Dear Harmony Plains singers,
The 2026 Singing School begins Sunday night, the 19th of July 2026, and concludes Friday night, the 24th of July 2026. Our Theme is “Peace With God,” and our song is “Prince of Peace Control My Will,” #281 in the Centennial Edition Old School Hymnal. Our text this year is Colossians 1:20, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”
The peace in this text is a peace made by Christ. It is not the peace of ignoring the way things are, and it is not peace just pretending life is easy. Peace with God does not require you to be strong and it does not depend on your ability to hold it together. It is the peace of a Savior who holds you together.
The peace of God is stronger than your fear, deeper than your wounds, and louder than your shame. This peace is rooted not in your circumstances but in Christ’s cross and resurrection. No one achieves this peace; it is peace that is given. When a person understands God’s peace, it rules, quietly and faithfully no matter what storms come.
God’s peace had to be made by Christ. Colossians 1:20 points us to this peace that does not come from us at all. It is not a sentimental peace or a circumstantial peace; it is not “everything will work out eventually” peace. This is blood bought peace. This peace is the kind that had to be made for us because we could never make it ourselves.
Paul does not say Christ came to calm us down. He says Christ came to reconcile us. Reconciliation assumes a broken relationship. Paul is blunt: the hostility was not “out there,” it was in us and we were against God. We were not neutral toward God. We were not misunderstood. We were not spiritually sick; we were dead to the things of God. We were estranged, alienated, and enemies in our minds by wicked works.
Peace, then, had to be made for us because we by nature are at war with God. God’s peace cost Jesus everything, “having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Peace required blood, not ours, but his. Peace cost Jesus everything. “Making peace by the blood of his cross,” does not allow us to romanticize peace. God drags it out of the realm of sentiment and anchors it in the most violent, unjust, heartbreaking moment in history, Christ’s cross.
The cross then recognizes how bad we are; but also, the cross displays how loved we are through Christ. Jesus did not negotiate peace. He absorbed the cost of it. He did not sign a treaty; he unilaterally produced peace for all the elect. He did not demand terms; he fulfilled them. The peace you long for—the peace you keep trying to manufacture—was purchased at infinite cost by Someone who refused to leave you in your hostility.
God’s peace is not fragile because its foundation is not on you. If peace depended on your performance, your consistency, your spiritual maturity, or your emotional stability, you would lose every day. Paul says peace was made, past tense, by Christ. You do not maintain it, negotiate it, or improve it; you simply are given it. Your failures do not unmake the peace Christ made. Your doubts do not unravel it. Your sin does not overpower it. The peace of Christ is not fragile because Christ is not fragile. Peace extends far. Paul says Christ is reconciling all things to himself, not just your soul, not just your spiritual life, and not just the “religious” parts of you. All things in your past, your relationships now, your wounds, your fears, your future, and your world are reconciled in Christ.
The peace of Christ is cosmic in scope and deeply personal in application. It reaches the parts of you you’ve given up on. It reaches people who think they are too far gone. It reaches the places in your story that still feel raw. Peace is the completed work of Christ. You may not feel peaceful today. Your circumstances may be rough tomorrow. Your heart may be restless. Your mind may be tired, but peace through Christ is not a personality trait. It is not the absence of trouble. Christ has already made peace with God on your behalf. Christ has already reconciled you, already secured you, already claimed you. Your feelings will rise and fall, but in Christ your sins are permanently washed away.
This peace holds you together. Colossians 1:20 is not a call to try harder. It’s an announcement: peace has been made, but not by any of us. It is not peace for the deserving, the strong, or the spiritually impressive. Peace has been made for the weary, the guilty, the anxious, the broken, the ashamed, the overwhelmed, and the ordinary. Peace has been made for you. Do you see this, do you need this, then turn from the beggarly elements of the world and rest in Christ.
Let us sing for a week this summer about God’s peace. Start planning for HPSS now, and I hope to see you in July!
In him,
Dickie Halbgewachs
