Lawson Road CoC Teaching
Prayer Service 7/14/2024
each week. But I hope it's a day that we find meaningful. And I want to remind us that it's not just a service of prayer, it's a day of prayer. And so if you haven't yet signed up for a prayer time slot downstairs, there is still some there. And there's a second column that you can, if your time is taken, you can just put your name on the second column and that's an option as well. I will have the prayer guide set out just on the cabinet down there. And the first line is a reminder of what you can of your time. And so you might not want to just write that down. So our theme for this prayer service is peace. And I appreciate Curtis's prayer for our nation. This was put together before the events of last night. And so there is another thing there specifically addressing that that we have scheduled. But what I would like us to think about is sometimes we see headlines or on the world stage, on the national stage. And we tend to want to pray for peace at that level because we see that trouble out there. And the way that we have structured this, this prayer service, I think speaks to that. And so we start with inner peace. And you'll see the, see it up on the screen there. We start with inner peace because peace begins with the individual. We don't make changes on a global or national level without individuals first pursuing peace in our lives. And then we'll have a prayer for peace in our families, peace in our church, in our community, in the world, and then finally around the Lord's table with God. And so we move out from the individual and we keep getting bigger. And that's intentional in design because that's how change happens. It starts with individuals and it grows from there. I'm going to read from Psalm 4 in just a moment. But in John chapter 14, as Jesus was having his final discussion with his apostles, he says to them, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them and will come to them and make their home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching." These words you hear and not my own, they belong to the Father who sent me. Sorry, I think I have the wrong word. We'll keep going. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I said to you. Peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. I think peace is sometimes one of those things that we overlook in terms of the great doctrines of our faith. Perhaps we look at it as almost like a, I don't know, a side effect. The peace is a side effect. If we do everything else right, we'll receive peace. But here as Jesus is getting ready to leave, he promises his disciples' peace. This is what I'm going to give you. He says it is a different piece. It's not the peace the world gives. And I think part of what that means is that the word, the Hebrew word for peace is shalom. I think these days it's used as, you know, a greeting, kind of like Australians or say g'day. They don't really mean have a good day. They just mean hello, but they say g'day. So what they say and what they're meaning isn't the same. And I think these days shalom as a greeting is just that. It's a greeting. It's a way of saying hello. But in the Bible shalom, the word for peace is really it has this image that goes with it of restoring Eden, of putting the world back the way God wants it to be, of having God's peace. It's a more active word. We tend to use peace simply as the absence of conflict. And I believe as Christians when we talk about peace, we're not just talking about the absence of conflict. We're talking about the presence of something, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the presence of God, the presence of forgiveness, but also our presence in the world and in the community that we make a difference. And that peace is something that we take with us where we go to be peace makers, to be agents of shalom. And so as we go through, I hope that you'll not just think of this as something peace, as something that drops down from heaven and removes all conflict, but it's something that God is working in us to give us peace, to take peace with us. Psalm chapter four. Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God, give me relief from my distress, have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. How long will your people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself, the Lord hears when I call to him. Tremble and do not sin. When you are on your bed, search your hearts and be silent. Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. Many Lord are asking, who will bring us prosperity? Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when they grain a new wine abound. In peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. One of the things I like about this Psalm is that it begins, it has various statements of faith and confidence in God, but it begins by saying, give me relief from my distress. This isn't somebody whose life is already calm and everything is going well, it's somebody who is in a difficult situation. But at the end of it, having spent time with God, they are able to say, in peace I will lie down and sleep. I think we have all at different times lost sleep because of a lack of peace in our life, right? Because of the presence of worry, of conflict, of just urgency, of being overwhelmed by the demands of life. And in contrast to that, this image from thousands of years ago in peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, we come to you today and Lord you know the things that are creating turmoil in our hearts. You know the thoughts we have, the distractions that we face, the list of to-dos that are on our minds, we have guilt and shame perhaps over things that we've done or said recently or in the past. Father there are so many ways that Satan works within us to remove our peace, to remove our confidence in you. And so Father today as we come to you, we ask that your Holy Spirit will be present in our lives in a way that we are aware of, that we will feel your presence, that we will feel your peace, and that we will indeed be able to lay on our beds in peace, to rest in comfort knowing that you, we can rely on you for all of our needs, for all of our protection. Father we thank you that you care enough from your throne in Heaven to be concerned about how we sleep at night. And Father we thank you for the peace that you give all of us, not the peace that the world gives, but a peace that can only come from you. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. So this is going to be the format throughout. It will be a reading, some comments. I got some extra comments to introduce today. Reading comments and a prayer. Reading comments, prayer, and then in most cases a song. So we can go to that now. Thanks. You are holy. You are mighty. You are worthy. Worthy of praise. I will love you. I will listen. I will love you. All of my days. I will sing to and worship the King who is worthy. I will love him adore him. I will bow down before him. I will sing to and worship the King who is worthy. I will love him adore him. I will bow down before him. You are my prince of peace. And I will live my life for you. You are holy. You are mighty. You are worthy. Worthy of praise. And I will follow. I will listen. I will love you. All of my days. And I will sing to and worship the King who is worthy. I will love him adore him. I will bow down before him. I will sing and worship the King who is worthy. I will love him adore him. I will bow down before him. You are my prince of peace. And I will live my life for you. You are my prince of peace. And I will live my life for you. Peace in our families will read for Proverbs 18, 14 through 24. The human spirit can endure in sickness but a crushed spirit who can bear. The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge for the ears of the wise they seek it out. A gift opens the way. It ushers the giver into the presence of the great. In a lawsuit, the first to speak seems right until someone comes forward and then cross examines. Casting the lot settles disputes, it keeps the strong opponents apart. Our brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city. Disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel. From the fruit of their mouth, a person's stomach is filled. And with the harvest of their lips, they are satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death. Those who love it will eat its fruit. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and receives favor from the Lord. The poor plead for mercy but the rich, they answer harshly. One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin. But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Many wise words in these verses from Proverbs. I'll draw our attention to some of those that mentioned regarding family relationships. It talks about a brother who was wrong, talks about the tongue and his power. It talks about finding a wife who is a good thing. You receive favor from the Lord. It also talks about the fact that you may have unreliable friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. In the family relationship, most often those things that separate or influence in a negative way have their beginning with the tongue or the mouth. And yet, the tongue that also may cause division is also the one that will say, "I love you. Encourage a child. Give a compliment to a wife or a husband. Encourage and strengthen in moments of difficulty. Do all the good things that make a difference in a person's life." So when I pray this morning for our families, I'm going to make mention to God to guide us and our teaching and our instruction to help us to discern what is a good thing to say and to catch ourselves when we know that our emotions are going to give something that we can never take back and wish we had never spoken. And so doing as well, you might recall even moments in your own lives when you "made that mistake" or you've done the right thing. And then we'll continue to ask God to bless us all in a direction that leads us not only closer to Him, but to one another as well. Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Thy holy and adorable name. So thankful, Almighty Father, again, that we approach the throne. We thank You, Father, for our families. By Your design, by Your providence and guidance, You've brought us all together. Individually, we've been in homes that have cared and guided, Father. Thank You. We've been given wonderful examples in our life journey of what it means to be a good husband, a good wife, a good father, a good mother, a good brother, a good sister. Thank You, Father, for each of these. We're mindful of this moment, Almighty Father, as we approach You, to guide and direct our young families here. Be with them, Father, please, in the beginning of their journey. Guide their conduct and their speech. Help them to give words of strength and encouragement. When they embrace each other, help them to enter words into the embrace that defines the feelings as well as the understanding of what it means to love and to be loved. For the young children, Father, guide them as well. In the moments that they ask and question, guide these parents, Father, in a way to give good answers. Help them to and strengthen and encourage in every way as they teach them to thank You. You're welcome. I love you. What do we do now? All the things that young children often ask regarding and try to understand their purpose. Be with them. We also ask, Almighty Father, at this time, that You might be with those whose family members are having a difficult time in their lives' journey. There may be events and occasions that have been neglected and that has been hurtful. There may be moments and heated arguments where things were said that have kept folks apart for a long time. Help them to heal, Father, please. And, yes, dear Lord, we understand that even in life's journey, it is sometimes difficult to admit that we've been wrong and to take wrong for right to go ahead and be scorned but to also be recognized in the importance of healing in every situation. Please help in these matters as well. And, Almighty Father, we'd ask at this hour also that Your peace not only enters in our homes in a special way but also exhibits and demonstrates itself whenever any member of our family interacts with others. Let Your Word dwell in us in such a way that by providence and guidance, young people, old people, middle aged, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, daughters, sons, sisters, and brothers. Let us always, Father, please exhibit our faith and demonstrate what it means to be a part of Your Son's kingdom. And, yes, Lord, in our continued walk, strengthen us in this faith and the things that are brought about by our belief with the peace, rain, and homes throughout the world. Thank You, Father. We're so grateful for all the love that's been given to us and shown to us in our homes. Continue, please, to direct us in that way. It's in Jesus' name we homily pray. Amen. ♪ Father, let Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Father, let Your will be done ♪ ♪ Father, let Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Father, let Your will be done ♪ ♪ And, yes, Lord, this day, our daily prayer forgive us, forgive us, as we forget the ones who stood against us, forgive them ♪ ♪ And lead us to temptation but deliver us from evil one ♪ ♪ Father, let Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Father, let Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Give us this day our daily prayer forgive us, forgive us, as we forgive the ones who stood against us, forgive them ♪ ♪ And lead us to temptation but deliver us from evil one ♪ ♪ That Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ It's just, it's just, oh, yes, oh, yes ♪ ♪ The kingdom, the power, the glory are yours ♪ ♪ It's just, it's just, oh, yes, oh, yes ♪ ♪ Forever and ever, the kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ It's just, it's just, oh, yes, oh, yes ♪ ♪ The kingdom, the power, the glory are yours ♪ ♪ It's just, it's just, oh, yes, oh, yes ♪ ♪ Forever and ever, the kingdom is yours ♪ ♪ Father, let Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Father, let Your will be done ♪ ♪ On earth as in heaven, right here in my heart ♪ ♪ Father, let Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Father, let Your will be done ♪ ♪ On earth as in heaven, right here in my heart ♪ ♪ On earth as in heaven, right here in my heart ♪ ♪ I think that that idea of Father, let Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Let Your will be done on earth as in heaven ♪ ♪ It is very much the idea that sort of begins, right here, you know, right here, you know? ♪ ♪ Yeah, before we get into the next reading, let's take this time together ♪ ♪ I'm going to share up the prayer cards that you may have filled out already ♪ ♪ So that they can be acknowledged and prayed over at the end of our service ♪ ♪ If you don't have it filled out, I'm sure there'll be an opportunity later on also ♪ Let me begin with a reading of Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 through 17. "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievous against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace, and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And 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. The reason I think that we need to pray for peace in the church is because quite simply peace is so scarce anywhere else. This reading begins by calling us God's chosen people. The fact that we have been chosen makes us unique. It makes us distinct. It makes us different from other people. I think one of the things that we need to keep in mind is we work together in the church, and that is this. If there is not peace in the church, then we're no different than a lot of other institutions, a lot of other dog eat dog every man for himself institutions that we find all around us. And also I would say it's been my experience when there is no peace in the church. The church spends all of its resources dealing with its own petty bickerings and unresolved conflicts and loses the outward looking focus that God expects us to have. As I thought about this passage yesterday in some depth, I realized something that I never realized before. God has a dress code for his people, a very particular, very stringent dress code, and he wants us to wear the same thing every day. He said, "Close yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and peace." That ought to be the focus or a wardrobe. These characteristics are traveling companions of peace. And in fact, as we exhibit kindness, humility, gentleness, these are peace offerings to everyone that we encounter. These words are telling us that I accept you. I acknowledge that you're important. I acknowledge that your experience in your Christian journey is every bit as meaningful and relevant as mine. And as we put on all of these things, just like we select our own wardrobe, we select these characteristics for our lives. And when we do these things, we're not quite completely dressed yet, because verse 14 says, "Over all of these virtues put on love." Love is the crowning article in our wardrobe. Love is the thing that sets us off, that makes the wardrobe that we wear look outstanding. And if we wear all of these things, we won't have to worry about taking a second glance in the mirror. God is telling us, "You look fantastic." Then He goes on to say, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." Jesus had a lot to say about the human heart. While the people that He rub shoulders with on a daily basis often talked about what people do. Jesus talked about what was in their hearts, because He knew and He understood that whatever was going on in your heart would eventually bubble out into your thoughts and your words and your actions. And so He said, "At the center of your heart, let the peace of Christ rule." And if the peace of Christ rules in your heart, then all of these characteristics will come bubbling out of you and will become obvious and apparent. And we will be the distinct and unique people that God intends us to be. Let's pray for peace in the church. Our Father in Heaven, we are so thankful that you have chosen us. We thank you that we can work in your vineyard. It is a privilege, and we pray that we will never allow it to become a chore. We thank you that you have chosen the church to be the light that shines out to the rest of the world. And please forgive us when we don't let that light shine properly. We thank you that we can, through the church, know one another. We thank you that we have come to love and respect one another. We pray that that might continue. And we know that the church is bigger than just what goes on at Lawson Road. That we have many of your servants that we don't even know, who are working hard every day, some of them risking their very lives, in order to bring the gospel to a lost and dying world. We pray Father that as we work together that we will exhibit these characteristics that we have read about, that we will be humble, that we will be compassionate, that we will be very forgiving, and that we will all love one another. We pray Father that you will give us success as we do these things, and as we work together in your kingdom. We acknowledge that as we have just sung that the kingdom is all yours, and we pray Father that we will not try to make it ours, but we will give you the honor and the praise for everything that you have done. We ask this in Jesus name, amen. I am glad that we can all be here together. The verse that we are going to read here in regards to the peace in our community, Paul here in Romans 12 lays out a road map for an example of what love looks like as we interact with others, and it says, first of all, love must be sincere. It says, "Hate what is evil and cling to what is good. You be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need and practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position, and do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone, and if it is possible as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, it is mine to advance, I will repay," says the Lord. "And on the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. And do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." This outline Paul writes, "Of what love looks like with others, it makes me think of Luke chapter 10, verse 25 which reads, "On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said, 'What is written in the law? How do you read it?' The expert in the law answered and said, 'I love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.' Jesus said, 'You have answered correctly. Go and do this and you will live.' But the expert in the law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' And Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the Samaritan, and which basically tells us, 'Who is my neighbor? It's the person that we interact with. It's the people that we interact with.' And as we look at how can we bring peace to our community, those are the people that we interact with. My neighbors are the little neighbors that are around me, around my house, right? They're the people I work with at work. They're the people that go to when I'm at the park, when we take the child to the park, we rub shoulders with random people. Those are our neighbors. The people we bump elbows with at the grocery store. Ron and Bessie's neighbors are different than my neighbors. Curtis's neighbors are different than any of our other neighbors. Each of us have a different community. So my question is, who are your neighbors? Who are my neighbors? And how can we bring peace to them? That peace starts in the church. And I would go down the, 'We're going to love them because we first love God.' And that's why our love for them is going to be sincere. When's the last time that we have practiced hospitality and hosting a stranger that we bumped into somewhere? Do you think, 'Maybe we could show them the love of Christ by having them in our home and showing them the peace that is in our home, that is in our personal lives and in our home and in our congregation?' Those are some things that make me contemplate and convict me. And may we live such good lives that they see you and I, may we live such good lives in this, in our communities that they see Christ in us. And they glorify Him. Let us pray. Father God, we come before you humbly. Help us not to be conceited. Help us not to be prideful of the possessions, the apartments, the houses, the food that you provide. As it came from you, not from us anyway. Help us not to be selfish with those, but to be hospitable and share them with others. Lord, that we would live personal lives in honor of you and that we would invite others along in our walk. Lord, I ask that you would convict us where we need convicting in this area. And for each of our communities, Lord, help us not to just be peaceful, but help us to be peace makers. And Lord, I pray all of these things in Jesus' name, Amen. Peace, perfect peace in this dark world of sin, the blood of Jesus whispers peace within. Peace, perfect peace by thronging do His dress to do the will of Jesus this is rest. Peace, perfect peace with sorrows surging round. And Jesus, bosom, not but come His found. It is enough. Earth struggles soon, shall cease. And Jesus calls us to hand's perfect. Good morning, everyone. Curtis. How's everybody doing? As you know, our subject is peace. Am I right? Well, I happen to have the subject of peace around the world. I will be coming from Ephesians, the second chapter, verses 13 through 18. And those of you that are watching us online, please turn your Bibles to Ephesians, the second chapter, verses 13 through 18. And it reads, "But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility by setting aside in His flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which He put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For thought or for through Him, we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." Let us say amen on that. The one thing I can say about peace in the world, I've experienced turmoil and conflict in Vietnam. And that is utter chaos because death is all around you. The heat is all around you. And when I was afforded the privilege of coming back home, I understood what peace meant, even though at that time I didn't know Jesus Christ like I do now. Because see, now I know Jesus Christ is our Prince of Peace. Am I right about that? Let me tell you some more. The one thing I do know is that we have to convey to the world how we come about with peace. And that is through Scripture. We have our Bibles. We should be expressing that all the time, not just one Sunday, but every day when that opportunity presents itself, we should be talking about Jesus. And we know He is the Prince of Peace. And Curtis and I have talked about that. Ron has talked about that. Larry has talked about that. And my good brother Ed has talked about that. And we always talk about peace. It's not the color of your skin. It's not that. It's the spirit that is within you that we should be looking at. Amen? All right. I thought I was on the right page. But we have to look at what's going on in the world. We saw something last night and that's terrible. But there's something going on across the world and that is in the Ukraine as well as the Gaza Strip. But we as Christians right here have the ability to project that peace that the world so needs. Am I right? So let's continue to look at our brothers and sisters in peace. Let's do that because we have that opportunity while we're still breathing. Am I right? So let's continue to do that. And our lives are not long. It's only a moment. And then we're gone. Then it's too late to try to talk. So with that, let us go to God in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you once again so much for the day that you have provided for us all. As Gentiles, you have provided a way for us to enter into the kingdom that Jesus Christ has provided for us. Father, continue to teach us to help bring about peace in the world that we and every day have that lasting power of peace. Father, we are the light of the world, a city that sits on a hill that cannot hide from anyone. So Father, we also ask to continue to be that beacon of light for the troubles in the world as in Ukraine and the Gaza area. We need to continue to project peace, that inner peace for each and every spirit of this world. Father, we also ask that you pray for Jesus' Christian members of this world that they may continue to project that inner peace to show the examples for all of us through your scriptures. So Father, we also ask that you continue to bless each and every one of us that are present in the sound of my voice, that we know who the Prince of Peace is. We ask this prayer in Jesus' name, let us all loudly say, Amen and Amen. This next song that we're going to sing is a prayer. Please don't miss the significance of the words of this prayer that's put to music. Join me. Lord, make us instruments of your peace, where there is hatred, let your love increase. Lord, make us instruments of your peace, walls of pride and prejudice shall cease. When we are your instruments of peace, where there is hatred, we will sow your love, where there is injury, we will never judge, where there is driving, we will seek his peace to the people crying for release. We will be his instruments of peace. If it's convenient, stand please. Lord, make us instruments of your peace, where there is hatred, let your love increase. Lord, make us instruments of your peace, walls of pride and prejudice shall cease. When we are your instruments of peace, where there is blindness, we will pray for sight, where there is darkness, we will shine his light, where there is sadness, we will bear their grief to the millions crying for release. When we are the instruments of peace, Lord, make us instruments of your peace, where there is hatred, let your love increase. Lord, make us instruments of your peace, walls of pride and prejudice shall cease. When we are your instruments of peace, thank you, please be seated. This last section is Peace with God. I know Peter mentioned at the beginning that the readings kind of built up to this. I would have said that peace with God is where it starts, that if you don't have peace with God, the other ones don't follow along, but that's fine. It probably fits in with the fact that we have communion in a few minutes and this reading from Romans references that. Reading from Romans chapter 5 verses 1-8. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God, not only so, but also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As I was looking through this reading, there's kind of three parts to it that I saw. The first part is that we have peace with God, and that peace comes through Jesus Christ. If you go down just a couple more verses in 10, it says, "For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more having been reconciled shall we be saved through His life? If you have peace with somebody, at some point you must have been their enemy." And so Paul mentions this here, that before we knew Jesus, that we were enemies of God. And in Colossians chapter 1, he states that again, verses 21 and 22, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior, but now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation." So yeah, that is our hope and our belief that through Christ, we've been reconciled to God and that we now add peace with God. The second part that I read in here is that peace with God doesn't mean peace with the world. We are going to have problems in this world. We're going to have trials, temptations, things that go on in our personal lives and our family's lives. So having peace with God doesn't mean that we're going to have peace with the world. But it is that peace with God that gives us our hope, as it mentions in here, that through these things that hope is what we have through Jesus Christ and through God. And the last piece of this is that Christ did die for us on a cross, that God loved us so much that He sent Christ to die on a cross in our place that if we choose to accept that, that we will have peace with God and peace with each other, peace with our church families, peace with the community, and peace hopefully is at some point in time, peace with the world. Would you pray with me, please? Heavenly Father, Lord, we just thank you, Father, that through Jesus we do have peace with you, Lord. We thank you that you sent your son to die on a cross in our place, Lord, that through His sacrifice, Lord, the shedding of His blood, that our sins might be covered, Lord, that we might be watched, clean, Lord, and we might have that relationship with you, that peace with you, Lord, that helps us to walk each day with you and to get through our daily lives. I just pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God, a place where sin cannot molest, dear to the heart of God. Oh, Jesus, bless free demon, sent from the heart of God. Hold us to wait before thee, near to the heart of God. There is a place of comfort, sweet, dear to the heart of God, a place where we are, save your meat, dear to the heart of God. Oh, Jesus, bless free demon, sent from the heart of God. Hold us to wait before thee, near to the heart of God. There is a place of full release, near to the heart of God, a place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God. Oh, Jesus, bless free demon, sent from the heart of God. Hold us to wait before thee, near to the heart of God. [BLANK_AUDIO]