Untitled Sermon (4)

Northside Christian Church 8/30/2020

Phil 4:6-9 Jamey Mills

Northside… Like I mentioned earlier my name is Jamey Mills, I am one of the pastors here at Northside… and if I haven't had the privilege of meeting you just yet, I’d love to after the service… I totally understand if you want to stay 6ft away…

I have been deep sea fishing once in my life… and that may tell you all you need to know about my experience. I was pretty young… but I remember it was early and that there was some discussion as to if it were safe to go out that day… I vaguely remember hearing over the radio that they were experiencing 12 ft. breakers, but that is probably off… leaving the dock things were calm, and they probably saw fear in my eyes… but the captain asked if I wanted to drive the boat… of course I did… and for the first little bit things were great… but the next thing I know… I was looking straight up into the sky and then straight down into the sea… and after a few minutes the captain said… I think I better take over…

About 5 minutes later… my face must have been 3 shades of green, because the crew asked if I’d like to come lay down in the cabin… and literally as soon as my heads hit the wood floor, I was asleep. I don’t know how long I was out… but I remember waking up just in time to puke all over the wheelhouse floor… and then… I laid right back down in it and fell asleep again. I remember waking up right as we pulled into the calmness of the harbor… it was the most expensive nap and puke I ever took…

The sea… is powerful… restless… relentless. It’s vast… and there is something about the way it rages… and the consistency of it that reminds me of two things… That God is real… and if He made that…. I need Him.

And it reminds me of a piece of Biblical history… Mark 4:35–41 (NLT)

Jesus had just finished teaching the crowds and he and the disciples piled in the boat, headed to the other side, and along the way it says… a fierce storm broke out. Waves were high, fear was high, and hope… was low. It says the waves were breaking over the boat, filling it with water… the relentlessness… of the waves felt bigger than they were… they were bigger than they were… and I don't know if you have ever had a situation or a season like that… restless, overwhelmed, w/o peace, chaos... There are a lot of wonderful, amazing people that feel that way.

The vibe you get is that these men were scrambling for their lives, when someone noticed Jesus in the midst of the storm, sleeping in the back of the boat… they woke Him up and said… don’t you care? We are all gonna die.

And Jesus woke up… and spoke into the situation. And at the sound of His voice the waves fell and the wind stopped… and what do you think their reaction was? They were more freaked out at that then storm itself… as one of them finally said what the others were thinking… who is this… that the wind and waves obey Him?

We’ve been studying the NT book of the Philippines. The Apostle Paul planted this Church and he knew that this was a truth this young Church needed to hear as they were getting off the ground within a culture that was very idol driven… where the political leaders of the day were literally seen as gods… where the truth of Jesus… even though it’s about love and grace… was offensive at the ground floor of the culture… in part because they had a hard time believing that there could be anyone larger than, great than, more knowledgeable than themselves…

I noticed something this week… as you read the book of Philippians… Two words show up more than I had realized… Struggling and suffering.

Two words we see often in Philippians are struggling and suffering.

Facing a culture that generally stood against them… and maybe it's just me… but sometimes that’s how I feel too… and it was into that chaos and storm that God spoke these words through Paul… that are needed just as much right now as they were then.

Philippians 4:6–9 (NLT)

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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.

Paul says in the face of struggling, stress, and suffering…. Don’t worry about anything. Why didn't I think of that? You and I both know it’s not that simple… and so Paul speaks some amazing truth into this…

Don’t worry about anything… Anything is a HUGE word. Paul isn’t saying don’t care about anything… He’s not saying be emotionally unattached… or mentally unplugged or to be socially distant.

Research suggests that anxiety related struggles are the most common form of mental illness in the US.

More than 40 million adults struggle with some form of anxiety.

of it. It also mentioned this strong correlation between worry, anxiety and depression. Those who struggle with worry and anxiety are far more likely to face depression…

Jesus, in Matt 6 is talking about real value… about investing in eternal things instead of getting caught up in things that decay… like money and stuff… and Jesus reminds us that

where you treasure is in life, that is where your heart is. If we are treasuring sinful or even selfish things, our heart is really going to struggle.

Matthew 6:25-27 (NLT)

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Jesus’ point was that

Worry robs us of what really matters.

And I am willing to bet that at some level, we have experienced this…

The truth is… worry has taken life from me. This is a very real issue for me. I have missed out on things with my wife and with my kids because of it. I have missed out on things with you all…I have not been “present” with people even in the midst of a conversation with them… because of it.

Worry is like its own pandemic… isolating, demoralizing, life taking… its a very real thing for a huge # of people…

So thank God… that He speaks directly to it. 3 things that can help us in our battle with worry and anxiety.

#1 Pray about everything.

Everything is a big word… Paul says instead of worrying… instead of or maybe in the midst of being overwhelmed by the waves… follow the example of the disciples and go to Jesus. Go to the only one who can speak into the storms of life… This passage implies it’s not a one time thing, but a continual process of bringing our worries to Him.

So if there is a relationship that is stressing you out… Pray… not just for them but for your heart too.

If it is a job… pray. Not just for those you work with or the job itself but for your heart too.

If it's money… pray, cry out to God, pray that God will help you use what He provides in ways that honors Him first and foremost… and pray for His provision.

If it’s your kids or grand kids… pray. Everyday… on your knees… pray for God’s wisdom into the impossible job of being a parent.

For these things and so many others the invitation of God is to pray… when worry sets.

When worry sets in or when those things come to our minds… when we begin to feel powerless… and overwhelmed… Pray and ask for prayer.

Prayer is a proactive

step… its something we can do in the face of worry… Bringing our worries to Him… the only one who can speak into the storms of life… and bring peace.

Bring your worries to Him… and leave them there… realizing that worry robs you of life… and God longs to bring you life.

#2 Thankfulness before God for all He has done.

Last week I mentioned that I believe that happiest and most faith filled people do this… they think about the ways God has shown His faithfulness, and love, His grace and mercy to them.

Thankfulness is largely missing in our culture in general.

… can you imagine if gratitude started here and began to sweep through every nook and cranny of our nation, if we began to realize the ways God has blessed us as people and even as a nation… and instead of beating each other up and yelling at each other… we began to thank God… for the countless ways He’s blessed us… despite our shortcomings… and mistakes. And honestly, I really don't understand how we cannot seem to see this or get it.

What are thankful for?

Just a few of mine… My wife (I don't deserve her), the miracle of how my kids became my kids… and those two things, if that’s all God ever did for me, its enough to sing His praises forever… My parents, that I have never known starvation, or had to search for clean water, that I have always had a roof, and by far the biggest… is that when my life was headed to Hell in a hurry, Jesus spoke into the storm I had created with my own sin… and brought peace… peace that impacts everything else I mentioned here.

Be thankful… I believe this… I want to challenge you…

This week to write out 10 things a day that you are thankful for without repeating one of them throughout the week.

Don’t do it half way… but dig into it. Monday will be pretty easy, but by the time you're done you're really gonna be doing some very healthy soul searching… and the end result I believe will be… realizing just how much you have to say thank you for… and… hopefully, it leads us to say it far more often. It will change your life.

Get out your phone and make a daily reminder… if you need to. Post them on our FB page!

#3 Fixing our minds on heaven.

Another thing Paul says… is that fixing our minds on heavenly things… things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy…

For years, I sorta read this separate from the passage on worry and separated from this… but I can’t help but wonder if they are connected…

Actually … replacing those anxious thoughts… with heavenly ones.

How many of our worries are irrational and not based on truth?

Truth: Asking what is really true

here can be an incredibly healthy thing in the midst of our anxiety.

Fixing our minds on what is honorable… as far as I could tell, this means

Honorable: looking for the good in a situation.

Another powerful tool in working through anxiety is asking what is positive or could be positive in the midst of this or as a result of this.

Fixing our minds on what is right is like asking what is the God honoring thing here? Even if it's hard, how do I best honor the Lord in this?

Right: What is the God honoring things to do.

Fixing our minds on what’s pure is sort of like breaking free from the worldly view of it… the carnal view of it… that He would help us to think like Him in the midst of it.

Pure: that He would help us think like Him in the midst of it.

From what I could tell, fixing our minds on what is lovely has to do with making things right with others.

Lovely: making it right with others.

Fixing our minds on what is excellent has to do with committing not to speak poorly about others or even the situation… not complaining.

Excellent: Committing not to speak poorly of others or the situation.

And what is praise worthy is the coming to praise God in it, but also… for what he does through it.

Praiseworthy: Coming to this place of praising God within the situation but also… for what He does through it.

Fixing our minds on those things can help us deal with worry and anxiety… but in the big picture… fixing our minds there is the right thing regardless of worry.

Replacing anxiety with truth and all these other things… fixing our minds there… is a great and effective thing.

Fixing our minds on the right things… did you catch it? It goes from God’s peace being with us… to the God of peace being with us. This truth that as God’s indescribable peace guards our hearts and minds, and we fix our minds on gratitude and heavenly things… we become more aware of the presence of God in our lives.

We battle worry and anxiety by praying… about everything… being radically thankful, fixing our minds… changing our minds on to heavenly things… and the result it says… in unexplainable peace…

The word peace… right now just makes me sigh… our world aches for it… our souls ache for it… and it seems in short supply… because we are looking in all the wrong places.

CONCLUSION…

And for those of you who’d say I don't see it… struggle to see peace or the possibility of peace… I want you to know you not alone. Throughout history, God has worked through countless scenarios where hope felt lost and peace felt impossible…

I think of Israel… as they stood stuck between the sea and the Egptian army… do you think they saw God’s peace? Or David when he faced Goliath with the fate of the entire nation in tow… He was tiny… Goliath was huge… I can’t imagine there was a deep sense of peace, I am sure it was more of Oh my God we are gonna die moment… and even Jesus… when those who had reminded faithful to Jesus saw Him go to the cross… even then… it seems peace was lost…

The lesson we learn through history is… that there is no storm to big, to political issue to crazy, no hurt so deep, no sin so dark, no soul too lost and no valley so wide that puts you out of His mind, His heart, His sight, or beyond his reach.

Don’t worry about anything… why? Because God said we can come to Him. We can pray about everything, we can be thankful, and we can fix our mind on heavenly things.

There is a peace to be found even in the storm… knowing that the one who hung the starts… and even sustains us now… has you. And IF our faith is there… what can anyone… or anything do to you? Worry robs you of the life Jesus is dying to give you.

Today, I want to invite you to participate in communion, it's a time to remember and celebrate… to be thankful before the Lord. The bible teaches us… that even while we were still sinners… Christ died for us. Even when we were not walking with God… He chose to love us and provide a way to the full and free life he desires for us.

Jesus took the bread and the cup… and he gave it to those who follow Him and said… do this… as often as you gather… remembering my life, my death, and my resurrection that brings real life, real hope, and real peace…

So, over the next few songs if you’d like to participate, its on the back table. Please keep SD in mind.