The Missing Peace

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Missing Peace"

Podcast: Fresh Life Church
Host: Pastor Levi Lusko (Lead Pastor)
Date: February 24, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode, titled "The Missing Peace," is a deep dive into the biblical idea of peace as shown through Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41), and how believers can find, embody, and maintain true peace in a chaotic world. Through storytelling, practical examples, and a memorable hymn, Pastor Levi Lusko highlights that the peace Jesus offers isn't fleeting or circumstantial—it's a permanent, transformative gift meant to anchor believers in the midst of life's storms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Setting the Stage: Peace is Promised, Not Temporary

• Opening Declaration: The pastors invite the congregation to make a declaration:

  “Today the Holy Spirit is going to speak to me about peace … the peace Jesus promised was not temporary. It is permanent and eternal.” (00:44–01:09)

• The episode sets out to dismantle the myth that following Jesus means a carefree life.

  “Walking with Jesus never exempted us from life's calamities. He promised us that he would be with us in those calamities.” (08:25)

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2. Mark’s Gospel and the Disciples’ Storm

• Scripture Reading: Mark 4:35-41 is read from the Tree of Life version, emphasizing a Jewish perspective.
• Action-Packed Gospel: Mark’s storytelling—“just like a teenager’s recap”—focuses on the “juicy bits” and immediate actions:

  “Mark is the shortest because Mark was one of the youngest … he only wants the juicy bits.” (04:11–05:09)

• Storm on the Lake: Jesus and the disciples head across the lake when a storm arises. The disciples—seasoned fishermen—are frightened, while Jesus naps on a pillow:

  “You don’t accidentally nap on a pillow. If you put your head to the pillow, you mean to go to sleep. The Messiah knows what’s about to happen, and His response … is, I’m going to take a nap.” (09:28–09:33)

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3. The Nature of True Peace

• The disciples’ panic leads them to accuse Jesus:

  “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (11:54)

• The pastors explore how being dysregulated by fear causes us to misinterpret Jesus’ presence.
• Key Teaching:
  • Jesus Rebukes the Wind, Not the Waves:

    “The Messiah knows what to rebuke and what to tell to keep quiet. A lot of us would have rebuked the waves … but the Messiah is so attuned … He knows the waves are not the problem. The wind is.” (15:24–16:06)

  • Peace is Not Two Things:

    “Jesus teaches us a lesson: peace is quiet. It’s not two separate things. It’s one thing.” (14:28)

  • Applying this practically:

    “I learned to do this with my kids … I had to figure out what’s agitating you that’s agitating me … I need to rebuke the right thing.” (16:34–16:45)

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4. The Gift of Peace: Permanent, Not Expiring

• John 14:27 is quoted:

  "I am leaving you with a gift. Shalom. I leave you my shalom. I give to you, but not as the world gives ... the world has a version of peace, it expires." (18:45–19:14)

• Peace from Jesus is different from worldly peace—it's lasting and internal:

  “If you don’t have peace, it won’t matter.” (19:33–19:36)

• The presence of the Holy Spirit means peace lives inside believers, yet often still requires intention and daily effort to maintain:

  “How are we still so dysregulated when we have peace on the inside of us?” (20:46)

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5. Peace Must Be Made, Not Just Kept

• It’s not enough to simply want peace—believers must make peace:

  “Scripture says this … blessed are the peacemakers. I have to make this every single day, even on days I don’t want to.” (24:45–25:05)

• Personal Example – Forgiveness and Internal Struggle:
  • Pastor Levi transparently shares a story about a falling out with a business partner and his struggle to let go:

    “I was not resting in the peace that I’m talking about right now … I wanted to knock him out for six months. I had to wake up every day for six months and say, I choose your peace so that I could regulate and not be so angry.” (25:52–27:00)

  • The process led to true peace, forgiveness, and an absence of bitterness:

    “Even though I’m mad at my brother, I can’t punch my brother in the mouth … And then after a while, it’s just, that’s my brother and I love him.” (27:55–29:02)

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6. The Story Behind "It Is Well with My Soul"

• Pastor Levi recounts the intense tragedy behind Horatio Spafford writing the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul”:

  “His son dies … Chicago fire … his wife and four daughters shipwrecked, his four daughters die … traveling over the same space, this dude writes, When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever, my lot … thou hast taught me to say … It is well with my soul.” (31:25–34:03)

• Application: True peace is not based on circumstances:

  “That’s a guy that says, I know I had plans, but they don’t matter. My peace isn’t contingent on everything going right.” (33:26–33:41)

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7. Practical Wisdom: Opting Out of Chaos

• Instead of being controlled by circumstances, believers are encouraged to "opt out" of participation in chaos:

  “Peace within the believer is supposed to make us turn every environment … externally into what we are feeling and carrying internally. And you have to fight to keep the peace.” (23:31–23:47)

• Notable Metaphors:
  “Don’t you want to be able to put your head on your pillow and just go to sleep? Like, peace is supposed to make everything quiet … Even if there’s an eviction notice, right now, I’m going to sleep.” (23:15–35:39)

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8. Closing Challenge and Prayer

• The episode ends with a call to action, reminding listeners that peace is something they make, not just keep, and that the Spirit can clarify what to rebuke and what to calm down in our lives.
• Closing Prayer:

  “Holy Spirit … I pray, Lord Jesus, that the peace that you promised through the Holy Spirit would be tangibly felt by every person in our rooms. And may we carry this peace into a very stormy, tumultuous world. And, Holy Spirit, would you make it clear what we need to rebuke and what we need to tell to calm down?” (36:11–38:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the myth of a trouble-free faith:

  “Giving your life to Jesus does not mean we will now tra-la-la-la through a lily field … It's not the Lego movie. That’s not the gospel.” (07:59–08:50)

• On Jesus’ strategic nap:

  “The Messiah knows what’s about to happen, and his response … is, I’m going to take a nap.” (09:28)

• On inner versus external turmoil:

  “The Messiah … comes out and he makes what is external match what is going on internally with him.” (15:15)

• On what peace looks like in adversity:

  “This entire world could be chaotic. But I won’t be.” (21:44)

• On opting out of panic:

  “I just refuse to join you there. This is not the way I’m going to die.” (23:33–23:49)

• On the battle for peace:

  “You have to contend for the … peace. It says, blessed are the peacemakers. I have to make this every single day, even on days I don’t want to.” (24:45–25:05)

• On the permanence of Jesus’ peace:

  “If you don’t have peace, it won’t matter.” (19:36)

• On forgiveness and letting go:

  “Even though I’m mad at my brother, I can’t punch my brother in the mouth … And then after a while, it’s just, that’s my brother and I love him.” (27:55–29:02)

• On living with peace regardless of hardship:

  “My peace isn’t contingent on everything going right.” (33:26–33:41)

• On the peace Jesus offers:

  “It’s not just something that Jesus demonstrates. It’s something he promises. It’s not just something he promised. It’s something he planted.” (29:02–29:32)

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Significant Timestamps

• 00:44 – Congregational declaration about peace
• 02:00 – Reading of Mark 4:35-41 (Jesus calms the storm)
• 07:59 – Breaking the myth that faith equals an easy life
• 11:54 – Disciples’ panic: “Teacher, do you not care…?”
• 14:28 – Lesson that “peace is quiet”
• 18:45 – Jesus’ gift of peace (John 14:27)
• 21:44 – Transformation of the disciples through peace
• 25:52 – Personal story: fighting for peace after conflict
• 31:25 – Horatio Spafford and “It Is Well with My Soul”
• 36:11 – Closing prayer for peace and discernment

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Summary Flow & Takeaway

"The Missing Peace" challenges listeners to shift from seeking circumstantial peace to embracing the unshakable peace Jesus gives—peace that is powerful enough to outlast any storm or betrayal, rooted in who Jesus is, not what we experience. Through scriptural exploration, story, confession of personal struggle, and historical hymnody, Pastor Levi Lusko urges every believer to become not just a peacekeeper, but a peacemaker—daily, intentionally, by the Spirit’s help.

Key takeaway:

The peace you need isn’t missing; it’s Jesus Himself—living in you, offered afresh, and crafted anew each day as you choose to trust Him above your circumstances.

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Transcript

[Lead Pastor]

If you have your Bibles, I want you to throw them up in the air.

[Assistant Pastor]

I like to make some declarations before

[Lead Pastor]

we get into the word of God. They just help to open up my heart and my spirit.

[Assistant Pastor]

So if you have your Bibles, put them way up in the air. I make no delineation between paper or digital. So put your phones up real high. If you don't have a Bible or a phone, definitely put your hand really high in the air because we gotta get you a phone.

[Lead Pastor]

It's the year of our Lord 2026. You need a phone. It snows up here. Please.

[Assistant Pastor]

Real high, real high. If you have a heavy Bible, that's your fault.

[Congregant/Participant]

Hurry up. Hurry up.

[Assistant Pastor]

Tim, repeat after me today.

[Lead Pastor]

Louder.

[Assistant Pastor]

Today the Holy Spirit is going to speak to me about peace. After today, I will know and fully understand that the peace Jesus promised was not temporary. It is permanent and eternal.

[Lead Pastor]

And if I receive it, I will have it for eternity.

[Assistant Pastor]

All right, let's go.

[Congregant/Participant]

Let's go.

[Assistant Pastor]

If you have your Bibles, I want you to go to the Gospel according

[Lead Pastor]

to St. Mark, chapter number four. The gospel according to St. Mark, chapter Number four.

[Assistant Pastor]

I'm reading from the Tree of Life

[Lead Pastor]

version of the Bible. It's very Jewish because it was spearheaded by Messianic Jewish believers. And so a couple of words are going to be different than the other translations, but it's going to land with the same meaning. Here's what it says, starting at the 35th verse.

[Assistant Pastor]

Now, on that same day in the evening, he says to them to his disciples, let's cross over to the other side. After leaving the crowd, they take him along in the boat just as he

[Lead Pastor]

was, and other boats were with him. A great windstorm arises and the waves

[Assistant Pastor]

were rushing into the boat. The boat was beginning to fill up, but Yeshua was in the back of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They wake him up and say to him, teacher, because there's no way you

[Lead Pastor]

can read this in context, and they're afraid. And then drone read, teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?

[Assistant Pastor]

Like, you can't. If y' all would read the Bible

[Lead Pastor]

the way it was written, you could cancel your Netflix description.

[Assistant Pastor]

You could.

[Lead Pastor]

It is altogether action thrilling, mysterious, violent and rated Informateur.

[Assistant Pastor]

Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?

[Lead Pastor]

So he woke up and rebuked the wind.

[Assistant Pastor]

And he said to the sea, quiet, be still.

[Congregant/Participant]

Then the wind stopped and it became totally calm. And he said to them, why are you afraid? Even now you have no faith.

[Lead Pastor]

They were Struck with awe and said

[Congregant/Participant]

to one another, who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him. That's just so good.

[Assistant Pastor]

If you're taking notes on this message, three words.

[Lead Pastor]

I already told you what it was.

[Assistant Pastor]

Spoiler alert.

[Lead Pastor]

The missing piece. I want to talk to you about the missing piece.

[Assistant Pastor]

Bow your heads. Let's pray over the word.

[Lead Pastor]

Shall you? Shall we?

[Assistant Pastor]

Holy Spirit, give us our peace back. Amen.

[Lead Pastor]

I pray quick.

[Assistant Pastor]

Oh, I pray so quick.

[Lead Pastor]

I'm the one you went over for Thanksgiving dinner. We will eat it while it's hot. We will pay for autumnations later. We're going to eat this turkey now. Gospel according to St. Mark is the shortest gospel of our gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Mark is the shortest. I believe Mark is the shortest because Mark was one of the youngest. And as he begins to retell and comprise this gospel based on what he heard from Peter, he only wants the juicy bits. This is just like a teenager. He's like, I don't have time for all this other stuff. In the King James version alone, the word straightway is used 42 times.

[Assistant Pastor]

And straightway he went here and straightway

[Lead Pastor]

he went there and immediately went there.

[Assistant Pastor]

And then after that, they went there.

[Lead Pastor]

That's just like a teenager's recap.

[Assistant Pastor]

They're not telling you. He doesn't tell you about the Sermon on the Mount. Why? Too long. We don't got time for that. Beatitudes. Nah, fam. Let's just keep going. What else did he do? Where's the action? I want to talk about the stuff that he did. That's juicy. Oh, he gave all these parables. He gave these stories. I'm interested in this because he's using metaphor. This is like the precursor to rap. This dude has bars. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The kingdom of God is like a man who finds a field. The kingdom of God is like a sower that goes to sow seed in a field. And some fell on the wayside, and some fell on thorny ground, and some was burned up by the sun, but some fell on good soil and it produced a yield.

[Lead Pastor]

30, 60, a hundredfold. All of these details Mark gives us. And it's expedited, it's swift, it's fast, until it's not.

[Assistant Pastor]

It speeds up and then it doesn't slow down.

[Lead Pastor]

It comes to a screeching halt.

[Assistant Pastor]

These disciples, after hearing their rabbi teach

[Lead Pastor]

all day through stories, notice that Jesus never talked to the crowds without telling a story, because everybody can identify with the story. Everyone can find themselves in A story. But when he gets them alone, they get to have the real Q and A.

[Congregant/Participant]

Master, what did you mean when you

[Lead Pastor]

said and he would start to tell them what the stories actually meant? They get on this boat, they're going to the other side, and it sounds intoxicating.

[Assistant Pastor]

If I'm a follower of Jesus, you've come to my job and asked me to follow you, and I quit on the spot and follow you. Then when you tell me, let's get on a boat and let's go to the other side of the lake, oh, this sounds thrilling. Because, yes, anything with Jesus is exciting. And so if you want to go to the opposite side of the lake,

[Congregant/Participant]

I want to go with you. And they get on this boat and they start over on the other side of the lake, and then a storm breaks out. This is where you find out that walking with Jesus is not what a lot of people preach. It's not what a lot of people say.

[Assistant Pastor]

Giving your life to Jesus does not mean we will now TRA la la la through a lily field. It does not mean that we will do pirouettes through a field with butterflies swarming around us. Walking with Jesus never exempted us from life's calamities. He promised us that he would be

[Lead Pastor]

with us in those calamities.

[Assistant Pastor]

So it completely destroys the myth that I thought I gave my life to Jesus.

[Congregant/Participant]

Everything should be going great. This is not the Lego Movie.

[Guest Speaker/Reader]

Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you're part of a team. Everything is awesome when you're living on a dream.

[Congregant/Participant]

That's not the gospel.

[Assistant Pastor]

The gospel is, let's go for a boat ride. You're like, okay. And we set off into the night, and Jesus does not doze off. He's not on the bow of the ship with the rest of the disciples. And it's the rocking of the boat that kind of lulls him to sleep, and he's just kind of dozing off. No, this is a strategic nap. And we know it's a strategic nap

[Lead Pastor]

because there's a pillow involved.

[Assistant Pastor]

You don't accidentally nap on a pillow. If you put your head to the pillow, you mean to go to sleep. The Messiah knows what's about to happen, and his response to the test that he's about to put his disciples through is, I'm going to take a nap. Let's see if your exposure to me has given you an indication of who I am. I know you've been around me, but that does not mean you know me. So we're going to have A quality assurance check. I'm going to sleep. Let's see how you handle a storm. So the disciples are topside on the ship and the storm comes through. And these are fishermen. These are people that are used to being on the water.

[Lead Pastor]

This is not their first time going through a storm. This is not their first time experiencing rain.

[Assistant Pastor]

This is not their first time experiencing a tumultuous lake. So when the rocking starts, they're like, nah, it's nothing.

[Lead Pastor]

Well, that was something. But.

[Assistant Pastor]

But we're good. We're good.

[Lead Pastor]

Jesus here, he's asleep.

[Congregant/Participant]

We're good.

[Lead Pastor]

He's present with us. He's on the same boat.

[Assistant Pastor]

We're.

[Congregant/Participant]

We are good.

[Lead Pastor]

Okay, that's different. That doesn't usually happen.

[Assistant Pastor]

And then the last one, I don't know how it must have felt, but it's so violent that it goes from, we got this to. Get Jesus. The storm has now dysregulated them to the point that they run to their Messiah, they run to their rabbi, and their dysregulation makes them misdiagnose Jesus presence in their lives. Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

[Congregant/Participant]

Can we just stop for a moment? I don't know which disciple said it, but can they hear themselves?

[Assistant Pastor]

You're so dysregulated, you actually think that Jesus wants you to die while he sleep? Y' all are on the same boat. He's not on the boat next to you under sunshine in the calm sea. He's in the boat with you, experiencing the same thing with you, but not having the same reaction as you because he has something that you are missing

[Lead Pastor]

and it is glaring right now.

[Assistant Pastor]

I believe the thing that Jesus knew they were missing was so glaring, he doesn't even try to talk to him about it in the moment. Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Jesus wakes up, Goes out to the bow of the ship without addressing them first, goes out to the bow of the ship. Scripture says he rebukes the wind.

[Lead Pastor]

This is very, very interesting and subtle. We gotta pay attention to everything the rabbi is doing right now.

[Assistant Pastor]

He rebukes the wind, and then he turns to the waves. And the way Tree of Life interprets it is not the same way that

[Lead Pastor]

King James, New King James nlt interprets it.

[Assistant Pastor]

He says, quiet,

[Guest Speaker/Reader]

be calm.

[Lead Pastor]

Now, we know King James, New King James nlt. A lot of other versions say, peace, be still.

[Assistant Pastor]

And I don't know about you all, but when I was growing up, I've always heard people say, I just want some peace. And Quiet. I need some peace and quiet. Turn the radio down. Where's your headphones? Close that door. Your TV's too loud. Why are you still playing Call of Duty? But Jesus in this moment, I believe,

[Lead Pastor]

teaches us a lesson that peace is quiet. It's not two separate things. It's one thing. And the Messiah, when he comes out to the boat, he is the embodiment of peace. Isaiah prophesied accurately that he shall be

[Assistant Pastor]

called wonderful Counselor, mighty God,

[Lead Pastor]

Prince of peace.

[Assistant Pastor]

And so if he is the Prince of peace, then he would have to be embodying peace. And he comes out and he makes what is external match what is going

[Lead Pastor]

on internally with him.

[Assistant Pastor]

Yes, this is all chaotic until I come deal with the situation.

[Lead Pastor]

And here's the thing that takes so much discernment and so much of an attunement. The Messiah knows what to rebuke and what to tell to keep quiet.

[Assistant Pastor]

A lot of us would have rebuked the waves because the waves are what are. What are directly rocking the boat. But the Messiah is so attuned to the situation that he knows the waves are not the problem. The wind is. So if I rebuke the wind, then it will stop agitating the waves and the waves will stop agitating this boat. We better get this. We need to be a little bit more attuned to figure out what we

[Lead Pastor]

need to rebuke and what we need to ask to calm down.

[Assistant Pastor]

I think a lot of times in our culture we are telling things to keep quiet. We need to rebuke and telling things that we need to rebuke to keep quiet. And the Messiah knows which one is which. He goes, when.

[Lead Pastor]

Please stop that. Because you're bothering the waves and the waves are bothering the boat.

[Assistant Pastor]

So I rebuke you.

[Lead Pastor]

Now will you please calm down?

[Assistant Pastor]

I learned to do this with my kids. Yes, my kids were the ones acting out.

[Lead Pastor]

But then I had to go figure

[Assistant Pastor]

out what's agitating you. That's agitating me.

[Lead Pastor]

I need to rebuke the right thing. That thing is not really you. It's what you've been listening to. Let me rebuke what you've been listening to and then tell you to calm down.

[Assistant Pastor]

I had to do this with my

[Lead Pastor]

kids a few years ago. These are really bougie, upper middle class kids. I make no, no qualms about that. I survived the hood and a very bad, environmentally traumatic upbringing. So I'm very happy to be blessed enough to not have to revisit that scenario of my life.

[Congregant/Participant]

My kids ain't been in none of that.

[Lead Pastor]

But they were listening to music that

[Congregant/Participant]

made them think that they were from that. And so I was like, yeah, that's not gonna work. You. That's not you. You've never made a bologna Sand. You have never had to peel the red tape from around the bologna

[Lead Pastor]

and

[Congregant/Participant]

put three slices in it when you

[Assistant Pastor]

put it in the skillet so it wouldn't turn into a bowl.

[Congregant/Participant]

You don't know about that life. You're not gangster. I made bologna sandwiches on white bread with French's mustard with a bag of Fritos. And that was lunch, not a Chipotle bowl.

[Assistant Pastor]

The music was the issue, not the kids.

[Lead Pastor]

I rebuked the music and calmed down the kids. The master is demonstrating what this piece is. This piece is so profound that in the upper room, when he's having his last moments with them before he would

[Assistant Pastor]

go to the cross to die for all of our sins. He says in John, chapter number 14, verse number 27, I am leaving you with a gift. Shalom. I leave you my shalom. I give to you, but not as the world gives, which means the world has a version of peace.

[Lead Pastor]

It's just temporary.

[Assistant Pastor]

The world actually has a version of peace, but it expires. He says, what I'm giving you, the world doesn't give. Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid. He said, okay, you've watched me demonstrate this peace on the boat, but now I'm telling you, I am leaving you with this gift. I'm not leaving you with money. I'm not leaving you with power. I'm not leaving you with resources and miracles. You'll be able to do all that stuff. But if you don't have peace, it won't matter. I grew up Pentecostal. I grew up in the Pentecostal movement. And so Acts chapter number one is a big deal to us. And you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And so we've walked around screaming about power and the Holy Ghost, fire and

[Lead Pastor]

power, not understanding that we only have that power if we have that person who is peace.

[Assistant Pastor]

What the Messiah promised was not power. He promised a person who would embody peace. The Ruach Elohim. The Holy Spirit is the peace that

[Lead Pastor]

Jesus is referring to.

[Assistant Pastor]

And if he resides in us, the question that we have to ask is,

[Lead Pastor]

how are we still so dysregulated when we have peace on the inside of us?

[Assistant Pastor]

He said, I'm leaving you with this gift, implying you actually won't be able

[Lead Pastor]

to do anything without this gift, it's not temporary. It's literally going to last forever.

[Assistant Pastor]

I know that this piece literally transformed the lives of the disciples. Because who they were after the Holy Spirit fell in Acts is not who they were before. Before, they were cowards. They were literally locked behind closed doors, afraid to go outside, thinking the same thing would happen to them that happened to their rabbi. And after they were filled with the Holy Spirit's peace, it empowered them to be bold enough to look the same people that murdered Jesus in the face and say, y' all the ones did it. And they were like, look, you cannot go outside talking about this Yeshua anymore. And Peter was like, then I don't know what you gonna do with us. Cause we ain't got nothing else to talk about. That didn't come from just boldness. That came from peace. A peace that said this entire world could be chaotic. But I won't be. This entire world can be falling off a cliff. I'm not going with you. Emotionally, I can scroll through my Instagram feed and your real will not trigger me. Your Facebook post doesn't own me

[Lead Pastor]

because I have peace. Our cultural climate, as crazy as it is, doesn't make me doubt the sovereignty of my God. I go to sleep good at night because I have peace.

[Congregant/Participant]

But the taxes, the tariffs, the prescription drugs, the interest rates, my 401k might not be here.

[Lead Pastor]

Why am I talking like this? This is.

[Assistant Pastor]

This is what a dysregulated person sounds like. You sound like an old duck.

[Lead Pastor]

Don't you want to be able to get on? Put your head on your pillow and just go to sleep.

[Congregant/Participant]

Like, peace

[Lead Pastor]

is supposed to make everything quiet.

[Assistant Pastor]

It does not negate the fact that

[Lead Pastor]

everything else is chaotic.

[Assistant Pastor]

It just means I opted out of participation. Jesus gets up on the boat and walks out, and his disciples are going crazy. But he's like, I just refuse to join you there. I'm not.

[Lead Pastor]

This is not the way I'm going to die.

[Assistant Pastor]

I tried to tell y'.

[Lead Pastor]

All. I told you I had to die for your sins. I didn't tell you I was going to drown for them. I'm. It's not happening. Peace within the believer is supposed to make us turn every environment into that we step into externally, into what we are feeling and carrying internally. And you have to fight to keep the peace. Amen. Red alert. Sirens going off. That's how important this message is.

[Assistant Pastor]

Pull over.

[Lead Pastor]

You don't have any peace. Autobots, transform. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist it. You have to contend for the feast, the peace. Scripture says this. It doesn't say, blessed are the peacekeepers. It says, blessed are the peacemakers. I have to make this every single day, even on days I don't want to. So let me tell you about last year, because so many preachers talk about, like, the things that have happened like they were 35 years ago, and they've got it mastered. Like, it all happened within the first six months of salvation. And so now they're just coming to give you how to live because they've already mastered it all. Nah, this is last year for me, and this was six months of last year for me. So it was half the year right before I came here in July. So buckle your seatbelts.

[Assistant Pastor]

So I was in a. I launched

[Lead Pastor]

a company with a business partner, co founder. And it blew up. It. It ended ugly. And I'm ashamed to say that I was not resting in the peace that I'm talking about right now. I wasn't resting in the peace that I wrote a book about at this time. I had to make it a peace in my life. It wasn't coming naturally because I wanted

[Assistant Pastor]

to fight this guy. Can I just be honest? You ever fall out with somebody and you're like, oh, you haven't been punched in the mouth. I need to punch you in the mouth. And then you'll understand why I'm hurt. I wanted to knock him out for six months.

[Lead Pastor]

I had to wake up every day for six months and say, I choose your peace

[Assistant Pastor]

so that I could regulate

[Lead Pastor]

and not be so angry. But I wanted to be angry. And that's why he says, blessed are the peacemakers. Are you going to make peace with this? Are you going to let it eat you up? So let me tell you what it's like to make peace. Not with him, not with her, with the situation. Holy Spirit, you know, I want to punch him. I receive your peace. Help me not to look at it any other way than you look at it. I won't say immediately, but after a while my body would regulate. And then I stopped seeing it through my carnal lens and I started to see it through the spirit. And here's what happened

[Assistant Pastor]

when I saw

[Lead Pastor]

it through the spirit, yes, I fell out with this guy. And the way our business ended, I didn't like it. And he is a professing believer that Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead. Dead. He is God's son, which makes him my brother. And even though I'm mad at my brother, I can't punch my brother in the mouth.

[Assistant Pastor]

I want to,

[Lead Pastor]

but my rabbi said I can't. My daddy told me I couldn't.

[Assistant Pastor]

So now I think about him and I'm like, oh, you love him. I love him. I love him, too. That's your son? He's my brother. Bless him, Lord.

[Congregant/Participant]

Bless him over there. Please don't let me see him get blessed. Please don't do it in my face.

[Lead Pastor]

And then after a while, it's just, that's my brother and I love them. And we had a falling out. And that's just what it is. We don't have a company anymore. And if I see him, I'm gonna throw my arms around him and give him a big hug and tell him that I love him. And then there's no shudder and there's no anything. Because I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ that lives on the inside of me. Because I'm contending for that peace. It's not just something that Jesus demonstrates. It's something that he promises. It's not just something that he promised. It's something that he planted. He put it on the inside of us. And I refuse to let any person, place or thing take me out of his peace. There's a man that practiced peace in a way that's so profound to me that I was just gripped by the context to what is one of the most famous hymns that have ever been written. There's a man named Horatio Spafford who in 1873, penned one of the most famous hymns of all time. It would have been easy to write this hymn if his life was perfect. I think it would have been great for him to write this hymn if his life showed all the markers of every prayer answered. Everything that he wished positively. Coming to pass. Coming to pass. Great health, great wealth. But it's just the opposite. His son dies of scarlet fever. Most of his real estate was burned up in the Chicago fires. His wife and his four daughters

[Assistant Pastor]

traveling

[Lead Pastor]

over the Atlantic Ocean, wind up shipwrecked. His four daughters die. His wife sends a telegram notifying him that she is still alive.

[Assistant Pastor]

Two words. Saved.

[Lead Pastor]

Alone, Horatio boards a boat

[Assistant Pastor]

to cross

[Lead Pastor]

the same Atlantic to reunite with his wife. And somewhere over the space where the ship that was carrying his family wrecked and his four daughters died. I don't know if this is something he started humming first, if it was words he mumbled first or if it was pen that he put to paper first. But Artie, having lost a son who had scarlet fever, all his possessions burned up in a Chicago fire. Four daughters dead, one family member remaining, traveling over the same space where his daughters drowned. This dude writes, when peace

[Guest Speaker/Reader]

like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever, my lot.

[Lead Pastor]

Can we stop there? That's a guy that says, I know I had plans, but they don't matter. My peace isn't contingent on everything going right.

[Guest Speaker/Reader]

Whatever my lot.

[Lead Pastor]

This next line lets you know he has a savior. And not just that.

[Assistant Pastor]

He has a Lord.

[Lead Pastor]

And not just a savior. We're happy to talk about the person that saves us, but the person that tells us what to do. Sometimes we resist that.

[Guest Speaker/Reader]

Whatever my lot thou has taught me to say. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul.

[Lead Pastor]

You can't sing it without peace. That's what the world is missing.

[Assistant Pastor]

The reason why they're so triggered and dysregulated is because they don't have peace.

[Lead Pastor]

Quiet, calm. It doesn't take away that the marriage is funky. It does not take away that the kids are rebellious. It does not take away that you're barely making end meet. What it does take away is a whole sleepless night figuring out what's going to happen next. I don't know what's going to happen next, but where's my pillow? I'm going to bed. I'm going to sleep this off.

[Assistant Pastor]

But, but, but, but, but, but. The eviction notice. Ah, da da da da. If they knock on the door and it's time to leave, we'll go.

[Lead Pastor]

But right now. I'm going to sleep.

[Congregant/Participant]

Well, that can't be well with your soul. You got a divorce.

[Lead Pastor]

That's not well with my soul.

[Congregant/Participant]

It is.

[Lead Pastor]

If you think my it is about to divorce, then you don't know what I'm talking about. My. It is peace when peace

[Assistant Pastor]

like a

[Lead Pastor]

river attended my way. If you've been missing that, today's your reminder. In between sermon series. Today is your reminder. Let's not go into the rest of this week missing the peace we so desperately need. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message? My hope and my prayer is that as I was talking, the Holy Spirit was speaking and that he would highlight areas in your life where it's been really tough to find peace there. You don't try to keep it. You make it. Paul says as much as lieth within, you live at shalom with everyone not saying it's easy. But I'm saying it's permanent, eternal, and it's the only thing that literally regulates your nervous system. So, Holy Spirit, I thank you for this reminder. For my brothers and sisters, your sons and daughters, I ask and I pray, Lord Jesus, that the peace that you promised through the Holy Spirit would be tangibly felt by every person in our rooms. And may we carry this peace into a very stormy, tumultuous world. And, Holy Spirit, would you make it clear what we need to rebuke

[Congregant/Participant]

and

[Lead Pastor]

what we need to tell to calm down? In Jesus name we pray.