Untitled Sermon

Opening Question:

How do you tend to respond when things do not go your way? It is easy to get frustrated, especially if you plans and they do not go the way you want them to. I have found that when I make plans in my mind and I cannot do that I get easily frustrated. And when I do not have preconceived plans it goes better.

What does it take to live at peace with difficult family members? I will be honest I do not have any difficult family members in my immediate family but I have worked with difficult people. And what I have found is if treat them with kindness, give them your complete and undivided attention it usually goes better.

SO the context of this passage is that there are a few ladies who are not getting along for whatever reason… and Paul ask a couple people in vs. 3 to try to help the situation. And what is Paul’s response in vs. 4...

What is Paul asking to people of Philippi to do in vs. 4? Rejoice… Be joyful… Paul is commanding those in Philippi to be continuously joyful in the Lord. And how are we able to have joy in the Lord amidst difficult circumstances? Because our joy in the Lord is unrelated to the circumstances of our lives… Our circumstances may be falling apart but our joy in the Lord never needs to change...

How did Paul tell the Philippian Christians to treat others and each another? vs. 5 With gentleness, mercifully, with tolerance towards the faults and failures of others and we can have this type of attitude because the Lord is near

Now how should the awareness that the Lord is returning affect a person’s attitude? vs.5-7 Because it is a motivating factor for us to live in a godly manner… if we are living with a sense of urgency because the Lord could return at any moment it will kick-start us to be something for our time is short. And because the time was short we were not to be worried or anxious...

What were the Philippians to do instead of worrying? vs. 6-7 Not to be anxious but present your requests to God. And the peace of God will guard your hearts. The peace of God will keep the worries and anxieties of life away from us. …In stead of tightly holding on we are to acknowledge our dependence upon God.

How can a believer enjoy the peace of God? By allowing God to take care of the rest… So if we are not to be wasting our time worrying and being anxious about things that we cannot control what are we supposed to be thinking about… verse 8

What were the qualities of wholesome thoughts? vs. 8 true/consistent with the facts… noble/ honorable, respectful… right/lawful, moral… pure/holy, morally pure…lovely/pleasing, kind or gracious… admirable/commendable well-spoken of… excellent/ achievement or moral excellence… and think about such things

So how can believers enjoy the presence of the God of peace? To put these things into practice and God will be with us through it

How would our lives be different if we consistently put these things into action? I am guessing a whole lot different...