• Working At Peace

    Psalm 29, Romans 5:1-11, Philippians 4:2-9,

    “The LORD gives his people ; the LORD blesses his people with .”
    Psalm 29:11

    “…we have peace with God through our Lord Christ.”
    Romans 5:1

    “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
    Philippians 4:7

    Through Jesus Christ we are at peace with God (). This is also expressed as being God’s children, the LORD’s people. So, God gives us strength. This strength, the through Christ, is a peace that surpasses all understanding.

    Peace isn’t a one-time thing. Peace is not something that just happens. Peace is hard work. For us to be reconciled to God (“…peace with God…”), the of God came to earth, became one of us, and died for all of us. If Jesus died for this peace, why do we ever think it is easy?

    It takes strength to be at peace. It takes effort to be at peace. “That person cut me off, they…” Be at peace? Have you driven around here? Just driving can cause one to not be at peace with the people around them! Then there are the , work, and general people dynamics which just makes being at peace hard!

    PEACE IS HARD WORK! “I’m at peace about this.” If one is truly at peace about something, there was effort involved. Sometimes we are at “peace” because we are fatalistic about it. Sometimes we are at “peace”, because we “know” the end result. Sometimes we are at peace because we surrendered it to God.

    1) Why do you think “spiritual” peace is viewed as something “just” given?

    2) Have you ever had to work really hard to be at peace about something?

    3) Should you feel guilty about having to work at being at peace?

    4) Is being at peace the effort?

    KD) Are you at peace with God? If not, why not? If you are, how?

  • Blazing a Way

    Blazing a Way

    Nehemiah 9:1-31 “It’s not our fault!” That is proclaimed so much by so many about slavery, racism, poverty, etcetera…and they’re right. Yet, here we have the example of the Jews. It was the fault of their ancestors. However, their ancestors were dead. All things new Often, you cannot figure out the right way without figuring…

  • Veiling Mystery

    Veiling Mystery

    Psalm 111; Isaiah 25:6–10a; Mark 6:35–44 The veil has long existed as a physical reminder of mystery. The truly veiled bride becomes a mystery (again) as she walks down the aisle toward an anxious and waiting groom. Modern weddings have pretty much eschewed the bridal veil. The bride may have a nominal veil, but it…

  • Be Our Guest

    Be Our Guest

    Psalm 111; Exodus 24:1–11; Romans 15:22–33 If you were invited to a US presidential affair, you might be surprised. Unless you roam such circles or are connected to them, usually you won’t have any expectation of being invited to sit at the table with the president, unless, of course, you decide to contribute to their…

  • Your Contentment

    Your Contentment

    Psalm 111; Genesis 18:1–15; Philippians 4:10–20 One of the harder things about being a Christian is that God often doesn’t give our heart‘s desires. We describe God as good, loving, giving, and many other positive traits. Yet, the giving (or lack thereof) often gets in the way of our understanding of God’s goodness, loving, and…