REKINDLE-GETTING FIRED UP FOR A NEW YEAR: PEACE

We continue with Rekindle-Getting Fired Up for a New Year with a sermon that all of us need: Peace.  Despite the transfer of power in our government and as the election fades into history, we still have plenty of unrest.  Division, anger, hatred, and fear stalk us as a lion waiting to pounce on its prey.  Most of us are just trying to stay out of the fray!  It may be a long time till our society finds peace and reconciliation.  This is why it is important for us to share a peace that transcends all understanding and turmoil!  This is what our world needs and we find it in Romans 5:1-9.  Paul’s life as God’s servant had not been easy.  He was beaten, shipwrecked, accused of blasphemy, and condemned to death, but he never loses his confidence in serving Christ.  The foundation of his confidence is found in Romans 5:1-9!  He shares with all believers that even in the midst of deep turmoil there is hope!  We pray that you will find this hope and peace as you read Romans 5:1-9: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! (NIV)