Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
Protect Your Peace | James Buntrock
In Protect Your Peace, this message teaches that peace is not the absence of trouble, but a spiritual safeguard given by Christ and cultivated through a life led by the Holy Spirit. Drawing from John, Philippians, Galatians, and other scriptures, the teaching explains that peace is a fruit of the Spirit that must be guarded, nourished, and protected from fear, anxiety, unhealthy relationships, distractions, sin, and the cares of the world. Listeners are encouraged to set healthy boundaries, meditate on God’s Word, follow the inward witness of peace, and create atmospheres—at home, in church, and in daily life—where God’s presence can dwell. When peace is protected, it becomes a guide, a guard, and a powerful indicator of walking in God’s will.
Let's get started into God's Word. I've got a message for you, and I believe it's going to encourage you and be a help. God's word always works, it never returns void. And so let's begin. The title of tonight's message is Protect Your Peace. So we're talking about protecting your peace. In John chapter 14, Jesus is warning his disciples. In verse 27, he says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world do I give to you. And then he says, Let not your hearts be troubled, neither neither let them be afraid. And so we have we have a choice. He's giving you peace, and he says, Don't let it be troubled, and don't let your heart be afraid. In John 16, 33, he's talking to his disciples about the helper who's going to come. And he's telling his disciples that he's going to be getting out of here. This is a prep for them. And Jesus said in verse 33, These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble or tribulation. And so what you know it's a good thing. You got a choice, two places to be. You could be in Christ or you can be in the world. In the world you have trouble, but in Christ you have peace. He said that you may have peace in me. In the world you have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And really he's just encouraging there and saying, you know, I have done this, and I did it in the same flesh that you're living in today, and if I did it, you can do it. And if he's overcome, we don't have to re-overcome the world per se. Uh we just have to maintain what he's already done and make sure that the world doesn't overcome us. And so we're going to stay in him. Um if you're a new creature in Christ, you have peace available to you. And it's our job to hold on to that peace in every certain situation and circumstance around us. So peace does not mean that you are in a place where there is no noise or trouble or difficulty or hard work. It just means that in the middle of whatever noise, trouble, difficulty, or hard work, you can still be completely calm and at ease on the inside. Um in the Greek, the uh the word peace uh is irony, and uh this is how it's defined. It's quietness, quietness, rest, exemption from rage and the havoc of war. Uh it includes prosperity, security, safety, and it calls it this way the tranquil state of a of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, fearing nothing. The tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, fearing nothing. Um I'm gonna read to you out of uh 2 Timothy chapter 1. I'm gonna sprinkle a lot of scripture through here. You can follow along if you want. You may not be able to keep up. You may just jot the references down. I've got a lot of references that I'm gonna throw out there tonight, but this one's out of 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 7, and in the amplified it says, For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or craving and cringing and fawning fear, but he has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. And so that the you know, cowardice, craven, cringing, and fawning fear, anxiety, that's really the opposite of peace. And so God didn't give you all of those uh anxious feelings, he gave you one of peace, a spirit of peace. And so we ought to live that way, we ought to function that way. That's the kind of spirit that we have. That's what a reborn spirit is entitled to, and so we ought to live and maintain that at all times. In Isaiah 54, 13, it says, All your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the shalom of your children. So in the Old Testament, we're talking Hebrew now, shalom. That word uh shalom in the Hebrew uh means peace, but it includes peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare, and tranquility. All wrapped up in shalom. And so that's our claim for our kids. Our kids will be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace or the shalom of our kids. You know, when you're taught of the Lord, when you're full of his word, um, when you're when you're full of the Holy Spirit on the inside, you get the peace, you get the shalom, you get the irony, the uh the soul assured of its salvation through Christ, fearing nothing. And so that's you know, that's the state that we ought to function in, live in on a daily basis. But we do live in a world and there is trouble, and I get it. Things happen. And so uh uh the apostle Paul, um, he's writing a letter here in in 2 Timothy, uh, in the first in the first verse of that, you know, this is his introduction, says Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise uh of life which is in Christ, to Timothy, a beloved son. He says, Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. So he's he's making a confession of grace, peace, and mercy. And we've already kind of discovered what the word peace there means. Uh so let's blow out a couple of these other words. Um, grace is God's influence, his ability, his unmerited favor uh and benefit for you. Um and and uh and and mercy is is is compassion, and it's not getting what you deserve in this context. Your sins have been forgiven, and the record of them have blotted out forever. And then he says, peace. So he's telling Timothy, let your soul be in a state of complete and perfect tranquility, being fully assured of your salvation through Christ, and absolutely fearing nothing. That's his confession, that's his greeting right there, right off the bat to Timothy, um, who's having a little bit of a hard time. Um and so if we if we go all the way down to uh verse six there in Timothy, in 2 Timothy chapter 1, it says, Therefore I remind you, um, let me back up. Well, in in verse 4, um he says that he greatly desired to see Timothy, and that he was mindful of Timothy's tears. Uh he's aware that Timothy's having a hard time. But Paul looks on the bright side. He said, That I may be filled to joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and Eunice, and I'm persuaded is in you also. So he's building Timothy up. There was a laying on of hands. He said, Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Something was imparted from Paul to Timothy. Paul knew what was put into Timothy. He was there when Timothy received it, and Timothy is just kind of having a hard time, so Paul's building him up. And he says, and that's when he says, For God has not given you the spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. So he's reminding Timothy what he has on the inside and what kind of spirit he is. Uh and so you know, when you can remember what kind of spirit you are and what you have on the inside, you can bring yourself out of that condition of anxiety and fear and sadness and into a sound, stable mind with peace and joy. Um in Philippians 4, um Paul talks about what kind of things to meditate on to maintain your peace. So in ver in Philippians 4 6, he said, Be anxious for nothing. So there's there's directives all the way through here. We started out with some directives. Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Uh he said, In me you may have peace. The world has tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. So you have peace, walk in that peace. Philippians 4 8, before six, be anxious for nothing but in everything. By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus. And so when you're meditating on the right things, the peace of God is there, and it will guard your heart and your mind. Um and that's, you know, I've experienced that personally. Claire and I have experienced that. I know many of you have experienced that. Uh one translation, I think it's in the in the amplified, it says that it will uh the peace of God will rise up and mount guard, it will garrison over your heart and mind. And so it's really a guarding and a protective thing to protect uh your spirit, your heart, your soul, uh, your way of thinking. It's a protection for you. So we've got to maintain these things. And how do we do that? By meditating on the right stuff. There's plenty of things that we can uh indulge in in the world. You can watch the news, you can listen to the radio, you can listen to all kinds of bad news. What are you reading? What are you putting into you? Um lots of people like to be the doomsday reporters and just report the the most awful things. And if that's all you listen to, you've got a picture of a pretty awful world, and and before you know it, you're you're taking on that way of thinking and you lose your peace. And and I know this because I shot six holes in my TV last week. I did not shoot my TV. I'm just joking. But but I could. If I wanted to, I could. Um, but we can't meditate on all those negative things in this world. There are good things to meditate on. And so in verse 8 it says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, things are just, pure, things are lovely, of good report, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy. So you're looking for the good things. If there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. Now, Galatians uh chapter 5, verse 22 is talking about the fruit of the spirit. And uh and here's where we can discover uh that peace is one of the fruits of the spirit. It says the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So peace is a fruit of the reborn or recreated spirit. Um, it's it's evidence of who you are, it's one of the pieces of evidence. If you are a recreated spirit, you're in Christ, peace comes with the territory. It's a fruit. Now you don't get the whole ripe fruit right away on on everything. Fruit is something that's grown. You know, it starts small and it's something that can grow in your life. And so we need to work on growing peace. Um, it's not a gift. There are gifts of the spirit, but peace is not one of those. Uh it's it's the product uh of the plant or the tree, and it takes on the characteristics on the seed that was sown that produced that plant or that tree. There was a seed that went in the ground, it grew into something, and the fruit is after the seed that was sown. It's after that kind, and so um uh fruit, it it it it uh it has to be maintained, it has to be cared for. And so that's why I say we have to protect our peace, because you can lose it. You could let it rot, you could let it fall to the ground, you could let it be underdeveloped. We gotta we gotta nourish our fruit and maintain and have good fruit in our lives after the fruit of the Spirit. Um in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus warned that you would know them by their fruits. He's talking about false prophets here or wolves that come in sheep's clothing. He said, You'll know them by their fruit. So we can identify the types of people that are that are out there by the fruit that they're producing, the fruit in their life. I know we're not supposed to judge people uh in the eternal sense, but we can judge the fruit. We can judge the the actions of people and recognize whether they're doing right or doing wrong, the intent. You know, I'll leave that to uh up to God. He's looking on the on the inside, we can look on the outside, but you can absolutely look at the fruit in people's life and know, you know, that person can't possibly be saved because they are not exhibiting any fruit of the Spirit. So, you know, you can you can look at these things and and know some stuff by people's fruit. Um in Hebrews, this is a good verse, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, it says, to lay aside every weight and sin which easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking into Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And so right here, there's weights and sin that can ensnare us. Weights and sin can uh are two things where you can lose your peace. Now the weights might not be anything um evil by themselves, they could be just extra weights that you're carrying in life, things that uh that you don't need to carry. Um not necessarily bad, just not the things that you need to be doing, not things that help you answer the call of God in your life. If God's got a direction for you, a call in your life to accomplish a certain purpose, and he does, he has a good plan for your life. And if what you're doing is not helping to accomplish that plan, it's it's extra, it's it it's it's possibly weighing you down. There are other things that are weights uh that can weigh you down, and and that would be the cares of the world. Um in uh Mark chapter 4, verse 18, it says, and this is talking about the word and the four kinds of dirt where it was sown. In verse 18 it says, Now these are the ones that are sown among the thorns. They are the ones who hear the word, and it says, And the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things come in and choke out the word. And so, in in this scripture where it's talking about four types of dirt and the seed that's been scattered in in four different places, um there are people out there who can receive the word and they're excited to receive it, and it's sown in their life, and it's been planted, but then they care about other things in the world. They let the cares of the world come in and choke out the world, and the word becomes unprofitable in their life because the cares have choked it out and replaced it. Goes back to what are we what are we meditating on? What are we thinking about? What are we doing? And so uh we can't be uh carrying other weights uh that really weigh us down. We're we're running a race, and we need to finish our race and do it uh wholeheartedly. Um, you know, God gave Pastor a warning, I think it was back in 2000, um, talking about the church and people being out of position, but it says he said that many are satiated with the cares of this world. That was God's warning to Pastor. And it says much of the care comes from the pursuit of the pleasure. So people can pursue pleasure, and it's not wrong to have a hobby, but if you're just focused on that and you leave God's word out, you'll end up loaded up with cares and weights because you're chasing after something that seems fun in life and you're missing the thing that matters right here. Um be anxious for nothing. Um that was the command. So in Matthew chapter 6, um in verse 25, and we'll just skip through a few verses here, uh, Scripture says, Do not worry about your life, what you'll put on, what you'll eat or what you'll drink, nor about your body what you'll put on. Uh, in verse 28. So why do you worry about clothing? Because I don't want to be naked in front of people. Um, but where are we going to get our clothes from? Um in verse 31 it says, Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after these things the Gentiles seek. In other words, everybody needs these things. This is not a new thing. He says, For your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things, but if you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all those other things are going to come with this territory. You can have all the things that you need and not worry about a single one of them when you're just chasing after the one thing, your first love, our sovereign, his word, and the things the Holy Spirit has for us. If we chase after those things, we don't have to worry about any of the other things. Um, it doesn't mean we don't have to work for them or go get them or acquire them. It just means we don't worry about them. We're not living a life of worry here. Um talking about people and people in your life, I want you to think about people that are in your life and and and the people that you have around you. You know, there's there are people and and and we need to be a supply, and we have a supply. So every joint supplies, and God pairs us up with people, and we can help people, and helping is good. So what I'm about to say, don't take it from the critical side that I'm I'm telling you not to help people, but there are people in this world that will drag you down right into the trouble that they're in the middle of all the time. They're going, they're in a crisis and another crisis, and everything is a crisis, and they'll be calling you about every crisis in their life, expecting you to help, and you want to be there for them, you want to love them, you want to encourage them, you want to help them, you want to build them up, you want to bring them something, put put something in their hand, and that's good. But if we do that too much, we're enabling that person to keep coming back to us, and we become what they need, and they can't do stuff for themselves. And so, you know, if you've ever gone bowling, um, you know, as as when I was a kid, we and a terrible bowler, maybe y'all are terrible bowlers and and you're older than that, and that's okay. But, you know, they got the bumpers that they put down in the gutter. And so, you know, we can do things to to help be a bumper for people and help guide them back into the middle and point them the right direction, but we can't bowl the whole game for them. And we can't be um we we can't be their savior. There's already a savior, and his name is Jesus, and I'm not it, and you're not it. And so, you know, we can't carry other people's weights and carry their anxieties and their fears and their troubles. We can't carry that stuff for them. What we can do is we can point them to God's word and we can train them up in the way they should go. We can feed them God's word so that they can become doers of God's word. And when they do this word, it will work in their life and they'll stop being in every crisis and calling you on the phone. So point them to God's word so they don't keep calling you. Sound like a plan? Um, you know, then you got other people in life that are just awful to get along with. People that just treat you bad, you might have them at work, they could be in your own family. Um, I hope they're not here in in this church. But people are people, and and some of them can be pretty awful. Uh on our side, Hebrews 12, verse 14, it says, to pursue peace with all people and holiness without which uh no one will see the Lord, looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, uh, lest a root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. And so, you know, we need to be looking for peace with people and not looking and not doing things to stir stuff up. If we if there's a hot button issue with somebody, maybe we don't touch that. Maybe we just kind of tiptoe around that and let's let's work to have peace with people around us in our daily lives. Um, on our side, if if we contend with that person on a regular basis, it can start with a small thing, and that small thing can be a seed of bitterness that starts on the inside. You end up with a root of bitterness that grows up and it says it defiles a person. And that word defile means mud in your eye. In other words, it can cause you to get to a condition where you can't even see and recognize right from wrong. You just get so fed up and so angry and so bitter, and we can't ever let ourselves get to that point because when you're bitter, you have no peace. And you have the bitterness because you didn't protect your peace. Now, we are not doormats, and you don't have to take anything. And everything from people all the time. Show people grace. Show people mercy and kindness. You don't know what it is they're going going through. And sometimes people lash out and and and react in a bad way. And if you just find a way to feel sorry for them and have compassion on them, it'll be easier to minister to them. But if this is a continuing thing where they're just that's the kind of fruit that they have in their life, you know, we need to put some distance between us and them. And so in uh in Romans chapter 12, um, and and I'm going to read out of verse 17, um, but this this previous verses here is really talking about uh the the ways a Christian should behave here. So in verse 17 it says, Repay no one evil for evil, have regard for good things in the sight of all men. Verse 18, if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. And so we're trying to maintain our peace, trying to protect our peace. So if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. But if that doesn't work, give them hell. Okay, it doesn't say that. But it's really just as much as depends on you. You can't make people live peaceably with you. If they're not going to live peaceably with you, it's time to put distance, it's time to get them out of your house, out of your space, set the boundaries, set the expectations. Look, you know, I love you, mom, but you're treating me awful. My mom doesn't treat me awful. But, you know, if you've got someone in your family, you don't have to let that in your house. You need to have a sanctuary at home. Your home needs to be a place of peace where you don't let that behavior come in. They can come in if they're gonna be nice, but if they're not, they need to leave. And the same goes true in this church. You know, if people come in here and and and they're gonna be disruptive and they're they're gonna cause a problem and they're gonna uh be doing all kinds of mean, ugly, nasty, and terrible things on a regular frequency, we will invite them to leave. And we have. And and we just won't allow that. You know, and so on on the church side, yes, we want to be a sanctuary, we want to be a hospital, we want to help people, but not everybody's gonna be helped, and they're not all gonna be helped by you. There is help for them, but this might not be the place for them. And and the people that are here, um, we have more of a responsibility to protect the atmosphere of peace in this place than we have to to that person who came in here with bad motives. And so we're gonna protect the atmosphere of peace in this place. Um, you know, we're talking about weights and and and now sin. Sin is something that separates you from the uh the fellowship with God. Now we are a reborn person, we are saved uh by grace through faith, um, but that doesn't give us a license to sin. And when we do sin, uh it breaks the communication between our, really between our our our our our soul and our our our reborn spirit and our heavenly father. It breaks down the communication. You won't hear things as well through from the Holy Spirit. You you're you're kind of putting distance there. And that's what Jesus groaned and he was so distressed over was when he was looking at the cross, knowing that he was going to be separated from the presence of his father. That was the worst thing for him, and that's what sin does. And he took on not just one, he took on the entire sin of the entire world, the weight of all of that, and he had complete separation from his father. Um on the inside, though, we you know, we we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And our recreated human spirit will never agree with anything that violates this word. And so you can lose your peace on the inside when you begin to do things that violate this word. And so that losing of peace, we want to protect peace, we want to have it and maintain it. Um, the further I get away from that word, the worse I feel. The closer I get to this word, the better I feel inside. And so there's peace that comes with doing this word and not violating this word, talking about maintaining our peace or protecting our peace. Um, and you know, the Holy Spirit will warn you by a feeling of uneasiness on the inside. He's not giving you uneasiness, it's just that you're going in a direction that's not safe, that's not right, that's a dangerous thing for you, and you start to lose your peace. That's the inward witness of the Holy Spirit communicating with your spirit. Your brain doesn't quite figure it out yet, but you know, let's move back to a position where we have that peace again, and that's a safe place. That's that's safety for you when you have that peace, uh, the inward witness. Um, bad decisions, not walking in God's perfect plan for your life, uh, will cause you to lose your peace. Uh in Ephesians 5, verse 15, it says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. It's not always clear, you know, do I go left at this stop sign? Do I go right? Can I go on this trip? Should I take this job? Should I buy this house? Should I move to this city? It's not written explicitly in God's word the answers to these things. Um, but we've got to seek first the kingdom of God, his righteousness, and I know that these things will be added to me. And it and it and I've got to be not unwise, but I have to understand what the will of the Lord is. It gives you a warning, don't be drunk with wine. Uh, that's excess. And uh it it but it says, but be being filled with the Spirit. And so, you know, you've got the Holy Spirit on the inside of you, but we've got to stay full of that. We've got to stir that up on a regular frequency. How do you do that? Verse 19, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord and giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another in the fear of God. And so I mean when you do these things, um speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks, you're building an atmosphere of peace all the way around you. It's in that atmosphere of peace that it's a lot easier to discern and decipher the will of God. You're praying, you're seeking, you're in his presence, you're asking things, he's responding to you. You're getting answers on your spirit, your spirit's beginning to know things. Those answers are beginning to rise up, and your brain gets to know some things that your spirit knows when you're in that atmosphere. And you've created that atmosphere because you did these things listed there in verse 18. So there's an atmosphere of peace. Um we have an atmosphere of peace in this building, in this church, on this property. There's an atmosphere of peace. People walk in those lobby doors, they come in this sanctuary. It is it's not comical, it's just it's it's entertaining for people to come in here for the first time and they just recognize something different. They can't always put it into words. And so, you know, last night we had a forum here with uh six candidates up on this stage, and and one of them acknowledged at the end of the night, um, and I'll give it away because uh it's a she. And so if you watch the forum, there was only one she, and so you'll know who it is, but whatever. Um so she was just excited at the end of the night. She said, I I don't know what it is about this place that there was music playing in here, and it just it felt so peaceful, and I just felt so good to be in this room. I don't I I want to bring people to this church, people need to come here. She said she hasn't really been here to this church, but she just people need to hear and what you got. I want to bring some of the kids that came with me tonight. I want to come back to church. And she said, it was when I walked up on this stage, there was this feeling, and I just felt capable and strong and and and and at peace. And it was just comical to me. She's trying to describe the presence of God. And I said, Let me tell you what it is. There's a lot of prayer that happens in this room, there's a lot of praise that happens in this room, a lot of worship that happens in this room, and there's an atmosphere of peace, there's a presence of God, and it lingers in this place, and you're experiencing that and benefiting from it right now. That's what that is. So she's not familiar with it. But there's there's dozens of stories like that. People coming in here and just recognizing there's a feeling, there's a perception, there's a something different about this place. We've had all kinds of meetings outside this church where this room is full of people who would otherwise be contentious, and somehow there's just a peace that happens. And that doesn't happen by doing nothing. It happens because we maintain an atmosphere in this place. We're protecting the peace of God, and the peace of God rules in this place, and it's different, and it's just fun to see when people recognize it. So let me take a minute and talk about the uh the job of the pastor, um, and then we'll wrap up tonight's message. Um so the role of our pastor, and then I'll talk about how this relates here, but Ephesians 4 verse 11, it says some gave he and he himself gave some to be apostles and some prophets, evangelists, some pastors and teachers for this purpose, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of stature of the fullness of Christ. And so there is a maturing that happens with the all of these ministries, the fivefold ministries right here. Um there's a unification that happens when we're all being unified around uh the truth of God's word. There's a building up and strengthening of the body of Christ and an equipping for the saints to be equipped for the work of the ministry. So this is the fivefold ministry, is there to really build up believers for the work of the believers' ministry, which happens, it's the multiplication that Jesus said he was going to have when he said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And so the fivefold ministry. So the pastor is one of the fivefold ministry uh with this description. In Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17 says, Obey those who have who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your soul. So the rule over you, this is talking about ministry leaders who uh there's an order, there's a hierarchy. Now they're not they're not uh uh micromanaging your life and and and telling you every little thing to do, and they're not abusive that way, but it says that they watch after your souls and it's your way of thinking, and they will give an account to God for how they taught you and how they built you up and how they encouraged you and how they fed you. And it says, let them do so with joy and not grief, because that would be unprofitable for you. So they're here for your profit, for your benefit. You want to make sure that those in ministry leadership, um, it's not it's not a burden and it's not miserable for them to serve you. It would be it would it's to your own hurt and detriment when the one who's serving you and feeding you and building you up is miserable doing it because you're a miserable person. So don't be a miserable person. Make it easy on your pastor to pastor you, to equip you, to encourage you, to feed you God's word and and uh and set you up for success. Now in 1 Peter 5, verse 2, um, it says, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, not for being lords over those entrusted to entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of glory that does not fade away. So again, talking about you know someone in the pastoral role, the pastor is is really a shepherding kind of a role. Um and you think about you know, and and Jesus is the chief shepherd. And so, you know, pastors, they're they're underling shepherds, they're they're lesser shepherds, but they have a similar job description. Um and and and a shepherd, you know, that the role of the shepherd is to lead, to feed, and to guard. That's a good description of a of a pastor, lead, feed, and guard. Now, three days ago in Minneapolis, uh, there were anti-ICE protesters that invaded a church. This was uh city's church, Minneapolis, and they they came in, they disrupted the service, they shut down the Christian worship there, and and it says these press protesters were threatening to spread their model to other major cities. Um watching the video of these protesters planted in the service and coming in and completely disrupting and shutting down the service, and this poor pastor up here being drowned out by their shoutings was not able to do anything effective to get them out. And let me tell you, that will never happen here. Because people that come in that want to disrupt and cause a problem, they're gonna get stopped out there in the parking lot. They're not gonna make it in this place, and if they do make it in this place, we're gonna pick them up and haul them out. And that's the least that we will do. But we are prepared to protect and shepherd this flock, to lead, feed, and guard. And so I thought about that pastor. What leading did he do? How is he leading that congregation? In what way was he leading them? Because those people seem so ill, ill-prepared and unequipped. What was he feeding them? I don't know. Maybe they're just having milk in that place. Maybe it's a room full of babies and they're having milk and they haven't really grown up yet in the things of God, but but he was not prepared to guard at all. And it just kind of made me feel sad inside because the role of the pastor is also to guard, to lead, feed, and guard. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, I shall not lack or decrease or fail. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, leads me beside the still waters, restores my soul. All of that is a description of peace. So a shepherd is gonna bring that flock into a position of peace, to have peace in your life. And that's what this message is about. So you have peace in your life. If you find yourself in trouble, um, you got to know that you got the helper on the inside of you, the Holy Spirit, the one, the comforter that Jesus said he was gonna leave you. I'm leaving you disciples, but I'm gonna leave you my peace. And the comforter is gonna come, and he's gonna administer this peace to you. And so uh peace will never lead you into trouble, peace will lead you out of trouble. Peace will never lead you into trouble, it leads you into blessing. Follow peace. You will never miss the Holy Spirit if you follow peace. Um, if you want more peace, just remember that it's a it's a fruit and it needs to be grown, and so you can feed on God's word. Set the atmosphere of peace in your home. Ensure that your home is a safe haven, a sanctuary. Don't let other things in there. Don't let things come in and violate that atmosphere. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Read your Bible, feed on his faithfulness, pray with your own understanding and also pray in the uh in the Holy Spirit. Be being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord and giving thanks always. Lay aside the weights, lay aside the sins, be a spirit led somebody who's following that peace, and you will stay right in the middle of God's plan for your life. You will never miss it. And when trouble comes, the peace of God will rise up on the inside of you and it will mount guard over your heart and mind. And so protect your peace. If you protect your peace, your peace will take care of you.