Sturdy in the Storm

Let's grab our bibles. Thank you for grab our bibles, and turn to

Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter four, you're like, hey, what happened

to Romans? Romans is back next week. But turn to Philippians chapter four,

And as you do, I'd like to introduce someone if you don't know,

mister Josh Collins. Yeah, all right, the fan club is in

second service, all right, Collins, And I'm just gonna call him Collins

because the Josh thing gets confusing. Collins and I first met when when I

first got to San Antonio. Collins was also a church planter here in San

Antonio, and both of us were endeavoring to plant churches where the Word of

God was held high and disciple making was was that was emphasized, and we

wanted to see his word do his work and his people. And so Collins

and I would meet together at the Starbucks at Blanco in sixteen oh four,

which has been like that doesn't exist anymore on our little spot, and we

would get together and we would encourage one another in the work of making disciples.

And since then, Josh and Kim have become a part of this church

here and their mission is still the same to make disciples. And so I

have asked Josh to come and open up God's word for us, and if

you would please welcome him in a family. Now are so much more awake

than the nine o'clock crowd, more caffeine or something. Church is so great

to get to share the Word of God with you this morning. And I

want to start before we read the passage that we're going to unpack here in

just a second. I want to start by just talking about how great the

Christian life is, how great our salvation is, and how great is the

hope, the mercy, the grace of God that brings us a joy filled

life. Isn't it a joy to get to know the Lord and to get

to walk with the Lord? Oh? That gets a heavier amen. Come

on. But here's the thing. What happens though, What happens when life

happens. What happens when that joy that we know the walk of the Lord

to be? What happens when that seems to fade away? What happens when

that seems to be threatened in our lives? And how do we walk in?

How do we know and experience the joy of the Lord when waves are

crashing, winds are blowing, and everything in our life seems to be robbing

us of our joy. Well, one thing that we do, whether we

want to admit it or not, is we still walk around with the joy

mask on. Hey, you know the one, you know, the one.

Everything's great, God is good, and inside you're just crumbling. Inside.

You feel like you're tethered to a stone being thrown into the ocean and

you can't reach your way to the top of the water to grab a breath.

But we want to show that we're joyful, so we talk about it

that way. So this morning, what I want to do is invite you.

Invite you to You don't have to do it like in front of everybody,

but invite you internally take the mask off. Just take the mask off

for a bit, if that's you. Because today what we're going to see

is that God's promise of his presence that gives us peace can restore our joy

in him. But it's going to take us being real about it this morning,

Church, And so do that with me as we look at this in

the Book of Phlippians. So right now I'm going to invite my brother up

here to read our passage for today, and so follow along if you want

to, and you can open up your bible to Philippians chapter four. We're

going to be looking at specifically verses four through nine. So Philippians four four

through nine. Philippians four four through nine, Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I 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 God of Peace, which surpasses all understanding. Sorry,

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's any excellence, if there's 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. This is God's word. Church. Pray with me. Father.

We are so thankful for your word, so thankful that we get to

approach your word this morning. We get to not just hear something from a

book, but we get to hear from you. God. We thank you

that you speak to us, that you engage with us, and you meet

us at every moment, no matter what circumstance is going on. And so

in this moment, right now, God, I pray that your spirit would

be a work, that he would be removing distractions from our minds, from

our hearts, that right now we can have a fresh encounter with you,

that our focus would be trained on you, and that the gospel of your

son Jesus would show us the hope that we have, but not just show

it to us, but God, that your spirit would cause us to believe

it more and more and more and even more. God, we pray that

we would be changed. So we pray expectantly for that, that you will

change us, that you will transform us, that we would see you more

clearly, that we would become more like Jesus, even right now to this

end. And in your Son's name, we pray Amen. Paul starts off

this passage and this is really the last part of his letter to the church

in Philippi. And this last part, what Paul's getting at is really the

theme of the book. And I would tell you that the theme of Philippians

is joy. It's one of the most common phrases repeated through about where Paul

rejoices, where we should rejoice, where he finds his joy, where you

should find your joy. And here in verse nine what he says is rejoice,

and again I say rejoice. Parents. Have you ever needed to tell

your kids something twice this? You're like, try four times, they still

don't listen. That's still me. In fact, my parents are here so

they can attest to that. Rejoice and I say again, Rejoice, Rejoice,

have joy, have joy in the Lord. Every time in scripture you

see something repeated, it's God, just like a faithful parent telling you pay

attention to this. This is important. Put emphasis on this, not just

in what you're hearing, but in what you're believing. Rejoice and again I

say rejoice. But here's the thing, Paul, and God knows, the

Holy Spirit who inspired this letter to be written. He knows that there is

something that challenges our joy. And the fact is I looked at the last

poll that was done by the Wall Street Journal in September. I don't know

about you, but they've never called me for one of these polls right,

like wish they would, really, I don't. I probably maybe, I

don't know. So the poll that was done though, showed that twenty seven

percent twenty seven percent of the respondents to the poll said that they were experiencing

signs of anxiety disorder. It's true for us now, I would have to

believe in all the relationships I have and the discussions I have and the experiences

in my own life, that anxiety is on the rise. In fact,

it's qualified now as a as an epidemic, an epidemic of anxiety. And

in the same sense, what you see is that angers on the rise,

worry is on the rise. And it shouldn't be shocking to us because we

know that all the channels on television, they are in business to make money,

and they know what sells. What sells anger, outrage, and fear.

So we shouldn't be surprised that if we're glued to the TV screen or

the Twitter feed, that we're going to feel those things. But here's the

reality. With the rise of anxiety, what we see as a radical fall

and joy a word that we really don't talk about very often. Yet the

Bible does rejoice. And I say again, rejoice. What Paul knows is

that not only are we facing something that is going to keep us from experiencing

the joy of the Lord, but he also knows something that we also don't

talk about very often. And now that might just be me, maybe it's

true for you enough for me, but we don't talk about the fact that

there's a very real enemy that we face. Satan is prowling around constantly.

And here's the thing, Church, He's not coming after us with swords and

guns and rockets. He's not bringing tangible weapons us. That's not the way

that Satan attacks us. He seeks to tempt us, for us to turn

against God, in fact, turning against ourselves in the way that God made

us. And So if you want to know if you're ever going to if

you have not, if you are not currently facing a struggle that would be

qualified as anxiety or depression or fear or worry, then know that there's an

enemy seeking to draw you into the trap. That is like quicksand and compounds

and multiplies as you experience it. This is why Paul ends the letter this

way. He ends it with the hope, because here's the good news.

Though there is an enemy that's after us to get us to turn on God

and ourselves. It is also true and more so, that God is here.

God is present, God has been faithful, God has forever, unchangingly

been powerful to save, and that the hope that He has provided, the

hope that he is, and the hope that He has promised, will never

ever be thwarted. The joy that we can have in God, it is

not just available today, it will be forever more because God is present,

God is powerful, and he will never change. That is the truth of

Scripture. So let's walk through what Paul goes through here. And I'm going

to go ahead and let you fill in the blanks For all the box checkers,

I want to relieve your anxiety. Get your blanks filled in. The

first thing we're going to look at is turn your eyes. Turn your eyes.

The second thing we'll see in this passage is fill your mind. Fill

your mind. And then lastly we'll look at practice together, Practice together.

I'm I try to remember to turn the slides, but I know someone's got

my back if I don't. Let's look at the first one, turn your

eyes. What do we do when joy seems out of reach or even lost?

What Paul says here in versus really five through seven, he says,

let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Let

your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. How Church,

will you read the word reasonableness. It's easy for us to think,

Okay, we need to make sure that the world sees us as reasonable people,

that we don't give foolish or faulty arguments, that we are level headed,

we're not crazy lunatics. But that's not really the sense of what Paul's

trying to get at here, because what we can understand about what Paul is

saying is contrasted in the very next verse when he uses the word anxiety.

Here's what I mean in the original language, the way that the original readers

of this letter would understand it is rather not reasonableness in the fact that your

argument should follow logical rules, but rather that reasonableness is qualified as gentleness,

collectedness, sturdyness. In other words, when the storms of life are raging,

there's something about the person who walks with Christ that anchors them down,

holds them firm, and though we might flap in the wind, that Christ

has us that we remain not because of our strength, but because of His

grip. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.

And I'll tell you throughout the entire sermon, the one thing we've got

to keep in the back of our mind. If if you want to just

put a phrase on repeat in your mind right now and throughout the sermon,

it's the Lord is at hand Church. The Lord is here. The Lord

is here now, Lord has always been here. The Lord will never not

be here. And we are promised that the Holy Spirit as believers and dwells

in us forever. Whether we want to recognize it or not, he is

with us. And so the question is, okay, Paul, Well,

we're gonna let our reasonableness be known. And that's why we put the mask

on so many times, isn't it. We put the mask of joy on

because we want the world to think everything's fine. That's why we engage in

shallow conversations where we pass each other and we say, hey, how are

you? You really don't want to know the answer, because if someone starts

to unpack all the mess in their life, you're like, oh, I

just really wanted to unfine. The weather's great have a good one. Hey,

you had some of those conversations today, didn't you. Hey? How

are you? Sometimes you know you run into someone, you ever get terrified,

like they're actually going to answer this. But we put the mask on

because we don't want to deal with what's inside. And so Paul is saying,

deal with it. Let's deal with it. So how do we let

our reasonableness be known to everyone when we feel so unsturdy, uncollected, and

messy, even when the Lord is at hand? The truth is with that

mask. Sometimes too, we can get a little cocky, We can get

a little cocky in this Christian walk that sometimes we can use verses that are

just a few verses below what we're in today, like Philippians four thirteen.

I can do all things through Christ, whose strengthens me. And then we

look at Hebrews ten thirty nine and say, we are not those who shrink

back in are destroyed, but those who believe and are saved. And we

pound our chest and we say, yeah, I'm with it, I'm with

God. Watch me me and God. We're tight, We're we're in good

shape, and I'm strong, I'm collected. Nothing's gonna shake me. Oh,

how we can be so foolish, how we can be so presumptuous that

we have the strength and the ability to deny, repel, and defeat the

enemy that is against us. That is not what Scripture is meant for us

to understand. There are reasons those verses speak confidently, but it's not about

the person. It's about the God who promises them to us. Here's the

reality Church, And I'm going to quote the great theologian Mike Tyson for you

real quick. Everyone's got a plan until you get punched in the mouth.

Everyone's got a plan until you get punched in the mouth. We all know

how we might deal with anxiety, struggle, stress, and all these types

of things, and we might have a plan. I'm going to form all

of these habits. We just left man camp where we learn all these habits,

and we can put all of our faith in the habits and lose the

heart of what those habits are meant to instill in us. And then all

of a sudden, life punches us in the mouth. The plan leaves at

that moment, because right then it's fight or flight. What do I do?

Paul says, the Lord is at hand. Verses five through seventy.

He says, 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, do not be anxious about anything.

How I talked about a contrast, and so if letting your reasonableness was

really given the sense of your sturdiness or collectedness, the word anxiety, what

it really is communicating to us is not just oh, I'm nervous or I'm

anxious about something. I certainly can, but it really gets down to the

feeling of worry or unease. So if you want to contrast steady with unsteady,

that's what it's talking about here. And I mentioned to you that anxiety

disorder is on the rise, it's qualified as an epidemic. It's crazy how

when we can go through something like that, or we can get stuck in

this web or trap of anxiety that we feel so isolated and we feel like

no one's going to understand what I'm going through. I can't be open about

this because I don't even know how to describe it, and maybe I'm just

crazy, or maybe the worse, we get really judgy with ourselves and we

think, if I'm having anxiety, then maybe I'm not faithful enough. Maybe

I'm just being a spiritual whimp. God's probably very disappointed in me right now.

Man, I'm so disappointed in myself. Why am I letting this happen?

If I am walking with Jesus, why am I feeling this way in

church? I just want to share with you briefly. I don't come at

this passage with confidence in myself or my ability to communicate it. I come

at this passage out of desperation. I've been dealing with this passage for many,

many months now, and I was nervous to even get up and preach

it. I told you this sermon prep team weeks ago. I was nervous

about this passage so I might go with another one. And the reason is

is because this passage is so not done with me yet. But here's the

thing I realized, no passage in all of Scripture is ever done with any

of us. Amen. If you think a passage is done with you,

your confidence is about to be shaken. This year, particularly this summer.

I spent more time in emergency rooms than all of my life leading up to

this year combined fit in the hospital. And for years I've struggled with many

health issues that really can't be explained very well. Some have been named and

categorized and offered different ways to get around those issues and things like that.

But this summer, some things started happening that I've never had happened before.

And it's crazy. What anxiety does to it is that when you're feeling for

me, anxiety is rooted in medical history. But I just want to be

clear with this. I recognize and know that the anxiety you might be going

through many in this room even today, is rooted in so many different things.

It can be relationships. It can be in parenting, because truth is,

none of us know what we're doing in parenting. I told the first

service. I'm writing a book called Parenting Don't Screw Them Up too Much,

and it's going to be a bestseller. It can be finances. But there's

so many reasons mine is rooted in medical issues. I have been banned by

my doctors ten years ago from looking at WebMD. It didn't solve the issue

because I don't I spent time this summer struggling so deeply with the anxiety over

what was happening that it's funny what anxiety can do. Anxiety in your mind

can actually make your body manifest the very things that you were afraid of.

I did not have a heart attack this summer, but man, did I

show symptoms of it many, many, many times, and it was terrifying.

And one day I had an event where I was at home by myself,

which was the most terrifying part for me is that no one was around

that would be able to find me on the floor. And so I drove

myself to a hospital and sat in the parking lot in my truck. And

that's when I got super judging with myself. I'm having I mean, my

left arm was numb, I was having pressure and pains in my chest.

I was short of breath, my heart was racing and pounding out of my

chest. All the signs where even my doctor would say, go to the

er, right, But every time I'd go to the er to the hospital,

they'd say, oh, guess what, You're totally fine physically. What

the anxiety does is create and manifest and multiply those types of things but there

I was in the parking lot, getting really judging with myself, thinking why

am I going through this? Why am I struggling with this? I know

that Jesus is with me. I know that he can overcome. I know

that He has called me to rejoice and rest in him. Why am I

shaking? Why am I weeping? Why am I terrified? I don't know

what's going on. Because I know that I know that God is here.

I believe that God will deliver me. Yet in that moment, I'm sitting

there debating with myself whether I'm gonna walk into the er yet again, or

whether I'm going to drive home and suck it up from that parking lot.

I call my wife and I'm weeping and I'm shaking, and I'm like,

I'm so exhausted from this, I'm so tired. Why am I letting this

happen to myself? Why am I so weak? Why am I so faithless?

What's amazing is in that moment, God used my wife like he does

so many times. You could not find a better anchor to God than through

a faithful wife. I stayed there and cried a little bit, prayed a

little more, and ended up driving home, hoping that the physical symptoms weren't

real. I'm suurch, I was terr there's still moments. It's a war,

and the war is long. All of these are that we battle.

But here's the thing. God does win victories in the battles, and God

will eventually win and finish the war because He's already purchased and won the victory

at the cross. We know the promise, but we also know we're still

here. And so here's why I share the story of what was happening with

me and is still something I'm battling with. It's because when you're dealing with

anxiety, what happens is you feel so isolated because it's the non talkable thing.

Let's not talk about that. No one's gon to understand because, let

me tell you, I can't describe my feelings to someone when I'm going through

it. I have no way to explain to you what's happening because all the

things that I know to be true are not being believed to be true,

even though I believe that they are true. Chaotic to you? Do you

resonate with that? I share my story because so many of us in this

room right now, I have gone through or are going through something very very

similar, And I want you to know that I hear you, I see

you. What you're going through is real, what you're going through is painful.

Ultimately, I share it because I want you to know that in this

passage we see the hope that is in Christ that brings us out of and

gives us deliverance from this struggle. Church is attainable. Maybe not in the

very moment, but let me show you how Paul walks us through where our

victory is because it is purchased for you. He says, let your request

be made known to God. This is what turning our eyes looks like.

It may seem silly, but in every single moment of life, our attention

is towards something or something else right, And so as our attention is on

something, many many times, what we find is that our attention is not

on God, which is pretty shocking and pretty shaking to me sometimes because if

I walked around all day holding hands with my wife Kim, and yet in

that moment or throughout that day, I only really look at her, talk

to her, or even think about her like twice, let's just say that

would be a bad bad day for my marriage, right, it'd be weird.

But Church, God is with us at all times. He's with us

all the time. He's with us even right now. He's with us on

Monday morning. He's with us during our lunch break. He's with us in

that busy conference call. He's with us when we're struggling with every moment of

busyness in our lives. He is there. Are we turn our attention to

him? Does he want to hear my mess? Yes? Because here's the

secret. When we talk to God, he speaks back. I'm not talking

audibly from saying, is that as we talk to God, when we talk

to God about God and about the things of God, the truths of God

through the Holy Spirit, as promised by Jesus in the Gospel of John,

is ministering to us, bringing things to remembrance. He is speaking truth into

our hearts so that our minds might see it too. That's why we let

our equest be made known to God. And here's the promise that he gives

the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and

your minds. In Christ Jesus, the peace that surpasses all understanding, what

is the peace of God. Let me tell you. It's not something he

gives you, it's someone he is. And So as we approach the throne

of grace, as we see in Hebrews, as we confidently approach the throne

in our prayer time, as we cry out to God, know that you

don't have to be coherent, you can be raw. God wants to hear

from you. Listen. He already knows what's going on inside of your heart.

So if you pray and say God, thank you for the weather,

thank you for this, He's like, will you just shut up and tell

me what you're really going through? I already know. Commune with God,

being near him is where the peace is found. And it's not a gift

he gives. It's not a present he puts under the tree for you to

open it Christmas. No, it is a constant reality of being near with

Jesus. He says he'll guard our hearts and our minds in Christ. How

is he going to do that? Well, he knows where the real battle

is. Notice Paul doesn't say, lift your requests to God and He's going

to give you all of them. Notice he doesn't say, if you want

deliverance from a circumstance. Just pray, and God's going to remove the circumstance

or move you out of it. Know what he says is that when you're

experiencing something that is producing and engaging you in anxiety, pray to God.

Cry out to God in the kind of schizophrenic way that David does in the

Psalms. Just be real, and what's going to happen is He, his

presence is going to create in you a defense mechanism. And here's the thing.

Paul describes the defense that we have against the wiles of Satan. He

does it in Ephesians. He talks about putting on the armor of God.

But if you notice the armor that He gives us, it's not something really

tangible. Now he uses the illustrations. If I a helmet, a breastplate,

shin guards, a shield, a sword, and all these things.

But if you think about it, really it's about truth and righteousness and salvation

and the sword of the Spirit. These are all things that we put on

that we clothe ourselves in. And all we're doing in those moments is we're

clothing ourselves in Christ because all of those attributes, those are Him those are

Him all throughout Scripture. We've got to take this seriously. Church. If

you're not struggling with this today, the people sitting next to you are.

If we weren't all going to consistently battle fear and anxiety, let me tell

you, it wouldn't be one of the most repeated commands and issues addressed all

throughout scripture. The Old Testament, do not fear, fear not New Testament,

do not be anxious, do not be anxious. And attached to every

single one of these acknowledgments of fear and anxiety is the phrase similar to the

Lord is at hand and the Old Testament, do not fear for the Lord,

do not be afraid the Lord. He doesn't say don't be afraid,

or else I'm gonna think you're a whimp. That's what the manly thing is

to do, The faithful, strong thing to do is to know that when

we are afraid, that He is near. The truth is this year is

the first time ever in my life I've been taking anxiety medication. Now,

I want to be careful about this with you. I am so anti medicine.

It's not funny. I talk with my doctors all the time and I

say, I know you're recommending that. I don't want to be on medicine.

I don't want to be on medicine. But here's the thing. God

has entrusted this knowledge and this science with doctors, and they do such great

work. So I'm not anti medicine when you need it. But here's the

thing to know, is just a tool. It is not the answer,

but it is a tool. It helps me in this moment and this year.

Now I'm dying to get off of it. I have to be on

for six months before we can explore that option. But it does help.

But the reality is, Church, we cannot study our way out of anxiety.

We cannot work our way out of anxiety. We can't medicate our way

out of anxiety, and we cannot situate ourselves away from anxiety. All right,

So you can't just instill habits that are going to overcome it. The

habits should point you to God and to Jesus, because he's the victory and

the deliverance. We can't just take medicine and think, oh, this is

just going to make me docile and I won't be anxious all the time.

No, the victory is found in Jesus not in the medicine, but the

medicine can help. Working can help, study can help. Situating yourself in

different circumstances can help. But you will not find eternal victory. You will

not find the peace that surpasses all understanding by anything, anywhere, at any

time, except through Christ Jesus. He's near. Turn your eyes. Second

point, fill your mind, Paul says. 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. Let me go through

that list of words again. Another will passage you. Let me tell you

where do I find something to think about? How do I think about something

that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent,

worthy of praise. There's only one place. There's only one. What

Paul is saying is think about the wondrous truths of who God is, of

who Jesus and the Holy Spirit are. Think about God. It seems like

a very simple thing, right, But here's the truth. These are not

attributes. It'd be easy for us to think, Oh, I need to

think about it, so that I can become excellent. And it's true that

some of the attributes that God has we can share, right, so we

can live in truth. We can become lovelier than we were yesterday. But

an attribute that we can display is different than an attribute of what God is.

Let me explain this just for a second. God is love, and

it is true that He is loving. But it's because He is love.

You follow me. God does not have attributes. God is God. Attributes

are defined by Him. We only know what truth and love and beauty and

purity is because we look upon His face and it shines back at us.

It's very different. But how often do we think about God? How many

times have you thought of God his greatness? In the past week, I

talked about walking and holding hands with my wife. Wouldn't it be odd?

Not only did I didn't talk to her engage with her, but I also

didn't really think about her. I'm sitting there, old in her hand,

but I haven't really thought about her. That would be a little crazy,

right. God is with you every moment of every single day. He's with

you while you're sleeping, when you're awake, when you're struggling, when you're

happy when you're having your best day, when you're having your worst, He's

with you constantly. And so what we know is that if we acknowledge Him

and turn our eyes to him and we start thinking about him, here's the

magical thing that happens. Thinking of God, recognizing his presence has a wondrous

effect. Have you ever thought like, how do I learn to pray more?

And the answer is, pray more? Like the habit of prayer can

actually lead to a desire for prayer. What do I do when I don't

desire God? Pray to God that you would desire him? Think about desiring

God. Our minds are always going somewhere. And I bring this up because

I just still think it's crazy. We're always thinking about something. The craze

right now if you're online, is that evidently some of you crazy men are

like always thinking about the Roman Empire? Is that? Have y'all heard about

this? Like men are always thinking about the Roman Empire? And here's the

problem with that. I never think about the Roman Empire except now, because

all I hear is that you're thinking about the Roman Empire. So now I'm

like, I'm thinking about the Roman Empire now, But only because y'all thought

about it. We had a trick and a joke back when I was growing

up in school, and it was someone would walk up and say, hey,

I bet you're thinking about Abraham Lincoln. Y'all remember it was this just

me, And I'd say, no, I'm not thinking about Abraham Wincan,

but you are now. And I was like, dang it. And then

the rest of the day, I'm like, Abraham Lincoln. What in the

world, Why am I thinking about Abraham Lincoln. Our minds are trained to

always be thinking, to always be working. Our minds were created to always

be thinking of God. The world tells us to meditate in a way of

emptying our minds. Empty everything out and see what happens. That sounds I

see that gives me anxiety. Scripture tells us what true meditation is from the

beginning of time, and it's not to empty your mind. It's to fill

it. It's to fill yourself with the Holy Spirit. It's to fill your

mind with the things of God. It's to fill your mind with the truths

of who He is, what he has done, what he has promised to

do, fill your minds of His goodness, his mercy, is beauty,

his justice, his righteousness, his salvation that he offers us. That's what

we fill our minds with. And the more and more and more that I

think about God, guess what. My mind continues to think about it on

a loop and the next thing I know, I'm starting to desire God more.

I'm starting to think about his goodness more. I'm starting to feel and

experience the freedom that I have in Him from all that's been going on in

my life. He didn't take me out of the storm. He was just

right there with me. Fill your mind. Lastly, Paul gets to practicing

together what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Practiced

these things, and the God of Peace will be with you. Jesus spent

three and a half years of earthly ministry on this earth, and he did

it closely with twelve disciples and other disciples. He lived in community to show

them community when he left. His charge was about community. His charge was

to the church, the church being literally the assembly of believers, the group,

the family we talk about in scripture. We read in scripture about one

body, about the church, the gathering, the family. We're all together

one were many members, one body here Paul is saying what you've seen from

me, what you've experienced with me, what I've told you practice these things,

and what he's modeling in that the entire time is it takes all of

us. Paul never traveled a missionary journey by himself. Sometimes he got picky

about who got to come with him. He wanted them back later. But

he was always in community. He's always writing to the Family of God.

He's always asking them for their support, for their prayers. He's always depending

on them for his support and for his encouragement. He's always offering himself for

their support and their encouragement. He knew because Jesus modeled and Jesus taught that

we do not walk this life alone, that it's meant to be walked together.

And I'm telling you it's so great that we get to be a part

of Crossway Bible Church because we are a church of small groups, and we

have our small groups where we get to be raw and real. And I

hope that's really the way that you engage age in your small group times,

is that you're real together. Because it takes us practicing these truths together.

Paul says it and that's when the God of peace is known in us and

bringing deliverance to us. So many times throughout this summer, where I was

struggling, where I was terrified, where I was paralyzed. I can't tell

you the effect that you had on me. I'm not going to call out

names, but when people knew that something was off and they saw it,

they called, They were there, they were present. They had no idea

what to say to me. In fact, you never really need to know

what to say. That's not the point. It's the presence, not the

lecture. Because if you're like me, when someone comes up and they're like,

oh, you can do all things, you know through Christ, young

things you and God has a plan for you. And that's when I throw

punch. Someone brings the words where they're like, ah, just you know,

pull yourself up by your bootstraps and oh God's got you. I'm like,

no, you don't know. Like I'm drowning. I just need you

to come and just hold me, getting to shed tears and be real about

what's going on, even though, oh my gosh, some one might think

less of me. It's foolishness. This church, this family has been so

faithful to me, and I know that you're faithful to each other. I

hear the stories all the time. Continue to do it more and more and

more, abounding in love. As Paul writes earlier Inmphlippians, I'm gonna invite

the band to come back up as we finish up Church. I know I

shared some personal stuff, but I don't want to take away from the point

of what Paul's getting at here and the point of my story and my experience.

It's this. It's that the presence of God in our lives, acknowledged,

sought after, engaged with rawness and realness, reveals to us the powerful

deliverance of God, the hope that he provides. Because while the storm might

not go away, you're going to be able to stand, not on your

own two feet, but because He's holding you up, and because we together

are holding each other up. Don't you know that if we're called the body

of Christ, then if one is afoot and one is a hand and we're

holding each other, that we're experiencing in that moment the very embrace of Jesus

Christ, And how great is that embrace? Church? Let us not buy

into any other ideology or solution to these problems because God's presence and bridge men

of Him that reinforces our faith and our trust in Him