The Power of Peacemaking: Your Role in God’s Kingdom

Good morning, friends! Today, I want to dive deep into the transformative power of peacemaking and explore what it means to truly bring the order of Heaven into our lives and relationships. We live in a world that desperately needs peace, and being a peacemaker is not about avoiding conflict; rather, it is about restoring what is broken and bringing wholeness to all things.

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The Call for a Great Awakening

As we begin this journey, I want to emphasize that we are in a moment that calls for a Great Awakening. The world is filled with chaos and unrest, and as believers, we have a significant role to play in bringing about the peace that God desires. When we speak of peace, we are not referring to a mere absence of conflict, but rather to a state where all things are made whole and complete in Christ.

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Sometimes, the absence of conflict can mask deeper issues. For instance, in relationships, if there is silence and avoidance, it may indicate a lack of connection rather than peace. True peace comes from engaging with one another, working through conflicts, and ultimately restoring harmony.

Understanding Life Springs Church

Now, I want to take a moment to reflect on our community here at Life Springs Church. The name “Life Springs” is derived from the words of Jesus, who said, “Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water.” This imagery speaks to the power of the Holy Spirit flowing from our lives as believers. It is a beautiful reminder that we are called to be vessels of God’s life and peace in the world.

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This river of life symbolizes the healing and restoration that can take place wherever it flows. The leaves of the trees along this river are for the healing of the nations—this is not just about the future, but about what we can experience and participate in today. We must ask ourselves: Do we truly believe in the power of this river? Do we expect to see its effects in our lives and in the world around us?

Faith and Expectation

One of the biggest challenges we face is maintaining a faith that believes in the possibility of change. So often, we wrestle with feelings of insignificance and low expectations. We may think, “What can I do? I’m just one person.” But Scripture tells us that we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Each of us has a role in bringing about God’s Kingdom.

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Take a moment to reflect on the ministry of the Apostle Paul. His missionary journeys illustrate the rivers of Living Water at work throughout history. Paul was not just sharing information; he was operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, transforming lives and communities. This power is available to us as well, but we must be willing to engage with it.

The Importance of Groaning in Prayer

Another crucial aspect of peacemaking is understanding the power of prayer, specifically the groanings that come from deep within us. When we look at the world and see injustices, pain, and suffering, it should move us to prayer—deep, heartfelt prayer. Jesus Himself groaned in His spirit when He encountered the brokenness of humanity.

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As Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” These groanings are a powerful expression of our longing for God’s intervention. We must allow our hearts to be moved by the pain we see around us and let that motivate us to seek God’s power for change.

The Law of Mourning and Interconnectedness

In our journey toward becoming peacemakers, we must also grapple with the concept of mourning. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Mourning is not just about grief; it’s about recognizing the brokenness in our world and allowing it to impact us deeply. This mourning connects us to the heart of God and opens us up to His comfort and healing.

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Additionally, we must understand the law of interconnectedness. Our lives are intertwined with one another, and our actions have ripple effects. When we pursue peace, we must keep in mind that our relationships, our community, and our world are all connected. This perspective calls us to act with love and compassion, especially towards those who may be different from us.

Characteristics of Holiness

As we explore holiness, we must remember that it is not about rigid rules but about living in a way that reflects God’s character. Holiness involves loving our neighbors, treating others with respect, and standing up for justice. It requires us to be different from the world, to embrace nonconformity, and to be agents of change.

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Rabbi Sacks reminds us that holiness is about loving the stranger, being honest in our dealings, and creating a society that reflects God’s values. This is a tall order, but it is the call of every believer. We cannot be complacent in the face of injustice; we must actively seek to embody the love and grace of Christ in every situation.

Embracing Nonconformity

One of the most challenging aspects of being a peacemaker is embracing nonconformity. In a world that often values conformity and compliance, we are called to stand out as followers of Christ. This means loving those who hate us, blessing those who curse us, and doing good to those who do evil to us. It is a radical call to love that goes against our natural inclinations.

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As we reflect on the life of Martin Luther King Jr., we see a powerful example of someone who embraced this call to nonconformity. He challenged the status quo and worked tirelessly for justice and equality. His vision was rooted in love, and he showed us that true peacemaking requires courage, humility, and a willingness to confront injustice.

The Essence of Forgiving Love

At the heart of peacemaking is the essence of forgiving love. Forgiveness is not just a one-time act; it is a lifestyle. It requires us to let go of bitterness and resentment and to extend grace to those who have wronged us. This is the kind of love that reflects the heart of God and draws others into His Kingdom.

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As we navigate our relationships, we must ask ourselves: Are we willing to forgive? Are we willing to love those who may not deserve it? This is the challenge of faith, and it is what sets us apart as children of God.

The Beauty and Importance of Holiness

Finally, we must recognize the beauty and importance of holiness in our lives. Holiness is not just about rules; it is about living in a way that reflects God’s character and love. When we embrace holiness, we become vessels of His peace and grace in the world.

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As we strive to live out our faith, let us remember that we are called to be peacemakers. We have the opportunity to bring the order of Heaven into our relationships and communities. By tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be agents of change and transformation in a broken world.

Conclusion: The Great Awakening Awaits

In conclusion, I believe that a Great Awakening is dawning in America, and it begins with us. We have the power to bring healing, restoration, and peace to our world. Let us be people who embrace our role as peacemakers, who seek the heart of God, and who actively participate in the work of His Kingdom.

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May we all strive to live out the Beatitudes, to be blessed in our mourning, and to be called sons and daughters of God as we pursue peace in every aspect of our lives. Amen.

A Move of the Kingdom of God is Dawning in America, Pt. 3

(Preaching Outline)

1)      It is time for a Great Awakening – the church empowered to bring peace!

a)      Rivers of living water – Life Springs Church

b)      Paul’s Ministry

c)      A move of the kingdom of God is dawning in America – when we are no longer complacent about the brokenness of the world and tap into the power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit.

2)      The model for a move of God.

a)      The dawn of the Kingdom of God in the gospels:

i)        A world being healed

ii)      Beatitudes – The laws governing walking in the Kingdom of God

3)      Blessed are the peacemakers – sons of God (9) – Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (8)

a)      Integrating the law – Jesus and adultery – hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

b)      Paul – turned the world upside down with a vision of God’s Kingdom and Kingdom People – Hebrews 12:14–15 (NKJV) — 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

4)      What does holiness look like?

a)      Internalizing God’s Word

b)      To be holy is to love your neighbour and to love the stranger. It means not stealing, lying, or deceiving others. It means not standing idly by when someone else’s life is in danger. It means not cursing the deaf or putting a stumbling block before the blind, that is, insulting or taking advantage of others even when they are completely unaware of it – because God is not unaware of it.[1]

c)      It means being honest in business, doing justice, treating your employees well, and sharing your blessings (in those days, parts of the harvest) with others. It means not hating people, not bearing a grudge, or taking revenge. If someone has done you wrong, don’t hate them. Remonstrate with them. Let them know what they have done and how it has hurt you, give them a chance to apologise and make amends, and then forgive them. Above all, “be holy” means: Have the courage to be different.[2]

d)      Forgiveness is about restored relationships – peacemakers

5)      The inspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr. for becoming peacemakers in our generation.

a)      He tapped into the heartbeat of what people were discontent about and used that as a vehicle to enculture biblical values and further the kingdom of God.

i)        Nonconformity is creative when it is controlled and directed by a transformed life and is constructive when it embraces a new mental outlook. By opening our lives to God in Christ we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists and freed from the coldhardheartedness and self-righteousness so often characteristic of nonconformity.[3]

ii)      We are potential sons of God. Through love that potentiality becomes actuality. We must love our enemies, because only by loving them can we know God and experience the beauty of his holiness. The relevance of what I have said to the crisis in race relations should be readily apparent. There will be no permanent solution to the race problem until oppressed men develop the capacity to love their enemies. The darkness of racial injustice will be dispelled only by the light of forgiving love. |For more than three centuries American Negroes have been battered by the iron rod of oppression, frustrated by day and bewildered by night by unbearable injustice, and burdened with the ugly weight of discrimination. Forced to live with these shameful conditions, we are tempted to become bitter and to retaliate with a corresponding hate. But if this happens, the new order we seek will be little more than a duplicate of the old order. We must in strength and humility meet hate with love.[4]

b)      We need to find the cultural wave to drive the gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom of God: I’ve been wrestling with where that touching point is in our culture today:

i)        Loneliness & Isolation

ii)      A loss of hope for the future

iii)    Heath issues

iv)    Economic issues

v)      Anger, hatred, resentment, bitterness

vi)    Fear & Blame

c)      Let’s look at some of the ways King called the church to embrace the move of God in his day:

d)      But if the church will free itself from the shackles of a deadening status quo, and, recovering its great historic mission, will speak and act fearlessly and insistently in terms of justice and peace, it will enkindle the imagination of mankind and fire the souls of men, imbuing them with a glowing and ardent love for truth, justice, and peace. Men far and near will know the church as a great fellowship of love that provides light and bread for lonely travelers at midnight.[5]

i)        Being a part of creating a better world.

ii)      Why these types of messages are often hard for people to listen to?

iii)    1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV) — 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

iv)    1 John 5:4–5 (NKJV) — 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

e)      In spite of the noble affirmations of Christianity, the church has often lagged in its concern for social justice and too often has been content to mouth pious irrelevances and sanctimonious trivialities. It has often been so absorbed in a future good “over yonder” that it forgets the present evils “down here.” Yet the church is challenged to make the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant within the social situation. We must come to see that the Christian gospel is a two-way road. On the one side, it seeks to change the souls of men and thereby unite them with God; on the other, it seeks to change the environmental conditions of men so that the soul will have a chance after it is changed. Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and yet is not concerned with the economic and social conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is the kind the Marxist describes as “an opiate of the people.”[6]

6)      The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.[7] (Blessed are the peacemakers)

a)      Exodus 6:9 (NKJV) — 9 So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.

b)      They did not listen “because their spirit was broken and because the labour was harsh.” In other words: If you want to improve people’s spiritual situation, first improve their physical situation. That is one of the most humanising aspects of Judaism. Maimonides emphasises this in The Guide for the Perplexed. The Torah, he says, has two aims: the well-being of the soul and the well-being of the body. The well-being of the soul is something inward and spiritual, but the well-being of the body requires a strong society and economy, where there is the rule of law, division of labour, and the promotion of trade. We have bodily well-being when all our physical needs are supplied, but none of us can do this on his own. We specialise and exchange. That is why we need a good, strong, just society.[8]

c)      What was unique about the society envisaged by the Torah is that every individual mattered. Justice was to be paramount. The rich could not buy special treatment and the poor were not left destitute. When it came to communal celebrations, everyone – especially the orphan, the widow, the stranger – was to be included.[9]

d)      THIS WAS THE BIRTH OF AMERICA

i)        Societal freedom cannot be sustained by market economics and liberal democratic politics alone. It needs a third element: morality, a concern for the welfare of others, an active commitment to justice and compassion, a willingness to ask not just what is good for me but what is good for “all of us together.” It is about “Us,” not “Me”; about “We,” not “I.”[10]

ii)      Market economics and liberal politics will fail if they are not undergirded by a moral sense that puts our shared humanity first. Economic inequalities will grow. Politics will continue to disappoint our expectations. There will be a rising tide of anger and resentment, and that, historically, is a danger signal for the future of freedom.[11]

7)      Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. (7)

a)      Ancient Greece, like Japan, was a shame culture. Judaism and the religions influenced by it (most obviously, Calvinism) were guilt cultures. The differences between them are substantial. In shame cultures, what matters is the judgment of others. Acting morally means conforming to public roles, rules, and expectations. You do what other people expect you to do. You follow society’s conventions. If you fail to do so, society punishes you by subjecting you to shame, ridicule, disapproval, humiliation, and ostracism. In guilt cultures what matters is not what other people think but what the voice of conscience tells you. Living morally means acting in accordance with internalised moral imperatives: “You shall” and “You shall not.” What matters is what you know to be right and wrong. People in shame cultures are other-directed. They care about how they appear in the eyes of others, or as we would say today, about their “image.” People in guilt cultures are inner-directed. They care about what they know about themselves in moments of absolute honesty. Even if your public image is undamaged, if you know you have done wrong, it will make you feel uneasy. You will wake up at night, troubled. “O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!” says Shakespeare’s Richard III. “My conscience hath a thousand several tongues / And every tongue brings in a several tale /And every tale condemns me for a villain.”4 Shame is public humiliation. Guilt is inner torment.[12]

b)      We can be right and still so wrong: Cancel culture, DEI and affirmative action culture.

c)      So different than a color blind society that judges people on the content of their character.

8)      Do not be conformed to this world

a)      Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV) — 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

b)      This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. Our planet teeters on the brink of atomic annihilation; dangerous passions of pride, hatred, and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; truth lies prostrate on the rugged hills of nameless calvaries; and men do reverence before false gods of nationalism and materialism. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.[13]

9)      Build on the rock

a)      Matthew 7:24–27 (NKJV) — 24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”