Guard Your Peace | Pastor Daniel Floyd

Welcome to church, everybody. Come on, let's put our hands together for Jesus one more time. I want to say hello to all of our campuses, everybody joining us online on demand later in the week, and of course, the Gateway Gatherings and our prison campuses. Can we put our hands together at every location for everyone joining us for the first time? Maybe the first time in a long time. We're glad you're in church. How many of you are excited about live recordings? Come on, Gateway Espanol, Gateway Worship. I'm telling you, the team has been writing some incredible songs, and you're not going to want to miss that. And more importantly, the way God uses these songs in the body of Christ is really amazing. I was actually at a conference this week with some of the team, and at the end of the worship set, they broke into who else? I was like, man, that's a good choice. Good song choice. But God's really using the music coming out of this house. So make sure you're a part of that. Help come and lean in, help set the atmosphere. And we believe God will use this across the body of Christ. And I wanted to let you know about one way that your generosity is making a difference. That conference we were at is a part of a church planning organization that Gateway's been supporting for I don't know how many years, a really long time, called the Association of Related Churches. And in 25 years that this one was a big one celebrating 25 years, just over 1,200 churches have been planted in this 25 years. Yeah, here's what's even more amazing. On launch day alone, on launch day alone. So just the first Sunday of all those 1,200 churches represent over 16,000 decisions for Jesus Christ.

People coming to faith in Christ on that one day alone. And then this is even mind-blowing to me that all those churches collectively represent, listen to this, just over $1 billion given to global missions. Come on, that deserves a better than a golf clap. And you are making a difference. Your generosity is making a difference. Maybe you're thinking, pastor, why do we need to plant more churches? Aren't there enough? According to LifeWay research, 4,000 Protestant churches closed in 2024. And only 3,800 were planted. So we are currently at a declining rate of churches we need. We need more church planters, more young couples that have it in their heart to go into a city, create a life-giving church that preaches the gospel and is on the Great Commission. And how many of you know with everything going on in our world, from all the headlines this morning to last week, to everything going on around us, we need more gospel preaching, spirit-filled, Jesus-exalting churches in our nation. Come on, can I get a better amen than that? So I just want to say thank you for how you give, how you faithfully give. This is such a generous church, and your generosity is not only touching our communities, but it's going outside, and it's touching all around the world, and it's making a massive, massive difference for Jesus, and it's advancing the kingdom. I'm excited to get into week three of this series. If you're new, we've been in this series called Between Sundays. This series is simply a collection of messages around one theme, and we've been talking about how to have a faith that doesn't fade. How do we, between the Sundays, how do we continue to thrive in our faith in between? And our theme verse has been found in Ephesians chapter four. Paul's talking about us growing. He said, then you will no longer be immature like children. He says, whenever you're equipped, that's what happens before these few verses.

He said, you won't be tossed around and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with clever lies, and they sound like truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love. Everybody say this word with me on three. One, two, three. Growing. That's what we need to be doing in between Sundays in every way. And what are we growing in? Becoming more and more like Christ. How many of you know that's the goal? That we look more like Jesus, less like us, more like Jesus. Who is the head of his church, head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly as each does its own special work. It helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. This is the picture that God has for us. He wants us growing. And so today I want to bring an installment entitled by this. I think you need to be growing in this area and learning to guard your peace. Need to be learning how to guard your peace. Let's pray together. Father, we're so grateful to be in your house today. So grateful to be in your presence. We believe anything is possible in your presence, God. And so our hearts. And minds are open to you today. We ask that you would speak to us. We believe your word has the power to change us. So may we leave different today, better equipped today, looking more like Jesus today.

So challenge us where we need to be challenged. Encourage us where we need to be encouraged. And may we leave today more like you. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Everybody said a big amen. Amen. I wonder if you've ever had that moment in life, maybe even before your feet ever hit the ground in the morning where you feel it. It's that kind of low grade anxiety. It's the mind racing. I wonder if you've ever been there where it's, you got so much stuff that the stuff you tried to put aside when you went to sleep the night before, the moment you wake up, it's right back in your mind. I remember not too long ago that several years ago, I was living in this place. There were some things going on in life, some things going on in leading. And you would never know it from the outside because I think most of us are pretty good at hiding it. You would never know it if you just came up to us. But I was kind of had this low level anxiety, this low level, but I stayed busy. How many of you know that that'll help you avoid it? I would stay busy. I would just keep going. But how many of you know that there's those moments where you lay down at night and you can't turn it off and you can't get busy enough

and you can't watch enough Netflix? Hello, somebody. You can't binge enough that there comes a moment and it's usually right before you go to sleep that you're quiet enough and still enough. And man, that anxiousness, that whatever that thought is you're dealing with, that just runs and runs in your mind. And I wonder for us today, as we talk about guarding our peace, I wonder when is the last time you really had peace? Not avoiding the rough stuff in life, not staying busy so you don't have to address it, not running away from it. When is the last time that you really felt a still and a calm in your life? I wonder how long it's been since you've walked in real peace in your life. Because I believe this about our lives is that the enemy doesn't need to get us to forfeit our faith, he just needs to keep us restless. And a restless Christian is an ineffective Christian just as much as a forfeited their faith Christian is ineffective. If he can just get us anxious, and man, is that not the culture that we live in? Is that not the number one thing? Matter of fact, in a younger generation, they say the number one thing they're dealing with is anxiousness, they're dealing with depression,

they're dealing with a lack of peace in their soul. And if the enemy can just keep us like wound up tight and running at a pace we can't sustain, then he can keep us with a lack of peace. And if he keeps us with a lack of peace, then he keeps us ineffective in our walk with God. Because if our life doesn't look any different from those who don't know God, then what is the point of walking with God? And maybe for you, it's worry over the future, or maybe it's worry about a relationship, or maybe it's worry about some financial issue. I don't know what the thing is that stirs it up in you, but I do know this, as a follower of Jesus, he's promised us some things. And one of those is that in this world, we would have peace. There's two types of peace that are two distinct realities that we see in the scripture, that I want you to write down. If you're the note taking type, write it down. If not, go ahead and write it down anyways, you're getting there, good job. Write it down anyways. There's two types of peace that we see in the scripture. And number one is this, it's peace with God. Peace with God. Romans 5, one talks about this. It says this, it says, therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have, everybody say with me,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so a little teaching for a moment, whenever you place your faith in Jesus, you end up with peace with God. So what that means is that prior to knowing Jesus, you did not have peace with God. Matter of fact, I don't want to offend you, but the Bible says you were at enmity with God. In other words, you were an enemy of God. It's just how the scripture says it, that you were opposed to God, that everything about your life was in opposition to the things of God. So there was not peace between you and God, but the moment that you placed your faith in Jesus, we have been justified, meaning easy way to think about it, just as if I'd never sinned. It's easy way to think about that. a position with God, so I'm positionally before God justified, and that happens through faith. Does it happen through good works? Does it happen through church attendance? Does it happen because you prayed enough? Does it happen because your name is on some membership role somewhere? Does it happen through that? It happens simply by faith so that we don't get the credit for it.

If you're with me, say amen. The Bible says we can't boast about it. We can't say, look what I've done, look where I've gotten myself. I've been justified by faith, by trusting in what Jesus did for me on the cross, and because of that, now I have peace with God. How many of you are grateful that you have peace with God? Come on, how many of you are grateful today you're not an enemy of God? That's a really good thing. If you're an enemy of God, it's a bad day, everybody. But then there's a second type, and that is the peace of God. So whenever I place my faith in Jesus, I have peace with God, but also coming with that, I get the peace of God. Philippians chapter four, verse six through seven says this, don't be anxious about anything. And you're like, well, that's easy to say. Then it gives us the solution. But in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace, here it is, of God. What does it do? It transcends all understanding. So it is something God can give you that doesn't even make sense because of what you're walking through. It doesn't even make sense.

To your human mind and to everybody else around you, they will look at you and go, you should not have this kind of still, tranquility, calmness within your soul based on what you are facing in this life. But the Bible says that there is a peace of God that will pass understanding, it'll transcend it. It passes all understanding and it will do something else. It will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So not only does it give you a calm, a still, a tranquility in your soul that doesn't make sense, but it will also act as a guard. So this peace of God is like a security guard over your soul and it's watching out for it. Are y'all with me? This is the kind of peace that God offers to us. The scripture also says this, it says, peace I leave with you, this is Jesus, my peace I give you. He said, but I don't give it to you as the world gives, don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. In other words, he's saying that I don't give you the peace like the world does and the world's version of peace is, everything is going my way. Everything is working out in my favor, so now I have peace. The job is working out, the kids are behaving themselves, the marriage is good, everything is moving in the direction it should, so now I have peace in my life.

Jesus says, no, no, no, I'm gonna give you a different kind of peace that no matter what is going on around you, if there is chaos around you, there doesn't have to be chaos within you because of the peace of God. If you're with me, say amen. And this is available to you as a believer. You do not have to live your life, waking up on Monday, anxious, torn apart, your stomach in knots, not able to operate during the day, that is not what the Holy Spirit offers to you. He offers you a peace that passes understanding, a calm in your soul, and it is the peace of God. So how does this work in our lives? How does this peace of God work in our lives? I wanna show you something in Colossians 3, verse 15. I think this is fascinating. It says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body, you are called to peace, so this is what we're called to, and be thankful. How many of you know that gratitude goes a long way towards having peace in your life? I wanna focus on this word rule. It says, let the peace of Christ rule. Let it dominate. Let it be the thing in your life. Let the peace of Christ rule in your life. This word rule in the original language

is the idea of an umpire. An umpire in baseball, if you're not into baseball, the umpire is the guy that stands behind the catcher and he's calling balls and strikes, and what he says goes, everybody. Doesn't matter how much the manager gives out of the box and puts dirt up on his feet and goes off and loses his mind, whatever he does, the umpire has the final say. And so this is the idea. He's saying, let the peace of Christ be the umpire over your heart. Let the peace of Christ be the umpire. Let the peace of Christ, so before I step into that relationship, I'm gonna let the peace of Christ umpire this situation. Do I enter into it or do I not enter into it? Before I send that text, I'm gonna let the peace of Christ be the umpire over this. Before I take the job, I'm gonna let the peace of Christ be the umpire over my circumstance. Before I take any step in life, I'm gonna let the peace of Christ. So if there is peace, the peace of God is in the situation, then the umpire is saying, I can go for it. But if I lack the peace of God, then the umpire is saying, you better sit down. You better not move on that.

How many of you that had been walking with Jesus for a moment would be willing to admit that whenever you didn't listen to the umpire of peace in your life, it led you down a path that did not turn out as the best for you in your life? I know for me, anytime I have gone against the peace of God in my life, it has not turned out for good. Because the peace of God acts as an umpire, and when he does, then we let this rule, then what happens? We live in peace. This peace that we're called to, this peace that we're supposed to have in our life, when we let it act like, it's interesting that Paul could have used like two or three other Greek words that have the same idea of rule. One of them has the idea of let it govern, let it lead you. Let peace guide you. Other similar words that would have been translated rule, but he chose this one, let it be an umpire. Now, listen to me. I'm not saying that we live our lives going, well, that's hard, I don't wanna do it. Are y'all with me? I think sometimes we say it, I don't have peace about it, when actually it's just a hard thing God is calling us to. It's just an uncomfortable thing that God is calling us to.

Sometimes the peace of God feels like uprooting your family and moving across the country. Are y'all with me? Sometimes the peace of God feels like that. Easy, no. Comfortable, no. But the peace of God ruling your heart, the umpire in your life, says go, are you with me? How do I know the peace of God? I start with the word of God. If you feel peace about something, but it contradicts the word of God, it's not the peace of God. How do I know the word of God? I go to the word of God. I listen to what the spirit of God is saying through the word of God to me. I lean into godly counsel, not people that'll tell me what I wanna hear, but godly counsel in my life. Are y'all following me? And I let the peace of Christ rule, even if I don't like what the umpire is calling. I'm submitted to him. Are y'all tracking with me today? And so if this is so important in our life, the scripture says it is, if it's critically important that not only do we have the peace with God,

that is salvation, but we have the peace of God in our life. And the peace of God in our life is supposed to act like an umpire in all of the decisions and the discussions and the things and the actions that we take. If it's that important in our life, then we need to know some of the things in life that'll steal our peace or that will rob us of our peace. If we need to guard the peace of God in our life, then I think we need to know some of the things that will rob the peace of God in our life. And so I wanna offer you six things in the next few minutes we have together. So write fast. Number one is this, living an overloaded life will rob you of the peace of God. Living an overloaded life. Look what the scripture says in Ecclesiastes, better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. And there's nothing that'll steal your peace like an overloaded life. You and I were not meant to live sedentary, fast food driven, overwhelmed calendars. Are y'all tracking with me? This is not the life that we were intended to live. And then we wonder why we don't have any peace

when we're running from morning to night and there's no margin in our life and there's no room for rest in our life. And there's no room for, I'm just preaching to myself right now. There's no, I'm just telling Daniel, you were not meant to live this way. You were not meant to go from five in the morning till 10 at night. And are y'all tracking with me? I'm feeling convicted right now. I may need to get on the altar. If you're anything like me, I just think, but I can handle it. I got it. But having to know that, that stacking days like that after day, after day, after day, after day, I'm not saying there's not seasons where it's full. and it's, I get it, I understand that, but I'm not meant to live that as a sustaining rhythm of life. And I remember, you know, that if you stack that day after day, you may not notice it in the moment, but eventually you'll begin to look back and go, man, why do I feel so unsettled in my soul? Why do I not feel like I have peace in my life? Why do I not feel the calmness? Where is God in the middle of all this?

I'm just telling you, we're not meant to live overloaded lives. We all have a certain capacity and it's different for everybody. And we have certain bandwidth in our mind. And man, if we're chasing so that both hands are full, the Bible says, man, it's better to have one handful with peace than it is to have all the things we can accumulate in our hands, but our home is in chaos. But it's a fight every day with our children, but it's a strain in all of our friendships and relationships. Man, an overloaded life will rob you of the peace of God and you've got to guard it. One of the most practical things you may do to keep the peace of God in your life is to manage your calendar well, everybody. I know that doesn't sound very spiritual, but it may be the most spiritual thing you do is to have a little bit of margin. And some of you, you don't want margin because if you have margin, then you have quietness and you have quietness, then you have to deal with your own thoughts. And you have to deal with some things in your soul, but it may be the very best thing that you could do because an overloaded life will rob you of your peace. Number two, ruminating on negative thoughts

will steal your peace. Look what the scripture says. It says, finally, brothers, whatever's true, whatever's noble, whatever's right, whatever's pure, whatever's lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things and then what? And the God of peace will be with you. Nothing will rob your peace like ruminating on negative thoughts. You know what ruminating is, right? It's like chewing the cud. All right, you know what chewing the cud is? Okay, I know we're a little more sophisticated, but I worked on a farm for a little bit in my teen years. It's where you just chew on something, you digest it and bring it back up and chew on it again. It's what cows do. And a lot of us, we do this with our negative thoughts and man, nothing will rob the peace of God from you like this. I read somewhere once that somebody said that 95% of our problems is in our thought life. Now, I don't know how they got that stat and how it's even true, but I have a feeling it's a lot is the problem in our thought lives that'll rob the peace of God from us. You know that you are the most influential person in your life?

Because you talk to yourself more than anybody else. So what are you saying? What are you saying to yourself? And what thoughts are you rehearsing in your mind? Man, if there's any battle in my life, this is the battle. It's the battlefield that is between my ears. Several years ago, I thought I was dying, everybody. Because I had some pains and I had some anxious thoughts and then that turned into just ruminating on it. And I honestly, to the place to be fully transparent, I would go to bed at night thinking, I probably won't wake up. Probably gonna die in the middle of the night. I was perfectly healthy. But I had let thoughts in my life get out of control. And man, you talk about the peace of God being evaporated from my life. Talking about my heart, my heart rate elevated. My whoop band was going crazy. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Are y'all tracking with me? It's just ruminating on it over and over. It's not allowing the word of God, what the scripture says, whatever's true, whatever's pure, whatever's noble, whatever's praiseworthy, whatever's of good report. Think on these things. I had to spend some time retraining my mind to think about what does God's word say? I still have them in my journal, everybody.

I went old school and created flashcards. And every morning I would read these flashcards about the truth of what God's word says about me, about what the truth of God's word said over my life. And I would not ruminate on those thoughts. And I didn't have to stay busy and I didn't have to stay over scheduled so that I didn't have to think about things so I could just avoid things in my life. No, I had to retrain. I had to Romans 12 to it, be transformed. by the renewing of your mind. Because when you ruminate on these thoughts, man, nothing will rob your peace quicker than you just ruminating on, man, this is all gonna fall apart. I'm gonna be, this isn't gonna work out. We're gonna be financially ruined. This marriage isn't gonna make it. And you just let those thoughts run over and over in your mind, it will rob the peace of God from you. If you're with me, say amen. Number three, unconfessed sin will rob the peace of God in your life. You know, there's sins of commission, which is I've made the choice to sin. There's sins of omission. I didn't do what I should have done. And when we leave those things unconfessed in our life, they've robbed the peace of God from us.

Look what the psalmist said. He was talking about sin in his own life. He said, when I kept silent, in other words, when I didn't confess it and talk about it, my bones wasted away though my, through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. And I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Can I tell you something? If you carry the burden of sin unconfessed in your life long enough, it will happen just like the psalmist said. It will feel heavy. It will dry up your bones. Listen to me, God never intended for you to live that way. This is why the scripture tells us in 1 John 1, 9, that if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and to purify us from all unrighteousness. God's not waiting for you to jump through some hoops and he's not waiting for you to like, you know, do three Hail Marys and come to church for a month first. He's just waiting for you to go, God, I blew it. I messed up. I didn't deal with that.

I need to put that before you. And what does he say? I'll purify you from all unrighteousness. Can I tell you something? And the peace of God will flood your heart because unconfessed sin will rob the peace of God from you. Number four, disconnection from community. You know, the first problem in the scriptures was not sin. It was isolation. The first problem in the garden, it wasn't sin. The first thing that God says was not good was that man was by himself. I mean, it says it in Genesis 2, 18, the Lord God said, it is not good. The first not good thing in the garden was that man was alone. And so if it wasn't good for man to be alone then, then why would we think it's good for us to be alone now? And the more the enemy can isolate you from community, the more you become a target and the more he can rob you of the peace of God in your life. You've got to guard it. You've got to guard relationships. You've got to lean in. Why are we all the time talking about get into a small group, lead a small group, be a part of a small group, join a small group. You should get into a, text 71010, get into a small group.

It's not like we're making commission on how many get into a small group. Are y'all with me? They're sitting in a sales pitch. It's not like we got to hit our quota this week. No, because we know if you'll get in community and you'll get surrounded by like-minded people and you'll get in a group with people and you'll make the big church, you'll get out of rows and get into circles where you look eye to eye and you have a conversation and you're able to take off the mask and you're able to say, this is what's really going on in my life. The enemy loses the power to rob you of the peace of God. That's why. That's why we want you in community. Because according to the Bible, we belong to each other. It's what Romans 12, five says. It says, so it is with Christ's body. That's us. We are many parts of the body and we all belong to each other. I didn't know if you know that, but the person beside you belongs to you and you belong to them. We need each other. Can I get a better amen? All right. Listen fast.

Number five. When we, neglecting prayer will rob you of the peace of God in your life. We read the verse earlier, Philippians four, it says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. What will it do? It will guard. It will guard. Everybody shout guard. It'll guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. When I do, what will guard my heart? The peace of God will act like a guard over my heart. And so I'm not to be anxious, which is like, well, that's easy for you to say, you don't know what I'm going, going through, but the Bible says that if I'll bring prayer, petition. and thanksgiving to God, then the peace of God will fill my heart and mind in Christ. And then I will have the peace of God, the guard of God, the umpire of God. And I won't live with this low grade. I've just got to live this way. I've got a lot going on in life, anxious. I don't have to live in that place. Think about it like this. Prayer is like turning on the security system in your house. Prayer is like, it's like hitting the keypad,

turning on the security system in your house and it's guarding your house. But if you leave your house unguarded for too long, eventually somebody can break into your house. Are you with me? And so we think, well, I've got just gone a day since I haven't prayed or two days since I haven't really prayed. Three days, five days, a week, a month since I've really spent time in prayer. It's not that big of a deal. I mean, they pray on Sunday and I'm in the room. So that kind of gets on me. It's like osmosis, like don't work that way. I'm kind of covered by that. No, it doesn't work that way. We just think it's not that big of a deal. And I'm not talking about like lay me down to sleep or God bless this food and, you know, we're great. I'm talking about you spent time with God. You entered his gates with thanksgiving. You entered his courts with praise. That you spent a moment. I'm not talking about hours. I'm just saying you set aside time where you had communion with God through prayer. You related to God through prayer. You related to God through prayer. The Bible says that when I do that, it calms the anxiousness

and it raises the peace meter in my life. That if I'll just spend some time doing that every day, but the more I neglect it, the more I'll not have the peace of God. So for some of you, that may be the area that you've left unguarded. Maybe it's ruminating thoughts. Maybe I don't know which one it is. Maybe it is that you've neglected prayer in your life. And you're like, man, I live with this like low level anxiousness. Or when I wake up in the morning, it's just like right there in my soul. Then man, fight it with prayer. Combat it with prayer. Number six, final thought, is ignoring the Holy Spirit's leading. Nothing like ignoring the Holy Spirit that'll rob you of the peace of God. When the umpire says it's a strike, it's a strike, everybody. Because when I'm walking in communion with the Holy Spirit, what the Bible say, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, it's peace. It's peace. When I'm walking in step with the Spirit, the scripture tells me, but the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,

will teach you all things, will remind you of everything I've said to you. And then he says this, look what he ties to this conversation. Peace, I leave with you. Peace, I leave with you. Peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give you. He says this, I do not give it to you as the world does. We read this earlier. Don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Jesus ties the gift of the Holy Spirit, the advocate, and the peace that he leaves together. So you can't walk in the peace of God if you're not walking in step with the Spirit of God. So if you're ignoring the Spirit's leading, if you're going through your day and you just get a sense, man, I need to pray for that person. Then you're like, I ain't got time for that. That's ignoring the Holy Spirit. If you get a sense I need to stop and speak an encouraging word to this person, then you're like, I'm too busy for that. You're ignoring the Spirit's leading. And there's nothing like ignoring the Spirit that will rob you of the peace of God. And so you've got to guard your peace because it's not an outside job, everybody.

It's an inside job. In 2024, they did a remake movie of an old movie called Twister. Remember this movie? The old one was better than the remake. Everybody go back and watch the old one. Some things you should leave alone. Do you remember this scene though in Twister whenever the tornado comes over them and they're in the eye of it and it's super calm? Like, I mean, it's chaos, everything, barns, cows are flying. Y'all remember this? Okay, if you haven't seen it, here's your Sunday afternoon exercise. I actually don't know if I can recommend it, I don't remember but the eye comes over and then all of a sudden there's calm in the middle of it. Now I've researched this a little bit and meteorologists don't even, they can't even really confirm this happens but it's great for an illustration and it was in the movie. so it's true. But the eye came over them and all of a sudden there was a calm over, you know, among them. And then Dorothy, if you remember, Dorothy was the thing they were trying to get. And she was gonna take up the little sensors and they were gonna go up and they were gonna give us all this wonderful reading.

And so we could prevent tornadoes because the girl that flayed in it, her dad died because of the... All right, are y'all with me? You remember this part of the movie? Okay, if you didn't see it, go see it. But here's what they said, is that in the eye of the storm, there was calm. So what mattered was not where the storm was, what mattered was their position in relation to the storm. If they were in the eye of the storm, then there was calm. If they were on the outside of the storm, then there was chaos. And I just wanna propose to you today that there can be chaos swirling all around you, but it doesn't matter where the chaos is, it matters your relation to the chaos. And if your relation to the chaos is that you are centered on Jesus, then there can be a storm all around you. There can be a relational storm, there can be a financial storm, there can be a marriage storm, there can be a friendship storm, there can be all these storms around you. But if you will guard your peace, then you can stand firm in the middle of the storm. This is the peace that Jesus gives you. Not that the world gives you, but that Jesus gives you. If you'll keep your eye on him,

it's what Isaiah said in Isaiah 26. He says, you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you. Listen to me, I don't know what you will face today or what you faced yesterday or what you're gonna face tomorrow, but here's what I do know is that followers of the most high God, sons and daughters of God himself, that if we'll keep our eyes on Jesus, if we'll keep our eyes fixed on the author and the perfecter of our faith, he promises me, I can have peace no matter what is going on around me. I can have peace no matter what is coming at me because it is my inheritance as a child of God. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. But listen to me, you don't have to be restless at night and you don't have to wake up at two in the morning unable to fall back asleep. I'm just kind of sick and tired of the enemy robbing from children of God their inheritance. So what are you gonna do between Sundays? You're gonna grow in guarding your peace. Guard it. It's God's gift to you. It's your right as a believer. It comes with the Holy Spirit, but you've got to guard it and guard it well because it is the umpire of your life.

And if you'll listen to the umpire, he'll lead you into blessing. He'll lead you into green pastures. He will lead you into favor. He will lead you into good things in your life. If you will listen to the umpire of your life, the peace of God. Do you receive God's word today? Come on, do you receive it in your heart? Will you pray with me? With every head bowed, every eye closed, I just wanna pray for a couple of categories today. Maybe you're here today and you would say, pastor, I need the peace of God in my life. Maybe you're here and you say, I so relate. I kind of wake up every day with a low grade worry in my heart and anxiousness. And I get going during the day and I get busy enough that I don't think about it anymore, but man, it's ever present. If that's you, would you say, will you pray for me? Would you just lift your hand up? Just put it up high and it was gonna come to you. Well, you're not alone. Dozens and dozens and dozens. You're living in that place. Father, in the name of Jesus, we just speak your peace over every hand raised, every individual across our entire church family today. We speak the peace that passes understanding

that doesn't make sense. We speak the stillness, the calmness that comes with your presence over their life right now, from the top of their head to the sole of their feet. May the peace of God overwhelm them. With every head bowed, every eye closed, maybe you're here today and you don't have peace with God. never surrendered your life to Jesus. You've never said yes to him. Or maybe you're here today, and there was a time where you were walking with the Lord, but you've really strayed away in your life, and you know it. And today is your day to come back. Today's your day to say, I wanna know that I have peace with God. I wanna know that I'm not at enmity with God. I'm not opposed to God, but I'm surrendered to him, following him. And the Bible says that if you confess Jesus as Lord, meaning he's calling the shots, and you'll believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, that you will be saved. If that's you today, you want that. And we're gonna pray in just a moment. No one's gonna come to you or point you out, but if you'd say, pastor, that's me, I need that. And I'm gonna ask you to slip your hand up when I count to three.

Then when I do, we're gonna pray together. So at every location, no one's looking around, myself or the pastor at your campuses. We just wanna know who we're praying with. So you say, that's me. I need to come back. I need to return. I need a fresh start today. I wanna know that I have peace with God. Then on three, you shoot your hand up high enough, long enough for me or the pastor at your campus to see, and then we're gonna pray together on three. One, two, three. You just shoot it up high. God bless you. God bless you and you. I see both of you in the balcony. God bless you. It's beautiful. More importantly, God sees you and all of heaven and earth is rejoicing. Church, will you pray this out loud with me for the benefit of those who slip their hands up? Just say, Jesus, I need you. I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. I believe you died for me. I believe God raised you from the dead. Today, I make you my Lord and savior. Thank you for a brand new beginning. In Jesus' name.

Everybody said a big amen. Amen. Come on, let's celebrate those who made that decision. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. In just a moment, our prayer team is gonna come down front. And if you made that decision to follow Jesus, there's several ways that you can let us know. But one of those is you could come down, let someone on our prayer team know. Just say, hey, I prayed that prayer. I made that decision today. We'd love to know that. Or you can text simply the name Jesus to 71010 and we'll respond with some information to help you in this journey of faith. Of course, you can go to Connect Central out in the lobby when service is over. But we would love to know that you made that decision today and we'd love to come alongside you and help you in this journey of faith. This is the beginning of something, not the ending of something. And maybe you're here today and you're just like, man, I need prayer in some other areas of my life.

Maybe you've been robbed or maybe you're missing the peace of God. And you're like, I need someone to pray with me. I need to talk to someone. But our teams would love to. Our prayer team will be down front, also up in the balcony. So I'm gonna ask you to stand to your feet. And the team's gonna lead us in one simple chorus. And you make your way out into the aisle, make your way down front. If you'd like prayer for any reason, we're here to serve you in that way. But as we worship, you make your way.