Alexander the Great is credited for saying, “The more I get to know my neighbor, the more I love my dog.” Relationships are hard because they cause conflict and conflict is hard because it causes anxiety. As we know, God made us to experience people and peace. In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shares God’s brilliant approach for sustaining relationships and tranquility. For this wisdom, we give thanks to God on this Sunday before Thanksgiving and every time we begin to feel the honest and painful emotions of Alexander the Great.
"peace" Tagged Sermons (Page 2)
Jesus announced and demonstrated that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In other words, a tectonic shift in governance is taking place. How we respond determines the quality of our lives now and for eternity. For those who awaken (i.e. repent) there is, among other things, the potential to displace apprehension with exhilaration. Greater than any medical university or clinic can provide, Jesus’ wisdom transforms anxiety into sustained peace.
Moses was pleading with God to go with him and Israel on their journey. God relented and said he would not only go with them, but provide for them rest and peace. As with Moses, God provides us with layers of peace. Personally, Relationally, Corporately and Ultimately. And only in God himself can we find the peace and rest we long for!
We will be exploring the end of the gospel of John where we find the culmination of the entire book as Thomas proclaims that Jesus is God. We will try to understand the implications of that statement for someone like Thomas and ourselves.
Peace is the global focus on this fourth Sunday of Advent. Peace is a good feeling produced by the Holy Spirit when conflict is replaced with loving kindness in our relationship with God, our relationships with one another and within our own souls. Though peace on earth is offered to all, today we discover from relatives of Mary that those who recognize Jesus as Lord will experience sustained divine peace.
Long ago, king Solomon had to navigate many personal and public demands. Wisely, he sought help from God, Who gave him wisdom and inspired him to record it. Despite the span of thousands of years, our lives aren’t that different from Solomon’s. We live with increasing personal and public demands. Thankfully, God’s transcendent wisdom is applicable to our lives today.
Today we finish our 4-week series entitled, Be Still My Soul in which we are looking to Jesus who lived in communion with the Father, faithfully fulfilled His divine assignments, evaded people’s expectations, loved the right people and sustained a soul at rest. Throughout these first weeks of 2018 we are reminded that God envisions followers of Jesus doing the same. Today’s message emerges from the final 2 verses in Mark 1:35-39 in which we see Jesus faithfully fulfilling God’s priorities. Here He shows us how to do the same.
God made you to commune with Him while fulfilling His call to love the right people. Once you discern what this unique kind of life looks like for you, get ready because distractions are coming. Jesus’ friends requested that He serve more people in Capernaum, yet He was so clear on His Father’s priorities that He evaded their seemingly good suggestion in order to stay the course with His Father’s will. Good news – all followers of Jesus must, and can, learn to do the same.
We all have pressures and priorities. With a New Year beginning tomorrow, it is a great time to remember that God designed us to deepen our lives with Him by living according to His priorities not people’s pressures. Early in the morning after a busy Saturday, Jesus was deepening His life with His Father when some potential distractions arose. In Jesus’ response, we discover how He evaded the pressures in order to maintain union with and obedience to His Father.
In today’s ancient story we find Jacob succeeding and happy after taking advantage of his naïve brother and tricking his failing father. Isn’t this the way it goes? Dishonesty pays. A subtle manipulation gets the handshake, the promotion and the good life. Yet, what if the good life could be better? On this second Sunday of Advent we discover that satisfaction, happiness and power are for those who strive, but joy, peace and love are afforded to those defeated by and surrendered to an All-Prevailing God.