Peace comes from within

I want to really build by connecting. Jasmin did a

great job last time about talking about peace. But you

know what, we often feel the storms outside and we're

okay inside. I'll tell you what, When the storm gets inside,

we've got a problem. So let me paint a picture

before I even get into saying anything, before I even pray,

Just so, I need to imagine in a room and

you're having an argument with someone and you think you're

right and they think they're right, and you're having a disagreement,

and then those words get stuck in your head. Maybe

the argument's finished, maybe you've sourced it all out, but

there's still words running around in your head, and I

mean running around in your head, maybe even running around

in your heart. Suddenly the storm's gone inside, and the

only person that begins to affect is you. It starts

with you. Do you know what? As the storm builds,

and if we're not able to calm that storm, the

storm starts to come out. We start to overreact, We

start to lash out at people, We start to be

rude at people in short tempered, And I just want

to encourage us that peace comes from him. That's what

Yasmin gave us last week. But I want to tell

you that peace comes from within. So we've got to

take the peace that He gives us and get it

inside ourselves so that it doesn't matter what storm comes,

there is still some residual piece in us to stand on.

So I want to ask you this morning a simple question,

which is where is your peace register? We've probably been

watching the thermometers over the last few days, probably been

looking at our phone saying what's it going to be today?

What's your peace score? Where are you today? Right now? Now?

Please don't answer it quickly, because you know what, when

we answer of things quickly, we often find ourselves not

being real with ourselves. So I'm just going to give

you a moment of silence before I pray, before we

get into anything, I'm just going to ask you to

just register. Just be still, try and be still. Maybe

there's a storm raging for you right now, Just be still.

Say where am I my? Two out of ten, three

out of ten, five out of ten? Am I nine

out of ten? Am I eleven out of ten? Father?

I pray that you'd impart to each one of us

a bundle of peace today. Father, whatever score we've just

given ourselves. However, we just rated life and our peace within. Father,

we open ours up to you and say, fill us

with your peace, Fill us with your peace of God,

and help us to know that night and day, in

good times and bad, in challenging times, in times of isolation,

in times of busyness and hassle and urgency, Father, help

us to walk and live in peace in Jesus' name. Amen. Now,

I just want to pause before you've just scored yourself,

I just want to ask did you score yourself on

what you think it ought to have been, what it

actually is, or what you'd like to tell other people

it is? Because you know what, most most days of

the week, I'll say to somebody, Hi, how are you today?

What's their response? Fine, thanks very much. And actually, sometime

I know that's not the right answer, that's not what

they really would like to say, And what goes on

in their head is I can't talk about it here.

I can't talk about it now because there's a storm

going on inside and if I let a bit of

that storm out, you might get a pile of it.

But you know, we've got to trust one another, we've

got to trust God, we've got to find moments to

be real with one another. You know, the storm outside

is rarely the problem. It's the storm within that I

want to talk to today. Now, let's just remind ourselves

of a scripture we've heard at least three times this month,

so I'm not going to repeat it. I'm not going

to read it out at all, but just for anybody

who's connecting in for the first time today, it's the

story of Jesus in the boat with the disciples, and

Jesus calms to the wind, and he turns to them

and he addresses a storm. I want you to notice

that he does not stop the storm. He stops the

impact of the storm. The storm is calm, storm doesn't

go away. We can still have storms. We've had storms recently.

You hear the thunder, the thunder promise of rain. Anybody

wanted a bit of rain when it was thundering away.

But the fear was inside the boat before the wind

ever rose. Before when the wind dropped, the panic within

them began to disappear. When God brings peace to us,

he brings peace to us for the time, for the moment.

He does not leave us in storms. He journeys with

us through storms, just as Jesus journeyed through the storm

with his disciples. Peace is the presence of God in

the midst of trouble, not the absence of it. This

is a teaching the Artie Kendle gave from Westminster Chapel,

a well known teacher, and one of the things he

says in every circumstance is consider and be aware of

the turmoil around you. Philippians four, verses six and seven

says be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer

and supplication, with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known

to God. And the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I

want you to notice here a couple of really basic things.

Number One, it says, be anxious about nothing. Anxiety is

not something God wants us to have. Doesn't mean we

don't care about things, not at all, but He doesn't

want us to be anxious about things. You know, Paul

wrote this from a prison cell. I mean that's a

great place to be anxious. I mean, I don't know

how how many people in the room have been inside

of prison. I'm not saying you've been well you can

how many people have been inside of Prinson. It's not

a nice place, is it. It's not a nice place.

And I remember walking around Bronzefield with Simeon Sterney, who

we used to be the pastor there, that the chaplain there.

And I got to talk into one of the ladies

in one of the cells and said, I've never really

been in prison. What's it like? What she said, Well,

we get food regularly every day. That's okay. So but

you know what the thing I hate is the jangling

of the keys. Every door you go through has to

be unlocked by somebody, and so every time you hear

a jangle of the keys, it reminds you that you're

locked in. You're shut in. Paul wrote this from a

place of stress, but he isn't stressed. Where does the

peace go? It guards our hearts and minds. Whether you're

a sports person, you can think about a sports guard,

or whether you're thinking about a guard at a palace,

or whether you're thinking about a security guard who's keeping

you safe. There is someone around you who is keeping

you safe. Peace guards our hearts, a soldier placed at

the gate of our lives. There to still the storms

to still the rage. Peace does not mean we get

stilled circumstances. Life is full of life, and life means

life is full of circumstances. It's the presence of God

standing guard over our hearts in the middle of these

circumstances where we see this. So what is the thing

of peace? Well, one I would like to suggest is unforgiveness.

We do not lose. We often lose our peace, sometimes

over sin, sometimes over not saying sorry. But you know what,

when it gets within, it eats away at us. When

resentment creeps in, it gets into a dark place. And

what's the remedy. The remedy is total forgiveness and pause.

Letters to the Ephesians four verses, Chapter four, verses thirty

one and thirty two. In the New King James version,

it says, let all, let all you want to underline

that in your Bible, Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor,

and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Yes,

so let all these things be put away from you,

and be kind to one another, tender hearted, for giving

one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Is

there a name or a memory that makes you grip

your hands, or maybe even grips your heart or maybe

sends your mind into turmoil, puts tightness in your chest,

because that's probably an indication of peace. Doesn't rain in

those circumstances. There's no substitute for being free. I don't

know how many people in there, how many people in

the room ride a bicycle. Now I'm not recommending this

on the roads, but how many people who have ever

ridden a bicycle and taken their hands off the handlebars? Yeah,

quite a few of us. We can only do that

when we're in balance. If we're riding down a bumpy road,

it's much much harder to do. But do you know

what we're in balance? We're looking ahead, we're looking ahead,

and we're in control of the circumstances. When a bump

or a rat or an unexpected thing happens, suddenly it's

all gone again. But do you know, there's nothing like

being free. I don't know whether you remember the film Titanic,

but there's a moment when they're right on the prow

of the ship and their arms are flung wide and

they're just going Have you ever been out in a

storm and enjoyed being out in a storm? Okay, you

might get a bit wet. Some of you know. I

used to live and work in Papun, New Guinny and

papn Gani. At this time of year, in the wet season,

it will get hotter and stickier and hotter and sticky,

hotter and sticky than it is here today. And then

about two o'clock three o'clock in the afternoon noon a

storm would happen, that the rain would fall, everybody would go,

and then it would be nice for the evening. And

right through the wet season, that was almost the daily routine.

And I used to teach my maths. Classroom was just

next door to the basketball court, and I couldn't work

out why, especially when it was really hot, especially when

the lessons were over, the rain would fall and the

girls from school would go and sit on the basketball

court in the pouring rain. You think, why are you

sitting outside in the rain. Until one day one of

them said to me. They called me, brother David, Brother David,

come and sit with us. Shall I bring my umbrella?

Really British answer here and they said no, no, no,

come and sit on the basketball court. And the basketball

court was about two inches deep in water. Because it

was really pouring with rain. And then I realized it

was warm water. Sitting in warm water, and you know,

in many parts of the world you don't have hot water.

You know, if I wanted hot water for a show,

I had to heat the water up. You know, if

I wanted hot water in the bucket that I stood under,

I had to heat the water up. So actually, the

experience of warm water was pretty unusual. And they would

sit in the basket and it was it was a

strange but very pleasant experience. I've sat at him in

many storms, even with thunder and lightning. You know, there's

something that starts to make you think, you know what,

it's okay out here. Some of our storms we make ourselves.

Not every storm has been sent to us or brought

to us. It comes from our choices, maybe our disobedience,

maybe our refusal to let go. And if we make

the storm, there's no point in rebuking the wind. We've

got to deal with the route inside us. Jonah. I

don't know how many times you read Jonah. But Jonah,

let me just give you two verses heid Jonah chapter one,

verse four. But the Lord sent out a great wind

on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on

the sea, so that the ship was about to be

broken up. And then in verse twelve, it says this,

and he said to them, pick me up and throw

me into the sea. Then the sea will calm for you.

For I know that this greatest tempest is because of me.

Jonah had fled from the call of God. He'd run

away from God. He was being disobedient. God was getting

his attention. But you know what, he didn't have peace.

The storm only stilled when he stopped running from God.

And I want to encourage maybe some people listening now,

maybe some people in the room. Is there something you're

running from God on? Is there something that you're fearful of?

Because God wants to walk through the storm with you,

not necessarily to stop the storm. Sometimes sometimes he wants

to go through it with you, but he wants you

to know a deep inner peace. In Galatians six, verse seven,

it says, do not be deceived. This is really God

is not mocked. For whatever a man sows that he

will reap. And we know of the stories of the

seeds and how they're planted. In Matthew seven twenty four

to twenty seven, I'm not going to read this, but

we just realize the man who build his house upon

the rock and the man who builds his house upon

the sand. The storm hit both houses equally. The difference

is not the weather, is not the storm, it's the

foundation on which the house was built. Self made storms

can often be problems that bring about our systems under pressure.

Before we ask God to calm every storm, let's ask, honestly,

did I start this? Is this me? In this situation?

Peace doesn't come by deliverance. Peace comes by repentance. Saying

sorry is not just good for the person who you're

saying sorry too, It's good for you as well. Psalm

one hundred and seven, verses twenty eight to thirty says this.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he brought them out of their distress. He calms

the storm so that the waves are still. Then they

are glad because they are quiet. So he guides them

to their desired haven. So peace comes from within. Three

steps to think about the first one is are we

in surrender rather than in control? How many people in

the room like to be in control. I'm putting my

hand up, you know, I like to know what's going

to happen. If somebody says to me, Dave, keep this

stay aside. I'm not telling you what you're going to

be doing, but just be ready for this. I'm already uncomfortable.

I'd like I'd like to at least know a bit

of the framework. You know, I made the mistake of

it was a joyful mistake. But I took Julia away

for her birthday once to Portugal, and I planned with

one of her colleagues to put some false appointments in

her diary just so that her day was full. And

then I was speaking to this former colleague of Julia,

and she said, when are you going to tell her?

I said, I was a planning to give her the

airplane tickets over breakfast in the morning, he said. She said,

don't you think that's not giving her enough time to prepare?

And I was thinking about myself and thinking I'd like

to know. So I told her the night before and

we went to Portugal for a few days and it

all went reasonably well, apart from the fact eat tickets

and a whole bunch of other things, but we weren't

going to that. But the point I want to say

is sometimes we like to be in control, and God

doesn't say we have to be out of control. Someone

want us to be out of control, but we need

to be surrendered to him. There's no better place to be.

I know a couple people who've been parachuting, and they've

jumped out of a plane, not in their own parachute,

strapped onto the front of somebody else or in some

cases on the back, depending on your size. And I

just imagine you're so tightly strapped to somebody that you

can't even you know, when you breathe, they feel you breathe.

It's quite an awkward, intimate moment. And then they get

to the edge of the plane and where they're going,

you're going. I mean, if you shouted stop, they'd probably stop,

I would imagine. But when they jump out the plane,

you're going with them, and it's them that's putting the parachute,

not you. I don't know what you feel like. I

don't know whether anybody's up for that, but you know what,

that feels really out of control for me until I

realize I'm putting my trust in someone who's a professional here,

and actually I've been told because I've never done it

in that format. Told that when you do it in

that way, there's a moment when the instructor who's jumping

with you feels you yield and just go, Okay, you're

the boss, You're in control. And I think the Father

does exactly the same with us. He takes us to

situations where he's saying, Okay, if you want to be

in control, that's fine, but if you trust me, then

we'll walk a different way. John fourteen twenty seven piece.

I leave with you my peace. I give you not

as the world gives do. I give it to you.

Let your heart not be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Do you Often we get exhausted by holding onto stuff.

I love the World's Strongest Man. It comes around every

year and I look at these big, big guys who

hold these incredibly heavy weights, and you see them holding

in their hands start to shake and the grip starts

to go, you know, and actually, once they finish this

exercise that may have lasted less than a minute, their

hands are literally frozen because they know they've put so

much stress through their hands to hold onto these heavy things.

I wonder what you and I are gripping onto that

we need to let go of. Peace is not just

giving Peace is not just about giving us freedom from storms.

Peace is a gift. So number one is surrender. Number

two is forgiveness. If you're holding onto something onto someone,

let me encourage you, take your hand off and let

the storm go. Forgiveness is a powerful thing. And then thirdly,

so that's surrender. Forgiveness and trust all illustrated in my

story about jumping out of a plane strapped to another person.

A steadfast trust not just us for a moment, a

trust for a significant period of time. Isaiah twenty six,

verse three. You will keep him in perfect peace whose

mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

So let's come back to the boat, the story you've

been journeying around all month. The real question today is

not Lord, will you stop the storm? The real question

today is Lord, will you be my peace in it?

And I've journeyed down some steps and journeyed through some

exploration today that looks at and thinks about the storm

within our own hearts. But you know what, even as

I prayed about what I was going to share this morning,

I since there are some people who are storm chasers.

You can find TV programs all about people who love

chasing storms around certain parts of North America and the

thrill of trying to chase his storm. I'd like to

really challenge us. So we rather than being storm chases,

maybe we ought to be peace chases. And so when

a storm comes, whether it's with us, with somebody else,

with somebody we're with, we can be the lightning rod

for the Lord's peace in that circumstance and in that moment.

So I'm going to pause in a moment and ask

us to pray quietly and silently, because I want to

start with I'm sick of trouble, I'm sick of worry.

I would just love some of this peace that you've

been talking about today, Dave. If that's you, then I'm

going to pray a prayer, and if you want to

pray it with me, please feel free to do so.

To chat with you afterwards, or message me or WhatsApp

the church number, and we will get back to you.

But I just want to pray a simple prayer. Now, Lord,

I'm sorry for what I've done. I repent of my wrongdoing,

and I turn from those wicked ways. I put my

trust in you, my savior, teacher, son of the Living God,

who paid the price on the cross for my sin

and allows me to walk in freedom this day. I

accept you as my Lord and savior, and I put

my trust in you. Amen. And if that's you, and

please come and speak to me afterwards. I'd just love

to pray with you. Be a great thing to do.

Peace comes from within. But I want to end this

month of talking about storms and peace. It juxtaposition quite well.

Just encourage you. Would you be a peace carrier for

this summer? Would you carry the peace of God into situations,

into circumstances. Would you choose to be the peacemaker rather

than stepping away from an argument? Say Lord, what should

I say here? And I'll end with a story. Most

of you know I like telling stories. I've prayed that

prayer many times. Lord, make me a peacemaker. And I've

worked in I work in things like supply chain logistics

and warehousing industry, and it's a pretty pretty colorful environment.

There are people who use words that would make the

atmosphere blue. I remember sitting in a warehouse office in

reading and there was a bit of an argument going

on and then people were siding with everybody else, and

I had a choice. I could have walked out of

the room. I didn't want to be impacted by it.

That would have been a little selfish on my part,

but at least I would have kept myself safe. Insane

And I said, Lord, what can I do here? He said,

it's time for a spillage. There was nothing on my

desk at all. I cleared my desk and I knocked

over a cup of water deliberately and went, oh, flipping heck,

very loudly. I didn't do it loudly as I did.

Then everybody stopped, and then everybody went and got bits

of paper and helped me clear it up my mess,

and then they all got on about the business. The

argument seemed to have been forgotten. Literally, it just washed away.

I'm not suggesting you should always a cup of water

over and do that kind of thing, but it was

just in a moment I felt I should do that,

and in doing that peace returned. Now I was not

the peace maker, I was just the peace carrier. I

didn't really do anything. But you know what, there's nothing

better than the peace of God, which passes all understanding,

that will keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge

and love for Jesus Christ. So, Father God, I pray

that Lord, even in the midst of this heat, Lord,

help us to be peace makers, peace givers, peace sharers.

And Father, help us not to be afraid of a storm,

because we're peace within that comes from you. Amen. Okay,

let's do the notices and let's take around the offering.

Somebody would be will saying Michael, are you free to

do that? Are you busy