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Pastor Mike will be speaking on How to Sustain Peace in Your Life Part 2. He will be in John 20:11-31.
Because none of us, no matter how good you are, no matter how moral you are, none of us ever measure up to the pure righteousness of Jesus Christ. That’s why we need Christ and that’s why we must accept His peace in our life.
Well, welcome to Hope Worth Having. It’s a delight that we can come together, that we can study the Bible together, and I think what a wonderful topic for us to be able to study in the Gospel of John, chapter 20.
We’re going to be looking about how to sustain peace in your life. We started this study last week and now we have the opportunity to continue that study and learn more about how God wants us to sustain peace within our life.
Jesus Christ has come to be our peace and until we make peace with God, we could never experience the peace of God. So as we study together this morning, focus on that very thought. Don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.
And so we give it all to Him because He is a God who comforts us. So how is it that I can acknowledge His presence in my life? I would tell you to, number one, make sure that you discover His Word, that you would have a daily time in the Word of God.
You see, the voice of God is right here. I know. You say, I heard Jesus last night. No, no. All that He has said is right here. And you need to open this Bible up. And listen, I know that some of you, you’re so hungry for the truth and you’re so on fire for the Word of God.
But I want to give you a warning that some of you are turning the Bible into an academic book. book. Some of you are turning it into a book that all you’re interested in it is building your apologetic case so that when you go to the Christmas dinner, you can slam somebody to the ground.
Listen to me friends. This is God’s love letter to you. This is Jesus speaking to you every day. As pastor, I have to be careful that this doesn’t just become the book that I prepare sermons out of. This is my heavenly father speaking to me.
And so I want you to be careful that in your zeal and passion to defend your faith and to understand all the nuances of the Bible that you lose that personal walk that personal special time with the Lord Jesus Christ.
that you open this word and it is your heavenly Father speaking into your life. How can I acknowledge His presence? By spending time in prayer with Him. By spending time in prayer. It’s easy to get so busy we don’t have time to pray.
The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. You need to be in a spirit of prayer all day, absolutely. And especially when you’re out there driving by those shopping centers and those malls. We need to be in a spirit of prayer, amen?
But we need to be a people who pray, who just set aside time and we’re just focused on Christ. Oh yeah, throughout the day we’re shooting up arrows of prayer to God. And we’re asking for His strength and help.
But we also have a special time every day with Jesus. Just pouring out our hearts to God. You see, there’s nothing that will unite you to the heart of Jesus more than prayer. And you will sense His presence more in your life as you just dedicate a time of prayer.
Maybe it’s a special room, maybe it’s a special place, maybe it’s a special time, whatever it is, and however it is, it’s all up to you. But the thing I’m challenging you is that if you want to experience the presence of God, then you have to spend time in prayer with Jesus Christ to experience and acknowledge His presence.
And I’m talking about His manifested presence. I’m not talking about some psychological, emotional experience, but I’m talking about real presence of Jesus. I encourage you to get plugged in to a small group, a Bible study, a class where you can begin to experience the presence of God through the people of God.
God, did you know the church are the hands and the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ? Did you know that we are the body of Christ? And the reason that we sometimes as Christians don’t experience the presence of God in our life is because we isolate ourselves from the church.
And I want you to know that when we come church every Sunday, when we gather together as believers in groups and classes and Bible studies, that we must recognize our role and responsibility that when people walk into our room, that we are the manifested presence of Jesus and that maybe somebody needs a hug, maybe somebody needs an ear, maybe somebody needs a handshake, maybe somebody needs prayer,
maybe somebody needs a smile, somebody is looking for the presence of Jesus Christ when they come to meet with the family of God. here’s our problem we come and we say pastor bless us entertain us whoo this better be a good service if they don’t step up their game we’re gonna go somewhere else if they’re not perfect then we’re gonna find another place where there’s a perfect church have you heard that one hey listen if you find a perfect church do that church a favor don’t join it you’re gonna mess it up how many of you know that people are flawed and people are not perfect I know that there are people who think they’re perfect right but they’re not they’re not but what if you came to church every Sunday morning what if you said you know what I’m not gonna jump out of bed at the last minute but I’m gonna get up early and I’m gonna pray that God would use me today at church that God would use me to be a blessing to someone that God would use me to encourage someone that God would use me as his hands as his feet as his arms as his heart God would use me some way to help someone in the family of God what if you came to church like that Wow Wow think about the unchurched think about people who are discouraged and defeated think about if they came and they experienced that kind of presence think about in your Bible study if you didn’t come to simply say look I need more knowledge the Bible says knowledge puffs up but what if you said look I’m one to grow but I also want to love you see what balances out knowledge is love and what if you came in your Bible study in your class and you said I’m not gonna just sit in my seat and say bless me teacher but I’m gonna welcome everybody I’m gonna interact with everybody I’m gonna listen I’m gonna care I’m gonna understand I’m gonna pray I’m gonna help up.
What if you did that? Let me tell you, those people would experience the presence of God. You, church, are the body of Christ. You are His hands and His feet. And that is how we acknowledge His presence.
When people gather on Sunday morning, they should sense the presence of God. They should hear the voice of God from His word. They should see Christ lifted up in our lives and in our ministry and our service.
And yes, they should feel the presence of God through the people of God. They should know that Jesus is truly a lie. Number two, how do I sustain peace in my life? I have to accept it. I have to accept His peace.
Look at verse 18 of chapter 20. The Bible says that Mary Magdalene came and she told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her. She was thrilled, she was excited.
And the Bible says then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them, peace be unto you.
Now, do you have your door locked? Are you receiving the presence of God and his peace in your life? Jesus’ first words to his disciples as a gathered group was simply this, peace be with you. I like what one person wrote.
They said the stone of the tomb was not enough to keep him in and the walls of the room were not enough to keep him out. And what I want you to know is that sometimes we do not experience God’s peace is because we’re building walls in our lives.
We are shutting doors, we’re burning bridges and we’re spending all our time thinking that by doing these actions that things are gonna get better only to find that our hearts are in turmoil, only to find that we’re filled with anxiety, only to find that there isn’t enough medication to help a heart that is broken, that only Jesus Christ can heal a broken heart, that only Jesus Christ can heal a heart that is in desperate need.
So I want to encourage you to accept his peace this morning. begins by making peace with God. The Bible teaches us that we all begin in this world, believe it or not, but it’s true according to Romans 5 that we begin at enmity with God because of our sinfulness, because of our selfishness and the answer is Jesus Christ.
That is that there has to come a point in our life where each and every one of us takes our white flag and we surrender to Jesus Christ. And we say, look, I surrender. I’m no longer gonna fight against the Lord.
I’m no longer gonna fight against God and I’m no longer gonna push God out of my life and I’m not gonna put him on the back burner of my life, but I’m gonna fully surrender my life to the Lord Jesus Christ and I’m gonna accept his peace in to my heart by making peace with God.
The Bible has the answer for all. of our problems. Without Jesus Christ, there is no salvation. Without making peace with God, there is no assurance of salvation. So we must make peace with God this morning.
And I want you to recognize that the work of the cross, the work of the cross is to bring peace to you, to bring peace. Now, look, here’s what’s amazing. The Bible says that He loved us first, didn’t He?
You didn’t love God first. You may have thought it, but you didn’t. Because God loves us first, He took the initiative to reach out to us and to offer grace and forgiveness and peace. And it’s our responsibility to say, I accept that peace.
The message of the gospel, according to Romans 10 .15, is peace. God is bringing peace. We have declared war on God by our sinful nature, but God is declaring peace to those who believe in Him. And you and I can turn to Christ and we can accept the work of the cross that Christ did all that was necessary so that I could have peace with God.
And we can have eternal life if we place our faith in Jesus Christ. If a person could accomplish the work of salvation by themselves, there would be no need for the cross. I mean, if you could work your way to heaven, why would you need Jesus?
And why would you need Him to die on a cross for our sins? Because we just would say, work harder. But the truth is, no matter how hard we work, we all fall miserably short. And the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Now, some of you… you do a little bit better than the other person but it doesn’t matter because none of us no matter how good you are no matter how moral you are none of us ever measure up to the pure righteousness of Jesus Christ that’s why we need Christ and that’s why we must accept his peace in our life but we not only need to make peace with God but we need to make sure that we experience the peace of God the peace of God the Bible tells us this morning in the passage that we read to you in Philippians chapter 4 the Bible says be careful be anxious for nothing but in everything with what prayer you want to understand what that means church that means this worry about nothing and pray about everything some of you are worried and you need to take your worries and put them down on a piece of paper and entitle it the Worry List.
And then I need you when you get done with your worries after a couple of notebooks, then I want you to go back on the top and I want you to cross it out and I want you to put prayer lists. Turn your Worry List into the prayer list.
And then guess what? I want you then go back to the top and take your prayer list. Take the word prayer and mark through it and put peace, your peace list, why? Because you’re gonna watch God answer prayer and you’re gonna watch God do some amazing things and you’re gonna watch God change hearts and you’re gonna watch God do things that you never thought were impossible because the Bible says now unto him who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly and above all that we ask or think according to the power of God that works in us.
Now think about this, I want you to take this opportunity right now church, I need you to wake up if your husband’s sleeping, elbow him right now. But listen to me, I want you to think about the one thing in your mind right now and on your heart that is a heavy burden that feels like an impossibility to you, it feels like an impossibility.
Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly and above all that we ask. Whatever you believe is impossible, God can even do more than what you think. God can do above what you’re asking him to do.
I don’t want you to go into this holiday season without the peace of God in your heart. I want you to take your worry list and I want you to turn it into a prayer list and I want you to follow the scriptures, be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer.
And what? Thanksgiving. How many of you are saying thank you, Jesus? Thank you for the trial. Thank you for the trouble. Thank you for that annoying person in my life. Thank you with prayer and Thanksgiving and supplication.
What’s the difference between prayer and supplication? Prayer is we’re beseeching God on our behalf, but supplication is I’m beseeching God on behalf of others. So not only should I pray for my worries and burdens and things that are causing me to be anxious, but I am to seek, I’m to seek God on behalf of other people.
And the Bible says that if you’ll follow this pattern, be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and Thanksgiving and supplication, and make your request made known unto God. And here’s the promise.
The God of peace shall guard or keep your mind and heart. Have you ever thought that you might be losing your mind. But let me tell you, if you feel like you’re losing your mind, that prayer is the antidote to God guarding and keeping your heart and mind.
And it goes on, this promise goes on. And it says, the peace of God shall fill your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus. The peace of God. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, is that’s what prayer does.
And I wanna challenge you to experience the peace of God. I’m reminded of a story of a widow who had successfully raised a very large family. She was being interviewed by a news reporter. And in addition to six children of her own, she had adopted 12 other children.
And through it all, she had maintained stability and an air of confidence. And when asked the secret of her outstanding accomplishment, her answer to the reporter was quite surprising. She said, I manage so well because I’m in a partnership.
And the reporter said, what do you mean? And she replied, she said, many years ago, I said, Lord, I’ll do the work and you do the worrying. And I haven’t had an anxious care since. And you know, we could all profit by following the example of that mother.
By saying, Lord, I’ll do the work, you do the worrying. And when we carry our part in the sense that we give our burdens to him, our concerns to him, then friends, he will give us a peace that passes all understanding.
The third thing I want you to notice, for us to sustain peace in our hearts, we have to accomplish his plan. Now let’s fast track over to verse 21 of chapter 20. Jesus said to them, now remember, we just read in verse 19 that they were.
assembled for fear, they were afraid. Verse 21, Jesus said to them again, peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. Listen friends, there is nothing that will bring more peace to your heart than when you are serving and fulfilling the assignment that God has for you.
Jesus reminds us that as he was sent by the Father, he is now sending each one of us as his believers on behalf of the Father. And Jesus was able to transform these disciples who were afraid, living in fear, and they were hiding in fear, and he turned them into bold witnesses for God.
And you say, there’s no way I could do anything for God. Yes, you can. You. can be a great witness for Jesus Christ. Our mission is to make disciples. Our assignment is to reach out. It is so unfortunate that many Christians are not fulfilling the mission.
You might say to me, Pastor Mike, why me? Why would God want to use my life? Let me give you three reasons why God wants to use your life. Number one, because we were created unto good works. Did you know you were created under good works?
You thought that all God wanted to do was just kind of wind you up and wish you the best and hope everything turns out in life. But no, it’s just the opposite. God designed you with a purpose and God has a plan for your life and he has given you an assignment and a mission and you were created unto good works.
Ephesians 2, 10 teaches us that God has designed us as his masterpiece and he has created us to do something on his behalf. Every one of you, I know not everybody in the church will be active for Jesus, I wish, but we pray, we preach and we teach to that end because we know what the Bible teaches us.
Why does God want to use you to accomplish his plan? Because we’re called to believe. We are called to belong and we are called to become what he has designed us to be. You see, God did not just say, I want you to believe and I want you to stop.
He didn’t say, I want you to believe and join the church and be faithful to church and I want you to stop. But Jesus said, I want you to become the way that I’ve designed you to be, that he is shaping us and molding us into the image of Christ and that he has a calling on each of our life.
Our calling in general is that we are to. glorify him, and we are to serve him. But each of us has a unique calling in our life. There is a universal calling that is taught in the word of God. But there is a unique calling that can only be understood as you are praying, as you are studying, as you are listening to God’s people, as they are teaching you.
Not everybody has the same calling. Not everybody’s a pastor, amen. I mean, if everybody was a pastor, who would I preach to? That’d be quite the quandary. But God calls some to teach. But he calls some to serve behind the scenes.
He calls some to do missionary work around the world. He calls some to work with children, some to work with music, some to work with teenagers, some to work with the senior citizens, some to work with the couples and the young couples.
But however, and whatever God has called you to do, remember that you have a calling on your life and it doesn’t matter to me. Listen to me, friends. I am totally committed to the calling. It doesn’t matter.
You could rise up tomorrow and say, Pastor, we don’t like you. You don’t have enough hair on your head. Okay. And we would move on. But I guarantee you, you would not stop me from doing my calling. I would go somewhere else and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, nobody’s saying, Pastor, let’s get rid of you because you don’t have enough hair. So fret not, but I’m just trying to illustrate a point is that don’t let other people stop you from your calling.
And don’t let circumstances stop you from your calling. And don’t let obstacles stop you from doing your calling. Because when God has a call on your life, then you must fulfill it. Why me? Why would God want me to accomplish his plan?
Because we are commanded to not only sit under the word and soak up the word, but we are commanded to serve. Every one of you are commanded to serve. Imagine if this whole church got busy for God. Imagine what we could do for Christ.
Imagine if pastor didn’t just have to rely on the 20, the 25%. What if we could share the load together, church? What if we could get active and we could buy into what Jesus said when he said, as my father has sent me, even so I send you.
Now, some of you say I failed too many times to be used by Jesus. I just wanna remind you that the disciples fled in fear. Peter denied him three times and Thomas doubted, but he used all of them. to turn the world upside down.
Remember this church, and this is not original with me, but I want you to remember this so much you ought to write it in your Bible so that when you have your time with Jesus, you wouldn’t forget about it, that your failures are not final and they are not fatal.
When we fail God, he does not kick us out of the service, but he says, I’m gonna get you right, I’m gonna get you empowered, and I’m gonna get you back. Now my final point, and I can’t spend much time on it because we’re out of time, but number four is activate his power.
In verse 22, he says, receive the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, and he goes on to teach about whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted or forgiven. And he teaches us, whoever’s you retain, they are retained.
And he goes on to teach us about the power of the Spirit of God. and that how Jesus breathed the power of the Spirit upon His disciples. And so I just want to simply say this, that as we serve Him, we activate His power by being surrendered to the Spirit of God, and that we surrender and serve from the source of our strength, which is the Holy Spirit of God.
And there’s much that can be said about that, but remember this, you can do whatever God’s called you to do, and God will provide, and God will strengthen you, and you don’t have to be afraid, you just got to step out and trust Him.
And you may think, man, I’ve made a mess of my life, how could God ever use me? Well, just remember that Jesus is a master of taking broken pieces and putting them back together, and He’ll do this for you.
Little by little, He’ll put your life back together, and little by little, He’ll use you in a great way for His glory. The disciples were timid soldiers, reluctant warriors, speechless messengers. Why is it that they were so reluctant in proclaiming the message of Christ?
Because they had not experienced the peace of God in their life. And so they walked in fear, but now Christ is showing them how they can experience His peace as He promises them the peace of the Lord to be upon their life.
That’s what we strive for, and I hope today that if you find your life very chaotic, and maybe you’re filled with anxiety, that you would turn to Christ and let Him fill your heart with His peace, because His peace makes all the difference.
Let me encourage you to check out more of what we’re teaching. teaching when it relates to the peace of God by going to our YouTube channel where we’ve addressed many of these issues about anxiety and fear and how we can overcome that and we can live in the confidence and the courage of the Lord.
So check us out, YouTube, type in Hope Worth Having and our channel will pop up, subscribe to our channel and you’ll get regular alerts on new stuff that we’re uploading. We’re not only uploading our sermons and our messages, but we are also uploading interviews that we’re doing and resource material that will continue to be a blessing to you as you are growing in your faith and living out your calling that God has upon your life.
This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope. worth having.