These last few weeks and months have been anything but peaceful. The world is in turmoil and peace will not be found anytime soon.

Billy Graham said: Are you searching for peace? Are you longing for it? You thought you would find it if you made a lot of money, but you didn’t find it. You thought you would find it in getting and accumulating a lot of knowledge, so you got all the degrees you could, but you didn’t find it, this peace.

You’ve searched the religions of the world, but you haven’t found it. There are a thousand ways you’ve turned, trying to find peace, but you haven’t found it. When you come to Christ by an act of faith, He gives you the Holy Spirit who produces the fruit of the Spirit and gives you the peace that passes all understanding.

Isaiah 26:3: You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

In the Book of John the 14th chapter Jesus is comforting his Disciples.

Jesus knows very soon he will be arrested and things will change significantly.

As we read this chapter Jesus touches on a number of things. 

” Do not let your hearts be troubled”

” I am preparing a place for you”

” He is the way to truth and life’

” I will do whatever you ask in my name”

” I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor”

He has been their Counselor and now another one is coming.

Jesus shares a number of other thoughts then we come to verse 27.

I think after everything he has said to his disciple Jesus uses verse 27 to bring it all together to this point .

John 14:27, I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid.

I want you to  understand 3 kinds of peace Jesus is talking about.

• Peace with God (spiritual) -We have been made right with God because of our faith. Now we have peace with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1 NIV).

• Peace of God (emotional) -Don’t worry about anything. Instead, tell God about everything. Ask and pray. Give thanks to him. ⁷ Then God’s peace will watch over your hearts and your minds because you belong to Christ Jesus. God’s peace can never be completely understood. (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV). 

• Peace with each other (relational) -Blessed are those who make peace (peacemakers). They will be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9 NIV). 

A number of times in the Bible Jesus says, “Peace be with you” It is obvious to me that Jesus wants us to find and to have peace. 

The world will only find this peace when they find Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. That’s what we are called to do, “Share His Peace”.

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ALLIANCE HISTORY AND THOUGHT

Keith Taylor has been the Senior Pastor at Beulah Alliance Church for the past 28 years.

Beulah  is one of the oldest and biggest Protestant churches in Edmonton.

When Taylor assumed his post at Beulah, about 600 worshippers gathered regularly. Today, Beulah counts more than 3,000 members on its rolls of regular attendees, not counting thousands more who occasional attend.

Beulah Alliance Church started as a rescue mission in 1907, when Edmonton’s population was about 2,500. As Edmonton grew, so did the church and, by 1956, the congregation moved from 105th Street into a large new church on 124th Street, near 109th Avenue. At the time, Beulah had more than 1,000 children enrolled in Sunday School. It then moved to its current facility 178 street and 98ave.

Beulah has always been active in fostering new congregations, commonly known as church plants. Sherwood Park Alliance, which began in the 1960s, is just one example. About 50 churches and organizations in the Edmonton region can trace their roots back to Beulah. 

Today, Beulah is the hub for multiple campuses Including an Arabic and Hispanic fellowships.

Pastor Taylor sets direction for a staff of 65, some of whom are pastors at the neighborhood sites. 

I was thinking this week about those special moment in our lives.

All of us have times that are special.

The first day of school, when we turn 13 and became a teenager, our 16th birthday and we can drive, our high school graduation, for some our 21 first birthday, then getting married, the birth of our first child, and the list goes on and on.

BUT the most important and special moment in any one’s life is when they  accept Christ as their savior.

Other special moments expire in time. But when you becoming a follower of Christ that special moment lasts an eternity.

The passage I want you to read gives us a look at a day that was very special for one man and not so special for the other.

Read Luke 23:32-43

This could have been a special day, a life changing day in the life of both criminals.

But one had decided he won’t accept Jesus for who he was, which made this anything but a special day.

 It was more of a tragic day, he was “hanging on a cross”, he was in agony in pain he was lost and alone and he was dying!  

This is a tragic moment and to hear the sarcasm that comes from his mouth makes it an even worse tragedy. This man is about to die, and will live eternally without God and without hope of anything ever changing.

All of us cross paths with people every day who are just like this criminal. Angry, bitter, feeling hopeless and lost and these people will also spend eternity without the love and security that having Christ in your life brings. 

As the two criminals hung there that day something changed the second man’s heart. 

1.  Maybe it was the way Jesus was silent as they nailed Him to the cross – 

2.  Maybe it was the way Jesus responded to the mocking by His enemies – 

3.  Maybe it was the sign over the cross of Jesus that proclaimed His title – 

4.  It could have been any number of things that spoke to his heart.  But, whatever it was, it told him that Jesus was no ordinary man! 

We need to be aware of how everything we do these days speaks to those around us.

1.Maybe the way we handle challenges in our lives.

2.Maybe the way we handle those who mock Christians and the church.

3. Maybe the fact we call Christ our savior and we call ourselves Christians.

I mentioned a few weeks ago we may be  the only bible someone reads. Jesus actions spoke volumes to those who watched.

We might be the one who can lead a lost people that God put in front of us to a very special moment in time, a day that would see them accept Christ as their lord and savior.

Whether you are a sinner, a seeker or some who is saved Jesus can make this a special moment  for you.

Like the thief on the cross we just need to call out to him, welcome Jesus into your life and ask Jesus to help us be bold in our witness to others and give you confidence to know for sure that one day we will be in paradise with him.

Finally, I encourage you to Identify and pray for those specific people who you know that are like the second criminal on the cross.

Maybe you can help someone have a very special moment in time. 

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 ALLIANCE HISTORY AND THOUGHT

What do all these men have in common:

Stephen Harper, Ex- Prime Minister of Canada
Robert A. Jaffray, missionary statesman to China
Ryan Smyth, Ex-hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers
A. W. Tozer, author and pastor
Preston Manning, founder and former leader of the Reform Party of Canada.
Ravi Zacharias

They are or were members of a Christian and Missionary Alliance church at one point in  time.