Philippians 4

Good morning, We’re going to finish this week in our study in the book of Philippians as we talk about a topic that I think many of us will relate with. But before we jump in, lets start with a word of prayer.

Pray

Well in working on this weeks message, I was reminded of a 2015 pixar movie entitle inside out.

In case your not familiar with this movie, let me read you the plot. It says:

Emotions run wild in the mind of a little girl who is uprooted from her peaceful life in the Midwest and forced to move to San Francisco in this Pixar adventure. Young Riley was perfectly content with her life when her father landed a new job in San Francisco, and the family moved across the country. Now, as Riley prepares to navigate a new city and attend a new school, her emotional headquarters becomes a hot bed of activity. As Joy attempts to keep Riley feeling happy and positive about the move, other emotions like Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness make the transition a bit more complicated.

And in this movie, riley seems to lose all of her joy, as it’s replaced with just about everything else, including fear, anger, disgust and sadness. And ultimately, what started in Rileys mind would then continue to impact what she said and did.

No longer did she enjoy the simple things in life like playing ice hockey or spending time with her family, no longer did she excel in school and no longer was life enjoyable as it once was.

You see, what started out as a seemingly great life, full of fun and excitement and adventure… soon turned into a life of pain, sadness and difficulty. And soon after, this sweet little girl who had all the potential in the world just wasn’t the same. She didn’t enjoy life as she once had. Now eventually, she got her Joy back and everyone lives happily ever after… but for much of the movie, she spent her life sad and down and in need of help.

Friends, this morning, many of us can relate with Riley. We see her life and the excitement in great moments and we can relate with her in the ups of life. In the same way, many of us know all to well the sleepless nights, the sadness, the pain and the difficulty that life can sometimes through our way.

But in the midst of the sadness and the pain, and the difficulty, stands a creator who like we said last week wants us to not only have life but life to the fullest. And yet some of us are missing out on God’s best. Some of us are dealing with worries, and struggles and concerns and this morning, God wants you to get your joy back.

This morning, God wants to set you free. God wants to change your way of thinking and give you peace. This morning God wants you to have joy in all circumstances, to not worry but rather to go to him all the time and get your peace back.

I mean just imagine with me for a moment if there was no more anxiety or stress or worry, but you were content in all circumstance. How freeing would that feel? What would you be doing differently with your time? What would your night of sleep look like? And what type of impact would that have on those around you that you interact with on a daily basis? What would they say?

This morning, we can choose peace. We can choose to put a few fundemantal pieces in our lives, and if we do so… God promises that the outcome will be peace.

If you have your bible with you this morning. Turn with me to the book of Philippians 4. And as you turn there, we will be looking 4 practices that if we do them will result in peace

I’ll let you know up front that the key (or recipe) to peace is this: 1. Don’t be anxious about anything 2. Pray about everything 3. Think about Heavenly things 4. Live for God

Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

As we get started this morning, we’ll remember that Paul is writing this letter, while in a Roman prison cell. And he’s writing to this young church to rejoice in the Lord always…. At all times.

Now you’ll remember from last week that the church in Philippi is facing Roman oppression from those living in the region. And so Paul can relate with them, but he writes them this idea, that even through their hardship… even in their difficulties, that they are to always rejoice…

He then goes to give them 4 keys to a life of peace. 1. Don’t be anxious about anything

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

Can I ask a question for a second, has anyone ever felt anxious? How about this, in the past week did you feel anxious at all? Let’s try one better, didn’t anyone this morning on the way to church feel anxious?

You see, sometimes, things are stressful and life. And yet Paul Says, “do not be anxious about anything.” And we’re quick to say, yeah, well what about this? What about when the bill comes do? What about when I get in the car accident? What about when I go to the doctors and they tell me something I don’t want to here?

Friends, the first key to a life of peace is don’t be anxious about anything.

You know what’s interesting is the National Science Foundation published an article regarding research about human thoughts per day. And I found that The average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Some of us with short attention spans would be closer to the 60,000 mark… squirrel…

But Of those thoughts… 80% are negative and 95% are exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before.

You see, it’s one thing for a thought to enter your mind, and then you don’t entertain it… but when we allow our minds to fester, and chew on the same things… over and over… and over they ultimately eat away at us… and sap our strength.

But God says, “don’t be anxious” “or don’t worry” about a thing because every thing is gonna be alright! Speaking of which…

I remember a while back traveling with my Kim to Ocho Rios Jamaica. We were traveling for our wedding anniversary and had the chance to enjoy a wonderful time together in the warm, Jamaican sun. Now on the day of our departure, we were running a little behind when our taxi driver didn’t show up as planned. This late arrival and necessity to get to the airport caused me to sweat. I mean the last thing we wanted was to miss our flight and be stuck with a huge mess on our hand thousands of miles from home…

On our way to the airport, things got worse. In fact, at one point, there was a roadblock with armed soldiers holding AK47’s. My emotions continued to heighten as they came through and looked through our vehicle. I thought to myself that maybe as American tourist these soldiers would find reason to question us and hold us up even longer. Finally, after waiting 5 minutes which seemed like eternity, we were freed to proceed to the airport. Eventually we only had thirty minutes to get to the airport as our flight was taking off in just an hour and a half. This drive was tense, my emotions were high, I was anxious, and it was a very stressful drive. But then finally after rushing through the airport, navigating our way through security and boarding the airplane… we could breath.

Church, for many of us this morning, we’re in own Jamaican cab of life just racing to get to our destination. We’re full of anxiety stress and worry when in reality we can sit back, and enjoy the ride.

You know in seminary, one of the pastoral counseling courses I took had a very helpful technique that I think has a lot of value behind it… it’s the idea of thethe worst-case scenario… In this technique we basically, say okay things go horrible “but then what?” technique and it works like this… let just say, when traveling back to the airport… I could have asked myself: “okay, we miss our flight… but then what?” Well maybe we get held up a few hours, are given a few more hours to spend with my wife and we grab a last-minute Jamaican jerk sandwich and blue mountain coffee. “yeah that wouldn’t be so bad!” Yeah but what if there were no available flights for the next few days, that would be horrible… again the “but then what?” technique would respond with something like: Well, sounds like an extended vacation to me, wears my sunscreen! See, we get so focused on the “what if’s?” When we could really ask ourselves “but then what?” This approach shifts our perspective.

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

You see, when we worry, it doesn’t do anything for us… Right? You see, If we worry about things that we can fix, that’s silly just go fix it… and if we worry about things that we can’t fix, well worrying isn’t going to do much good anyway.

In fact Matthew 6:27 says 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

You see, there’s no use in worrying. Instead God simply calls us to trust in Him.

Pray about everything

1 Thesalonians 5:16-18 repeats this same idea and says 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

The truth is friend, so often in life… we’re guilty of going it alone. Our tendency if we were honest with each other is to say, hey I can do it. Or I’ve got it all together, we don’t want to seem like were messy. And yet God says, hey come to me… I’m your father… you don’t have to carry this alone…

You see 1 peter 5:7 says: 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you…

But if this is true, than that would suggest there’s a responsibility on our end… to turn things over to God. See it’s impossible to give something to God , That we’re still holding onto, And yet the God says, give all your worries and cares to me… not just one, not just two… all of them.

Jesus told us: 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:7-8 says

You see the reality is friends, God knows what we need before we even ask… but God wants to talk with us, and have a relationship. And as we go to him verse 6 says that he rewards us. Now not to spend too much time here, but friends one of the ways he does this is he takes the weight of what we’re carrying on our backs… and takes the heaviness of it all from us. You see some of us are carrying more than we need to carry.

Just to illustrate for a moment about 12 years back, I was driving on route 66 from Sacramento California, all the way to Small town New Hampshire. And just outside Amarillo Texas, I found this Texas size challenge that caught my attention. You see, I passed a billboard sign that read “The BIG Texan” 30 miles ahead!

This sign caught my attention because under the words “Big Texan” was a whopping 72-ounce Texas size steak. And folks, it looked good! But here’s something interesting, you see I later found out by looking online that for those that eat this massive meal, the shrimp, cocktail, baked potato and rolls that come with it they got to eat for free… Now unfortunately, Kim and I didn’t stop to take the challenge, as we had a long drive ahead of us. But what I found out online is many people have tried this feat, and many people have failed… Many customers have attempted, to tackle this challenge… but they’ve bitten off more than they could chew.

This morning church, many of us are trying to eat our own whopping 72-ounce steak. We’ve got more on our plate than we can possibly carry, yet we do so anyway. Guys, we were never intended to eat a meal this large. We were never intended to carry so much weight around! Today, you can take something off your plate.

You see I was talking with one the guys from church earlier this week and just sharing my heart on the need for prayer, with him… and guys the truth is I need to pray just as much as you do. You see, in being a pastor and a husband and a father and so on… there is a lot of weight to carry… and can I tell you something… when I take the weight I’m holding onto, and I give it to God… it’s no longer on my shoulders.

Friends, can I challenge us with something. Try this, the next time you feel overwhelmed or worried, or anxious. Go in your room. Closer the door, maybe even turn on some quiet Christian music and call out to God. Take whatever burdens your carrying and Give them to the Lord.

You see, as members of Gods household, we have benefits that God gives us. Just as an example if you have a YMCA membership, you can go work out or go swimming anytime you want. If you’re a member of the Costco or Sams club, you also have benefits.

Friends this morning, one of the executive benefits of being a Christian is going to the Lord in prayer. And one of the rewards which we’re afforded is casting all of our cares that are on us… and given them to him… But friends, you have to put your benefits in place in order to reap the rewards… a question is are you going to your Father in prayer this morning? Because he wants to spend time with you and give you peace…

And when you’ve taken off the weight. And turned it over to God. That frees you… to hold on to things that are really worth holding onto. Like things of the Lord

That takes us to point 3 which is Think about things of the Lord

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

We stop and think about Paul for a moment, who as he’s writing this letter he calls the Philippians to change their way of thinking. He says whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy think about such things…

And then he goes on to say 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

You see ultimately, he’s telling them, change your thought, change your focus and put it onto things that are actually worth focusing on.

Now let’s be clear that it didn’t change Paul’s circumstance, and the philippians church that he’s writing to… it didn’t changer their circumstance either… but he calls them to change their way of thinking… and think not on their present circumstance, but on things that are better. But one question is what are we allowing into our lives?

During the height of the pandemic I found that the CDC and others reported that among those feeling anxiety and depression that stress related symptoms nearly doubled compared to before the start of the pandemic.

One similar study showed that in the UK depression rates were 70% higher during covid, but once the lockdown was lifted… these rates when back to normal.

You see, we have to ask ourselves What changed? And friends, I think so much of it is has to do with what we allow into our lives…

You see, In preparation for this morning I purchased a book this week by a Christian author and neuropsychologist by the name of Dr. Michelle Bengston. And in her book “breaking anxiety’s grip.” She points out that when we watch disturbing footage on television or read frightening stories on the internet rather than guarding our hearts from things we can’t unsee or unhear, we allow our hearts to be infiltrated by anxiety-provoking messages. She goes to explain when her husband was first diaged with cancer, we chose, as much as possible, not to view the evening news or to read sensation newspaper headlines that would bring us down or invoke anxiety. We wanted our hearts focused on the positive, encouraging aspects of life consistent with Philippians 4:8.

You see friends, the bible tells us Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. And yet, if we were honest, we allow things that into our lives that ultimately bring us down.

Friends, just a question, what are we allowing into our lives this morning? Because good or bad, everything that comes in will have an impact on us.

Our eyes and ears are like doorways that we open and allow things to come in front of us. We can choose to let good things in, or bad things in… but whatever comes in tends to stay there.

God calls us this morning and he says: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

And then the next verse is so key. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

You see God is calling us to a life of peace, but some of us have a little bit of housekeeping to do this morning.

James 1:22 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

And finally Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Friends, do we want to know the secret to being blessed? Do we want to know the key to having peace? Do we want to know the key to a great life? It’s simple… Live for Jesus…

We just looked at 3 scriptures that said the same thing… and time after time… we’re told that we get out, what we put in. And were we end up this morning is directly tied to our obedience to God…

I’m going to call Lisa back forward at this time…

And as she’s coming forward, I just want to take a moment and summarize where we’ve been This morning. As we close out of service, God wants you to have a life of Peace. Without worry, without anxiety and without stress… but so much of who we are this morning is a reflection of what we allow in here (our minds.) The bible says:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. First question: do we look at every situation as a means to rejoice?

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Point 2: hows your prayer life? Are you spending enough time with the Father?

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Point 3: What are we thinking about? Are we so consumed with the television that we forget taken our eyes of God? Are we listening to the voice of the world or the voice of the Lord?

9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Point 4: Are we living for the Lord this morning?

Friend, wherever you are… God wants to set you free of your anxiety. Whatever your carrying God wants to take this morning. Here’s where I would challenge all of us this week. At some point, find a place where you can take just 30 minutes to start your morning… before the kids are up, before the day starts… and just begin with the Lord. Or maybe you’re a nightime person, and that’s fine to… in the quiet of the night… find a moment just to be with the Lord. Let’s pray