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Christ is Our Peace – Love Beyond Measure · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 14.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For he is our peace, who made both one and broke down the middle wall of partition.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We often mistake peace for the absence of conflict.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: We avoid difficult conversation, suppress anger.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Keep everyone comfortable, or pretend that harm did not occur.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: The surface may remain quiet, while fear, resentment, and hostility continue beneath it.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Avoidance can delay conflict.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: It cannot create peace.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: The small ruler says,
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I can have peace only when everyone agrees, approves, or behaves as I need.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says something much stronger than Christ gives us peaceful feelings.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: He says Christ himself is our peace.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Peace is not merely a technique we imitate from Jesus.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a set of calming thoughts we repeat until discomfort disappears.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: The life of Christ is present within us.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: His strength, love, truth,
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: and reconciling presence Become the source from which we learn to meet one another.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: We do not stand far from Christ trying to copy His example well enough.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: In grace, we are drawn into His life.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is our brother and His Spirit lives within us.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Peace begins in that shared life before it becomes something we practice in a relationship.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: This kind of peace is strong.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: It can tell the truth without contempt.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: It can establish a boundary without hatred.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: It can remain present to another person's pain without becoming lost inside it.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: It can listen deeply while remaining a distinct person with wisdom, responsibility, and choice.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Peace does not require emotional enmeshment.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can be with someone without being absorbed by their fear.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: You can care about their disappointment without making yourself responsible for removing it.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: You can remain open-hearted without surrendering your safety or your ability
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: to discern what is true.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: The wall Paul describes separated people who had learned to define themselves
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: against one another.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Christ broke down that wall because hostility could no longer be allowed to decide
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: who belonged near God or near each other.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: There may also be a wall within you.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: It is the belief that you remain separate from Christ and must produce peace
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: through personal effort.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: That wall leaves you trying to manufacture from discipline what can only flow from union.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is not standing outside the tension offering instructions from a distance.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: He is present within the life He is forming.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: His peace can steady you when another person disapproves.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: His peace can help you remain yourself when emotions become intense.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: His peace can create enough inner strength to seek reconciliation
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: without surrendering truth, dignity, or safety.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Reconciliation is not always immediate.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: In some relationships, the next faithful step may be a conversation.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: In others it may be a boundary,
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: a period of distance,
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: an honest apology, or the release of an outcome you cannot control.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Peace does not mean every relationship will be restored in the way you hope.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: It means hostility does not have to become the ruler of your inner life.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Christ can hold you steady within what remains unresolved.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God is among us because Christ is present among his people.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: That presence binds us together more deeply than conflict can divide us.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Peace does not require everything around you to become calm.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is your peace with the unfinished conversation,
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: the difficult room, and the relationship you cannot control.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: From that strong center, a different way of being with others becomes possible.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Christ Jesus, you are my peace.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: I confess the ways I have confused avoidance,
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: agreement, pleasing or control with the strength you give.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Your presence is steady within me and active between your people.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Help me remain close enough to love and separate enough to discern,
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: speaking truth without content and setting boundaries without hatred.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Reconcile what hostility has divided and teach me to remain fully present.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: As you re-enter the conversations and decisions ahead, carry this prayer with you.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: I release defensiveness.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is my peace.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I release defensiveness.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is my peace.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.