WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.120 Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:06.879 Thank you so much for listening today. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:09.439 We hope it encourages you and inspires you. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:10.800 Here's today's message. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:11.839 He did it. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:14.400 Wow, well, good morning. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:17.120 This is different for me, right? 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:18.559 I've never done this before. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:21.760 Normally I'm behind a microphone singing or playing my guitar. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:24.000 So this is this is new. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:26.800 So you guys buckle up, we're gonna do it together, alright? 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.719 Um so I'm honored, I'm very humbled to be with you all this morning. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:33.039 I love this church deeply, I really do. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:49.840 And before I get too far into it, um, just as much as Pastor Keith and Pastor Megan honored me, I want to take some time to honor them because I feel like um it is crazy when you look at how God has woven us together, our ministries together over the amount of years that it's been. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.759 And to find me here today under his leadership, under her leadership, I'm just super grateful. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:03.439 We have walked through as a global church as well as a unique individual church, something that has been unprecedented over the last few years. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:13.680 In these seasons of hardship, I've seen them personally show up every day and say yes to God and be obedient in the midst of all of that, be steadfast and persevere. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.159 And so this church today is here because of their yes and their leadership. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:19.599 So I just want to honor them. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.200 Thank you for this opportunity. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:22.640 I really appreciate you guys. 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:24.079 Love you so much. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:27.840 Okay, so a quick intro about me. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:29.760 I I do more things than sing. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:39.599 Um so I wanted to give you guys a quick snapshot into my uh who I am because maybe you don't know me beyond this platform on a Sunday. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:43.760 So I actually grew up in church um in a single mother household. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:58.480 In fact, um my mommy is here this morning, and uh she is the reason why I never left God, um, why my faith is as strong as it is today, because of her prayers, the way she oh, she's getting emotional. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:01:59.519 It's gonna make me emotional. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:12.719 And my sister is also here, my younger brother couldn't make it, but I just really have appreciated growing up in the body of Christ under my mom's leadership, in spite of what divorce and um single mother households could be. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:16.960 We were not the stereotype, and I know that's because of my mom's faithfulness. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:26.639 So I honor you this morning and my sister, she actually works at a church in Lake Mary, so they her and her husband and her family, they completely rearranged their mourning in order to support me. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:29.840 So I love my family and we'll give it up for them. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:36.639 I um I've been in vocational ministry for 15 years, which is like mind-blowing for me. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.599 This this month actually is my 15th year. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:52.080 Um, I am a wife to my husband Jeremy for almost 10 years, and I'm a mom of two boys, Conrad, three years old, and Adler, who's in um daycare today or child care today. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:53.039 Um, he's one. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:56.800 I spent most of my life and actually in Orlando, I grew up here. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:01.039 Um, and it was about uh college age when I moved away. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:10.879 I went to South Florida, I did an architecture degree down there, and then God spoke to me and led me to ministry, which is how I ended up in Jacksonville and lived there for 10 years. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:15.439 I met my husband there, and um that's actually where I met pastors Keith and Megan. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:17.919 And I really thought I would never leave Jacksonville. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:23.439 I loved it, I called that my home for a long time, but I would say never say never to God, right? 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.159 Because he kind of gets a joke, like it's he gets a kick out of it. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:33.919 Because I said I never moved back, and four years ago we chose to move back so I could be around my family in order to raise my own family. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.919 And it's been one of the best decisions to be here in Orlando and with you, celebration Orlando. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.159 So that's that's the snapshot, okay? 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.439 So beyond the microphone, Lindsay, um, on a Sunday. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.280 This morning I want to speak to you on the topic of peace. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:55.280 And this topic is not a new word, this is not a new concept for any of us, especially right now, right? 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:56.400 During Christmas. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:03.039 We see it on a Christmas card, we see it on a festive house, we read it in a card that someone writes us. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:14.879 Peace is not a new word or new concept by any means, but right now I feel like probably more than ever, the actual experiencing peace is incredibly uncommon. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:19.600 The real true peace experiencing that is pretty uncommon. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.480 And I was processing that this while I was preparing. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:23.040 Why is that? 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.399 Why is something so common for us to hear, to see, to say? 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:33.600 Why is it equally as uncommon for us to actually grasp in our own lives and actually experience in our own life? 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.680 So this morning um we're gonna read from a passage in Philippians. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.720 We're gonna stay in this passage primarily the entire time. 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:43.360 It's in the chapter, in chapter four of Philippians. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:52.160 So if you want to open up your Bible or your Bible app, or if you want to read it on the screens, we're gonna be in Philippians 4, verses 6 through 7. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:55.759 And before I read it, I went back and forth. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:01.680 Should I read, should I read and use this passage that's so common and so familiar to so many people? 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:03.279 Because I I like unique things. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:05.759 That's kind of one of the things I really pride myself on. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:07.040 I like to be different. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:17.759 And so the this common passage that I'm sure all of you, even if you haven't grown up in church, you've probably seen, maybe plastered on the wall in Hobby Lobby and no knock on Hobby Lobby. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:25.519 But as soon as something ends up in Hobby Lobby, I like it goes to this category of Christian cliche for me that's really hard for me to overcome in my mind. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:30.879 So my mom actually shopped at Hobby Lobby yesterday, and I was thinking in my head, like, it's okay. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:32.240 I love you, mommy. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:32.720 But it's true. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.519 Like Hobby Lobby for me is just a little bit, you know, it's whatever. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:36.160 Okay, I'm sorry. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.759 Now I'm making you guys feel bad if you like Hobby Lobby. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:46.560 But I was challenged as I was processing through the well, should I should I use this, should I not use it because it's so familiar? 00:05:46.720 --> 00:06:00.000 And and what God revealed to me during this time is how just like anything in our life that we allow to grow too common or too familiar, if we're not careful, we can allow it to lose its effectiveness and its power in our lives. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:05.680 And we have to be careful to to take that back in those areas that we allow grow common. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:15.360 So this morning, we're gonna decide together that we're gonna choose to read and hear this passage with fresh ears and fresh eyes, right? 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:21.360 Okay, and we're gonna read it and know that the Holy Spirit is gonna make it come anew this morning to each of us. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:26.000 Alright, so Philippians 4, 6 through 7 up on the screens. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:36.079 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:43.680 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:50.959 If you're taking notes this morning, I did a little bit of word play and I titled this message, Peace by Peace. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:54.000 You can see it up on the screen, peace by peace. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:55.199 We're gonna pray. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:57.839 God, I thank you so much for this church. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:05.519 God, I thank you so much for what you're doing in and through these incredible people, this community of believers. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:08.480 Lord, we've already seen your hand work this morning. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:30.480 But God, as we begin to study your word, as we begin to look at the truth of who you are, God, I pray that if there are any blinders in this space, if there are any places of lack of understanding or unbelief, God, I pray that by your Holy Spirit, supernaturally, we would be made new to the truth of your word, God. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:31.680 It's not my words, God. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:33.920 I pray that you would speak through me. 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:36.560 I submit them to you, that you would be glorified. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:37.839 In your name we pray. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:38.800 Amen. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:40.399 Amen. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:46.319 Okay, so I want to give you not one story, because I struggled with coming up with one story. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:52.160 I want to give you a collection of the overview of the last year in Lindsay Brenner's life. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:08:00.160 Okay, which it's a lot, but the reason why I wanted to share is because I wanted you to understand why I selected peace. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:01.600 It wasn't haphazard. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:05.439 I didn't just flip to my Bible and open up to a passage and decide on this. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:14.079 This is something personally I've been walking through and been challenged with more so in this past year of my life than any season, really. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:20.079 And so, in order to bring you in with me, I wanted you to understand what my last the last years looked like for me. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:30.000 So you know I'm not coming from a place of not experiencing, that I'm coming from a place that I'm I have not figured it out by any means, but God has revealed a lot through these seasons. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.480 And so I'm gonna give you a snapshot, okay? 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:34.320 Last year of my life. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:38.720 Um, I came into the new year as a fresh mom of two. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:45.840 We had just had our second boy, Adler, and it was during a pandemic, so that is just new in general. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:09:01.360 Um, how you have kids when you can't have support systems there, it brought a lot of challenges, as well as while he was both in utero and then after birth, our child had some medical issues with his kidney that they couldn't figure out. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:05.759 So we went through some months and a season of uncertainty. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:07.039 We didn't know what it was. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:14.159 We had to do tests, we had to do hospital visits, um, medications just to try to rule out things. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:18.159 So we kind of started this this year kind of rocky. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:25.600 We had um the uncertainty of all of that, as well as I think because of the medicines, maybe, and maybe not, I don't know. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:28.960 I hypothesize Adler was pretty colicky. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:44.960 I don't know if anybody has ever had a colicky baby, but my heart goes out to you because if you don't know what that actually means is for chunks of hours, almost every day, that's what defines it as colic, your child is unconsolable. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:55.600 Um so I went through through most nights, my family can attest where he was screaming, crying, and there was nothing we could figure out to calm him down. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:10:01.600 Um at the same time, my beautiful uh older boy, he had just turned two. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:12.399 So if anybody has a toddler, you know that that's it's something about the two-year-old age, they just get this incredible amount of energy that comes bursting forth, and you don't know what to do with it. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:20.960 So we on one hand, I have this newborn with all of these very needs, he has needs that are real and and true to his age. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:27.120 Then also I have this two-year-old with also needs, but very different needs because of his age. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:34.240 And during this hour in which, if you're a parent, once again, I'm gonna have a lot of parent references because that is the reality I'm in right now. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.879 But if you're a parent, there's a thing called the witching hour. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:38.799 Does anybody know what the witching hour is? 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.840 It's a weird term, but it's it's real life. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.960 It's like the clock hits 6 p.m. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:47.759 and like everything happens right then. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:11:04.480 And so I lovingly referred to it as the crossvade in my household, which was basically Adler, the young one, needing calm and peace to fall asleep, and then Conrad, the older one, just like needing to get all the pent-up energy that he'd not spent that day out. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.480 And so it was, for a lack of a better term, chaos. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:14.159 It's different now because they're a little bit older, but it's still pretty chaos, chaotic in my household. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:20.720 Um, at the same time, my husband, he actually is in the medical field, he's an emergency room physician assistant. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:27.840 So he works really long hours, and um, he actually couldn't be here this morning because he couldn't get the um schedule to switch. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.840 But it's a very demanding job. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:36.320 And in this season of also, it's already a demanding job, but then with the pandemic, it's been an uncertain space. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:38.879 And so when he's gone from the house, he's gone. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:44.399 And so it's almost like on days when he's gone for the 14 hours that he is, I'm single mom. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:59.759 Um, so consider this reality: the husband's gone, the crossfade of the witching hour, um, our colicky little one, and um all this thing contributed, I think, I struggled with postpartum depression. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:08.399 Um, I didn't with the first one, and I didn't even realize I was struggling with it until some of my friends kind of made me aware, like maybe this is what you're going through. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:13.600 Um, and then also just some other little things, you know, if that wasn't enough, let's add a couple more. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:20.559 I got in a car accident in the beginning of this past year, got T-boned actually on my way to church, hit and run, never found the guy. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:27.679 And because we're a frugal family, if you go out to the parking lot, you'll see my beat up Prius still unrepaired. 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:32.799 Um also, we decided to start house hunting in March. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:35.279 Um, anybody house hunted this past year? 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:36.320 Anybody? 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:37.759 We're crazy, right? 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:39.360 Why did we do this to ourselves? 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:41.039 We are still without a home. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:43.840 And we when we moved here, we got a town home. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:50.720 So it was just me and Jeremy, and now we have the whole, all four of us plus our golden retriever stuffed into this town home. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.000 So pray for us. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:13:00.159 Um we had a house leak that happened, and we only found out because the upstairs bathroom apparently was leaking through the kitchen ceiling. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:02.000 That was a fun thing to add on. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:06.320 Um, and my husband tore his rotator cuff in the middle of playing sports. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:10.240 We had to um decide to get it repaired through surgery, and that was in the fall. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:16.960 So amidst all of this, I was like, oh no, this means my husband is gonna be like unable to use one of his arms. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:22.080 That means like diaper changes are out, like putting our kid in the crib out. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:31.440 So I was like, oh, I mean, I'm making light of it now, but at the time I was, you know, pretty, pretty scared and um pretty emotional about all of it. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:45.360 And then so, and then undergirding all of this, my personal journey with God and myself walking into this new season of a mom of two and still a full-time worker in ministry. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.879 God has entrusted me with people and teams to lead and love. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:59.039 Um I have been trying to navigate what this new identity of me is after doing it for 15 years, and now I can't be the same leader that I once was. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:03.679 I can't be, I can't be as present because I need to equally be present for my kids. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.879 So this has been my last year. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:11.919 And I wasn't trying to tell you all of this to make you feel bad for me. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:19.919 Um, I wanted to tell it to you so you guys could realize that where I'm coming from is I'm in a place where I've walked through chaos. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:23.600 I'm in chaos, it's become quite comfortable for me. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:29.600 Actually, I see people give me the like face sometimes when you can just tell they feel bad for you. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:31.919 Um I see that often. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:38.559 And so if you today are feeling far from peace, I want to encourage you, you're in good company. 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:46.559 Um, I'm continually walking this out in my own life, and so I just want to bring you into what God has been revealing to me. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:47.120 Okay. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:52.559 Sorry, when you have this, you can't pull the microwave, the microphone away. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:58.320 Okay, so we're gonna go back to our main scripture, Philippians 4, 6 through 7. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:00.960 And we're gonna break it down together, okay? 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:23.039 Do not be anxious for anything but Paul tells us that he has the antidote for anxiety, and here it is in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and or as a result, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:29.600 I feel like Paul is doing what I was taught as is like a compliment sandwich. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:37.519 If you've never heard of a compliment sandwich, it's like they start out with something nice, they end with something nice, but right in the middle is the hard stuff. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:41.120 And it was like taught to me as like the way to deliver difficult news to people. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:46.960 I don't know if it works, but when I was reading this passage over and over, I was like, oh yeah, the hard stuff is right in the middle. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:53.200 Like we have this incredible promise, uh, you don't have to be anxious, supernatural peace, and right in the middle. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:58.879 And the reason why it's hard is it's because it's something we're required to do, it's our action step, right? 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:08.000 So in everything by prayer, prayer is the pivotal action step or instruction to us to lead us to peace. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:16.480 So, very practically and very simply, if you've been walking with God, prayer is how God has designed us to walk out this life here on earth. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:20.720 It's a necessity, it must be central, it cannot be circumstantial. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:22.799 That's the practical, okay? 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:35.440 And without it, how can we walk this life out for things like God has asked us to do, like love your neighbor as yourself, or consider others as more significant than you, or be fearless before your enemies. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:36.480 How do how do we do that? 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:37.360 We can't do that. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:44.559 So that is the the way in which God flows this supernatural help to us is through and by prayer. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.240 I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to be clearing my throat. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:49.120 This is new. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:50.399 Um, okay. 00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:00.480 So if prayer is the vehicle in which we can access peace, peace is the destination. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:18.160 So I want to be really clear what peace is, because I'm assuming we we've had a season in our life maybe where we had access to something, or we had a moment in our life we had access to something, but we didn't understand what we had access to, so it limited our engagement of it. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.920 For me, that was flying first class for the first time in my life. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.240 And my we were a couple years into marriage. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:45.200 My husband likes life hacking, and somehow he used credit card points, I don't know what he did, but he was proud of it, and we got to fly um first class for the first time in my life, and I didn't know what I didn't know what you received by being in first class, and it took me observing those around me to realize what they were accessing, to realize that I had access to the same thing. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:56.319 So I use this metaphor to help you understand that if we don't fully understand this peace that God's talking about, that we have access to, we could maybe limit our engagement of it. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:12.160 So peace by definition definition, biblical true peace says freedom or exemption from disturbance and anxiety, tranquility, completeness, soundness of mind, contentment, and wholeness. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:14.160 That's pretty lofty. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:20.880 And the Bible says, Paul says, we have access to this type of peace in every circumstance. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:31.759 And I'm sure that even though some of these things that I share is kind of lighthearted in nature, I'm sure in a room this size, there's a lot of very deep, heavy things that you guys are carrying. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:38.079 Financial hardships, relationships that are in turmoil, loss, grief. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.559 I'm sure the gamut of it is represented here this morning. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:48.319 So I realize when I say the in all circumstances, that we can have this piece feels almost unobtainable. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:19:00.319 And what I want to help us with is when I'm trying to learn a new concept, and it's hard, it's lofty for me to gain the knowledge of what that concept is. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.519 A lot of times it helps me to learn what it's not. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:11.519 It helps me to unlearn the things maybe I've applied to the meaning that's actually not the real meaning when I know what it's not. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:20.319 So I'm gonna share a few points with you that will be the opposite, what peace is not, as we journey together to discover this peace. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:26.640 So the first point today, if you're taking notes, is peace is not a feeling. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.319 Peace is not a feeling, it's not an emotion. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:35.599 As an Enneogram for who in here knows what an Enneogram, what the Enneogram is? 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:37.039 Oh, okay, a lot of you. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:37.599 I didn't know. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:46.079 Okay, so this, if you don't know, is a personality typing system that helps you discover who you are, your motivators, your likes, your dislikes. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:47.039 It's it's fun. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.799 In my girl gang circle, we are always like, oh, well, you're an Enneagram 7. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:56.640 So that means like, so it's become a way we connect and it helps each other understand one another. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:03.279 Um, so I'm in an Enneagram 4, and for those of you who don't know, that means I am the most emotional Enneagram on the spectrum. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:11.759 Um so what that actually means, it doesn't mean that I'm always in a corner crying, but I've been in a corner crying before. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:21.440 Um what that means is actually that I have capacity for and am comfortable with feeling a wide range of emotions. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:27.839 And I like to create space for other people to feel safe to experience those same emotions. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:41.039 But growing up as in an Enneagram for, very emotional, I have learned one specific thing that has been most pivotal for me in maturing, and that is emotions are indicators, they are not leaders. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:56.960 And for me, that means I can feel, I can feel all the things, I can sit in my emotions, I can hear what they're saying to me, I can hear what they're indicating to me, but then I must apply the truth of God's word, and that's the leader in my situation. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.720 And so this morning, maybe you don't feel peaceful. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:02.000 That's okay. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:03.599 That's actually not the goal. 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:08.640 The goal is not necessarily feel peaceful, because peaceful is an emotion, right? 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:17.119 So if you're experiencing emotions this morning that feel counter to what Paul is talking about, let's use them like indicators. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:19.519 Let's take them to God, let's bring them to him. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:25.039 He can handle, trust me, he can handle your raw, ugly emotions. 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:27.680 You can take them, he's not scared. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:38.400 He wants to create a space where you can exchange with him how you're really feeling, and then let him apply the truth of who he is on top of those emotions. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:43.839 Just like a car gauge, you get in your car, I need gas, that indicates. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:51.680 You need tire pressure that indicates that's our emotion, it indicates our condition, but it does not tell us who we are. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:55.440 So I want to be clear. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:57.039 One one quick thing. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:05.680 Um when we talk about this goal of Peace, I want you to know that this does not mean a space of delusion. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:11.519 This does not mean that we find this goal of peace by being absent from our reality. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:22.960 Okay, so, and I wanted to make that clear because sometimes I think in the in walking in this life of Christianity, I've thought that there was no space for my actual reality or my actual feelings, but that's not the case. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.119 In fact, it's quite the opposite. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:39.279 Because this goal of peace is that we fully acknowledge our emotions, our reality, our situations, but in spite of it, God, He is good, He is with me, He is for me in everything. 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:40.160 Amen. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:23:00.079 Isaiah 26, 3 through 4 says, You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, resolutely firm, and unwavering, because they trust in you, they trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord Himself is the rock eternal. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:06.480 If you're taking notes, this next point is peace is not a circumstance. 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.519 Peace is not a circumstance. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:18.160 Um, have you ever been praying and praying and praying for something in your life, and then you get it, and then you're praying and praying and praying for the next thing? 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:26.400 Or you have prayed for, I'm gonna give you a couple examples, prayed for your spouse, and now you're married and you're like, oh, this is hard. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:33.680 And then you're praying and praying, God, change my spouse, which I'm not speaking by experience whatsoever. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:39.920 Or you pray and you pray and pray for children, and then God gifts you those children, and you're just like, I need a break. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:44.559 Um, and we laugh about it because we know this is the reality of the human condition, right? 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:47.920 We receive one thing and we're ready to move on to the next thing. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:50.160 We're onto the iPhone 13, right? 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:51.440 Am I correct? 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:59.440 So we have iPhone 13, probably one of the most incredible pieces of technology in the history of mankind. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:04.720 But if tomorrow the iPhone 14 dropped, a lot of you would be like, I gotta go get that, right? 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:09.519 We have this striving for the next, the better, the the what's beyond. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:13.119 And there's nothing inherently wrong about this. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:23.440 What what the the issue is here, if we're not careful, we can replace the thing we're striving for to be the fulfillment of the thing we lack. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:42.799 So if we are thinking our spouse is going to fulfill us, if we are thinking our children are gonna make us feel content, if we're thinking our job or the amount of money we're gonna make, if we think that's gonna make us be free from anxiety and stress, that's the issue. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:45.279 Those things can't be the source. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:47.599 We know God is the source of those things. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.039 Those are solely gifts that He has brought us in our lives. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:51.680 Amen? 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:54.960 C. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:55.279 S. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:08.319 Lewis writes, and this is actually one of my favorite quotes by him, if we find in ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were not made for here. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.160 We were made for another world. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:12.880 We were created for eternity. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:17.119 So these desires are not bad, but they do not bring true fulfillment. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:18.480 Only God can do that. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:31.359 In fact, Paul, while he is writing this very chapter, this very letter to the Church of Philippians, he is actually writing from being in jail. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:38.079 He's writing from probably one of his worst life circumstances, if you were to put it on paper. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:45.119 Um and yet, in the contents of this letter, he talks about the joys of following Christ. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:51.519 He talks about persevering for the gospel, he talks about the secret to being content in every situation. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:26:00.240 So in this space, in the midst of him being in jail, he writes, he pens the verses six through seven we were just reading. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:13.839 And then down in verses 11 through 13, he's he goes on to say, Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned that in whatever situation I am to be content or peaceful. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:17.279 I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:29.920 In every in any and every circumstance, I have learned that the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance in need, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:33.519 God is the source, not the circumstance. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:39.200 Peace is not found in a particular outcome or life circumstance because peace is right now. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.319 We have it right now in whatever we're walking through. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:48.079 The next point is peace is not the absence of chaos. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:50.960 Peace is not the absence of chaos. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:52.880 I love good design. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:55.200 I have from a very young age. 00:26:55.359 --> 00:27:03.039 My mom has plenty of stories where she came home from work and I, as a 12-year-old, rearranged her entire living room space because it made more sense. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:04.960 The piano belonged over here. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.200 And so this is not made up. 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:10.559 This is, I believe, been birthed into me from the beginning. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:12.240 God, God made me this way. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:18.240 And I'm not a city girl, ironically, I'd rather be like frolicking mountainside singing sound of music. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:20.480 I would rather, but here I am. 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:22.880 Let me remind you of my reality from before. 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:24.960 I'm a mom of two toddlers. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.480 I am constantly cleaning up food on the floor. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:32.480 I don't know why, when you're a mom of toddlers, why is food always on the floor? 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:34.240 But it's always on the floor. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:39.119 Um, many days I'm playing in mud with mini construction trucks. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:42.799 I never knew what an excavator was until my child. 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:45.119 Um, and so this is my reality. 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:50.880 It's not good design, it's not mountainside lindsay, but I believe God built this in me. 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:56.000 Um, but my life, even though it's messy and chaotic, it's beautiful. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:03.200 It's exactly what God has placed in my hands, and He's exact it's exactly what He's entrusted me in this season of my life. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:12.720 Of course, I would love it sometimes if I wasn't constantly doing laundry or constantly in this cycle of every day, but um, it's what God gave me, right? 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:14.799 And I can have peace in the midst of it. 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:19.200 Because peace is not the absence of chaos, it's the presence of Jesus. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:31.440 And when I see the goodness of God and faithfulness of Him in my current reality, that's when I can see the Jesus, the presence of Jesus shows up. 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:45.920 When I see my two little boys growing and bonding in a new way because they're so close in age and they're figuring it out together, or when I hear the um out of the blue, mommy, I love you from Conrad, like that's incredible. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:51.119 Those are those reminders that God is with me even in this crazy season. 00:28:51.599 --> 00:29:00.799 Or when we went through the season of my husband and surgery, like I really, I when I first heard the news, I was in tears because I just could not imagine how we were gonna get through it. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:12.079 But then, in spite of it, God he showed up and we got to bond in different ways that were precious that we probably wouldn't have had the time and space for had he not been recovering from surgery in the house. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:22.559 Or when my six-month-old we find out this unknown medical condition that we were walking through, now the scans are showing completely normal. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:26.240 That is Jesus in the presence of chaos. 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:40.720 He he went ahead and shared part of this last point, but in Mark 4, verses 37 through 40, Jesus is with his disciples, like he shared. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:43.200 They're in the boat and a storm comes. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:49.759 It says, a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:53.279 Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:57.839 The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:03.039 He got up, he rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, Quiet, be still. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.759 Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:08.720 He said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:10.480 Do you still have no faith? 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:14.559 So Jesus, in the middle of a storm, is sleeping. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:17.440 In the middle of chaos, he's sleeping. 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:23.680 It's the boat is getting swamped and filling up with water, he's sleeping. 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:29.119 Because peace is not the absence of chaos or a storm, it's the presence of Jesus. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:39.839 So even in our darkest, hardest days, even in tiredness and tears and highs and lows, we have peace because we have Jesus. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:40.799 Amen. 00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:46.240 So my final point, the band can load, is peace is a person. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:48.880 Peace is a person. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:52.799 Everything Jesus offers, He is. 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:55.519 Everything you need, He is. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.160 We don't need to go to God for peace. 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:00.400 We don't need to go to God for provision. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:05.039 We don't need to go to God for healing because He He is already those things. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:08.000 He is peace, Jehovah Shalom. 00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:10.480 He is He is healing, Jehovah Rapha. 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:12.640 He is provision, Jehovah Jirah. 00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:15.519 Everything he is, he offers. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:20.640 Paul tells us in the text that we need to pray in everything, right? 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:23.200 With thanksgiving, make your request known to God. 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:32.319 And the point of prayer that he's talking about, this vehicle to this peace that is otherworldly, that is supernatural, the vehicle is prayer. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:36.559 And before I shared with you some of the practical aspects of it. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:45.839 But the point here, I believe, is that it's it's not to petition God for him to be who he already is to us. 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:49.119 My kids don't need to come to me and say, Mommy, can you be my mommy? 00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:51.599 Like, no, I'm I am their mommy. 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:53.440 I am who I am to them. 00:31:54.319 --> 00:32:00.880 So when when we go to God, it's not that we're asking him to be who he already is. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:08.960 We pray and we bring him everything because we want to give him our hearts and our hopes and our pains and our emotions. 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:23.039 And in this space, in devotion of prayer with God, where we acknowledge the reality and the depths of our situation, but also with thanksgiving, with thankfulness, that we've seen him come through. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:30.400 We've seen him even when the outcome seemed like it wasn't what I would have picked for myself, and God, in spite of, was there. 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:42.480 In that place, in that place of prayer where we choose to continue to bring everything, carry everything to him in prayer, and trust that he will provide everything we need. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:44.720 That's a different kind of prayer life. 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:48.480 That's a prayer life that's relational, it's personal. 00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:54.720 And like my kids, I would I want to do everything that is best and good for them. 00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:57.519 God, it's the exact same thing. 00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:03.759 But it's in this devotion, it's in this exchange of true relational exchange of prayer. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:10.480 That is where we can experience supernatural peace that doesn't make sense to people of this world. 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:20.720 So today, if you take anything, if you take nothing else than this from what I shared, I want you to know you have peace. 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:24.000 You have it right now in the person of Jesus. 00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:26.559 Emmanuel, God with us. 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:27.759 He's with us. 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.400 Peace is with us in everything. 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:44.880 So this morning, maybe, maybe you've never met this Jesus, or maybe you haven't made him Lord of your life, or maybe you've walked away from him, and you don't understand this person of peace. 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.759 It's it seems hard to grasp. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:54.960 I want to create a space where we can commit to making him Lord over our lives. 00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:57.599 There are two key texts in Romans. 00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:06.319 Chapter 10, it says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:13.199 Later in chapter 15, it says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:17.199 So what connects us to God and to this kind of peace? 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:24.559 It's in believing, by believing, through believing, that's bought by the blood of Jesus. 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:28.719 So today I would ask that every head be bowed, every eye would close. 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:39.039 If that's you, if you want a relation with this relationship with this Jesus, the person of peace, I want to give you an opportunity to respond. 00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:52.719 And I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand, but this is not for anything other than between you and Jesus, a commitment that you want to step out, that you want him to be the Lord of your life. 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:56.400 So if that's you in this place, I just ask that you would raise your hand right now. 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:00.960 If you want to make Jesus Lord of your life, the person of peace himself. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:02.639 Amen. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:09.360 I'm gonna pray these words and I would ask everybody to pray them out loud with me. 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:14.880 Lord Jesus, I come before you today. 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:18.320 I surrender my life to you. 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:22.400 I believe you paid the price for my sin. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:33.280 And by dying on the cross and raising to life again, God, forgive my sins. 00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:36.159 I give you my life. 00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:39.280 Be my Lord and my Savior. 00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:42.400 Help me to do your will. 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:45.119 In Jesus' name. 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:46.079 Amen. 00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:47.599 Amen. 00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:50.239 Come on, let's put our hands together for those people. 00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:53.840 Thanks again for listening. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:55.679 We hope you enjoyed today's message. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:36:00.000 We'd love for you to subscribe to our podcast and review and share what you've heard today. 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:06.000 If you'd like more content like this, or you'd like to connect with us, go to celebrationorl.org. 00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:07.840 We hope you join us next time.