Life Lifters | Lakeshore Community Church

Oct 25 8:27 AM

Finding the Missing Peace

Oct 25 8:27 AM

Monday, October 25, 2021

So today, I want to talk to you about finding your missing peace. Peace never comes from being in the right environment alone. Peace never comes through you trying to manufacture it.

Monday, October 25, 2021

Galatians 5:22c

We have been talking about how to live with an attitude, a biblical attitude. The way you live with a biblical attitude is you live with nine different attitudes which are expressed in the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit, provided for us in Galatians 5:22-23. Living with an attitude is choosing to live for the Holy Spirit, not for your old person. That's the nuclear war that we face every day of our lives - are we going to live for our new life in the Holy Spirit? Or are we going to live our whole life for ourself? The way we know that is when we live out the nine fruit of the Spirit.

So far, we talked about the first two fruit of the Spirit, love and joy. Today, I want to talk to you about the third fruit of the Spirit, and that's found in Galatians 5:22c, "The fruit of the Spirit is... peace." So today, I want to talk to you about finding your missing peace. Peace never comes from being in the right environment alone. Peace never comes through you trying to manufacture it. Peace never comes from anybody but God. In fact, when the Bible says a church has unity, the Bible never says the church should make unity. The Bible says the church should keep unity. It says in Ephesians 4:3, "Keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." The bond of peace is also from God. Peace is a gift of God. Jesus said in John 14:27, "I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't fragile, like the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid." The world's peace is, "Yes, congratulations! These two nations at war have signed a peace treaty!" And how long does that last? Not very long. God's peace isn't like that. He gives you the peace that will protect your life. One of the classic passages is in Philippians 4:6-7 where the Apostle Paul says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, give your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus." You'll never understand the peace of God, and you don't have to. It will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus, it will protect you. That's the kind of peace God gives.

A lot of people are looking for peace in so many ways. They're looking for peace in yoga, getting in touch with their inner chi, and all this stuff. I know some people who do yoga, and I just humbly suggest to you that if you're doing the exercise part, okay, but anything beyond that is Eastern religion. Be very, very careful. You're never going to find peace in that, you're not going to find peace in a pill, you're not going to find peace in a relationship. That is, unless that relationship is with God through Jesus Christ. You'll never find your missing peace until it's in Jesus Christ. Have you ever put together a puzzle. And you're saying, "Where's this last piece? Where did it go?" And then you find it. "There it is! It was in the couch. The dog put it in the couch, it's in the cushion. Or, there it is, it's in the box. Or, there it is under the tablecloth, etc." So, you find that missing piece. It feels so good, doesn't it, to have put that whole thing together? Jesus Christ is your missing peace. If you can't find peace in your life, then you need to find Jesus Christ because he is, as the Bible calls him, the Prince of Peace. What does that mean? He is the peace-iest, peace provider you've ever heard of. Jesus Christ offers you a peace that you'll never find anywhere else.

So if you're a Christian, turn to Jesus Christ and pray through Philippians 4:6-7. I cited that earlier. Read it, read it to God, read it phrase by phrase and offer a prayer to God, saying, "give me this piece." If you've never committed your life to Jesus Christ, say, "Jesus Christ, I need you in my life. You're God, I'm a sinner. You died on the cross, you rose again. I believe that and I receive it by faith alone in my life." Then, you'll experience that peace. Father, I pray for all the people listening. I'm not sure what trouble or things are going on in their life, but I pray that you will give them a piece that only you can provide. Fill their heart with the missing peace they long for. But only do it through your Son, Jesus Christ, because he's the only one who can provide it. Help us all live not only with a peace inside, but live at peace with other people as far as it depends on us. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

By Pastor Vince DiPaola

Oct 18 8:04 AM

Living With An Attitude

Oct 18 8:04 AM

Monday, October 18, 2021

I want to talk to you about living with an attitude.... But I want to talk to you about living with a biblical attitude.

Monday, October 18, 2021

Galatians, 5:16-17, 22-23

I want to talk to you about living with an attitude. Whenever I say, "Boy, that person has an attitude," it almost always has a negative connotation. "Boy, he's got a bad attitude. He's got a down attitude. He's got a sour attitude. He's got an uncharitable, unloving attitude." But I want to talk to you about living with a biblical attitude. So, maybe we should call it living with a biblical attitude. I'm going to give you kind of an overview, and over the next nine Life Lifters, I'm doing my flavors, I'm going to talk about nine attitudes to live with.

I want to start by reading Galatians 5:16-17 to kind of paint the picture about the importance of living with an attitude, or a biblical attitude. Paul says, "What I say is this, let the Holy Spirit direct your lives and do not satisfy the desires of the human nature. For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants. And what the Spirit wants is opposed to what the human nature wants. The two are enemies." So see, Paul is setting up a contrast: live in the desires of the Holy Spirit, don't live in desires of your sinful nature. If you are a Christian, the sinful nature is the person you were before you came a Christian. Every day of life, your attitude is your choice. And every day of life, whether you're aware of it or not, whether you think of it in this context or not, here's the truth: You have a choice. You can live by the attitude of the Holy Spirit, or live by the attitude of your old nature. Some days we do a lot more of one than the other. Hopefully our goal is to live 100% with an attitude of the Spirit, and 0% with the attitude of our old nature. Attitude is important because attitude will help us choose - are we going to live for the Holy Spirit or for our old nature?

How do we live for the Holy Spirit? Watch this, you live for the Holy Spirit by living the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 talk about the fruit of the Spirit. It says, "When the Holy Spirit controls our lives," in other words, when we choose the Holy Spirit's attitude over our human nature attitude, "he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." Then, he later says, "against such there is no law." Let me just briefly help you understand how to live in the Spirit, how to live by the fruit of the Spirit, because the fruit of the Spirit are not the same as the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are the spiritual gifts we get when we believe. The fruit of the Spirit are not the gifts of the Spirit. Second, the fruit of the Spirit are not the gift of the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is that the moment you believe you are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to help you choose the attitude to live for Him, not for our old self. These attitudes come from dependence on God. How do you live these nine fruit of the Spirit that we're going to be talking about? It's real simple. You have to depend on God, depend on the Holy Spirit. The secret to living the fruit of the Spirit, the secret to living the Christian life, the secret to living a life that chooses the Holy Spirit over your old nature and your old, pre-Christian, sinful lifestyle is this. Stop trying and start yielding. Stop trying to be better, and start yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the person of the Trinity who is most talked about in the New Testament as helping us change and live the Christian life.

Do you want to live with an attitude? You want to stop living for the old you and start living for the Holy Spirit, the new you? You want to live with an attitude that surrenders to God and lets him work through these nine fruit of the spirit? Let me just pray with you, Father, help all of us listening live by your spirit and not by our old ways. Let us embrace what you have to say to us in the fruit of the Spirit and embrace all nine fruit. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

By Pastor Vince DiPaola

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