Find peace

Hope you had fun tonight

I know I did

What did we talk about last week

tonight we are going to takle a more encouraging topic than last week

peace

Have you ever lost anything?

Have students answer

Tell a quick story of how you lost keys to the apartment

Turns out Sabrina had them

that brought me peace

We are going to talk about what peace is and how we can find it in our lives.

Let's read our passage

Psalm 119:153–176 ESV

Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law. Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise! Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes. Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules. Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies. I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands. Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life, O Lord, according to your steadfast love. The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words. I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law. Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules. Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. I hope for your salvation, O Lord, and I do your commandments. My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly. I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you. Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word. My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right. Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

let’s pray

peace in his word 165

ok let’s first dive into what is peace and where we can find it

Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.”

Ok so what is peace

well sometimes we picture a vw bug

but the Hebrew word here is shalom

say it with me shalom

ok so what makes diffrent than peace

well we think peace as kinda just being chill

but shalom is a little deeper

its related to wholeness, in love rightouness, calmness

If you have seen the chosen they will greet people with shalom or saboth shalom,

but this is a kind of peace that comes from God

i want this peace

guy’s we live in actions times

books are written called the acxious generration and so forth

maybe its scoail media comparsion, familey life, or just stress out the knews

we want this peace

So the greek equvilent of shalom is used in

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

yes we should want this peace

i dont think this is a hard sell

perfect harmony in life

What kind of person can find it?

Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.”

the kind of person who loves scripture

You have to be this kind of person to find true peace

why?

well rember how we think peace cutrally just kind of means chill?

well the world view of peace is often just distraction

maybe its just taking your mind off somthing

a vacation

denial

not what scipture is saying

and where did we hear this diffrent view of peace, wholeness

where scripture

also i just want you guys to know that we live in a ulture that is so fourmed by ethics that come from scripture

The west before Christianity spread was deffently not peacefull

so if you want to live peacefully be in the word each day

and be comforted

but sometings we jsut feel lost

there is hope for you too,

why because we were all lost at some point

Lost? be found 176

yep we have all felt like this lost

and not feeling any peace

can i tell you a time i felt lost?

my freashman year of colledge

i got to down to GCU

and i thought i was right away going to have just tons of community

so i went and tried connecting

but day to day turned to week to week

but i really did not have any solid freinds

i did not like at school

i felt kind of lost

i dont say this to get pity, but maybe some of you guys can relate in some way

but i took me a whole year to make conncetion

boys you wont care about this

but the next year i went down Sabrina, moved down to GCU

and thats finally got some good community

so its not hard to to fell lost,

here is what scirpture says about that

Psalm 119:176 “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.”

ultimatly its not us who finds peace,

its Christ coming to us in his timing

God had a time in my life where i did not have much peace at colledge

can you realte

and everyone has been lost in sin at some point

hey some times we are prone to wonder

but we have a good shepherd who finds us

lets turn to matthew 18:12

Matthew 18:12–14 ESV

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

i love this passage

Christ seeks us like lost sheep, and brings us into his pressense

so a little bit more about what peace is biblically

the name of Jerusalem,

literally means perfect peace

why is jerusalem the city of peace in the OT and in revelation

beecause that is where the pressenbce of God is

shalom comes with the pressnces of God

so when Christ seeks after us he comforts us

Perfect peace is only found in God’s pressents

this is the main idea of tonight

you want perfect peace its only found in Christ

in his pressence

and the good news is that he seeks us

so we just need to turn to him

open his word, see who he is, experince the peace he proclaims

Jesus brings shalom

and when he return all things will be brought into this peace

take aways

know what true peace is

read scripture and find peace

guys tonight, its nothing that complex

but it is profound

knwo shalom is true peace wholeness

thats the aim, and its easy to see its what our heart desires

and it you want this peace more and more, open scipture turn ot a gospel and read about our good shepered see his heart

you will see his peace

Live in peace

we have the options as Christians to live in shalom here and now

and there will be harder seasons

but let the good shepherd find you and you will find his perfect peace

so don’t seek the way of the world and what they say will make you whole

no live in his word and live in his peace

lets pray.