Peaceful like Jesus

Bible passage: Matt 5: 9, 38-48

Short talk on peace – longer time for prayer. Jesus spoke a lot about peace and lived out what he said.

Peace in three way – in our lives, in our togetherness and in our world

Peace in our lives

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give you" John 14:27

Like his will – what Jesus leaves us in his will is his peace.

For the Christian worry, anxiety, fear, and frustration are abnormal. God doesn't want us to live that way. The Bible shows us how to receive peace and live in the peace Jesus left for us.

But our salvation as Christians doesn't guarantee a trouble-free life. We will still encounter problems. Every one of us at different times in our life go through times when things don't work out the way we would like.

Only this week people we love have been ill, had accidents… difficult to know God's peace – but as those who have Christ as Lord we can claim the promise that Christ's peace will be in our hearts – he has given it to us.

Whatever happens – we can be still and know that he is God, and that knowledge wills his peace to us

Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), has overcome the world. John 16:33 "in this world you will have many troubles, but I have overcome this world".

Knowing is peace is about being an overcomer of the world through Jesus.
God’s peace is not like what other people call peace. True peace is not found in positive thinking or in good feelings. It comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. Let God’s peace guard your heart against anxiety.

 Peace among us

Jesus tells us to "Live at peace with each other" (Mark 9:50). The church is to be the prototype for the world – we should be as God wants the whole world to be.

Brief on this – peace should be the hallmark of our church. We are called to love one another.

Bible says we should make every effort to be at peace with one another within the church, in the Christian community. If we want peace in the world we should be able to have peace in the church and between churches.

Peace in the world

Psalm 120:7
I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war!

Jesus said:  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Jesus said Love your enemies, and turn the other cheek.
 
Peacemaking is not always popular. Some people prefer to fight for what they believe in. The glory of battle is in the hope of winning, but someone must be a loser. The glory of peacemaking is that it may actually produce two winners. Peacemaking is God’s way, so we should carefully and prayerfully attempt to be peacemakers.

Politics always a complicated business. Those involved in politics need our prayers.

Right thing to do in the war we find ourselves in this week?

Complex: Saddam Hussein not taken a submissive attitude to the United Nations since he was removed from Kuwait. Seen a threat inside his own country and to others. Met a man last week fled from northern Iraq – Kurd not an Iraqi, not an Arab – told he had to change his nationality. He was beaten up and tortured. Knew that the Iraqi soldiers had killed thousands of Kurds, one time led 40 children out of a primary school and hanged them in front of their parents.

And he said to me that we should attack Iraq, bomb the country, do all that was necessary to get rid of Saddam Hussein – even if people were killed, even thousands of people, worth it to bring liberty to his country.

And yet what right have we got to do that? How can we just go and bomb cities and water systems and power plants and kill people.

I have to ask what would Jesus do? I really can't see Jesus ordering an army to fight another nation and to kill people.

I can't see how we can square Jesus words to love our enemies and turn the other cheek with sending soldiers into war. Not saying there is an easy way out – seems that the time for peacemaking should go on a lot longer than the time for war.

Finish by unpacking one word to sum all this up

Hebrew - “shalom”
Completeness wholeness, state of harmony, sense of well being from being in right
Relationship with God and others. Unity, concord

“peace is the conscious possession of adequate resources”
“the peace of God means being grateful for past mercies, conscious of his present mercies and certain of his future mercies.

SHALOM… used 300 times in O.T, 90 in N.T. always God’s word to this world

word for salvation – see this as a whole, salvation and peace inseperable.

Shalom
- God's word to sinners… so that we might have freedom from sin – its penalty, power and presence.
- God’s word to lonely, bereaved.
- God’s word to those who are being swallowed up in an uncaring, unfeeling society.
- God's word for relationships, togetherness, tenderness, right living in society
- God’s gift to his people, says that all barriers are down, walls of division been removed
- is Jesus … prince of peace - the peace-maker, brings peace to those who trust in him