Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E29 | Everyday Eurasia | Kristin Burchfiel

Transcript

S1-E29 | Everyday Eurasia | Kristin Burchfiel · Eurasia Region Podcast

• 0:06
  Welcome to the special Advent series of the Everyday Eurasia
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  podcast, Inspiring Faith for every Day.
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  In the coming weeks, they'll be journeying together toward
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  Christmas, A season of anticipation, reflection, and
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  light in the darker days. During this special season of
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  Advent, we will journey through the Advent themes of Hope,
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  Peace, Joy and Love. This second week of Edfund, we
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  will join Kristen Birchfield. She grew up in Medford, OR USA.
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  She spent her life surfing both locally and globally.
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  Kristen serves now on the Eurasia region where she and her
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  family have lived since 2020, first in a Mount Jordan and now
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  in Lisbon, Portugal. Kristen will speak this week
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  about the team Edfund Peace. Hello everyone.
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  I'm excited to continue with our theme of peace this week.
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  And in this episode we are going to be talking about our role as
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  peacemakers because we have received the gift of God's peace
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  as we have been talking about this week.
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  We are called to reflect that peace to others and actively
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  participate in the work of reconciliation and making peace
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  in our relationships and communities.
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  And our scripture verse for today is Matthew 59, which is
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  one of the verses found in the Beatitudes.
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  So I'm actually going to start us off by reading that whole
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  section. So Matthew 5 verses one through
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  10. Now when Jesus saw the crowds,
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  he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
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  His disciples came with him and he began to teach them.
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  He said blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
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  Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for
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  they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
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  will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and
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  thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
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  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
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  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
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  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of
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  God. Blessed are those who are
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  persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the
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  Kingdom of heaven. Here in these verses, Jesus is
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  not simply instructing us on how to act properly.
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  He is talking about blessing. It's not about trying hard to
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  live in a certain way. He is saying people who are
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  living this way will be blessed. His words here are an
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  announcement about something that is starting to happen.
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  It is the good news, not just good advice.
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  In our world, where people see success as wealth and health and
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  winning. Jesus has this good news for the
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  poor, the meek, the hungry, the peacemakers.
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  God is at work in the world and through Jesus.
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  The way we think about the world is being turned upside down
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  here. God is pouring out blessing on
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  those who choose to follow Him and join in this new thing He is
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  doing. And this is an active thing.
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  Peacemaking isn't about avoiding conflict.
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  That's peacekeeping. Peacemaking gets to the root of
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  the issues. It is about restoring broken
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  relationships, both between people and between people and
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  God. It requires actual action,
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  moving toward people to resolve conflict, choosing to forgive
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  those who have wronged you, working to resolve conflict
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  within the church, within the community, within systems and
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  institutions. I learned a lot about
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  peacemaking while living in the Middle East, where so many of
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  our pastors and leaders and their churches are actively
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  involved in the new thing that God is doing.
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  They are bringing the good news to their communities, and this
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  was the first place for me that no matter what church I
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  attended, whether it was Arabic speaking or an English speaking
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  international church, people from more than a handful of
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  countries were consistently gathered together, worshipping
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  God and consistently participating in each other's
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  lives. And oftentimes this included
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  people from countries that were considered to be enemies or who
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  were in active conflict. But participating in the Kingdom
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  of God was bigger than that. The new thing was breaking
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  through in those churches as followers of Christ actively
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  worked for peace in their relationships and in their
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  communities, and it challenged me to explore where in my life I
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  was practicing peacemaking and where I was just trying to keep
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  the peace. So I'd like to extend that
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  challenge to you today. What is one thing you can do in
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  the next few days to actively participate in making peace?
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  What can you do to join God in the transformation of your
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  family, your church, your community?
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  Is there someone you know who is ready for a conversation about
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  being reconciled to God and you just haven't had a chance to
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  have that conversation yet? Make the time.
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  Is there someone you are in conflict with that you need to
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  move toward a conversation with? Someone you need to forgive?
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  Start that conversation. Is there a problem in your
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  church or in your workplace or in your school that would
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  benefit from someone taking the lead toward restoration of
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  relationship or actively seeking a solution to a problem?
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  Take the lead. Be blessed as you go.
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  Let's pray. Gracious God, thank you for the
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  gift of your peace, the peace that comes through Jesus Christ.
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  Because you've made peace with us, you invite us to share that
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  peace with others. Lord, forgive us for the times
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  we've chosen comfort over reconciliation or silence
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  instead of real peace. By your Spirit, help us to be
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  people who move toward others and love, who forgive, who
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  listen, who seek restoration. Send us out as peacemakers and
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  our homes and our churches and our communities so that your
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  Kingdom of love and grace would be seen through us.
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  We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
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  Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Fate for everyday. For more Everyday Stories,
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  subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
• 7:44
  Facebook and Instagram, or our newsletter Snapshots.
• 7:48
  For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
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  region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.