Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / God Honors Peacemakers | Genesis 26:17-33 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

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God Honors Peacemakers | Genesis 26:17-33 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  I'd like to take this time in preparation for the Lord's
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  Supper to share a few thoughts from the Scriptures.
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  Obviously that's been brewing in my heart for the past few weeks.
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  You know, one of the beauties of walking with the Lord Jesus
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  Christ is that His Word can grip you in such a way, especially a
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  passage. It can be sometimes even a word
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  that you find yourself returning to it time and time again in
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  your thoughts and meditations. And that's what's been happening
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  recently from a recent morning reading in the book of Genesis,
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  as I revisited the story of the man whose name is Isaac, the son
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  of Abraham and the father of Jacob.
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  And what's interesting about Isaac is that out of all the
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  patriarchs, the three main ones, he lived the longest, 180 years
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  to be exact. That's a lot of life.
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  And yet the Holy Spirit, out of all the stories that he could
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  have preserved about Isaac, chose to give us the most
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  extensive chapter of his story regarding him digging wells.
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  I'm sure that in our culture today, cultivating wells has
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  very little to offer us in terms of practical or even spiritual
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  inspiration. But it's not about the wells
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  necessarily. It's what happened to Isaac
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  around those wells that deserve some attention.
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  What you'll find when you read Genesis chapter 26 is that Isaac
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  around his possessions and how he was treated by outsiders
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  turned out to be a wonderful model for a godly peacemaker.
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  Isaac was a peacemaker, and more importantly, what you discover
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  in that chapter is that the Lord loves, honors, and blesses
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  peacemakers. The Bible has a lot, a lot to
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  say about peace and has a reasonable about to say about
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  peacemakers. And even as I'm speaking about
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  this subject, perhaps the famous words of the Lord Jesus Christ
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  is flashing in some of our minds from Matthew chapter 5, the
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  Sermon on the Mount, where he said blessed are the peace
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  makers, for they shall be called sons of God.
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  I think most of us in here memorize that verse.
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  I'm afraid that those who are very familiar with it aren't too
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  sure what it actually implies. It's weighty.
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  Just by looking at Christ's words in that single statement,
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  we know something about peacemakers.
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  Whatever that is, whatever a peacemaker is.
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  It's an attitude that affirms 1's relationship with God, and
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  it is a testimony that relays and conveys to others that his
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  holy character is reflected in US.
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  Christians are to be peacemakers, and when we gather
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  all the scriptural data of what it means to be peacemaker, I
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  think you can come to this definition.
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  It's very simple. A peacemaker is someone who
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  actively seeks to reconcile and restore relational harmony,
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  somebody who actively seeks to reconcile and restore relational
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  harmony both with God and man. You see, in a very real sense,
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  we as Christians are peacemakers because we preach the gospel.
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  The gospel is a message of reconciliation.
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  And as the Lord sends us out to go and reach others with this
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  news, what we're essentially doing is calling those who stand
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  as enemies of God to be restored to the God of peace through his
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  Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is known as what, the Prince of
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  Peace. So the fact that we have this
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  gospel in our hearts, in it leaves our mouths, makes us
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  peacemakers. You know, there's this wonderful
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  little statement or way of description that Peter gives
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  when he was preaching to the household of Cornelius, and he
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  describes the gospel in the following way.
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  Let me just quote it to you from Acts 1036.
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  You don't have to turn there. Just listen carefully.
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  Listen to how Peter describes the gospel.
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  As for the word that he sent to Israel preaching good news of
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  peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all the King.
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  James I believe would say preaching peace.
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  When you witness to a Co worker, when you're sitting at the
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  dinner table, maybe around Thanksgiving, and are leaning
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  towards your cousin and telling you about the gospel, you're
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  preaching peace. You're telling them how they can
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  have peace with God. Isn't that remarkable?
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  We're peacemakers as Christians, but it's not limited to that
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  glorious calling. Being a peacemaker also includes
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  someone who seeks to mend relationships between men, and
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  that emphasis isn't primarily about us inserting ourselves
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  into every strained marriage or fractured relationship between
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  friends to try to bring resolution.
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  We have to be careful there. There's a proper time and
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  protocol and place for when and how we get involved with
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  conflicts that do not immediately involve us now.
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  Instead, the the primary meaning of us being peacemakers
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  horizontally is that we are called to be initiators in
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  receiving peace and accepting peace and granting peace when
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  there is animosity between US and others, when we know that
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  there's some kind of tension between people and us, being a
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  peacemaker means that we have that primary responsibility.
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  We should be the ones who take the first step in building
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  bridges. And I want to tell you that
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  Matthew 59 is not the only passage that highlights just how
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  essential this is. Can I ask you something?
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  How many of us in this place consider the call to be
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  peacemakers? As Christians, we know that
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  there are many things that we are responsible for as
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  Christians, but I want to remind you that there is a great
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  premium. There is a high observation in
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  the Scriptures for us as followers of Jesus Christ to not
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  just preach the gospel, but to also see relationships healed,
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  especially the ones that we are involved in.
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  You and I understand that one of our identities as Christians is
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  to be salt, right? The salt of the earth.
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  And that's a wonderful picture, right?
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  But I always love to ask the question, what does that
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  practically look like? What does it mean for me and
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  you, because of our faith in Christ, to be agents of healing
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  and preservation in a society that is slowly decaying because
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  of sin? Well, there are many
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  ingredients, but I want to present to you at least one in
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  relation to what we're speaking about today that I think is
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  often overlooked. Let me just ask you this again.
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  When you think salt of the earth, what comes to mind in
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  terms of practical relational responsibility or duty or
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  discipline? What?
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  What right? You don't have to answer out
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  loud, but I'm just asking. Let me tell you what Jesus made
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  so clear. Now I ask you to go to Mark
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  Chapter 9 and your Bibles and look at verse 50 because I want
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  you to see it with your own eyes.
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  Mark 950. I'll wait for the wrestling of
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  the leaves to settle before I read it.
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  I'll read it slowly now. Salt is good, Jesus said.
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  But if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it
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  salty again? Have salt in your cells and be
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  at peace with one another. This is astounding.
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  Jesus is teaching that if you and I want to secure our
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  distinct Christian flavor and witness in this rotten world, we
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  must strive to be at peace with one another.
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  Our spirit empowered efforts to achieve and maintain harmony in
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  relationships is imperative to our witness.
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  And wherever there is a weakened community due to a lack of
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  tranquility and peace, you have a deficiency in their
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  effectiveness to testify to the world of why we're different and
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  how powerful this gospel is. Here's another verse to
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  consider, Hebrews chapter 12. Let's turn there now.
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  I believe in my experience, at least 90% of the time when this
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  verse is quoted, people cut out the first part.
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  Hebrews 12 verse 14 Strive for peace with everyone and for the
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  holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
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  In my experience again growing up in the church and even being
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  in ministry, when people come to this text, they usually quoted
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  in the following ways. Strive for a holiness without
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  which no one will see the Lord. Is that true of you?
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  You can't leave out the first part.
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  Before he says strive for holiness.
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  He says strive to be at peace with everyone, with everyone.
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  I wish I can expand on this first, but we got to stay on
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  track. You know what the word strive
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  means to pursue aggressively. It conveys the idea of running
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  towards the finish line, to be chasing something until you
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  catch it. It's an intense word.
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  Strive, strive to be at peace with everyone.
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  And the Holy Spirit through this wants us that that kind of
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  ambition for achieving enmity with everyone, everyone.
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  Your husband, your wife, your children, your coworkers, the
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  members of your church, the neighbors on your street, I can
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  go on. Let me just summarize with this
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  anyone who still has a pulse. You and I as peacemakers, so
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  strive to be at peace with them. And I want to examine this
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  further, but I have to 1st ask you to extend grace to me from
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  this point on, please. I'm fully aware that whenever a
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  preacher speaks on relationships, there are
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  countless situations that listeners may be facing, each
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  one requiring unique instructions.
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  And sometimes the example shared in a message may not directly
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  apply to your unique case. So let me be clear.
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  This sermon today will not attempt to cover every possible
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  scenario of strife complexities. Instead, I'm simply offering a
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  few insights from one single account.
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  And I ask that you would take it upon yourself to ask the Lord
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  how, in this brief message, one or most or all of these points
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  could apply and resonate with you.
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  And these will be quick looks for now.
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  We won't be able to cover these things at length, but I want, I
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  want to tell you is that Isaac is a wonderful illustration in
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  Genesis 26 of what peacemaking entails, what it looks like,
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  what it doesn't look like. And so let me give you the
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  background of Isaac's story. In Genesis 26, there was a
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  famine in the land, and so he felt the need to leave and to
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  plant him and his family in a place called Garar.
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  And while in Garrard, there were things that happened that
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  compromised his witness, and we don't have time to get into that
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  now. But Isaac chose to establish
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  himself in Garrard, and he decided to invest in land and to
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  build his resources. And what you find following that
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  decision is nothing short of a miracle from the Lord.
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  Now let's turn to our main text in Genesis 26, beginning in
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  verse 12, to see what I mean here.
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  It says here in Genesis 26, verse 12.
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  And Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a
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  hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the
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  man became rich and gained more and more until he became very
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  wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and
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  herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.
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  Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the
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  wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham.
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  His father and Abimelech said to Isaac, go away from us, for you
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  are much mightier than we. We might think that this is
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  where the story ends, but I'm here to tell you it's just
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  starting. And from this point on, for the
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  rest of this chapter, we're going to consider 5 insights of
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  Peacemaking, 5 clues, 5 marks of being a peacemaker.
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  Consider this just as discipleship time from heart to
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  heart. Number one, to be a peacemaker
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  sometimes requires us to surrender our rights.
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  We need to be very wise with this point because the truth of
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  the matter is there are times when we need to fight for our
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  rights and not be passive with troublemakers.
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  The apostle Paul at times appealed to his legal
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  entitlements for the sake of the advancement and the integrity of
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  the gospel, right? He would often say, hey, I'm a
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  Roman citizen, you can't treat me this way.
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  And that's legitimate. However, there are also moments
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  where he did not wield his citizenship.
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  He did not appeal to his Apostolic prerogatives for the
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  same goal. So it's a case by case
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  situation. And there are times where we
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  also have to, especially in personal conflicts, choose to
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  walk away instead of choosing to fight, resist.
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  We're not told why Isaac gracefully dismissed himself at
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  the confiscation of his wells, but whatever his reason was, he
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  thought it to be the better option than digging his heels in
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  the ground and potentially getting into a war with the
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  Philistines. He refrained from retaliation.
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  And that's incredibly difficult for us to do, especially when we
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  are being mistreated, especially when we sense that we are being
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  treated unfairly. But choosing silence, refusing
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  to retaliate, and not wasting time or energy with something
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  that doesn't seem worth it can at times be the more righteous
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  path. And if you need any motivation
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  to trust in God's wisdom with that option, I believe Isaac
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  gives us the secret. You know why?
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  I believe Isaac could do this with great humility and
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  consistency. He believed in God's Providence.
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  So I want you to see this in verse 17.
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  Look what happens. So Isaac departed from there and
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  encamped in the valley of Gerar and settled there.
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  And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the
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  days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had
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  stopped after the death of Abraham, and he gave them names
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  that his father had given them. But when Isaac's servants dug in
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  the valley and found there a well of spring water, the
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  herdsmen of Gerard quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying
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  the water is ours. No, it's not.
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  That's my commentary. No, it's not.
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  It's not yours. So he called the name of the
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  well Isaac, because they contended with him.
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  Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also.
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  So he called its name Sitna. And he moved from there and dug
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  another well. And they did not quarrel over
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  it. So he called its name Rehoboot,
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  saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall
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  be fruitful in the land. The Lord.
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  I'm recognizing God's leadership in this.
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  I'm recognizing God's provision in this.
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  I'm recognizing that even though this is unfair, God has blessed
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  me. And listen, you have to remember
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  here that these repeated offenses were beyond Isaac's
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  control. What did we read earlier?
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  The Philistines envied him. Have you ever tried to build a
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  meaningful relationship with somebody who envies you?
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  It's nearly impossible. Why?
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  Because they feel this anger and this bitterness towards you.
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  For what reason? Because God's blessing.
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  You're using you in a certain way.
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  It's very difficult to work with somebody like that.
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  What am I supposed to change? The Philistines envied him.
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  Despite that, Isaac realized that the Lord was able to lead
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  him to a broad place. Because the Scripture tells us
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  that even the wrath of man can praise God.
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  God can turn the wrath of man to a testimony in your life.
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  And that's what this man believe.
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  The Lord has made room for us. I recognize God in this.
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  I'm trusting God in this. And listen, if if anyone ever
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  unfairly takes something that belongs to you, could be a piece
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  of your reputation, it could be a possession, it can be even a
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  position. A peacemaker will step back,
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  calculate, pray, and consider the possibility of just walking
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  away and trusting God to deal with it.
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  This is a call for wisdom. How do I know when to stand and
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  to fight? And how do I know when that I
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  should just leave and let God deal with it directly?
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  You might think this sounds unrealistic.
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  It's not. It's found in a New Testament.
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  You remember what Paul told the Corinthians?
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  These Christians were taking each other to court.
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  And what did he say there in First Corinthians 6-7?
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  Hey, why don't some of you choose to rather be defrauded?
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  Why don't some of you just surrender?
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  Why don't you just give up for the sake of being salt?
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  You're going out to the world and you are bearers of names of
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  of Christ, and you're fighting with each other over temporal
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  things. This is a defeat for you.
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  Paul said suffer wrong. Surrender.
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  Your right. Sometimes to be a peacemaker
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  means that you have to do just that.
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  Isaac did that. We come to the second point of
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  what it means to be a peacemaker.
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  To be a peacemaker does not mean that we don't feel the pain or
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  the frustration caused by people's aggravations.
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  So again, you might feel like this is a tall order.
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  This seems unrealistic. You're asking me to walk away.
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  You don't understand. OK, look in verse 20.
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  I want you to notice that with each well that was taken from
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  Isaac, he named it something and in verse 20 we read that he
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  named the 1st wall Isec. You know what Isec means?
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  Contention and the next one sit now which means enmity.
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  So as much as we we can say Isaac was impressive in walking
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  away, he was also not living in denial.
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  It was painful. He did sense the injustice, he
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  was bothered, and he recognized that these interactions for what
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  they were. And I'm sure that there was some
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  kind of emotional processing when he named these wells.
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  Here's why this is important. You need to be free that you are
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  not harboring unforgiveness or you are not qualified to be a
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  peacemaker just because your heart is still bruised by the
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  carelessness or the selfishness caused by somebody else's
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  action. Just because it hurts doesn't
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  mean that you are not in the right.
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  It doesn't mean that you are not walking in faithfulness, doesn't
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  mean that you're not walking in faith.
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  It's a bruise, it's a wound, and sometimes bruises last longer
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  than others. So the presence of emotions that
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  are hurtful, memories that are painful does not mean that you
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  are not in the will of God, does not mean that you're outside of
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  Christ. Like character.
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  The Bible's so realistic. At the same time, you got to be
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  careful that painful memories don't blind you to potential
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  opportunities to be reconciled with those who have caused pain
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  in your life. There's a very fine line, right?
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  You can revisit those scenes and those words to the degree that
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  it calluses you to the point where it numbs you from your
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  calling to be a peacemaker. It should the opportunity arise.
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  If you've allowed your heart to become Diamond Hard, it'll
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  become much more difficult to be the initiator of reconciliation.
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  Isaac was realistic with how this whole thing made him feel.
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  But we come to point #3 to be a peacemaker does not mean you
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  abandon or ignore the truth for the sake of harmony.
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  So Isaac moves on and we read here.
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  We're going to skip a couple verses.
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  We'll look at them in a second, but look down at verse 26.
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  This is interesting. When Abimelech went to him from
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  Garrar without who's that? His advisor and Fee Cole, the
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  commander of his army. Isaac said to them.
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  Why have you come to me seeing that you hate me and have sent
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  me away from you? So we see here that Abimelech
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  and his top advisors pay Isaac a visit.
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  They learned about his new address and they thought, let's
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  go visit him and let's try to make a truce.
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  Let's try to make an oath with this man but the past behind us,
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  and to promise to never go to war with each other from this
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  day forward. But what I find so interesting
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  is that with this unannounced arrival, Isaac, before
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  entertaining any other conversation, confronts these
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  philistines for their behavior. What are you doing here?
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  Don't you hate me? You drove me away from you.
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  Now you might be wondering. I thought we were looking at
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  Isaac as model for peace. We are, and he is no less a
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  peacemaker here than when he walked away from his own wells.
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  Because, you see, a biblical peacemaker does not try to
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  appease others or excuse unrighteousness for the sake of
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  relational tranquility. A true peacemaker will invite
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  God's truth into a conflict and will surrender to what the
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  living God asks of both parties involved.
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  So we have to be reminded of this fundamental truth.
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  We never do away with the truth in the name of peace.
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  There are a lot of people who are tolerating evil and sin in
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  the name of being a peacemaker. That's not biblical peacemaking.
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  That's compromised calm. Now, this model here showing us
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  that we should never accept or rationalize evil so that someone
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  can feel accepted, That's unloving and deceptive.
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  You know, it was Jesus who said that I had not come to bring
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  peace to the world. What?
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  You're the Prince of peace? No, I did not come to bring a
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  certain type of peace of the world.
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  I've actually come to bring a sword.
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  What did he mean by that in Matthew 10?
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  He meant that he was coming into the world with a saving message
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  that carried the potential of bringing division in different
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  circles because of one or more than one party accepting that
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  saving message. And in Christ's mind, if that
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  division occurs because of the truth being embraced, then that
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  division is worth it, because true peace can only come from
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  accepting the truth. James speaks about godly wisdom,
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  and he actually describes what it looks like in detail, the
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  qualities of godly wisdom, what godly wisdom, when somebody
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  possesses it, what does it look like?
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  And in it you have this wonderful equation, this
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  wonderful principle of even what true peace is all about in James
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  317, James says, But the wisdom from above is first pure, then
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  peaceable. What comes before peace, Purity,
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  purity, The renouncing of sin, the renouncing of compromise,
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  the renouncing of anything that compromises or contradicts the
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  truth. There can't be true peace unless
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  there is the honouring of purity.
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  What gave Isaac the courage to speak up in this way?
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  It's found in the verses that we didn't read when Isaac went up
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  to Beersheba. In verse 24 of Genesis 26 it
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  says this. And the Lord appeared to him the
• 27:37
  same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father, fear
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  not frying with you, and will bless you.
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  Multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.
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  Sometimes it's a fearful thing to forsake peace for the sake of
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  the truth. Sometimes it's difficult, just
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  as a general rule, to approach anybody and to confront them for
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  their wrong or to stand for that which is right.
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  And I see that following this, Isaac was able to speak up
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  because God promised him his presence and God promised him
• 28:18
  his reward. And you and I need to find the
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  same courage from that same place that when there are
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  situations in your family, at your workplace, where you have
• 28:30
  to choose the truth, even if it means inviting turbulence, the
• 28:38
  Lord is with me. The Lord sees me, He sees my
• 28:40
  heart. He sees that I want to please
• 28:42
  him above everything else. And He will honor you for that.
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  And we're told in Romans that as far as it depends on you, be at
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  peace with all men teaching us what it's not always possible.
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  Even though you're the peacemaker, it doesn't mean that
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  you're going to have guaranteed peace with everybody.
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  And one of the reasons why it's not always possible is because
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  there are many people who don't want purity.
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  They don't want to admit they're wrong.
• 29:08
  They don't want to repent of their sin.
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  And so you've done your part by upholding the truth and yet
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  still trying to be a peacemaker, even though the results don't
• 29:19
  come out the way you desire #4 to be a peacemaker means you
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  will do your part to achieve peace.
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  Let's read back in Genesis 26 what happens after Isaac
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  confronts the Philistines. And this is what I read a few
• 29:38
  weeks ago in Genesis that made me realize how much Isaac shined
• 29:45
  as a peacemaker. Are you there?
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  In verse 28 they said, this is the Philistines.
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  We see plainly that the Lord has been with you.
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  So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and
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  us, and let us make a covenant with you that you will do us no
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  harm, just as we have not touched you and have not done to
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  you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace.
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  Read that last part again. Have done to you nothing but
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  good and I've sent you away in peace.
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  So when I read this, I don't know if it was this last time or
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  a previous time. I put a green marked question
• 30:30
  mark beside that phrase. What do you mean?
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  You've done nothing wrong? OK, I, I see here that you did
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  not touch him. That's true, but there's an
• 30:43
  incomplete approach here. We've done nothing wrong to you.
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  Be honest. How would you react to that?
• 30:52
  What kind of confession is that? To our surprise, to our
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  amazement, Isaac doesn't even address it, doesn't even comment
• 31:04
  on it. He chooses to move on with the
• 31:08
  proposal, which in principle means that he does not insist on
• 31:14
  the faults of his offenders. And now we have to be very
• 31:19
  careful of not miss applying this part, because Isaac is not
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  accepting reconciliation without repentance as he prepares to
• 31:28
  make a deal with these men. That's not what he's doing here.
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  If you're carefully reading, you'll understand that he
• 31:33
  acknowledges the effort of the Philistines and is willing to
• 31:36
  bypass the weakness of their attempt for the sake of his own
• 31:42
  conscience and the promise of peace.
• 31:47
  And this is someone who recognizes the opportunity to
• 31:52
  resolve something with his neighbors.
• 31:55
  He does his part, and he leaves the details to God.
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  You and I can't be stubborn and expect to flourish as
• 32:06
  peacemakers if we're truly peacemakers.
• 32:10
  Then again, it depends on the nature of the relationship and
• 32:14
  the dynamics of the problem. But a peacemaker will be on the
• 32:19
  lookout for any opportunity to infuse peace in that strained
• 32:27
  relationship. So in some cases it, it will
• 32:31
  only look like this whenever you cross paths with somebody that
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  is at odds with you, that has maybe mistreated you with
• 32:38
  unresolved conflict, your responsibility as a peacemaker
• 32:41
  is to extend a greeting according to Jesus words in
• 32:44
  Matthew, the extended greeting, because if you only greet your
• 32:49
  brothers, you know, different than the Gentiles.
• 32:53
  I quoted to you earlier what Paul said in Romans 1218.
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  If possible, it's not always possible.
• 32:59
  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably
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  with all, just live at peace with people.
• 33:12
  And in that same passage you have an insight of what that
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  might look like. This is this is the problem of
• 33:20
  taking verses out of their context.
• 33:22
  You, you miss out on the full meaning.
• 33:23
  So most of us know Romans 12/18 and most of us know Romans
• 33:27
  12/20, but have we ever considered how they're married?
• 33:30
  What does it say in Romans 12/20 to the contrary?
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  If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
• 33:36
  If he is thirsty, give him something to drink for.
• 33:38
  By doing so, you'll heap burning coals on his head.
• 33:41
  That's in context of being a peacemaker.
• 33:45
  So peacemaker like Isaac will recognize opportunities to
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  sprinkle peace, maybe even on a person who's caused problems in
• 33:58
  your life. That might look like an awkward
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  hello or may look like visiting somebody who is very sick, may
• 34:11
  not have another day to live. This man convicted me.
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  He didn't get into a shouting match.
• 34:23
  Oh, you did nothing to me. He just, he sees what this
• 34:31
  relationship will entail. He's not marrying the
• 34:33
  Philistines, He's not going to be working with the Philistines.
• 34:39
  He's just agreeing on these terms of peace.
• 34:43
  There'll be no retaliation, I'll give you that.
• 34:46
  I accept your incomplete confession.
• 34:56
  Lastly, being a peacemaker opens heavenly blessings.
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  Look at verse 30. So he made them a feast, and
• 35:15
  they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early
• 35:19
  and exchanged oaths, and Isaac sent them on their way, and they
• 35:24
  departed from him in peace that same day.
• 35:31
  I underlined those 3 words twice.
• 35:33
  That same day, Isaac's servants came and told them about the
• 35:37
  well that they had dug and set them.
• 35:40
  We have found water. Stop.
• 35:42
  Coincidence. Coincidence that on that very
• 35:47
  day he made peace with his enemies.
• 35:52
  Fresh water sprung from that land, shot out from the earth.
• 35:59
  No, and Isaac knew it was in coincidence.
• 36:02
  Look at verse 33. He called it Sheba.
• 36:06
  Therefore, the name of this city is Beer Sheba to this day.
• 36:08
  What does Sheba mean? Oath.
• 36:13
  He memorialized as well and made a connection between its
• 36:16
  arrival. It's a blessing, God's provision
• 36:21
  and the oath that he made with the Philistines, you and I,
• 36:28
  making the decision to be peacemakers, to be agents of
• 36:33
  reconciliation and relational harmony will open God's favor in
• 36:39
  your life, will win his smile. I give those insights to you.
• 36:51
  They are now in your lap. And now I ask you, as we reflect
• 36:56
  on the God of peace, who has made peace with us, who
• 37:00
  initiated reconciliation with us, who in a sense surrendered
• 37:05
  his rights so that he can reach down to us to ask how what we
• 37:10
  just scratched may apply in your life.
• 37:16
  I'll tell you, you convicted me. You did convicted me.
• 37:20
  I'm not sure how much thought I've given as a Christian to be
• 37:24
  a peacemaker. Yeah.
• 37:27
  Living free from sin? Sure.
• 37:29
  Reading my Bible? Absolutely.
• 37:30
  Serving in the church. But peace making?
• 37:35
  Strive for it. Pursue it if possible.
• 37:41
  Be at peace with everyone you know.
• 37:46
  Lord, we ask that you help us in this moment.
• 37:54
  With all the unique predicaments, maybe the
• 38:02
  intensity of the pain makes it even difficult to digest any of
• 38:07
  these thoughts. Whatever the case may be, we ask
• 38:10
  that you would give us the spirit of wisdom to know how to
• 38:14
  apply what you have given to us through Isaac's life.
• 38:22
  And now, though, we ask that you give us eyes to see if we lack
• 38:26
  any motivation, the God of peace, who is our God, who did
• 38:35
  not allow us to have our own way and to walk in our own way
• 38:39
  without making an attempt to reconcile, to restore us.
• 38:49
  We pray for our enemies as you commanded us to, Lord, even if
• 38:55
  they were in the wrong, that you would forgive them, that you
• 38:59
  would convict them, that they would see their errors so that
• 39:03
  they can be ultimately reconciled to you and Lord.
• 39:08
  We also ask that should the opportunity arise to extend
• 39:17
  peace, it may look different. Show us with these different
• 39:23
  options, different limitations, how to do that.
• 39:27
  We want to please you. You are a reward, we love you,
• 39:33
  we honor you in Jesus name, Amen.
• 39:39
  If the praise team can join us and prepare us through your
• 39:43
  gifts to sing to the Lord and reflect on these truths
• 39:49
  together. If you're more comfortable
• 39:53
  remaining seated so that you can better receive the truth that we
• 39:59
  will sing, or maybe you're still dealing with the message and you
• 40:01
  want to pray about it, you can do that for those who would like
• 40:04
  to stand. Let's stand and let's sing to
• 40:06
  the Lord before we partake.