Philippians 4:2

Amen. Thank you, Christian. Well, it's good to be with you guys this morning. How are you doing? No, I'm not Miles. I'm not the younger, shorter, better-looking version of him. I'm kidding. Sorry, I had to throw that one out there. We love to joke with each other here at Cross Connection Church. We know humor and laughter are great things, especially in the body of Christ.

So, I welcome you to Cross Connection Church this morning. I'm Pastor Garrett, and it's my privilege to be with you and share the Word of God. If you would all grab your Bibles and stand up for the reading of the Word of God this morning, we're going to take a detour from 2 Timothy, where we've been studying, and go to another book that Paul wrote, Philippians.

If you turn to Philippians chapter 4, we'll be in verses 2 through 9. It's up on the screens for you too, so just keep turning in the Old Testament or New Testament. It's almost all the way on the right-hand side, so you'll see it pretty quickly. It's before 1 and 2 Timothy, so flip left if you're bookmarked there.

Now, let's read the Word together. Philippians 4:2: "I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Now, pray with me. Father, we do pray this morning that your Spirit would teach us through the reading and study of your Word. Lord, would you open our ears to hear what your Spirit has for the church? Father, would you meet us all where we are?

At this morning, Father, I do pray, Lord, not only for us here in Escondido as the church Cross-Connection, but I pray for the whole world and, in our country especially, Lord, in a state of division. Would you heal us? Father, I pray for those this morning who are wrecked and whose lives are wrecked by anxiety. Lord, that you would bring peace to them. And Lord, that your Holy Spirit would enlighten our understanding. Would you reveal yourself to us in a whole new way this morning? I pray these things in Jesus' good and precious name. And the church said, Amen. You guys may be seated.

So, I decided to take a little detour to Philippians for three reasons. The first was actually because the Lord really put it on my heart to teach it when I heard I was going to be teaching today. I feel like the Lord's got a message for the church out of it. The second reason was that I got to teach this one at Valley Center when I was there this last July. I really loved teaching this passage, and I wanted to share it with you ever since. The third reason is that I believe it's very relevant today, to say the least.

Something I've been wrestling with over the last couple of weeks was this question: Are we more divided now than ever? You can feel that if you watch the news. You're intelligent people; you can see that the country seems to be divided over certain issues. Especially with this last presidential election and then what happened over this weekend, there's some division brewing. I think it's good for us as believers to see what the Bible, what God has to say about it. We need to really check ourselves and see if we are dealing with division in a godly, biblical way, or if we are mimicking what the world does. As the church, as followers of Christ, there is a certain way that we are to deal with that.

First, division has and always will be something we deal with. It's something that was dealt with in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and all throughout the Bible, as well as in our lives today. Division has been something we are going to deal with. Division causes anxiety, and anxiety causes fear. Because of them, peace is left absent. We are left without peace. I know that because one of the number one prescribed drugs here in the United States was antidepressants. At least a couple of years ago, that was the case. We live in a country where we have just about everything we would want at our fingertips.

We all can get jobs. We can work. We can build our lives here, and we have infinite opportunities, I would say. Yet, it seems like there are a lot of people who are anxious, depressed, and just sad. What does the Bible have to say about that? God gives us a way to have that peace back. I want to convince you this morning that God is the only way in this life for us to experience peace and joy. He is the only avenue to attain that peace and joy. Everything else will be very temporary. God is the only way.

So, let's get to the text this morning. It discusses how division is handled and how it should be addressed in the body of Christ. I was joking with the pastors this morning about writing a list of all the people in the church who cause division and making them stand up. Then we thought, no, we won't do that. I was totally kidding. I used that in the first service, and people were just making sure I was awake, so it was great.

We know that God doesn't like division. Amen. He calls for unity throughout the Bible. From beginning to end, He has been working to get us united. So, let's talk about that this morning.

In verse two of Philippians chapter four, Paul writes, "I entreat Yodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life."

It's funny; something my wife and I used to joke about is that wherever two or more are gathered, there will be division. That's point number one on your outlines, actually. Point number one: wherever two or more are gathered, there will be division. You might like decaf coffee; I like regular. My wife loves essential oils; I love guns. More recently, you hear "Yanny," I hear "Laurel." If you guys are into that, I love eggnog. Maybe you don't; it's more for me. I actually heard that I got to buy my first jug of eggnog at Walmart, and I found it. So it's already out, guys, just so you know.

The silly things, though—I try to be lighthearted about this, too—because a lot of the things we get serious and really anxious about, and divided over, are silly things. What's interesting to me in this text is that Paul is writing this from his prison cell in Rome.

The church in Philippi was planted by Paul about four years earlier. Remarkably, he was 900 miles away in Rome when he heard that there were two godly women in the church of Philippi who were having division, which was causing anxiety among the congregation. It’s important to remember that this was a time when Twitter was just a sound people heard from birds. There was no social media or networking that could send a letter across the nation or the world in seconds.

Bad news travels quickly, amen? It did in 62 A.D., and it does now. If you have ever looked at the news, you know that a lot of it is bad. I would say that if you scroll down, about nine out of ten headlines are typically bad news. Bad news sells, right? That’s why it dominates the media. We get captivated by bad news. However, God came to bring good news. That’s what we talk about here at Cross Connection Church: there is good news in the midst of all this bad news. We need to remember that.

The media has capitalized on the fact that bad news sells, but they have also learned that fake news sells. Just be aware that what you are watching and listening to will affect you. What you saturate yourself in matters; we are like sponges, soaking up what is around us. We need to be careful about this because division causes anxiety, and Paul was aware of this. He wrote to address the issue.

We don’t know what these two women were arguing about, but I do know that Paul was no coward. He was not afraid to call out sin or any theological misstep in the churches he planted. Most of the New Testament consists of letters from Paul correcting issues in various churches. In fact, if I were to be part of any church in the New Testament, I would want to be part of the church in Philippi because there was no major sin or theological issue addressed by Paul. In contrast, in the church of Corinth, as seen in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul bluntly tells them they need to remove a man from their congregation who is actively sleeping with his stepmother. He does not shy away from addressing serious issues in his letters.

Sin is not a big issue here; otherwise, Paul would have addressed it between these two women. For our sake this morning, it could have been two godly men having a division as well. However, in this case, it was two godly women who were likely leaders in the church. They were probably even present when this church was founded and worked with Paul to build it from nothing. Thus, they were likely key figures in the church.

Some commentators suggest that these two women might have been worship leaders, and perhaps they had a division over style. One might have said to the other, "You don't like your pitch or your style," or "You just can't keep a beat." We don't know the specifics, but it could have been anything. What we do know, though, is that if it were a sin or theological issue, it is significant that the Bible does not address it, because all we can do is guess. Where the Bible is vague, I will be vague. We don't know; maybe one voted Republican while the other voted Democrat. Whatever the cause, it led to a division between these two leaders in the church, and division causes anxiety. Here, Paul is addressing that.

The Bible says in Titus chapter three, verses nine and ten, "But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have no more to do with him." Romans 16:17 states, "I appeal to you, brothers, watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. Avoid them." God does not like division in His church. He does not like people who are divisive, and this is why Paul is addressing this issue.

Paul wants to make clear the second point on your outlines: God desires for His people to have unity. That is what sets us apart from the world. We should be able to agree with each other in the Lord, especially when others become nasty during disagreements. We cannot be those people. God does not like divisions; He instructs us to avoid those kinds of individuals. We need to be careful not to be divisive because God desires for His people to have unity.

We see this in Psalm 133:1, which says, "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity." Romans 12:16 advises us to "live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty."

But associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

To drive the point even further, 1 Corinthians 1:10 says, "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment."

What I have found is that when disagreements arise—and they will—people tend to vote with their friends, not with the facts. It is good for us to remember this because we can get so wrapped up emotionally in something when our friends or relatives are involved. Maybe we are not even hearing the whole story; there is that possibility. Amen. We need to be aware of that. We need to be gracious, and we cannot let others do our thinking for us.

We must realize how much people affect us. I would say that the people we spend time around influence us significantly. I've heard the saying that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I would also add that you are the average of whatever social media you are on, whatever news channel you are listening to, and whatever you are reading regularly. We need to be cautious about that.

You are intelligent people, so I believe you can think for yourselves. However, we also need to recognize how much of a bubble we are in. Our phones listen to us. For example, if I have a conversation with Pastor Mark about fishing and then go on Amazon, a bunch of fishing-related items will pop up. Our technology caters to what we want to hear. Do you realize that? If you search for something, you will see what your phone filters as relevant to you. It is interesting.

We need to be very careful about who is doing the thinking for us because division leads to worry, anxiety, and frustration. Divisiveness is like a wildfire; it spreads without control, fanning into flames until it is everywhere.

There is an important point to understand: unity is quickly lost and slowly gained. I think it is crucial to remember that anytime a divisive issue arises—anytime something comes up with two sides, or even three sides, with different opinions—we must be mindful of how we approach it.

More gathered is going to be a difference of opinion. That's because we're human. And what's great is God came to save every single one of us. That means that He is going to save people who have different opinions. Amen. We may have different tastes; you might like black cars, while I like white cars. You might prefer sports cars, and I like cars with big tires that guzzle gas. We have differences of opinion, but we need to learn that some of this stuff isn't worth arguing about and getting all riled up over. In that unity is quickly lost.

A personal issue inside a church can quickly become a divisive issue. We need to be careful not to allow that to happen. So, why do we lose unity so fast? Many of us know the answer because we talk to each other. Social media plays a role; you post something online or talk to someone else, and maybe you gossip a little because you heard something. We have to be careful and make sure that we are gracious when we say something or accuse somebody.

This is why Paul gives us an outline for how to handle division. If there's a difference of opinion, Paul provides a very clear outline. He brings in a mediator between two women, saying, "And you, my true companion, help these women to get along." Essentially, he is asking someone to mediate their discussion and differences. This is someone that Paul likely trusted, and many commentators believe he was either an elder, a deacon, or a pastor in the church—somebody in leadership who was trusted spiritually and knowledgeable biblically, capable of helping mediate this conversation on a biblical level and helping them figure out that maybe what they are arguing about is a little silly.

As a church, as a family of God, we need to set some ground rules. We need to decide what we should and shouldn't argue about. This is what I like to talk about: what should we and shouldn't we discuss? We need to have these ground rules.

At Cross Nation Church, we believe there are some primary doctrines that we all have to agree on. We must believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God, one of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus came, was fully man and yet fully God. He lived on this earth, was born of the Virgin Mary, died on a cross for our sins, and rose again three days later. He actually rose again, and He is our only way to salvation. He is our mediator between God and man. We pray to Him, ask Him for healing, and He cleanses us of our sins. He is the only one who can bring us peace.

Now, there are primary doctrines that we have to believe in, like that theological foundation.

Doctrines that we have to believe in are taught every single weekend. Pastor Miles is really good about that. However, there are many other things in the Bible that I would categorize as either secondary or tertiary levels of doctrine. This includes aspects like the style of worship. For instance, do we have flashing lights during worship? Do we have contemporary worship or hymns? Is it too loud or too quiet? These are all things that can stir up strong opinions. We hear comments about the volume almost every service, with people saying it's too loud or too quiet.

Another amusing point is that in the same service, we often hear complaints about the temperature—whether it's too hot or too cold. It raises the question: which is it? These concerns may seem trivial, but they illustrate the point I’m making.

There are other topics in the Bible that can also lead to heated discussions, such as the doctrine of the rapture. Many people get very passionate about this and gather with friends to debate it. While there are compelling arguments in the Bible for the rapture, there are also strong arguments suggesting that we may go through turbulence. Ultimately, we don’t know for sure. What we do believe is that Jesus is coming back. Amen. That is the core belief we need to hold onto.

Another topic that often leads to silly arguments is the age of the earth. It’s pointless to argue about it since the earth didn’t come with a birthday. We should focus on more important matters.

When it comes to schooling, should you homeschool your kids, send them to private school, or public school? These are valid discussions, but I believe there are Christian teachers in the public school system, and some of you may even be among them. Private schooling isn’t bad either, and homeschooling has its merits. My wife was homeschooled, and she turned out pretty well. I attended public school my whole life and had some great teachers. I think I turned out alright, though the Lord is still working on me.

Politics, whether Democratic or Republican, are also topics that can lead to unnecessary arguments in the church. We can discuss them, but we need to agree to disagree agreeably. Amen.

Speaking in tongues is another issue that can spark debate. While it might be fun to argue about, it’s not worth the energy. Even the comfort of our chairs can become a point of contention, with people claiming they are too soft or too hard.

I bring this up lightheartedly because it highlights how trivial some of our arguments can be. Discomfort may arise from these discussions, but we must recognize their silliness.

Regarding the age of the pastor, here at Cross Nation, we believe that as soon as we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, we are ordained and called into the ministry. Even if I am younger, and Miles is also relatively young as a senior pastor, we are committed to our roles in teaching and leading.

God can use anybody to speak. In fact, I see little kids all the time coming back from Vacation Bible School, sharing the gospel with their families and their parents. Their parents start believing in Jesus because these little kids, with the Holy Spirit in them, are sharing the good news. Amen. That's what's so cool about what we believe.

We could argue about how we do things at the church, our style of outreach, whether we support Luke and Kristen Ryder or are doing something else around the world, or if we're here in Escondido. However, ultimately, we want people to meet and grow in Jesus. We want people to like Him, worship Him, and be obedient to Him. That's what we're all about here at Cross Connection Church. We want people to know Jesus. Everything else, we just need to learn to disagree agreeably. Amen.

We need to be prepared to have mature conversations when someone disagrees with us. One of the hardest things I found as a college student was in the classroom, especially in many of the social sciences classes. You have the professor and the majority of the class, about 70%, who strongly believe one side of an opinion. There is usually about 30% of the class that may be more conservative, but they never talk about it because they feel like they would be ousted right away.

We have to realize that there are always going to be disagreements. God has saved every single one of us. He has come to save the whole world, which means everybody in it. This includes your neighbor that you might not like, your family member that you don't get along with, and the person who has different political opinions or preferences than you. God came to save them. They will have differences of opinion, but we have to agree in the Lord. Amen.

The next thing Paul says in verse four is, "Rejoice in the Lord always." Paul, did you really mean rejoice in the Lord always? Even when I'm not feeling good? Again, I will say it: rejoice. Paul knew we would ask this question. Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say rejoice. That's something that's not easy, but it's something the Lord enables us to do, no matter what life circumstances we are in. Whether we're in the hospital or on the verge of death, we can rejoice in the Lord.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Be known to everyone. Another translation would say gentleness. I would argue that one of the first things to go out the window when there's a disagreement in the world is reasonableness. Amen. People get unreasonable, and they are definitely not gentle with each other. A lot of times, when disagreements arise, what the world does is argue and straight up hate each other. If they believe something different, we categorize people as "us" and "them." We create these groups in our minds, thinking that if you are part of that group, you believe everything that group believes. It takes the individual side of it out. It's just silliness.

We can't be like the world. There's a difference between how Christians deal with disunity and how the world does. We have to realize that, because ultimately, division causes people to be unreasonable. They become nasty; they become crazy, in a sense. We can see that very clearly with what's going on around us. I would have to say that a lot of us are guilty of this. We can get unreasonable sometimes. We get flustered, we get frustrated, and then maybe, like me, you've sent a text or an email. As soon as you sent it, you realized, "Crud, I just broke like five of the Ten Commandments."

God came to save us sinners. We are sinners that are saved by God. We are being redeemed and sanctified for His purpose. So, we need to learn to be gentle, gracious, and reasonable with people. They are fallen too; they are also sinful and in need of a Savior. We are called to deal with division differently. Why? Because the Lord is at hand. Paul brings that point very clearly to this church. He asks, why should we care about anxiety and not division and all this sort of stuff that's in the church? Why? Because the Lord is at hand.

We are representing the Lord as believers. "Christian" means "little Christ," right? We are little representatives of Christ. We are following His example, or at least we are trying to. We are trying to be obedient to Him every single day. The Holy Spirit enables us in that process of sanctification to take each step as another step of God changing our character to match the calling that He has ultimately put on our lives.

The Lord is at hand. It changes how we think about things. Paul essentially means that He could come back now. There is nothing holding the Lord back from coming back. There is nothing that needs to happen before He comes back. He can come back at any time. The Lord is at hand, and that should radically change the way we think. I was also thinking about it: once we are up in heaven with the Lord for eternity, there is nobody else up there.

We can share the gospel with a man. Everyone's going to know up there. This is our time right here. This is where God has put us, right here in Escondido, right here in North County, in the jobs that you're working right now. Do you think He has a purpose? Amen. I do believe He has a purpose for that, and He's going to work through sinners like you to reach other sinners that don't know Him yet. The Lord is at hand, and we need to be aware of that.

Then He says, "Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God." I think about how many times, when I've made decisions in my life, if I had just stopped and prayed, if I had gotten on my knees and really sought the Lord, how my decisions would have changed and how my life might even be different. Some of you can probably relate. You look back and say, "If I had just sat down and really prayed, really talked to the Lord, and asked Him about this or that, asked Him to speak into my life at this point, I might have made a different choice or a different decision."

Prayer does change the way we think. It makes us interact; it's interacting with God. This is basically our Christian prescription to anxiety right here: pray about everything. Pray about everything. Prayer is power in prayer. What the devil has been trying to do since the beginning is take that power away from prayer, take the power away from the Word of God, and make it meaningless. That's been his game plan: to take that power away so that when we pray, it's just prayer.

Paul mentions supplication. Supplication is different from just prayer; it's a specific prayer. It's prayer for specific things, making a direct request of God. It's saying, "God, I pray for my cousin Joey, who has a broken knee, or maybe he has cancer in his lungs. I pray that You would heal him this week." We ask God for specific answers. We ask God specifically for that. It's not just a general "Lord, I pray for the United States of America" kind of prayer. That's a great prayer, but it's general open dialogue between you and God.

Supplication is when it gets a little deeper. Supplication is when you have pains in your life, you have pains in your family's lives, and there are things that you need to work out. You need to ask God specifically to meet you in those areas.

Supplication with thanksgiving. Thankfulness is tough. Let's talk about anxiety for a minute, because I believe that there are a lot of people who deal with anxiety. This morning, if you do, I want you to realize that God can give you peace today and joy.

In Matthew 6:34, Jesus himself says, "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." A lot of us worry about the future, but many of us are also caught up in the past. We'll talk about that a little bit later, but the problem is that if we're so stuck in the past and worried about the future, we become of no use to God in the present. We become of no use to ourselves in the present. We have to realize that. It's a dangerous thing.

We live now. We can worry about the future, but ultimately, what anxiety is—my definition of it—is anticipating the future with the worst possible outcome. You're anticipating the future with the worst possible outcome, and then the next step to that is you're freaking out about it. Essentially, we elevate ourselves to prophets of doom over our own lives. We say, "I'm a prophet. I know what's going to happen. I'm worried about what's going to happen," and we think it's the worst possible thing that can happen. Somehow, our minds have the ability to go there.

But the truth is found in Proverbs 12:25, which says, "Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad." Are we speaking good words to other people, to other Christians? That's what fellowship is for; that's what connect groups are for. Are we speaking good words, words of life into people?

In Psalm 94:19, it says, "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, your comforts delight my soul." We are always going to have multitudes of anxieties. It wasn't anything new for the psalm writer, David, most likely with this one, and it's nothing new for us. We are human beings; we are going to have anxiety. We need to learn who comforts our soul because there are many other avenues we can go to, and they will lead us down into more anxiety, more depression, and more of a pit.

God is saying, "This is the only way. I am the only way." You have to look to me to find this peace, to find this comfort, to find this joy. Otherwise, you are living an anxious life, and that's basically anticipation fueled by fear.

Anticipation in itself isn't a bad thing. Anticipation is different from anxiety. A good example of that was the night before my wedding. I was very anxious because I was going to be married the next day. It's a big step, and I was anxious about that. However, it was a good kind of anxiety, which is why it's different from regular anxiety. I wasn't anticipating the future with the worst possible outcome.

Another example was when I was preparing to speak at my first memorial service. My Apple Watch buzzed and reminded me that my heart rate was at 150. I thought, "Yeah, I'm a little anxious," but it wasn't for something bad. I wasn't anticipating the future with the worst possible outcome. Amen. Anticipation is good. We need to anticipate what God is going to be doing in our lives every single day. God wants to work in your life every single day.

So, what can cause anxiety in our lives right now? Here are some examples I came up with quickly. One is traffic. We live in Southern California, and traffic is usually bad. One day it takes you 10 minutes to get to work, and the next day it takes 35. What happened?

Sometimes, people have anxiety about whether or not they are saved. I really pray that this isn't any of us this morning. If it is, please come up and pray with me or with one of our prayer members. We would love to talk you through that.

Anxiety can also stem from being uncomfortable. If you are an introvert, you might feel anxious about being in big crowds. If you're an extrovert, you might feel anxious about being isolated. There are different things that can cause anxiety. Financial difficulties can definitely lead to anxiety; I would say that's one of the largest causes right there.

Some people are anxious about the end of the world, which I think is just silly. People capitalize on that fear. My wife reminded me of the Jim Baker buckets for the end of the world. It's like, "Hey, the world's ending! Be anxious about that, but buy my buckets." It just doesn't make sense.

Age can also be a source of anxiety—whether you feel too old or too young. There are various things we can be anxious about, including health issues or concerns about future health problems. For students, homework might cause anxiety. For all of us, jobs can be a source of anxiety. Family dynamics might make us anxious, and parenting can certainly be stressful.

Being isolated can also lead to anxiety, and then you might freak out about it. People who experience anxiety often feel paranoid and suspicious. Anxiety can also do weird things to our bodies; it can make us sick and affect our sleep.

Anxiety can make you feel like you have insomnia. It can be so overwhelming that you look at a pillow, the one thing you can buy that doesn't come with instructions, and feel like you can't use it right. But you see what I mean? Anxiety does weird things to us, church. I want you to think this through. I believe you are sensible people.

If you're anxious, you might be experiencing constant headaches, heart troubles, chronic sicknesses, stomach problems, and ulcers. All of these have been found to be anxiety-related. Anxiety messes with us. So, what does the world say is the answer to our anxiety? Well, they might suggest going to get some behavioral therapy or taking some antidepressants. I'm not trying to bash anyone. If you have a need to take antidepressants, take them. Some people do have an actual chemical imbalance that needs to be addressed, and praise the Lord, our medicine and our knowledge of medicine are such that we can actually address those things now. That's good.

Another way people deal with anxiety is through alternative treatments like yoga or acupuncture. If you can do that, God bless you, but that stresses me out. I'm not saying those methods are wrong, but that's what the world will suggest. You'll also see people on social media, as it has become really popular to vlog about their lives. Some of them complain about how bad their lives are, and it makes me wonder if they are trying to make the rest of the world feel normal compared to them. I just don't know.

The way that the Bible prescribes dealing with anxiety is actually quite simple: read it. God gives us a good way. The Bible says, "Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

You might say, "Well, pastor, you don't know what I'm going through. I have a right to be anxious. I have a lot of stuff going on." I'm sure you do, but I'm teaching the Word of God, and it says, "Don't be anxious about anything." Come up here; let's pray about this because I believe the peace of God is something you need. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, is not something we can comprehend in our anxious state. The peace of God comes into our lives as a gift from God, enabling us to do well in the midst of our struggles.

We have to realize, church, point number four on your outlines is that God desires for you to have peace and joy. God desires for you to have peace and joy. Psalm 29:11 says, "The Lord gives."

His people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace. You believe that the Lord gives His people strength. He blesses them with peace. I believe that Psalm 119:65, 165 says, "Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble." Wow! Great peace have those who love your law. That basically means great peace have those who read the Bible, those who spend time in the Word of God, with God, in prayer, and in fellowship with the people of God.

So here's my exhortation to us: read your Bibles regularly, pray about everything, and be careful and thankful for what you have. You see, being thankful is tough. In Luke 17, there were ten lepers. If you aren't familiar with leprosy back then, it was basically a disease where you would get these boils all over you. You'd have to get examined by the chief priest, and then he would exile you away from the town, away from people. You'd have to wear a cloak to cover up all the boils. If you ever came close to civilization again, you'd have to yell out, "Unclean! I'm unclean! Get away from me!" You had to part ways; you couldn't be touched. You had an incurable disease. It was shameful for these people.

In Luke 17, these ten lepers, after building up the courage to come see Jesus, finally got close enough to Him to yell. They were in earshot of Jesus and they yelled, "Jesus, heal us!" Jesus said, "Go show yourselves to the high priest." On their way, they were healed. All ten of them were healed. Do you know how many of them came back to Jesus to thank Him afterwards? One. One leper, one leper who had been cleansed, came back to thank Jesus.

Christians, I have to admit that a lot of times it's hard for us to be thankful for what we have. Why? Because we often forget what we've been saved from. It is very easy to forget the filth of our own sin. We can be thankful to God for taking that away from us. We need to remember to be thankful for everything to show our gratitude. It's something that we can all struggle with.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise—think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things.

The God of peace will be with you. If you read that and break it apart, there are two different things. Paul commands us to first think and then to practice. Then the God of peace will be with us. Our minds matter. We have to realize, church, that there is a battle over our hearts and our minds. The spiritual battle is real; the devil is after us. What we think about and what we allow our minds to dwell on really does matter.

So think about what you are thinking about today. Is it true? Is it honorable? Is it just? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it commendable? Is it excellent? Is it worthy of praise? If it’s not, you shouldn’t be thinking about it. It’s not going to do you any good to think about anything else.

Then Paul says, "Whatever you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things." He is saying to follow his example. We have to realize he is telling this to a church that never got to meet Jesus. They lived just after He was there, but they missed Him. So he is saying, "Look at me. I’ve been an example to you." In fact, Paul is such a great example that you couldn’t really do much to him to get him to stop sharing the Word of God.

There is really nothing in his life, after being saved and knocked off his donkey in his Christian walk, that we could point to and say, "He could have done that better." I don’t think so. So I try to follow his example. He is a man that, if you told him, "Hey, stop sharing the Word of God, or we’re going to throw you in jail," he would say, "Okay, throw me in jail. To live is Christ." He would keep sharing Christ.

If they threw him in jail, he would convert all the prison guards and prisoners. They would take him out of jail because he became a nuisance. They would threaten to torture him, but he had this eschatological idea in his mind. Whatever torture they could inflict upon him was nothing compared to the glory that was to come. That is a glory we are all going to experience if we believe in Jesus Christ today. That is the hope we have in Christ, which is why we can have joy and peace today. It is nothing compared to the glory to come. Paul believed that, and I want us to believe that too.

Then they would say, "Okay, Paul, we’re going to have to kill you." He would respond, "That’s great; to die is gain." There was nothing you could do to him. Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. We all want and need peace in our lives. There is the peace of God, and then there is the God of peace. There are two different distinctions in this text. Actually, the peace of God is something given to us.

As a gift, it's something that we can't fully understand, but it's what God gives us through the finished work of Jesus Christ. When we enter into that relationship with Him, He gives us the peace of God and the God of peace. We have to realize that once we accept the Lord as our Savior, He enters into our hearts. He sends the Holy Spirit to indwell us, and then the God of peace is always with us. He is with us always.

You might say, "But you don't know," and a lot of us tend to shy away from wanting to be used by God because we're stuck in our past. We're too worried about our future and anxious about that. So, I made a list of some ordinary people that God did extraordinary things through throughout the entire Bible. They were sinners, just like you and me.

First, God did extraordinary things through Noah, who was a drunk after he built the ark. Abraham and Sarah were too old, yet God still used them. Jacob was a liar, but God still used Jacob. Leah was considered unattractive, and God still used her. Joseph was abandoned by his family; he was a slave and an inmate, yet God still used him. Moses had a stuttering problem, but God still used Moses. Gideon was afraid and the least of his tribe, yet God did amazing things through him. Samson had issues with his hair and women, but he was still used by God.

Rahab was a prostitute, and Ruth was a young widow. David was a bad father and an adulterer, yet God still used him. Isaiah preached naked, which is just weird, but God told him to, and he did. Jonah was a runner; he ran away from God and was swallowed by a fish for three days, yet God still used him. Job lost everything, but God still used him. Peter denied Christ not just once, not twice, but three times, and God still used Peter. Thomas doubted, yet God still used Thomas. All the disciples fell asleep while they were praying, but God still used them.

Zacchaeus was too short, and Paul was too religious. Martha worried too much, yet God still used them. If that's not enough to encourage you that God can still use you today, consider Lazarus, who was dead. God wants to use you.

I will close with this quote from Spurgeon: "Anxiety makes us doubt God's loving kindness."

Our love for Him grows cold. I’ll invite the worship team up at this point. We feel mistrust and grieve the Holy Spirit, which hinders our prayers, spoils our consistent example, and leads our lives to be one of self-seeking. Such a lack of confidence causes us to wander far from Him. However, if through simple faith and His promise we cast each burden as it comes upon Him, we need not be anxious about anything because He undertakes to care for us. He will keep us close to Him and strengthen us against temptation.

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts You." Let's pray.

Father, Your word is true. You keep him in perfect peace. You keep her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because we trust You. Father, I pray that You would increase our trust in You this morning. I ask for anybody who is anxious that they would receive peace and find joy in You today. Let them not wait to find this joy.

As we go out from here, I pray that we would not only experience the peace of God but also share the peace of God with a hurting world. We pray all of these things through Jesus' good and precious name. And the church said, Amen.