Peace

Nearly 90,000 of the faithful were killed for their beliefs in violent and gruesome attacks last year, according to a report by the Center for Studies on New Religions, making Christians the most persecuted group in the world. (3)

Health:

Sleep: The National Department of Transportation estimates drowsy driving to be responsible for 1,550 fatalities and 40,000 nonfatal injuries annually in the United States (1)

Extreme stress is associated with this slight increase in overall stress. Adults are more likely than last year to report experiencing extreme stress (a rating of 8,9 or 10 on a 10-point scale). Twenty-four percent of adults report these levels, compared to 18 percent in 2014. This represents the highest percentage reporting extreme stress since 2010. (2)

Economic:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that growth will continue, but at a slower rate than that seen before the onset of the 2007–09 recession.

First off, the total amount of student debt has almost reached a staggering $1.3 trillion. And while more than 44 million Americans have student debt, about 7 million are also in student loan default as of last year. (7)

According to Forbes magazine in 2016 the U.S. Debt Is Heading Toward $20 Trillion: Where It's Been, Where It's Going And Why (8)

Education:

According to the Government National Center for Educational Statistics, between 2004–05 and 2014–15, prices for undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board at public institutions rose 33 percent, (6)

Justice:

Preliminary figures tracked by the FBI indicate that law enforcement agencies throughout the nation showed an overall increase of 5.3 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention for the first 6 months of 2016 when compared with figures reported for the same time in 2015. (5)

Social Upheaval:

The study also found that as many as 600 million Christians were prevented from practicing their faith in 2016.(3)

Today, cultural disdain toward Christianity is increasingly palpable. Whether we are talking about a group of nuns providing services for the marginalized, an educational institution that wishes to maintain faith-based standards for faculty and students, or a medical provider exercising conscience in right-to-life decisions, I believe we will continue to see more constrictions for people of faith. (4)

Find an illustration that introduces the idea that we are a people that generally are not at peace, and that we seek all kinds of ways to find peace but to no avail.

How are we coping with all of this?

Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our Nation, exacting more than $700 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care.** (9)

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Survey on Drug Use and Health,1 23.5 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol abuse problem in 2009 (10)

The problem of personal peace is not a new one. I think down deep we all desire and seek to have a sense of peace in our lives. Yet it seems so elusive and hard to grasp.

After all of our searching about, in turns out we have access to the best source of peace we will ever encounter. God is the true source of real and lasting peace.

The prophet Haggai in 520 BC shared the following:

“‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”” (, NIV)

Here the God promised to grant peace to those that had traveled back to what was left of the temple after it had been destroyed sixty six years earlier by King Nebuchadnezzar. (,)

We see again how God provided peace and rest to his people when King Asa took steps to honor God by removing places of idol worship in his kingdom.

“He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.” (, NIV)

The apostle Paul wrote of peace in his prayer at the conclusion of his letter to the church at Thessolonica:

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” (, NIV)

In each instance we see how God has been the author of peace and the one who is capable of giving peace. In fact God wants to give us good things and one of the good things he desires to give us is peace.

Now that we’re talking about this topic of peace, lets try to better describe what peace actually is and what the these passages tell us about peace.

Much of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the Hebrew word used most commonly for peace was the word “shalom” which has the sense of health, wholeness, and salvation. It is not simply the absence of strife, the opposite of peace.

When the Lord told Haggai that he was going to grant peace to the people that had come to restore the temple, he used the Hebrew “Shalom.” He was speaking of a deep underlying peace that is present even in the most difficult of circumstances. The people that had come back to restore the temple faced a daunting task. After so many years they could not start restoration of the temple right away because the place had become completely overgrown and they also needed to build shelters and homes for themselves along the way as well. Add to the whole problem the lack of resources and other logistical problems, one could clearly see how they might have become very discouraged.

When we look to King Asa we see a king who made changes because he saw how the people had left God and overtly worshiped idols in the land. It’s no surprise that there was no peace in the land at that time. God had withheld his blessings on the land and the people were not at peace and could not rest. Not until they chose to turn to God.

We are not much different ourselves today. The Evil one would never want us to have peace. Instead he would rather us live in a state of perpetual strife and angst. In fact one could make the case that rest and peace go hand in hand. Without peace it is difficult to rest, and yet rest is what we often find ourselves seeking. I can’t help but wonder if the troubles we are having in our country today are in part related to the degree we have left the safe harbor of our God in pursuit of our passions and our agenda’s instead of God’s. I sense that perhaps God has withdrawn His blessings of protection and peace and that is why we are in such social upheaval and are in a seemingly endless and unwinnable war with terrorists. How different things might be if we turned towards God and honored His word and his desires for how we are to live out our lives.

The Evil one would want us to never have peace, he would rather us live in a state of perpetual strife and angst. In fact one could make the case that rest and peace go hand in hand. Without peace it is difficult to rest, and yet rest is what we often find ourselves seeking. If you are resting well you probably have lots of peace in your life.

Paul reminded us that when God grants us peace, it is a peace for all times and in every way. It is not a peace that comes and goes. The author of that type of peace can only be found in Jesus.

Jesus is the ultimate author peace. The scriptures attest to the degree of peace that he lived by.

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching The Legacy of Christ

The legacy of Christ is not tension, but peace.

The legacy of Christ is not war, but peace.

The legacy of Christ is not advice about peace, it is peace!

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching The Legacy of Christ

The legacy of Christ is not tension, but peace.

The legacy of Christ is not war, but peace.

The legacy of Christ is not advice about peace, it is peace!

Recall if you will the scene in Luke :

Recall if you will the scene in Luke

“One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”” (, NIV)

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching The Legacy of Christ

The legacy of Christ is not tension, but peace.

The legacy of Christ is not war, but peace.

The legacy of Christ is not advice about peace, it is peace!

Someone once said:

“The legacy of Christ is not advice about peace, it is peace.”

The legacy of Christ is not war, but peace

“The legacy of Christ is not advice about peace, it is peace.”

“God can’t give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.” ― C.S. Lewis

(1) https://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/

(2) http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2015/snapshot.aspx

(3) https://www.instapaper.com/read/894555129

(4) http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/september/are-us-christians-really-persecuted.html?start=2

(5) https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/preliminary-semiannual-uniform-crime-report-januaryjune-2016

(6) https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76

(7) https://studentloanhero.com/featured/effects-of-student-loan-debt-us-economy/

(8) https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2016/03/28/u-s-debt-is-heading-toward-20-trillion-where-its-been-where-its-going-and-why/#57a60a197a25

(9) https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics

(10) https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-statistics

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