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Good morning. 
Today's last sermon of the year 

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and we want to go out with a 
bang. 

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We want to go out with a bang. 
It's also the first sermon as we

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lead towards the new year, the 
2026, and we want to start off 

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with a bang. 
The idea of starting with a bang

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and ending with a bang are both 
ideas that come from the idea of

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a race or a competition or 
something like that. 

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So you've got a large field or 
something along those lines and 

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you want to get people going 
started at the same time. 

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You want to end at the same 
time. 

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So you have a starter gun or a 
beat, a drum or something like 

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that. 
You have a Big Bang at the 

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beginning, a Big Bang at the 
end. 

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In order to get going, we do 
that same kind of an imagery 

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with the benediction, which is 
what comes at the end of every 

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worship service. 
At the end of every worship 

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service, we try to do a 
benediction. 

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That is, we try to end with a 
Big Bang, try to send things off

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in that regard. 
Over the past seven years, while

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I've been pastor here, I have 
ended each year with a 

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benediction sermon. 
I believe I haven't missed one 

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of them. 
And I've, what I've done is I've

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taken the benediction that we've
used throughout the year as 

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closing out our worship service 
and use it time to close out the

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year and also to launch us into 
the next year. 

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And so we're about to look at a 
benediction. 

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And then the point of this is to
say, Hey, how do we understand 

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what God has done in 2025? 
Just like the benediction at the

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end of a worship service is 
supposed to summarize the 

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worship service. 
It's supposed to be God's last 

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good word to us as we go out 
into the day. 

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So what, what have we done 
during this worship service? 

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Well, the benediction kind of 
summarizes that for us. 

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And then also at the start of 
the new year, at the start as we

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go out into this world after the
worship service, well, what's 

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the, what are we supposed to do 
in the upcoming week? 

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We have in being launched into 
the world, we are launched with 

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this benediction. 
Well, we are going to do the 

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same thing here today, but kind 
of encapsulate the whole year. 

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What is the year 2025 been like?
How do we close out 25 with a 

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bang? 
And especially then, how do we 

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start 26 with a bang? 
And we are going to look at a 

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familiar benediction. 
It should be somewhat familiar 

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to those of you who worship 
frequently with us because I 

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have attempted over the past 
number of months here to close 

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each worship service that we've 
had with this particular 

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benediction. 
And as always, I like the 

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imagery of standing when the 
Lord speaks to us. 

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So if you are able, please stand
for the word of the Lord from 

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Philippians chapter 4, verse 7. 
And the peace of God, which 

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surpasses all understanding, 
will guard your hearts and your 

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minds in Christ Jesus. 
Once again, the peace of God, 

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which surpasses all 
understanding will guard your 

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hearts and your minds in Christ 
Jesus. 

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My friends, this is the word of 
the Lord. 

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Thanks be to God. 
Dear Lord and Father, we do pray

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that You would bless us with the
ability to understand these 

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words, not just intellectually, 
but to understand them deep in 

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our hearts so that we might be 
transformed by it. 

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Lord, You have given Your word 
to us so that we might be made 

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new, more and more shaped into 
the image of Your Son. 

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So make it so, we pray through 
Christ our Lord, we ask, Amen. 

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Please be seated. 
So the benediction, the peace of

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God, which surpasses all 
understanding, will guard your 

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hearts and your minds in Christ 
Jesus. 

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I hope you can see the 
appropriateness of the song that

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Brendan LED us through right 
here right before the sermon. 

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It fits very well with this. 
As a matter of fact, it's it 

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fits so well that at the end of 
the sermon, I'm going to ask 

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Brendan to do it again. 
Sorry, I had to check to make 

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sure he was OK with that. 
He stuck his thumb in the air. 

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So here's the reason why this 
benediction, I think fits so 

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well for us today. 
Some of it is context. 

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If you have your Bibles or your 
phones available, you can find 

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out in verse 6 that the verse 
immediately preceding this verse

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which talks about the peace of 
God, which surpasses all 

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understanding, which guards our 
hearts and our minds in Christ 

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Jesus. 
The immediate verse before that 

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talks about do not be anxious, 
do not be anxious about anything

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but in prayer and petition. 
Bring your request anything. 

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Make your request made known to 
God. 

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Do not be anxious about anything
because and then the point of 

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verse 7. 
The peace of God will guard your

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hearts and your minds in Christ 
Jesus. 

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And So what we want to do is 
check to make sure that 

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everybody here has had and they 
can identify a moment of anxiety

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in their life, perhaps sometime 
over this past year, if maybe 

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you can expect or anticipate 
that there will be a moment of 

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anxiety in the year 2026. 
And how does God speak to us in 

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light of such a persistent 
concern that so many of us 

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experience rather frequently 
these momentary bouts of 

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anxiety? 
Well, this benediction, and now 

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a benediction is a good word. 
That's a Latin for good word. 

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And the idea is it's the last 
good word of the year. 

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So what what I'm trying to 
accomplish here with this 

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benediction is to say, look, 
regardless of what happened in 

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your past year and if your year 
was like mine, it had some ups 

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and it had some downs. 
It was chaos. 

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It was filled with trauma. 
It's filled filled with 

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difficulties. 
It was also filled with joys and

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blessings. 
What's the best way to look at 

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it? 
Well, what I'm suggesting is 

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that this benediction wrapping 
up the year is the way in which 

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I hope God allows you to think 
about this past year. 

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Not only that, how do you look 
at the year ahead as we are sent

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forth into this world, As we're 
sent forth into this upcoming 

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year, how do we anticipate or 
think through what God has had 

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planned for us? 
I think wrapping yourself and 

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starting your idea with this 
benediction is a great way to do

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it. 
Now Why so do not be anxious 

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about anything in light of the 
struggles and and of course 

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there are levels of anxiety 
there can rise to a significant 

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mental issue. 
It can be a temporary issue for 

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us. 
It can be an acute, it can be 

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chronic. 
All of these different ideas, 

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but certainly all of us have 
some experience with what it 

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means to be anxious in light of 
that here. 

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This promise, the peace of God, 
which surpasses all 

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understanding, will guard your 
hearts and your minds in Christ 

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Jesus, the peace of God. 
Now, whenever we talk about 

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peace in church settings, you 
always have to warn against the 

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marshmallow spirituality. 
A marshmallow spirituality is 

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one of those things that, Gee, 
it kind of looks good and it's 

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there and it's look nice and 
fluffy and it's all, you know, 

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kind of sugary and stuff like 
that. 

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But let's face it, there's very 
little substance there. 

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And that's, I think a lot of 
times when we talk about peace 

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of God, when we talk about peace
of God as believers, we can be 

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slipped, we can slip into this 
idea of this marshmallow 

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spirituality where what are we 
talking about? 

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Well, we're talking about 
something cute and sweet and and

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nice, but really lacks any 
serious substance. 

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It lacks any concrete idea. 
Well, this verse plays out a 

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concrete idea of the peace of 
God for us in such a way that I 

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hope that it will serve as a way
for you to think about your past

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year and also for how you think 
about this upcoming year, the 

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peace of God. 
Now, if you've been around 

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church for very frequently, we 
have at this church commented a 

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couple of times over this past 
year and before that about what 

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we're talking about when we when
we talk about peace. 

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Peace is a very loaded biblical 
term. 

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For most of us, especially 
coming out of the Christmas 

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season, peace is the absence of 
conflict. 

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If you got through your 
Christmas Day without fighting 

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with your siblings or something 
along those lines, that was a 

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peaceful time. 
So it's peace is measured by the

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fact that, you know, there 
wasn't too much chaos going on. 

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Good. 
That's a peaceful moment. 

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That's the way in which we tend 
to use peace as a contrast to 

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conflict. 
So you've got war and you've got

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peace, you've got the, you know,
difficulties, you've got a 

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peaceful time, etcetera, 
etcetera. 

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So we tend to think of peace 
just in that format. 

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So if you think of the peace of 
God in that regard, you're 

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thinking in terms of, well, 
things are peaceful, they're 

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steady, they're non conflictual,
but it biblically peace means so

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much more than that. 
Peace is caught is tied to the 

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Hebrew concept of Shalom. 
The Hebrew concept of Shalom is 

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1 where we talk about a 
wholeness or a completeness or a

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fullness. 
It's a satisfying your, your 

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purpose in creation. 
What did God create for you? 

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When you are satisfying that 
purpose, then you are at peace. 

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It doesn't mean the absence of 
conflict because conflict 

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actually can happen in the midst
or can be swirling around you. 

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Chaos can't happen around you. 
And it's something I think we're

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going to see in a few minutes 
here. 

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Conflict can be happening, and 
yet the peace of God can be 

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present because there can be 
that sense of a wholeness, A 

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satisfaction, A completeness 
that takes place across the 

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board with a person. 
And here I think you see it. 

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But notice that we're not 
talking about peace. 

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We're talking about the peace of
God, Peace of God. 

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Now, I think that there's a 
number of different ways you can

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understand that phrase. 
We can understand it, I think, 

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in in two ways that both make 
some sense to us. 

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It's the peace from God. 
It's the peace that God gives. 

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And so when we're talking about 
a wholeness, completeness, 

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satisfaction, a way of being 
true to what God has created you

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to be, the peace from God is 
that sense and awareness that 

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you are completely fitting into 
God's purpose for your life at 

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this particular moment. 
It's a satisfaction. 

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It's a sense and awareness that,
hey, I am doing that which God 

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has created me to do. 
That's the kind of peace that 

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comes from God. 
But the peace of God is also the

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peace that belongs to God. 
It's the peace that he has. 

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Now picture for a second 
anxiety, because again, this is 

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happening within the context of 
being anxious. 

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And God, God is utterly and 
completely devoid of anxiety. 

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He is so because he holds the 
future. 

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He there, there is no doubt in 
our Lord, there is no confusion 

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in our God. 
And so we have the peace of God,

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the peace that belongs to God, 
that certainty, assurance of the

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God's own purpose and intent in 
this world that is being 

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communicated to us. 
That is what comes to us. 

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The peace of God is both what he
has, but also what he gives to 

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us. 
So when we're talking about the 

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peace of God here in the midst 
of an anxious situation or a 

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troubled time, we are talking 
about the peace that God himself

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has and possesses, that inner 
certainty of our Lord himself 

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that he communicates to his 
children, to his people, the 

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peace of God, which surpasses 
all understanding. 

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Now, just in a knee jerk sense, 
my guess is that both of you, 

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that everybody here kind of has 
a sense of what that means. 

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It's a, it's a piece of God that
surpasses our understanding. 

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It's marvelous, it's majestic, 
it's wonderful. 

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It's beyond our understanding. 
And that's what the phrase 

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intends. 
But we can shorten it. 

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We can confuse it a little bit. 
I used to love going into 

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bookstores. 
I love going into bookstores 

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because I'd walk down all the 
aisles and I'd sit there and you

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know, here's a military history 
aisle, here's a business aisle, 

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here's a psychology aisle and 
all. 

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And you're walking down the 
aisles of the bookstores and I'm

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sitting there thinking, wow, all
of this stuff I get to learn. 

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All of this stuff I get to learn
because there's lots that I'm 

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not that I don't know, and I get
to learn all this stuff. 

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Now I go through a bookstore. 
I'm depressed because I go 

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through, I think all this stuff 
that I'll never get to learn, 

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you know, because I'm getting 
too old now I won't be able to 

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learn all these things. 
We have a there, there's a 

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possibility that you sit and 
think that the peace of God, 

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which surpasses all 
understanding means that it's 

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that it's that it's unknown. 
It's a piece of God that is 

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unknown to our understanding 
that we that we don't understand

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it. 
You know, it's like physics or 

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psychology or something, or 
intimate relations. 

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You know, it's, it's stuff that 
you can't put your finger on. 

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You just can't know it. 
It's out there, but you just 

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can't know it. 
I don't think that's what Paul's

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getting at when he says here 
that the peace of God is beyond 

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surpasses our understanding. 
It's not that it's unknown, it's

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that it's unknowable. 
It is far beyond what we can put

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our fingers on. 
It's far beyond what we can 

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understand because it's beyond 
human comprehension. 

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We are not designed to 
comprehend this peace that God 

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gives. 
We are designed simply to live 

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in it and to experience it and 
to acknowledge. 

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Have you ever had somebody who's
in the been with somebody, a 

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believer who's in the midst of a
traumatic situation? 

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They're in the midst of a horrid
situation and yet there is that 

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peace. 
They're exuding that peace of 

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God, and you sense it as a 
fellow believer. 

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You're walking with them and 
you're just as stunned by the 

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peace in which they are exuding 
that they're communicating. 

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They could be in turmoil, but 
they have this peace that is 

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communicated. 
If you ask them about it, I 

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guarantee you they'll stumble 
around. 

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They'll go well, you know, just 
something that God gives, 

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etcetera, etcetera. 
Why? 

250
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Because it's beyond 
understanding. 

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00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:10,120
It's outside of our human 
ability to grasp, because it's a

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picture of God's divine work in 
our lives. 

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The peace of God which surpasses
all understanding, will guard, 

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00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:25,360
will guard. 
Now I have, if anybody's been 

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00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,040
paying attention, my guess is 
nobody has. 

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00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,360
I have shifted throughout the 
whole year. 

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00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,200
I've shifted when we've 
delivered this benediction at 

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00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:35,360
the end of every worship 
service. 

259
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,240
I've shifted the modality of the
verb. 

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All right, what does that mean? 
The text says that the peace of 

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God will guard your hearts and 
your minds. 

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At the end of every benediction.
I shifted it into a benediction,

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into a into a blessing to go 
forward. 

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May the Lord guard our hearts 
and our may the peace of the 

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Lord guard our hearts and our 
minds. 

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I've shifted it to a 
possibility, to a hope, to an 

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expectation of what God will do.
That's not what the text says. 

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The text doesn't say may the 
peace of Lord guard your hearts 

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and minds. 
It says the peace of the Lord 

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00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,720
will guard our hearts and our 
minds in Christ Jesus. 

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It is a promise that the Lord is
making. 

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00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:23,880
This is not something that is 
optional. 

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This is not something that we 
hope for. 

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00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,280
This is not something that if 
I'm a good enough Christian, God

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00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:31,400
will satisfy. 
This is not something. 

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This is something that rests 
completely and totally with the 

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00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:38,400
giver of the gift, God himself 
and the promises for every 

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00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,840
believer in this room that for 
the past 2025 and for moving 

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00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,800
into 2026, not that made God. 
Boy, I really hope God, the 

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peace of God, guards my heart 
and mind. 

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00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:53,240
It is a promise that God, that 
the peace of God, will guard 

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00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,640
your heart and your mind. 
It's not a possibility. 

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00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,400
It is a promise from the Lord 
Himself. 

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00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:01,880
The modality of the verb, the 
way in which the verb is 

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00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,480
structured in the text, makes it
clear that this is not a wish, a

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00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,320
hopeful expectation. 
This is a reality for the 

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00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:11,840
believer. 
What's the reality that the 

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00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:16,240
peace of God, which surpasses 
all understanding, will guard 

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00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,760
your hearts and your mind? 
Now, guarding is a military 

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00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:21,520
term. 
Guarding. 

291
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,240
Here we can think of guarding 
and somebody guarding somebody 

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00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:27,040
else or something. 
Guarding something. 

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00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,720
We can think of it a lot of 
different ways, but the text is 

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00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,120
fairly clear that it's a 
military term across the board. 

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00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:36,720
What we're talking about now, 
Philippi was a city on the top 

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00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,560
northern Greece, and in northern
Greece was close enough to the 

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00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,800
frontier that in order to 
protect the city, you built a 

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00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,720
big strong wall and then you 
garrisoned it with soldiers who 

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00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,200
were responsible for guarding 
the population. 

300
00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,320
They guarded and protected the 
population by walking the 

301
00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,000
perimeter of the wall and the 
wall itself was this guard or 

302
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,520
this protection for the 
population that lived inside. 

303
00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:05,280
We live in a time period where 
our military experiences such 

304
00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,319
with bombs and with explosives 
and stuff like that, that we no 

305
00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:15,160
longer really appreciate the 
impenetrability of a good stout 

306
00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:17,960
wall. 
The city would be surrounded. 

307
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,319
So think in terms of a castle or
a fortress or something like 

308
00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:24,119
that. 
Today, in today's weapons, a 

309
00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,359
castle or a fortress doesn't 
stand much chance. 

310
00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,160
You launch a couple bombs at it 
and blows the walls down and 

311
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,360
that's it. 
But before the coming of bombs 

312
00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:35,200
and stuff like that, even with 
catapults and those kind of 

313
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,040
things, a strong wall would 
defend the city and make it 

314
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:43,080
basically impenetrable. 
And what God is saying here is 

315
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,720
the peace of God will surround 
you, will guard you, will 

316
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,560
protect you in such a way that 
nothing will penetrate it. 

317
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,840
And this is a protection, a 
fortress that God is providing 

318
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,880
around you. 
This is not something that you 

319
00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:58,920
are doing. 
This is not something that the 

320
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,920
that you do because you really 
hope that you're capable and 

321
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,960
strong enough to do. 
This is something that God 

322
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,880
himself does, builds this hedge 
of protection around his people.

323
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,720
And it is an impenetrable hedge.
And that hedge is the peace of 

324
00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,840
God itself. 
And so the peace of God will 

325
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:19,240
guard our hearts and our minds, 
hearts and minds. 

326
00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,920
Again, it's a small shift, but 
it's an important enough one. 

327
00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,160
When we think in terms of hearts
and minds, we tend to think of 

328
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,120
the heart is the seed of the 
emotions. 

329
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,400
That's where we do our emoting 
and our, and our feeling and 

330
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,040
stuff like that. 
And our heads, our minds are, is

331
00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,320
the seed of our intellect. 
It's where we we think things 

332
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:40,960
through and stuff like that. 
And so you can read the passages

333
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:46,120
saying, you know, God's peace is
guarding our and our feeling. 

334
00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:48,560
It's guarding our hearts and our
minds and stuff like that. 

335
00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:53,040
But in reality, back in in the 
day in which the text was 

336
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,320
written for us, hearts and minds
were basically synonyms. 

337
00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:58,120
They largely meant the same 
thing. 

338
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,000
They were talking about the 
inner life of the person. 

339
00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:04,720
What is your, what's your inner 
life? 

340
00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,840
Not just their feelings. 
That's part of it, but also 

341
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,920
your, your will, your volition, 
your, your awareness, your sense

342
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:18,200
of of, of your own personality, 
your consciousness, your will, 

343
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,440
your desire to do different 
things, your understanding of 

344
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,160
different ideas, your wisdom. 
All of that is seated in the 

345
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,680
heart. 
When the scriptures talk about 

346
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,520
the heart of a man or something 
like that, they're not talking 

347
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,560
about the the emotional center. 
They're talking about that inner

348
00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:35,760
core of everything in what 
you're doing. 

349
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,840
Now, Paul makes a big deal, I 
hear out of separating the heart

350
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,720
and the mind uses the different 
keywords that that make sure 

351
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,840
that we realize that he's not 
using them as synonyms, but they

352
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:50,720
kind of function the same way. 
When we're talking about our 

353
00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:54,080
hearts being guarded, we're 
talking about the inner life of 

354
00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,600
the human being being guarded by
God's peace. 

355
00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,760
When we're talking about the 
mind being guarded, that's kind 

356
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,920
of the outworking of that inner 
life. 

357
00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,520
The inner life is being 
protected, but also the 

358
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,560
outworkings, the way in which we
are operating in light of the 

359
00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,680
inner being being at peace. 
And So what Paul is identifying 

360
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,920
here is he's saying, look, 
because of the work of God, 

361
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:22,080
because of the peace of God 
which surrounds your heart and 

362
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:26,160
surrounds your mind, not only 
are you at peace inside, but 

363
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,720
also the way in which you 
express, the way in which you 

364
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,000
engage with the world around you
is also at peace. 

365
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:38,680
That's what it means that God's 
peace guards our surrounds, 

366
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:42,720
protects, puts a hedge of 
protection around our hearts and

367
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,640
our minds, both who we are. 
Sometimes you will experience 

368
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,200
you will interact with somebody 
that is showing peace on the 

369
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,360
outside but is not peaceful on 
the inside. 

370
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,880
Sometimes we. 
Know people that are peaceful on

371
00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:02,720
the outside but may not 
demonstrate it on the outside. 

372
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,200
Did I say that right? 
You know what, I OK, switch it 

373
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:07,480
around. 
You know what I meant. 

374
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:12,360
In any case, the point is here 
that Paul is saying, look, 

375
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,160
because of the power of the 
peace of God, because it deals 

376
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,600
with something that is God 
himself, because it is something

377
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:24,240
that he has, and he gives this 
inner sense of Shalom, 

378
00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,760
completeness, totality. 
And because he is protecting you

379
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:32,160
from that, not only is your 
inner being protected, but also 

380
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,760
the way in which you present, 
the way in which you manifest 

381
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,440
that on the outside that is 
being protected by our God. 

382
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,800
Now doesn't that sound glorious?
If that doesn't. 

383
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:44,880
Sound glorious. 
What are you doing here? 

384
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,360
No, that sounds glorious. 
That sounds wonderful. 

385
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,360
Why in the world don't we see 
this? 

386
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:58,720
Why are we? 
Not a people that this world 

387
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,480
yearns to be like because they 
look and they sit and they see 

388
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,200
us in the midst of our family 
turmoil and are, by the way, 

389
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:11,240
when we are being guarded, when 
God guards us, he guards us 

390
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,360
because there are opponents that
are coming. 

391
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,560
There is an enemy that is 
attacking. 

392
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,440
There is anxiety that is coming 
for each of us. 

393
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,080
There is no promise in this 
text, by the way, that the peace

394
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,880
of God will make sure that you 
don't experience anything 

395
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:30,160
negative. 
It's just the opposite. 

396
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:34,120
God is saying because the 
negative is out there because of

397
00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:37,320
the trauma is coming, because of
the struggles that are present, 

398
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,360
God's peace will guard your 
heart and your mind. 

399
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,560
It's not that God takes the 
Christian out of the troubles of

400
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,160
this world. 
God enables a Christian to live 

401
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,000
faithfully in the midst of the 
troubles of this world. 

402
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,040
So we have the troubles of the 
world that are coming. 

403
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,560
And when we see the troubles of 
the world crashing in upon us, 

404
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,680
why is it that the whole world 
doesn't sit there and think, 

405
00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,360
Man, I want to be like a 
Christian that is so guarded and

406
00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:07,280
protected by that peace. 
Because the peace of God, which 

407
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:10,480
surpasses all understanding, 
will guard our hearts and our 

408
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:16,280
minds in Christ Jesus. 
In Christ. 

409
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,560
Jesus. 
This is not a. 

410
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:23,240
Cutesy Christian phrase that 
Paul just attaches to things. 

411
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,240
This is Paul's intimate 
understanding of what it means 

412
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:33,200
to be united with Christ, to be 
bonded to him, to be one with 

413
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,640
Christ, to be so tied up with 
the Lord Jesus Christ that we 

414
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:43,280
are understood to be at one with
him, to be linked together in 

415
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,280
such a way meaningfully that we 
are united with Christ. 

416
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,720
All of that is subsumed under 
his little phrase in Christ 

417
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,960
Jesus. 
So the in Christ Jesus is 

418
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:58,400
articulating the way in which as
Christians we are intended to 

419
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,160
live. 
So many of us deny the length 

420
00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:06,200
that we are born that we are 
blessed with through our union 

421
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,960
with Jesus Christ. 
That is, we are connected to 

422
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:14,280
Him, we are united with Him, and
as such, we experience this 

423
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:19,040
blessed union with the Lord that
needs to show itself in the way 

424
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:24,320
in which He works in our lives. 
So often we are given a gift. 

425
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,480
And we turn it. 
Away we are given the blessing, 

426
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:34,880
the promise of peace, of this 
protective peace, and because we

427
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:40,720
do not know how to live united 
with Christ, in union with him, 

428
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:45,640
we lose sight of that blessing 
that the Lord has built around 

429
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,440
us, that protection of His 
goodness and His grace. 

430
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,040
When? 
I read over this weekend a 

431
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,960
series of essays over this past 
week, a series of essays trying 

432
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:02,760
to evaluate 2025. 
And some of the authors were 

433
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,120
trying to say that it was the 
worst year that has ever lived 

434
00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:08,840
in existence. 
And other people were arguing 

435
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,400
that it was the best year in all
existence. 

436
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,520
And the point was to read the 
two articles next to each other 

437
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,160
and see what you think. 
When? 

438
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,200
You look at 2025, what do you 
see? 

439
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,080
I suggest. 
That if you're a follower of 

440
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:30,160
Jesus Christ and you are united 
with him, what you see is the 

441
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,600
peace of God building that hedge
of protection around your life. 

442
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,040
You may not have lived 
faithfully into it. 

443
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,040
You may not admit it, You may 
not embrace that hedge of 

444
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:45,280
protection, but my guess is it 
won't take long before you see 

445
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:51,680
that hedge at work when you look
forward to 2026 and 2026 is 

446
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,480
going to have all the chaos and 
more of 2025. 

447
00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:00,080
It's going to have all the joys 
and more as 2020, five, 2026 is 

448
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:05,520
going to be a glorious mess for 
all of us, I guarantee it. 

449
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,280
How do we evaluate it? 
How do we see it? 

450
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,960
I think we see it within the 
framework of God building a 

451
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,280
hedge of protection, this hedge 
of blessing around us where He 

452
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,360
guards our hearts and our minds 
by his peace. 

453
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:25,120
And so may the peace of our Lord
Jesus Christ flow through him 

454
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,480
into each one of us, now and 
forever. 

455
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:33,400
Let's pray together. 
Gracious. 

456
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:39,600
Lord, grant to us your blessing,
the blessing that is 

457
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:41,600
communicated here in this 
promise. 

458
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:44,960
That the peace of. 
God, which surpasses all 

459
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,200
understanding, will guard our 
hearts and our minds in Christ 

460
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,360
Jesus. 
It is so. 

461
00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,360
Easy. 
So tempting for us to pursue 

462
00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:57,440
life on our own instead of 
granting that surrender that 

463
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,880
Brendan talked about earlier, 
that surrender of being united 

464
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,840
with Christ and experiencing 
that protection that you give. 

465
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,600
Lord, I know for sure that each 
one of us will experience 

466
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,920
moments of anxiety or anxiety 
producing moments throughout 

467
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,680
this coming year. 
At each and every. 

468
00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:20,160
Moment help us to turn in prayer
to you and then to witness and 

469
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,920
experience again the fulfillment
of this promise of your 

470
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,640
protection. 
Now and forevermore we pray 

471
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:28,760
through Christ our Lord. 
Amen.