Rejoice!

It is Sunday evening after a great time of worship in the morning, taking Communion to one of our shut ins, a good nap, and a good dinner of soup and biscuits. It is time to try to update this blog with some sermon notes for those of you who like that sort of thing.

It was the first Sunday worship of 2009 and I wanted to offer some encouragement for this new year. I chose a favorite text, Philippians 4:4-9. This is that which begins "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!" These words are final exhortations from the Apostle Paul to the people of a church that he knew well. Paul wrote this letter from jail in Rome. The people of the Philippian church had loved him enough to send him money and a friend. Paul knew and treasured the people of Philippi. He encouraged them by beginning, "Rejoice."

I pointed out that I like the Philippians passage better than a similar one in I Thessalonians 5:16 which simply says, "Rejoice always;" I find it much easier to rejoice in the Lord than to rejoice always. There are plenty of times when I find it hard to rejoice, but when I think of Jesus, I can rejoice in him.

The Apostle wrote, "Let your gentleness be evident to all." That is good encouragement. He could have said so many things, but to these people whom he knew so well and whose gentleness he had personally appreciated, he said, "Let your gentleness be evident to all." I pass that on to you, gentle people. Bless you.

Then Paul told them, "Don't be anxious about anything but in everything present your requests to God." Nothing bleeds self confidence from a person like anxiety. Nothing restores that confidence like prayer. Present requests to God and trust that God is working. Be confident and do what God calls you to do. If you do then the "peace of God that transcends understanding" will be yours.

If we skip to the end of the passage we find the phrase, "the God of peace." So, we have the written phrases, "the peace of God," and "the God of peace." Between these phrases we have Paul's exhortation "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things." These are not short answer definitions that Paul is looking for from us, but deep thought and meditation upon those qualities listed. When we think about this things, then the God of peace will be with us.

I hope that you will turn to this passage this week. Think about the encouragement Paul gave to people he loved. Read Acts chapter 16 to learn about the beginning of his contact with the Philippian people, and particularly with Lydia. She was the first to respond to the Gospel in Philippi and the Church there began in her home.

Blessings,
Sandy