Perfect Peace | Sunday, November 26, 2023

Welcome! We're so glad that you're here. Before we get started, I wanted to correct one thing that Garrett said in the announcements. He mentioned that our Nativity Night coming up on the 8th is going to be a ton of fun, but in fact, Pastor Jason and Pastor Mark ordered like seven tons of snow, so it's going to be like seven tons of fun. You definitely want to come to that and invite some friends. Yes, it's going to be lots of fun, and we will need your help for that.

As you can tell, it is a new season that we are celebrating here at Cross Connection Church. Last week, we finished the book of Joshua, which is where we have been all year. We are now entering into a season that, if you came out of a more traditional church, you might recognize. This church is not exactly super traditional. Some of you may have come out of an Anglican Church or an Episcopalian Church, which are a little more liturgical.

This season of the year, does anyone know what it's called? It starts with an "A." That's right, Advent! We are coming into the Advent season, and we will be celebrating that here over the next several weeks leading up to Christmas. Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this year, so we will gather together on Christmas Eve to worship. We're also going to have our Christmas Eve Eve service, so on the 23rd, we'll be gathering here. We'll give you more information about that in the coming weeks.

During this time, we are celebrating the arrival and the Advent of Christ. The word "Advent" comes from the Latin "Adventus," which means to come, approach, or arrive. So, at this time of year, we are celebrating the coming of Jesus Christ. One of the things that I like to do when we enter this season is to not just remember that we are celebrating His coming into this world—Emmanuel, God with us—but also to recognize that with Him, when He comes, He brings awesome and good things. We want to remember that and celebrate it.

One of the things that we've done a few times over the last ten years or so is that Pastor Nick and I have gone out on Black Friday to conduct on-the-spot interviews at some of the stores where people are shopping. I will go there and ask people, "Are you doing some Christmas shopping today?" They usually say yes. Then I ask, "So, you celebrate Christmas?" and they respond affirmatively. After that, I ask, "Why?" It is fascinating to me. When you put people on the spot, a lot of times they really don't have a good answer. It amazes me that I would say about one out of every six people we talk with has a good answer for why they celebrate Christmas. The others often struggle. I'll follow up with a question like, "Can you tell me the Christmas story?" and they might say things like, "Well, the one..."

With the kid who shoots his eye out? No, not the one about Ralphie, the one about Jesus. So, Nick and I got up early on Friday to hunt down Black Friday shoppers. We went to like four different stores, and they were completely empty. Everybody does all their shopping; you're all a bunch of Amazonians now, so you all shop on Amazon. We totally got skunked hunting for Black Friday shoppers. We hoped we'd show you some videos, but I can't show you any videos because we didn't get any. Maybe in the future.

I think this is a really important time of the year to spend some time remembering some things that I hope you know very well. In fact, if you've been a part of this church or any church for any length of time, some of the things that we're going to talk about today and over the next few weeks are things that you've probably heard before. Hopefully, it is review. I hope the messages that I'm going to share with you are things that you know so well that maybe even you could deliver the same content of the message. I hope that maybe you would as you interact with friends, co-workers, and neighbors.

It really is the case that when I've talked with people and we've done these videos, I asked them what the Christmas story is, and really only maybe one out of every six or one out of every eight has a good answer for it. This is surprising to me because I don't know about you, but I grew up in church, and I've known this story about Christmas from the time I was pretty young. You know, Charlie Brown knows all about it too. But in our culture today, there are a lot of people who don't seem to understand what this season is all about.

Now, we know the old saying; it's cliché: Jesus is the reason for the season. A lot of you know that, but unfortunately, a lot of people don't. So, we are going to talk about some things that are hopefully a reminder. It is good to be reminded. The Apostle Peter says that in one of his letters: it is good that I remind you of these things, even though you are established in the present truth. Hopefully, you are established in the truth of what this season is all about, but it's good to be reminded.

I think it's also good. In fact, there have been research studies that have shown the validity of this over the last couple of decades. It is very good for people to have patterns and ritualistic habits, regular seasons for celebration and for remembrance of various things that have taken place. That's what we are doing when we celebrate Christmas.

We are engaged in something that Christians have been doing and continue to do for centuries: remembering what Jesus' coming means. We want these truths to be so ingrained in our hearts and minds that we can share them at a moment's notice. I want to encourage you, especially those of you who are parents or grandparents, to set up traditions and rituals within your family that focus our hearts and attention upon the Lord at certain times and seasons of the year.

For Christians like us, we have two major events throughout the year that we celebrate. At Cross Connection Church, we are trying to remember some of the other ones, but the two major ones are Advent and, obviously, the Passion leading up to Jesus being crucified on the cross and raising from the dead. We want to remember these two major seasons.

One of the things that the Jewish community has done very well is their remembrance of events like Passover. They gather together every year to celebrate Passover, going through the story they all know very well, from the youngest kids to the oldest adults. They remember the story because they keep it in their minds on a regular basis, and we want to make sure that we do that as well. For parents and grandparents, it is good to establish those rituals where you remember and rehearse the story.

When we talk about Advent, we are most clearly remembering the arrival of Jesus. Jesus is referred to by the prophet Isaiah, even before His name was known, as Emmanuel, which means "God with us." It is God incarnate who came. Most of you may know this, and I hope you all do, but Christ being central to Christmas is not as much the case as it ought to be in 21st-century Western culture. Even though our culture is completely built upon a Judeo-Christian framework, there are more and more people who know less and less about the Bible and the story of Christ. This is not a good thing.

In fact, a lot of the division we are seeing in our culture is directly connected to the fact that we no longer have a common language of understanding and belief. It is very hard to have one united people, one nation, if they do not have a united story upon which their lives are built. We are witnessing a significant loss of that in our culture, so we need to make sure that we know this.

Advent is about the coming of Christ, but it is also about the arrival of the wonderful things that He brings with His coming. Traditionally, during the season of Advent, on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, many churches focus on four different themes: love, joy, peace, and hope. We have done that quite a bit over the last several years here at our church, and we are going to do that again this year. Today, we are going to talk about peace.

One of the things that I think is so important for us to recognize is that every single person, whether they go to church or not, is at a deep level seeking what the Bible describes as peace. A lot of times, when we hear the word "peace," we think of the cessation of violence. At this very moment, as we sit here, there is a minor temporary ceasefire in Gaza, but there has been a battle going on there for the last couple of months. We all know that there has been quite a fight in Ukraine for the last two years. The idea of desiring peace is very much in our minds at this moment because we have been bombarded with news of these battles for the last two months and two years.

Even if those conflicts were resolved, there is hardly a week that goes by without hearing about some sort of hostilities somewhere, some group fighting with another. There is a desire in your heart, in mine, and in the hearts of your neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family members—even those who do not know the Bible—for peace. They are deeply desiring peace, and that peace is not just about the cessation of violence; it is a desire for something so much more than that.

When we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating the coming of the Prince of Peace. We are celebrating the arrival of Jesus, who brings this great blessing of peace.

Point number one, if you are taking notes this morning: the coming of Christ brings the blessing of peace. This may be review; I hope that it is. I hope it is something you already know and are established in, as the Apostle Peter wrote about 2,000 years ago. However, I do not want to take it for granted that you know it. The coming of Christ brings the blessing of peace, and this peace that He brings is greater than just dealing with enmity, which means two parties that are in conflict.

Divided from one another, who are warring with one another, God doesn't only deal with that. Although it is that, there is something more to this. The word that encapsulates this idea, at least in the Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew, is the Hebrew word "Shalom." If you were to travel to Israel and interact with people, they would greet you with "Shalom," which has a direct translation in English to "peace." However, that word "Shalom" encapsulates a whole lot more than just dealing with violence.

When you really look at that word, "Shalom" speaks of human welfare. It speaks of health, peace, prosperity, and success. It also speaks of salvation and deliverance; it is the state of total well-being. There is a fairly well-known Christian theologian and philosopher by the name of Cornelius Plantinga, and he wrote a book called "Not the Way It's Supposed to Be." In his book, he describes "Shalom" like this: he says in the Bible, "Shalom" means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight. It means a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are completely satisfied.

He goes on to say that "Shalom," in other words, is the way things ought to be. Maybe you've had that sensation in your heart when you look around the world and feel like this is not how it's supposed to be. Has anyone ever felt that? You look at the things that are happening; you hear about a child experiencing violence, like we heard about on October 7th. You hear about an earthquake happening somewhere, like when it occurred in southeastern Turkey a couple of years ago. You might recall the tsunami that hit Indonesia a decade and a half ago.

You hear about all these things and see all these broken situations happening in the world. It may be far from you, or it might be something you're experiencing very close to home. There is this sense that this is not the way it ought to be. That feeling is actually right. It recalls something that I think is hardwired in our psyche deep inside us. There is this remembrance of a life that was different, even though we never personally experienced it. Humanity did, because when humanity was first made by God, they experienced total "Shalom." They experienced a full connection with God, and this is actually...

What we are looking forward to in salvation, when we actually dig into what it means to be saved by Christ, is to be reconciled to God. Ultimately, you and I will experience that in eternity when we come into His presence, and the prayer of Jesus will be fulfilled. Jesus prayed in John chapter 17 that you and I would be one with God. That is what we are yearning for and looking forward to.

In Christ Jesus, we begin to experience that as the Prince of Peace comes into our lives. He, who is our peace, makes peace between us and God, and between us and one another. Here at Cross Connection Church, we talk about wanting to live life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. All of that is built from this whole idea that Jesus is the one who brings peace and makes it possible for you and me to be reconciled back to one another, which was devastated in Genesis chapter 3 by sin and the fall.

Connection is being restored into relationship with God the Father. Humanity experienced this prior to Genesis 3, but ever since then, we have been disconnected from God and one another. Jesus, in His coming as the Prince of Peace, is coming to bring things back to the way they ought to be. That feeling in you and I—guarantee people you know who don't know God or don't go to church have that feeling too—that this is not the way it's supposed to be. They are absolutely right.

When you hear someone express that same kind of heart or thought, just agree with them and say, "You're absolutely right; this is not the way it ought to be." But I want to tell you a really good story, a true story about what God has done to make it possible for us to enjoy things as they ought to be. When we celebrate Christmas, we are reminded that Jesus, in His coming, is coming to restore things back to the way they ought to be.

This is why, and we'll talk about this a little bit more in a couple of weeks when we discuss joy, if you go to our website and look at the beliefs section, we have ten values. The first one states that we want everything we do to be done with joy because we have an optimistic vision of the future. What is our optimistic vision of the future? It is that ultimately the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace, will come and bring a restoration of all things, and we will experience the fullness of being united together with Him. We are looking forward to that, and that is why the church for centuries has prayed.

Prayer that Jesus called us to pray includes the words, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." All of that goes back to the arrival, the Advent of Jesus. With His coming comes the blessing of peace, which is much more than just the cessation of violence. Biblical peace is the end of hostility; it is, you might say, the dissolution of enmity. It is what every heart longs for: life as it ought to be, universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight. It is the state of affairs in which all natural desires are satisfied. That's what we look forward to when we talk about peace, and all of this is available because the Prince of Peace has come.

If you have your Bibles, you can open them to a very well-known Christmas verse in the book of Isaiah. Open to about the middle of your Bible, Isaiah chapter 9. You might see this verse this year on a Christmas card if you receive any. I know I've seen it on many Christmas cards over the years. Isaiah 9:6-7 states, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Isaiah prophesies that the government, the rule, the authority for all things will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

In verse 7, it continues, "Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order and establish it with judgment and justice from this time forward, even forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." Again, this is one of the famous Christmas verses that shows up on Christmas cards and so forth every year at this time. It reminds us that Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, came as the Prince of Peace. He came as the one to bring and restore peace—not just dealing with violence, but to bring about total human thriving and to create the world as it ought to be.

Now, it's interesting. You might have some friends who are Jewish, not just by birth but also practicing the Jewish faith, and they are seeking the Messiah. If you talk with them and ever have a conversation— and I have— and you start to discuss Jesus, we Christians believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of all those Messianic promises of the Bible, including this one here in Isaiah.

Chapter 9 discusses the conversation one might have with a Jewish individual regarding Jesus. They may express skepticism, stating that they do not believe He is the Messiah because He did not bring the peace they expect the Messiah to deliver. They are correct in their belief that He will come again, as they are looking for an individual who will be the Prince of Peace and bring ultimate peace. This perspective makes sense when considering their history and the countless struggles they have faced over thousands of years in search of peace.

However, they are not the only ones seeking peace. We believe that Jesus has already come and has begun addressing the primary problem that prevents peace in this world: the issue of sin. Jesus came to deal with sin and restore us to a right relationship with God. Ultimately, the Prince of Peace will establish His government and rule, as described in the passage that states, "Of the increase of His rule, His government, and peace there will be no end." Nothing will come against it. We eagerly anticipate His second coming to establish that Kingdom.

What we discover about His peace in this verse is that the peace that Christ brings is everlasting and increasing. Of the increase of it, there will be no end; it continues forever and ever. The peace that Christ offers is the peace we desire and desperately need. This need arises because, as a result of the Fall described in Genesis chapter 3, we are separated from God and from one another. All the hostilities we observe in this world, the divisions between groups and individuals, trace back to Genesis 3.

The Apostle Paul articulates this in Romans chapter 5, stating that through one man, sin entered the world, resulting in death and separation from God. This curse of sin has spread to all of humanity and all of creation. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, came to bring ultimate peace, and He will do so again at His second coming. All of this is according to His grace; it is a gracious gift He offers to you and me. In fact, throughout the Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, the grace of God is often linked to the peace of God. One could say that one of the first blessings of the grace of God is peace.

This peace is illustrated in Romans 1. In Romans 1:7, Paul writes to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul's next letter, 1 Corinthians 1:3, echoes this sentiment: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." In 2 Corinthians 1:2, he again states, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This pattern continues in Galatians 1:3, where he writes, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Do you see a similarity? This greeting is also found in Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and in the letters of Peter. Both 1 Peter and 2 Peter include this greeting, as does John in 2 John. In fact, in the Book of Revelation, we see this connection 17 times in the New Testament.

It is evident that the most frequent gift or blessing granted with or connected to God's grace is this peace. When we talk about this peace, it is more than just the absence of enmity; it encompasses total human wholeness, well-being, and thriving. This is what we are looking for—the world as it ought to be—and it is only found in Jesus Christ.

So, when we celebrate Christmas, we are rejoicing in God's gracious gift of peace in Jesus Christ.

Point number three: In and by Christ, we are blessed with peace from God, resulting in peace with God and with one another. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, He becomes the one who makes it possible for us to have peace from God, peace with God, and peace with one another. The reason He can do this is that He is our peace offering.

If you go back to the Old Testament, particularly the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus—you will find that the Book of Leviticus, which many people struggle to read through, discusses the peace offering. The Book of Leviticus outlines how the people of God, the Jewish people, were to have a relationship with God at the Tabernacle, the meeting place where they would gather in His presence. This connection was lost in Genesis 3 due to sin, which severed the ability to be in God's presence.

God, through the Jewish religion, made it possible for Jewish people to connect with Him, but they had to do it through sacrifices. One of the sacrifices they would offer was called the peace offering. About twenty times in the Book of Leviticus, we read about the peace offering. Prior to the coming of the Prince of Peace, prior to the coming of Jesus, the only way to have a relationship with God and connect with Him was through sacrifice and offering. It required that you had to sacrifice something and offer a peace offering to be able to come into God's presence.

Now, we no longer have that. The Book of Hebrews in the New Testament says Jesus came and was sacrificed once for all, making it possible for us to come before God into His presence. In the Tabernacle, there was still a veil that separated the people of God, the Jewish people, from the presence of God. But in Christ, He takes away that veil and makes it possible for us to have a full and reconciled relationship with God and now with one another.

The reason He does this is because He is our peace offering. Paul says it like this in Ephesians chapter 2: "For Jesus, He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace."

He reconciles both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. He came and preached peace to those who were far off and to those who were near, for through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

What is being said here? Paul is saying that Jesus is the peace offering who restores us back to a relationship with one another. We are connected to one another by Jesus Christ, and He restores us as a unified body, the Church, the body of Christ, back into a relationship with God the Father.

This whole idea of life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus comes from right there in Ephesians chapter 2. Jesus is our peace, and He makes it possible for us to be connected to one another. In Christ Jesus, all those dividing lines that separate people—Paul talks about it in Galatians—such as socioeconomic divisions, divisions of ethnicity and race, and divisions of sex, those things in Christ are overcome.

We are removed, and now we can be joined together as one body. If you want to see where people come together as one, the best place to see that ought to be the church. By the power of Jesus Christ, He is the one who restores us back to one another and deals with all the things that once divided us, which ultimately go back to sin in Genesis chapter 3. He is our peace and restores us to one another.

Paul, in the Book of Romans chapter 5, tells us how this comes about. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith," and as we put our trust in Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross, He makes us right with one another and with God, dealing with our sin. Having been justified by faith, we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

When Jesus died on the cross, which we'll celebrate in a few months at Easter, and when He rose from the dead, as He said in His last words on the cross, "It is finished," He was declaring that the payment for our sin has been dealt with. He is the peace offering, and now we have the opportunity to be restored and reconciled back into relationship with God and one another in Christ Jesus. None of that would be possible; there would be no Good Friday and no Resurrection Sunday if we did not have the Advent of the Prince of Peace coming. That is what we celebrate when we observe these events.

We are reconciled to one another in Jesus Christ. Paul continues in Romans 5:6, "For when we were still without strength, at just the right time," says one English translation, "in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man would one die; yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received the reconciliation.

This celebration that we engage in every single year during this time of Advent is a reminder of all these things. I hope this is all clear.

I hope you might be sitting here right now thinking, "Yeah, I've heard all this before. Get to something I haven't heard before." No, I just keep emphasizing the same things over and over again. Why? Because we live in a culture that doesn't know this, and apparently, our culture doesn't know this because we have not done a very good job of sharing it. If you know it well, you're not doing as good of a job as you could be sharing it. This is the most important news to share with people: the thing that all of us are deeply desiring—peace and universal human flourishing. Every single girl who has ever participated in a pageant has asked for world peace. That thing we are all looking for is ultimately found in Jesus Christ.

How many of you would agree with the statement that the world seems like it's totally turned upside down and getting worse? What is the answer for that? He is our peace. He is the only one who brings restoration and reconciliation with God and one another. What we deeply desire, and Christmas is all about this, is so important that we grasp it. This is the celebration of these things coming into the world. Before Christ came into the world, we were separated from God, far from Him, without hope. Ephesians chapter 2 says that then the Prince of Peace comes and brings restoration, reconciliation, and justification by His death on the cross, making it possible for us to be at peace with God and one another.

These things are essential. We need to meditate upon them and think on this. Spending some time this week reflecting on the realities of this would be time well spent, I can promise you.

In the time that we have left, I want to bring this back to two practical considerations. First, it's possible that as you sit here this morning, you think, "This all sounds really good, but how do I access this peace that you're talking about?" That's the first question. I've never experienced this peace; I haven't accessed this peace. How do I lay hold of it?

The second question is, "Okay, I believe in Jesus, but I have this weight of stress, anxiety, and fear, and all these pressing things. I'm not at rest; I'm not experiencing this peace." So, how do I experience this peace?

That I have left, I want to answer those two questions. The first one has a very simple answer: therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. How does someone lay hold of this peace? By trusting in Jesus Christ's finished work. We have peace with God by grace through faith.

Later on in Romans chapter 10, Paul said, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

To experience peace with God, you have to receive the peace from God in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and put your trust and your faith in His finished work. It's not going to be by your sacrifices. It's not going to be by a sin offering at some temple or some prayer prayed on some hilltop. That's not how you receive it. It is only found in Jesus Christ, through the prayer that He prayed on a certain hilltop 2,000 years ago, where He said, "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." It's only found in Christ as you put your trust and your faith in Him. I will give you an opportunity to do that in just a moment.

But then there's another group of you here, maybe this morning, who have believed in Christ. You have trusted in Him; you've prayed that He would come into your life, and yet you're not experiencing this peace. You may be asking, "How do I experience this peace?" Well, Paul in the book of Colossians said, "Let the peace of God rule in your heart."

How do you let the peace of God rule in your heart? Fortunately, the answer is actually simple, and it's so simple that it's difficult for us. Have you ever seen something that's so simple it's hard for us? This is one of them. Turn in your Bibles, if you have your Bible, to the book of Philippians, near the end of your Bible, right after Galatians and Ephesians.

Philippians chapter 4 is a passage we've gone to many times, especially over the last several years of stress-inducing, stress-producing anxiety-rich things that have been happening in our culture. Philippians 4:6 presents perhaps the most difficult command that Jesus gives to you and me: "Be anxious for nothing." I'm really bad at this.

Be anxious for nothing. Fortunately, not only does the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, give us this command in this passage, but he also provides us with the way to fulfill it. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Paul expresses the same idea in four different ways: everything by prayer and supplication, which is a kind of prayer; thanksgiving, which is a kind of prayer; let your requests be made known to God, which is a kind of prayer.

What happens when we do this? Look at verse seven: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Let the peace of God rule in your heart. I guarantee that as we are here in this room this morning, there are more than a few of you wrestling with anxieties. You have all kinds of things that you're stressed about.

I had a gentleman come up to me after the first service this morning and share with me a number of things he is wrestling with. His family is falling apart, and his business is going to lose another million dollars this year after losing a million dollars last year. He is trying to make payroll, and all these things are weighing upon him. Some of you this morning find yourselves in a place where you have stressors weighing upon you—anxieties that are heavy upon you. They keep you up at night.

Jesus, through Paul, says, "Be anxious for nothing." You might respond, "Yeah, thanks." But he continues, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." In everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding—what does that mean? It means there is an aspect to this peace that doesn't have a good explanation.

It's like asking, "How did you get this peace? Did you take some really great extracurricular course over at Palomar College, and that's how you found peace? Did you find it on sale on Amazon during a Black Friday deal?" No, none of that. This peace, which extends beyond our ability to explain where it came from, comes from God through prayer. Again, it seems so simple that it feels impossible.

The peace of God is available to you as you come to God in faith and prayer. I didn't give you point four, but here it is: peace from God brings peace with God, resulting in the blessing of the peace of God in our lives. I got ahead of myself, but it's okay because I'm running out of time.

Point five: the peace of God is available to you as you come to God in faith and prayer. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you..." Does anybody know what He says? Rest! How many of you could use some rest? Is it just the people from the youth group in the back? They're the only ones? Oh, the older folks are still alive; it's okay, it's all good.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I could use that. King David wrote, "Cast your burden on the Lord, for He shall sustain you." The Apostle Peter picks this up in 1 Peter chapter 5 and says, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ. Your soul will be at rest, even though there is still chaos in the world. Jesus said, "In the world, you will have tribulation; in Me, you might have peace."

Now, we wish it was reversed. We wish He would have said, "In Me, you will have peace; in the world, you might have tribulation." That would have been nice, but that's not what He said. In Me, you might have peace. You can gain access to this peace in Christ by receiving His grace first through His justifying saving work. Then, the peace of God is available to you as you come to God in faith and prayer.

So, Paul explains it further in Philippians chapter 4. Hopefully, you're still there. Look at verse 8: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report—if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

Think on these things, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me. These do, and what will the result be? The God of peace will be with you.

The prophet Isaiah, 2,800 years ago in Isaiah chapter 26, said, "He will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts in Him." Those words, "perfect peace," are so beautiful. In the Hebrew language, it says "shalom shalom," which means peace squared. I will keep you in shalom shalom, perfect peace. The Hebrew language amplifies or extends meaning by repeating words. So, He will keep you in shalom shalom, whose mind is stayed on Him.

Whatever things are true, noble, good, lovely, pure, praiseworthy, and virtuous, think on these things; meditate on these things. There has been a lot of research done in the last couple of decades on the issue of mindfulness and its effect on the body. In fact, I was talking with my friend, who was here at the second service this morning. A couple of weeks ago, he is a neurologist, a neuroanesthesiologist, and he was just in a group where they were discussing the effects of mindfulness.

You have probably heard about mindfulness. There are all kinds of apps that you can get for meditation and mindfulness in our culture, and this is affecting the physiology of the human body and the human brain when you are engaged in meditation. There are many people who talk about meditation, what it is, and how to do it. Maybe some of you have tried some mindfulness techniques and some meditation. Many of the meditation practices aim to completely focus on nothing, which is very hard to do. Trying to remove everything from your mind is nearly impossible and just makes me feel insane anytime I've tried to do it.

I prefer biblical meditation because it actually instructs us to set our minds on something. I've shared this even just within the last few weeks, and I'll say it again and keep saying it for a long time: if you know how to worry, which you all do, then you know how to meditate. Worry is a form of meditation. It is what happens when you meditate on all those things that are causing you stress and anxiety. You think, "This is going to kill me," and "I'm going to die because of this and this and this." You analyze that issue from every angle and every distance, close up and far away. It absorbs everything about you, keeps you up at night, and you are meditating on all these things that are making you anxious and worried.

Paul says, "Here's the key: set your mind on things."

Above all, think on those things that are noble, true, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. Meditate upon these things, and the God of Peace will be with you. How many of you want the God of Peace to be with you this week? Good, you raised your hand this time. May the God of Peace be with the ESO Fire Department Station Three and whoever they are going to minister to right now.

He will keep you in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts in Him. You might say, "I don't think that'll work." Have you tried it? Have you really tried it? Have you put your phone on do not disturb, or maybe turned it off for the first time in four years? Set it aside, turn off the nightly news, and spend some time just with the Lord, focused upon Him and His Word. The Scriptures say if you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. If you draw near to the Prince of Peace, He will draw near to you.

Here’s the awesome thing about this: if you do, and He does as He says He will do here in the Scriptures, He will draw near to you. It will be such an amazing and evangelistic tool to other people around you. Why? Because the world is crying for peace and has not been able to find it. All those people you work with, live next door to, or go to school with—they don’t have this peace. They have overwhelming anxiety.

I'm sure you've seen all the reports; mental health has declined in America in huge ways over the last 10 to 15 years. There has been a decline in mental health, an increase in anxiety, and a rise in stress and fear. What is America’s answer to this? Just more pharmaceuticals, just more drugs to deal with the effects of anxiety. But maybe we should try to deal with the source. He will keep you in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him.

So, what I want to do this morning is invite the worship team to come up. I also want to invite anyone here this morning who says, "I need the peace of God to be with me," to come up here right now. Stand up here. Let's all stand. If that's you, and you say, "I need the peace of God. I've been anxious. I've been filled with fears and stress," just come up here and stand.

Pray as Anthony and the team are leading this song. Just come up here and stand. Maybe you've never received Christ before, or maybe you need His peace today. He will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. You come as we sing.

Lord, we ask that you would minister here by Your Spirit. I know that there are many people here this morning who are filled with anxieties, stress, and fear. The only thing keeping them from coming to You is their own fears and anxieties, the stress that someone might see them and think, "Oh, they're weak." The embarrassment is the only thing that frequently keeps us from drawing near to You.

I pray that we would be able to lay those things aside as we are in a time of prayer and worship, and that You would draw people forward to receive Your peace. You promised that we would be able to experience that rest as we cast our cares upon You and come to You. We have been fighting and laboring, so Lord, do Your work by Your Spirit, we pray.

If that's you and you just need the peace of God, come from where you're at. Come down here and stand up front so we can worship the Lord and pray together as we sing to the Lord now.