Peace of Christ

Philippians 4:1–9 “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Clement was an early church father that we have writings of.

Settle your disagreements

Philippians 4:1–4 “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!”

We are called to settle our disagreements with one another. We let something less than Christ break up our union with his body and himself. If we are not the ones in conflict we still have the responsibility to help.

How shameful is it that we let something get in the way of the gospel that we can control.

how do we settle disagreements?

Matthew 18:15–16 ““If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.”

the goal can be to win but to unite for the gospel.

we cannot be full of joy, if we are divided against each other rejoice. Be considerate, meaning think of others

your division does not just affect you and the other person but the people who are around you.

Don’t worry, instead pray

Philippians 4:6–7 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

How do we not worry? That feels impossible at times?

Simply we pray. Our worry is like a warning light in our car. It is calling attention to something that matters to us.

Admit your need

Thank him

His peace guards

Dwell on what is good

Philippians 4:8–9 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

This is in his ending remarks. One final thing

Use self-control

Put into practice

It cannot stay in our minds and hearts but has to come out into the world.