Tag: Following Jesus

More Than Meets the Eye

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Sometimes we feel alone. We feel alone when we are all by ourselves. We feel alone when we are surrounded by people. Isolation isn’t a function of the proximity of other people. It’s more often first a mental state. When our circumstances get hard, or when we get into sin of some kind, we start to feel disconnected from the people around us, the people who love us. When this happens, our anxiety starts to grow. Then we start to feel disconnected from God. We struggle to see His help in our situation, and things just get worse. Elijah understood this feeling. He felt isolated and alone and terribly anxious because of it. Today as we continue our series, we are going to look at God’s encouragement to him and what that means for us. Let’s dive right in.

More Than Meets the Eye

I finally finished watching the Cobra Kai series on Netflix recently. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s basically a modern continuation of the Karate Kid story from the trio of excellent movies in the 1980s and early 1990s. To say the whole thing is a remarkable story of redemption and restoration is an understatement. It was fantastic. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch—very little out of Hollywood is these days—but it got Gospel redemption right in some really profound ways. There’s something else it got right as well. 

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Digging in Deeper: Philippians 4:15-20

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“And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Last time we looked at one of the premier examples of a verse that gets the bumper sticker theology treatment in all of the Scriptures. As it turns out, we find another one here. Philippians, for such a small letter, has more than its fair share of verses like that. This one is all about God’s provision. We see many affirmations in the Scriptures that God provides for His people. That is a good and encouraging thing, but what does it actually look like? How does He do it? Can the process be interrupted? Let’s take a look at this passage that ends with Paul’s emphatic affirmation of God’s provision today, and that will just about bring us to the end of this journey.

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Trust When All Else Fails

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We live in a world awash in anxiety. We hear all the time about just how anxious everyone around us is. Kids are anxious. Teens are especially anxious. Women are anxious. Men are anxious. Young adults are anxious. Older adults are anxious. Everyone is anxious. And we’re miserable because of it. It seems like this is not how things should be. Well, that’s because they shouldn’t be like this. In the Scriptures we can find all sorts of wisdom and counsel for dealing with anxiety in our lives and in the world around us. For this and the next three weeks, we are going to be talking about just like. We’ll start today with the very first thing we should do when fear and anxiety make a play for our hearts.

Trust When All Else Fails

Let’s start with an informal survey this morning. By a show of hands, who in here likes to be scared? Okay, for all the rest of the normal people in the room, who doesn’t like to be scared? There are some folks—as indicated by our little survey—who enjoy being scared. These are the kinds of people who love scary movies or going to Scarowinds in the fall. Personally, I do not count myself among their number. I don’t typically watch scary movies, and I generally avoid the horror genre. I love you guys who do. I admire you. But I am perfectly content watching you intentionally put yourself in situations that will leave you losing your mind and looking really silly while you do it from the sidelines. I will give you two guarantees: I will support you, and I will also laugh at you. 

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Morning Musing: Philippians 4:6-7

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“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Our world is awash in anxiety. It’s popular in many places to have a therapist or counselor these days which is a good thing, but the very fact that so many feel like they need that help is an indication of the problem. The truth is that many more people could use it than actually get it. Yet while there is undoubtedly anxiety that is genuinely clinical, a great deal more of it is more situational in nature. It is the result of not having the worldview resources to deal with the challenges life throws our way from time to time. Christianity has such worldview resources, and one of the best of them is right here. Let’s take a look.

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Morning Musing: Philippians 4:5

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“Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If the end of the world was arriving tomorrow, how would you live today? Where would you go? What would you do? What would you say? Would you resolve relationships? offer forgiveness? Have an adventure? Or would it just sit around and do nothing because none of it would matter anyway? The nearness of Christ’s return should have all of us considering how we should respond to that. Paul offers a bit of advice here that’s part of how we should stand firm in our faith. Let’s take a look.

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