Super Umpire Series

Chico Alliance Church

“Super Umpire”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:7

Today we explore together a common struggle from life in a fallen world.

• Turbulent relationships with people

• Feelings of confusion, anxiety, stress

• Struggles with adverse circumstances and difficulties from life in a fallen world

• Inner turmoil concerning our relationship with God

• Struggles with heath issues

• Issues of financial concern

• Family and marital turbulence

• Negative feelings concerning personal worth and competence or significance

• Concerns about the future

All of these things add up to internal turmoil and anxiety; anything but peace. Jesus, who gives us His peace, who is our peace, who made peace, who preached peace and arms us with the gospel of peace, distinctly demonstrated this peace even in the face of many of the same issues just mentioned. Because of his relationship with the Father, Christ showcased a life characterized by calm confidence resulting from a resounding realization that every-thing is designed to work out for the Father’s glory and His good.

Whether it has to do with other people, God, circumstances, family, health, personal strug-gles or God, we can experience His peace; that calm confidence as a result of a resounding realization that through Christ everything works together for God’s glory and our good.

In short, peace is the calm confidence that everything will be OK!

Peace results from the realization that all things do work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

It is this peace that has been the experience of people throughout history and the expres-sion of the soul in song. This morning we explore that peace to which we have been called. Paul says let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Let the peace which Christ pictured by His life on this earth and also presents to the subjects of His eternal kingdom be granted authority to arbitrate or umpire both within your soul and between you.

Review

On the basis of God’s wonderful work in us and our supernatural identification with Christ’s death and resurrection and citizenship in the new kingdom, we are urged to live the new kingdom life.

• Hold fast to Christ

• Pursue eternal things

• Contemplate eternal things

• Deny expression to the fleshly desires

• Release the longings of your new heart

The Father has implanted His very life within the children of the new kingdom.

These new desires and passions and longings are in EVERY believer and Paul calls us to release them within the community of believers and the fallen world in which we live so His life might draw others into the kingdom.

Let the heart of the Father flow to others.

• Feel deeply

“a heart of compassion”

• Tangibly demonstrate you care

“kindness”

• Put others first

“humility”

• Approach with gentle persuasion

“gentleness”

• Guard contentious reactions

“longsuffering”

• Focus on the Gold

“forbearance”

• Pursue life-giving community

“love”

Now Paul calls us to let the peace of Christ rule, arbitrate or umpire in our hearts.

Not only are we seeing what seems to be increased rage and increased relational distress at every level of relationships, but there also appears to be an increase in the number of peo-ple experiencing severe inner turmoil, depression, anxiety, fear and worry. The Bible ad-dress distress of soul, anxiety, troubled hearts. It also provides the resources to deal with the many arenas of personal conflict. There are many issues connected to the many passag-es which address peace in the Bible. They all relate to a feelings or situations of uneasiness or unsettledness.

Uneasiness with God

Uneasiness with individuals or groups

Uneasiness with self

Uneasiness with circumstances

Spiritual attack

Physical Sickness

Financial struggle

As we indicated earlier, peace is a calm confidence based on a resounding realization that because of the person and work of God and in spite of external circumstances everything will work together to bring about God’s glory and our good. Peace is not really an absence of struggle but a sense of completeness or wholeness or calm even in the midst of struggle.

Peace emerges from the realization that because of the person, power and purpose of Christ, I have nothing to prove and nothing to loose. As a child of the ever present King I can be confident that, in spite of everything, He really does work ALL things out for His glory and our good. Peace comes as I entrust the welfare of my soul to the everlasting arms of the one who sees all, knows all and accomplish everything He sets out to do, no matter how things may appear.

Peace become an issue of who I trust to take care of me. If it is God, there is peace.