This passage summarizes a sermon about closing worship services in different ways among churches and focusing on the importance of letting the peace of Christ and the word of Christ dwell within us. It encourages living according to biblical teachings and being thankful in all circumstances. It shares a story exemplifying gratitude and kindness towards others.

1. Adapted from a
Melvin Newland sermon
http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_fri
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51961

2. It is interesting, when you’re traveling, to
visit other churches & observe how they do
some things differently than the way we’re
used to doing them. For example, there are
a lot of different ways congregations close
their morning worship service.

3. After the sermon & invitation, many
congregations have a closing prayer & then
the service is over. But there are churches
that have added some interesting
variations.
Some add a closing chorus sung by the
choir or the entire congregation like we do.
Others have everyone turn & greet their
fellow worshippers, asking God’s blessings
upon them before the service is considered
over & the people are free to leave.

4. Others are much more formal in their
closing. After the benediction the choir &
leaders of the congregation, led by the
minister, form a procession & go down the
center aisle to the entryway before the rest
of the congregation is dismissed.
One saved the Lord’s Supper for the finale
of the service.

5. Now why do I mention this?
One minister has a unique way of closing
his morning worship service. Every Sunday
he closed his service in exactly the same
way.
Following the prayer, he walks alone down
the center aisle & quotes the words of
aloud to the
congregation.

6. Let the peace of Christ be in control in your
heart (for you were in fact called as one
body to this peace), and be thankful. Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching
and exhorting one another with all
wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts
to God. And whatever you do in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him.
NET

7. Over & over again he has been repeating
these words every Sunday to his people –
why? Well, let’s let him answer that
question:
―I repeat these words each week to remind
us that our sole source of authority in life is
this book! We are to live by its teachings...‖
(Mark Adams, Redlands Baptist Ch, Rockville, MD)
I agree. So let’s look more carefully at what
this passage of Scripture is teaching.

8. It begins with the Apostle Paul telling
us, ―Let the peace of Christ be in control in
your heart…‖ Notice the words ―be in
control.‖ In the original Greek it is an athletic
term that was applied to the officials of the
games. We would call them ―umpires‖ or
―referees‖ today. They were the ones who
controlled the action on the field of play.

9. And Paul is telling us that ―the peace of
Christ‖ is to umpire or referee our hearts.
His peace is to have the final say, the final
word on any matter.
―Let the peace of Christ rule…‖ NIV
If possible, so far as it
depends on you, live peaceably with all
people. NET

10. But who or what does actually rule in our
hearts? If you let worry have its way – there
will be no peace. If you let complaining &
criticizing control – there will be no peace. If
you let guilt grip you – there will be no
peace. If you let anger or bitterness or
hatred or revenge or fear rule – there will be
no peace!

11. For many years Argentina & Chile had been
on the verge of war with each other over a
boundary dispute. Finally they realized the
horror & futility of a war between their
countries & they agreed to a peaceful
solution. To commemorate this peace
agreement, in 1904 they melted down some
of their cannons & used the metal to fashion
a large statue of Christ on the mountain
boundary between the two countries.

13. Christ is also the redeemer of our lives.
Jesus told us in NET I have told
you these things so that in me you may
have peace. In the world you have trouble
and suffering, but take courage — I have
conquered the world.‖
Again He said, in NET "Peace I
leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do
not give it to you as the world does. Do not
let your hearts be distressed or lacking in
courage.

14. Jesus also said, NET "Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called
the children of God.
And Scripture tells us that we promote
peace by putting the needs of others ahead
of our own. We promote peace by forgiving
those who have sinned against us, & by
seeking forgiveness from those we have
sinned against.

15. Here’s one married woman’s prayer.
―Lord, I pray for:
Wisdom - to understand my man; Love - to
forgive him;
Patience - for his moods.
Lord, I don’t pray for strength, because if I
had strength, I’d beat him to death. Amen.‖
(Adapted from Russell Brownworth,
Sermon Central)

16. We promote peace by praying for people &
with them. We promote peace by refusing
to gossip & grumble, which Scripture calls
sin. We promote peace by seeking the good
in people & praising them for it.
You make that choice & God will change
your life. Let Jesus rule in your life & His
peace will rule in your heart, your words,
your relationships, & your attitudes.

17. So heed these words of Paul, ―Let the
peace of Christ be in control in your heart
(for you were in fact called as one body to
this peace), and be thankful.‖

18. LET THE WORD OF CHRIST
DWELL IN YOU RICHLY
Next, Paul says Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting
one another with all wisdom, singing
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with
grace in your hearts to God.

19. ―Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…‖
Let it visit? No! Let it be a guest in your
heart? No! To ―dwell in you‖ means to let
the Word of Christ move in & take up
residency in you. If you do, then His Word
will remodel your life, remake your
priorities, reshape your thinking, & replace
your old life with His new life for all eternity!

20. Someone wrote, ―This Book is the mind of
God, the state of man, the way of
salvation, the doom of sinners, & the
happiness of believers. Its doctrines are
holy, its precepts are binding; its histories
are true…

21. It contains light to direct you, food to
support you, & comfort to cheer you. It is
the traveler’s map, the pilot’s compass, the
soldier’s sword, & the Christian’s character.
Christ is its grand subject, our good its
purpose, & the glory of God its end.
It should fill the memory, rule the heart, &
guide the feet.

22. Follow its precepts & it will lead you to
Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected
life in Christ; & yes, to glory itself for all
eternity.
(Adapted from Troy Borst, Sermon Central)
So when it comes to the Word of Christ –
Love it! Learn it! Live it! Get into His Word
so that His Word can get into you.

23. NET For the word of God is
living and active and sharper than any
double-edged sword, piercing even to the
point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints
from marrow; it is able to judge the desires
and thoughts of the heart.
Your word is a lamp to my
feet and a light for my path. NIV

24. Paul Powell writes, "Many say the Bible is
old fashioned. Well, so is the sun, but
without it men grope in darkness. So is the
air, but without it men gasp & die. So is
water, but without it men go mad. In the
midst of the complexities of life, don’t forget
the Holy Bible. Believe it, read it, & heed it.
It holds the key to life.―
(Mark Adams, Redlands Baptist Ch, Rockville, MD)

25. NET Then Jesus spoke out
again, "I am the light of the world. The one
who follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life."
This is not a dead, lifeless truth that we
profess! It is alive & vital! It dispels
doubts, fears & difficulties. Then we can
truly sing with gratitude in our hearts
because we know that we have been
blessed way beyond what we deserve.

26. IN WHATEVER I DO,
I WILL SEEK TO PRAISE HIM
And whatever you do in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him.
Therefore, in whatever I do I will seek to
praise Him!

27. The apostle Paul is a perfect example of
this. Listen to his words in
NET I have been crucified with Christ, and it
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in
me. So the life I now live in the body, I live
because of the faithfulness of the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for
me.
Who lives in you? And in me?
Who do people see when they look at us?

28. The story is told of Gordon
Maxwell, missionary to India, that when he
asked a Hindu scholar to teach him the
language, the Hindu replied: ―No, Sahib, I
will not teach you my language. You would
make me a Christian.‖
Maxwell replied, ―You misunderstand me. I
am simply asking you to teach me your
language.‖

29. Again the Hindu responded, ―No, Sahib, I
will not teach you. No man can live with you
& not become a Christian.‖
Wow! What a testimony his life was!
(Steve Shepherd, Sermon Central)
―And whatever you do in word or deed, do it
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him.‖
It is amazing what an attitude of gratitude
can do for you, & in you!

30. Giving thanks will change your perspective
& your priorities. Instead of looking for the
bad – you’ll be looking for the good. You’ll
count your blessings, & not your burdens.
You’ll be grateful for what you have – & less
greedy for what you don’t have. You’ll be
hope-filled & not help-less. But sadly, there
are many people whose lives are not like
that at all!

31. The story is told of two old friends who
bumped into each other on the street. One
of them looked miserable, almost on the
verge of tears. His friend asked, ―What has
the world done to you, Old Friend?‖ The
sad fellow said, ―Let me tell you. Three
weeks ago my uncle died & left me
$40,000.‖ ―Congratulations, that’s a lot of
money!‖

32. ―Then 2 weeks ago, a cousin I never even
knew died & left me $85,000 free & clear.‖
―Well, it sounds like you have really been
blessed!‖ ―You don’t understand,‖ he
interrupted. ―Last week my great aunt died
& I inherited a quarter of a million dollars
more.‖
Now the friend was really confused. ―Then
why do you look so glum?‖ The sad fellow
sighed,
―This week – nothing.‖
(Jeff Simms-sermoncentral.com)

33. In Jesus Christ we have so much for which
to be thankful!
Do you remember this children’s chorus?
It’s bubbling, it’s bubbling,
it’s bubbling in my soul.
There’s singing, & laughing,
since Jesus made me whole.
Folks don’t understand it,
nor can I keep it quiet.
It’s
bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bub
bling day & night!

34. I want to tell you one more story. It is a
rather long one, but I think you will
appreciate it. It’s about something that
happened at a truck stop, & told by the
owner of the restaurant there. She says; I
try not to be biased, but I had my doubts
about hiring Stevie. His placement
counselor assured me that he would be a
good, reliable busboy. But I had never had
a mentally handicapped employee & wasn’t
sure I wanted one.

35. I wasn’t sure how my customers would
react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy
with the smooth facial features & thick-
tongued speech of Down syndrome.
I knew some people would be
uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely
watched him for the first few weeks. I
shouldn’t have worried.

36. After the first week, Stevie had my staff
wrapped around his stubby little fingers, &
within a month my truck regulars had
adopted him as their official truck stop
mascot. After that, I really didn’t care what
anyone else thought of him. He was a 21-
year-old, eager to laugh & eager to please,
but fierce in his attention to his duties.
Every salt & pepper shaker was exactly in
its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill
was visible when Stevie got done with the
table.

37. Our only problem was convincing him to
wait to clean a table until after the
customers were finished. He would hover in
the background, shifting his weight from
one foot to the other, scanning the dining
room until a table was empty. Then he
would scurry to the empty table & carefully
bus the dishes onto his cart & wipe the
table with a practiced flourish of his rag. He
took pride in doing his job exactly right, &
you had to love how hard he tried to please
every person he met.

38. Over time, we learned that he lived with his
mother, a widow who was disabled. They
lived on their Social Security benefits in
public housing two miles from the truck
stop. Money was tight, & what I paid him
was probably the difference between them
being able to live together & Stevie being
sent to a group home.

39. That’s why the restaurant was a gloomy
place last August, the first morning in three
years that Stevie missed work. He was at
the Hospital getting a new valve put in his
heart.
A ripple of excitement ran through the staff
later that morning when word came that he
was out of surgery, in recovery, & doing
fine. Frannie, my head waitress, let out a
whoop & did a little dance in the aisle when
she heard the good news.

40. Dan, one of our regular trucker
customers, stared at the sight of this 50-
year-old grandmother doing a victory
shimmy beside his table. He grinned.
―OK, Frannie, what was that all about?‖ he
asked. ―We just got word that Stevie is out
of surgery & going to be okay,‖ she replied.
―I was wondering where he was,‖ Dan said.
―I had a new joke to tell him. What was the
surgery about?‖

41. Frannie quickly told Dan & the other two
drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie’s
surgery & then sighed. ―Yeah, I’m glad he is
going to be ok,‖ she said, ―but I don’t know
how he & his mom are going to handle all
the bills. From what I hear, they’re barely
getting by as it is.‖ Dan nodded
thoughtfully, & Frannie hurried off to wait on
the rest of her tables.

42. I hadn’t had time to round up a busboy to
replace Stevie & really didn’t want to
replace him, so the girls were busing their
own tables. After the morning rush, Frannie
walked into my office. She had a couple of
paper napkins in her hand & a funny look
on her face. ―What’s up?‖ I asked.

43. ―I didn’t get to clear off that table where Dan
& his friends were sitting before Pete &
Tony came in & sat down there,‖ she
said, ―But when I did, I found this folded &
tucked under a coffee cup.‖
She handed the napkin to me, & when I
opened it three $20 bills fell onto my desk.
On the outside of the napkin, in big, bold
letters, was printed ―Something For Stevie.‖

44. ―Pete asked me what that was all about, so
I told him about Stevie & his mom. Pete
looked at Tony & Tony looked at Pete, &
they ended up giving me this.‖ She handed
me another napkin that had ―Something For
Stevie‖ scrawled on it, too. Two $50 bills
were tucked within its folds. Frannie looked
at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head
& said simply ―Truckers.‖

45. That was three months ago. Today is
Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is
supposed to be back to work. His
placement worker said he’s been counting
the days until the doctor said he could
work, & it didn’t matter at all that it was a
holiday. In fact, he had called 10 times in
the past week, making sure we knew he
was coming, fearful that we had forgotten
him, or that his job was in jeopardy.

46. I arranged to have his mother bring him to
work, met them in the parking lot & invited
them both to celebrate his day back. Stevie
was thinner & paler, but couldn’t stop
grinning as he pushed through the doors &
headed for the back room where his apron
& bus cart were waiting.

47. ―Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast,‖ I said.
―Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate
you coming back, breakfast for you & your
mother is on me.‖ I led them toward a large
corner booth at the rear of the room. I could
feel & hear the rest of the staff following
behind. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw
booth after booth of grinning truckers join
the procession.

48. We stopped in front of the big table. Its
surface was covered with coffee
cups, saucers & plates, all sitting slightly
crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins.
―First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean
up this mess,‖ I said. Stevie looked at me, &
then at his mother, then pulled out one of
the napkins. It had ―Something for Stevie‖
printed on the outside. As he picked it
up, three $20 bills fell onto the table.

49. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the
napkins peeking from beneath the
tableware, each with his name printed or
scrawled on it. I turned to his mother.
―There’s nearly $10,000 in cash & checks
on that table, all from truckers & trucking
companies that heard about your problems.
Happy Thanksgiving.‖

50. Well, it got real noisy about that time, with
everybody hollering & shouting, & there
were a few tears, as well. But you know
what’s funny? While everybody else was
busy shaking hands & hugging each
other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his
face, was busy clearing all the cups &
dishes from the table. Best worker I ever
hired....
(Adapted from Brien Sims, Sermon Central)

51. Let the peace of Christ be in control in your
heart (for you were in fact called as one
body to this peace), and be thankful. Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching
and exhorting one another with all
wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts
to God. And whatever you do in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him.
NET