This past Sunday I had the opportunity to visit Church of the Highlands-Riverchase with a friend, which was a complete, unexpected blessing. However, I did in fact miss my church family back at Christ City Church VERY MUCH! See you all soon, promise! I must say, the idea of watching your pastor via satellite is weird but honestly, I felt like Pastor Chris was right there in the same sanctuary as I. The worship was great but I missed my good 'ole Fools. :) Anyways, onto why I feel pressed to write this blog; the message was God sent, exactly what I needed to hear that day and I am thankful to have been present.
The sermon covered many books of the Bible; such as, Luke, John, James, Matthew... and as you can see from the title, the message was part of a series and this particular sermon was called, 'War and Peace'.
Pastor Chris emphasized one verse before he gave us five points that results in 'war' between individuals and even nations.'Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war.' Psalms 120:6-7.
1. Distance. Individuals who distance themselves, whether due to certain differences or opinions begin to put up walls.
2. Walls. After walls are put up you continue to be distanced from that certain person or group of people that you refuse to be associated or 'reconciled' with.
3. Escalation. Escalation arises after the walls have been established and when that certain 'small' incidence becomes something 'BIG' in your mind.
4. False Beliefs. After you remain distant without any form of reconciliation you begin to think of the 'BIG' issues which causes you to have false beliefs which causes the individual to become more emotionally and even physically distant from their problem person.
5. Hostility. Last but not least, hostility. I believed this was an outward emotion that was to be explained but it was presented as something very different. Pastor Chris described it is the condition of your soul at this point in reaching the state of 'War'. I can see that if an individual hoards these kinds of emotions due to another individual who 'are for war'(stated above in Psalms), circumstance or even on a larger scale, another nation, that one would be in a state of hostility.
6. War. When there is war, there is evident separation. Before we go to God, settling in Him, we must go to others and settle our differences with them, bringing our 'balance back to zero'.
As you can see, this sermon was interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the details of every point Pastor Chris presented. At the end of the service these verses were read, 'But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.James 3:14-16.
My final thoughts and feelings on the sermon was that I felt God's reassurance for me and my life that some people exist in your life to bring you hate and cause war. No matter how much you try to move on, live life without them, they still seem to have their foot in the door and cause some form of strife among you. A HUGE point made was this, the Bible does NOT say, 'RESOLVE' but to 'RECONCILE'. Wow. I can hear my father now, 'We all just need to work things out, talk about it, resolve the issues.' Well, I knew I was always right when I told him that was impossible. We shouldn't use the Bible as an excuse to not talk to people but Reconciliation means to simply 'LET GO'. Believe me, this was AMAZING to be reassured in and knowing I was doing the best I can. Praise Jesus. My thought is this, 'why would I want to be associated with people that were predestined to cause war in my life? I will reconcile and love but I have no problem being a stranger'.Amen.
The mission of Jesus was and is to bring peace, not war.
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