Student Message on 12/3/06 Dan Johnson - Peace (Come out to Dude Love’s music carrying a poster board with hippie message on it.) Let’s look back at our base verse Galatians 5:22-23. (Slide 1) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, PEACE, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Slide 2) I think it is safe to say that the concept of peace has been twisted and perverted over the years. Before I go any further, I want to ask you what you think peace is. (Open) The fruit of the spirit is a lifestyle. But certainly wearing tie-dye, growing long hair, and holding a protest sign is not living a lifestyle of peace. (Take off ridiculous get up). It’s none of that. The King James Version of the Bible mentions peace 400 times making it the most mentioned fruit in the King James Version. So it must be important to be mentioned that many times. Now peace can be taken many different ways. There is peace in the sense that there is no war or conflict. (Slide 3) There is peace in the sense of stillness and quietness, i.e. peace and quiet. (Slide 4) Then there is peace in the sense of being free of trouble, distraction, or worry. (Slide 5) I choose this picture of Brooke Blythe to illustrate peace of God. We all love Brooke, we love seeing her at the Edi Phi parties and sometimes on Sundays and Wednesdays. But look beyond, that. She is 5/6 years old. She has a great life. She has a nice home, toys, a mom and a dad who love her and they love Jesus and they share that love of Jesus with her on a daily basis. She doesn’t have to worry bout paying bills, taxes, or any other things we as adults do. Why doesn’t she worry? Because Daddy will take care of it. If you have your Bibles turn to Mark 10:13 – 16. I am sure many of you have heard this story before. You can follow along on the screen if you don’t have your Bibles. (Slide 6) “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” Now, how do we receive the kingdom of God as little children? It may seem hard to many, but we just need to have that peace of mind that God has everything taken care of. Not being worried or distracted about the cares of life. Just know that God or Daddy has everything taken care of. That we can come home each day and know we have a family to go to. That we can sleep at night without having to worry about anyone or anything being out to get us. Turn your Bibles now to Psalms 3: 5 – 6. In this passage, King David has been overthrown by his son Absalom and is being pursued by him. (Slide 7) “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.” Now if there was anyone who would not be at peace, it would be David at this moment in his life. He had committed his sin with Bathsheba, got her pregnant, tried to cover it up, had her husband killed to further cover it up, the baby died, his daughter got raped by her half brother, that brother killed by his other son Absalom, and now Absalom is taking over his kingdom. Sounds like a really messed up situation. Who could sleep with all that on their mind? Somehow, David did. Despite his blunder and the consequences there of, he still had the peace of God, and he was a man after God’s heart and knew that He would take care of everything. Now there is not some peace of God switch you can just flip and say “Yay, I got the peace of God”. No, it is not like that. The peace of God comes by faith, and faith comes by believing. Believing that God loves you and cares for you just like a father should. That though you will encounter difficult times and many trials, God will pull you through. That’s the peace of God. Pastor David talked on Wednesday about making wise decisions. He also made the point about seeking wise counsel. Peace of God can be attained by seeking wise counsel. Open up to Judges 18: 1 – 6. (Slides 8 and 9) “In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, "Go, explore the land." The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. When they were near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?" He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, "He has hired me and I am his priest." Then they said to him, "Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful." The priest answered them, "Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord's approval." Isn’t it comforting to have that peace knowing that God’s approval is stamped on you and what you are doing? Isn’t it great when everything comes together? I am at a point right now where I am making changes. I am transferring from Grand Canyon University to American Indian College, I am going to stop working at Eatza Pizza and will be working at the college, and I will be also be moving out of my mom’s to live on campus. It may seem like a lot, but I have had the peace of God throughout this whole process. So I know I am making the right decision. In closing, peace is not what you wear or not getting into fights. It is living out your faith that God is your Dad and He will never leave you nor forsake you. That is all I got for you today.