Feeling Overwhelmed? Here’s How to Find True Peace | Phil Kniesel

Learn how to anchor your heart and mind in God’s unshakable promises and lay down the tension stealing your peace.  In this week’s Advent message, Pastor Phil explores the gift of peace Jesus offers. Drawing from Isaiah 9:6-7 and John 14:27, he shares how true peace isn’t found in perfect circumstances but in the Prince of Peace Himself.

Challenge of the Week:
Identify one area in your life where you feel tension. Starting today, take five minutes every day to pray and mentally give these worries to Jesus and ask for His peace to fill that space. Write about your experience and thoughts and questions or share with a close friend or family. Text us and join the conversation!

Missed last week's message on hope?
Dive into the first part of our Advent series, where Pastor Phil discusses the sustaining power of hope in life's trials. Listen here: Advent Series - The Power of Hope.

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Transcript

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Phil Kniesel: 0:00

Some of you are one burnt Christmas cookie away from losing it. You can have money in the bank, but no peace in your heart. You can be successful on the outside, but incredibly empty on the inside. Hey, this is Phil Kniesel, Lead Pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith, and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message. Well, we are into our second week of celebrating Advent, and Advent means arrival or looking forward with hope. It's anticipating something that is coming, and think of it like waiting for your Amazon delivery, except this is the best gift ever, and no one's going to steal it off your front porch. You see, Advent, It calls us to celebrate the arrival of Jesus's birth, and it also calls us to look forward to the time when he will come again. There are four themes we reflect on during Advent. Last week I talked about hope. Today I want to talk about peace, followed by joy and love in the following weeks. And let's admit it, finding peace these days feels a bit like finding your phone charger when you're at 2%. You know it's somewhere, you just don't know. And for many, peace feels a little out of reach, especially in this season of busyness, stress, and those annoying Christmas songs that you just can't seem to get out of your head. And if you're like me, you're saying, please, I don't want to hear Last Christmas one more time. Peace seems a little elusive, abstract, and it's almost like grabbing water. But here's the good news. Peace isn't a seasonal feeling or a fluke occurrence. Peace is a person and he has a name. There's something about peace. It's everywhere during this season. You see it on decorations, you see it in the movies, and you hear it in the songs. A long time ago, there were shepherds in a field who were told by an angel about the coming of Jesus and we read suddenly a great company of heavenly hosts appeared with the angel praising God saying glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth, peace to who to those on whom his favor rests. There's a correlation between Jesus's coming. It's also interesting to note that when Jesus grew up and talked to people and greeted them as they came and went, He would often say, Peace be with you. Or after something happened or even something traumatic, He would say, Now go in peace. The Apostle Paul many times would start a letter to a church with the words, Grace and peace be with you. I mean, think about all the other options that he could have said he could have said grace and popularity because a lot of people want that he could have said grace and riches could have said grace and tick tock fame, but he didn't. He said grace and peace be with you. There's something about peace, and I think it's because we all want it. We just don't know how to find it. it and keep it. That's why so many people chase escapes because they want to feel free for just a moment, whether it's burying themselves in a bottle, binging on Netflix or sleeping around. We, we crave escapes because for a moment we want to relieve pressure in our lives. And I'm pretty sure some of you today would say what I need. Some of you are one burnt Christmas cookie away from losing it. And friend, hear me out. The peace you need is a peace that the world will never give or understand. It's a divine peace from God. Because you can have money in the bank, but no peace in your heart. You can be successful on the outside, but incredibly empty on the inside. You can be married, but have no peace in your home. And by the way, if you're sitting beside your spouse, don't nod your head at this time, because you for sure won't have any peace. What a lot of people want is peace. What a lot of people have is tension. We're anxious, we're afraid, we can't sleep at night. Instead of harmony and understanding in our relationships, we have disagreements and misunderstandings. We live with hurt feelings, bitterness, unforgiveness. We have tension. And just for a moment, I want you to identify one area where you most need peace. Peace. What is it? As we look at how peace and the coming of Jesus correlate, I believe that God is going to speak to you. And my prayer is maybe for the first time or maybe in a long time, you will experience his peace. Advent reminds us that we live between two pronouncements. Jesus came, he was born in Bethlehem from the line of David as prophesied, and he will come again, not as a baby, but as conquering king of kings. Amen. And it's in between those two pronouncements that God calls us, that God invites every single one of us to live with peace, not the kind of peace that you get in a candle lit bubble bath, but a peace that transcends any circumstance. And maybe you're thinking. Is that even possible? Now the word for peace used repeatedly in the Old Testament in the Hebrew language, and Hebrew because that's what the Old Testament was written in, is the word shalom. It means absence of war or strife. And an inner calmness and I kind of think that most of us would agree or define peace that way, but Shalom doesn't end there. It also points to the presence of something better in its place. It points to wholeness and completeness throughout all creation. It means the end of injustice when all brokenness in the world will be set right and healed where people will truly Love one another shalom takes something very complex And puts it in a state of completeness And we all know life is complex and full of moving parts. We have Relationships, we have goals. We have aspirations and when he when any of these things are out of sorts we lack You For the Jewish people, the hope of Shalom was wrapped up in a person, in their tension. They knew someone was coming who would open the door to peace. And I want to read you what the prophet Isaiah wrote 600 years before Jesus came onto the scene. He said it this way, For to us a child is born, and he's referencing Jesus, To us, his son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor. Mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, of the greatness of his government and peace. There will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing an upholding it with justice and righteousness. From that time on and forever, the zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. So notice that Isaiah says. This coming Messiah, which, as I told you, is in reference to Jesus, will be called the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Shalom. Jesus will come and relieve tension and bring wholeness and completion to all of creation. Peace isn't a seasonal feeling or a fluke occurrence. Peace is a person and he has a name, Jesus. He took all that was broken when Adam and Eve sinned, as the book of Genesis tells us, and he restored the chasm, the tension that existed between God and man. He made things whole and complete. And notice Isaiah says here the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end, meaning that what Jesus has established Hasn't stopped. It keeps on going and we see this. The church of Jesus hasn't stopped and it continues to expand Jesus's reign and rule are so evident around the world and nothing can stop this from happening It's like that dandelion in your yard You see it and you think, oh man, we're still good. And you go to bed and you wake up the next day and then your whole yard's full of dandelions. And it just keeps growing no matter how many times you mow over it. The gospel has spread across every continent transforming billions of lives and nothing can stop it. Not persecution, not politics, not pandemics, nothing. Jesus said it this way, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And just as a side note, this is kind of interesting to me. Okay. A lot of the human rights movements today are based on the very things that Jesus taught and modeled. So equality for all people, respect for all people, treating the poor fairly, and many want this and we should want this. But essentially, I would say many want the kingdom Jesus brought, but here's kind of the clincher. They don't want the king. They want the benefits of the kingdom without submitting to the king. And friends, that always ends with tension. That's it. And if you're lacking peace, maybe, maybe you want the kingdom that Jesus talked about, but you don't want to submit to the king. You want peace without surrender. And maybe it's because, for whatever reason, something happened in your life where you feel like you can't trust God fully. Isaiah, in this passage that I read here, points out that we can fully trust God. He alludes to the fact that Jesus fulfills every promise God has ever made. If you remember, he said this line. He said that the coming Messiah will come from David's throne. This is referencing King David from the Old Testament in the Bible. And it's a reminder that God made covenants with people to establish his faithfulness and God always pulled through. Covenants that pointed to Jesus and the plan to bring ultimate peace to the world. And I'm going to quickly tell you about these covenants. There was at first the Abrahamic covenants where God says this, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. God fulfilled this in Abraham and fast forward. We see that because of Jesus, all people from all nations are blessed. Then there was the mosaic covenant. You can read about this in Exodus chapter 20, where God gives the law, the 10 commandments to his people. And we read that in the New Testament, Jesus perfectly fulfills the law. Then there's the Davidic Covenant, which stated that Jesus kingdom is everlasting. And this is the one that Isaiah was referencing here. And finally, we have the New Covenant, which states that through Jesus we are forgiven, set free, and made new. And this is actually how the prophet Jeremiah wrote about the New Covenant. This is what he says. The days are come and declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. That's in reference to the Abrahamic covenant. This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel. After that time, declares the Lord, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. So it's not like the Mosaic covenant. I will be their God and they will be my people no longer will they teach their neighbor or say to one another nor know the Lord because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord for I will forgive their weakness and will remember their sins no more. This is the new covenant in Jesus and so through these covenants and the fulfillment of each of them, what we have is God's resume for us. He did exactly what he said he was going to do, which means. We can trust him. Trust is built when someone keeps their word, right? God kept his word. And so friend, I want to tell you, you can trust God. The things he said would happen happened. And that should give you some confidence. We all have that friend who over promises and under delivers, you know, I'll be there in five minutes turns into an hour. And then they show up with a latte for themselves and nothing for you. God isn't like that. He always delivers exactly what he promises. God has never failed to keep a promise. Not one. So if he can manage thousands of years of human history, friends, listen, he can handle your Tuesday. To know real peace, you must find yourself anchored in God's proven faithfulness. Otherwise, your fluctuating circumstances will dictate a fluctuating inconsistency. One that drives more stress and anxiety, one that drives more tension than peace. Jesus came to usher in the everlasting kingdom of God. He's the prince of peace. He established peace for the world and he did this in a number of ways and I want us to look at the peace that Jesus brought. One way is by what he did on the cross. He reconciled humanity to God. We have been made right with God. Because of what Jesus did on the cross and Paul writes it this way in Romans. He says, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. On the cross, Jesus restored humanity separation from God, and we can have peace because of that we can have life and life eternally because of that, and I think a lot of us get that we say following Jesus is the best decision we have made. And if you haven't made that decision friend, let me tell you fine. Peace with God to find that piece. You just got to come to him and believe he loves you. He gave his son Jesus to die on a cross for your sins and he grants forgiveness. He offers this to you as a gift and all you have to do is believe and receive. That's one of the ways that Jesus brings peace to our lives. The writer of Hebrews builds on this and alludes to another way that he establishes peace. This is what he writes. He says, Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. So here the writer writes. Correlates holiness with peace. We are reconciled to God because of what Jesus did on the cross. That gives us peace. But to keep on living in that peace, we must live holy lives. And that means live it away where we do our best to keep our lives free from sin. Cause we've all experienced the chaos, the guilt, the shame when living contrary to the way that God has designed. Paul wrote at another time, the wages of sin is death. Death in so many areas. Death to our spirit, death to our relationship with God, death to our confidence, death to our peace. So he says, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Peace endures by consistently coming to Jesus and setting things straight. It's receiving His grace and mercy on a continual basis. Proverbs says, Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. We can endure in peace when we confess our sins because it's then we find mercy. It's then we find grace and forgiveness. It's then our burdens are lifted, and then we can just move forward in peace with God. Here's a proven reality. You know this. If we don't have peace within, we cannot have peace within. With others. That's why it's so important to keep walking in that grace, in that mercy, and in that forgiveness. Because every single one of us gets this. If we are bothered about something internally, we can get even more amped up about things externally. So if you find yourself a little more critical than normal, a little more angry or resentful, maybe you're in attack mode, perhaps you just need to ask yourself, what's going on inside? If there is sin, Confess it and move on. Find that peace. And here's the thing. That's powerful. That's wonderful. And I say thank you, Jesus, for this. Thank you for establishing peace through the cross and for that enduring peace because of your grace and mercy. But why then are so many of us still living in tension? Why after coming to faith in Jesus, After being forgiven, after finding that personal peace and ongoing rest of peace with God, do we still hang on to things that drive us to fear, anxiety, stress, and sleepless nights? Why are we still longing for peace when it appears that in Jesus, He is our Prince of Peace? Why is it that we want peace, but what we have is tension? I think it's because we misunderstand one of the aspects of the promised peace that Jesus brings. We get the salvation part, we get the grace and mercy part, but then something hard hits us in life. And we believe peace in circumstances like that should be emotional or even physical detachment from whatever it is that is causing us tension. And when it's not that, we think, Oh, peace is elusive. I used to think that the only way I can know peace is Essentially by sucking it up in the face of whatever is going on. Whatever is troubling me I I could know peace by by gritting my teeth and grinning and bearing it and if I could just hold on until it gets Better that's probably as close to peace as I would get to know in this world But peace in hard times is not about white knuckling it through life The peace jesus brings to each of us beyond salvation and ongoing grace Is his peace and his peace And hard times is different. Let me take you to what Jesus said in the New Testament book of John. He starts off chapter 14 by saying these words. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Some of you just need to take those seven words and go with it today. That's God speaking to you a little later. He says the same thing. He says peace. I leave you my peace I give you I do not give to you as the world gives do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid So Jesus is saying friends. I give you my peace and it's different than the world's remember It's Shalom peace. So not just the absence of conflict but completeness and wholeness in this age We simply cannot and will not experience outward or circumstantial peace You All the time. But Jesus is saying my peace isn't about that anyway. It's different. It's not about outer calmness. It's about an inner posture. His peace is a heavenly peace in spite of earthly suffering. And Paul got that when he said it this way. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So he's saying Jesus is peace guards our hearts and our minds, meaning we're not going to trip out. We're not going to go places. We shouldn't go. It goes beyond our understanding like you can't explain it. But in the trial, you're actually peaceful. That's what he's talking about. Difficult situations have this tendency to rob that peace. But I want to tell you, or maybe even remind you, it was Jesus himself who calmed the storm when the disciples were on the sea, and they thought they were gonna die. And he simply said three words. He said, Peace. Be. Still. And some of you, you need to hear those words over your life and circumstance today. He is present. He is faithful. He is strong. Peace. Be. Still. Be still it might not calm the external stressors, but it calms your internal soul I want to take you back to what jesus quoted or what john quoted jesus saying rather And it actually gives us a clue to how how to have peace in a trial how it's even possible So remember jesus said the words peace. I leave you My peace I give you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Here he's saying that peace is robbed by two underlying things. Trouble and fear. And some of you are experiencing one or both today. You can't have peace because you're scared about the future. You're worried about that health diagnosis. You're troubled over the financial strain. You're concerned about your kids. You fear decisions beyond your control. You have tension. And these things rob your peace and notice Jesus says, do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid friends. Those are commands. Those aren't suggestions. Do not means you shouldn't do this. You can't do this. Don't bother doing this. Why? Because the peace that Jesus offers is different and I bet I bet we all really want that, but it's hard not to be troubled. It's hard not to be afraid. So how do we get there? Earlier in the same passage, Jesus said this. I will ask the Father and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. Ten verses later, Jesus explains who this advocate is. He says this, But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you. And then he says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give you, sound familiar? I do not give to you as the world gives, do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. There's a correlation between the Holy Spirit and the world. And Jesus is super clear on the role of the Holy Spirit. He said he's our advocate, meaning he believes in us. He's for us. He's our supporter. He's there to help us and be with us forever. He will teach us and remind us of the things Jesus said. And it's after saying all that, that Jesus says, Here's my peace, my peace I give to you. So his promise of peace is prefaced with the assurance of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And when Jesus left Earth, He gave us the Holy Spirit, which tells us that the peace Jesus gives us in the trials, that inner peace, despite outer chaos, is rooted in connectedness, in relationship with Him that proceeds and endures through the circumstances of life. In deep connectedness with Him, we find peace. And we could say it this way. No peace? No peace if you're lacking peace friends get to know the prince of peace That's why jesus said come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest rest meaning peace When the holy spirit is moving and working in our lives When we live in connectedness and relationship with God through his spirit, when we are walking in conjunction with him, we then have that inner peace. It's this automatic byproduct. The closer we walk with him, the sure that peace is, and it's then we can say in every and any situation, the Lord is my rock, my fortress and my savior. My God is my rock in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me. And my place of safety when we deeply know the Prince of Peace. No matter what the circumstances may be, no matter what tensions arise, we can be sure that there will be a peace that exists, that calms our soul. And in those moments, what we have and what we hear is God's voice whispering, and you know what he says in the tension, in the hardship, in the stress, he says, Friend, you are not alone. I am with you. He says, friend, you are not alone. I am with you. And that is enough. That is knowing and living in the peace that passes understanding. You are not alone. I am with you. We also know when we're drifting from God, when we're not in connection with him, when we're not actively pursuing the prince of peace, we can't experience that inner peace. And there will always be tension. No peace. Then no peace. You know, I asked you earlier to identify one area where you most need peace. One area causing you the most tension. Can you name it? Whatever it is, the fear of the future, a job that seems looming, a broken relationship, maybe there's loss or a health scare. I want to encourage you to take that one thing that is causing you so much tension, and I want you to picture yourself just laying it down at the feet of Jesus. And I say laying it down because it means you're not going to pick it back up again. I want you to picture yourself physically handing your worry, your stress, your anxiety, your attention to Jesus. And remember, you can trust that he can handle what you cannot. And as you lay it down, I want you to hear him whispering, friend, you are not alone. I am with you. And it's then you experience a peace that surpasses your situation. You see, Advent reminds us that we stand between two announcements. Jesus came, and Jesus will come again. We look back, and we say, He did it. We look forward, and we say, He will do it again. But, in the in between, Jesus offers us peace that transcends understanding. And so, Hope City, in this Advent season, may you choose to root yourself in His peace. Not the kind that depends on how much sleep you get or whether or not you find the perfect gift, but peace that is rooted in the unshakable reign of the Prince of Peace. When life feels chaotic, remember the King is on the throne. His promises never fail. His grace and his mercy are never ending, and he wants to walk in deep relationship with you. And if you do this, friend, he will be right there in the difficult situation, whispering in your ear, You are not alone. I am with you. In Hope City, that's peace. In Hope City, that's enough. I'm going to ask you to stand if you are able to. I want to close in prayer this morning. Jesus, I thank you that you are. The Prince of Peace and God, I pray for my friends here today because I know there are many circumstances and situation where there's the exact opposite going on in their hearts and minds and souls. And so I pray today for that inner peace, the peace of the mind, the peace of the heart, the peace of the soul, to overwhelm them. I pray that whatever it is they find themselves facing, worrying about, stressing about, whatever it is that has gripped their heart today, may they know that they have a God who is with them, who is for them, and you're not going to disappoint them, God. I pray that they walk in conjunction of that hope, of that God. Peace and so may they know they are not alone that you are with them And I pray for that peace to overwhelm their heart mind and so that when they leave this place They leave it at your feet not to pick it up again Not to mean that they're not gonna think about it, but they know in the midst of the chaos They have a calmness that calmness comes from the prince of peace And so I pray for that over their mind over their heart over their homes May your peace be evident friend Take that thing, that thing that's causing you so much tension, lay it at the feet of Jesus today and hear me out. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the one who can make anything right. He is the one who calms your soul in the circumstance. And so may you experience his peace, the peace that passes understanding. I pray this over you. And maybe you're joining us. And you don't know Jesus personally. You've never made that decision to follow him. I said it earlier. Peace with God is an incredible thing. He sent Jesus to die on the cross to forgive your sins and rise. He offers life and hope both now and forever and it just says that all you have to do is believe and receive and you will have that gift. You will have eternal life. So if you're joining us today, you just feel like man, I need that peace with God. I'm going to pray a prayer that helps you put into words the beginning of that journey. And I'll just ask you to pray along with me. Jesus, today I see my need for you. I thank you for going to the cross, for dying for my sins for rising, and offering me life and hope both now and forevermore. And so I put my hope in you, I believe in you, I put my faith in you. I put my trust in you. I want to follow you all the days of my life. I want to make you Lord and leader of my life. And so help me. Help me to do that. Thank you for the peace that you bring, that you reconcile me toward God. And Lord, I just give you all that I am. I want to follow you all the days of my life. And God, I pray over every individual, every couple, and every family. I ask that as they go into this week, No matter what lies ahead of him, no matter what complications or even frustrations they may face later today, tomorrow or the next day. God, I pray in the midst of that, may they lean upon the peace that you bring. May they know that the Prince of Peace is there saying, I'm with you saying, I, I can do this. You are not alone. And so God, may they walk in that truth. May they walk in that reality. And I just pray for a calmness over their mind and heart. May they leave that thing that's stressing them at your feet. And may they walk out knowing they can trust you in and through all things. And so I pray that over them, in your powerful and incredible name, Jesus. Amen. If you prayed that prayer of surrendering your life to Christ, Can I just ask you to scan the QR code on the screen or on the seat back in front of you? It's our way of getting a digital booklet inside of your hands that just Helps you understand and know what it means to follow Jesus And then also through that link we'd love to get to know you personally and help you take some next steps around here If you're joining us in person here at the milwoods campus and you want prayer over anything in your life We're going to have a prayer team available down at your front left after the service and they would love to pray over and for you Hope city Thank you for braving the elements today and coming to church. You guys are awesome. You deserve an extra medal in heaven for that, okay? But know this, I love you guys. I'm cheering you on. I'm praying for you. And here's my prayer as you go into this week. May the God of peace guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. No matter what you face, may the Prince of Peace give you His peace. Bless you guys. Thanks for being in church today. Have an incredible week