As usual, you can read the transcript of the message below
Philippians 4:4-9
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.
Galatians 5:22
22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness
and self-control.
Philippians
4:4-9 PEACE IN THIS GROWING SEASON
Springford Baptist Church: May
17, 2020.
A few days ago, some neighbourhood children came to our door to ask if we had seen their lost cat. Any of you who have or have had a special pet, will understand the worry and concern that arises if that pet goes missing. We were reminded of a time some years back when we had moved and our two cats went missing. We put up posters and searched our neighbourhood and went to neighbours to ask if they had seen our kitties. I will have more to say about this…
What is happening in your life right now that is causing you worry and distress?
God already knows our circumstances and as unlikely as it may seem to us, God is able to replace our anxious thoughts and feelings with His peace that really does transcend or pass all understanding. When we feel weighed down with the concerns of life, we are invited to exchange these cares for God’s peace.
Peace is yet another of the fruits of God’s Spirit.
God is just waiting for us to release our cares to Him and He is prepared to give us peace in exchange.
In this growing season with several restrictions and limitations connected with trying to control the spread of the corona virus, we might think it a most unexpected time for peace to grow in us.
In our personal lives with the everyday challenges we face and the unique situations each of us try to work through, we might think peace could not grow under these conditions.
Without God those would be accurate conclusions. With God, peace is possible and is available to us.
Today we can all look to God for the relief that His peace can bring us in any growing season and certainly in this particular growing season.
Our Scripture for today urges that we rejoice in or celebrate the Lord our God always, all day every day. (Philippians 4:4)
This does not mean that we pretend we have no worries or troubles. It does mean that we as Christians recognize what to do with the things that understandably cause us to feel anxious and distressed.
Sometimes, what we do with our anxieties and worries is to go over and over them in our minds. When we do this, things seem worse and worse to us. Rather than see a way forward, we get stuck in a rut of despair with our wheels spinning and we cannot see a way to get out.
There is another choice and this is what today’s Scripture emphasizes. This Scripture is found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to believers who knew the struggles of life like we do.
Philippians 4:6 urges in a straightforward way, “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
I want to come back to the lost cat. Of course there is upset and worry over a missing pet. But there is something the neighbour children could do. They could tell others who could help to keep watch for their cat and even assist to search for him. If they sat at home and felt more and more anxious, that did not help the matter. We have not heard that their lost cat has been found yet. When our cats went missing some years back, they did eventually come back home but it took 5 days for one and 16 days for the other.
When we come to God with everything that makes us anxious, we are doing the best thing possible. We are inviting God to help us. We are not sitting at home and having the anxiety grow in overwhelming ways.
Instead of having anxiety grow, we can have peace grow in our hearts and in our minds.
This is the miracle that God is willing to bring about for us-peace, the peace of God.
When we think about this growing season, we realize that unless there is planting and tending, there is not growth.
If you are thinking to plant a garden or some container pots but keep wondering about when to plant and what seeds or transplants would be best then the growing season will advance and there will not be anything planted. Without planting and tending there is not growth.
Without us planting seeds of faith in God by bringing our concerns to Him in prayer then peace cannot grow in us.
We will realize from experience that praying with thanksgiving and presenting our requests to God does not guarantee the answers we are seeking.
Yet, while we wait for the answers that God will bring, there can be peace that comes from Him.
The peace comes in knowing that we have done our part by turning things over to Him. We are trusting God to do His part and to cause our tiny seeds of faith to grow.
While we are waiting to see what God will do, “the peace of God which transcends (is beyond) all understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)
And the final verses of our Scripture for today give further insight into how to maintain the peace of God in this growing season.
When we have given over to God in prayer everything that makes us anxious, we are trusting God to do his part. Our part in maintaining peace as Christ followers is to think about, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, anything that is excellent or praiseworthy…” (Philippians 4:8)
This description of what to think about sounds quite opposite of much of what we are hearing on the news and in conversations these days.
If we want the peace of God, the peace that God gives, to grow in us, we must be intentional about having the kind of thoughts that lift us up closer to God.
The concluding promise is that when we turn everything over to God and center our thoughts on Him, “the peace of God will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9)
We are living in a time of great uncertainty when people are desperate for peace. Today we will pray for ourselves and for others to know that peace of God which passes all understanding and for that same peace to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. We can be certain that God will answer by giving us His peace in this growing season!
And an update on our neighbour’s lost cat: After this message was completed, Loki, the cat came back home. We thank God for this answer to our prayers!