JEHOVAH - Jehovah Shalom - The Lord our Peace // One Church Podcast, 21st August 2023

We are one church. We love God, love people, love

his mission and love his church. Welcome to the One Church

Podcast. Hello everyone, it's Chris here.

It's Monday the 21st of August, and wherever you're joining us

from, we're glad that you've tuned in to this week's podcast

before. We have the final part of our

series, Looking at the Names of God.

I wanted to encourage you with this thought.

Not only can we know God by name, but He knows us by name as

well. So whenever you may feel

discouraged or overwhelmed, remember this.

The creator of the universe knows you by name.

And now open up your hearts as we prepare to hear the word of

God with a message brought to us by Tom, recorded at the OB site

yesterday. Names are important.

Without a name, it would be very hard to introduce yourself.

When my children were young, when Annabelle was a baby, we

said to her, this is your grandma and this is your

granddad, my dad's parents. We called grandma and granddad

and we were quite keen that my parents would then be grandma

and granddad to our daughters. And so grandma.

Granddad, Grandma, Granddad. And one day Annabelle opened her

mouth and said me Ma. And since then she has been me

ma. And then one day Annabelle

opened their mouth and said Da. And since then he has been Da.

But there's power in the name. In the Bible it says this

glorify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together.

That's Psalm 34 verse 3. We glorify the Lord together,

Psalms 34:3

and we exalt His name. And His name is far more than

just God or Lord. There is richness, depth,

variety. There is amazing nuance to His

name. And throughout the Bible, God is

given many names, and each name describes one of His

characteristics, his attributes, and who he is.

And when we declare these names, we remind ourselves of who he

is. We declare and we glorify him

for who he is, and we remind one another of who he is.

So it's a triple whammy. We build our own faith.

We glorify him, and we build up those around us.

So the three names of God we've looked at so far this summer is

Jehovah Nisi, the Lord Our Banner.

He is Jehovah Nisi. Who is he?

He is Jehovah Nisi. OK, that was good.

That was good. I think that uplifted a couple

of people very close to you, but most of them didn't hear.

Who is he? He is Jehovah Nisi, and we raise

him up as our banner today. He's Jehovah Jira.

He's the Lord our provider. Who is he?

He is Jehovah Jira, and he provides for all of our needs

and he is in control. He is Jehovah Raffa.

He's the Lord our Healer. Who is he?

He is Jehovah Raffa, who heals your body, your emotions,

spiritually, physically, every part of you.

He is your healer. And today?

Jehovah Shalom. Say that with me, Jehovah

Shalom, the Lord is peace. And Lord today.

May your divine peace rest in this place.

The word Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, is far more than just

peace and quiet. The kind of peace that kids hear

about. I just want some peace in this

House. This morning, as we were getting

ready to come to church quite early, and we opened the front

door. And at that moment one of our

children, I won't say who, but one of them who is perhaps had a

birthday this week. She decided then to shout about

her sandals. They're not tight enough.

Mommy, you did them wrong. Peace.

Shh. We don't want to wake the

neighbors, but the Shalom we read about in the Bible is far

more than just peace and quiet. Shalom in the Old Testament is a

greeting. Shalom is a goodbye.

Shalom is peace. But not just that.

Peace and harmony with one another.

Together we have Shalom. It's prosperity and welfare.

In my life I have known the Shalom of God.

He's given me all I need. I am Shalom.

I am well. It's tranquility, just like

peace. And Choir.

We can have a moment that is Shalom.

They can be a place that is Shalom but also.

It's wholeness and completeness. Shalom.

So in the Bible we hear references to buildings,

temples, walls that are Shalom. They're Shalom, they are whole,

completed. The final brick goes in and

suddenly that place is Shalom. It's whole.

It's complete. And today, we're going to hear

about how we too can be made whole and complete.

So when we talk about peace, it's not just simply a gift that

is standalone that is given to each of us, but peace instead is

a person who is with us. And when we understand that our

God is peace, Jehovah Shalom, then we understand that in Him

and with Him we truly are whole, we are complete, and we have

everlasting Shalom in our lives. So each of these Jehovah names

that we've talked about over the summer.

They come from a part of the Bible.

They come from a story, and this one is no different.

In Judges 6 we hear the first reference to Jehovah Shalom in

and we hear about the story of Gideon.

You may know Gideon as that guy who was hiding.

God called him and then he went and did something with torches

and jars. However, the calling of Gideon

and the moment where God he intercepts him, where he is and

calls into something more, is an amazing moment.

It's also a moment where we see the simplicity of the human

mind, but also the grace and the love of God.

The Israelites have had 40 years of peace, 40 years of bliss.

Following Deborah and her exploits and her godliness.

We see peace in the land, but then we read in Judges 6 that

the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

And for seven years he gave them into the hands of the

Medianites. Because the power of Median was

so impressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves

in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.

In this moment the people do evil.

And God, it says he gives the hands of the Medianites.

Now whatever you think about the the heart of God in that and

giving his people over to another, the thing that I want

us to take is that our decisions have consequences.

When we choose to not follow what God says and we do evil in

his sights, we notice that we are robbed of the Shalom in our

lives, that wholeness, completeness, and that peace.

And maybe today you're feeling unrest.

Well, the good news today is even if you, like the

Israelites, are oppressed, sheltering, you're hiding away.

Do not worry, because there is peace for the oppressed today.

We move on. In verse six it says that

medians so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out

to the Lord for help. Sometimes when we walk through

hard situations, we find ourselves crying out for help.

The Israelites, they can take no more.

The oppression is too much and they cry out to the God who they

have turned their backs on for seven years.

And in that moment they find themselves on their knees.

And that's exactly where they should be.

On their knees. Asking for his help.

And that's where we should be daily on our knees crying out to

him. God, our God, our perfect loving

Father. Give us your Shalom.

Give me peace, make me whole and continue to make me complete.

So the good news today is there is peace for the desperate

person. There's more good news because

in verse 11 the Angel of the Lord comes.

So the Angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in

Oprah that belongs to Joe Ash the Abby's right, where his son

Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the

Midianites. And when the Angel of the Lord

appeared to Gideon, he said, The Lord is with you, mighty

warrior. Now wheat is not made to be

threshed in a wine press. Wheat and threshing and grain

and all these things. It's not my area of expertise.

Maybe it is yours, but in reading about it, wheat should

be threshed on the threshing floor, not in a wine press.

And it makes sense, because the names in it.

And a threshing floor is where the wind can blow through, and

all the little husks around the grain and all the straw and

other things is blown away by the wind, leaving the grain

there on the threshing floor. But Gideon, this man finds

himself hiding away in a wine press.

It was likely an enclosed area, maybe even underground in some

kind of cave or some kind of room.

And he finds himself hiding because he's worried that the

Midianites will steal the grain that he is threshing and he is

harvesting. And in this moment, Gideon is

hidden. He's hidden himself away, he has

experienced the turmoil in the land, and he has retreated.

And sometimes, in our lives too, we find ourselves in retreat

mode. We find ourselves in the wine

presses of life, hidden away, worried about what might come.

And in that moment, what does God say?

The Angel of the Lord comes and calls Gideon a mighty warrior.

It makes no sense. He's a man hiding in a wine

press, trying to sort out his grain so no one can see him.

He doesn't sound mighty, and he sure doesn't sound like a

warrior, but I love that God sees even in our hiddenness.

He sees what our potential is. He sees the person, the people

that we can be. And God sees that in you today.

He doesn't just see the person who has found themselves in a

certain place in life. Maybe you find yourself in a

wine press. You find yourself hiding away,

retreating in denial. Today he.

Looks at you, and he's ready to call out the greatness in you.

Because he made you for more than you know, because there is

peace for the hidden. And the great news continues, as

Gideon replies. And the great news here is that

Gideon is very much like us. He is very much human.

Pardon me, my Lord, Gideon replied.

But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?

Why? Why?

Why did you let the Midianites take us over?

Why have you delivered us into their hands?

What were you thinking, Lord? Why have you not protected us?

And of course, we see at the beginning of the chapter, it's

because they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

But in that moment, Gideon's asking that question, that many

ask why. And sometimes, even when we have

questions, even when we don't know why, we can know peace in

the middle of our questioning and today.

Because God is our Shalom. He's Jehovah Shalom.

We can know peace for the questioners.

And there's peace for you today. Questions are a good thing.

Never stop asking them. In verse 14, we go on.

The Lord turned to Gideon and said, go in the strength you

have and save Israel out of Midian's hand.

Am I not sending you? Pardon me, my Lord, Gideon

replied. But how could I save Israel?

My clan is the weakest in Manassa and I am the least in my

family. Gideon has no self belief in

this moment. The idea of him being a mighty

warrior is so far removed from his thinking.

I guess that's what 7 years hiding away from people

oppressing you does, and some of you might know that feeling of

being hidden for seven years or even more.

The Relentless. Relentless drilling down the

oppression from others, the constant knowing that there is

there is no hope for tomorrow, and being robbed at all of

peace. In that moment, Gideon has

nothing left. Why me?

I can't do anything. My clan's the weakest and I'm

the least in my family. But God is choosing Gideon.

I love the God chooses the foolish things to shame the wise

and the weak to shame the strong.

God says Mighty Warrior, even though Gideon feels inadequate.

And here's the good news for us. There is peace today for those

who feel inadequate. If you don't think you're

enough, God still has faith in you.

Verse 16, the Lord answered. I will be with you and you will

strike down all the media nights, leaving none alive.

And Gideon replied. If now?

Have found favor in your eyes. Then give me a sign that it's

really you talking to me. That's what 7 years does. 7

years of silence leads you, right?

If it really is you and you're calling me to do this, I'm going

to need a sign. And if you are a doubter, you

need a sign. You need evidence, You need an

answer. You need it to be concrete.

The good news is you, like Gideon, can know peace in the

middle of doubt. Doubt is something that many of

us walk through at different stages in different ways in our

lives. And today, because God is

Jehovah Shalam, there is peace for the doubting mind, and there

is peace for the doubting people.

And in verse 19 to 21 and then 22 we have the moment where

okay, if you want to test me, I'll show you that what I said

is true. So the Angel of the Lord says,

go and get some goat meat, some bread, bring it as an offering.

And so he does. So the Angel of the Lord touches

the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff

that was in his hand. And fire flared from the rock

consuming the meat and the bread char grilled.

Don't you think it sounds delicious anyway?

And the Angel of the Lord disappeared in that moment, the

evidence that he's with him. And then suddenly the Angel is

gone. And when Gideon realized it was

the Angel of the Lord, he exclaimed.

Alas, sovereign Lord, I have seen the Angel of the Lord face

to face. And in that moment it's not a

cry of wonder. It's a cry of fear.

He's seen the Lord face to face. He cannot see the Lord face to

face and live. And in that moment, it's like

Gideon has a Peter moment in the New Testament where Jesus, he,

he sends them out in the boat again.

And he says, throw your necks over the other side of the boat.

And they do, and they catch this miraculous catch of fish and

they have to pull it into the boat.

And it's so heavy they nearly sink.

And at that moment, Peter's reaction to seeing Jesus and who

he is, is this Go away from me, Lord.

I am a sinful man. And Gideon has a moment like

that here. The good news is, in the middle

of fear, he's still Jehovah Shalam.

And he is peace for the fearful, so don't be afraid.

So the Lord said to him. Peace.

Don't be afraid. You're not going to die.

And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The

Lord is peace. And to this day it stands in

Oprah of the Abby's rights. Now in this moment, Gideon does

his act of worship in the way he knows how.

He builds a physical altar. Saying that the Lord is peace,

and in the middle of me and my wine Press of life and in all

that I was walking through, He chose me.

He called me out of it, and I've come to know him as the one who

gives me peace. And He worships our response to

encountering the peace of God should always be to worship.

So today don't be afraid because Jehovah Shalom is with you and

He's for you and you love that phrase.

Like to this day, it still stands.

Obviously that's the person who is writing down this account in

Judges, but for us today, we're not sure if that altar still

stands. However, the peace of the Lord

still stands today. It's not been shaken.

It's never been knocked. He's still Jehovah Shalom

because he never changes. He's the same yesterday, today

and forever. And today you can know the

perfect peace of God. And his peace is for the

oppressed, and his peace is for the desperate.

His peace is for the hidden, His peace is for the questioners,

His peace is for the inadequate, His peace is for the doubters,

and his peace is for the fearful.

And still to this day there is peace because our God is Jehovah

Shalom. The Lord is peace, wholeness,

completeness, and throughout the Bible, as I've said, the many

different things referred to as Shalom that are complete.

In 1998, I finished a Premier League sticker book and it was

one of my greatest achievements of my childhood.

I went to a swap shop. Give me a wave, if you've ever

been to a swap shop, to swap stickers and get the ones you

needed for your collection. Thank you.

That's one person you guys need to learn how to collect

stickers. It's a fantastic hobby.

I did it for one year and that was about it, but I completed my

9798 football sticker album. I was so proud to say that my

sticker book is Shalom. I didn't say that when I was. 8

year old. But it was it was complete.

There was nothing else needed. And today we can understand a

little bit of what it means to be whole and what it means to be

complete. And the reason we can know that

is not because we read about it in this account of Gideon's

life. It's because we don't just know

Jehovah Shalom, who was an alt, that altar built to remember who

he was. And we recount the stories of

old today. We don't just know him as

Jehovah Shalom. We know our God as the Prince of

Peace because we know Jesus. Everything has changed.

Can I just remind you that Jesus, when he is declared as

the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9? He is the one who came to earth,

lived a perfect sinless life, who called every person into

relationship with him, who made a way for all to be saved, who

is the living way, truth and life, and through him is the

only way to the Father. This is Jesus, and He is the

Prince of Peace. He is Jehovah Shalom.

And we can know perfect peace through and in the person of

Jesus. Do you know there are many

people who believe that the Angel of the Lord, in judge of

six, was in fact Jesus himself? These are called Christophanies,

like the idea of Jesus appearing in the Old Testament.

And many people study these things for years and much of

their lives. And for me, if it's Jesus,

great. And if it isn't Jesus great.

If it's an Angel, great. If it's one of the Seraphim,

great. If it's a person that God sent,

great. But what I know is this, that

the perfect representation of God there with Gideon we find in

Jesus himself he is our peace and he is with us.

And when Jesus came to earth and walked on the the ground that we

walk on and lived the kind of life that we lived, felt the

same temptation we feel and conquered, it lived a perfect

life. Now we can run to him and we can

know him as a friend. Suddenly peace is not a far off

God who we declare and we worship.

Suddenly, peace is one who is right next to us and with us all

the time. He is our Shalon.

He makes us whole. He makes us complete.

As I said in Isaiah 9 we read the unto us A child is born unto

us, a son is given, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

There is a Prince of Peace in John chapter 14, verse 27.

John 14:27

Jesus words listen to them and take them in 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. So not only is Jesus the Prince

of Peace, Jesus gives us his peace, but it goes even further

than that. Have a revelation today of

Ephesians Chapter 2. You were separate from Christ.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the

covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in

the world, but now in Christ Jesus.

You who once were far away have been brought near by the blood

of Christ. For He himself is our peace.

Not only is Jesus the Prince of Peace, not only does he give us

his peace, Jesus himself, he is our peace.

Jehovah Shalom doesn't mean God gives us peace or God has some

peace to give us a gift. It means our God is peace.

Him being a Prince of peace doesn't mean that Jesus is able

to just give you this gift of peace as a standalone gift.

Have some peace and then go on your jolly way.

Jesus himself is peace. He doesn't say I'm going to give

you peace. He says I'm going to be with you

and I am peace itself. I am the Prince of Peace.

I am Jehovah Shalom, and I'm with you, and I make you whole

and I make you complete. And as I sat and dwell on this,

even just this morning, just looking over these words that I

was going to share, I did just get a little bit overwhelmed

with the idea that Gideon's peace didn't come as a gift, a

separate gift. Gideon's peace came from the

presence of this Angel of the Lord.

And our peace doesn't come as a separate gift.

If you've ever prayed for peace without praying for an encounter

with Jesus, then we kind of miss the point.

Because our peace comes from a personal encounter with Jesus

himself, who is peace. Peace is found in a person.

It's not just given as a gift. He promises to be with us.

And in John 16, I have told you these things so that in me you

may have peace. In this world, you will have

trouble. Gideon.

He had his troubles. All of us here today, we have

our troubles. Unique circumstances, individual

circumstances, different perspectives, different

struggles. But all of us, we will have

trouble. It's there in the Bible.

But take heart. I have overcome the world.

Do you know when we have a revelation of who Jesus is?

What happens is we don't just get overwhelmed with peace right

now for today or the wholeness that I can know today.

We're not just longing to be complete in this moment or for

the next few hours. What we have a revelation of is

that Jesus came to make us whole, to make us complete, to

give us Shalom forever in Him. The reason we can take heart and

know He's overcome the world is because He has made us whole and

complete now and for eternity. When the when we're oppressed,

we know that Jesus is our peace, and forever we will be with him

and for the desperate, the hidden, and the questioner.

He is the answer and he is the way for the inadequate and the

doubter and the fearful. Jesus is our anchor and it

endures. He never stops loving, He never

stops revealing himself to us. Jesus has overcome the world,

and when we know him for ourselves, everything really is

all right. Today, we're not praying for

peace, full stop. We're praying for an encounter

with Jehovah Shalom. We're praying for a touch from

our Prince of Peace today. We're not praying just for a a

prepackaged gift of peace in each of our lives as we declare

this name of God Today, we are calling out and saying, Jesus,

show yourself to me again, Jehovah Shalom.

Show me your ways, Prince of Peace.

Draw near to me. Thank you, Jesus, that you make

me whole. You make me complete by your

stripes. I'm healed because of your

wounds, because of your life. I'm healed.

I'm whole. I'm complete.

There's nothing missing. Like a perfect wall with not one

brick out of place. Because of what Jesus has done.

I have been rebuilt, restored. There is nothing missing.

I am whole. I'm complete.

And I know Shalom because Jesus has done this.

The Prince of Peace has overcome the world and has made a way for

me to be whole, and in him everything is alright.

I'd love to pray for us in the room, and if you're listening

online as well, I'd love to pray for you too.

Because Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Our God is Jehovah Shalom, and he is big enough, loving enough,

caring enough and able enough to meet with each of you

individually. In this moment He placed all the

stars in the sky. He knows how many pieces of sand

there are on each seashore. He holds it all together and he

cares about you. He is big enough to speak to you

and reveal himself to you now, so let's pray.

So right now, maybe you simply want to put your hands out in

front of you to receive. Maybe you just want to close

your eyes and have a moment of stillness.

You could say peace. You want to have a moment of

Shalom right now in the room or wherever you are.

But I'm going to pray. And as I do, I believe that

Jesus, who is our peace, God, who is Jehovah Shalom, He is

able to encounter each of us and reveal himself Right now.

Let's just be still for a moment.

Lord, we thank you for Gideon and for this amazing story.

Thank you for the victory that he saw in the next chapter of

the Bible. And thank you for the way you

called him Lord. We acknowledge that sometimes we

find ourselves in the wine presses of life, hidden away

without hope with questions, doubt in our hearts and with

fear in our lives. And today we thank you that you

are Jehovah Shalom. It is your name.

It is who you are. We thank you that you are our

Prince of Peace, Jesus. It is your name.

It is who you are. You don't just give us the gift

of peace. You give us the gift of

yourself. And you are peace.

So holy God, come and draw close to us today.

Come and show us your heart. Come and whisper to us your

love. Come and come for us in our

troubles. Come and restore hope to even

the most hopeless heart. And would you help us know that

you've overcome the world? We thank you that no one can

deny the words You said that in me You may have peace in the

world you will have trouble. But take our I've overcome the

world. And today we receive you the

most precious gift of all. Jehovah Shalam the Lord my

peace. Thank you, Tom, for that great

message. What an incredibly powerful

truth. And if you would value prayer or

would like to respond in any other way, do get in touch with

the team today. We would love to hear from you

and we would love to stand with you.

There's lots of exciting things coming up in the life of 1

Church, so this is your family news.

Firstly, it is now less than three weeks until we open the

renovated One center at 10 Frog Island, so make sure you join us

on either Saturday the 9th of September in the evening or for

two gatherings in the morning of Sunday the 10th of September.

These will be fantastic times of celebration and dedication, so

make sure you're there and do also invite someone to come with

you. Secondly, we want to make this

weekend available to the whole of 1 Church.

So if you are unable to join us physically then join us online.

Head to our YouTube channel for a live stream of the second

gathering of Sunday, the 10th of September.

This will also be available to catch up anytime.

Thirdly, alongside opening the One Center, we also launched our

new coffee shop Way Coffee. This will serve to facilitate

our midweek ministries as well as being open to the community

as a welcoming space and a place where people can find Jesus.

If you have a regular morning or afternoon in your week where you

would love to volunteer and be part of the team at Wake Coffee,

then do get in touch and we would love to hear from you.

And finally, this Sunday, we have our next encounter night,

7:00 PM at 12 Frog Island. Do you come and join us as we

make space for the presence of God and allow Him to do what he

wants to do? The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to

you. The Lord turn his face towards

you and give you peace.