don't be anxious about what you're anxious about.

[Craig Groeschel]

Take it to God.

[Teaching Pastor]

If it's big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about, take it to him right now in prayer. And when you take it to God in prayer, the Bible says the Peace of God. Not peace with God, not peace from God, but the peace of. Of God, which transcends all understanding. In other words, it's so heavenly that you can't even explain it on earth. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This peace goes beyond our ability to put English words and have it make sense. Why the peace of God, it literally guards your heart. The word for guard in the Greek is a military term, and it means, like, to stand guard. It's like peace stands guard outside of your heart. It's not a passive peace. This is an active peace. It literally, it doesn't just comfort you, but it protects you. Whenever fear tries to come along, peace says, you can't come here. You don't belong here. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power and love and of a sound mind. If anxiety comes in peace, says, oh, no, no, no, no. I cast my anxiety on him because he cares for me. You don't belong here. Anytime shame tries to come in peace, stands guard, says, no, you can't come in here. Shame. There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Peace literally stands guard against the outer workings of the enemy in your heart. It is the peace of God. And perhaps one of the most profound examples of this kind of peace that I experienced was in a moment on earth that we never wanted. I've got six kids. People say, you must love kids. I really like their mom a lot.

[Craig Groeschel]

35 years of, I mean, just like really godly blessed marriage. And that results in kids. Until we figured out what caused it, and then we didn't want to quit. And that's a whole nother story. So, anyway, six kids. Sorry, Merry Christmas.

[Teaching Pastor]

Trying to be on my good behavior for guests.

[Craig Groeschel]

Like, sorry, I'm just a guy. I used to be a man, then I became a pastor. Still a man. Sorry, redeem me. What was I saying? So, six kids. My oldest daughter Katie was pregnant and about to give birth with her second child, and that would have been her first daughter. And I won't go into all the details. One, I'll get it wrong, and two, I'm not a doctor, but this time she would have had to have a C section based on her past. And the baby at the hospital came faster than they were ready for. And so when they would have been doing a C section, the baby actually started to come out naturally and got stuck in the birth canal and was in there for too long. And so when she Ended up delivering naturally. They took the baby out of the hospital and rushed out, and the family was just standing there and we didn't know if we should be excited or nervous. And they kept the baby for a long, long, long, long time. And the doctor came back in and said, we've got really sad, hard news. Our whole family's there, all the kids and the spouses, and they're all there. And the doctor said, I've got really bad news and said, your little girl was in the birth canal for too long and didn't have oxygen to her brain for extended period of time, and she's going to have significant brain damage. And at that moment, just pastorally, I'll tell you, I have been with enough families that have had bad news about their children and have seen the ramifications.

[Teaching Pastor]

The blessings and the ramifications of the.

[Craig Groeschel]

Blessings of loving a child with complications and the challenges of loving a child with complications. And so my mind fast forward to a fourth grader with brain damage and a ninth grader with brain damage, and I wasn't in a good place.

[Teaching Pastor]

And my daughter, Katie, I always told.

[Craig Groeschel]

Her, I said, no matter how big.

[Teaching Pastor]

You get, you're always going to be Daddy's little girl.

[Craig Groeschel]

I looked over there at my little girl, and she was more my little girl than I can describe to you. She was just like.

[Teaching Pastor]

She looked like a little girl who.

[Craig Groeschel]

Just gave birth to a little girl. And she was trying to comfort me and she was trying to comfort everybody else in the room. And I wish I could remember exactly what she said.

[Teaching Pastor]

I don't.

[Craig Groeschel]

But it was something like, jesus loves her and Jesus loves us and it's gonna be okay. And she just kept saying something like that over and over again, like.

[Teaching Pastor]

And smiling like this real innocent, like, just real faith, like, daddy, Jesus loves.

[Craig Groeschel]

Us and Jesus loves her and it's going to be okay. And she just kept saying that over and over and over again and like.

[Teaching Pastor]

She literally believed it.

[Craig Groeschel]

And I'm going. The doctors just said, well, they said.

[Teaching Pastor]

We got to metaflight the baby.

[Craig Groeschel]

And evidently metaflight means put them in an ambulance, but metaflight sounds cooler. And so they medaflied it in an ambulance, the baby to another place to freeze her brain to try to reduce the swelling and hopefully limit the certain damage. And when they got there, they called, I don't know, an hour later and said, well, we can't quite explain this, and we don't know how to explain this, but she was brain damaged and now she's not.

[Teaching Pastor]

And.

[Craig Groeschel]

What I Noticed about my daughter is I was watching this girl in her mid-20s, and it seemed like she had regressed to, like, a little child.

[Teaching Pastor]

Jesus has this.

[Craig Groeschel]

Daddy, it's gonna be okay. What I didn't realize is that I had regressed and she had progressed. She had progressed to what Jesus would call, like the faith of a child that just believed that Jesus would do it. And because of her faith, she had.

[Teaching Pastor]

The peace of God.

[Craig Groeschel]

When her baby, her child, was pronounced definitively to have brain damage, she sat right there in the presence of God. A little girl who grew up knowing God intimately, and she had the peace of God. There were two miracles that day. There were two miracles. One was that God healed little baby. The second one was that in the middle of horrific news, a little girl with faith in Jesus had the peace of God. We celebrate when God does miracles, and he does many. But he doesn't always do miracles the way that we'd want him to. So I'm gonna tell you right now, there are other situations in my life right now that are not resolved like that. If I told you where we stand, you wouldn't clap. You would say, oh, we better keep praying. And that's what we're going to do. But I will tell you right now, after years and years and years of walking faithfully with God and knowing his character and his nature and his goodness and his power and his glory and his faithfulness and that his promises are true, that he never leaves us, he never forsakes us, that he's always good and he's working in all things to bring about good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Even though there are some things in my life that are not the way.

[Teaching Pastor]

I'd want them to be right now.

[Craig Groeschel]

I'm genuinely experiencing the peace of God. And you can, too. You can too. Not because things are the way you want them to be, but you can have peace because our good God is close. It's the peace of God.

[Teaching Pastor]

You can't think your way into it.

[Craig Groeschel]

You trust your way into it. And so here's what I want you to hear and feel and believe. You can have peace with God that settles your eternity. And you can have peace from God that strengthens you today.

[Teaching Pastor]

And you can live with the peace of God that guards your heart every.

[Craig Groeschel]

Single moment and gives you a peace that you don't even have the ability to explain. So if you're hurting today, maybe you feel alone, maybe you're stressed, maybe you're anxious, maybe you're doubting God or struggling emotionally, what do you do to find this peace? I want you to think about the moment that the virgin gave birth to a son and Jesus was born, and this young couple was holding the Savior of the world in their arms.

[Teaching Pastor]

And very few noticed.

[Craig Groeschel]

But heaven couldn't stay silent because peace had come.

[Teaching Pastor]

And peace had a name. And his name is the Prince of Peace. His name is Jesus. And peace has a name. Jesus himself, the Bible says, is our peace. And so no matter what you're facing a diagnosis that you didn't want, or your marriage has gone cold, or a child that you love is running the wrong direction, you're trying to pray them back, or you've got anxiety that you can't handle, or fear grips your heart, Jesus didn't come to give you a peace that you could lose. Jesus came to give you a peace that the world can't take away. It's peace with God. It's peace from God. It's the peace of God. And it's available to you today not from this world, but through a child who was born of a virgin. Because God became flesh and dwelt among us. And whosoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life.

[Craig Groeschel]

The good news is God sent his son to bring peace into the world. And this kind of peace is better than anything the world ever offers and is only found in the Son of God, whose name is Jesus. So, Heavenly Father, we pray today that you would do a work in the hearts of those who need you today at all of our churches and those of you online. Man, I'm sitting there looking at some of my friends that I know are experiencing deep grief for a very real loss of someone that we love and care about. I know many of you right now, Christmas is a magnifier, and if it's good, it's really good. But for some of you, there's a mixture. There's some good, and there's a lot of pain, a lot of hurt, maybe some depression, loneliness, people having thoughts that you don't want to have right now, and you need the peace of God today at all of our churches. For those of you that are followers of Jesus, there may be chaos in your marriage, maybe in your family, maybe financially you feel stressed. Maybe emotionally there's just too much. Maybe you're dealing with complicated issues. Maybe you're afraid of something. Maybe it's anxiety, maybe it's doubt, depression, whatever it is. If you need peace from God, we're gonna pray and believe that the presence of God is gonna give you what only he can give. If you need peace today, just be honest. Lift up your hands toward heaven. Just lift up your hands. Say, yes, I need peace. Lift up around.

[Teaching Pastor]

You may be here for the first time.

[Craig Groeschel]

You're welcome. Just lift up your hand and say, yes, I need the peace of God in my life. You can type in the comment section, I need God's peace. And we're gonna pray. If you wanna leave your hands up, just kind of like in worship, you can or just be comfortable however you want. And Father, we thank you that your word is true, that we can come before you in prayer and petition asking for your presence, your power, your goodness, your faithfulness, and God, you promise us that as we bring our request before you, that you'll give us a peace that goes beyond our human ability to understand God. For those who are grieving, give them peace. Those who are doubting, give them peace that you're real God. For those who need provision, give them peace that you're always their provider. Your peace that you are the healer. God, even in the middle of the storm, would you just speak peace? Be still, God. Thank you for a peace that goes beyond our human ability to understand, found only through your son, Jesus, who is our peace. As you keep praying today, not looking around, some of you would be if you were really honest. You'd be like me when I was growing up. I'd go to church, I'd do the Christmas Eve thing, I'd even go some extra times. But I did not know God. If you'd ask me, are you at peace with God, I'd be like, I hope so.

[Teaching Pastor]

I'm not sure. I'm trying. I'm trying to.

[Craig Groeschel]

I just didn't understand why Jesus came. Scripture said this. For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son, Jesus. Born of a virgin? What is the whole virgin thing? What does that even mean? Well, Jesus was born of a virgin. He didn't inherit the sin nature from an earthly dad, but instead he inherited the heavenly nature from a heavenly father. Therefore, he was like all God and all man.

[Teaching Pastor]

He was the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice. He was born of a virgin so that he could be without sin. And he lived without sin, faithful in every way. Who did he come for? He didn't come for the righteous. He came for the broken.

[Craig Groeschel]

He came for the sinners.

[Teaching Pastor]

He didn't come for those who had it all together. He came for those who needed help, who needed healing, who needed forgiveness. And Jesus loved people exactly where they were. And the Bible tells us that anyone.

[Craig Groeschel]

And this includes you, doesn't matter what.

[Teaching Pastor]

You'Ve done, anyone who, who calls on the name of the Lord, that you would be saved, your sins forgiven, you'd be made brand new. There are those of you you are here today.

[Craig Groeschel]

It's not a coincidence, not an accident.

[Teaching Pastor]

You're here by the divine providence and power and love of God.

[Craig Groeschel]

Because today is the day that you experience peace with God.

[Teaching Pastor]

How are you made right with God? You're justified with God by faith in the perfect work of Jesus. Today you step away from your sin. You call on Jesus when you call on him. He hears your prayers. He.

[Craig Groeschel]

He forgives your sins.

[Teaching Pastor]

He makes you brand new.

[Craig Groeschel]

Today, in all of our churches, those.

[Teaching Pastor]

Who say, I don't know where I.

[Craig Groeschel]

Stand with him, I need his grace.

[Teaching Pastor]

I want his forgiveness. Today, I repent of my sins. I give my life to Jesus. Jesus, be my savior, the Lord of my life. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now, up now, all over the room and say, yes, that's my prayer right there. God bless you. And up there as well. Others say, yes, up here in this section, Jesus, be the Lord of my life. Praise God for you. Oh, both of you, right there. Others say, yes, Jesus, I surrender to you. Be the Lord of my life. Right back over there. Praise God for you. Right back over here. Right back over here. You are loved. You are loved. You're loved. Online. Type in the comment section. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. Would you pray with those around you?

[Craig Groeschel]

Pray, Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins. Jesus, make me new. Fill me with your spirit so I could know you and serve you for the rest of my life. My life is not my own. I give it all to you.

[Teaching Pastor]

In Jesus name I pray. Church, could you celebrate today? Worship God. Welcome those born into his family.

[Life Church Announcer]

We are celebrating with those of you who just made the decision to follow Jesus. Make sure you check out the show notes for helpful resources and next steps. One great next step is making plans to attend Christmas services at Life Church. You can find all the info you need, including service times and locations at Life Church. CelebrateChristmas. We'll see you back here next week for another encouraging message.