Peace Seymour Weekly Messages

Heaven sounds great, but is that all there is? What comes after heaven? If heaven is simply living as a soul floating with Jesus, then is there more for us? Do we see our loved ones again? Do we get to do what we loved to do on earth, or is just being with Jesus enough? Heaven sounds good, but shouldn't there be more? Heaven is living with Jesus in paradise, but God has even more planned for us! H...

Many people say that we have to prepare for our death. We have to 'get right with God', or 'fix our ways'. We have to clean ourselves up for God and make sure we're in good standing to be brought into heaven with him forever. What do we have to do to get ready for our death? What do we have to make sure we do before Jesus returns? God does not require you to clean up your life or do anything to be...

We are often anxious about the details of the end. Not only details of our own death, but details about the end of all things. We often want to look for signs and indications that the end is coming and is near. We think we can pinpoint the time either generally or specifically of Jesus' return, or we grow anxious and worried about what that end will be like. No one knows the day of his death. Jesu...

Death is scary. It's the great unknown. We don't know what it will be like, what it will feel like. What we will see. What we will be like. Death is a slow, painful process, and we largely don't know what's coming up on the other side. Our sin has caused death to enter into this world. Death is a negative consequence of our sin, and while we know it's not right, we don't what what it will be like....

The Peace and Seymour communities gather to worship, spend time in community together, and hear about God’s goodness and see how he works even in our daily lives.

The Peace and Seymour communities gather to worship, spend time in community together, and hear about God’s goodness and see how he works even in our daily lives.

The Peace and Seymour communities gather to worship, spend time in community together, and hear about God’s goodness and see how he works even in our daily lives.

We carry much shame with us in our lives. We're ashamed of our past, our actions, our mistakes. If guilt is the recognition of our sin, shame is the emotion and feeling that comes with it. We are ashamed of who we are, what we've done, and this shame drives us to separate ourselves from others, and even from God. Jesus does not let us be ashamed. Rather he takes on shame for us. He becomes the one...

Compared to the strength of the spiritual powers of evil in this world, we are weak. We are vulnerable to the temptations and oppression of the devil and his demons. We are powerless against sin in this world. We are captive to these things, let alone the earthly powers of this world that can harm us. We cannot protect or save ourselves. But Jesus is more powerful than all these things in this wor...

In our Western world, we often seek to maintain our innocence. We try to keep our hands clean. We stay out of trouble so that we can remain innocent. Yet, we all do things that we regret. We all have made mistakes. We are all guilty of sin. Even though we are and still live as sinners, we know we have forgiveness in Jesus. Our sin has been washed away in our baptism. The record of sin against us h...

The last stage of life is one that we fail to look forward to, and that we often dread. We devalue the elderly and old in our world today, rather than valuing their worth, wisdom, and wellbeing. This is stage where we look back on our lives, reflect, have regrets, and begin to become isolated from the people and things that we love. Rather than enjoying this time and finding fulfillment in it, we...

Life doesn't always go how we plan. Often, the worst possible things seem to happen at the worst possible times. Sometimes, we wake up and we question everything that we've done and that we've worked towards. We ask, "How did I get here? Is this really what I want? What if I had done this or that?" We hit a crisis, a crossroads, and we don't know what to do next. Regardless of whatever crisis you...

You have to reach the next level. You want to move up the ladder. You need to get that raise for your family to achieve their goals. You're behind on your life plan and you need to move up, or find a place you can move up. That new house with the pool is calling your name. If you can resonate with that, you're in the achieving stage of your life, and you are striving for the next best thing to rea...

Life as a young family is hard. You may have to struggle just to make it to the next mile. You're life is turned upside down. You're torn in every direction, every which way. You don't know what you're doing or what your next step is, and it feels like everything is on the line! This is the stage of life, you have to grind through. At the same time, this stage of life is a gift. It's a gift from G...

The young life is about adventure. You strike out on your own. You experience everything you can. You become independent. You get the most out of life. Yet you can also stray from your roots. You can get into trouble. You make mistakes. You can even get hurt. You can also stray away from your faith, and who God has made you to be. No matter where you go or what you do, remember your roots. Go with...

Normally bad news is just that. It's bad news. All too often in this world, we get just bad news. Things didn't go how we want. Something tragic happened. Life didn't pan out how we wanted it to. The job went to someone else. We lost the person that we loved the most. Bad news is all around us. Bad news happens often, and yet even though it is rare, good news happens too. Easter Sunday is all abou...

Love is hard to find in this world. Love of a man for his friend. Love in families. Love in relationships that withstands anything. True love is hard to come by. Rather, we often as sinful people, end up loving and serving ourselves or loving things that we place above others. Jesus calls us to love and serve and care for others. We pray by the power of the Holy Spirit, we would love a fraction of...

It's easy to be drawn towards the glorious and attractive things in this world. It's easy to look at spectacles, brilliant displays, and amazing things, and turn away from the ordinary, normal, and mundane. The triumphal entry seems triumphant and glorious! Yet, all those who praised him would soon betray Jesus. We are often more concerned about the world, and what is great in the world, rather th...

Often in this life, things feel hopeless. Happy endings only exist in fairy tales. Life's bumps and pitfalls rock our worlds. Life is tough. Losses cannot be won back. What's gone is gone, and we cannot get it back. Hopes and dreams are just that, hopes and dreams that don't come true. We simply move on, and deal with life as it is. Difficult. Bleak. Yes, even hopeless. Jesus shows that his love e...

Our sin often clouds our faith and our spiritual vision. When we are preoccupied with what matters to us or what God does not desire for us, we start to not see clearly. We become confused, lost, and eventually, we can become spiritually blind. We retain our spiritual vision and faith, by seeing Jesus love for us, and realizing he came to save us. Jesus came to make things clear to those who are w...

All of us are outsiders to God. We do not follow him as well as we should. We do not live as he calls us to. We are outsiders in many ways, to God's love and his calling to live as his people. We walk in the darkness of sin, do what we please, but we also crave something more. Jesus loves even the outsider. He loves the Samaritan woman, though she is undeserving of his love. He takes time to talk...

Some things are difficult to believe. What Jesus offers, can often sound too good to be true. How can water and word in baptism do everything that we claim? The Holy Spirit really works and acts in us? I believe in Jesus, but it's easy to doubt and get confused with some of these teachings. They sound like a fairy tale. Too good to be true. God's power and work is not capped at our earthly, human...

Often in life, we feel like nobodies. We feel as if we are simply another face in a world that does not really care. Most of us are not famous, or well-known, or important. We even feel as if no one cares for us. We feel alone. We feel unimportant. What could God really even want with us? Jesus sees you. He cares about you. He loves you. He calls you to come and follow him. In his calling, Jesus d...

We are sinners. We are born, live, and die, in sin. As enfleshed humans living in the aftermath of the fall of humanity into sin, we are in a condition of sin. This means death. Our flesh will one day break down, fall apart, and we will die. This is the reality of the world. This world is in sin. We are in sin. We will die because of our sin. Jesus came to take away our sin. As John the Baptist sa...

We allow all kinds of things to shape and change us. We are formed and conformed by and to the world. Our sinful hearts look for something to worship, and we end up worshipping all kinds of things around us. This is evident in how we live apart from how God has called us to. We are slaves to our hearts, and we live according to what we love, which is often, not God. By the Holy Spirit, God gives u...