In this sermon, Dallas Kaauwai explores the theme 'The Lord's Favor: Restoring Peace' as a part of an ongoing series. The discussion revolves around the biblical concept of Jubilee and how it relates to the restoration of peace within the church and individual lives. Drawing from Luke 4:18-19 and Ephesians 2, Dallas highlights the importance of receiving, repairing, and remaining in God's peace. Emphasizing that true peace is found in Christ, not in worldly circumstances, he encourages the congregation to identify and address sources of conflict, both within the church and in the broader world. The sermon underscores humility, reconciliation, and the maintenance of peace as foundational Christian principles. Dallas concludes with practical steps for the congregation to actively participate in restoring and maintaining peace.

00:00 Introduction to the Season of the Lord's Favor

01:25 Understanding Biblical Peace

03:09 Restoring Peace Through Christ

04:48 Ephesians Chapter 2: A Study on Peace

12:40 Repairing Peace Within the Church

18:41 Living Out Peace in the World

25:41 Maintaining Peace in Our Lives

33:15 Conclusion and Practical Steps

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OC Church of Christ

so we're talking about the season of the Lord's Favor.

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Um, this is our series that we've

been going through since the summer.

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Um, it's been really encouraging though

because I really feel like in our church

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we've had to go through this reset, right?

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This release, and now this restore.

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It's a season of the Lord's

favor, and this is part of the ju.

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Um, this idea that when every 50 years

God's people would come together for

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a season of a year of rest to forgive

debt and also to return to the land of

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their original orders, it's really just

helped to release and reset their focus

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on him because they would work so hard.

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They would do all these things.

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But eventually God said he was

calling us people to a state of rest.

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And so the scripture that we've

been really basing out of is what

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Jesus talked about in Luke chapter

four, uh, verse 18 through 19.

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And basically what it reads is

that the spirit of the Lord is on

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me because he has anointed me to

proclaim good news to the poor.

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He has sent me to proclaim freedom for

the prisoners and recovery of sight for

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the blind, to set the oppressed free to

proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

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And this was based out of Isaiah, and he's

reading this saying that this scripture

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is now fulfilled in your hearing.

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That Jesus has come to be the

fulfillment of the law, to be

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the fulfillment of the jubilee.

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Now, like I said, we've been in this

reset release and today we're gonna

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start with Restore in the Lord's favor.

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We are going to be restoring peace today.

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That is the title today, restoring Peace.

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Now, when we think of

peace, what do we think of?

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I wanna take some answers.

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What?

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When you hear peace, what

do you guys think of?

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And it take some hands if I can.

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Oh, appreciate it.

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Give it up for Marcel Hall.

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There you go.

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Thank you sir.

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Appreciate you.

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Let's take, man.

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So what do you guys think

of you guys think of peace?

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Yes, Chris.

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Calm.

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Calm.

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Yes.

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What else?

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Derek?

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Order.

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Order.

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Yes.

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Kenny?

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Rest?

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Yes.

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Right here.

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Serenity.

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Serenity?

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Yes.

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What else?

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Tranquility.

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I like it.

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One more.

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Peace

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without conflict.

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Without conflict.

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Yes, I agree.

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Peace is a lot of things as I think when

we think of peace, we think calm, we think

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tranquility, we think all of these things.

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But can I define peace for us today?

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What it actually says in

the Bible, what peace is.

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If you go to the Greek word peace,

when you see it out in the Bible,

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when you translate all the way back

to the original text, the word is Ie.

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Everyone, say ie.

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That's where we get the name Irene from.

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So if you have some of

that, you never friend.

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The name is Irene.

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The name name's peace.

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Okay, but it's a state of national

tranquility exemption from

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the rage and the havoc of war.

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It's peace between individuals

creating harmony and concord.

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It's also security, it's

safety, it's prosperity.

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Felicity.

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So a lot of what you guys had shared is

very similar to this definition, but what

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I want us to help us, help us understand

is when we are going to restore peace.

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It's not in our own standards, but in God.

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Amen.

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Because our peace is a little

bit different than God's peace.

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'cause the way that we view it, I think

what Julie says, that without conflict,

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what I wanna define here is that peace

doesn't, it doesn't exist in the absence

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of conflict, but the assurance that

God is with us, guiding us through it.

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Right?

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Earlier this year, our

theme scripture was what?

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Psalm 23.

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For though I walk through the

darkest Valley, it's not when I don't

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walk through the darkest valley.

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When I walk through the darkest

Valley, I will fear no evil.

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Why?

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Because you are with me.

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You're Rod and your

staff, they comfort me.

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You prepare a table before me.

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Not without, not when everything is okay,

but even in the presence of my enemies.

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Peace.

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Not without conflict, but it's

the assurance that God is with us.

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So even though we want the calm,

the tranquility, the the, the

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lack of conflict, peace with

God is even in the midst of it.

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Before we get into it, let's pray.

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God, thank you so much for today.

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Thank you so much for being

able to bring us together.

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God, I pray today that this lesson

helps all of us, God, restore the

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peace that you are calling us to live.

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God, I pray that the peace

that we seek is the one that is

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found in you and only in you.

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God, I pray that the words that you

speak, uh, through me, God today and

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from your word, carry greater than I.

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I pray that you, we may be impacted,

encourage and inspire God to really

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restore true peace to ourselves, to

you, God, and even to each other.

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We love you.

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Bring Jesus name.

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Amen.

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Alright, so we're gonna be in

Ephesians chapter two today.

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Ephesians chapter two, and

we're gonna be in verse 11.

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And you know, I know we've been,

I know this is supposed to be

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centered around Jesus and this time,

and it is, and it always will be.

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But what I, what I think I took

away from it as I was putting this

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lesson together was that I really

saw God using the, the church and

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Ephesus to really bring about peace.

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Not even the peace and the world

to have, but even peace within

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themselves, within each other.

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And even to continue

maintaining that peace.

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And I think as Paul is riding to

the church in Ephesus, he's riding

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to a church that is in the midst

of wealth and influence and even

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just a lot of spiritual darkness.

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I mean, this is where the

Temple of Artemis, the full,

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it's like full on idol worship.

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It was an essential of that.

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There was like pride in

that from the Greek people.

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And on top of that, you have Jews

and Gentiles living together.

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And basically what that means, you have

the Jews who are God's chosen people.

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And the Gentiles,

basically everybody else.

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But at this point in time, Jesus has come.

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He has lived on earth, he has died, he

has resurrected, he has died for our sins.

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So therefore, salvation is now not just

for the Jews, but now for everybody.

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And so now the Jews and the Gentiles

are having to live within this

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tension now of how do we get along?

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How do we have peace with one another?

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And I love Paul because Paul being

a Jew, but also living the life

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and honestly living a lot of sins

and murdering Christians could be

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identified as a Gentile in, in itself.

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But through that though, you see how

he brings them together and reminds

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them of where their peace comes from,

how they have peace within each other,

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and what their peace is building up.

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You guys with me so far?

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All right, so let's go to

Ephesians chapter two, verse 11.

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It says, therefore, remember that

formally you who are gentiles by birth

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and called uncircumcised, by those who

call themselves the uncircumcision, which

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is done by the body, by human hands.

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Remember that at that time you were

separate from Christ, excluded from

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citizenship in Israel and foreigners to

the covenants of the promise without hope,

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and without God in the world, but now in

Christ, you who once were far away had

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been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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For He himself is our peace who has

made the two groups one and destroyed

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the barrier that the dividing wall of

hostility by setting aside in his flesh

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the law with its commands and regulations.

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His purpose was to create him in

himself, one new humanity out of the two.

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Thus making peace and in one body

to reconcile both of them to God

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through the cross by which he

put to death their hostility.

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He came and preached to, to preached

peace to you who are far away and peace

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to those who are near for through him.

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We both have access to

the Father by one spirit.

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Consequently, you are no longer foreigners

and strangers, but fellow citizens with

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God's people and also members of his

household, built on the foundation of

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the apostles and prophets with Christ

Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

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In him.

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The whole building is joined together

and rises to become a holy temple in the

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Lord and in him, you'll too are being

built together to become a dwelling

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in which God lives by his spirit.

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This is gonna be our main text for today.

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We're gonna kind of sit here,

we're gonna break it down.

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So what I wanna start is that we need to

first receive peace, and I think where

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we receive peace is very telling of how

then everything else in our life goes.

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I think what's important here

to identify is that Paul says.

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For he himself is our peace.

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I think today a lot of us can

identify and think that man are

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my peace is when I go on vacation.

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My peace is when I have my alone time.

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My peace is when I, the kids

are not driving me crazy.

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My peace is when work is good, life is

good, but that's not what Paul says.

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It says he himself, Christ is our peace.

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And I think sometimes a lot of us

can be hindering ourselves from even

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having this peace because first of all,

are we reconciled to Christ reminder

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that our sins separates us from God?

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And if our sins have not been forgiven and

we haven't died to ourselves, and now live

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a life for Jesus, then right now at this

point in time, if you are not a disciple

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of Jesus, you are separate from God.

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And therefore, the peace that you

are trying to seek is not something

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that you can find right now.

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Unfortunately, it says that in Isaiah

that our, your sins, your iniquities,

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have separated you from your God.

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And so I call you if

you are visiting today.

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If you are, you haven't made the decision

to make Jesus Lord, I just want you

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to know at this moment, the peace that

you seek in Jesus can only be found

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when that wall of sin is broken down.

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Yeah.

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So for some of us here that are

disciples though, sometimes we feel

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like, yeah, I know Jesus is supposed to

be my peace, but I just don't feel it.

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I can't accept it.

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'cause sometimes maybe you're

too ashamed of your sin.

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The sin that you, that you've

committed now after becoming a

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disciple, the guilt that you feel

may be even the embarrassment.

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'cause sometimes when we forget

that Jesus is the one and

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only atonement for our sins.

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And we think that we need to earn it.

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We need to work for it or

fake it till we make it, then

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that peace is hard to accept.

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It's hard for us to understand,

are you guys with me so far?

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Because if we can't accept that

Jesus himself is our peace, that we

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were dead in our sin, dead in our

transgressions, then we can't fully

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have the peace and receive the peace

that God so badly wants for us to have.

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Because he knows sin is ugly.

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He knows sin is just terrible.

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He knows what it does to us.

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He knows what it does to our lives, but

he knows that it's only found in him.

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So why do we go and think that we

can find it in a retreat or in a

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vacation, or in a person or in financial

security or relational security?

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Why do we think we could go and

do these things when he himself?

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Is our peace.

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Are you guys with me so far?

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You know, we have to start our

days surrendered and knowing

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that Jesus is our peace.

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'cause whatever comes, if Jesus is

our peace, then nothing can shake us.

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Right?

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Because, what did I say?

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Peace was?

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It's not the absence of conflict, it's not

the absence of trials and tests, it's the

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that in the midst, he's still your peace.

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Is Jesus still your peace or is it your

circumstances that are dictating how you

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feel, how you think, and how you respond?

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'cause we were once far away, separated

from our sin, but now because of Jesus,

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not because of you, not because of how

good you are, but by the blood of Christ,

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you are now brought near you guys with me.

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Jesus says that peace I leave

with you and my peace I give you.

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I do not give.

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As the world gives, the world tries to

give us, like I said, financial peace,

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peace in a drug, peace in a relationship.

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But Jesus says, I do not

give you as the world gives.

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The world keeps you wanting to

come back, keeps you wanting more.

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It always leaves you empty.

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But Jesus says that I will give you

a fullness that you will never go

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thirsty or never go hungry again.

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Looking for something else other than me.

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So do not let your hearts be troubled.

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Jesus says, and do not be afraid.

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Second point, we gotta,

we gotta repair peace.

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If you wanna restore peace,

you've gotta repair it.

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Now, like I said, we're gonna

read here, I wanna give you this

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context here for 14 through 18.

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It says four.

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He himself is our peace, right?

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Who has made the two groups, the

Jews and the Gentiles as destroyed

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the barrier dividing this wall of

hostility, because like I said,

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the Jews did not like the Gentiles.

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The Jews were like, man, who are these

people coming in who've worshiped

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other gods, who sinned a bunch,

who have no idea what the law is?

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Who are they to come in and

worship the God that we've been

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worshiping since the beginning?

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And there was this hostility towards them.

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There was this division in in them

to feel like, man, I, I don't know

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if I can get along with these people.

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They don't understand me.

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They're not like me.

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And for them, Jesus,

Paul is reminding them.

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He says, he's like, Jesus has

come to break that barrier.

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He's setting aside the flesh, how

people lived in the law, the law

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that, that the, that the Jews live by.

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And he's coming.

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I'm creating myself in one new humanity.

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That means you are my people.

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Now, the Greek, the, the root of ire,

the right, the word of peace in it is

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idol, EIRO, idol, which means to join.

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And as you can see here,

Jesus is joining two people.

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Jews and the Gentiles, he's joining

them together to make peace to

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reconcile to both of them that

they, they're all, all them, all

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their sins were reconciled by Jesus.

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Not one greater than the other, but that

together, that they would become one

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people he put to death, their hostel.

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I love that He, Paul uses that

word he put to death through

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ha means it no longer lived.

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This division no longer lived.

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He had, and he was telling me, he

is like, you need to repair this.

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You know, sometimes I think we need

to repair peace within the church.

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Amen.

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Now, I know we just went through this

release Sunday, a few Sundays back

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and I actually really, I really did

enjoy it and I really felt like it.

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I think our church really, I think

for you guys, I think I, I heard a lot

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of positive feedback that we really

need to do this more often, right?

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'cause we're fickle, we're

family, but we're fickle.

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We got each other's nerves.

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We know each other.

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We hurt each other, but we need to

fight for peace within the church.

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And I think church, the peace

within the church breaks down when

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our preferences are greater than

the purpose of why we're here.

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Ah, I didn't like how they said that,

or I didn't like how they, how this

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worship or how this person interacted

with me and how they said like, it's

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just like our preference is okay.

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The purpose is we're just here

to love God and love people.

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But if we're making it anything but that,

we're distracting ourselves and we're not.

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We're not creating peace.

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We're just creating, ah,

well, you don't agree with me.

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I don't agree with you, and we'll

just agree to disagree on certain

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things, and we leave it in this

limbo, this ambiguous tension.

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Sometimes our pride is greater

than our humility my way, or the

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highway, not How can I lift you up?

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How can I serve your needs?

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How can I raise you to be better?

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In the eyes of, in, in my eyes.

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And then rather than my eyes of

myself, how can I meet your needs?

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And the last one, I think that

we can all identify as resentment

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is greater than reconciliation.

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That we would die on a hill of resentment

that, ah, this person hurt me way too bad.

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This person said this to me.

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You know what?

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I, I just, I can't find

it in my heart to forgive.

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Maybe I forgive, I'll forgive

him from afar, but I just, I just

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can't, I can't talk to this person.

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What about that is Christlike, I'm sorry.

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Like, that's just,

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I'm just being completely honest here.

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Like what about that

truly reflects Christ?

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Because honestly.

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We are spending more time talking about

people than talking to people, then we're

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always going to be stuck where we're at.

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You could be a 30, you're a Christian

and act like a 2-year-old child.

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We cannot be immature in these ways.

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This is not high school.

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We are the people.

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We are the family.

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We're the kingdom of God.

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And if we can't even have peace

within here, then what makes it

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desirable for people to come in here?

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By this, everyone will know that you are

my disciples if you love one another.

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What do people know you by?

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What do people know us by?

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Is it because we're friendly?

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Is it because we're nice or

is that because when conflict

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comes, we deal with it.

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We don't sit by idly and just allow

ourselves to feel whatever we wanna feel.

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No, we, we confront it and not like

in an aggressive way and like, let me

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tell you, let be a peace of my mind.

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No, we speak the truth in love.

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We desire to forgive.

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We fight to love the way Christ loved us.

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'cause the person that is in the seat

next to you was also dead in their sin.

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And Jesus also died for them.

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So who are we to judge?

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Who are we to say that that person

doesn't deserve our forgiveness?

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Who are we to say that that person

doesn't deserve the same amount of love

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that we have received, the same amount

of grace, the same amount of mercy?

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Who are we to say that?

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Guess what?

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If we cannot embody that, then

we are no better than the world.

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We just happen to be together.

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We happen to worship a God

rather, rather than imitating the

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God that has died in our place.

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Now you might be saying, well,

Dallas, you know, my relationships

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in the church are going pretty well.

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I doubt it, but they're going pretty well.

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Let's just say hypothetically.

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So then how does peace beyond

the church break down then?

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How do we deal with those

that don't believe in Jesus?

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Sometimes I think sometimes

we're harsh rather than gentle.

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We treat other people

outside as we, we can be.

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We can become the Jews and treat other

people as these gentiles as like, oh,

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well, you know, these people, man,

they, they just, they just don't get it.

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I don't, I don't you, they're just in sin.

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They're, they love the world.

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I don't want anything to do with them.

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And when they hurt me, man, I, I just,

I, I don't wanna interact with them.

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And sometimes there is some validity

into setting healthy boundaries,

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but sometimes we're just so harsh.

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We just cast them off.

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We don't show them Christ.

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We just give 'em the cold soul and

say, well, I just don't agree with

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you, so therefore I'm just going

to separate myself from you, but

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not show you the love of Christ.

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And that leads into

judgment over grace, right?

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Think about you.

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For those of you that did

not grow up in the church.

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The world and the life you lived

in when you came into the church.

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Man, it's just so full of grace that when

you mess up, it's not this repercussion

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of punishment and shame and guilt.

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At least I hope it's not.

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But that you were met with the grace of

God through his people, not more judgment

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and shame that the world gives you.

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And I think some of us can even be

quick to speak and quick to become

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angry rather than being slow to speak.

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Slow to become angry, as in James

one, you know, 1, 1, 1 opportunity.

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I remember recently that, um, I really

felt like I, God was like challenging me.

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We had, um, our rush week for the

campus ministry and we had a great week.

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We had all these phone numbers and we

invited the whole campus north OC campus

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over to our house, uh, for a breakfast and

we were doing all these follow-ups, trying

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to reach out to people to study the Bible.

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And it was great.

399

It was super encouraging.

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However, one of our students in our

new apartment complex parked in the

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spot of another attendant and in

our com, in our apartment community.

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That's a big no-no.

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Can I get an amen from the guys, right?

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That's a big no-no, because to unbeknownst

to us, and I didn't know this, but

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she had been parked there and that

he was waiting out there for an hour.

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Apparently he was honking his horn.

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He called our leasing office, and

then finally our leasing office

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reached out to us and was like,

Hey, she's about to get towed.

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This guy's really mad.

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I was like, okay.

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So Philip goes down to try and

with the sister to try to help

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kind of get everything out.

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I get a call from Philip

about five minutes later.

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He said, this dude's not leaving.

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He's parked right behind

her so she cannot back out.

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I was like, oh gosh.

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So I go down there.

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And I get there and this dude is

fuming and I mean, absolutely fuming.

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And I was like, I was like,

it's just a parking spot.

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And, and, but I know for

him, he works really hard.

421

He works two jobs.

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He, he had a, like a late shift

and an early shift coming back.

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And so it's just, he was just really

frustrated being out there for an hour.

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I'm sure if you were waiting for your

spot for an hour, you'd be pretty mad too.

425

So I can understand his frustration.

426

But I mean, this dude was fuming.

427

And I remember trying to talk to him and I

was just met with so much like just anger

428

and frustration that he's cussing me out.

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He's yelling at me, he's yelling at my

roommates, he's yelling at the sister,

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and I'm like, it's easy for me to like

kinda get very protective of my people.

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But in that moment I was like,

if this is the only time he ever

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encounters a true disciple, what kind

of example am I gonna set for him?

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I just took it.

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I said, I'm really sorry.

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I kept just apologizing,

just being gracious.

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Like I and I, he eventually, he

moved and he let the sister out.

437

She went and parked.

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Everything was good.

439

But since then, I've seen him a couple

times around the corner and it's a

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weird, it's weird, like, you know,

you ever have like conflict with

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somebody, you kind of go around him.

442

You're like, you're like, I don't

know if I just keep my head down

443

and keep walking the other way.

444

But I've seen him a couple times

and I know that I, and I still say

445

hi to him, ask him how he's doing.

446

And sometimes he is like,

good and he leaves fine by me.

447

But at least as he knows for

me that my example is of Christ

448

and that's how we ought to be.

449

And I don't mean to put myself in

the pencil because there's been times

450

when, man, I have just blown up.

451

I mean, even this past summer,

me and Eli, where's Eli?

452

Me and Eli, we got into

a bus stop this summer.

453

He said something, I said something.

454

We were going back and forth, and

that's in the church that like,

455

see, that's within the church.

456

Even then, so I've had my low moments too.

457

I, I, I, I admit those fully.

458

Absolutely.

459

But I'm just saying that in the world

it's so important that we embody Christ.

460

And so important.

461

Like I said, that you do

not know who's watching.

462

You do not know where people are

at and that they see your exam.

463

They say, huh, something's

different about you.

464

Something that I personally like.

465

I'm sure he was expecting me to get

all riled up my neighbor and expected

466

me to start yelling back at him and

say, but I was like, no, you, you

467

can be angry and you can yell at me,

but I'm not going to repeat that.

468

I'm not gonna embody, I'm

not gonna imitate that.

469

I'm gonna be like Christ,

470

make every effort to live in peace

with everyone and to be holy.

471

Because without holiness,

no one will see the Lord.

472

And holy means to be set apart.

473

God is holy.

474

He has nothing to do with darkness.

475

He has nothing to do with sin.

476

Therefore, we are called to be holy.

477

We are called to be set apart, not

kind of like the world set apart.

478

We are in the world, but not of the world.

479

It's easier to build a wall than

it is to build a bridge, and that

480

goes for in the church now, to

the church, you can easily build.

481

I'm a stack up a bunch of these bricks.

482

Boom wall.

483

I don't see you.

484

You don't see me.

485

We're good.

486

But it takes a lot more effort.

487

It takes a lot more

humility to build a bridge.

488

It's also very easy to burn a bridge.

489

I'm gonna say this one thing

and I know it's gonna break

490

it up and that's gonna be it.

491

I'm gonna do this one thing.

492

I'm gonna burn this bridge and that's it.

493

But it takes a lot of humility to build

a bridge, and if we can't do that as

494

Christ ambassadors, it says in Second

Corinthians chapter five verse 22,

495

for we are Christ's ambassadors as if

Christ was making his appeal through us.

496

If we cannot build bridges and

we're so easy to build walls, what

497

kind of peace are we representing?

498

We need to repair the peace within

each other and in the world.

499

Last one, remain.

500

You need to remain in the peace here.

501

We're gonna read here in 19 to 22.

502

It says, consequently, you are no

longer foreigners and strangers, but

503

fellow citizens with God's people.

504

And also members of his household built

on the foundation of the apostles and

505

the prophets with Christ Jesus himself

as the chief cornerstone and in the whole

506

building is joined together and rises

to become a holy temple in the Lord.

507

And in Him, you too are being built

together to become a dwelling in

508

which God lives by his spirit.

509

I I love, I love this.

510

It really reminds us that

we cannot do this alone

511

makes a noise.

512

If you were in a campus household back in

the day, or you currently are right now.

513

Yes.

514

Now, for those of you who are in

households, even, even if you weren't,

515

this idea that when you live together with

people, how much more effective is it to.

516

Live with people in a sense of you

interact with 'em and, and, and live

517

and like do life with them rather than

just kind of be like, you do your life.

518

I do my life.

519

I never see you.

520

When you're in a household,

you do life together as a

521

family, you do life together.

522

If we are all just separate tenants

in the church, in God's household,

523

we cannot build anything, any

type of peace, any type of unity.

524

Like, like I said, this is why I, I,

I don't mean to be like negative, but

525

I just have gripes with churches that

people just show up and they just leave.

526

And I'm grateful that it's not our church.

527

I'm grateful that people stay

after and check in with one

528

another and talk and catch up.

529

I'm so grateful for that 'cause

that's how it ought to be.

530

When we remain in the household of God,

we remain in the peace because guess what?

531

You cannot find peace apart from

Christ, which means that he's the head.

532

We are the body, the church.

533

And if we decide to isolate ourselves

from the body, where are we finding peace?

534

If you want to remain in peace,

you must remain in the household

535

and remain in the body of Christ.

536

Don't go lone Ranger Christianity on us.

537

Don't be, don't be that lone Ranger.

538

Disciple.

539

Ah, you know, I only show up.

540

Every now and then, or I check in

every now and then, or no one really,

541

I don't want anyone really in my life

know, like to help us remain in peace

542

or help us remind us of the peace we

need one another because guess what?

543

When life hits and it

does, who is there to help?

544

Remind you of where your peace comes from?

545

Who is there to redirect you

back to the chief cornerstone.

546

Not back to your talents, not back to

your abilities, not back to your, like I

547

said, the things that give you comfort,

but back to the chief cornerstone,

548

that is Christ remain in the body.

549

Jesus says to remain in the vine in

John 15, and I love here it says that

550

we are being built on the foundation.

551

I love that it says that we're

a whole building joined together

552

and rises to become a holy temple.

553

And that we are being built together.

554

Now, I think one of the things

that, for some of you guys that are

555

homeowners, I would say after about,

what, 10 years, you gotta kind of start

556

doing some work on the house, right?

557

Because paint starts peeling

off maybe, or pipes start

558

looking all ugly and, and yeah.

559

All that stuff, right?

560

That we need to maintain the house

and just as a house needs maintaining.

561

So it does the house of God.

562

Because guess what?

563

If we all just ignored the ugly pain,

the things that are falling off the

564

creaky floors, the busted rusted

pipes, if we ignored all those things,

565

spiritually speaking, man, this house

is gonna look ugly people divided.

566

People not in their hearts,

are not into worship.

567

It people are prideful and like

I said, from the inside we're

568

like, well, we're just living it.

569

It's just how it is.

570

But from the outside,

man, it's an ugly house.

571

Almost looks abandoned.

572

I dunno if you guys ever like driven

past like certain neighborhoods or

573

anything like that, or certain houses

that have just not been touched in years,

574

like they're not boarded up and stuff.

575

I think sometimes some churches

can become that because they

576

aren't maintaining the peace.

577

They're not doing what needs

to be done to withhold peace.

578

Because guess what?

579

We are gonna be, we are built

together to become a dwelling in

580

which God lives by His spirit.

581

What kind of dwelling are we creating?

582

If we are, if we are ignorant and

arrogant to say that we don't need

583

to maintain peace, that we need to

honestly fight to maintain peace.

584

Because guess what?

585

I know we had a release Sunday,

but we need to release every

586

day because life is like that.

587

People are going to hurt you.

588

Work is going to disappoint you.

589

Relationships will disappoint you.

590

Your kids will drive you crazy.

591

Your roommates will drive you crazy.

592

Life require life, and God calls

us to maintain the peace to release

593

these things so that way the upkeep

of the house is a dwelling place for

594

the Lord that our souls, our hearts,

the bodies that we are living in.

595

Are they dwelling places for God?

596

Or are we just going through the motions?

597

Are we being intentional with maintaining

the peace that God has called us to live?

598

Isaiah 26 says that you'll

keep imperfect peace.

599

Those whose minds are steadfast

'cause they trust in you.

600

That's where the chief cornerstone comes.

601

It's perfect peace.

602

This shalom, this wholeness peace.

603

Is found in Jesus, the chief cornerstone.

604

But I think this is the part that

I want to challenge us all with.

605

You guys ready?

606

Just let the peace of

Christ rule in your hearts.

607

Since as members of one body, you

were called to peace and be thankful.

608

What is ruling your heart?

609

Is it the peace of Christ or

is it the peace of comfort?

610

Is it the peace of Christ or is

it the peace of resentment in the

611

sense of just this bitterness, this

separation, like, well, I just, I'm

612

just trying to avoid this conflict.

613

The peace of Christ is

not without conflict.

614

The peace of Christ is not without trials.

615

The peace of Christ is

not without temptations.

616

It's in the midst that we submit to

the reign and the rule of Christ.

617

That our peace comes from him alone and

that we may find a perfect whole peace.

618

Peace doesn't exist like you.

619

We have to church, we

have to remember this.

620

Like, I know I'm, I, I keep saying it,

but it's like one of those things that,

621

you know, with love, like why do we

keep talking about love in the church?

622

Well, if we were so perfectly, we would

stop talking about it, but we're done.

623

Peace.

624

It's not found in anything but Christ,

even in the midst, even in the darkest

625

of valleys, even in the presence of your

enemies, Jesus is there to offer us peace.

626

Let's get real practical here.

627

Identify where you are

receiving your peace.

628

We may say it is Christ, but

let's do some deeper diving.

629

Let's do some self-reflection.

630

Let's do some resetting If we need

to go back through those steps.

631

And then release whatever is not, whatever

is not from Christ and let Christ be

632

the chief cornerstone of your peace.

633

Identify one relationship that

needs repair, whether that's in

634

the church or out in the world.

635

It a family member.

636

Is it a boss?

637

Is it a coworker?

638

Is it a friend?

639

Is it a brother or sister in this room?

640

Identify what needs to be

repaired with peace and then

641

find one way you can remain.

642

The peace of Christ fight for one another.

643

I think sometimes I, I, I've seen

at times is that sometimes we,

644

there's conflict and sometimes people

aren't dealing with it and we say,

645

oh, well that's just their problem.

646

I don't want to get involved.

647

And in some, in some capacities,

yeah, if you're just a nosy person

648

and wanna get in everyone's business.

649

Yeah.

650

Stay outta that please.

651

But if you're truly looking to maintain

and keep up the household of the Lord,

652

maintain the peace, keep it looking holy,

make it look pure, then encourage others

653

that are having conflict to be resolved,

encourage others to really go and forgive.

654

Participate in maintaining this household.

655

Don't sit idly by while you watch

other tenants destroy the house.

656

We need to fight to maintain

peace and remain in it and

657

helping each other remain in it.

658

Let us restore peace.

659

Let us be examples of what it means

to show what the seasons of the

660

Lord's favorite, which is every day.

661

Let us be examples.

662

Let us be ambassadors for Christ.

663

And through that, we may restore peace.

664

Amen.

665

Thank you guys.