{"id":8505,"date":"2021-12-24T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/bishop\/?p=8505"},"modified":"2021-12-24T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T20:00:00","slug":"peace-and-good-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/bishop\/2021\/12\/peace-and-good-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace and Good Will: A Christmas Message from Bishop Leonard Fairley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Peace and Good Will: A Christmas Message from Bishop Leonard Fairley\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/657965200?app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, we rejoice in the gift of the one who came to bring &#8220;peace, love, salvation, justice, and so much more.&#8221; May we celebrate with joy the gift of the Christ-child, and may we share this gift with all the world during this season of Christmas and all year long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Video Transcription<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cI just want peace in my house!\u201d It sounded so simple, but it drove the kids and me crazy. We had grown to expect this classic Priscilla response every Christmas to our question, \u201cWhat do you want for Christmas?\u201d She never wanted anything for herself, besides peace in her house, of course.<\/p><p>\u201cGlory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!\u201d (Luke 2:14, NSRV) We could use a little peace in God\u2019s house, and Lord knows we can use some good will toward all people. The good news is that on Christmas Day we celebrate the fact that, in the birth of Jesus, God gives the world the one gift that embodies peace, love, salvation, justice and so much more.<\/p><p>It is the one gift that comes with healing in its wings powerful enough to free us from the bondage of sin and death. It is the one gift with light enough to overcome all darkness, the true gift that redeems and makes whole that which is broken. Jesus is the one true, perfect gift of unity binding us together. \u201cFor he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.\u201d (Ephesians 2:14, NRSV)<\/p><p>On this Christmas Day may you hear these words with hope and joy. It does not matter if you hear them as words for a hopeful future, or as a word meant to counter a fallen world, or inspiration in the dry times of life. \u201cPeace on earth and good will toward all people\u201d points us toward the day that we would have reason for great hope. Therefore, even in our current distress we dare sing, \u201cJoy to The World.\u201d<\/p><p>In the gift of this Son, born in the humblest of circumstances, in a little insignificant town, \u201cBut you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient of days.\u201d (Micah 5:2, NRSV)<\/p><p>In the gift of Jesus, God teaches us how to turn the other cheek, how to love even our enemies, and love and serve others. Jesus is the peace, love, and justice we desire. What do I want for Christmas? I like how the song \u201cGrown-Up Christmas List\u201d says it: \u201cSo here\u2019s my lifelong wish, my grown-up Christmas list, not for myself but for a world in need. No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts, and everyone would have a friend, and right would always win, and love would never end.\u201d (\u201cGrown-Up Christmas List,\u201d David W. Foster, Linda Foster) Indeed, \u201cGlory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.\u201d (Luke 2:14, NRSV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bishop Fairley&#8217;s Advent message reminds us of the &#8220;stubborn and audacious hope&#8221; we have in the one who is Emmanuel &#8211; God with us. As the Advent season begins, let us both be filled with that hope and carry that hope to a world that longs to hear it. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[54,44,11],"class_list":["post-8505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","tag-advent","tag-bishop-leonard-e-fairley","tag-healthy-congregations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Peace and Good Will: A Christmas Message from Bishop Leonard Fairley | Bishop&#039;s Office | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/bishop\/2021\/12\/peace-and-good-will\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peace and Good Will: A Christmas Message from Bishop Leonard Fairley | Bishop&#039;s Office | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bishop Fairley&#039;s Advent message reminds us of the &quot;stubborn and audacious hope&quot; we have in the one who is Emmanuel - God with us. 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