What is Peace?

The embodiment of peace

•Practical practices of peace

•In the Gospel of Matthew we see John the Baptist challenge the people about a false peace that comes from us thinking we are doing the right thing.

•So, what is not peace?

Peacemaker quote- this is not the kind of peace we are talking about

What it is

•Matthew 3:2 “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (NIV)

•Again in 3:8 “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” (NRSV)

Bear Fruit slide/story

This is what peace looks like for us, this is the challenge to begin with ourselves

•Matthew 3:8 “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” (NRSV)

•(NLT) “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”

What it means

John was calling out the “religious” folks of his day to not just rely on the faith handed down to them through the promise of Abraham but to be people who would truly look at the Messiah for the way peace was to be lived out. It starts in our own hearts to become peacemakers

Challenges of Peacemakers

•Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

•It would be easy to look at peace in a community as the absence of conflict.

We live in days of seemingly extreme division, and it would be a mistake to ignore it.

•Instead, we need to ask,

“If peace on earth begins with me, what do I need to change in my life to be a peacemaker?”

•If God has extended grace and mercy to us, where do we need to extend grace and mercy?

This isn’t about a list of things we should and shouldn’t do.

This is a call to look at the person of Jesus and at who we are supposed to be in the world—people who are like Christ.

Tough Questions to consider

•Where in our community do we need to be confronted with our judgmental-ism, favoritism, or exclusionary practices?

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•Where do we need to be reminded of our foundation and identity in Christ?

•When have we ignored conflict for the sake of a false sense of peace, instead of doing the hard work of holiness that asks us to examine our own hearts?

•Where do we need to submit, be selfless, and surrender to the good of the community?

•Where do we need to look like servant Jesus?

•If peace in the community begins with me, where do I need to allow my heart to be transformed, that I might be a person of peace?

Benediction Philippians 4:7 “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (NLT)