YOUTH GROUP: Peacemakers, not Peacekeepers

The Word Search wk. 11

Peacemakers

Matthew 5:9

Announcements:

• Speed the Light
• Fine Arts
• School calendar signup for lunches/sound/Sunday morning help with nursery and children’s church

Intro:

People charged with keeping the peace, (peacekeepers) are people that either look at peace from a perspective or a perspective.

I think of Pontius Pilate, who had to keep the peace. He had a mob of angry pharisees and other Jews who were calling for the crucifixion of Jesus. Where Pilate saw nothing wrong in Christ, He didn’t find him guilty on any account, he still sentenced him to keep the peace. It was his job to keep the peace. He was in charge of () keeping the crowd peaceable.

20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ He was afraid of his master and in order to keep the peace, he hid the mina so that the master could have it back. This servant was a passive peacekeeper and by doing nothing, he condemned himself.

In this parable, the mina is talking about the greatest gift we have been given. The Good news. The . Salvation through Jesus Christ. By sharing the Mina, we not only give it to someone, but we also get to keep our own. By sharing your faith, by making disciples, we are multiplying the Mina.

We as , should never withhold the gospel in an effort to keep peace.

It would be far more beneficial for us to learn to fear the consequences of , rather than to fear . 

Peacekeeping is generally , but peacemaking is always .

Message:

9 Blessed are the , for they will be called of God.

We talked about peace keepers to open tonight, but in the second we are going to look through the lens of Scripture and see What are peacemakers, What Peace Makers Do, and Why is it a blessing to be a peacemaker.

1. What are Peacemakers?

Clothed in and Full of

Colossians 3:12-15 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience are all garments to be worn by the Christian. They are of great to the world around us, but also distinguish ourselves from it. If these are the things we keep on the outside for the world to see, what precious thing do we hold so closely? The rules in our hearts.

Genuine

12:9-21 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never , but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Charles Spurgeon Quote:

“They not only are so, but they shall be called so. That is, even their enemies shall call them so; even the world shall say, “Ah! that man is a child of God.” Perhaps, beloved, there is nothing that so strikes the ungodly as the of a Christian under insult.”

Reflections of

Hebrews 12:14 14 Strive for with everyone, and for the without which no one will see the Lord.

Strive for peace! Strive for holiness! You can be and strive for holiness!

Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus and it changed him. When people see Jesus it them. Allow people to see a proper reflection of Jesus through you.

2. What do Do?

Joshua in Joshua 6-8.

Peacemakers make the .

Paul in Philemon

Peacemakers .

Jesus in John 8:1-11

Peacemakers operate in and .

The key difference between peacekeepers and peacemakers is

3. Why is it a ?

Romans 5:1-11 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 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. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ .

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been , shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Peacemakers the necessity of reconciliation.

Peacemakers are their namesake, because Christ was our peacemaker to God the Father. We make peace because it has been .

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