Pursuing Peace In A Divided World - Seven Ways to Pursue Peace in our Church

River City Church - Cambridge, ON

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Welcome to River City Church Online. Thank you for joining us today as we start our new series called Pursuing Peace In A Divided World.
Today's message has been presented by our Pastor Darrell Bierman.

1. Be at peace with yourself (& or ensure peace rules in your own heart).

Our inability to live peaceably with others is often an indication that we are at war with ourselves.

How are we to calm wars and tempers or reconcile with another if we have battles raging in our own hearts?

If you were to take an inventory of those thoughts, you might be surprised to learn how many of them count as negative self-talk.

2. Be we-centered rather than me-centered

The peacemaker must seek to balance the desire to realize his or her rights with the need to be responsible to others.

Rights are all about me.

Responsibilities are all about others.

They are both valuable and needed, like two wings of a dove.

If we focus too heavily on one over the other, we’re unable to fly.

Finding that balance is hard but can be done with practice and awareness.

Another way to say this:

3. Surrender your ego

The ego’s need to be front and center is arguably the greatest obstacle to lasting peace.

When the ego takes the lead, we’re often driven by our fear-based need to protect our own.

But the peacemaker understands that we must reach beyond ourselves in order to experience the peace we crave.

We must be willing to participate in a shared vision with others, even if it puts them in the spotlight.

This is not easy to do and requires daily surrender to the greater good.

4. Play the long game

It’s so easy to get caught up in the moment that we can’t see the forest for the trees.

We often place more value on what’s happening now than the future.

This is understandable.

But if we can play the long game, we can give up the need to dominate or be right or win every argument.

Work instead on the goal of transforming minds and hearts through steady and consistent right action.

Over time the fruits of such actions will begin to exert positive influence on others without the need to dominate verbally.

5. Be genuinely interested in other people.

Become interested in other people’s ideas, even ideas you strongly disagree with.

Hone your listening skills.

Become curious about why the person thinks the way they do.

Understand their positions so well that you can state it back to them concisely and convincingly.

When you do this, people will be shocked by how well you listened and by your willingness to hear them out and make them feel heard.

Because the truth is that you don’t have to be in agreement with people for them to feel heard.

6. Remain curious.

Resist making up your mind too quickly about how you think or feel about an experience, person, or idea.

See how long you can do this until you can’t stand it anymore.

The discomfort will mean that you are in the right place.

Be delighted by the surprises.

7. Don’t be afraid of conflict.

The truth is that conflict itself is not an obstacle to peace, it’s the wrong kind of conflict that can lead to damaged relationships.

The right kind of conflict is not confrontational. It simply means standing in one’s own integrity.

If you want to be a peacemaker, you must be willing to state your position clearly and unambiguously, but also should be willing to allow others to do the same.

If they are willing to engage in respectful dialogue, differences can be talked out, even argued out, as long as the focus remains on the issues and does not turn to personal attacks.

We welcome you to join us for our service.

Café will be open right after the service.
We are located at 215 South Street, Cambridge, Ontario.

God bless you today and we hope to see you soon.
Would you like to connect with us?
Visit us at https://rivercitychurch.org/lets-connect
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Visit https://rivercitychurch.org/giving
River City Jingle by Pat Chan