Peace, Love, and Gratitude

Listen to the podcast to hear the sermon.

Peace, love, and gratitude isn’t always the feeling that people get when they walk into a church or even think about their experiences in church. Hurt people, hurt people and just like the rest of the world, the church has hurt people.

The Church doesn’t hurt people. Hurt people, hurt people.

The Church should be a safe place, but it’s made up of imperfect people. Don’t blame their mistakes or bad judgment on the Jesus who went to the cross for you. We react to what’s been done to us in the past.

When hurt happens, we lose our ability to trust. We get defensive and combative. As groups get more disgruntled, it’s harder to see the peace and love of Christ.

The measure of peace of Christ in our hearts is relative to the measure of the Word of God that we live by. The Biblical mandate is that we love everyone. But, the problem is that we too often want peace on our own terms.

Just because I’m at peace with my decision doesn’t mean it’s right or that it is in line with God’s will. If I’m at peace with my decision, it doesn’t mean that’s the way God sees it.

One man’s peace is another man’s drama.

Let’s see what Paul has to say about this:

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:15-17

We are different in our personalities and convictions. We don’t always see things the same. This causes disharmony. Some feel tension where others don’t.

So, we need to give it to God. We look to his Word to see what he says about peace. In verse 15, we see that we are one body called to peace. We help each other and use the Bible as our guide so that we don’t fall away from what God wants for us.

Let the peace of God that is within you guide arbitration.

As God’s people, we should let Him make the decision. Division amongst us make the gospel less effective. Stand as one body.

How can we fix this division amongst the people of God?

• Be Thankful. Gratitude prevents us from taking the gospel for granted. If we’re not grateful, everything we do for others seems too much — more than anything anyone has done for us.
• Be in the Word daily. Let the message of Christ dwell in you richly. This is something that was never a daily or, sad to say, even a weekly ritual. A friend once encouraged me to make it a priority and when I was able to do that, my days don’t seem the same if I miss it.
• Be able to recognize fakers. If we have God’s Word written on our hearts, we’re more likely to recognize false teachers.
• Be anchored in the Word. Protection from theological error keeps us from being led astray. We can only recognize errors in someone’s leading if we know what the Bible says.
• What fuels us is what we serve. Do we listen to conspiracy theories, lies, hate?

Paul encourages the Colossians to use God’s word to teach and admonish one another and to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Okay, this one hits home for me. As the one who puts together our set lists for our services, there is a certain feeling of responsibility that goes along with it. That’s why I try not to sing only the songs I like and to include both hymns and some newer songs. My choices aren’t perfect, I know, because sometimes I feel God urging me to change a song out. A song that moves me may not necessarily move everyone else and visa versa.

People often come to church with their hands up, like a boxer, to protect themselves. (Not literally, but to protect from what judgment they may fear they will encounter. To begin our service we do something kind of up beat that cam begin to lower their defenses. Prayers, songs, and reading the Word bring the hands down and now they can feel more at peace. It becomes possible to worship God with a joy that might not have been felt earlier. We worship at the hands and feet of Jesus. Sometimes when I may not have felt particularly moved, I’ve had several people tell me later that they cried during the entire worship set. We don’t always see by the way someone responds to the music, reading or sermon what they got out of the service. But, we can trust God to lead us in a way that will reach those who are willing to let God move in their hearts.

Worship works in 3 directions:

• Inwardly as we feel God’s love and our love for him
• Upward when we focus on God. I think of this as songs that we area singing to him.
• Outwardly as we reach out to others in true friendship. Be quick to forgive and to give grace. Refuse to give up on people and help work toward their restoration which is what God would want us to do.

Colossians has been a great study as we’re looking at the way Paul felt about the church and people there. One chapter to go!

In Faith,

Pam