Don’t Worry

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Introduction

Well good morning students! It is so great to be back with you all. If we haven’t met, my name is Jacob Cibas. I am the Kids Pastor at Charity Baptist Church in Kannapolis. I’m so glad to be here with you all at chapel!
Today we are going to look at one of my favorite passages in the Bible. In fact, it is probably the passage I have visited most. It is found in the book of Philippians, chapter 4.
But first, let me ask you a question:

Do you ever get worried?

Like maybe you get worried if there’s a thunderstorm outside. Or maybe you get worried if you get lost in a grocery store and can’t find your parents. Or maybe you get worried when it’s time to go to bed; you’re afraid of the dark.
There are many things that make us worried. The crazy thing is, even us adults worry about things too. From our jobs, to the relationships we are in, to our health, there are many things that even we worry about.
But, what does God’s Word tell us about worrying? What should we do when we feel worried?
If you’re like me, you tend to think about the thing you’re worried about. You keep thinking on it and your mind is like a race car flying 100 miles per hour thinking all about that thing.
Does God want us to do that? Does God tell us to do that?
That is what I want us to look at today.

Text

Philippians 4:4–7 (CSB)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Mrs. Mahaley told me that you guys are learning about joy this school year, so I thought: how fitting that the very first verse we are looking at tells us to rejoice in the Lord always.
Paul, the man who wrote this letter, thinks that rejoicing is so important that he says it again: rejoice!

Happiness vs Joy

We are called to rejoice in the Lord always. Even if we are worried, we can have joy. How is that so?
Well, you know the word happy right? Happy and joy are a little different from each other. You see, happiness is based on the good things happening in our life. When it’s our birthday! Or when we get a good report card at school! Or when you get to play with your best friend for the day.
But what about when those good things aren’t happening in our life? What tends to happen?
The happiness tends to slowly… fade… away…
To the point where we can even become angry or upset when things aren’t going our way.
Joy, however is different. Joy is not based on the things going on around us, but what is going on inside us. Said differently: joy is based on something other than our circumstances. It’s based on the hope we have in God. The joy that His Spirit gives us is a joy that lasts. It doesn’t go away like happiness does.

Back to the Text

Back to what Paul is saying:
Phil 4:5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
So what is Paul telling us to do here? He says, “Don’t worry about anything!” How hard is that? It’s hard to go a single day without worrying, let alone not to worry at all! But is that all Paul said? Nope. Let’s see what he tells us to do instead:
6 but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
So we see that instead of worrying about things, Paul says in EVERYTHING, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, to present our requests to God.
So God is wanting us to pray to Him when we are worried.
Who in the room loves to pray to God?
Isn’t it so great that we can talk to God?
I tell our kids all the time at church that we can talk to God anytime, anywhere, about anything. And He listens! He cares about our prayers.
So what should we do when we are worried? Should we keep worrying? No! What should we do instead? Pray to God! That’s right. Pray to God about what we are worried about.
Now here’s my favorite part of this passage. It’s all so good, but the promise we read next is one that I hold dear to my heart. Here it is:
Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, meaning our brains can’t fully understand how it works, that peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
How cool is that!
So when we pray to God about the things we are worried about, God’s peace will guard our hearts and our minds from our worries.
This is powerful. And this is something we all can do when we are worried. Pray to God about what we are worried about.

Story

It reminds me of the times when I was a young boy. I was really scared of thunderstorms. Specifically, tornadoes. I was terrified of them. I never wanted to be alone during a bad storm. I always wanted to be with my parents whenever there was a storm. But, there were many times when I wasn’t with them and a storm happened. And I would worry and worry and worry to the point that I would feel sick. My stomach would hurt and my body would be tense and it would be hard to think clearly. But later on, I learned about Philippians 4. I started to pray more during the times I was worried, and I noticed how when I prayed for peace, God would give it to me. He would give me that peace that surpasses all understanding that we read about. It would be the best feeling in the world, when the thing that I was once worried about was gone. My brain calmed down. I could relax, because I knew God was in control. And He heard my prayers. I have experienced the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

Back to the Text

There’s a second part to this passage, more like a final part to it. Let me read it to you now:
Philippians 4:8–9 (CSB)
8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
In these verses, Paul is telling us what we should think about.
Remember earlier when we talked about our worries and the thoughts that race inside of our heads?
Not only do we pray to God about our worries, but we have to think about the right things.
What we think about matters!
Do you ever find yourself thinking about bad or negative things? Things that make you sad, upset, scared? Then we’ve gotta change what we think about.
Paul says to think on what is true. Are the thoughts in our heads true?
Paul says to think on what is honorable. Do our thoughts honor God and honor others?
Paul says to think on what is just. Are the thoughts in our head just and right?
Paul says to think on what is pure. Do we have pure, clean, wholesome thoughts?
Paul says to think on what is lovely. Are the things we think about lovely and beautiful?
Paul says to think on what is commendable (or admirable). Do we think about things that are worth admiring?
Paul tells us if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy, that we should dwell on these things.
Let’s think about the word dwell for a moment. Everyone in this room lives somewhere, right? Maybe in a home. Maybe in an apartment. Wherever. The word dwell is like dwelling - as in some place you live and stay.
Paul is telling us to dwell - to live in and stay thinking on - these things. True, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable things.
And when we do this? When we pray to God and when we think about the things God wants us to think about?
Phil 4:9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul says when we do these things, the God of peace will be with us.

Christ Connection

Do you know why we pray and think about the right things to begin with? Because God cares about us.
Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends and disciples says that we should cast our cares on God because He cares for us. Isn’t that awesome?! God cares about the things we care about.
God cares about us so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for our sins. Not only did He die for our sins, but He rose again from the dead, defeating sin and death once and for all!
When we place our faith and trust in Jesus, we can be sure that God is always with us and that He always is listening to our prayers. He cares about us and wants to hear from us.
God cares enough about us to send Jesus to save us.
God wants to hear our prayers when we’re worried.
God wants to help us think about the right things!
This should give us great JOY !

Recap

As we close, we must remember: don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. God will give us the peace we need when we do.
But not only should we pray, but we should think about the things that God wants us to think about.
When we do, the God of peace will be with us. And we can have joy because of what He has done for us.
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