The Inside-Out Peace

True peace isn’t something we have to build from scratch or find in the perfect job or a stress-free life. It is actually a gift from God that is already living inside us—we just have to learn how to open ourselves up to it. In this 7-week sermon series, The Inside-Out Peace, we will look at how we can stop trying to "fix" our outside lives and instead focus on the steady foundation God has already placed in our hearts.

Guided by the wisdom of theologian and psychologist Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, we will explore how forgiving ourselves and embracing our own stories is the first step toward truly loving our neighbors. We often feel like we have to be "perfect" or do everything on our own, but this series offers a different path. It’s a path that honors our struggles, respects our human limits, and reminds us that our worth comes from being made in God’s image, not from how much we get done.

Through the post-resurrection stories of Jesus and the disciples, along with stories of the early church in Acts, and the lessons on joy in Philippians, we will see how the first Christians stayed calm and hopeful even when the world around them was chaotic. Each week, we’ll use the Psalms and a simple "Sabbath Breath" practice to help our minds and bodies relax into God’s presence. This is an invitation to let go of the pressure to "have it all together" and simply rest in the grace that is already yours.

Join us for these seven weeks as we stop trying to do it all ourselves and learn to live in the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding and will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We think we get over things.

We don’t get over things.

Or say, we get over the measles

but not a broken heart.

We need to make that distinction.

That things that become part of our experience

never become less a part of our experience.

How can I say it?

The way to ‘get over’ a life is to die.

Short of that, you move with it,

let the pain be pain,

not in the hope that it will vanish

but in the faith that it will fit in,

find its place in the shape of things

and be then not any less pain but true to form.

Because anything natural has an inherent shape

and will flow towards it.

And a life is as natural as a leaf.

That’s what we’re looking for:

not the end of a thing but the shape of it.

Wisdom is seeing the shape of your life

without obliterating (getting over) a single

instant of it.

-Albert Huffstickler

All of the following resources have been developed by Dr. Walker-Barnes to use as tools for your work of internal reconciliation.

• To ground yourself in daily action, you might check out Dr. Walker-Barnes’s book, Sacred Self-Care: Daily Practices for Nurturing Our Whole Selves, as a companion guide for rhythmic reflection throughout this 7-week series.

• Sacred Self-Care Inventory: This is the starting point for creating your Sacred Self-Care Rule of Life. You can use this to assess and reflect upon your current self-care practices. 

• Goals & Growing Edges Worksheet. This form helps you to clarify your goals and intentions for your Rule of Life. You’ll identify your strengths and growing edges. As you name your goals, keep them simple, aiming for challenging but doable. Sometimes it’s enough to aim for consistency in your current practices.

• Self-Care Rule of Life Worksheet: After identifying your goals, use this worksheet to identify each element of your Rule of Life. In other words, what you’ll do in each area (i.e., spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, relational) and how often you hope to do it (e.g., daily, weekly, annually).

• Sample Rule of Life Poster Template: The last step of creating your Self-Care Rule of Life is to make it visible. Each time I revise my Rule of Life, I create a poster. I usually print 2-3 copies of my poster and put it in various places as reminders: in my planner, on my office bulletin board, beside the vanity mirror in my bedroom. (If you use Canva, you can find a template here. If you don't have a Canva account, you can create a user account for free.)