From Worry to Worship: The Pathway to True Peace and Strength

Date:

May 25th, 2025

Scripture:

Philippians 4:4-7, 12-13

Page 1830 of the pew Bible

Sermon Title:

From Worry to Worship: The Pathway to True Peace and Strength

Hymn Suggestions:

Opening Praise Song- 270 Joy To The World

2nd Hymn- 630 What a Friend We Have In Jesus

3rdHymn- 539 My Faith Looks Up to Thee

Closing Hymn- 11 Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Good morning, Church Family, I trust everyone had a great week.

This time of the year is the start of the season to many fun outdoor activities.

There is swimming, golfing, fishing, and many other fun outdoor activities.

But you know something, kids today don’t know what it’s like to have fun outside with the absence of screens, do they?

I mean kids today seem to have a screen in their hands all the time.

When I was a kid, I would spend hours outside from sunup to sundown. Me and my best friend Heather would play everything you can imagine.

We would ride bikes, play in the creek, play hide and seek in the woods and we even flew kites out in the field.

It makes me wonder if kids now even know what a kit is…

I remember one time when we were outside playing, and we went and got our kites and started flying them.

Now I know it’s hard to believe but Pastor Chris wasn’t always the best-behaved little child. Now I know that comes as a surprise to most of you but it’s true, some could say I was aggravating.

I thought it would be funny that day to find some stones and try to hit my friend heathers kite while she was flying it, however she did not find as much amusement in that as I did,   

So, when it was my turn, Heather thought she would repay the favor, except she must have found the biggest, heaviest rock that she was able to lift.

Church family, she said she was trying to hit the kite, well if that was the case, she missed by about 40 feet.

That big rock left her hands and me without even seeing it coming, that rock fell dead center of my head.

The next thing I remember, I picked myself up off the ground with a stream of blood running down my face.

Needless to say, I didn’t throw anymore rocks at kites.

All of the joy that I was experiencing left my body when that rock hit my head. If there is one thing I want doing is rejoicing, and yet that is what our scripture starts out by saying we should do.

Our scripture today comes from the book of Philippians chapter 4:4-7 and 12-13, and it can be found on pages XXXX of your pew Bible if you would like to follow along

Starting on verse 4…

4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

So, our passage today starts out by saying:

4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

You know Rejoice is one of those churchy words, but do we know what it really means, Because let’s face it, the NIV Bible uses the root word "rejoice" in one form or another well over 200 times, so if we are instructed to rejoice, we probably should have an understanding of what it means.

At face value, "rejoice" means to feel or show great joy, happiness or delight, right?

I’m pretty sure we all can agree on that… but it’s a little bit deeper than that,

it’s more than just simple happiness.

Rejoice means a more active, outward expression than that of joy.

Think of it as an inner gladness that bubbles up and sometimes spills over.

Think back to my kite story that I told in the beginning of the message, There was a reason I told that story.

Think about it like this…

Rejoicing is like a kite soaring real high up in the sky, lifted by the wind, the higher it goes the higher it’s lifted, and if you have ever flown a kite the stronger it feels.

But on the other hand,

Happiness is more like a balloon that can pop at any moment.

Church family, You can feel joy even in hard times, joy stays with you and when you are rejoicing you are lifted by the Holy Spirit, even amid the hardest of times. rejoicing is a deeper sense of contentment that is rooted in our faith.

While Happiness might come and go with different circumstances,

So again, I say Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Now, one may say wait just one minute Chris, you are contradicting yourself. Just last week, you told us it was ok to weep.

Chris, you told us that it was ok to question and doubt amid our hardships, and now this week, you read a passage of scripture that says Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

See church family, this is where we circle back to that situational joy, if that’s the happiness we only seek than we would never have true peace would we?

We would be an emotional roller coaster, one minute happy and the next minute  all hope lost.

Rejoicing isn't mere happiness, which is often tied to circumstances. Instead, it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22 tells us…

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Nothing that’s tied to a circumstance.

It’s a deep-seated sense of peace and contentment that comes from knowing God,

Knowing His love,

Knowing His promises.

And knowing that He gets us and because he gets us, we can rejoice even when our circumstances are difficult.

Even when we are sad.

Actually when looking at this morning’s opening scripture, it ties in really well when looking at Jesus for instruction.

Last week we looked at when Jesus Himself wept yet…

He endured the cross for the joy that would come from His work on the cross.

Jesus’s example teaches us that deep sadness and rejoicing in God's will for the future can and do coexist.

And we are told in verse 5, that there are some trademarks of rejoicing,

4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So, with this understanding, we have a choice to make.

I used to and still tell my children today, and in fact I tell my employees this too from time to time.

Life is full of choices, you make choices every day, some good, some not so good, but regardless of the quality of the choice, one truth remains…

Every choice comes with consequences. Sometimes the consequences are good, and once again some consequences not so good.

The truth is if we are seeking a life where we spend the day rejoicing regardless of the situation we are in, than we have to choose the power of joy and prayer over anxiety.

Now some of you may be thinking… wait, now that’s not fair.

Pastor, you don’t know my medical situation, I struggle with anxiety and or depression, I didn’t choose it, it chose me.

And to that I say, point well taken. That is absolutely true. I get you.

However, you knew there was going to be a however didn’t you…

Theres always a however. My kids would always hate when I would do that, they would make a point, and I would say that’s true but however., and they would say, here we go.

However, while it may be true that you struggle with anxiety and or depression, and that you didn’t choose it, it chose you.

I know first-hand that more times than none that the decisions we make cause unneeded stress, worry, and anxiety in our lives,

I remember when my language wasn’t what it should be, I would always find myself worrying and anxious if a teacher or student heard my foul language at work and would turn me in.

Maybe if I called into sick to work when in reality, I wanted to go golfing, I would stress over would someone see me where I shouldn’t be.

The examples are endless,

Perhaps for some people the choice of going out to dinner with someone they have no business going out with brings that anxiety.

Perhaps being somewhere that goes against what you stand for and believe in causes you stress and worry.

Church family and friends the list goes on and on, and if you are being honest with yourself, you will confess to the Lord and make the choice to turn worry into worship by rejoicing in who God had made you into be and rejoicing because we can worship a loving God who always walks with us and never abandons us, and it’s Him alone who is worthy of our praise. Amen?

Like I said, Paul repeatedly encourages us to rejoice, even amidst difficulties,

In other words telling us that joy is rooted in the Lord's presence, and church family, when we have Christ walking along side of us, and even carrying us during the diffulicate times, we will have Joy.

And what is the result of this…?

God's peace is the result.

Gods’ peace is promised as a result of presenting our requests with thanksgiving,

suggesting that our response to worry should be spiritual rather than circumstantial.

And this path points us to Christ, who is our peace and teaches us the value of gratitude and trust.

And now moving on to what is probably one of the most memorable verses of the Bible, Verses 12 and the well-known Philippians 4:13

4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

4:13 I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.

You know Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength. This verse is often used by athletes and sports teams around the country and the world.

In fact, Tim Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback who played for the Denver Broncos famously put Bible verses on his eye blacking patches during his college football career with the Florida Gators.

One of the most prominent verses he displayed was Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

It’s kind of amazing how sometimes just a little something like a bible verse on a band-aid sized eye darkling patch can capture the imagination of a multitude of people.

This verse became widely associated with Tim Tebow, and his eye blacking patches, it even led to a surge in Google searches for "Philippians 4:13."

While many athletes interpret this verse as a promise of success in their endeavors, Tim Tebow has often spoken about its broader meaning,

emphasizing that it's about finding strength and contentment in all circumstances, whether in success or hardship, because of one's faith in Christ.

Church family, he gets it! And we need to get it to.

Listen to the similarities between what Paul says in verse 12 and what verse 13 means to Tim Tebow.

Paul says:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

And Tebow feels that this verse is about finding strength and contentment in all circumstances, whether in success or hardship, because of one's faith in Christ.

Church Family, we can people experiencing this type of strength throughout the Bible, new and old testament.

We can reflect on the life of Moses.

Moses was raised in privilege,

Moses experienced wealth and luxury from the earliest of his memories.

And then because of a choice he made, remember when we talked about our choices?

And because of a bad choice he made, he fled into the wilderness,

He was haunted by his past mistakes.

Until one day God met him where he was at.

God called him to a great purpose, a purpose far greater than anything he ever thought he would do.

God called Moses to confront Pharaoh, and yet Moses doubted his ability.

Do we ever doubt our ability, even when we know God is calling us to do something? And what does God promise Moses?

God reassured him, that he wouldn't go alone. And church family, we too do not go alone.

Matthew 28:20: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." This is part of the Great Commission, a direct promise from Jesus to His disciples (and by extension, to all believers) that He would be with them continually.

John 14:16-18: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." Here, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as a constant companion and comforter, ensuring that His followers would not be left alone after His ascension.

Church family, these scriptures I just read, Philippians 4:13, and so many other verses in the Bible echoes this sentiment,

showing us that with Christ, we have the strength to answer the calling we feel unworthy for.

Like Moses, we too can rise above our short comings through Christ Jesus who strengthens us.

Amen