Payer Call: Silent Night

Hello BFB Family & Friends!

This week, we are stepping into Volume 2 of the Advent Playlist - with this week's focus being Peace. We’re pressing play on the next “track” in this series, and that track is a familiar song many of us know well during the Christmas season: “Silent Night.”

We’ve heard it. We’ve sung it. It’s synonymous with Christmas. But today, I want us to look deeper at this song through the lens of Advent peace.

Our scripture focus is Luke 2:13-14 (NIV):

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.’”

As we enter the second week of Advent and listen to Volume 2 of this playlist, we're reminded that peace doesn’t always look like what we imagine. When we think of “Silent Night,” we picture calmness—soft lights, stillness, quiet. But the reality of the first Christmas was anything but still and quiet.

The first Christmas was chaotic - and Peace still came. 

That night was crowded with travelers, heavy with uncertainty because of the census, and loud with survival because of fear as King Herod sought to destroy baby boys. Yet in the middle of all that chaos, Heaven chose that moment to release peace into the world.

That tension teaches us something powerful: Peace does not wait for perfect conditions. Peace shows up in real conditions. And that’s the message for us today. The Advent of Peace is not the absence of our problems or the absence of our worries— peace is the presence of Jesus.

The same Jesus we celebrate during the Christmas season. The same Jesus who laid in a manger,  is the same Jesus who later says to us in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you… Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  Which tells us peace is not fragile, or seasonal like the holidays. Peace holds steady when the group chat is chaotic. When the doctor calls with the results. When money is tight and we want Christmas to feel special for our kids and loved ones. When the holidays don't feel picture perfect because we've lost a loved one and it's going to be different this year.

This peace that we're talking about in Silent Night and in Luke this morning, doesn't wait for everything to calm down - Peace shows up. And this brings us to our first point:

One of my favorite lines of “Silent Night” is: “Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at Thy sight.”

I love it because the night was not silent since nothing was happening—the night was holy because everything was happening. Things were loud. Mary was in labor. Joseph was navigating pressure and fear as he tried to protect his family. Roman soldiers were everywhere. Life was noisy, uncertain, overwhelming.

But heaven broke through the noise and declared: “Let there be peace.”

The shepherds shook with fear, yet even while trembling, God still spoke peace. That's the same message for us. Some of us are shaking too—shaking over finances, health, family decisions, timing, or transitions. But the same God who stood over those shepherds stands over us today. “Silent Night” doesn’t mean the world has stopped being loud. It means God has taken authority over the noise in our lives.

This week, don’t wait for everything to settle or calm down before trusting God. Let God’s peace interrupt panic, pressure, worry and fear. Let peace interrupt all of the noise.

The night was holy not because the setting was perfect, but because Jesus was there. Peace wasn’t wrapped in silence—it was wrapped in swaddling clothes. Jesus is the reason for this song. Isaiah calls Him the Prince of Peace because peace doesn't come from circumstances lining up. Peace comes from Christ moving in and us allowing Him into our lives. Peace is not a feeling; peace is a Person.

And where Jesus is, peace is. You may still feel tired, overwhelmed, or uncertain. Emotions shift. Circumstances change. But Jesus remains steady. Jesus remains our present peace. We may storms in our life that rise, but remember the moment He spoke to the storm: “Peace, be still.”

So while our situations might change, Jesus never changes. We sleep in “Heavenly peace”, not escaping reality—it’s resting in the middle of it, knowing Jesus is with us. He showed up that night in the middle of the stillness to say, "I am with you and I will continue to be with you."

When the shepherds experienced the peace of Christ, they didn’t just tremble and go home. They went to investigate and after they saw Jesus—they went to tell others. Peace was never meant to end with us. We're supposed to carry that peace with us.

Someone in your life this week needs the peace you carry. They need the version of “Silent Night” that lives inside of you. They need your calm, your example, your faith, your steadiness, your Christ-centered presence. It may be your children, your grandchildren, your niece or nephew, your Godchild, your friend, your girlfriend or boyfriend, your best friend. It may be the person you laugh and talk with every day because you may never know that they're looking at you and feeding off you for their piece. Because when you step into a room, peace enters with you—not because of you, but because of the Jesus on the inside of you.

Silent Night reminds us that God didn’t just give us peace just for comfort—He gave it to you to make an impact.

So as we go about our walk this week, let your peace shine in the rooms that you enter. Let your peace shift the atmosphere.

Peace is coming. The Peace of Advent, advent meaning "coming". And the Peace of Jesus has come upon you. His peace is going to carry you through this day, through this week, through the rest of this year. As long as you have Him - you have peace.

Amen and Amen.