WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Well, as I looked at these verses when I was preparing that John breathed life into as he 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:14.480 just read them for us, I just thought, there is so much you could say. And so I had this really 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:21.379 novel idea that I might pray and ask God what God actually wanted to say. So after that great wisdom, 00:00:21.900 --> 00:00:28.280 I felt there were three things that God wanted to surface for us as a community together. 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:40.140 And they are that God wants us to know his peace. Secondly, we're called to carry the peace of God. 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:50.180 And the third, that we are his chosen people. Now there's three things. One of those is within us, 00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:53.780 one of those is between us, and the third is between us and God. 00:00:53.780 --> 00:01:01.900 Now, have you ever had those moments when something's been building up the pressure of 00:01:01.900 --> 00:01:09.180 maybe getting some coursework in at school or a project completed or facing a difficult conversation 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:17.079 and then it's done, it's closed, and it's all okay. And that relief, as you breathe and you realise 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:22.140 tensions bleeding out of tensions bleeding out of you, you didn't know you were holding up until that 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:28.280 moment. A lot of my work is with psychologists and psychotherapists as we work with clients. 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:36.319 And they talk about two main themes here. One is that there are just two emotions, love and fear. 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:43.640 You could boil all emotions down into love or fear. And essentially, peace is a core part of love. 00:01:43.640 --> 00:01:52.500 And therefore, anxiety, the lack of peace is a part of fear. The second theme they often talk about 00:01:52.500 --> 00:02:00.039 is how emotion is moving in our body. And when fear and anxiety is in our body, that often we become 00:02:00.039 --> 00:02:06.620 tense. Shoulders rise up, there's tension in our face and we breathe in a shallow way. 00:02:06.620 --> 00:02:14.280 And I think this is a really helpful prompt or clue to notice in our bodies where we might be holding 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:22.000 that anxiety and carrying some fear. It's a good clue that actually we need to let go and let God in 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:29.540 so we can relax and let the tension and anxiety go and know some peace in that situation. 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:36.799 And I describe that because quite often in our bodies is the clue what's going on in our minds 00:02:36.799 --> 00:02:43.599 and hearts. And it's a great way of spotting and getting the early signs. And I describe it because 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:49.879 I want you to consider where right now you might have something going on where you're more in the 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:56.939 anxiety and fear and not enough in the peace of God. And that tension might be in your bodies right now. 00:02:56.939 --> 00:03:03.819 And I just want you to consider another Holy Spirit to prompt where you might need God's peace 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:05.020 at the moment. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:21.300 Now early in married life with Helen, who's at the back, she's been on the coffee and tea team this 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:29.880 morning, the welcome team. Helen was part of a Christian charity doing arts and mission work in 00:03:29.880 --> 00:03:38.760 schools. And so she was working without a salary and praying in her money every month. And I really 00:03:38.760 --> 00:03:46.980 felt prompted by God to move into a job where I cut my salary by about 80% to try and get into 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:52.239 leadership development work, which I've been doing for the last 25 years. And so we are on very low 00:03:52.239 --> 00:04:00.639 income at the point. And we really went on a journey of what it means to be actually trusting God. 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:07.399 And Helen was strongly influential. She's like, well, either God is God or God isn't God. If God is God, 00:04:07.659 --> 00:04:13.839 then we can trust God in our finances and each aspect of our life. And as a part of that, 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:20.800 the charity is where the team would often have a scripture of the month, which they would pray into, 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:27.600 learn off by heart, and would become a real sort of guiding influence as they did their work. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:32.500 And Philippians 4, verse 4 is a key part of that. 00:04:33.100 --> 00:04:40.560 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:47.699 present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:54.540 will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And so we were testing this with, 00:04:55.100 --> 00:05:01.180 can we not be anxious about not having enough money and truly trust God? And we had this amazing 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:06.459 chapter where, I have to say, Helen was the most faith-filled of the two of us, where we're starting 00:05:06.459 --> 00:05:12.959 to run out of money. And now we could have gone and got extra jobs. We really felt like we were doing 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:17.759 the thing that God had prompted us to do. And we felt there was something we've got to learn here, 00:05:17.799 --> 00:05:22.019 rather than just trusting on having the credit card to go and get some extra money if we needed it. 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:25.799 And so we went through this journey of saying, okay, we're not going to borrow any money, 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:30.799 we're going to stop, we've run out of money, we're going to pray. And I remember the anxiety of 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:36.060 sitting there thinking, we don't have the food in the cupboard. We don't have anything in money we 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:41.379 can draw on. Are we going to trust God? Are we going to be anxious about this? Or are we going to 00:05:41.379 --> 00:05:47.560 go, okay, God, let's turn to you and trust you? And we went on this journey several times, 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:53.580 and we'd run out of money, there's no food in the cupboard. We stopped and we prayed. And three times, 00:05:53.579 --> 00:06:01.319 as we sat there praying, we had an envelope come to the letterbox. We got to there, me being of low 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:05.699 faith, opened the door, tried to see who it was. In the envelope was some cash that would get us 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:10.519 through that week. Three times that happened, and then the whole pattern just seemed to change for us. 00:06:11.159 --> 00:06:17.339 So I was definitely on a journey of how do I not be anxious? How do I genuinely trust that the peace 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:24.699 of God will transcend the fears of the reality around us? And then we had this really key moment 00:06:24.699 --> 00:06:32.979 when we had bought a car with some money that we had. Then we had an issue with a stone coming through, 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:39.279 breaking the radiator, and that sort of bled out the water. The engine overheated and seized. 00:06:40.059 --> 00:06:46.419 And then we had no spare cash. So we thought, well, we have a dead car. No use is that. We can't sell 00:06:46.420 --> 00:06:50.840 it like that. So we can't get any money back from it. So this time, we sort of broke the rule. We 00:06:50.840 --> 00:06:56.720 used the credit card and we got the engine replaced. I think he would sell it and get rid of that and 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:03.759 get rid of the debt and also have some cash left over. So this is the plan. Then we advertised the 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:11.000 car for sale. There was just no interest whatsoever. And then the credit card bill is due. And this plan 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:17.699 really isn't working. And I remember being a little anxious about this and quite concerned about this. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:23.980 This isn't, this is a bit of a disaster. Helen being the more faith-filled said, well, let's sit down 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:31.600 and pray. So we sat down to pray. Now this car had been advertised for about six weeks. Nothing. We sat 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:36.980 there to pray. And in that moment of praying, we stopped. We definitely felt more peaceful. 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:44.819 The phone rang, literally as we finished praying. And the person calling said, is your car still 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:51.759 available? I said, yes. He said, can I come around and see it now? Yes. I'll come around. And this guy 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:56.980 rocked up with a load of cash, didn't want to drive it, gave me the cash. We asked, didn't sort of barter, 00:07:57.460 --> 00:08:05.000 just gave me the cash and took the car. And now clearly in that situation, it's a story of immediate 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:13.959 answer to prayer. But it is a story of the peace of God transcending the anxiety and the troubles in 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:22.040 the moment. But if I think to later life, when Helen was going through chemotherapy three years ago, 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:28.959 and in some of those darkest moments, there wasn't an immediate answer to prayer. But in prayer, 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:37.259 we did find a peace that would transcend the very dark moments and the challenges of that time. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:47.360 And so this is what I believe God wants us to know and experience in the face of difficulty, 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:55.799 however large or small, a peace that will rule in our hearts, not anxiety and fear. 00:08:55.799 --> 00:09:04.439 And the incredible thing is, on our own, is our effort. But the remarkable thing is we are in 00:09:04.439 --> 00:09:09.740 partnership with the Holy Spirit. And then there is a gift of God, which is the peace of God. 00:09:11.299 --> 00:09:19.419 And in John 14, you read Jesus saying, peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:27.559 gives, do I give to you. So let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 00:09:29.219 --> 00:09:35.519 So this morning, I want to consider, where in your heart are you lacking the peace of God? 00:09:36.219 --> 00:09:44.179 Where is there some fear, anxiety, or burden sitting with you, where you need the grace and the presence 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:53.179 of the Holy Spirit to bring the peace of God? And we'll take some time to really pray about that in a moment. 00:09:57.539 --> 00:10:03.579 So you're called to carry my peace. This is a very strong message in these verses. 00:10:04.179 --> 00:10:08.339 There is a remit we are being given as the church, as the people of God, 00:10:08.340 --> 00:10:16.240 to be peace bearers, carrying the peace and love of God. Now you might know that saying, 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:22.259 which is, if you're carrying anger and resentment towards someone else, that is a little bit like 00:10:22.259 --> 00:10:27.000 slowly drinking poison in the hope that it'll eventually hurt the other person. Are you familiar 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.379 for some of you? And that's what anger is like, which is, it eats away at us, often with having 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:40.100 little impact on the other person at all. Now I was at a Christian festival in the summer, 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:48.139 and I noticed how I had been carrying some anger towards someone who I felt was acting selfishly 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:54.419 and having a really negative impact on our family. And as I sat there listening to a talk, 00:10:54.840 --> 00:11:01.940 I realised it really wasn't about them, it's about the way I was relating to it. And I was 00:11:01.940 --> 00:11:10.320 interpreting their choices as really selfish and negative towards us. As I allowed the Holy Spirit 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:16.400 to nudge me and convict me of this, I really noticed that actually they're just making choices 00:11:16.400 --> 00:11:24.400 which are good for them. There's nothing directly negative intention towards us in any way. As I realised 00:11:24.400 --> 00:11:31.460 I was holding on to this anger, I chose to let it go, and I chose to forgive them and let that go. 00:11:31.460 --> 00:11:39.800 And an incredible peace of God did start to rule my heart. And the lightness came, the shoulders 00:11:39.800 --> 00:11:46.040 dropped, the breath deepened, and then I've been living in a peace and some fruitfulness of that 00:11:46.040 --> 00:11:54.160 since the summer as I'm not carrying that. And as we look through here, there's a very clear challenge 00:11:54.159 --> 00:12:03.399 to us about how to be with each other as a community. The words that Kate referenced in the prayer and John read. 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:05.399 Let's read. 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:31.399 Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bear with each other, forgive as the Lord forgave you, unity, called to peace, be thankful, teach and admonish one another with gratitude. 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:36.399 Gratitudes. All in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:50.299 Thanks. This is an incredible remit that Paul is giving to the church then. And in the context there are factions beginning and people going off and creating some of their own sort of theology in a sense. 00:12:50.299 --> 00:13:08.419 So there's context to it. But actually for all of us as a community of God, as God calls us to be peace bearers, those carrying the peace of God, then we have to attend not just what's living with us on a daily basis, but how we're relating to each other. 00:13:08.419 --> 00:13:18.419 In the work I do with teams, we're often saying it's not so much about who the individuals are, it's about the quality of connection between them. 00:13:19.219 --> 00:13:32.419 And here there is a message of the quality of connection between us, the love, the grace, the forgiveness, the encouragement, the coming together is a core part of what it means to be this church community, 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:36.419 carrying the peace of God for our wider community, carrying the peace of God for our wider community. 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:48.419 And a lovely friend of ours, Tony, used to be a vicar over in Nelsie, had this saying, he said, sometimes you're the only Bible that other people are reading. 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:57.299 And so how much are we modelling these behaviours, these ways of working, this way of thinking? 00:13:59.079 --> 00:14:08.419 Now on our own, as we're busy and stretched and lots going on and facing our own challenges, and some of those are deep and quite intense, 00:14:09.579 --> 00:14:12.919 well, the good thing is we're not on our own. We are partnering with the Holy Spirit. 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:23.740 That this peace is a gift from God, something the Holy Spirit can bring to us in Revelation in a profound way. 00:14:26.459 --> 00:14:32.879 So again, in a moment we're going to pray, and I'm going to ask you to notice where might the Holy Spirit be nudging you? 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:38.419 Where might you need to adjust your relationship to someone else, or where you're carrying? 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:42.899 And that actually is more about you relating to it than about the situation. 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:50.620 One of the phrases we often use in our work is that we need to take responsibility for how we're experiencing everything. 00:14:56.299 --> 00:15:00.519 Third and finally, we are the chosen people. 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:07.539 And in here, I think there's a story about who we are in God. 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:14.519 The first point, I think, of these verses is that we are chosen. 00:15:15.419 --> 00:15:19.779 You know, when you choose, you choose a friendship, or you choose a life partner, 00:15:20.439 --> 00:15:22.919 then that's going towards someone. 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:27.539 And here I hear God going towards us. 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:29.579 There's an intentionality about it. 00:15:29.599 --> 00:15:31.439 There's a desire for connection. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:38.040 And in that, coming towards, we are known by God. 00:15:41.880 --> 00:15:45.240 To explore this, I want to describe an experience I had a few years ago. 00:15:46.020 --> 00:15:51.620 I had something going on with my heart, which turned out to be okay in the end, but was pretty worrying at the time. 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:56.080 And the cardiologist sent me for a particular test. 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:58.980 I got put into an MRI machine. 00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:03.560 And it was kind of a 45-minute MRI. 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:08.779 So you're in the tube, trying to listen to radio 4, whatever they had on, 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.039 while the magnets are banging and banging. 00:16:11.179 --> 00:16:12.340 It's kind of hard to hear anything. 00:16:12.700 --> 00:16:15.440 And trying not to be claustrophobic and telling yourself to relax 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.240 and just begin to relationship with anxiety. 00:16:19.280 --> 00:16:20.840 And halfway through, they stop. 00:16:21.420 --> 00:16:23.040 And then this team come in the room. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.320 And they're called the crash team. 00:16:24.820 --> 00:16:27.020 And they're in there because in the next phase of this, 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:30.900 it's the highest risk of having a cardiac arrest. 00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:33.700 And so in one arm, they put a cannula. 00:16:33.900 --> 00:16:35.140 And they pump dye in. 00:16:35.140 --> 00:16:37.580 And then in the other arm, they pump this drug, 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:41.560 which accelerates your heart rate to close to maximum. 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:45.639 And then the team will chat to each other like they're having a coffee break. 00:16:45.699 --> 00:16:47.279 And then they walk out of the room. 00:16:47.579 --> 00:16:48.500 And then it starts. 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:49.659 And the magnets start going. 00:16:50.319 --> 00:16:53.539 And then you feel your heart starting to race, 00:16:53.739 --> 00:16:57.419 like you're sprinting for your life while you're just lying still. 00:16:57.579 --> 00:16:58.699 That's a pretty weird feeling. 00:16:59.599 --> 00:17:02.059 Then you feel the dye pumping into you. 00:17:02.079 --> 00:17:03.000 And you can feel it. 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:05.940 Some of you must have had the dye around your body at some point. 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:08.440 You can feel that flooding your body. 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:12.680 And I'm lying there really strengthening my relationship with anxiety. 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:16.120 And then I had this idea, 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:18.840 oh, what if I imagine that I'm running? 00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:20.779 And I just pictured myself running. 00:17:20.940 --> 00:17:22.500 And then my brain somehow thought, 00:17:22.820 --> 00:17:24.420 oh, the heart rate's appropriate for me, 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:26.960 sprinting across this field in my mind. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:28.700 And somehow that felt a bit normal. 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:32.880 But it was an experience of my body being flooded 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:37.640 by these chemicals and these drugs and every part of it. 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:40.920 Now, I'm not recommending this process. 00:17:41.080 --> 00:17:43.200 But it turns out in the end, my heart is fine, 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:45.039 which is very encouraging. 00:17:45.980 --> 00:17:47.580 I really know it's fine after that. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:53.140 But I want to link this to the day that I gave my life to Jesus, 00:17:53.259 --> 00:17:55.380 the day I would say I became a Christian. 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:56.400 I'd grown up as a Catholic. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.559 But through a really long range of circumstances, 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:02.059 I found myself in this church, 00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:04.299 at the front, with a church leader, 00:18:04.860 --> 00:18:06.240 giving my life to God. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:08.380 Literally doing the prayer of, 00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:10.180 I want you in my life, God. 00:18:10.259 --> 00:18:13.400 And I'm sorry for the things that I do that are so selfish. 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:16.620 And self-reference, would you fill my life? 00:18:16.660 --> 00:18:17.620 Would you meet with you? 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:18.740 I give you my heart. 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:20.559 Literally that prayer. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:24.059 And I stood there with my eyes closed, 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:26.200 with this, like a praying with me. 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:30.799 And I remember I had this experience of a peace of God, 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:32.799 like never since. 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:34.640 Touches on it. 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:36.480 But it was like that MRI. 00:18:36.819 --> 00:18:40.200 It was like a drug and chemical flooding me 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.680 from my toes to the top of my head. 00:18:43.340 --> 00:18:46.200 Total encounter with a sense of peace, 00:18:46.620 --> 00:18:51.400 which transcends any sense of what's going on in the world now. 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:57.740 And that is something of the gift of God has for us. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:00.080 We read in Galatians 5, 00:19:00.820 --> 00:19:02.160 the fruit of the Holy Spirit, 00:19:02.300 --> 00:19:04.500 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 00:19:04.700 --> 00:19:08.360 faithfulness, self-control, and peace is in there. 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:10.200 A gift from God. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:14.440 And this morning, I'd like us to respond. 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:17.519 And notice where it might be 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.299 that we need a different experience of peace 00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:23.519 here within us, in our heart, in our mind. 00:19:24.059 --> 00:19:27.279 Whereas that we might need a sense of greater peace 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.039 in our relationships with other people. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.500 And where might it be between us and God, 00:19:32.620 --> 00:19:35.299 where we need that greater sense of connection 00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:39.059 and encounter that would bring a peace 00:19:39.059 --> 00:19:41.000 that would transcend our understanding 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.980 and bring peace, whatever the circumstances are 00:19:43.980 --> 00:19:45.180 that we're facing. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:52.380 Lord, we ask now, as you hear our prayers, 00:19:52.539 --> 00:19:56.660 that you would meet with every single one of us 00:19:56.660 --> 00:19:57.839 in the way we need. 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:02.920 Lord, whether we need your peace to fill us now, 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:08.440 to banish anxiety out of our minds and hearts and bodies. 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:10.440 Lord, we ask now, as you hear our prayers, 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:14.180 whether, Lord, you are needed in our relationship 00:20:14.180 --> 00:20:15.779 with one another, 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:20.920 where we might need to forgive, 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.440 where we might need to address something 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:26.559 and change something. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:30.740 Lord, in the way we might need 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:33.759 that fresh revelation of you 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.759 and our connection with you 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.440 that you have chosen us. 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:42.480 I ask that, Holy Spirit, 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:43.240 you would move, 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:45.420 meet with us, 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:48.380 and we lift all our prayers to you now 00:20:48.380 --> 00:20:50.700 in the power and authority of your name, 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:51.240 Lord Jesus. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:52.480 Amen. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:52.600 Amen. 00:20:52.600 --> 00:20:52.660 Amen. 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:52.680 Amen.