PEACE

HOLY FOREVER

Wow! What an awesome Sunday so far huh?

Holy is a big word, Holiness is synonymous with the word perfection, which I’m ok with attributing to the character of our God. But the idea of perfection is one that can be off-putting to many coming to Christianity, as though condemnation or accusation is the outcome for falling short. But let me encourage you this morning in your pursuit of Holiness. Holiness is not a demand to be perfect, it’s an invitation to walk with the Holy one, and allow His merciful character to transform your desire to where you long to be more like Him.

In our advent reading today we see some pictures of that upside Christmas.

Jesus, as a King would be born today in the best of hospital’s, certainly not outside.

His parents would have been known greatly, and certainly not amidst the potential of an un-wed pregnancy scandal.

He would be protected and elevated, not hunted and on the run from the threat of death.

The irony of the God of the universe being born in the lowest of places and situations would set the tone for Jesus’ entire ministry where He would challenge the norm in almost every situation in which He involved himself.

But if you want to lead change, you have to challenge the norms. His birth was upside down from what we would expect. His selection of followers was upside down from what we would expect. His triumphant entry into the city was on a donkey, which isn’t an upside down horse… but you get it. Tables selling sacrifices He would flip upside down, and dying a criminal’s death is not how any of us would have wrote the script. But He knew what He came accomplish.

Ephesians 2 talks a little bit about the purpose which He came, let’s take a look. As you are turning there if you are here for friend day…

ADVENT CANDLES - Roger and Theresa, won November friend day. Thankful for their involvement in our church.

Context - Ephesians written by Paul to the gentiles who were not previously God’s people now being invited to the party. The division of racism was one of the greatest walls Jesus came to breakdown in order to create peace. There was a sense of entitlement within those who called themselves God’s party and Jesus says no, you’re all mine. It’s super important church that we recognize that anytime we see ourselves as more important, better, or more privileged than someone else for ANY reason that we are threatening peace and resurrecting the hostility that we are are going to find Jesus wanted to be put to death once and for all.

Ephesians 2:14–18 “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

For the three points we are going to consider from Ephesians chapter 2 today I want us to remember that He was and is, so we should be. Looking to him as a model for peace

Because He was and is, so we should be…

Peace People(Presence)

The passage we just read today says He IS our peace. Last week we said Jesus Christ isn’t just our source of hope, He is our hope. This week we are reminded that He IS our peace. This indicates to us that being in His presence is to be in a peaceful state of mind. Isaiah 26:3 teaches us that when our mind is focused on Him, He will keep us in perfect peace.

Many of us think the key to peace to is to try to think more about how to escape the chaos. The key is to focus on Him as our source of peace. If you are talking about your anxiety, you are thinking about your anxiety. If you are talking about your chaos, you are thinking about your chaos. The secular humanism that we see emphasized in our culture today would tell us to think about our problems, and rationalize our way out of them. But scripture teaches us to bring our focus more and more on Him.

Too many times people just quote a Bible verse at us like think about Jesus more and you’ll have peace.

If you think I’m preaching over-simplified spirituality or maybe cliche prayer and Bible reading, see if you can’t get on board with this.

He is ALREADY bigger than our problems. As a Christian today can you get behind that? Do you believe that?

He is ALREADY bigger than our problems.

The more we think about that, the greater our belief and mindset moves in that direction.

Allison and I were out shopping last week and we were in a furniture store and saw a framed picture that had an inspiration saying on it that you might hang in your living room, and the title was “FEAR.”

PICTURE OF WORD FEAR

Now the top of the picture said FEAR in huge letters, as I moved closer it read in small letters something like this.

"I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.”

Great quote, great thought, but why on earth every time I walked into my living room would I want to see the word FEAR in big bold letters? This is how too many of us try to manage our problems, by staring at them as frequently as we possibly can.

BACK TO PEACE PEOPLE SLIDE

We start becoming people of peace by focusing on the author and very presence of peace Himself in Jesus Christ.

We will talk more about how to be people of peace throughout today but I wanted to emphasize out of the gate what we need to do to have peace, and quickly the value of being people of peace.

Just by show of hands today, is there someone in your life that you feel peaceful when you are in the presence. You feel safe? Your stress level goes down?

That’s who God calls us to be. I love being around these people, and I want to continually move towards being one of these people.

Because He was and is a person of peace, so we should be people of peace.

Because His purpose was and is peace. We should make peace our purpose.

Peace Purpose - In our Ephesians text today Jesus had a purpose to accomplish peace by making one new humanity out of two. In that context it spoke of Jews and Gentiles. In our context, this is accomplished every time we establish unity and resist division. Most often in our world when we see any one person or group of people resisting, it is against another person or group of people. But when we see DIVISION as our common enemy, we resist division by striving for unity and thus carry out the purpose of peace which Christ desired His church. We are divided over so many lesser things church. But today more than ever before we need to make it our purpose to search out commonalities with one another so that we can experience the peace that comes from being on the same page with one another. There’s a good chance today that your most recent division with someone is something that I’ll bet the scriptures either don’t speak to or don’t clarify the differences we cite.

The book of James teaches us that our own desires get in the way of peace. He says you fight with other people because you don’t get YOUR way. When we behave like this we are showing that our own pleasure are a greater purpose in life than keeping the peace. The last argument you had with your spouse wasn’t about scripture, I’ll bet the farm on that one. It was because you wanted your way and they wanted theirs, and you know who was right? Neither of you. All of our relationships are successful when compromise on lesser things is considered, and both individuals have the other’s interest in mind more than their own.

Additionally peace doesn’t exist because I’m afraid too many of us walk around perpetually offended. We are waiting for someone to cut us off in traffic, to tell us we did wrong, or disagree with the way we think or the way we are doing something so we can speak our mind. But when we make peace our purpose it means we begin to understand that peace with one another has a greater value than whatever it is that we might disagree about. That’s why Paul wrote in Romans 12:18 As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

If we want to be a people of peace, if we make peace our purpose, then because Jesus preached peace. We must be peace preachers. Looking at verse 18 of our text again today. Ephesians 2:17 “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.”

Peace Preaching - We need peace preachers. We need to be peace preachers. That’s not just for those we were refer to as preachers that stand on a stage like this, but we need all y’all to be peace preachers. Our daily in and out conversations are preaching, our self talk is how we preach to ourselves.

Another pastor asked me the other day how things were going at Cap City, and I said good. They said yeah what’s going on? And there’s plenty of good going on and I was getting ready to tell them but I hesitated just long enough for them to go. Is it a no news is good news kind of thing? In other words as someone who works in ministry he knew that oftentimes we measure our current season by whether or not there is an issue brewing.

You all know that cliche right? No news is good news. Isn’t that a really discouraging statement?

To think that we have assumed if there is talk, if there is noise, if there is something to report it might be negative?

I know people that only want to talk when they have bad news, that’s bad preaching? Speak peace.

There’s good to be preached! We baptized 6? people today! More and more people are being discipled here! This church is serving the community like never before! Our building is paid off! Our next gen ministries are busting at the seams! Great muffins today! Our worship team is off the hook! And good news… Pastor Colton is preaching next week! On that note I’ll invite him to come as we move towards a time of response.

PICTURE OF WORD JESUS

What if this morning instead of that thing that is stealing our peace being framed in the center of our mind, we focused on He who is our peace… Jesus.

That first Christmas the angels announced to the shepherds the birth of the Messiah would mean peace on earth. Most likely the word the shepherds would have heard for peace that night would have been shalom. It’s the Hebrew word for peace and comes forth with the meaning of completion, wholeness, and restoration.

If you don’t have peace today throughout there is a good chance you feel less than complete, less than whole, and something needs to be restored. We can’t ask God for peace when we continue in sins that separate us from Him.

During this time of response, during this season what do you need to do to be covered in His peace?

Will you commit to peace at home? Peace in your marriage? Will you make peace in that rocky relationship? Will you step away from that sin that is stealing your peace? Will you come and ask God to give you His peace in the situation that continues to keep you in a state of chaos and anxiety.

Let’s stand this morning.

Would you invite His presence to take seat in your heart today?

We sing a song that says, I know there is peace in His presence, is there peace in ours? If not who is ruling your life’s presence?

Colton’s going to sing a sing that says, “You have been my king of glory come and be my prince of peace.”

We are ok with worshipping an almighty king, but many of us need to humble ourselves into an place of intimacy and fellowship with the prince this morning.

PRAY

Post Sermon: Wednesday night preview, 4 options…Financial Peace, Foundations, John Bevere Good or God, first time ever our Wednesday night offerings this semester will be all co-ed. Serve in our next gen ministries with kids or youth. Open next week, but one will have early sign up. Who in here will make some type of financial goal for 2026?

Terri Bourne peace person, you can be at peace about joining FPU… FINANCIAL PEACE!!! WOOHOO! Doesn’t mean you are broke or bad with money, might need you want a plan for peace. She doesn’t want to know how many tv subscriptions you have, how much your mortgage is, or why you have a mcdonalds credit card.

The "Accountability Partner": Whether single or with a partner, having someone to keep you on track with your financial goals can make all the difference.

The "Free-Spirit" Spouse: The partner who is more inclined to spend and is less detail-oriented with finances can learn how to work with their "Nerd" counterpart to create a budget they both agree on.

The "Nerd" Spouse: The partner who loves working with numbers can learn how to communicate and collaborate with their "Free-Spirit" spouse, ensuring both partners are heard and involved in financial decisions.

The "Debt-Free Screamers": People who want to experience the thrill of becoming debt-free.

The "Soul-Sucked" Marketer: Someone who is making a decent income but feels unfulfilled and stressed by their work, and wants to redefine what "enough" means for them.

The "Unicorn" Couple: Young couples who want to be an anomaly by having significant savings and little to no debt early in life.

The "Broke College Student, Now Young Professional": Someone who can't seem to stop spending all their money and wants to learn practical advice on budgeting and investing.

The "Generous Giver": People who want to get their finances in order so they can be generous to others.

The "Doctor McMansion" Wannabe: A high-income earner who struggles with overspending and needs to learn financial discipline.

The "Budgeting Averse": People who find budgeting tedious and want a simple, clear system to follow.

So one more response before we leave today, this is really the only group we host that has a pretty hefty cost associated with it and we ask you to pay that, BUT 10 free people or couples but you have to come get one from me. Starts January 14th.

Let’s stand today: BENEDICTION Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Go from here today recognizing that trusting in him will fill you with a peace that comes directly from the God of hope…

Before you leave today I have 10 Tickets, Blankets for Christmas Room 106

GO THIS WEEK AND BE A PEOPLE OF PEACE, SPEAK HIS PEACE, RECEIVE HIS PEACE