These Boots Are Made For Walking

The reason you have peace is because you know that your king has already secured it, that Jesus has already won the battle, and he has given you this peace to bring into different environments. You don't have to be worried about what you say or what you do. It's the effort to carry that peace where you are going because your king has already won it. You're just sharing what your king's already done. You can walk in confidently because he has given you that peace. Now I I recognize, as I say all this, peace takes two people. It takes two parties. But the bible tells us as far as depends upon you, live at peace with all people, that you bring the peace, that you extend the peace. You create the environment of peace. And if they don't want it, that's their choice. [00:55:42] (45 seconds)  #PeaceFromTheKing

He knows that if he can get you focused on yourself, if he can get you disconnected from community, if he can get you looking to try and meet your own needs rather than trusting in God, that he can rob you of your effectiveness. And that's why one of the most enemy's most effective weapons when it comes to the church is disunity. That if he can get us frustrated with each other, we're gonna be more distracted whenever we are trying to grow and learn from God because we're focused on what somebody else is doing or doing wrong, and we'll miss out on the peace that God wants to give. He targets our peace first because I believe peace is the mission of the church. [00:36:06] (41 seconds)  #DefeatDisunity

There's probably a relationship or relationships in your life that are in your mind right now, but maybe there's a relationship that has had conflict for so long that you've just accepted that as normal, that you've justified not reaching out, not texting, not calling, not meeting up with that person to try and repair the gap. That is not just a relational problem. That's a spiritual one. And as long as you leave fracture in your relationships, you'll never experience all that God wants to give you. We must work to heal. Peace is not optional. It's how the unit holds together. It's how prayer is effective. Repair the gap. [00:47:56] (43 seconds)  #RepairTheGap

Because if he can create chaos and friction and frustration in your relationships, then it affects everything downstream in your life. And you know that that's true. Right? I mean, just this morning on the way to church, I'm sure there was some kind of frustration where we're not gonna get there on time. Where's the shoes that I laid out for you? Please put your pants on. We're gonna be late. And then somebody's getting a phone call, it's taking too long and you argue on the way to church and everybody's frustrated. You get out the car and you're like, oh, good morning, pastor. It's great to see you. Hallelujah. [00:45:58] (33 seconds)  #DownstreamFriction

So what he's saying is that when there's an unprepared, unrepaired relationship, it's a roadblock in your life. The Bible's making it even more clear that fractured relationship with people fractures your relationship with God, that you can't have a healthy, thriving relationship with God and not seek reconciliation and forgiveness with the other people in your life. It does not mean you don't have relationship with God because you didn't do anything to have relationship with God in the first place. Jesus paid for that on the cross. If you reach out in faith and ask Jesus to come into your life, you have a relationship with him and God. But if you live in bitterness and unforgiveness, then that relationship is limited. [00:44:46] (41 seconds)  #ReconcileToThrive

did a lot of googling grammar terms this week. And what I've discovered is that a plural imperative is something that is stated to the whole. So it's kinda like me saying, give me a two. I did not take take the time to be like, alright, Bob and Steve and Carol. Like, I didn't name everybody in the room. I just said, gave me a two. And you guys knew it was a assumed plural request. That's what's happening here as well, that he's not speaking to one person. When Paul says be strengthened by God, he is speaking not to an individual, but the whole. He's speaking to the entire church. This means that putting on the armor of God isn't something you do by yourself. [00:33:02] (35 seconds)  #StrengthenTogether

He's talking about bringing people together, and the people he's referencing are the Gentile people, non Jewish people, and Jewish people, and they were not friendly with each other. There was deep racism on both sides. They were practically enemies, and yet Paul is saying that if you are in Christ and you seek his peace, it will create unity. I mean, that's what the gospel is. Right? God creating unity between us and him, a perfect God reaching out to messy people and restoring them to himself, and then God goes further and takes those messy people who are divided from each other and makes us all one. [00:39:56] (35 seconds)  #GospelUnitesUs

the way that I had built it up for them didn't quite deliver. And while they like the existence of the power wheel in the garage, they don't enjoy driving it because it's so slow. So what they do is is they go in the garage and they sit in it and read books or play on their iPad. But it breaks my heart because the power wheel was not made to sit and decorate a garage. It was made to move. It was made to go out there and every other six year old be envious of the glories of the power wheel. Right? The thing was made made to move, but it just sits there and it accomplishes nothing. Peace was made to move. [00:53:30] (37 seconds)  #PeaceWasMadeToMove