Say More with Fullerton Free
A weekly sermon discussion podcast, reflecting on the Sunday morning message at Fullerton Free Church the previous week.
Say More with Fullerton Free
Say More about Having Peace
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This week we talk about the Message from June 21st, 2026 at Fullerton Free Church
Hello, everybody. It's me, Katie Smiley. I haven't been here in a little while. And I'm back from all my travels, from my many travels. But I'm here with uh Kristen Johnson. Hey everybody, it's Kristen Johnson.
SPEAKER_03Who also just realized that I always listen to the podcast on double speed. The intro song sounds way different when you listen to it the way it's meant to be listened to. Are you saying you need to rush through the podcast? You can interpret that however you wish. I pay closer attention when I have to focus. And if you listen to it at double speed, you have to focus. Okay.
SPEAKER_00She's focusing.
SPEAKER_02Respect. Um, I'm also here with Kyle Kirschner. Hi. And Kyle, I just want to say that I was impressed with your self-control and not singing the song.
SPEAKER_00Well, you cut it really early. I did. I think we did not get a little bit more. I was like, that's enough.
SPEAKER_02It's because every time our listeners know this, but every time I take a break from the podcast and come back, I don't remember how to work all the buttons. It's so many. I just kind of was feeling uncomfortable and I just turned it off. So there you go.
SPEAKER_00I understand. Well, hello, Katie. Good to see you again.
SPEAKER_02Nice to see you too. Yes. Um, we had a we have a message to talk about that someone in this room gave. Was it me? No.
SPEAKER_00So Say More is a podcast produced by Fullerton Free uh Church where we look back on the sermon from the Sunday before and discuss it. Um we appreciate your questions and your thoughts, and you can always reach out to us at podcast at Fullertonfree.com.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Thank you, Kyle. All right, Katie, let's get back to your introduction. I think you should sit in this seat from now on. This is my third sigh of the day. Um this is from the week of June 21st. And Kyle gave the message this week, and it was entitled Free from Fear and Free to Have Peace. Peace. Yeah, peace.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it was um it was that's what the You guys we're not awake yet.
SPEAKER_02I think I need a little more coffee.
SPEAKER_00I always need more coffee. It was um, yeah, so on Sunday we kind of got to, you know, uh I got to share a bit about this idea of trying to find peace in God, uh, which is not easy um and not something that I naturally find, um, and something that I know is real, but that is difficult to access sometimes, and kind of shared some some personal uh stuff into that. But really the focus was on the idea that we've experienced it. Like we've we know that the peace of God is this gift that we have been given. We looked at uh the verse in John where Jesus is like, My peace I give you, my peace I live, I leave with you. And he's referring to the Holy Spirit that he's leaving behind, and he's like, now you have this, hold on to it. And so, kind of the the message built around, you know, like trying to remember, look at some of those people who had that peace, and then how do we live in it? And I use this quote uh from my friend Kevin's wife, and it was peace is the shortening of time from fear to remembrance. Um, and the idea is that when we can remember the things that God has done, when we can remember the promises of God, then we can live in the peace he has called us to instead of in the fear that keeps us separated from it. And so closed with just reading a bunch of the clicheism verses that exist, you know. If you've ever been if you went into a Berean Christian store in the 90s, you know, early 2000s, you uh, you know, these were uh what's embroidered on pillows and they were stars, calendars. Oh gosh, you could have seen little kid from uh from most of the thinking about testaments.
SPEAKER_02Have you did you ever have a testament?
SPEAKER_03They were so gross, they were mints. They were called testaments, and they had like you know, Bible verses on the wrapper.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, individually wrapped, didn't taste did they taste like the uh like the little candy hearts, like the no, no, they were minty.
SPEAKER_03Oh, but not great.
SPEAKER_00Not great.
SPEAKER_03They did have cinnamon testaments too. I was allergic to artificial cinnamon at that point in my life. Well, I don't know if I am anymore. I just don't eat it to prevent issues. I'm allergic to it in that I hate it, but there's that.
SPEAKER_00It's not good. But yeah, so we just kind of closed by reading a bunch of those verses that were like, oh, we know them, but it's like, no, no, these are the promises that God's like, I'm not gonna leave you, I'm with you, find peace in this, like I'm stronger than your fear. So that was it. It was really, it wasn't a lot of here's how you walk away. And uh it was just kind of as it I'm on a journey of trying to be at peace. And I'm not there every day, and some days I am, and I've found that for me, I do best when I remember um, and I do the worst when I'm allowing the thing in front of me to be bigger than the God that I know is bigger than it.
SPEAKER_02So yeah. I was um I wasn't here on Sunday, but I was listening to your I know. And even like I wasn't in the room to hear your uh friend Kevin's wife's quote. And I I just I was listening, um, getting ready for going on a teeny tiny vacation, and I um I I knew instinctively, oh, we're gonna get some some messages about this because the way that you shared some personal things and how you interacted with it in such a real way, I just knew people were gonna respond and they did. We got a few emails this week, and I just want to thank folks for emailing in. We love getting your messages and and and really some of them were just to say thank you to you, Kyle, for sharing the things you did, for giving some good perspective, for helping people kind of really get in touch with the like a little bit of self-awareness, like hey, this is how it feels when I'm not at peace, and here's it's already in me through the Holy Spirit to know how to access that peace. I just have to let myself do that and give myself the freedom, uh-huh. Freedom to be at peace.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I loved one uh one person mentioned that um the presence of peace doesn't always mean the absence of longing, pain, or grief, but his peace in the midst of it. That was a great recapturing of that.
SPEAKER_02We did get one um email that had a few questions in it. I'm gonna read it and then we're gonna interact with those a little bit. Um hey team. Hey, team. Hey, you know what I said this week, Kyle. Sorry, side note. Alrighty. What's good, fam?
SPEAKER_00What's good, fam? Uh huh. I will say that nothing makes Patty make fun of me more than when I try to use outdated slang to sound hip. And uh starting a podcast with what's good, fam.
SPEAKER_02It does not land. Okay, so hey team, I think the way a transforming faith in Jesus can provide a sustaining peace through suffering and trial might be the most evangelically, evangelically, evangelically compelling reason to convert. Could you describe a more practical describe more practically what that process looks like? Uh if I was overwhelmed by a situation, where does the peace of God come from and how do we access it? How is this different from a non-believer that simply accepts their situation as quote bad, but I'll power through? And then there's a bonus question. I tend to think of these sermon titles as opposites, but in this case I would have said the opposite of fear is bravery. Why did you choose peace and not bravery? That's an interesting question. Yeah. I don't think we really have an answer.
SPEAKER_00Um a little bit have an answer. I have an answer more to the bonus question. Yeah, good. That's where I want to start. Yeah, I think that with I think that I don't think of fear and bravery as opposites of each other. Like I because I don't think that bravery, and I know that I'm gonna use some cliche like um young adult adventurer literature lines in this or whatever, but bravery is not that like you have no fear, it's that you like stand through it, you know, or that you like move forward through it. And peace is like acceptance that the thing in front of you either can or can't hurt you, and like it is it is like it's almost like a it is what it is. And if you're holding that like that hurt, or or I guess more that like the the fear is something that's big in front of you, and the peace is like the comfort while going through it, um, and not that you won't be afraid of it.
SPEAKER_03Like it's it's so could it even be like a being-doing thing? Like I can do brave things while afraid.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Oh but you're so smarter than me.
SPEAKER_03Uh but to be at peace is something that is just it's a state, it's not just the doing, it's not a doing a peaceful thing. It's being at peace in the midst of whatever's going on. So like I don't know, I think there's some of that to it too. That yeah, I would say they're they're not you can do a lot of brave things while being absolutely terrified.
SPEAKER_00But I like that idea because they are, I think, in a sense, some of them are like sort of opposite, and some of them are also just like the alternative. Like uh like they don't necessarily have to be like, oh, you're free, you know, like uh this one's bad and this one's good. Um, it's just that we have an alternative to the thing that we've kind of live in, you know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I agree with that. I think this is I can picture myself kind of swatting away the fear and embracing peace instead. It's something that you can put on that is of God rather than the thing of your own self that you want to swat away and and be putting off.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Did you hear that one too? That was my phone. My phone is always buzzing making weird noises. And also my computer too. So there you go. Um the our guests probably didn't hear, or not our guests, our listeners, they didn't hear that, but we had to talk about it.
SPEAKER_03Feel free to let us know if you heard that. Emails, even not based off answer.
SPEAKER_00Katie's phone, everyone.
SPEAKER_03Katie is just a hot mess today. Hot mess express, or her technology might be.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That's it. So let's talk about more practically what the process looks like of embracing peace. Um, our our listeners asking, like, hey, this is a big deal. This is one of the most compelling reasons to follow Christ is understanding peace in the midst of trial from his perspective. So, thoughts on that? Like, how what is a more practical putting on of peace?
SPEAKER_03Uh, I was thinking of a a little bit in the idea of kind of like muscle memory, of you kind of start small, you start with something that, you know, maybe it's somebody else wouldn't even necessarily need peace in that situation, but remembering kind of who God is and what's going on, and that the more you sort of practice that in the little moments, in the just like day-to-day frustrations of whatever traffic, the more that as bigger things happen, it comes, it just naturally that's how you respond by tapping into, by remembering who God is and that he's with you and those things. And I think I think probably most of us that have gone through significant hard things, like we can look back and and sometimes even I would say, like, I can remember times when my dad was was sick and we were going through his cancer, that in the moment thinking, like, why am I like okay is not the right word, but like, why am I able to stay stay present here and not be just coming unglued in this moment? And I think sometimes that's because that muscle memory is coming into play. And also when I say muscle memory, like it is the spirit, right? So the more that I am letting the spirit lead as opposed to me leading, like I think we see it looking back, and sometimes in the moment we get glimpses.
SPEAKER_00I remember back in like college time, um, I had all these these like situations arise where I was like on the edge of like, can I afford to live inside? Um, or am I an outside liver at this point? Um my own house. Yeah, and and I just kind of there was like for months in a row, random little events would happen where um where no one, like obviously I wasn't sharing about, you know, like my space, but but something would just pop up and like it would be two days before like my rent's due. And then some random professor at my college was like, Hey, do you know how to rebuild Volkswagen engines? And I was like, sure. And then I did it like I go went and got a book at the library, and that night I rebuilt her engine, and then I got enough for rent that month. And then like the next month, someone was like, Hey, can you help me like move this thing? And then they gave me you know 200 extra, but it was like for months in a row, it just kept happening, and uh and I found myself kind of changing my perspective as it went along because at first I was like you know, stressing out three days before what's gonna happen, what's gonna happen, and then it like I didn't. Um, I just kind of stopped being what's gonna happen next month. Like, like I I don't know why I was granted the favor of it, but I was, and uh, and I just started to believe that it was going to keep happening, and so I wasn't in fear the rest of the time. I still put my efforts out, I was still doing the things I could do, but like I it it just I wasn't scared all the time, I wasn't afraid all the time. And like there was I don't know that uh I don't know if that I obviously that doesn't help. That's a personal antidote, but uh but that was something that I like.
SPEAKER_03But I think that even goes to the remembering concept of like it's not just remembering the Bible stories of when we see God, you know, meeting people in their need, it's looking at our own lives and remembering our own stories, and you know, maybe some of this is even a call to kind of spend some time now reflecting on our lives and going, like, oh, like here are times that maybe I glossed by in the moment, but I can see like God was present in that, God met that need. And then I think as we rehearse those stories, like as you were rehearsing those, like, hey, last month, yeah, this worked out, and that wow, that was the fourth month in a row. Like, you it changes your your mindset in the present. And I think probably all of us, if we think about it enough, could come up with maybe less dramatic.
SPEAKER_02I do think that rehearsing is super important because even um everyone has a thing that is the most fearful for them. I mean, that's it's you know, maybe for you at that time it was scarcity, like am I going to have enough? Um, some people are really afraid of being alone or left to navigate a problem alone or afraid of like suffering, death, dying, sickness, those kinds of things. So, whatever the fear, the prominent fear is, um it feels like you can rehearse and sort of settle down your nervous system by remembering the times when you weren't left alone and you were not abandoned and you were held by God in some kind of meaningful way. It might not be that that problem vanished or you were saved from having to experience being, you know, humanly alone or having to navigate things, but you can think back and remember the ways that God was with you. And I love that you chose to end the message with all of those Bible verses because I mean, you guys, like fear is mentioned so many times in the Bible because God understands how afraid we are and how hard it is to navigate this world of constant changing and sin and and you know, suffering. And he just says, I'm not leaving you. I will not leave you alone. I'm not gonna forsake you to this place by yourself. And so reading those passages is part of rehearsing and remembering God's presence.
SPEAKER_00To share more personal because that's just what I'm doing now.
SPEAKER_02Um guys, this is Kyle.
SPEAKER_00There was another, like, there was this week, and and I've used this in like messages before, but I had this week in in like when I was like 24, and where it was just like everything went wrong in like a 48-hour period. Like I um had been dating this girl for about a year, and we were visiting her um her family, and we went to the hospital to see her grandpa, and he passed away while we were in the room, and then she and I broke up in the um lobby on the way out uh because of whatever. And uh, and then on my drive home from LA to San Diego, my car broke down. So I got on a train and then the train broke down, so I was stuck in like on the side of the track for like four hours, and then um when I got back to the house I was living in, it was like a friend's pool house, and they're like, Hey, you gotta move out this weekend because um because the San Diego fires were going on, um, and they had a friend family that needed to move into the house. And I woke up to the call from the school that like my scholarship thing was broken, so I wasn't gonna get the money. And that was the same week my dad got diagnosed with Parkinson.
SPEAKER_02Are you this is not real, right?
SPEAKER_00It was on my birthday. Um, and um, and I remember I was just like laying there at the end of the 48 hours of like all these things at once, you know. Like I was like, oh, this is and I like laid down to bed and it was a little bit chilly, and like my blanket was on the floor, and I remember laying there being like, good, you deserve to be cold, you know, like uh everything's bad, like you don't deserve warmth in this moment. And I remember that I woke up in the morning and like I wasn't cold, and uh, and I don't know if there was like a supernatural blanket levitation or if I woke up and like grabbed it and put it on me. But I remember waking up in the midst of all of it and being like, okay, somehow God deemed it worthy that I like not be cold right now. And like, and like it's all that I needed in the moment. Like everything else was like, okay, these are all big things, and we'll go through each of them as we go through them. But like I just needed to know that I was cared about and I felt cared about when I woke up with a blanket on top of me. And like that was so important because I got to remember it. And because like it wasn't the up, now all your financial stuff's better, and Parkinson's is healed, and like uh it wasn't any of those things, but it was you're not alone, and like, and I just knew that I wasn't alone. And uh, and the problem with those sort of things is that they are not convincing evangelistic tools because that is an individual feeling inside of me, and it is non-logic-based, and it is it, but it was affirmation to me to live in the peace of that God that loves me, you know, and like uh, and that to me that was important, and so I don't know, like that's the hard part of this.
SPEAKER_03But that also is evangelistic in that I think you don't know who was watching you go through that, and so the way that you were able to then continue on and be like, Well, we're gonna take this one issue at a time, like you don't know who's seeing that, so it might not be evangelistic in that you're probably not going out and saying, Well, you know what, God put the blanket back on me. Like, that's not it. But there are people who are watching and going, like, Kyle just had a horrific 48 hours. And he's how does he seem okay? Like, you know, dealing with getting his car fixed and doing like just continuing, like you're not, you know, you didn't fall apart in a throw the towel in on your faith, like walk away from your friend because they kicked you out. Like it wasn't so I think we don't give enough credit sometimes to the people that are watching those things that maybe that didn't lead them to say, like, Kyle, why are you different? Yeah, but they paid attention and then you don't know what opportunity you have because they paid attention. Like, I think we're really unaware of how much people are paying attention or listening to the way that we, oh, God is so good, and then gripe about the broken car and all the things. And I'm not saying we can't complain, but just I I think there's more people looking in those moments when we think, well, all I really did was get out of bed that morning and keep going. And sometimes that speaks volumes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_02I I agree with that, and I can picture in my own life. Uh I have had people say things like, You are so calm. And I feel internally like a whirlwind. But they're like, oh, you're just so calm. And and I I often just am not exactly sure where that comes from. But when Kristen was talking, I just kept thinking, um, you know, the Bible tells us that peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit is a fact. So there are parts of my life that I am not even trying to get out there or make a big deal out of it. It's probably the most compelling thing when I'm not really trying to even access the peace, but it's there. It's just a factual part of my life. And um having access to the spirit in any time, joy or like excitement or really terrible things, is um, yeah, it's a fact for the for those that trust Jesus. And so I think that um can be very compelling, even mostly in the fact that like I'm not trying to be that way.
SPEAKER_03Well, and don't you think that's when it is the most compelling? Like I I remember like growing up, I would not say I have the gift of evangelism. Shocking. Uh, but that my hope was always like, oh, like people will ask, right? Well, the only times people have ever asked are when, like you, when I would say, like, I felt like the world was falling apart and I was just hanging on by my fingernails, and they would say something like, You're different. And I think, Real, really, this is this is your different, not like, but it's I think it's just that. Like, it's those moments when we aren't responding the way people with no hope respond, even though internally we might feel like this is terrible, but there's something, you know, the spirit is doing something in us. And I think it's in those hard moments that people are paying the closest attention. Like, nobody's gonna go say, like, you're so different when someone's life seems to be going perfectly. I mean, I guess maybe some people are, maybe that's prosperity gospel. But I think in my own experience, it's when life is really hard and especially really hard over a long stretch, and people can see what we might not even see because we're experiencing from the inside, and they're seeing the outside of the spirit working through us. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, and and I know that for me, like it's in like I always want to make sure I'm showing that. And I'm like, and I also know the difference of when I'm putting it on for people around me and when it's real. Like uh, I know when my piece is genuine, and I know when my piece is a put on example trying to show other people. And I will say that for most other people, it's pretty obvious too. And uh, and I think that there is a the what I don't want from any of this conversation is to have this feeling of uh we have the pressure to society, to Christians, to whatever to look at peace. Yeah, no. I would say instead we are offered like the gift of peace, you know, and like and uh and those are such different things, like everyone knows, and uh and and the sometimes the least peaceful thing you can have is an appearance of like I gotta look like I am when I'm not. You know, I I used to use the example that I had two, I had two dogs, one of them has has since passed, but they woke up at like 3 24 every morning, like it was like exact time. I would like to bark every single day, and there were some days where I threw a pillow at them, and there were some days where I looked at them and said, Hi guys, and like that was the evidence of where I was at, like not anything else, it was just that moment, like I knew how I was doing, and uh because I could look really happy about them, yes, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02I would say as you're talking, I'm thinking through there's probably Christians listening to this who have trouble accessing that peace. So they hear me say peace from the Holy Spirit is a fact, but they're having a really hard time accessing that in any kind of way in their heart or their spirit or their body or their mind. And um, I would say if if we take it how you're approaching it, Kyle, and saying, like, this is a gift that's given to us, and you're having trouble like opening the present or being peaceful, there may be some other kind of barrier that isn't your will. It might be biologically you have some anxiety or you have some trauma that gets in the way of you accessing God's peace. And maybe the path isn't to just sort of try and be more peaceful. It's more just to say, oh, what's getting in the way of this factual existence of the peace of God? And how can I maybe do the work to find it or um help myself get some rest so that I can see it more clearly or whatever. Try to look at it as a barrier to the peace that is real rather than um, like, oh, I'm not I'm not working hard enough to find this peace because that just isn't how we get it.
SPEAKER_00So and I know that I have some like physical things that help me remember a little bit too, like thick coffee. Coffee is so helpful. Um really calms your right down. Really is like it's like the body. Like I know, and these are obvious things, but like breathing is such a big deal to me. Like, I'm like I I love breathing and um and just a huge fan of it.
SPEAKER_02It's a quote for your week. I love breathing.
SPEAKER_00But like I don't even um uh for whatever the plug is worth, I've really enjoyed our yoga practice that we do here on the Monday night. Um, I'm the breathing aspect of it. Like, well, someone will give uh you know a passage kind of to think about for the evening. And just like me being able to focus on like my breath as I'm thinking of this, like I am statements about God. I'm like, oh my gosh, like that was so the breath was a gift. I'm like, I know that that has been huge for me. I know that like trees are a big deal for me. Like, get out of town where I can just see like because at one point in my life I made the sentence, like, like God doesn't make any bad trees. Like I never looked at a tree and be like, you're a mistake. Um, I'm always like, every tree's a good one. And then it helps me remember like that I'm intentionally made and like uh and it's like a real comfort, you know? Like, yeah, but but those are those are just ones that I was thinking about right there. But for me, it's sometimes I do have to like okay, like be intentional to take time to remember the things that I know.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's really good. Yeah, I think for me, I know one of the times I can feel the least peaceful, or maybe we call that anxiety, uh, you know, is at night if I can't sleep. And so I have a few things that I just sort of like run through my head, like one is the lyrics to it as well with my soul, which is by also the only song I know all the lyrics to. But you know, hey, I know all the verses. No, it's I can't remember whatever. Um, but the other one is it's um, I might get the reference wrong. I think it's Psalm 118, 24, but it's really from the song. But it's this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. But I do it, and I started doing this when my dad was sick and I did it driving to work, but then I learned that I could do it to fall asleep, not while driving. Um, but that each time I would say it in my head, I would put the emphasis on a different word. It's like, this is the day that the Lord has made. This is the day. And it just made me think about it differently. And it just is really, for me, really reorienting to like I one, it's just today. Like I'm not, I don't need to worry about tomorrow right now. I can't redo yesterday or today, but like right now, and recentering on, you know, kind of like the trees, like God made this, whatever this is today. And and that really like it just I can feel like my blood pressure come down, like my breathing slow down, like and it doesn't change any circumstances, but it changes what my mind is focused on. It kind of helps me, I think, be more aware that like, oh yeah, the spirit is with me, not just all these anxious thoughts or mad thoughts or whatever. Like, and so I think there are a lot of kind of those, it's not necessarily remembering what's happened, but just remembering who God is.
SPEAKER_00And this conversation's helping me. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Um I hope it helps all of you, dear listeners of the Say More podcast, which next time I do this, I will explain what we're doing. Yeah, next week. I'm gonna do an intro promise. Well, I hope everybody has a great week. We are um praying you are at peace. I knew it.