Problem #5: Anxiety Instead of Contentment

Good morning, Good News Church. My name is Mario.

I'm one of the pastors here, and we are continuing our series,

Modern American Problems. This is now part five.

We have been addressing issues, but not just any issues. We've been addressing

issues that are particularly problematic for us in this country and at this time.

We've acknowledged that in many cases, our society has accepted a poor substitute

for something that God provides.

And so in the very first week of the series, we talked about the problem of

success instead of God's will.

And the second sermon in the series, we talked about self-esteem instead of God-esteem.

And then porn instead of sex, technology instead of community,

and here we are now today, anxiety instead of contentment.

And like the other sermons in this series, we have two topics to talk about.

We have anxiety and contentment, just like we talked about technology and community last week.

Today, we're talking about anxiety and contentment. So let's start with anxiety.

It seems obvious to me that anxiety is a modern American problem.

It is on the rise in our country. And I did not bother this week to go online

and fetch all the statistics that say that this is how it was in the 90s,

and this is how it is now, and all the different numbers that you can have to show people.

And the reason I didn't do that is I just assumed that you guys would believe

me when I said anxiety is on the rise in this country and it is a modern American problem.

Like, I think we are all aware that researchers have noted it.

I mean, I did just Google a little bit about it.

And, you know, the little AI prompt, the little summary comes up and talks about

how it's increased. And I think particularly among young people and females

is what they noted where anxiety has increased a lot.

So I just assume you guys know. You guys are, you know, you look at stuff online,

you watch stuff on TV, and you just see that researchers have noticed this increasing

anxiety trend in our country, and they've written all sorts of articles about

it, and you've probably read some of them.

Also, I assume you've noticed it, like, anecdotally, that just in your life,

like, people say things that are different than it used to be.

At least I've noticed with my life, the way that people talk about anxiety and

the way that people deal with anxiety is very different from when I was a kid.

It's even very different from when I was, like, a young man.

We have people in this congregation who like have

to deal with like debilitating social anxiety I have heard stories in fact I'm

gonna tell you the story that I heard of one person at our church but as time

has gone I found out this probably isn't just one person at our church it turns

out that there were like several different people that this almost this exact

same story applies to them as well but the story goes like this it was like hey,

I wanted to go to church. I wanted to go to Good News Church.

I was invited to go there.

And I was interested in what you guys had to say, and so I wanted to come.

So on Sunday morning, I set my alarm, and I got up early, and I took a shower,

and I put on all my clothes, and I got in the car, and I GPSed the way to get

to the church, and I followed the GPS instructions all the way there,

and I drove onto the campus,

and I drove and parked in a parking spot.

And then couldn't will myself to open the door and go inside with a room full of strangers.

And I put my keys back into the car and started to back up again and drove home

in my church clothes, having not attended the church service.

I wanted to, and I couldn't do it. And then I tried it again the next week.

I think the person who told the story, I can't remember if it was their second

attempt or their third attempt of getting into a parking space that they finally

opened the door and walked inside and would even to this day say like, and I'm glad that I did.

But it took multiple tries. And that is something that, I guess the reason I'm

telling you that story is because I wanted you to realize like that is an issue. That's a problem.

The person experiencing it even would admit that that's a problem,

but it's not, it's a problem that prevented them from going to church,

at least for a Sunday or two.

But it's not the same as other problems that prevent people from going to church.

You know, like that's not like, that what I just described is not laziness. You agree?

Right, like that's a different issue. There are some people who don't show up

at church on Sunday morning because they wake up and they think to themselves,

it is easier to lay here in bed than to get up and go to church.

So that is what I will choose to do, okay?

But that's not what this is. This is a person who wanted to be there and drove

all the way across town to be there and then wasn't there.

And so this kind of like social anxiety involving groups of strangers that prevents

people from even doing things they want to do, like that is a serious thing.

And maybe it's always existed, but I hear more about this kind of thing now

than I ever heard about it growing up.

And that's just one example of a type of anxiety. There are other types as well.

So it is a modern American problem.

And so the question is, what are we doing about it?

Like if it's a modern American problem, what is the modern American solution?

And I would say there are two solutions that I've heard a lot about,

like two very common solutions that seem to be in our culture as people acknowledge this as a problem.

And so the first solution that I've heard a lot of people talk about is something like this.

Just accept it. Like, this is who you are.

This is what your life is like. And you just endure it. Okay?

You have this issue and it's you. It's what you got to deal with.

And so you just endure this. And in some cases, almost not just endure it,

but like accept it as who you are.

Like almost to the point of identify with it.

That there would be some people who would almost use the word anxious like they

would use the word German.

Okay? I am anxious and I am German. These are both immutable characteristics

about me. It is what I will always be.

Another solution that I feel like I've heard a lot about is take this pill.

Okay? And there has been a lot of take this pill over the last 20 years.

And so I guess let me start off by saying I definitely can

imagine individual situations where someone

might need to just acknowledge that there are like symptoms that are happening

to them and they just need to accept that that is the reality of their life

and then they need to endure it like I can imagine a situation where that's

all you can do these things are real they're actually happening to me in my

body or in my mind and I need to persevere through this situation for some time period.

I can also imagine individual situations where taking a pill is better than not taking a pill.

Okay, I thought about that this week. I thought I came up with multiple,

at least two or three different situations I could think of that I was like,

oh, that would be a situation I think it'd be better to take a pill than not take a pill.

Having said that, it seems to me the long-term,

society-wide solution to the problem of rising anxiety probably shouldn't be

to accept this as the new normal or to just have everybody take pills as problems arise.

As if the only problem we have is that we are deficient in some sort of chemical.

For some reason, in one generation, we all became deficient in this one chemical,

and if we all just take it, then we'll all be fine.

I could be wrong, but I think the issue is more complex than that.

And so today we're going to look at what the Bible has to say about this topic.

And that is so important. It is so important for you to be able to read with

your own eyes and be able to hear what God's word has to say about this topic.

Okay. If I said something in the introduction to the sermon so far that you

disagree with, which definitely could have happened.

Okay. I can imagine there could be some of you here that I came across a lot

more pro pill than you are or a lot more anti pill than you are.

And you're like, I don't know about this guy. I don't think he even understands this.

Okay, fine. I probably don't. let's just set all that aside, okay?

Because the point of the introduction of the sermon is just to get you interested

in the topic that we have this morning.

But what God's Word has to say about this, like that matters.

I want you to get that, okay? Who cares what I think?

But what the Bible has to say about this is very important. And so I hope that

you will listen at that point, which that point is coming in like two minutes, okay?

The only other thing I wanted, before I start reading our passage for the day,

I wanted to bring up the other topic this morning, which is contentment.

And I won't say too much about contentment because I've already used most of

my introduction time on the word anxiety. So I will just quickly go through contentment.

I just wanted to say a little bit about it because I think it is also a modern American problem.

And there are probably multiple problems, like multiple sources of it.

But there's one thing I just wanted to point out before we even read God's word.

I want to point out that one reason this might be a modern American problem

is all of us live in a country where there are thousands of people whose job

it is to say, to communicate to you, you don't have enough and your life could be better.

Did you know that? Like we live in a culture where there are thousands of people

that this is a big portion of what advertising is for, okay?

Not all advertising, but a decent portion of advertising exists to say to you

over and over again, you do not have enough, you do not have enough,

you do not have enough, you need this.

Over and over again, your life could be better, your life could be better,

your life could be better, try this, okay?

And it is almost nobody's job to say you have enough and your life could be worse, okay?

Like thousands of people, like the way they feed their families by telling you

you don't have enough and life could be better, and almost nobody makes a living

telling you you have enough and your life could be worse.

So when it comes to the Bible, particularly the topics of is anxiety and contentment.

As I was thinking about what to preach, I realized there, it seems to me,

like in my opinion, there are two big, famous, well-known passages in the Bible

that are about anxiety, and one that's about the topic of contentment, okay?

Anxiety and contentment are actually all over the scriptures,

but I mean, there are two really big, famous passages that when preachers go,

oh, we're going to talk about stress, or we're going to talk about worry,

or we're going to talk about anxiety, like there's two passages,

it seems like they always go to one or the other of.

It's Matthew chapter 6, and it's Philippians chapter 4.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention Philippians 4 · chapter mention

And then contentment is also in the Bible in more than one place,

but there's like one place in the Bible that's like, blah, contentment passage,

and that one's Philippians chapter 4.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

So I decided I'm just going to go ahead and take the three biggies and make

them my text for this morning.

The two really famous passages on anxiety and the big one on contentment,

and those will be our scriptures for this morning. So let me go ahead and read them to you now.

This is Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. Jesus is the one speaking here, and he says...

Matthew 6:25

This is why I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat,

what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.

Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the sky. They don't sow or reap or gather into barns,

yet your heavenly father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they?

Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying?

And why do you worry about clothes?

Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin thread.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these.

If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown

into the furnace tomorrow, won't he do much more for you, you of little faith?

So don't worry saying, what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we

wear? For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things and your heavenly father

knows that you need them.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things

will be provided for you.

Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

And then Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7, this now is the Apostle Paul

Philippians 4:6

speaking, and he says, don't worry about anything, but in everything,

through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts

and minds in Christ Jesus.

And then the contentment passage is Philippians 4, starting in verse 10.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that once again you renewed your care for me.

You were in fact concerned about me, but you lacked the opportunity to show it.

I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know both how to have a little and how I know how to have a lot.

In any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content,

whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need,

I'm able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

So I will let you know, in the past, I have preached whole sermons on each of these passages.

Okay, so I've done like 30 or 40 minutes just on the passage from Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

I've done a whole sermon like just on Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7.

Philippians 4:6

I've done a whole sermon, talked like 30 or 40 minutes, just talking about the

contentment passage that I read to you.

So you put them all together, that's like an hour and a half,

two hours of stuff that I've said about this in the past at least.

So I guess the reason I'm telling you that is there is no way that I'm going

to be able to say everything that I could say in this one sermon about these three passages. Okay?

Like I've never tried to teach all of these in one sermon. I always just gave a sermon to each one.

So I cannot say everything that could be said about these passages in this one

sermon. If we're going to do all these passages, then I'm going to have to briefly

touch on it and then move to the next one and briefly touch on that one and move to the next one.

And I think it'll be worth it. I think it will be good for us,

even though we're going to only talk a little bit about each of the three passages,

I think there's going to be some value in learning all three of them all at the same time.

So here we go. Let's start with the one in Matthew, Matthew chapter six.

Jesus is preaching about anxiety here and the kind of anxiety that he is referring

to, I think is, could be called financial anxiety. Okay.

Because he starts off by saying, well, first of all, he was already talking about money.

And then he transitions to this where he says, this is why I tell you,

don't worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink,

or about your body, what you will wear.

He is bringing up the topic of like basic necessities, right?

That's what he's telling them not to worry about. These are issues of survival.

Like how are you going to get enough water? How are you going to get enough

food? How are you going to get enough clothes? Like when he says don't worry

about what you'll wear, he's not referring to like going to a closet.

And it's like how will I choose what to wear with all of these 75 outfits I can choose from?

Like these people are like, how will we have enough clothing to survive?

So he's bringing up like basic necessities here. And so I think this would be

similar to us when we have worries, like how am I going to pay the bills?

What if we're homeless? Like, what am I going to do?

So that's the topic here. And so he starts telling them what to do and how to think about it.

I say that, but I also wanna point out, I think even though that's the topic

here, financial anxiety, I think the principle or the principles that you find

in this passage apply beyond the topic of financial anxiety.

And the reason I say that is there is a year of my life where there was a verse

in this passage that I said to myself over and over and over again,

and I wasn't dealing with financial anxiety at the time, but it was sure helpful.

It's the last verse of the passage. Verse 34, when Jesus says,

therefore, don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own. There was a year in my life,

I think it was 2015, where I just said that verse to myself over and over again,

like throughout the year.

Whenever the panic would come, I would say, do not worry about tomorrow.

Tomorrow will worry about itself. Okay. I mean, probably a hundred times that

year, I said that to myself.

And I wasn't dealing with financial anxiety at all. I just had to start realizing

like you can't, you just can't tackle all of the future worries now.

So, there are two things that I will point out that Jesus is saying in this passage.

I think he's probably saying more than two things, but like I said,

we can't say everything this morning. I want to point out two things that Jesus

is saying in this passage.

And the two things are, trust God, and there are things that are more important

than your worries. Okay?

Trust God, and there are things that are more important than your worries.

When it comes to trust God, I think you'll see that that's implied in verse 26.

After Jesus says, do not worry about your life, he says, look at the birds of the sky.

They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds

them. Aren't you worth more than they?

So it seems to me the argument here is he's not simply saying,

don't worry. He's saying, don't worry.

Trust God that he will take care of you. Like God cares about birds,

so he'll care about you. He cares about you more than birds.

He feeds the birds, so he will feed you. Like you're worth more than they.

So if he cares about the birds, then he's going to care about you.

So you don't just not worry.

You trust God. He's got you. I mean, that's what he's saying here,

right? Is that obvious? Yes.

Now, I don't think he's saying not to work, okay?

And I think that's important because I could imagine someone could read this

and be like, oh, so we're just, like, birds, they don't have jobs and they somehow

survive. So, I mean, maybe I just need to have no job and somehow survive.

I don't think that's what he's saying, okay?

First of all, the bird does flit around and goes and finds food,

okay? And so I think it would be good for you to flit around and find some food as well.

I don't think he's saying don't work because that would contradict other scriptures,

a lot of other scriptures.

The point of what Jesus is saying here isn't don't work, it's don't worry about your work.

Worry can be a sign of a spiritual problem. And it seems like that is the way

that Jesus is addressing it here, okay? That it is a spiritual problem.

He says in verse 30, after he talks about the grass of the field,

which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, he says,

won't he do much more for you?

Look what he says, you of little faith.

As if the problem with their anxieties, or at least part of the problem,

was like a lack of trust in God, that they didn't have the faith that they ought to have.

Also, verse 32, he connects the behavior of having these anxieties and what

do we do and what do we do with the behavior of the idolaters. Look at verse 32.

After he says, so don't go around saying, what do we drink? What do we wear?

What will we eat? He says, for the idolaters eagerly seek all these things and

your heavenly father knows that you need them.

He's saying like, if you go around going, we gotta get this,

we gotta get this, we gotta get this, because all we're, like he's saying,

the people who don't even worship the true God, like that's how they act.

Don't be like them. They're like.

So the first thing here is trust God. And then the second thing is there are

things that are more important than your worries.

I think this is made very obvious in verse 33.

Jesus says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be provided for you, right?

Now, he doesn't just start out of nowhere with the word, but this is right after

he had said, don't worry, right?

Don't worry about all this stuff. And then after he says not to worry about

it, he says, but seek first, which I think that the word but there means like instead of that, right?

Like don't worry, but rather than worry, seek first the kingdom of God and his

righteousness and all these things will be provided for you.

So when he says seek first the kingdom of God, I think he's referring to order of importance.

Like when it comes to what matters to you, when it comes to what you are concerned

about, when it comes to your values, the kingdom of God is supposed to be number

one on the list. It is what is most valuable to you.

God is the most valuable thing to you. He is the most important thing,

even above your own concerns, his kingdom above yours, his concerns above yours.

I remember in my twenties, I was listening to a sermon and I heard a pastor say this.

He said, your mortgage is important.

Your bills are important.

God is important. Now, what's going to be most important to you?

And that's what's happening here. In fact, it seems to me the gist of verse

33 and maybe 34 as well is if you get your top priority right,

the other things will sort themselves out. Did you see that?

He says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And he doesn't say, and none of these things matter. He says,

and all these things will be provided for you.

Don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own. You get your top priority right,

and the other things sort themselves out.

All right, let's move on to Philippians. In Philippians chapter 4,

Philippians 4:6

verses 6 and 7, we have the other passage that is the well-known passage about

anxiety, and this one has two points as well.

Again, probably has more than two, but I'm going to point out two points.

And the points are, replace worry with prayer and have a thankful attitude.

Replace worry with prayer and have a thankful attitude. So here's the first

one, replace worry with prayer. Where do you see that? I see it in verse six.

Paul says, don't worry about anything, but in everything through, what's the word?

Prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

So he doesn't just say, don't worry about anything, period. He says,

don't worry about anything. And then there's the word, but again.

And I think it's doing the same thing that it did over in Matthew.

It's saying like, instead of, instead of worrying, rather than worrying, in everything, pray.

Let your requests be made known to God.

When we begin to feel anxiety, it is time to pray. Did you know that?

When we begin to feel anxiety, it is time to pray. I am not very good at this.

Sometimes I do not do this. Sometimes I begin to feel anxiety and then I immediately

move into like problem solving mode or complain about it mode or whatever it

might be, right? And I don't pray.

And you wanna know what happens? The anxiety, it blossoms, it gets bigger.

I've never, I don't think it ever gets smaller.

It grows whenever I do that.

And so when I begin to worry, I need to pray. I need to say to myself,

when I begin to worry, I need to pray.

You need to say to yourself, when I begin to worry, I need to pray.

Some of you need to say to yourself over and over and over again,

when I begin to worry, I need to pray.

In fact, can we say that all together? Okay, well, let's all together out loud.

I'm going to say, so here's the line.

When I begin to worry, I need to pray. And we're going to say it all in unison

like a choir. Okay, on the count of three. Are you ready?

One, two, three. When I begin to worry, I need to pray.

All right, here's the second one. Have an attitude of thankfulness. Where do you get that?

Well, it was right here. Did you notice? I don't even throw the stuff in there.

It's just already there when I get to the Bible.

Okay, it says, don't worry about anything, but in everything,

through prayer and petition, what are the next two words?

With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

So the prayers that we pray in the midst of our anxieties are not supposed to just be any old prayers.

They're supposed to be prayers that are characterized by a particular attitude,

the attitude being thankfulness.

Now, why are we supposed to have in the midst of our worries,

prayers of requests, but with thanksgiving?

Well, he doesn't say why, but I think we could speculate some of the reasons.

If you are going to start praying prayers of thanksgiving in the midst of your

anxious moments, well, first of all, what that's going to do is it's going to

push you to thank God for things that he has already done prior to the moment you're in, right?

I mean, And technically, you can thank God for things he has not yet done.

But most of the time, when we thank God, we thank God for things he's already done in the past.

So now imagine, you're in the midst of the present, whatever the present problem is.

And now, if we're going to follow this verse, we're going to pray.

And when we pray, we're going to thank God for what? We're going to probably

have to thank God for his past faithfulness. Now.

And what is that going to do? I mean, can you imagine how just that by itself

will change your mindset?

Like you've got this worry that's in front of you, and then according to the

verse, you've got to stop, you've got to get your mind off of that worry and

go backwards to God's faithfulness in the past and bring that into the present and then pray about it.

Also, I think that Thanksgiving can put a spotlight on the idea that God doesn't owe us anything.

Did you know that? Did you know that's very important for your mindset?

The way you live this life is good. If you, I deserve, I deserve better than

this. I deserve better than this.

It's gonna be a completely different life than God does not owe me anything.

And so Thanksgiving is a really big deal.

Thanksgiving is something we typically do when we recognize that the thing that

has been given to us is a gift, right? And it is unearned.

You do not have a lot of Thanksgiving for like debts that are owed,

right? Or services rendered and you're finally getting paid.

Like when you get your paycheck, I'm guessing, most of you do not go to your boss.

When you get your paycheck and go, oh, thank you.

Oh, you shouldn't have.

I mean, oh, this is, I don't even know if I could accept all this.

Like, why, why, why would you bless me after?

No, you take that thing and you go do whatever you do with it because you've

earned it, it's yours, right?

Thanksgiving is something we do when we say, oh, this is a gift.

And so if I'm going to be, if I'm going to have the times that I'm speaking

to God be characterized by Thanksgiving, I'm almost like resetting my mind and

my relationship with God to realize, wait, the way that I am relating to God is by grace.

It's by mercy. It's not because he owes me stuff.

If we got what we deserved.

We'd be eternally separated from God in a place called hell forever.

And all of us in this room, despite our debilitating concerns about things,

have got to acknowledge that there are blessings that we have received that

are beyond what we deserve.

I mean, there's nobody in this room right now that is in hell right now.

Like, you're literally not in hell. You might go there one day.

I hope not. I hope you trust in Jesus Christ.

But that's not what's happening right now. Like, every single one of us in this

room has experienced some things that are more than, better than, we deserve.

And so this is important to get if you trust in

Jesus Christ as your

Lord and Savior you will escape judgment

and have no worries for all of eternity if you do not trust Christ one of your

worries will one day take you out like one of the things that you're concerned

about will be bad enough that it'll be the end of you.

And then after that is judgment for sin.

That is why it is important to trust in Christ.

Okay, the final passage is Philippians chapter four, starting in verse 10.

This is the one on contentment.

This one, I want to go ahead and give you just a little bit of background information

because this is more biographical than the other passages.

The letter that we call Philippians is, in a lot of ways, it is a thank you

note that was written by the apostle Paul to these people called the Philippians,

these people in Philippi. These are Christian friends of his.

And he wrote them the thank you note from prison, thanking them for a care package

that they sent to him. Okay? That's what happened prior to this.

So the Apostle Paul was, this was during the time period of the Roman Empire.

He's preaching about Jesus. He gets wrongly imprisoned.

So he's there in prison. And then there's this point, there's some point where

this Philippians, his friends, they want to like help him because it's unjust.

And this is kind of like before GoFundMe, you know, they're like,

we got to do something to help him. And so they're all getting the stuff.

And then they get the stuff. And it's like, well, how do we get it to him?

He's in a whole nother place. You know what I mean? There's no like Uber Eats

or anything back then either.

So they're like, how do we get, there's no FedEx, there's nothing.

And so they're like, we've got to find someone that's like, you know,

off for the next two weeks so that they can go and like take this thing all the way to where Paul is.

And so I don't know, I don't know all the things, but you can tell by the way

he writes, there was a point where they wanted to do something to help him and

they couldn't. And then finally they could, and then they did.

And so then he says this, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that once again,

you renewed your care for me.

Right? He's referring to this care package they sent him. I call it a care package

because I don't know what it was, but probably money.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that you once again renewed your care about me.

You were, in fact, concerned about me, but lacked the opportunity to show it, right?

You couldn't, but then you could. That's great. Now look at the next verse, verse 11.

I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

Thank you for the gift you sent me, but I didn't need it in order to be content.

I was content before it arrived.

Verse 12, I know both how to have a little and I know how to have a lot.

In any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content.

Whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need,

I'm able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

Now, this last verse right here, I'm able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

This verse gets quoted all the time. Have you heard it before?

I figured. You can't like it to be in America. It's probably on the American

citizenship test, I bet.

Because people, just people quote that. I don't know what's on that test. I was just kidding.

But it just seems like I hear this all the time. People love this verse.

Non-Christians, Christians, everybody. Everybody loves this.

I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

And I think we Americans love this verse. First of all, it starts with, I am able.

Yeah, I am able. We love that. We love to be able to do stuff.

I am able. I am able to do what, according to the verse?

All things. That's even better. Like being able to do something is good.

Being able to do everything?

Now that is really good. So I'm able to do all things through him,

that's Jesus, who strengthens me.

And oh, strength. We are definitely interested in strength.

So if there is a way that I can get strength from God so that I'm able to do

everything, sign me up for that. That is fantastic.

And so because of that, this is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible.

It is one of the most quoted out of context verses in the whole Bible. Did you know that?

Yes, people only quote this verse. You almost never hear this part that comes before.

And the reason I think it's the worst, I think it's the most out of context

quoted verse in the Bible.

I don't know if it is like quantity wise, but I think quality wise it is.

It's the worst because this is one of the few verses where people quote it all the time.

And they quote it to mean the opposite of what it means in the paragraph that it's found in.

Because if you read it in context, you see what it means. But if you don't,

if you just take that part out, okay, this verse is usually quoted to be about

physical feats and athletic victories, okay?

It is like, if I believe in Jesus, I will win the game, okay?

If we all believe in Jesus real hard, okay, we're going to go to the state championship,

and I'm going to get the best timing on my marathon that I've ever gotten before.

Like, I am a champion because I can do all things through him who strengthens me, okay?

You can go online and you can find Philippians 4.13 weightlifting belts.

You can find Philippians 4.13 dry fit tank tops.

Okay, so you got like Bible verses and pecs everywhere. You're like,

as you're like, you can wear them at the gym and show off, show yourself off.

You got Philippians 4.13 volleyball medallions. There's Philippians 4.13 golf balls.

And the point of all of them is the same thing. It's I'm going to win the race.

I'm going to get a hole in one.

I'm going to lift 400 pounds or whatever it is. But if you read it in context,

it's saying I can endure all miserable circumstances and still be content.

It's not things will go well. I am a champion in Christ.

It is when things go horrible, I can be content in all those situations because of Christ.

So two things to note when it comes to this passage. The first thing is,

contentment doesn't have to be tied to circumstances.

And the second one is, you can be satisfied with inner strength from Christ.

When it says, when I say contentment doesn't have to be tied to circumstances,

I think that that's obvious by what it says.

He says here, in any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content.

So when he says I'm able to do all things, it's connected back to all circumstances.

In any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content,

whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.

Contentment doesn't have to be tied to the circumstances. And then you can be

satisfied with inner strength from Christ. Where do I get that?

Well, that's what the famous verse is about.

I'm able to do all things through him who strengthens me. I'm able to go through

whatever the things are that are in my life, and he will strengthen me.

Not your biceps, that he will strengthen the inner you to get through whatever

it is you're going through.

So to sum it up, I made six points this morning.

I don't know if you caught it, but we did three passages, and we did two points

per passage, and two times three is always six.

So here are the six points in case you did not catch them as I went through

it, okay? The six points to our sermon were, number one, trust God.

Number two, there are things that are more important than your worries.

Number three, replace worry with prayer.

Number four, have an attitude of thankfulness. Number five, realize contentment

doesn't have to be tied to circumstances.

And number six, you can be satisfied with inner strength from Christ.

And I want you to know as we close, all of these things are directly connected

to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

All of these things are connected to the gospel. What do you mean?

Well, let me show you where I think the passage makes that clear.

Let's go back to Philippians 4, verses 6 through 7, maybe point out something

Philippians 4:6–7

you maybe didn't catch the first time.

Okay, Philippians 4, verse 6. Remember this verse? Oops, it was like 10 minutes ago, okay?

Philippians 4:6

So, don't worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And then what happens? If you pray in the midst of your anxiety, what happens?

It says, and the peace of God, which surpasses every thought,

will guard your hearts and minds. And it's interesting, he doesn't end the sentence there.

He could have said that. He could have said, if you're worried,

pray. And then when you pray, the peace of God that passes understanding will

guard your hearts and your minds, period.

He could have ended the sentence there. He did not. He said,

you pray and then the peace of God will come and guard your hearts and minds.

In Christ Jesus. Those are not throwaway words.

He's making a point there that this peace that comes into your life from God,

that's where it comes from.

That's the way that you get it, right? The peace that passes understanding that

comes into your life doesn't come into your life randomly.

It comes in Christ Jesus.

It's for those people who are in Christ. The people who are united to Christ,

they have his peace because they're united to him and it's his peace.

This is for the people who are saved by Christ. This is the peace of God that

comes to the people who belong to Christ.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of his people, and he gave his everything.

And so he is worthy of our everything.

He showed us the love that he has for us by giving his life for us.

And he rose again offering us escape

from judgment offering us eternal life which

is something he has because he came back to life

from the dead and between now and then between now and eternal life he offers

us the holy spirit to guide and empower us and so this gospel that i've just

preached to you is connected to all six of the points if we could put them back

up i want to show it to you The first point was trust God, right?

If the gospel is true, you can trust God with your entire eternity.

And if you can trust God with your eternity, you can trust him right now.

And if it is not true, if the gospel is not true, and you can't trust God with

your eternity, why would you even trust him right now?

There are things that are more important than your worries. Do you remember

that? When Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God.

Well, why? Why would you seek God's kingdom above yours?

Why would you seek God's concerns above your own concerns if he hasn't shown that he's worthy?

Oh, but he has shown that he's worthy. He's on the cross for your sins.

Replace worry with prayer. Well, why pray unless he cares?

How would we know that he cares? Oh, we know that he cares.

He died on the cross for our sins because he cares. He showed us his love in the gospel.

Have an attitude of thankfulness. Well, why would I thank God unless he has done something for me?

Oh, he has done something for us.

He died on the cross for our sins. We thank him for the gospel.

Realize that contentment doesn't have to be tied to the circumstances.

Why should we think that there is anything beyond these present circumstances?

But if the gospel is true, then almost everything is beyond these present circumstances.

Because there's a whole eternity.

And you can be satisfied with inner strength from Christ.

If the gospel is not true, then you are on your own when it comes to the struggles of this life.

If the gospel is true, then the Holy Spirit can get you through anything.

And will get you through everything one day.

Let's pray.

God, I thank you for the truth of that last sentence, to be able to say,

like, you can get us through anything and you will one day get us through everything.

We thank you and we praise you for that.

I pray for this congregation. I know that there are gonna be several people

here like me that this is a besetting sin and struggle of theirs.

And so we ask for your help and we ask for your deliverance.

And we don't ask that separate from us doing our part.

We ask for your help, like pledging to do what you've called us to do.

And so I pray you'd help us to be a congregation of people who trust you.

I pray that we would be people who put your concerns and your kingdom above our own.

I pray you'd help us to remember to pray to you rather than to stew in our worries.

I pray that you'd help us to relate to you by an attitude of thanksgiving.

Help us to think rightly about the circumstances of our life and you and your

faithfulness in them and even your future faithfulness.

The faithfulness of the gospel in the past and the faithfulness that you have

in the gospel in the future.

Pray you'd help us to see that our contentment is not, doesn't have to be tied

to these circumstances and I do thank you that there are a zillion,

like so many circumstances, like the rest of reality that is beyond these circumstances.

99% of all that exists is beyond this circumstance I'm in right now.

And so I thank you for that,

and we thank you for the Holy Spirit we pray that we would be able to go through

all things through Christ who strengthens us and we thank you for that promise

we thank you for the peace that you will give us in Christ Jesus,

we thank you and we worship you for that and we worship you for that right now

like in our hearts as we're praying to you and really we come every week to

worship you and I pray we would do a good job of that like in perpetuity Thank you.

I guess, Lord, as I close, I'll just be quiet for a little bit because I'm sure

there are people here that have specific anxieties they would love to pray about,

maybe make a request about, maybe hand over to you.

And so I'll be quiet and make some room for that, and then I'll close this. I don't know.

Lord, you're worthy of our everything. We thank you and we praise you and we

worship you, especially for the gospel and everything else. Renew our minds.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let me end with these good words from God's word.

This is from the end of the book of 1 Peter.

It says, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that he

may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your care on him because he cares

about you. That is good news.