The Root of Peace Rodney Sones June 17, 2018 Series: Rooted and Built Up

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. --Colossians 2:6-7 (NLT)

There is nothing we can add to the Gospel that will help save us

--Mark 4:38-41 (NASB) 38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” --Mark 4:38-41 (NASB)

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. --Colossians 1:15-17 (NLT)

Jesus holds all power and authority over what we see and what we cannot see – He has the authority to speak peace into any situation

18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. --Colossians 1:18-20 (NLT)

“We don’t know exactly how it all went down, but we do know this: Jesus was dead, and then he wasn’t. A battered corpse was stretched out on a slab, and then the heart in the ribcage started beating again. Jesus inhaled and at once the heavy air in the tomb became more than air; it became breath.” --Andrew Peterson, His Heart Beats--

--1 Thessalonians 4:14, 17 (NLT) ...since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died... together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. --1 Thessalonians 4:14, 17 (NLT)

--Philippians 2:10 ...every knee will bow & every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. --Philippians 2:10

…we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us… --Romans 5:1-2 (NLT)

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins... --Hebrews 9:22 (ESV)

By that power and authority, and through his death for us, Jesus has made peace between us and God

21 This [reconciliation] includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. --Colossians 1:21-22 (NLT)

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. … You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. --Colossians 3:5, 7, 8 (NLT)

I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you. --I Corinthians 15:1-2

The Peace Jesus gives reconciles us who were once enemies of God We are forgiven and holy – members of his Body, the Church

But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. --Colossians 1:23 (NLT)

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. --Romans 14:4 (ESV)

…we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. --Hebrews 10:39 (ESV)

Jesus said “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” --John 14:27 (NLT)

--2 Corinthians 5:19-21 (NLT) …God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. --2 Corinthians 5:19-21 (NLT)

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. --Romans 10:9 (NLT)

Experience this peace with God God’s invitation – Experience this peace with God

The Root of Peace Rodney Sones June 17, 2018 Series: Rooted and Built Up