Seeking the Peace of Christ
Elizabeth Soto Albrecht
Unit 1. The Fruit of the Spirit. Paul uses the metaphor of fruit to help us understand that our lives are like the firstfruits offering. When we participate in Christ’s crucifixion through baptism, we offer our lives to God’s service. We receive the various gifts of the Holy Spirit and are called to engage in a loving, Christ-honoring life in which the Spirit’s gifts and fruit contribute to Jesus’ vision and mission for peace.
Unit 2. The Spirit's Mission of Peace. In the book of Acts, the activity of the Holy Spirit drives the vision and mission of the church. The Spirit directs our lives and goes before us.
Unit 3. Violence and Peacemaking. God’s word established a created order that depends upon fruitfulness and cultivation rather than violence to main-tain it. But humanity, through its rivalries, brings violence into God’s created order. God’s plan for us is to reestablish shalom, a Hebrew word for peace that means “a shared well-being and abundance.” While violence remains a part of the created order, God does not quietly sanction the human use of violence and calls us to imitate Jesus’ love and work toward shalom.
