The Fruit of the Spirit Week 4 • Romans 12:14-21

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Well, good morning, and to all the dads out there, happy Father's Day.

You know, one of the greatest blessings that God's ever given me is the opportunity

to be a dad to Emma and Grayson.

Over the last several years, he's developed a deep joy in me, more so than ever before,

of what it means to be a dad as my kids have become teenagers and all that that means and

all that looks like.

And in fact, I'm walking over here, Grayson's serving over in kids' ministry, but Emma's

here.

So I'll tell this story real quickly.

Did you say I'm scared?

Is that what you just said?

Yes, she's down her head, yes.

Normally, I have to get permission to tell the stories, but since it's Father's Day, I don't

have to have permission to tell stories.

So one of the things in how God's done this in my life is what I've realized as my beautiful

daughter is 14 years old is that things that I used to do that she thinks, that she thought

were funny, now I do them, and they're embarrassing, right?

And so one of the things that I love to do, and she knows this, is I love to go to the grocery

store with her and dance while we walk down the aisles, and I like to sing as loud as

I possibly can in there as well.

And so, Emma, thank you for letting me be your dad and for dancing and singing and embarrassing

you, just like I'm doing right now, sweetie.

I love you.

And your brother worked that out well that he's over at Kids Ministry right now.

If you got your Bibles, we're going to be in Romans chapter 12 this morning.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

I want to echo everything that Berger said about all that happened and took place at VBS.

It was an absolutely wonderful week, one of the doors that God opened for us.

If you were here, whether that be a volunteer, whether that be a kid, whether that be a parent,

grandparent, you know that, and you saw it last Sunday, right?

We had this building decorated with all the rooms, all the walls.

There was this wonderful train and Rocky Mountain theme that just wrapped through all of the building,

and it really helped add to the week.

And so God last week began to open doors.

I just want to share this because I believe that this is a part of what the church is called

to be in unity, and not just our church, but as we look at the church as a whole.

And we started taking phone calls from other churches in our state who heard about or had access

to knowing about the decorations that we have.

And the cool thing is usually for a lot of this happens with VBS is we have these decorations.

A lot of people put a lot of time and energy and effort and ability into creating them.

They're not free, and so they cost us, and you guys give faithfully a lot of money to buy the supplies

or buy the materials and things needed to build these sets.

And then they either break or they get thrown away or they get put in a storage closet,

and maybe we use them again, but more than likely not.

And so this past week, Lisa Van Ham did a wonderful job as our director, and I started taking phone

calls.

And so when it's all said and done, there's going to be four churches that are going to

end up using all of the resources that we've had to help show and do their VBS for their

churches.

And what's remarkable about that is every single one of these churches is not a church that

could afford to do some of the things that we were able to do.

And so it's just a praise to the Lord for all that He's done and opened up for that.

And so just for me, that's a big celebration for this past week.

Going into next week, I got a prayer request for you guys.

We're going to be taking 28 students and adults to Somersault.

That's our youth camp.

I'll be going on that trip this year and leading that and looking forward to that.

And so tomorrow morning, we'll be meeting up here, a group of us, and headed down to Charleston

Southern University for a week-long summer camp.

And it'll be a wonderful time.

If you were raised going to youth camps, you know how impactful they can be.

And so I'm looking forward to a lot of energy, a lot of loud music, a lot of fun and games

with students, and minimal sleep, all right?

And so when I get back on Friday, I'll go hibernate for the remainder of Friday and Saturday

and be back with you guys next Sunday, but looking forward to that.

So we're going to be continuing on in our series on the fruit of the Spirit.

And so I want to read to you guys Galatians 5, 22 through 23.

This is where Paul lists these, and this is what we've been studying from.

And he writes and says,

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control.

Against such things there is no law.

And so we've been working through these each week.

We've done love, and we've done joy, and this week we will get to peace.

Now, when we think of these, remember, I want to kind of recap all of them briefly, right?

And so love is not our love.

Love is not a fading love.

Love is not a temporary love.

Love is not a conditional love.

Love is an unconditional love.

It's God's love.

It's the love that God's shown us, and what God has done for us, and how God has loved us.

And so God says, take that love and go love others.

Go love everyone.

Go love sacrificially.

Go love unconditionally.

And begin to see people the way that I see people as we love them.

And then in that, we experience joy, all right?

And so we looked at joy last week.

Joy is not found in our circumstances, but joy is found in our relationship with God.

Joy is centered in the spiritual things of the Lord, and that's what we have this out of.

Happiness is a wonderful, beautiful thing that God gives us that in these moments, like that video that we just saw about all those precious kids kind of talking and making fun about their dad a little bit, right?

That brought great happiness into the room as we were able to laugh and to experience that and to have those moments.

But that is not what joy is.

Joy is not from moment to moment, but joy rises above all of conditions.

And so that's why we can walk through some of the hardest times in our life with our joy firm and our joy secured, because our joy is found in Christ and not in the situations of life.

And so this morning, what we're going to look at, what we're going to talk about is peace.

Now, I want to give you guys a little disclaimer.

Studying for this message this week, there were so many verses, so many aspects of understanding peace,

that honestly, like one message wouldn't come close to doing it justice.

Like we could take a whole section, a whole season of our year and dedicate that to studying biblical peace,

and we would still walk away not having fully grasped all of the richness that scripture draws from that.

But this morning, I want to kind of just give us an overview, but diving into some very specific areas about peace that you and I can know what it means to live in peace,

to be people of peace, and extend peace to others, right?

Because that can be a very, very difficult time.

I don't know when it started, but I feel like I heard someone say one time the issue of the great debates that centralized in the United States started in the 1980s with talk shows.

Debates have always been around.

Political debates have been around.

Debates between neighbors have been around.

Debate between husband and wives, debates between churches over theological matters have always been there.

But in the 1980s, when talk shows really became prevalent, that people would actually sit down from their busy, chaotic, hectic week

and watch people, in order to relax, yell at each other for 30 to 45 minutes on TV.

And what has happened over the course of time has been that has spilled over into every area of our life.

To the point to where this morning, I get in my truck, I crank up my truck, and I'm heading here,

and I'm listening to a national talk show, a sports talk show.

And in the 20 minutes that it takes to ride from my house to the church this morning,

all everyone did was call in and yell at one another about who was a better basketball player,

LeBron James or Steph Curry.

20 minutes of it.

And it's going to continue on and on and on.

And so we live in a culture and a time,

whether it's politically,

whether it's sports,

whether it's pop culture or no matter what it is,

we are stuck in this cycle of debating and arguing and battling back and forth.

And as I've looked through these and as I've thought through these different aspects of the fruit of the Spirit,

I think my heart would go this morning that peace may be the most difficult one based off the culture in which we live right now.

Some of these details as we look at peace,

peace is not a New Testament concept.

It's not an Old Testament concept.

It is a biblical concept.

And the Old Testament is referred to as shalom would be the word that you see.

And the definition,

and I love this as you look at Old Testament peace,

it's the appearance of calm between individuals, groups, and nations.

The appearance of calm between individuals, groups, and nations.

So not that there's really truly peace,

but there's the appearance of peace.

Yes, amen, we know what that looks like, right?

We walk into work, there's conflict,

but we've got to get along.

So there's the appearance of peace.

We're walking through a difficulty in our marriage, right?

And we come in and we don't want to yell,

we don't want to scream anymore,

but there's the underlying tension.

And so there's the appearance of peace, right?

We know what that can mean,

and we know how that can be fading.

Just as quickly as it came, it can pass.

In the New Testament, though,

the word that is used for peace is the Greek word irene.

And it means unity and accord,

which to kind of summarize a lot of what happens in the New Testament,

it's the objective of the New Testament church, right?

So it's the goal,

it's what the New Testament church is working for,

it's what the New Testament church is fighting for.

Now, in both of these,

in both the Old Testament and New Testament,

both of these words could be used as greetings, right?

And so it would not be uncommon during either time of God's people

to greet one another with peace, right?

Probably a lot different than when I was saying that repeatedly

over and over in middle school, right?

But that's what it was.

That's the greeting that they would have back and forth from one another.

As we look into some other of Paul's writings,

Philippians 4 tells us about God's peace,

and it says that it transcends earthly matters, right?

So that peace is not actually found in the earth and the circumstances.

That peace transcends every argument, every debate, every moment of conflict.

That in spite of all that exists, all the tension, all the turmoil,

that peace is still accessible and that peace is still there.

And so that's why we can look at Scripture and see some crazy things from Jesus,

from the words of the apostles, some crazy things from God's Word,

where he says things like, don't be anxious for anything, right?

But you don't understand the circumstance that I'm in.

But you've got to understand that peace transcends all that.

So don't be anxious for anything.

Have peace.

And in that, in having peace and transcending all of these earthly things,

that God, in those moments, will guard our hearts and our minds.

In spite of the circumstances.

And that this peace, the peace of God,

not only does it transcend all earthly matters,

but it transcends all understanding, right?

So the level of peace that we're talking about,

definitely if you're outside of the faith,

but even for us who are in the faith,

even for those who are matured into faith,

to completely comprehend the peace of God is not obtainable for you or I.

We can't.

It's trying to fully wrap our mind around something

that our minds and our earthly limitations cannot handle.

But because of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us,

peace is abundant in every situation,

unlike anything the world has to offer.

So that we can know no matter what we battle,

what we face,

that peace dwells within us

and that this peace is obtainable.

So this week when I was sitting down

and looking over all of these themes

as we look at it,

as we begin to study and understand more

about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5,

I began to just write down like,

all right, but what are the things that you're remembering

with different parts and different places of the Bible

where this is definitely a topic.

And the first thing that came to my mind,

the first thing that hit me

as I began to think about peace

was the Christmas narrative, right?

With the shepherds and the angels.

And the Bible tells us that there was a multitude

of heavenly hosts praising God,

saying glory to God in the highest

and on earth what?

Peace.

Peace among those with whom he is pleased.

That's the greeting of the angels.

Glory to God in the highest

and on earth literally embodied

in the form of the baby of Christ.

There is peace.

And so what I want to begin with this morning

and us looking and beginning to understand this

is that Jesus in the theme of Christmas,

that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9, 6.

Isaiah writes and says,

for to us a child is born,

to a son is given,

and the government shall be upon his shoulder.

And his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Prince of Peace.

And so what we want us to understand is this,

that peace is God's gift to mankind

accomplished through the work and life of Jesus.

That as we look at peace,

we have to understand that the source,

the person, the embodiment of this

in the life and the work

in which he came to do is Jesus.

So what does it mean in all of the titles

and everything that was given?

What does it mean that Jesus is the Prince of Peace?

And in order to understand that,

we have to look at the gospel,

understand the gospel,

and see what Jesus came to do.

Right?

And to give a perspective of our self.

Right?

We have to understand that before Christ,

before our relationship with him,

that you and I,

we weren't just like these buddies,

acquaintances with the Lord,

but we're out kind of doing our own little thing,

and it just hasn't lined up with us and him yet.

Right?

That the Bible teaches us

that we were at war with God.

We were at war with God.

And so God sent Jesus to die for us.

Romans 5, 8 through 10 says this,

that God shows his love for us,

that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood,

much more shall we be saved by him

from the wrath of God.

For if while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God

by the death of his son,

much more now that we are reconciled,

shall we be saved by his life.

So look at this.

Right?

We were objects,

is what Ephesians 2 tells us.

We were objects of wrath for God

because we were enemies of God.

And so he sent Jesus to reconcile us,

to bring peace.

And so now our relationship with God

is not marked by war

and conflict,

but our relationship with God

for all of us who know him,

who are found in him,

who have the Holy Spirit,

all of us are not marked by war

and conflict,

but by peace.

Romans 5, 1.

Therefore, since we have been justified

by faith,

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And this is eternal peace.

This peace isn't going away.

Even sometimes we can still fight,

we can still rebel,

we can still run,

we can still choose the things

lesser than God.

There's still the peace

of the Lord that's there.

Right?

It's the work that Jesus came to do

and to came fully, right?

And then what God does

is God gives us

the Holy Spirit

who manifests himself in us

so that not only do we have peace,

but this is important,

that we show peace to the world.

We show peace to the world.

So Jesus is our prince of peace

and then God calls for us

to be people of peace.

This is it.

We are called

to be people of peace.

Now, this past week at VBS,

I had a really cool job.

I love the job that I was able to do.

I got to dress up in Bible clothes

and tell the Bible adventure each week.

And it was a wonderful time.

Each night there was a different story

that we would tell,

that we would walk through,

be able to ask kids questions,

have them talk about it in their groups.

And I love each week

of being able to do that.

And on the last night,

we talked about the Great Commission.

And in talking about the Great Commission,

we looked at it and said,

you know,

it's not just about telling people

about Jesus

and seeing them come to faith.

Now, let me pause really quick.

Those are two very important parts

of the Great Commission, right?

But that's not the fullness

of the Great Commission.

Yes, it's telling people.

It's seeing people come to faith.

But the third aspect of that

is Jesus looks at his disciples

and he says,

and then teach them

all that I've commanded you.

All that I've instructed you.

All that I've shown you.

All that you've modeled.

So here's what this means.

What we see,

what we've heard,

what we've learned,

what we've been told by Jesus

is then not left up for us

to see if we feel like

we are called to do it,

if we want to do it,

if we're able to do it,

if we're good at doing it.

Jesus says,

no, you do it

because I've commanded you

to do it.

So that when we look

at these different aspects

of the fruit of the Spirit,

it's not like,

well, nah,

I'm good at this,

good at this,

good at this,

good at this,

not good at this,

not going to worry about it,

good at this,

good at this,

good at this,

right?

No, Jesus says,

no, you do them

because I've commanded you,

this is who you are to be,

right?

And so when Jesus commands us

and we see from God's word

that we're called to be people of peace,

here's what Peter is going to talk about this

in 1 Peter.

Now, if you know the Apostle Peter,

his personality was not necessarily peaceful,

right?

He was a guy that was pretty good with conflict,

right?

Have you ever heard people say,

like, I love conflict,

I love the tension,

I love those moments,

right?

Right?

That's not some of us,

but man,

that was the Apostle Peter.

He wasn't afraid of the moment.

But here's what he says

in 1 Peter 3, 11.

He says,

let him turn away from evil

and do good.

Let him seek peace

and pursue it.

Pursue it.

Right?

So,

peace

for you and I

isn't something we get to decide

if we want to pursue or not.

We're commanded to pursue it.

And for the rest of this message,

we're going to look and see what that means.

Because you're probably sitting there

thinking right now,

like,

there's these individuals in my life

and man,

we're just meshed so well together

and when we hang out,

there's never a moment of argument,

there's never a moment of conflict,

and man,

to live in peace with them

absolutely signed me up.

And then,

but then there's those other people,

right?

Or that other person.

And right now,

you're picturing them in their brain

and you know who they are,

okay?

You know them

and you're like,

but that's not me with them.

The rub that we have,

the issue that we have,

what they've done to me,

all that's gone on.

But God calls us,

you and I,

to be people of peace.

And so we're called to do it.

So where and with whom

does God call us to pursue peace?

We'll look at three aspects

that we can see in Scripture.

Number one is in the home.

It's in the home.

For some of you,

your home is a place of peace

and for others,

yours isn't.

And here's what God says

in Ephesians 6,

Paul writes.

He says,

children,

obey your parents and the Lord

for this is right.

Honor your father and mother.

This is the first commandment

with a promise.

That it may go well with you

and that you may live long

in the land.

All right,

let's pause here

for just a second.

So I'm going to walk over now

and head over to the kids

ministry building.

And parents,

I'll be back in about 10 minutes.

I'm about to lay it on them.

All right?

That's what we think.

Why aren't they all in here?

Why is Emma just in here

and gracing it?

You know what I mean?

This is all of them.

Here's something I want to point at

is we're largely in a group

of people who are adults.

This doesn't come

with an age limit.

Honor your father and mother

doesn't go away

when you turn 18.

So some of you are like,

yeah,

I'm nudging my kid,

but what if your parents

were here with you this morning

at 35,

45,

55,

65 years old?

This is the answer.

Children,

obey your parents

and the Lord

for this is right.

Honor your father and mother.

This is the first

commandment

with a promise

that it may go well with you

and that you may live long

in the land.

But then it continues on,

right?

Not with limit.

Fathers,

do not provoke

your children to anger,

but bring them up

in discipline

and instruction

of the Lord.

Happy Father's Day,

dads.

Fathers,

as the spiritual leaders

in your home,

fathers is the one

that God has entrusted

and called.

Do not provoke

your children to anger,

but bring them up

in discipline

and instruction

of the Lord.

And the beautiful thing

is that when the home

is under Christ

and that children,

whether they're five,

they're 15,

or they're 45,

understand what it means

to honor their father

and mother

and fathers understand

what it means

to raise

and to nurture

and to discipline

and to instruct

and to do all those things,

what we see in the home

is peace.

So maybe I need to dance

a little less

in Walmart, right?

Nah, she still laughs at me.

All right, number two.

In the church,

in the church,

us,

in the church,

Paul writes in Ephesians 4,

3,

be eager to maintain

the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

Eager to maintain

the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace.

The first thing,

the first word that we see there,

eager.

Be eager.

This is what you've determined

to do.

This is what you are looking for.

Be eager to do this.

This is what you're waiting for.

This is the anticipation.

This is what you're fighting for.

You are eager to do something.

You woke up this morning

with the excitement

of what you get to do today,

of what you've got to be on guard for,

of what you've got to look out for.

And us as a church,

what we have to,

within our walls together,

is to be eager.

What we have to do

as we work with our brothers

and sisters in Christ

who are Methodist

and Pentecostal

and Presbyterian

and different denominations,

is we have to be eager

because we're the body of Christ.

We have to be eager.

We have to look for it.

We have to aim for it.

We have to set for it.

And we have to stop fighting

over the things

that don't matter

and be eager

to maintain the unity

of the Spirit

and the bond of peace.

And what we see here

is that peace and unity

are connected.

Peace and unity

are connected.

Now, it doesn't mean

that there's not conflict.

I don't want to paint

this false facade of life

that in order to have peace

that you cannot have conflict.

You do have conflict.

You do see conflict.

You see conflict in Scripture.

You see conflict

amongst the disciples.

You see conflict

in church discipline

be handled and walked through.

There is those aspects

of those things there,

but the conflict

is working towards something.

The conflict is not working toward

let me prove how I am right.

Let me prove my agenda.

But the conflict

is working toward peace.

And then the third one,

in all relationships,

the writer of Hebrews,

Hebrews 12:14

chapter 12, verse 14,

says,

strive for peace

with everyone, right?

Even that neighbor.

Even that co-worker.

And for the holiness

without which

no one will see the Lord.

Strive for peace

with everyone.

We're about to look

at a passage of Scripture

in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

One of my favorite passages

of Scripture

that hurts my feelings

every time that I read it.

All right?

But to strive for peace

with everyone.

So how do we do this?

How do you and I

on our day-to-day

in our life

and our interactions

with what we do,

how do we do this?

So earlier,

we said,

peace is God's gift

to man

accomplished

through the work

and life of Jesus.

That's what Romans 5

teaches us.

Romans 5 teaches us

that peace is God's gift

to man

accomplished

through the work

and the life of Jesus.

So if this is true,

if we can yes

and amen

that the peace of God

that you and I experience,

the peace of God

that is eternal,

that rest in us,

if it's found

in the work

and in the life

of Jesus,

then the conclusion

we have to come to

is that the peace of God

requires sacrifice.

The peace of God

requires sacrifice.

So in order to you

to be a man

or a woman

of peace,

what you need

to embrace

in your life

is sacrifice.

The Bible calls us

and tells us

that we are ambassadors

of Christ.

And when an ambassador,

during the time

when Paul wrote that,

when an ambassador

would go

and speak for someone,

that ambassador

carried the authority

of the one

who sent them.

And so that

when the Bible says

that we are ambassadors,

that means that

we represent Christ

and that we're called

to tell

and to show

the world

who He is.

So we seek

to live in peace

with everyone.

And then here's

where this gets this.

Here's where it hurts

my feelings.

Here's where it steps

on my toes.

Here's the parts

that I wrestle with.

Even the people

who we deem

do not deserve it.

But do you know

they don't deserve

my peace.

But I didn't deserve

the peace of God

when Jesus died.

So what prevents this?

What prevents

from showing peace?

And here's what

we're going to look at

and see.

The fight against

in Romans 12

is this,

that pride prevents peace.

Pride prevents it.

Your and my

deep desire

to want to be right,

to want our own

justification,

torn our own

standing.

Our pride prevents

peace.

Look at Romans 12

starting in verse 14.

Paul writes

and he says,

bless those

who persecute you.

Bless and do not

curse them.

Rejoice with those

who rejoice.

Weep with those

who weep.

Live in harmony

with one another.

Do not be haughty

but associate

with the lowly.

Never be wise

in your own sight.

Repay no one

evil for evil

but give thought

to do what

is honorable

in the sight

of all people.

So how do we

live in peace?

Romans 12

is going to cover

some three aspects

of what it means

to live in peace

that would ring true

for those Christians

and first century Christians

and ring true

for us today.

The number one thing

that you and I

if we're going to be

people of peace

is that we have

to be

counter culture

Christians.

our culture

cannot determine

for us

what peace

is

what peace

looks like

and for us

to decide

if we are going

to be people

of peace.

If you and I

are going to

defeat pride

and be people

of peace

we have to

understand

we have to be

counter cultural

and it's been

counter cultural

from the beginning

that we're called

to be a light

in a world

of darkness

that we're called

to be hope

where there is no hope

this is not

an attack

on 2022 culture

this is an attack

on the sin

of man

where we're called

to shine

the light

Paul says

bless those

who persecute you

bless

and do not

curse them

I'll ask you

a question

like

what do you

want to do

to people

who hurt you

right

like yesterday

I'm driving

down the interstate

and I hear

this noise

and I look

in the rear view

mirror

and there's a guy

on a motorcycle

and we're coming

into Charlotte

and I don't

know about you

but there's

about a billion

punishments

in the world

that I would

take other

than driving

through Charlotte

traffic

okay

it's just

terrible

and I hear

beep

coming in

and then I see

him like flying

in and around

and then right

in between me

and another car

who was like this

he comes over

and comes over

in front

and I hit the brakes

and all of this

and then we

watch him

and he didn't

hurt me

but he made me

mad

right

and I wanted

to speed up

the car

and instruct him

on how that

was not wise

to do that

right

I wanted to

but peace

right

what do you do

if you want

to hurt you

do you want

to hurt them

do you want

to let others

know who they

really are

do you want

to shut them

out of your

life

here's what

Paul says

let me sum up

these several

verses

Paul says

when there are

those who

hurt you

Paul says

do good for

them

even the good

they do not

deserve

that's what it

means to fight

against culture

that's what it

means to head

into the opposite

direction

and then he

says

right

rejoice with

those who

rejoice

and weep

with those

who weep

so what

Paul's getting

to is in

being people

of peace

what we do

is we

empathize

with all

people in

all situations

when there

are those

who hurt

we hurt

when there

are those

who rejoice

re-rejoice

and what this

does when we

begin to think

of this

what does

it do

if I'm

having the

best day

of my

life

it's

phenomenal

everything's

going wonderful

and my wife

walks in

and she's

had a

terrible

day

at work

then what

do I

do

do I

listen to

her

and say

I'm

sorry

your day

is

terrible

but let

me tell you

how great

my day

was

no

when she

hurts

I hurt

counter to

that

when she

comes home

and she's

had the

terrible day

and I've

had the

good day

and she

walks right

in

and before

she can

set her

bag down

I begin

to tell

her

all the

wonderful

things

that happened

to me

that day

what does

she do

for me

right

she rejoices

she rejoices

her day

wasn't great

but mine

was

and so

that's what

it looks

like

and what

it does

this crazy

thing

we weep

with those

who weep

when we

rejoice

with those

who rejoice

what happens

us

is we

begin

to not

think

of

ourselves

first

first

right

Paul

continues

on

and he

says

live

in harmony

with one

another

do not

be haughty

but associate

with the

lowly

never be

wise

in your

own sight

repay

no one

evil

for evil

but give

thought

to do

what is

honorable

in the

sight

of all

so here's

what I

think

we can

we can

draw

from this

in the

context

of living

in peace

we got

to change

our view

on humanity

we got

to change

our view

on humanity

stop seeing

the world

as us

versus them

we got

to stop

living in

the world

that it's

a fight

that it's

a battle

and instead

we begin

to see

the world

not in

the battle

of us

versus them

but we

begin to

see the

world

in the

spiritual

fight

of us

for them

to declare

the hope

of the

gospel

and to

love

and to

care

and to

be

people

of peace

verse 18

here's

what Paul

says

if

possible

so far

as it

depends

on you

live

peaceably

with all

with all

if

possibly

so far

as it

depends

on you

live

peaceably

with

all

now

yes

I said

earlier

right

we're

going

to

hit

situations

in

our

life

as we

live

in

this

world

we're

in

a

relationship

with

someone

where peace

cannot be

found

they're

going to

live in

conflict

they're

going to

live in

hatred

they're

going to

live

in

anger

and I

heard

this

verse

talked

about

as

kind

of

the

clause

that

gets

us

out

Lord

I

tried

wash

my

hands

I'm

done

but I

don't

think

that's

what we're

seeing

here

if

possible

so far

as it

depends

on

you

now let me

read it to me

if possible

so far

as it

depends

on me

live

peaceably

with all

I

I

wrote

three

words

in my

notes

to

explain

this

verse

worry

about

you

worry

about

you

so many

times

in this

in this

life

in these

relationships

in these

moments

in these

pieces

of

conflict

I

will

sit

there

and

unpack

for

hours

all

the

things

all

the

wrongs

all

that

they've

done

and

why

in

them

this

can't

possibly

happen

this

possibly

can't

exist

but

Paul

says

if

possible

so far

as it

depends

on

you

guess

what

I

can't

control

them

guess

who

I

can

me

as far

as

so

as far

as it

depends

on

me

live

peaceably

with all

so

they're

going to

hurt

me

they're

going to

do

these

things

they're

going to

be

against

me

then

what

is

my

reaction

as

far

as

it

depends

on

me

live

peaceably

with

all

and

how do

we

live

in

peace

well

stop

giving

the

excuse

of

your

conflict

and

how

they're

the

sole

reason

for

it

and

instead

how it

rests

with

us

and

we'll

close

with

this

verse

19

beloved

never

avenge

yourself

but

leave

it

to

the

wrath

of

God

for

it

is

written

vengeance

is

mine

I

will

repay

says

the

Lord

to

the

contrary

if

your

enemy

is

hungry

feed

him

if

he

is

thirsty

give

him

something

to

drink

for

by

so

doing

you

will

heap

coals

on

his

head

do

not

become

be

overcome

by

evil

but

overcome

evil

with

good

so

how

do

we

live

in

peace

we

just

gotta

trust

God

we

just

gotta

trust

God

Jesus

is

our

standard

right

Jesus

is

our

standard

and

for

Jesus

life

trusting

the

plan

of

the

father

was

what

he

did

in

his

work

in

his

life

in

his

death

and

so

if

you

are

going

to

be

a

person

of

peace

if

you

and

I

are

going

to

be

people

of

peace

we

must

be

willing

to

be

a

person

of

sacrifice

peace

is

not

about

fair

but

it's

about

laying

aside

our

rights

in

the

hopes

that

others

may

come

to

know

him

and

in

that

process

you

and

I

grow

and

mature

our

faith

in

Christ

would

you

pray

with

me

Lord I

thank you

so much

for your

word

I

thank you

for the

hard

cutting

truth

of

your

scripture

Lord thank

you for

reminding

us of

who we

were

we were

not people

of peace

we weren't

even at

peace with

ourselves

at peace

with you

we were

at war

with you

and so

father you

sent your

son

to die

on the

cross

for us

we would

be

justified

that we

would be

saved

from your

wrath

that we

would no

longer be

enemies

but

reconciled

to you

through the

death

of your

son

and

Lord now

we have

peace

with you

Lord if

there's anyone

in here

who doesn't

know

that

peace

the peace

of the

Lord

Lord I

pray that

we would

begin

there

this

morning

Lord that

today

that the

truth

that they

are a

sinner

incapable

of saving

themselves

they can't

do enough

good

they can't

make enough

wrongs

right

the Bible

tells us

that

before

Christ

we're

we're

dead

in our

trespasses

and sins

so God

you sent

your son

and it's

through his

perfect life

and his

death

and his

resurrection

that they're

saved

from their

sins

that they're

saved

from the

wrath of

God

and their

relationship

with you

is restored

we're no

longer enemies

but we're

children

of God

Lord I pray

today

would be the

day they put

their faith

their hope

their trust

in you

that today

on this

father's day

they would

acknowledge

who their

heavenly

father is

and their

identity

would be

found in

you

and you

alone

Lord help

us be

people of

peace

Lord I

pray that

peace would

ring in

our homes

and reign

in our

lives

in our

relationships

Lord where

it's difficult

Lord that

we would

fight for

it

Lord that

we would

embrace

what your

word says

that if

possible so

far as it

depends on

us

that we

choose to

live in

peace

even those

that hurt

us

even those

that mock

us

we would

show them

the unity

in the

body

that we

would show

them the

peace that

you give

us

the love

that you

give us

Lord do

that maturing

deep

in us

today

in this

in Jesus

thanks again

for listening

to the

Willow Ridge

Church weekly

podcast we

hope that you

enjoyed listening

to this week's

message if you'd

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