Beautiful Peace
Sunday Evening English Worship
April 7, 2019 - 5:00 pm
Messenger: Don Frank
Bible Passage: Mark 4:39
Introduction: This is really amazing. I’ve been planning my message for this evening for quite a while now and just this last Monday, the name of the new Emperor’s era was announced. As I’m sure all of you here have seen on the news, it’s going to be called “Reiwa.” The translation into English is “beautiful peace.” Now, isn’t that a nice idea for the new emperor and his family. I pray that the new emperor would have many chances to guide Japan peacefully in the days ahead!
And I tell you, we definitely need more peace in our world these days! And this is a topic that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Yes, there really does seem to be a lack of peace in the hearts of many people lately. And the Bible really does talk about the topic of peace a lot, so I wanted very much to share that with you tonight.
And we're continuing to talk about the different aspects of God by talking about the God of peace this evening. And that's where I'd like to start.
1. The God of Peace
So, let's begin by looking at Mark 4:39 (ESV). I think this is a story that most of you know pretty well. Jesus and the disciples are out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a fairly big storm comes along. Jesus is sleeping right through the storm and the disciples go and wake Him up because they're really panicked! Mark writes, And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Here's the Son of God himself applying His power to calm His creation! Christ, who made all of the world He was living in, shows His ability to bring peace to what maybe seems to us like a hurricane! And instantly the storm obeyed Him and there was peace across that whole sea. When the timing is right, He brings peace to our physical world.
2. The Proof of Peace
And if the miracle of the Sea of Galilee wasn't proof enough, He proves His peace to His beloved friends, especially to stubborn Thomas. John 20:26-31 (CEV) reads, 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” 30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
You know, I think Thomas might have come from my home state of Missouri. The nickname for Missouri is the "Show-Me" state. It means that the people of Missouri are a stubborn people and you have to show them proof about something before they'll believe it!
And Thomas was just like that. But he saw Jesus with his own eyes and touched our Lord with his own hands and then believed Christ with all of his heart.
3. The People of Peace
Now, moving on we see Jesus teaching us that we should be a people of peace just as God is a God of peace. In the Sermon on the Mount, it says in Matthew 5:9 (NIV), Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Jesus is not pointing His listeners to the Old Testament. If we had time, we could read through the rest of Matthew chapter 5 and see this very clearly. Again and again Jesus said, “You have heard it said, but...” Those are the things that the law of the Old Testament used to say. Instead, He is teaching us how we should live from here on out until the Kingdom of God comes. I truly believe that's what Jesus wants us to do these days. By His power, we can actually live these 8 different blessings. Sure, it’s hard to live a peaceful life when the world seems to be getting worse and worse. But He was a peacemaker and we are His children. He can give us the power more and more every day to be humble, merciful, forgiving and to be peacemakers.
4. The Gift of Peace
And then going on to our next Bible passage, we can see that peace is actually a gift that we receive from Christ. John 14:27 (GNT) - Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.
Here’s another one of those special Bible passages that I memorized a long time ago and means a lot to me. And Jesus is talking about two kinds of peace here. The first is His peace and the second is the peace that the world gives. The peace that Jesus gives is a permanent peace, an eternal peace. It’s the peace with God that he bought and paid for on the cross and gives to us today!
And the other kind is the peace that the world gives. For me, this is best symbolized by the peace sign that came out of the hippie movement. The flower power people were against the Vietnam war and they were looking for peace by way of hard rock music, free sex and drugs. They tried everything the world could give them, but they still couldn’t find lasting peace. That only comes as a free gift from Jesus Christ!
5. The Life of Peace
And finally, Jesus encourages us by telling us that this Christian life is indeed a life of peace. Philippians 4:7 (CEV) - Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.
Now, after we receive this gift of peace from Jesus, then it will go to work transforming our lives. We belong to Christ and so God plants His peace in our hearts. The Bible passage tells us that we will never really be able to understand what it is. But even though we don’t understand all about it, this peace is going to have a profound effect on our lives. It’s actually going to control the way we think and feel! As we rest in our Lord‘s loving arms, he will give us this peace that passes all understanding day by day. And then the people around us will see a big change in the way that we act and think about our world. They will know for certain that we have been spending time with Jesus.
Conclusion: Now, let me take you back to the boat on the sea of Galilee. The Son of God, the Lord of all creation, stretched out his hands and calmed the sea. Do you feel like you’re out there in the boat with the disciples right now in your life? Have you got some storms that are tossing you around? Then let me encourage you to seek the God of peace tonight. He has the power, ability and desire to give you all the peace that you will ever need!
Closing Prayer: Let's close out our evening by reading together our final Bible passage this evening.
Philippians 4:7 (CEV)
Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.
Now let's look at our closing prayer, based on God's Word and pray it back to Him together:
Dear Lord, thank you so much for this lovely evening of singing and study together. We are very happy that we can belong to Christ Jesus. Thank you for Your gift of peace that passes all understanding. Please use this peace, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to change the way we think and feel. May we become more and more like Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please bless us with sweet fellowship like this again very soon. We pray this now in Jesus' name, Amen.
April 7, 2019 - 5:00 pm
Messenger: Don Frank
Bible Passage: Mark 4:39
Introduction: This is really amazing. I’ve been planning my message for this evening for quite a while now and just this last Monday, the name of the new Emperor’s era was announced. As I’m sure all of you here have seen on the news, it’s going to be called “Reiwa.” The translation into English is “beautiful peace.” Now, isn’t that a nice idea for the new emperor and his family. I pray that the new emperor would have many chances to guide Japan peacefully in the days ahead!
And I tell you, we definitely need more peace in our world these days! And this is a topic that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Yes, there really does seem to be a lack of peace in the hearts of many people lately. And the Bible really does talk about the topic of peace a lot, so I wanted very much to share that with you tonight.
And we're continuing to talk about the different aspects of God by talking about the God of peace this evening. And that's where I'd like to start.
1. The God of Peace
So, let's begin by looking at Mark 4:39 (ESV). I think this is a story that most of you know pretty well. Jesus and the disciples are out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a fairly big storm comes along. Jesus is sleeping right through the storm and the disciples go and wake Him up because they're really panicked! Mark writes, And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Here's the Son of God himself applying His power to calm His creation! Christ, who made all of the world He was living in, shows His ability to bring peace to what maybe seems to us like a hurricane! And instantly the storm obeyed Him and there was peace across that whole sea. When the timing is right, He brings peace to our physical world.
2. The Proof of Peace
And if the miracle of the Sea of Galilee wasn't proof enough, He proves His peace to His beloved friends, especially to stubborn Thomas. John 20:26-31 (CEV) reads, 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” 30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
You know, I think Thomas might have come from my home state of Missouri. The nickname for Missouri is the "Show-Me" state. It means that the people of Missouri are a stubborn people and you have to show them proof about something before they'll believe it!
And Thomas was just like that. But he saw Jesus with his own eyes and touched our Lord with his own hands and then believed Christ with all of his heart.
3. The People of Peace
Now, moving on we see Jesus teaching us that we should be a people of peace just as God is a God of peace. In the Sermon on the Mount, it says in Matthew 5:9 (NIV), Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Jesus is not pointing His listeners to the Old Testament. If we had time, we could read through the rest of Matthew chapter 5 and see this very clearly. Again and again Jesus said, “You have heard it said, but...” Those are the things that the law of the Old Testament used to say. Instead, He is teaching us how we should live from here on out until the Kingdom of God comes. I truly believe that's what Jesus wants us to do these days. By His power, we can actually live these 8 different blessings. Sure, it’s hard to live a peaceful life when the world seems to be getting worse and worse. But He was a peacemaker and we are His children. He can give us the power more and more every day to be humble, merciful, forgiving and to be peacemakers.
4. The Gift of Peace
And then going on to our next Bible passage, we can see that peace is actually a gift that we receive from Christ. John 14:27 (GNT) - Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.
Here’s another one of those special Bible passages that I memorized a long time ago and means a lot to me. And Jesus is talking about two kinds of peace here. The first is His peace and the second is the peace that the world gives. The peace that Jesus gives is a permanent peace, an eternal peace. It’s the peace with God that he bought and paid for on the cross and gives to us today!
And the other kind is the peace that the world gives. For me, this is best symbolized by the peace sign that came out of the hippie movement. The flower power people were against the Vietnam war and they were looking for peace by way of hard rock music, free sex and drugs. They tried everything the world could give them, but they still couldn’t find lasting peace. That only comes as a free gift from Jesus Christ!
5. The Life of Peace
And finally, Jesus encourages us by telling us that this Christian life is indeed a life of peace. Philippians 4:7 (CEV) - Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.
Now, after we receive this gift of peace from Jesus, then it will go to work transforming our lives. We belong to Christ and so God plants His peace in our hearts. The Bible passage tells us that we will never really be able to understand what it is. But even though we don’t understand all about it, this peace is going to have a profound effect on our lives. It’s actually going to control the way we think and feel! As we rest in our Lord‘s loving arms, he will give us this peace that passes all understanding day by day. And then the people around us will see a big change in the way that we act and think about our world. They will know for certain that we have been spending time with Jesus.
Conclusion: Now, let me take you back to the boat on the sea of Galilee. The Son of God, the Lord of all creation, stretched out his hands and calmed the sea. Do you feel like you’re out there in the boat with the disciples right now in your life? Have you got some storms that are tossing you around? Then let me encourage you to seek the God of peace tonight. He has the power, ability and desire to give you all the peace that you will ever need!
Closing Prayer: Let's close out our evening by reading together our final Bible passage this evening.
Philippians 4:7 (CEV)
Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.
Now let's look at our closing prayer, based on God's Word and pray it back to Him together:
Dear Lord, thank you so much for this lovely evening of singing and study together. We are very happy that we can belong to Christ Jesus. Thank you for Your gift of peace that passes all understanding. Please use this peace, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to change the way we think and feel. May we become more and more like Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please bless us with sweet fellowship like this again very soon. We pray this now in Jesus' name, Amen.