peacemakers

"blessed are the peacemakers for they wil be called sons (children) of god." - matthew 5:9

dictionary definition of peace: 1. freedom from war; 2. a cessation or absence of hostilities between nations, freedom from dissension; 3. freedome from civil commotion; 4. freedom from anxiety, annoyance, or other mental disturbance: peace of mind; 5. a state of tranquility, serenity; 6. silence, stillness; 7. an agreement or treaty that ends a war or hostilities.

peace: is it in this world?

• what is happening in our world?
  -israel backed by america fights palestine which is backed by the arab nations
• what is happening in our community?
  -bank robberies, shooting in tacoma of a ft. lewis soldier who was trying to stop a fight, an off duty police officer shoots twi in a truck, an armed robbery of jewlery store
• what is happening in our schools?
  -mary kay latourneau, girls in canada tease a girl so much that she committs suicide, a boy in kirkland beaten with his own crutch
• what is happening in our homes?
• what is happening within my circle of friends?

peace: why seek it?

matthew 5:44-45 "but i tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; that you may be sons of your father in heaven. he causes his sun to rise on evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

luke 6:35-36 "but love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. be merciful, just as your father is merciful."

-why seek it? because christ tells us to...

peace: is it attainable?

romans 8:14-15 "because those who are led by the spirit of god are sons of god. for you did not recieve a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship."

is peace attainable?

make a list of people who make life unpeaceful for you. when you look at this list, you think that there is no way because it is too hard. these people are so mean they are too hard to love.

you know, you're right, they are hard to love, and it would be impossible for you or I to love them, forigive them on our own. but let's take a look at romans 8:14 and 8:6-8 again. what does that verse say? romans 8:14-15 "because those who are led by the spirit of god are sons of god. for you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship."

romans 8:6-8 "the mind of a sinful man is death; but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to god. it does not submit to god's law nor can it do so. those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please god."

these two sections tell me, that the only way we can truly be peacemakers, is when we totally let the spirit of god lead us. as long as we try to control the situation, do it ourselves, we fall into our sinful human nature

the benefits of letting god's spirit be in control is: full adoption into god's family, that means all the privileges of being a child of god's. to be loved, to have life eternal, to have peace.

god has blessed me beyond what i could have imagined my life could be when i think about where i was a year ago today.

1. single
2. did not like my boss because of an unresolved disagreement.
3. mad that i let myself get hurt so much by a broken relationship, i had not fully resolved some of the anger i had towards kent.

but god had something else in mind:
in may of last year, reconciliation messages each sunday in service, my QT's were about forgiveness and letting go of anger, my bible studies had messages about forgiveness. the word reconcile means to be "friends again." about this time, kent, my old boyfriend, started calling me and wanting to be friends. he was up in alaska and was getting ready to movein a few months to utah. he asked me if i was interested to see alaska by helping him drive back down.

can you see the timing of this?
god was challenging me and had i truly forgiven this man? if yes, then as a friend, could i help a friend out in his need? i put up all kinds of arguments, and each one of them god knocked down. finally, i had no more reasons not to go, so i told kent yes.

on that trip, all 2600 miles of it, what it did was give us a chance to air some things that had been smoldering, to ask for forgiveness, and to pray together. at the end of the trip i felt finally at peace. but god had something else in mind. kent continued to call, and in time, asked if we could spend more time together to see if this friendship could possibly lead to marriage. i knew that this was only by god's spirit, given all the history between us. i told him okay, but we agreed that the pace and direction of this relationship would be led by god.

i am happy to report that god has been very good to us. he has allowed us to get to know each more, to come to care for each other more, so much so that in a few months, i will become mrs. kent wong.

so in conclusion what i'm telling you is:

1. that nothing is impossible when we place ourselves under the spirit of god.
2. that when uyou think about name association, i hope that when people think of each of us, your peers, family, will think, "now that person is a peacemaker, a child of god."
   
   
   -carol [guest speaker]