Sunday, March 25, 2007

 

Col 3:12-17 Passing the Peace

Col 3:12-17
12 Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. 14 Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. 16 Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Longfellow wrote a significant poem during the American Civil War.

I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head “There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With peace on earth, good will to men.”

2 verses not usually included:

Then from each black, accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born Of peace on earth, good will to men

Verse 15 says, “As members of one body you were called to peace.” Not only do we enjoy peace with God and the peace OF God, we can enjoy peace with others as well. Satan is the great divider. He wants to divide every nation, every church, every marriage and every family. The Holy Spirit binds us together as one. The Bible says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) Sadly, too many churches and Christians groups are known more for their fighting and splitting than for their forgiving and submitting. Someone said whenever you have two Baptists you have three opinions. But the peace of Christ allows us to disagree without being disagreeable. There will always be differences of opinions, but when we are walking in the Spirit, the peace of Christ will serve as the “umpire” over our differences, and we will submit to the Spirit of God.

Until the Prince of Peace comes to earth again we will not have Peace. But in the church oneness of unity and peace

Luke 2: 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Worship wars over Style rather than substance. Doctrine wars really issues of personality style and type.

Have you ever come across the practise of Passing the Peace in an Anglican church? I don’t know that a handshake or aan embrace necessarily passes peace along to anyone. But Paul directs us to pass peace to all those we meet. How do you do that? You can pass Peace on to others By Being Rightly related To One Another

Passing The Peace By Bearing With one Another

James 5: 9Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door! . It reminds me of a young father who was standing in the middle of a grocery store with a screaming kid in the shopping basket. The child was red-faced and crying loud enough to be heard all over the store. The young father was repeating, “Easy, Donald. Take it easy, Donald. Calm down, Donald.” A lady who overheard him said, “Sir, I want to commend you on the way you’re talking to Donald. You know how to speak to a child, calmly and quietly. Good job.” She bent down to the child and asked, “What’s the problem little Donald?” The man said, “Oh no. His name is Henry, my name is Donald. Take it easy, Donald!” Displaying longsuffering or patience means we don’t respond in anger when we are mistreated or insulted. Booker T. Washington was born a slave but became a great African American educator and innovator. He founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He was the first African American to be a guest in the White House when Teddy Roosevelt invited him to dinner. The story is told that one day Mr. Washington was walking down the street in Tuskegee and a wellto- do woman asked him if he would like to earn a few extra dollars chopping wood. Instead of being offended or telling her who he was, he simply rolled up his sleeves and chopped the wood. A few days later, when the woman learned he was the President of Tuskegee Institute, she apologized profusely. She was so impressed with Booker T. Washington’s humility and longsuffering she organized a group of local donors to fund Tuskegee Institute. That’s a great example of being longsuffering. The Bible says Jesus displayed longsuffering when He was insulted, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (I Peter 2:23) When we wear Jesus’ patience, we’ll demonstrate the same kind of behavior.

Passing The Peace By Forgiving One Another

Living with the dent in the car. There are all kinds of dents and bruises in our relationships.

In Matthew 18, Jesus told the parable of a man who owed his boss, the king $100,000. The king demanded payment, but the servant couldn’t pay and begged the king to forgive the debt. The king had mercy on the servant and erased the debt. That same day the servant went out and found a fellow servant who owed him $10. He seized him by the throat and said, “Pay up now!” The fellow servant didn’t have the money and begged the first servant for mercy. Instead, the servant had him arrested and thrown into jail. When the king heard about this, he was furious. He had the first servant brought back and said, “I forgave you $100,000, and yet you wouldn’t forgive your fellow servant? Forget that! Now, you owe me the $100,000 and you’re going to jail until you can pay it off.” That story describes our lives. We owed a debt we could not pay, and God forgave it. The Bible says “God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8) When you have truly experienced God’s unconditional forgiveness, you will be willing to extend forgiveness to those who sin against you.

Passing The Peace By Loving One Another

Love is the key to patience, because the Bible says, “love is patient.” And the key to forgiving others is to love them because we read, “love keeps no record of wrongs.” The Bible says love covers a multitude of sins. When it comes to dressing in style with Jesus the Beatles were right when they sang, “All you need is love.

Passing The Peace By Ruling Ourselves

If we would have peace in the church Be Ruled By The Peace Of Christ.

We read in verse 15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” The word “rule” means to serve as a judge or umpire. It means to overrule. In a court of law, an attorney may stand up and say, “Objection your honor!” If the judge decides the objection is out of order, he or she simply says, “Objection overruled!” (Which means, “Sit down and be quiet.”) That’s what the peace of Christ can do for you. When fear leaps to its feet and says, “Boo!” The peace of God immediately calls for order and says, “Boo overruled! Fear, sit down and be quiet!”

Objection overruled. I’m the judge and I have decided.

An umpire brings stability and peace and order to a game. “I’m out of order” peace disappears.

He brings order and stability.

The Umpire decides what is right.

It feels good to me! No but you are still out of order.

A troubled soul is a trouble maker.

A full bucket washes out and sloshes out on every body.

What’s in the bucket? Overflowing with love or overflowing with bitterness?

Peace in the heart means peace in the church. She’s got the peace but I got the pieces. False peace of Jonah fell asleep in the hold of the ship.

The wicked say peace peace when there is no peace for the unrighteous.

You cannot have peace unless you surrender to the Lord Jesus.

His Peace Must Rule Our Hearts

His Peace Must Rule Over Your Fears

Jesus promised us this inner peace when He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you

may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

We think of peace being the absence of stress—but the Bible teaches peace is the presence of God in the midst of your stress. This phrase “the peace of Christ” assures us we can have the same flesh-and-blood peace Jesus experienced. The believers in the book of Acts experienced this supernatural peace of Christ. It is the peace that caused Stephen’s face to shine like an angel as those jagged stones impacted his body. (Acts 7:60) This is the peace that enabled Peter to sleep soundly on the night before he was to have his head chopped off (Acts 12:6). It is the peace that inspired Paul and Silas to sing songs at midnight in the middle of a dungeon. (Acts 16:25) It is the peace that empowered the prisoner Paul to stand tall on a rolling deck of a ship caught in a violent storm for two weeks (Acts 27:35). This is the same peace that is available to you when you hear about the next terrorist attack. This is the same peace available to you when you get that scary diagnosis from the doctor. This is the same peace available to you when you feel all alone and afraid. Let the peace of Christ overrule your fears!

Acts 16 the Spirit of Jesus hindered them.

Sometimes the Umpire settles disputes in ways we don’t like.

He needs to settle the issue not what I think but what He thinks.

Isa peace like a river.

His Peace Must Run Our Your Thoughts

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)

Read God’s Word! Let it dwell at home in your life.

Some Doubt the word

Some Deny the word

Some Devalue the word … rarely reading it or living by it.

Some Depend by the word

Some Declare the Word

Some Devour the Word.

Bread milk food

Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Read meditate digest it

Josh 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Teach the word 2tim 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

We are like post offices the message comes to us and through us.

Convey the message.

Admonish encourage rebuke and reprove.

I.e. Warrior of Ethiopia chemist gaoled during communist Derg’s, found Bible hid and read it. Became a medical orderly and ministered to prisoners. Beaten often for being a Christian by the guards. Peace in midst of conflict.

His Peace Must Reign In Worship

Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

145 times commanded to sing to the Lord but all in the power of the the Spirit

Our Worship must be in Spirit

Our Worship must be substantial. Word based, doctrinal Christ honouring Worship in Spirit and Truth

Diversity Psalms to God hymns doctrinal songs about the Lord and spiritual songs everthing else.

1 Cor 14:26 How is it then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, [another]language, or an interpretation. All things must be done for edification.

Each one participating.

Focus giving thanks to the Lord, doing everything for the Lord.

We are not here for the rhythm song or sound of the music but to give glory to God.

Every song should give thanks to God.

Evangelise and Edify but all for An audience of one

Glory to God in the highest and then peace on earth.

Hunger

The Father seeks those to worship Him I (Jn 4)

There is a longing for God. Hunger for us to have a passion for someone greater than ourselves.

Community.

1741 Handel at end of rope strokes paralysed lost eyesight through cataracts and poor surgery severe arthritis, no longer popular in debt feared debtors prison loomed.

Charles Jennens, who organized the Scripture texts for Messiah, was a staunch Protestant

• He intended the Messiah text to challenge the deists, who denied Christ's divinity

• He had admired Handel's music for 15 years before Messiah (1741)

• He gave Handel the text for the oratorio ‘Saul’ (1739) and for Handel’s masterpiece ‘Belshazzar’ (1744)

• Music historians suspect that Jennens wrote the text for ‘Israel in Egypt’ (1738)

Inspired by the Word and admonished by a friend he wrote greatest classical piece the Messiah Wrote in 24 days the Messiah

1. His redemptive sacrifice, His agony at Calvary 2. His sacrificial death, resurrection & ascension

3. The beginning of evangelism 4. The world and its rulers reject the Gospel 5. God's triumph 1. Promise of bodily resurrection 2. The day of judgment and general resurrection

3. The victory over death and sin 4. The glorification of the Messiah

July 10, 1741: Charles Jennens wrote in a letter, "I hope I shall persuade Handel to set another Scripture collection I have made for him... I hope he will lay out his whole genius & skill upon it, that the composition may excel all his former compositions, because the Subject excels every other subject.

The Subject is Messiah."

• 22 August : Handel begins to compose Messiah

• 28 August : Completes draft of Messiah Part 1

• 6 September : Completes draft of Messiah Part 2

• 12 September : Completes draft of Messiah Part 3

• 14 September : Completes orchestration of Messiah

• Handel’s Messiah was composed in 24 days!

It was as if all heaven was open and I saw the Great God before me.

The hallelujah chorus King George stood before it in honour.

That’s worship isn’t it.

I’m not one for empty ritual.

Passing the peace? Well… but are you experiencing peace enjoying peace and being an agent of God’s peace?

Are you Passing The Peace By Bearing With one Another?

Are you Passing The Peace By Forgiving One Another?

Are you Passing The Peace By Loving One Another?

Are you Passing The Peace By Ruling Yourselves?

His Peace Must Rule Over Your Fears, Run your thoughts and Reign In your Worship.






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