ATTAINING PEACE

I.       Definition of peace of the Lord Jesus vs. worldly peace

	Peace of the Lord              vs.               Peace of the World
Source	from God Himself	absence of conflict
Time frame	eternal, lasting	temporal, limited
Depth	from within	only physical
Circumstance	regardless of any kind	dependent upon

II.    Peace in a Christian’s life—why is it important? What difference does it make?

John 14:27

III. Sources of peace

1.       Peace is a by-product of dependence on God (Ps 3:4-5)

2.       Peace is a by-product of obedience to God (2 Chr 14:7)

3.       Peace is a by-product of reconciliation with God (Rom 5:1)

4.       Peace comes from being in the Lord Jesus (Jn 16:33)

5.       Peace comes from being filled by the Holy Spirit (Jn 20:21-22; Gal 5:16-18, 22, 24)

6.       Peace comes from doing what is good (Phi 4:8-9)

IV.  How can one attain peace? (Give at least five ways from what you’ve just learned above)

V.     How do I keep the peace of God in my daily life?

VI.  Case study:

All of Kayla’s friends consider her a very gentle, almost shy person. Kayla is also very quiet at church, hardly getting people to notice her. Yet, recently, she began to experience difficulty with one of her most important classes in school. If she does not make a good grade in this class, she will not be able to meet the requirements of the graduate school that she planned to apply. Her father is also having some serious health problems. Kayla finds it harder and harder to pray to God. She can’t understand why these things are happening to her. She begins to have difficulty sleeping, causing her to be very irritable during the day. As a result, Kayla would lash out at her family members and sometimes with her close friends. How can Kayla regain peace with God, with herself, and with others?