SPEAKER_00: Now, before you guys are seated today, I want to try something out.
SPEAKER_00: So traditionally, you know, we greet each other with a peace, and someone will say, The peace of God be with you, and you would respond with, and also with you.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so the peace of God be with you.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and take a seat.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Ben Carruthers.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the director of student and family ministry here.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I feel pretty lucky.
SPEAKER_00: This is the second week I got to do this, deliver the word.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Ryan uh is still out.
SPEAKER_00: Uh he'll be back in a couple weeks.
SPEAKER_00: And but we're still in this sermon series called Story Context Symbol, where we take a story from scripture, we dive deep into the context of it, which is extremely important, and then we talk about the symbol, what this kind of story means.
SPEAKER_00: And you heard that we're wrapping up in a couple weeks, and I'm gonna be honest with you, like we might ex that might even extend because every time we say we're gonna end this, we're like, well, this is a great story, we should do this.
SPEAKER_00: And it should have ended like three weeks ago, but we're just loving this series so much, and so hopefully you are as well.
SPEAKER_00: The piece of this that's really important to me is the context, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, what's going on in the scripture?
SPEAKER_00: Because we are people really not of context, we just kind of want the information.
SPEAKER_00: We want we want that Bible verse.
SPEAKER_00: I have a my oldest son Isaiah is great at this.
SPEAKER_00: He will start telling me a story, and I have no idea what he's talking about.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, man, Timmy, he shouldn't have done what he did at school today.
SPEAKER_00: All right, who's Timmy and what did he do, right?
SPEAKER_00: Or like, man, you dad, like today at school, I got an F.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, what did you get an F in?
SPEAKER_00: Or what are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00: And he just stops his whole story.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, buddy, I need some context here.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing with scripture.
SPEAKER_00: We take a piece of scripture, a verse from scripture, and we just we put it on bumper stickers, we put it on t-shirts, but there's so much more.
SPEAKER_00: And in this passage that you heard, we're gonna go back a few chapters today to really see what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: But the symbol of what we're talking about is this idea of peace.
SPEAKER_00: This peace that comes from Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And the sermon title is called Peace Really?
SPEAKER_00: Because so many of us are here today, and we hear the word peace, and we're like, man, you have no idea what's going on in my life.
SPEAKER_00: Peace is so far away from me.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't been at peace for years dealing with this.
SPEAKER_00: So, peace really?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what Jesus is talking about.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about this peace that comes from him today.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to ask you this question, and the question is this what does this mean to you?
SPEAKER_00: What does the word peace mean to you?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to you?
SPEAKER_00: And I think it mean it can mean something different to a lot of us.
SPEAKER_00: Peace looks different to a lot of this.
SPEAKER_00: I found out very early in my marriage to my wife that we I have a different idea of what peace means between the two of us.
SPEAKER_00: I am an early riser.
SPEAKER_00: I get up early in the morning, uh, thanks to my kids who, since they were little, got me up early, and my wife always pushed them off on me, like, you got this, you know, you got this.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm used to getting up early, 5:30, 6 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: My wife loves to sleep in, and we know this in our house.
SPEAKER_00: And it's, you know, it could be 8 o'clock in the morning, and I'm like, honey, it's time to get up.
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, no, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like it's time for you to get up, right?
SPEAKER_00: Her favorite, like she's got the snooze thing.
SPEAKER_00: She doesn't have a button anymore.
SPEAKER_00: It's more like, Alexa, five more minutes, you know?
SPEAKER_00: And it's just, she doesn't like the mornings.
SPEAKER_00: And this gene has gotten into our youngest son, Ezra, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Ezra, it'll be 8:30 in the morning, and no one's waking him up.
SPEAKER_00: No one's in his room, and he'll just yell out, I'm not getting out of bed today.
SPEAKER_00: And I look at my wife and I'm like, that sounds familiar, right?
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, go get him, you know.
SPEAKER_00: We deal with peace differently.
SPEAKER_00: And we were on vacation, and so my wife is not an early riser, so I'm like, finally, on vacation, right?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be able to sleep in.
SPEAKER_00: And so for our honeymoon, we went to Jamaica, and uh, it's beautiful, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're in this beautiful bungalow, it's absolutely gorgeous out, and I hear I feel this poke at like 6 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, it's time to get up.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: First of all, what are you doing awake?
SPEAKER_00: Like, this has never happened.
SPEAKER_00: Like, we need time.
SPEAKER_00: We're on vacation.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, I know, let's go, but enjoy the day.
SPEAKER_00: It's like you're never this excited in the morning.
SPEAKER_00: And it's 6 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: on vacation when we're supposed to be sleeping, when I'm supposed to be peace, that's when she's full of joy and full of energy and she's ready to go.
SPEAKER_00: Peace looks different for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: But in your minds, when I say the word peace, what does that look like for you?
SPEAKER_00: The second question I want to ask you is what would life look like right now if you were at peace?
SPEAKER_00: What would your life look like right now if you felt at peace?
SPEAKER_00: And this is where the sermon title comes in, because you can be like, man, peace really?
SPEAKER_00: You have no idea of the struggles.
SPEAKER_00: Last week we talked about um the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and we talked about fire being suffering and about how we all deal with suffering, but we don't walk through it alone, and we're there with each other and with Christ in the fire.
SPEAKER_00: And so you're right, I have no idea what fires are going on in your life right now.
SPEAKER_00: I have none.
SPEAKER_00: And peace may seem so far away, and it has for so long that this message just is just feels like complete garbage to you.
SPEAKER_00: And I get it.
SPEAKER_00: Because we all walk through fires.
SPEAKER_00: We all have times in our life where the anxiety, the fear, the worry, it's just too much.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to share with you this passage this morning because we are in good company because the disciples in this story are dealing with fire after fire after fire, and it's then where Jesus says, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: My peace I give you, and I do not give as the world gives.
SPEAKER_00: You see, things aren't going all honky-dory for the disciples in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: The walls of their lives are closing in around them.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is speaking about all of these things that are to come, and he's pulling the bricks out of their walls, and the bricks are tumbling down upon them.
SPEAKER_00: There's fires everywhere, and it's in the midst of these fires.
SPEAKER_00: While they're going to be going through these fires, Jesus says, My peace I give to you.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're here this morning and you feel, man, like you are going through the fire, when Jesus says, Peace be with you to his disciples, he speaks that word to you this morning as well.
SPEAKER_00: And this is a peace that passes all understanding.
SPEAKER_00: So our prayer this morning is truly that we can feel at peace, but even more so, and we'll find out through the scriptures today, it's more than that.
SPEAKER_00: Not just that we receive the peace of Christ, this peace that passes all understanding, but we become the peacemakers of those around us and the peacemakers of the world that we live in.
SPEAKER_00: Because I think as we go through this story, we see that maybe true peace is found in serving and loving others.
SPEAKER_00: So that's our prayer this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So will you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, Lord God, we do give you thanks and praise for an opportunity to gather and to worship and to be part of these sacraments like baptism.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we come today with each of us a different idea of what peace looks like, a different idea of what it would mean to be fully at peace right now.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we thank you for this passage that you speak about peace, this gift of peace that comes from you.
SPEAKER_00: I pray, Lord, that whatever the fires are in our life that we're walking through, maybe some really intense and great, some very minor, but Lord, we just do pray for that spirit of peace to fill this room right now.
SPEAKER_00: Give us peace of mind, peace of heart to hear your word this morning, and help us to be the peacemakers in this world.
SPEAKER_00: It's in your name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So the story and context of this passage, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we we heard that the disciples are gathered together, and Jesus is speaking, and he says, Peace be with you, the gift of peace I give you, I give like the world does not give, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we hear that.
SPEAKER_00: That's a great word of encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: But let's go back.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go in the context of scripture.
SPEAKER_00: What exactly is going on here?
SPEAKER_00: Because this is the stage that is set.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus and his disciples are gathered in the upper room.
SPEAKER_00: This is the week of Passover, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is the big celebration of Passover that's going on, which we refer to as holy week in the church, right?
SPEAKER_00: So this is the week that is leading up to Christ crucified.
SPEAKER_00: And so they are gathered together, uh, sharing a meal, and Jesus is speaking to them.
SPEAKER_00: And this conversation that is being had where he talks about peace is a small part of a much larger conversation.
SPEAKER_00: And it's that larger conversation that we need to look at to realize the importance of these words, truly this word peace.
SPEAKER_00: So let's go back.
SPEAKER_00: This is John 14, but let's go back to John 12, verse 27, where Jesus says this.
SPEAKER_00: Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say?
SPEAKER_00: Father, save me from this hour.
SPEAKER_00: No, it was for this reason I came to this hour.
SPEAKER_00: So he's speaking to the disciples here, and the disciples are probably confused, but what Jesus is saying is that I am going to die.
SPEAKER_00: My time on this earth is coming to an end.
SPEAKER_00: Now we have to remember the disciples in Jesus have been together for three years, doing life together.
SPEAKER_00: Man, when you had a rabbi, when you had a teacher, you followed their footsteps.
SPEAKER_00: You live together, you walk together.
SPEAKER_00: These guys have uh been learning from him for three years.
SPEAKER_00: This is one tight group of people.
SPEAKER_00: They love Jesus and Jesus loves them.
SPEAKER_00: And the one of the first things he says to them is, Listen, I'm about to die.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a peaceful statement for the disciples to hear.
SPEAKER_00: The bricks are starting to fall down.
SPEAKER_00: A few verses later in John 13, verse 21, Jesus says this.
SPEAKER_00: Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.
SPEAKER_00: One of you will betray me.
SPEAKER_00: This is not good news.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a peaceful message that Jesus is bringing.
SPEAKER_00: This is another fire that he's lighting to his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Not only am I about to die, they don't really know what that means yet.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean you're about to die?
SPEAKER_00: You're the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to save us from this Roman Empire.
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to deliver us.
SPEAKER_00: You are supposed to deliver God's people.
SPEAKER_00: You're not supposed to die.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00: And now you say that one of us who love you is going to betray you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is lighting another fire in the disciples' lives.
SPEAKER_00: And he continues to go on.
SPEAKER_00: John 13, 36.
SPEAKER_00: Simon Peter asked, Lord, where are you going?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus replied, You cannot go with me now, but you will follow me later.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, these they've been following Jesus for three years.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean we can't follow you?
SPEAKER_00: Where you go, we go.
SPEAKER_00: This is their leader.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: This is heartbreaking for these disciples.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a message of peace.
SPEAKER_00: And now, Peter, of course, mean I love Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's like, what are you talking about, man?
SPEAKER_00: Wherever you go, I'm gonna go.
SPEAKER_00: No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna harm you, I'll protect you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm your boy, I got you, right?
SPEAKER_00: Then just a few passages later, after Peter has this great stance, like, oh no, no one's gonna hurt you.
SPEAKER_00: I got this.
SPEAKER_00: Peter says, This.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered, die for me.
SPEAKER_00: Because I'll die for you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: No one's gonna harm you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered, die for me.
SPEAKER_00: I tell you the truth, Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even knew me.
SPEAKER_00: It's after Jesus says, Hey guys, listen up.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna die soon.
SPEAKER_00: One of you will betray me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna leave you, and where I'm going, you cannot follow.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter, one of the you know the top three guys in the group here, you're gonna say you don't even know me.
SPEAKER_00: And then after all of these happy go-lucky sayings from Jesus, he says, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: Peace, Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: What are you saying?
SPEAKER_00: How can we have peace?
SPEAKER_00: You just said our whole world is falling apart.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna die, you're gonna leave us.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's gonna Peter's gonna say this, no, you one of us is gonna betray you.
SPEAKER_00: How can we have peace here?
SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing that we say.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_00: I lost my job.
SPEAKER_00: I'm watching my children make decisions that I can't stop and they're ruining their lives.
SPEAKER_00: I can't afford to put food on the table.
SPEAKER_00: My car won't start.
SPEAKER_00: Peace?
SPEAKER_00: How am I supposed to have peace with all of these fires in my life?
SPEAKER_00: And yet Jesus says, Peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: Peace, really?
SPEAKER_00: But then he says something that changes the way we view about peace.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Peace I give you.
SPEAKER_00: My gift of peace I give you.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says, What I give, the way that I give peace, is not the way the world gives peace.
SPEAKER_00: And that's crucial here.
SPEAKER_00: Because if we go back to those questions that I asked in the beginning, what does the word peace look like for you?
SPEAKER_00: And and what would it look like if you felt peace?
SPEAKER_00: I bet many of you, myself included, would say, like, well, I would feel peace if my bank account number was a lot bigger, right?
SPEAKER_00: I would feel peace if I had a better car.
SPEAKER_00: I would feel at peace if this and if that.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the world things, right?
SPEAKER_00: Those are the things that the world says brings us peace.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, No, my peace is not like that.
SPEAKER_00: It's different.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: What are ways that the world brings us peace that Jesus is saying, no, this isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing that I think that we as people believe is this idea of getting away from it all.
SPEAKER_00: Vacation.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, vacation, you hear me, vacation is good, right?
SPEAKER_00: Take vacation, go with your family.
SPEAKER_00: That's it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: But is that where we find true long peace?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: But the world says that's it.
SPEAKER_00: You go on vacation and you have this peace.
SPEAKER_00: So there's actually a clinical thing where people, their physical body goes through symptoms where the doctor will say, Man, you just need to get away.
SPEAKER_00: You need a vacation.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And some of these symptoms are like this.
SPEAKER_00: So it's anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: I I look, I researched a medical journal on Google.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't know what this.
SPEAKER_00: So it's anxiety, increased irritability, difficulty sleeping, and general discomfort.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So if you go to the doctor and say, Man, I'm experiencing these things, they might tell you you need to get away.
SPEAKER_00: You need a vacation.
SPEAKER_00: So you go on vacation, right?
SPEAKER_00: You have a blast, whatever that looks like, going to the beach, going to a cabin to read, or in my case, Disney World, because I'm a giant child, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like whatever it is, like that's your thing.
SPEAKER_00: You go away, but then there's this other real thing that we deal with that people deal with, and it's called this.
SPEAKER_00: It's called post-vacation depression.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you know what this feels like, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's like you come back and you're like, I don't want to be here.
SPEAKER_00: Go bring me back, right?
SPEAKER_00: And it's so bad that the very last day of vacation, and you know what I mean, right?
SPEAKER_00: You're on vacation, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Thursday is your last day, and your last day on vacation is awful because all you can think about is packing up and leaving, right?
SPEAKER_00: And you come back and you have this post-vacation depression.
SPEAKER_00: These also have symptoms, and these are the symptoms: anxiety, increased irritability, difficulty sleeping, general discomfort.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in case you missed it, here's a side-by-side comparison between pre and post-vacation.
SPEAKER_00: Vacation's great.
SPEAKER_00: Take vacation, go away.
SPEAKER_00: But the fire is still here when you come back.
SPEAKER_00: What you left is waiting for you.
SPEAKER_00: See, the peace is not just found in that.
SPEAKER_00: The peace that Jesus offers says, man, the fire might still be there, but you're gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: That's the peace that Jesus offers.
SPEAKER_00: The world says, vacation, get away from it all.
SPEAKER_00: We do, and then we come back, and the anxiety level is even higher.
SPEAKER_00: That's one way the world says that it will give you peace.
SPEAKER_00: The second is this through success.
SPEAKER_00: Through success, through having the most money, the best job, the better the best car, all of these things.
SPEAKER_00: If you can just be successful, you will have peace.
SPEAKER_00: This morning, uh, my daughter Maya played in a soccer tournament.
SPEAKER_00: I think she's here now.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where she is.
SPEAKER_00: Hi, Maya, if you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Um, she played in a soccer tournament this morning, and uh she's great.
SPEAKER_00: She's a great soccer player.
SPEAKER_00: And my older two boys, they also play soccer and football, and they're very different athletes and they're different people mindsets.
SPEAKER_00: My daughter can go out on that soccer field and give it her all, right?
SPEAKER_00: She's a good player.
SPEAKER_00: She doesn't take any garbage either from the boys, right?
SPEAKER_00: The boys come up and right back at them.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so proud of her, right?
SPEAKER_00: She's top.
SPEAKER_00: She goes out there and plays, and she'll score goals, she won't score goals.
SPEAKER_00: But no matter what happens during that game, she'll come off feeling at peace.
SPEAKER_00: Win or lose, score five goals or zero goals, she'll come off and she'll just have the smile on her face and be at peace.
SPEAKER_00: It's incredible.
SPEAKER_00: My boys, on the other hand, they'll go and play soccer, they'll go play football, and they'll have a great game.
SPEAKER_00: They'll score touchdowns, they'll win the game and they'll come off and they'll tell you all about it.
SPEAKER_00: They'll tell you about all of their successes.
SPEAKER_00: I got this many touchdowns, I got this many outs, I pulled this many flags, I scored this many goals.
SPEAKER_00: And they're excited and they're at peace.
SPEAKER_00: But if they lose that game, if they don't have success, as the world would say successes, they come off that field and they tell me about all the things they did wrong.
SPEAKER_00: All the shots that they missed, all the flags that they missed, all the passes that they threw bad.
SPEAKER_00: And it'll stew in them all day.
SPEAKER_00: Because for some reason, peace in the world is measured by success.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the peace that Jesus is talking about here.
SPEAKER_00: There's a third, even more impactful thing that the world says will give you peace, and it's very fleeting, and it's for those cases where the fires in our lives burn so hot, and there's so many of them, and we feel there is no hope that we turn to substances just to find a bit of relief.
SPEAKER_00: We turn to alcohol, we turn to drugs, we turn to sex, we turn to all these different things of the world that says, just for a minute, life is so hard, the fire is so hot, that they just want to have a minute, a moment of peace.
SPEAKER_00: And that's all they need.
SPEAKER_00: And that moment is gone, and they keep going back to that substance, to that person that they will never find peace at.
SPEAKER_00: The world will tell you peace comes in these different forms, in getting away from it all, in vacation, in money, in power, in success, even from the bottom of a bottle.
SPEAKER_00: But this is not the way that Jesus describes peace.
SPEAKER_00: This is not the peace that he promises to his disciples, it's not the peace that he promises to you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' peace looks different than the way the world looks because here it is.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the kicker.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about anything that we do or we can gain, but it's about everything that's been accomplished through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's about everything that's been accomplished on that cross for us.
SPEAKER_00: That is where we find peace.
SPEAKER_00: We never find in Scripture a promise from God that says you will never have fires in your life.
SPEAKER_00: You will never go through a life without trials, without tribulations, you will never have hurt, you will never have pain, you will never find that spoken by Jesus because it's just not true.
SPEAKER_00: But what he says to you is that when you go through those fires, when you do hurt, when you do have pain, my peace is there for you.
SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't make any sense to us.
SPEAKER_00: How can we have peace while in the fire?
SPEAKER_00: The fire is what's causing the hurt and the pain.
SPEAKER_00: We have peace because of what Jesus has accomplished.
SPEAKER_00: Because no matter how great that fire gets, no matter how hard this world hits us, no matter how much pain or suffering we go through, even if that leads to death, our death leads to new life in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we find peace.
SPEAKER_00: But we don't understand it, and that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: This message today is not about understanding how this can be true.
SPEAKER_00: Because uh Paul himself writes, this is the peace that passes all understanding.
SPEAKER_00: In Philippians 4.7, he says this, and I probably jumped all over the place.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Sarah.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians 4.7 says this.
SPEAKER_00: Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
SPEAKER_00: His peace will guard your hearts and guard your mind.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we don't understand this because peace from Christ comes in a different way than the world.
SPEAKER_00: It comes from sacrifice, it comes from the word and sacraments.
SPEAKER_00: This is one beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: We gather weekly to hear God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because peace is found in the words of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We gather each week for the sacraments, this baptism and holy communion.
SPEAKER_00: We do this because peace is found here.
SPEAKER_00: Because in baptism, there's a promise of forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_00: When we watch baptism happen and the water is poured over those babies or adults' heads, we are reminded in the forgiveness that we have in our sins.
SPEAKER_00: When we gather at the table and have this meal together in communion, we were reminded of God's love for us, that that peace is for us and has been paid for by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We can't understand it.
SPEAKER_00: But that's the peace that we have.
SPEAKER_00: Now, another thing about this peace that is passes all understanding is if we go back to the context, and when Jesus is offering his disciples peace during all the fires that are about to happen in their life, what's going on in Jesus' life at that moment?
SPEAKER_00: Just hours from when he says this, he's about to be arrested.
SPEAKER_00: He's about to be tortured, he's about to be crucified on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: You see, when Jesus says, My peace I give to you, he himself is walking through the fires.
SPEAKER_00: That beautiful passage from Philippians by Paul when he said, The peace that passes all understanding is for you.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know where Paul was when he wrote that to the church in Philippi?
SPEAKER_00: He was in prison.
SPEAKER_00: He was dealing with his own fire.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Central, we are not supposed to sit back and consume God's peace as easy and as great as that would feel, right?
SPEAKER_00: Just to sit back and be like, man, I get it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Man, God's peace is flowing through me.
SPEAKER_00: I get it, I understand it.
SPEAKER_00: That's not our job.
SPEAKER_00: We're not supposed to just sit on the sofa and be like, ha ha ha, this is great.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't do that when he was walking through his fires.
SPEAKER_00: Paul didn't do that when he was sitting in prison.
SPEAKER_00: Through the fire, they are still spreading peace.
SPEAKER_00: It's the peace that passes all understanding.
SPEAKER_00: So now, not only does this weird idea of how we can have peace without it being attached to something, without being attached to a physical thin or success, by what Jesus has accomplished, which is crazy.
SPEAKER_00: But now you're saying that as we walk through the fire looking for peace, we give it to other people.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Jesus is doing here.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're called to do.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of God.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe one of the most amazing things about the peace that comes from Jesus is that we feel it and understand it more when we give it away.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's where peace is truly found.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's why Paul writes it's a peace that passes all understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we finally feel that peace, Jesus tells us to give it away.
SPEAKER_00: Because maybe that's where peace is truly found.
SPEAKER_00: So, people of Central, I pray that we understand God's peace.
SPEAKER_00: The peace that passes all understanding, the peace that does not come from anything of this world, but the peace that comes from the accomplishments of Jesus through confession, through forgiveness, through the sacraments.
SPEAKER_00: But our larger prayer is that we are people who do not hoard that peace but give it away.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to close with this quick story.
SPEAKER_00: Over the past two weeks, man, my life has been a whirlwind.
SPEAKER_00: Just nonstop.
SPEAKER_00: It's been incredibly busy.
SPEAKER_00: All good things.
SPEAKER_00: That's the other thing about, you know, fires and peace is that life, you could be involved in really, really great things.
SPEAKER_00: And the things can be life-giving, but they can still bring fires.
SPEAKER_00: They can still bring anxiety and stress.
SPEAKER_00: Over the past few weeks, last week I was I'm in seminary right now, and I had to go to an intensive, which is I go to campus, which is down in St.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, and from eight in the morning till five at night, I'm in class Monday through Friday.
SPEAKER_00: And which is fine, right?
SPEAKER_00: People do it all the time.
SPEAKER_00: At the same time, though, we were planning for vacation Bible school, which was just this week.
SPEAKER_00: And so I was at class and I also preached last Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: And so I was at class and we had a VBS and I had a prepare sermon.
SPEAKER_00: All amazing things.
SPEAKER_00: But it wore me out.
SPEAKER_00: I was tired.
SPEAKER_00: But we didn't have time to be tired, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because man, Monday kicked off.
SPEAKER_00: We had over 170 kids in this building for vacation Bible school, all ready to hear the words of Christ and the love that Christ has for them.
SPEAKER_00: And so it was top energy.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
SPEAKER_00: And so we had vacation Bible school all week.
SPEAKER_00: And we had a youth event on Wednesday night where we had kids come out and it was awesome.
SPEAKER_00: We played gaga ball and we had a had food and we shared a message.
SPEAKER_00: And then VBS ended, and I had to write another sermon.
SPEAKER_00: And all these things had to come into play.
SPEAKER_00: And Friday around like Friday at noon, I was like, oh yes.
SPEAKER_00: I felt like the end of like Breakfast Club, right?
SPEAKER_00: Where the guy walks up and just like throws his hand up, like, you're done, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's over.
SPEAKER_00: And I had this in my head.
SPEAKER_00: When I'm done, I'm gonna go sit in my favorite spot downstairs on my sofa.
SPEAKER_00: I may have an adult beverage, and I'm gonna watch John lick for.
SPEAKER_00: Because I got it for Father's Day and I hadn't seen it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_00: I'm done, I'm off the clock.
SPEAKER_00: Honey, keep the kids away, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like this is daddy time.
SPEAKER_00: And I was all prepped and ready.
SPEAKER_00: And this thought came into my mind.
SPEAKER_00: Peace is found in giving peace.
SPEAKER_00: Because for two weeks, man, I didn't spend a lot of time with my kids.
SPEAKER_00: For two weeks, I hadn't spent a lot of time with my wife.
SPEAKER_00: And it was really easy for me to go out and kick everyone out of my space and have me time.
SPEAKER_00: And would I have felt peace?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for about two hours and 58 minutes, as long as John McFar is, right?
SPEAKER_00: But the movie ends.
SPEAKER_00: That peace is fleeting.
SPEAKER_00: And so I called up my wife and I said, uh, let's go pick up the kids and let's go to dinner.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go to like a real sit-down restaurant.
SPEAKER_00: Which, if you have young children, there is no peace to be found in bringing young children to a restaurant.
SPEAKER_00: This is going backwards quickly.
SPEAKER_00: So we did.
SPEAKER_00: We picked up the kids from daycare and from and from stuff, and we went down to Daddy O's in Elk River.
SPEAKER_00: And we had a nice meal together, we got the kids shakes, and they were so excited.
SPEAKER_00: And then after I paid the bill, I was like, all right, now it's daddy time, right?
SPEAKER_00: I walk outside, it's a beautiful day, and these fountains are just down the street from Daddy O's, and I'm like, guys, let's go play in the fountain.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go play in the fountain.
SPEAKER_00: And then we walk down to the river and we're just hanging out.
SPEAKER_00: And then on our way home, we stop in my favorite store, Hallmark.
SPEAKER_00: Because they have the new Christmas ornaments getting ready, and I'm really excited about it.
SPEAKER_00: And we finally get home.
SPEAKER_00: I'll explain that later.
SPEAKER_00: That's a little weird.
SPEAKER_00: I get it.
SPEAKER_00: And then we finally get home, and I thought to myself, man, John Wick would be over right now, and my peace would be gone.
SPEAKER_00: Because I would have kicked my kids out and my family out for three hours so I could have me time.
SPEAKER_00: And instead, even though man, my legs could barely carry me, I was so tired and exhausted from two weeks, I went and spent time with my family.
SPEAKER_00: And the peace that I felt in giving peace to them passes all understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, just maybe, peace is found in being the peacemakers.
SPEAKER_00: In bringing peace to other people.
SPEAKER_00: So that's our prayer central.
SPEAKER_00: That we are people of peace.
SPEAKER_00: More importantly, that we receive Jesus' peace, man, but we live it out for other people.
SPEAKER_00: In doing his final commandment that he gave us to love other people as he has loved us.
SPEAKER_00: He loved us by giving us peace while he walked through the fire.
SPEAKER_00: So as you walk through the fires, and as I walk through the fires of my life, may we be the peacemakers.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: At this time I want to do something a little different.
SPEAKER_00: You may have noticed that at the beginning of the service, we didn't stand and greet one another and share the peace.
SPEAKER_00: And that's on purpose, because back in the day, the peace was never shared until after the word of God was spoken.
SPEAKER_00: And after the baptism or the table or the sacraments were had.
SPEAKER_00: Because those are places where we find the true peace of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's in his word, and it's in sharing the sacraments together.
SPEAKER_00: And then we come together as the church of Christ and say, peace be with you.
SPEAKER_00: And it holds a different meaning to us.
SPEAKER_00: And so what I ask you to do is if you would stand, please.
SPEAKER_00: The peace of God be with you.
SPEAKER_00: And also with you.
SPEAKER_00: Would you please share that peace that passes all understanding with those around you?