World Peace?

July 21, 2014 Monday Message:

Jesus: “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matt. 10:34b ESV

If you’re in the business of making new Christians – and we all should be – you might step on a few toes as you lead people to the Lord. Jesus did.

But Jesus did not want us to hold back, to make a wimpy presentation on his behalf. Rather, we are told to go boldly.

We are filled, and often re-filled with the Holy Spirit. This protects us and fills us with courage to speak up, even when it’s not popular.

Generally, non-believers feel threatened by Christianity. It was so even during Jesus’ time. If the Old-Testament prophecies were all fulfilled through Jesus, the Temple leaders would no longer have power over the people. They took Jesus and his followers to be a threat to their authority.

The Romans thought they were above everyone else, and their leader, Caesar, claimed to be Lord. This new Christian sect claimed that Jesus was Lord, flying in the face of the Roman government.

If the world could all be Christian and live by the Acts 2 church model, we would truly love our neighbors and know peace. But that hasn’t happened, and so we have wars and rumors of war, and it will be that way until Jesus returns.

We could pray for world peace, or we could pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday, at 10:30am, in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This week, I’ll wrap up Acts 4 - the believers were of one mind, which gave them power to change the world!