The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 6: Pastor Cam Triggs

Episode Date: November 28, 2021

Praise God. Praise God. Thank you guys so much. I appreciate the warm welcome and the hospitality, and I want to say happy, belated Thanksgiving to my 1122 family. I'm glad to be with you on this particular Sunday. As you guys know, this is also a national holiday. It's a national new diet day where many of us will try out new diets

and exercise regiments to heal ourselves of all of the overindulgence we have been participating in. I hope you were. And then not only that, Thanksgiving, a lot of ways, is the inauguration of the Christmas season. And I'm excited that many of you will be journeying with your church through this Advent season and Advent reading. But if we're honest, especially considering the kind of year we've gone through or maybe even as a church or even as an individual, the Christmas season sometimes comes with baggage. For many of us during the Christmas season, it's a time of grief, a time of grit, and for honest, we bear our surroundings, and we try to push through of Christmas-like sight-watching

and Christmas carols, but for many of us, there's always this lingering grief or anxiety. So this morning, I want to give you a prescription. This morning, as we inaugurate this Christmas season and approach this new journey of Admin for this year, I want to give you the prescription for peace. The prescription for peace. I believe that God's word from Philippians chapter four is going to be an encouragement for us all to think about how we can have peace regardless of the circumstances. Philippine's chapter four, Paul is writing to a church. that is divided.

There are two sisters who are feuding, and just word of note, 1122, never get between two fighting sisters. This fight between these sisters have rattled and shaken the whole church. Not only that, Paul is in prison writing this letter. They're concerned about Paul. Will he make it out alive?

Will he die like a lot of his predecessors and some of their friends and peers. And so, out of their concern, they sent a brother named Epaphroditis. Parforditis was to take a care package to Paul. Now, listen to this. On the journey, he gets so sick, he almost dies. So now there's anxiety on top of anxiety. They're divided.

They're fighting. Their apostle, Paul is in prison, and the person that they sent to care for Paul almost dies on the trip. There is a lot of anxiety in this church. But in this text, Philippians chapter 4, Paul writes this. Rejoice on 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 will surpasses all understanding. Will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ, Jesus. Let the church say amen. There was a grandfather that was recovering from grief from losing his wife. He went on a family trip and on that family trip

in order to chair up the grandfather, they took him to a theme park. This grandfather didn't like theme parks because he didn't like roller coasters. He thought they were merely contraptions of death and not vehicles of enjoyment. But finally, at the last round of walking around this theme park, they convinced the grandfather to get on the roller coaster and they strap them in tight.

The whole time the grandfather is going through this ride, holding up himself, utilizing all of his ab muscles and his quadriceps and holding themselves up through the dips and the turns and the loops, and finally comes to in. They run up to their grandfather, and the grandchildren said, well, granddaddy, didn't that ride hold you up, okay? To which your grandfather responded, yes, but I never did put my full weight down on the ride. Friends, many of us are like that in this Christian journey.

We say we trust Jesus to save us, and we trust Jesus to bring us to heaven, and we trust Jesus to die for our sins and rise again, but we still try to hold up ourselves through grief or trials or tribulations, bearing the weight all by ourselves. We're honest. That's at the root of much of our anxiety. Our anxiety throughout these holiday season and dealing with the holiday blues and losing loved ones or perhaps battling sickness or reminded of financial struggles, many of us are tempted to hold up our own weight instead of putting that weight on Jesus Christ. See, anxiety is sneaky. See, many of us think that there are things waiting for us back home that will make us anxious.

Let me just ask you, what is waiting for you back home? Perhaps it's a big mistake, a messed up home, a sick family members, a financial struggle, a big temptation to return to your own life, friends waiting to pull you in the wrong direction. Whatever is waiting for you back home, I wanted you to really know that it's already made its way in your heart this morning. See, that's how anxiety works. seeps into our bloodstream and before we know it, this anxiety corrupts our identity

and we begin to trust in God less and less and less. But this prescription of peace in Philippians 4, this prescription of peace in Philippians 4, as Paul sang to our hearts, that regardless of the trials and the tribulations that you go through, that you can have hope and peace in God.

1122, I want to say to you this morning that Philippian chapter 4 is telling us there are only two options. When we go through trials and tribulations, there are only two options. You can lose your mind with worry or you can let God blow your mind with peace. You can lose your mind with worry or you can let God blow your mind with peace. I pray this morning that God would blow your mind with peace. That even though nothing has changed back home, nothing has changed about this situation, but something will change this morning because you

realize the power of God in your heart giving you a peace that surpasses all understanding. First thing we see from Philippians chapter four is first this pathway to peace. This pathway to peace. It's beautiful that Paul is showing us how to navigate this tumultuous river of trials and tribulation, and he's going to give us a literal pathway that we can practice to find peace in him. The first thing Paul wants you to do, the first step Paul wants you to take is to rejoice in God. Rejoice in God.

So what he says, rejoice in the Lord, what? That's said some of the times. when the band sounds good, when the worship team plays my favorite song, or when everything's going okay at home, no. You notice Paul is emphatic here. He says, rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I will say rejoice. Here's what Paul is saying, that worry and worship cannot abide in the same hearts. He's saying that the moment you begin to worship, you push worry aside, and the moment you begin to worry, you begin to strangle your worship. So Paul is saying, rejoice always, regardless of the seasons. Why? Because your rejoicing is in, not in what's under the tree, but what hung on the tree.

Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in ambition or achievement, not in a healing, not in any type of change of circumstances, rejoice in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Now, why do we rejoice in Jesus? Because of its payment and its promise. That's what I need to remember this Christmas season. When I'm struck with grief and doubts and anxiety, I need to remember the payment of Jesus Christ

and I need to remember the promise of Jesus Christ. What's the payment? It's in Romans 8, verse 32. Romans 8, verse 32 says, if God did not spare his only son, how will he not with him graciously give us all things? What does that mean? If God would kill his son to save your soul, then you can trust them for anything else you stand in need of right now.

If God would allow his son to die on the cross, you can trust him for anything that you stand in need of this particular morning. Imagine I gave you $1 million. I know that's hard to imagine. But just say that happened. Would you have difficulty trusting me for $1,000? See, God is saying to us the payment of Jesus Christ as a down payment for us to trust him regardless of what's happening in our present, our past, or what we don't know about

the future. If God gave Jesus to down the cross, want to give you patience, want to give you strength, want to give you freedom, want to give you victory, want to give you forgiveness. But friends, it's not just a payment, it's also a promise. Romans 8, verse 28 also tells us, for God is using all things to work together for our good and his glory. What does that mean? That even when I don't know the end of the movie, I can trust the director. Even when I don't know the end of the story, God is writing in my life, I can trust the author because he's using all things for our good, but also for his glory.

was a man that was stranded on a deserted island. He built a hut and went into the woods to find materials for survival. While he was in the woods, he saw this large smoke aroma rising from where he built the hut. And as he ran back, he found it some kind of way the hut he built had burned down. He was angrily, deflated, defeated, and angry at God. And he bowed up his fists at God and said, how could you let this happen? And in an angry exhaustion, he fainted in the sand, only to be awakened by a captain and a rescuing ship. When he saw the captain, he said,

how in the world did you guys find me? I thought I was left here to die to which the captain said, we saw your smoke signal. Come on, somebody. I want you to know that sometimes God will send the smoke in your life to bring you to the captain of, the sea that until I was broke, I didn't pray like it, until I was sick, I didn't trust God for healing.

Until I went through death, I didn't know death had no sting or no victory. Genesis 50, verse 20 is these words by Joseph. When he's betrayed by his brothers and sold in the slavery, it goes through trial after trial, and he says, brothers, you attended it for evil, but God intended it for good. So I don't rejoice in cancer, but I rejoice in the Lord. I don't rejoice in sickness, but I rejoice in the Lord. I don't rejoice in anxiety, but I rejoice in the Lord. Why?

Because Jesus is the saying today, yesterday, and forevermore. But friends, we don't merely just rejoice in God. Here's a beautiful part of this. You can hope in God. Verse 5 says, we can hope in God. He's trustworthy. Verse five, it says, let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.

Here, Paul is writing from a prison. And he's saying to the Philippian church, regardless of what they're going through, that their character, their reasonableness could be translated, gentleness, gentleness, forbearance, kindness, generosity, this kindred spirit should be exemplified and known by everyone. Paul is saying that people will know you more by you persevering through struggle than enjoying success, that people will know you love Jesus because even in the fire, you still have this reasonableness known to everyone. and how do you have it?

Because you know the Lord is at hand. That was a shorthand way to say that the Lord is coming back. As close as your hand is to your body is as close as we are to the coming of Jesus Christ. Reminding us, earth is not our home. Our primary destination is heaven regardless of what we go through. You know, when I was a child, I also played as a child. Some of you can relate to this. One of my favorite things to play was wrestling with my cousin.

And we would practice our favorite wrestling moves on my bed. Come on, anybody been tombstoneed or rock-bottomed in their life? And over and over again, my mom would come into the room and tell us to stop before we broke something or someone. The moment she left, you can almost hear the entrance music to Stonecold Steve Austin. But you know what would change our behavior? You know what it would make us pause and stop the moment we heard her keys jingling at the door? It changed our behavior and our posture.

And Paul was saying that's the way we need to think about the coming of Jesus Christ. That the keys are jingling at the door. And we know that when Jesus comes, he will wipe away every tear. When Jesus comes, he will right every wrong. When Jesus comes, he will reign on the throne. when Jesus comes, no more sickness, no more pain. And so we have this reasonableness that is known to everyone. So we hope and God no matter what.

But this pathway to peace doesn't merely stop with hope and want you to trust in God. Trust in God. And want you to relax and rest and the plan God has for your life. Verse six, Paul gives perhaps the most challenging step in the pathway to peace. Paul says, do not be anxious for anything. Can we be honest? I mean, if Paul is saying this, you want to say, Paul, who in the world do you think you are?

Do you know what kind of year 2019 was? Do you know what kind of year 2020 was? Do you know what kind of year 2021 was? It has been rough, Paul. How in the world, could you simply just give me this Christianese terminology and tell me merely do not have anxiety? First, I want you to know, there's encouragement that Paul would say this. If you have a Bible, turn with me to 2nd Corinthians, verse chapter 11.

2 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul is going to put his suffering on display. Paul is going to share his sufferings and compare them to some false apostles during that time. But I want you to know that I'm encouraged that Paul could say, do not be anxious, the moment I realize what Paul's actually been through. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, starting with verse 23. And I'm just going to read it in its totality because it is mind-blowing to consider. the life Paul had. Verse 23, he says this.

Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I served him far more. I worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and face death again and again. Five different times Jewish leaders gave me 39 lashes. three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, and it's not that type of stoneed. Three times I was shipwrecked.

Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea, I've traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities and the deserts and on the seas, and I have faced danger for men who claim to be believers but are not. I've worked hard and long.

During many sleepless nights, I've been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food. I have shivered in the cold without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray and I do not burn with anger? If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying.

When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Artists kept guards at the city gates to catch me. I had to be lowered in a basket through a window and the city wall to escape from him. Turn to your neighbor and says, sounds like a tough situation. Consider all that Paul has been through. Stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked. The analogy of being beaten 39 times is the same analogy of the way Jesus Christ was beaten for us. Would have been a cat and eyeing tails

with leather strips with metal or bone tips that were supposed to catch the flesh of someone's back and rip it out 39 times. The scholar Josephus says it was so horrible you could see someone's small intestines from the back. Paul knew the temptation to suffer in the face of difficulty, and yet he says, I will not be anxious about anything, but instead pray about everything. Paul knew that more he suffered, the more he needed to commune with God, the more he needed to be in the

presence of God, the more he needed to trust in God in the face of his anxiety. You know, Jesus knew we would be anxious. In Matthew chapter 6, he knew we would worry about what to eat or drink, our bodies, or our physical appearances, and we would worry about our future. But in Matthew 6, verse 33, he says this, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things would be added to you. Here, Paul is reminding us through the words of Jesus in Matthew 6 also that the way to cure our anxiety is the pray. And to get in the face of the Father and to trust him and to know him. The way to be anxious about nothing is to pray about everything.

In other words, listen to me, friends, nothing is worthy of worry, but Everything is worthy of prayer. He doesn't say you would be less anxious if you had more money. He doesn't say you would be less anxious if you had more health or more power or more possessions or more friends. He doesn't say you'll be less anxious if you had less problems or less pressure or less obstacles or less temptations. But he does say you would be less anxious if you had more prayer. makes me think of the hymn. Oh, what peace we often forfeit.

Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Can I ask you a good accountability question that has almost been abused? And when I ask you it, give me the real answer. Have you prayed about it? Now, I'm not asking for that artificial answer, where you prayed about it 30 seconds before you. you knew I would ask, and so you could say yes.

But I mean, have you woke up early on a Sunday morning to get on your knees before God? Have you set aside time to get in the face of God and say to God, I need you in this hour? God, show me what you're doing. God, heal my broken heart. God, I need more of you. I'm reminded of meeting with a pastor. He was telling me about the heartache of the heartache of you. of losing his wife, and he said to God,

God, you took my heart. And he said, immediately I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, say, that's all I ever wanted. And maybe this suffering and this tragedy, is God calling you to himself and saying, I want more of you so that you would rejoice in me, so that you would hope in me, and so you would trust in me. Give you this last point,

and I'll be out your way as far as to believe in the promise of peace. To believe in the promise of peace. There's a sweet promise that God gives us this peace regardless of what comes our way. Verse 7, I would memorize and meditate. There was ever a time that I would try to apply Psalm 119, verse 11, God, I want to hide your word in my heart

that I may not send against you. I would memorize verse 7. I would regurgitate it in prayer. I would use it in counseling and in care. Verse 7. And the peace of God will surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Pastor Chris, I don't know if I can get past this verse.

We need to shout and pray and praise God off of the mighty promise of this verse. First and foremost, it tells us this peace is divine peace. It's the peace of God. It's not the peace of power. It's not the peace of popularity. It's not the peace of perfect health. It's not the piece of financial stability.

You know what it is? It is the peace of God. Here's the good news, friends, that you were a sinner on your way to hell. But if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you have peace with God and peace within. I want you to know that every other peace will run out on you. Every other piece won't last. Every other piece is like pouring water into a cup with a hole in it. But this divine piece is eternal and it lasts forever.

But not only is it divine peace, it's also lofty peace. It's lofty peace. Why do I say that? It's this idea that says it surpasses all understanding. The terminology in the original language here is that it towers above us. that this peace is beyond our knowledge or our intellect. Why? I just give you one reason.

Paul says, from a prison, he has peace. Paul says, even in the face of adversity and persecution, I have peace. Now, friends, here's the beautiful thing about this. The promise of peace is independent of our prayers being answered in the affirmative. I'm going to say that again. The promise of peace is independent of our prayers being answered and the affirmative. Here is the beauty of this. God can give you peace even when he says no,

because he knows that the no is better for your soul than the potential yes. Listen to me, friends. God is more concerned about your holiness than your happiness. God is more concerned with you knowing him and loving him and being conformed to the image of Jesus' Christ, than he is merely what you're having a happy life that is comfortable and self-centered and ultimately self-worship. Can't say amen, say, ouch. God says, even in the note, I'll give you peace. God says, I don't have to take you out the storm to teach you how to dance in the rain. It's all

throughout the Bible, too. God gave this peace to Jacob when he was on the run from Esau. God gave this piece to Joseph when he was unlocked down to Egypt. God gave him. peace to Moses when he crossed the Red Sea, to Joshua at the Battle of Jericho, to David when he mounted up against Goliath, to Daniel in the lounge of a lion dens, to Hebrew boys that sweat in the fiery furnace, to Jesus when he sweated blood in the Garden of Gassimony. But we don't even just stop there. We can walk down the pages of your life that God gave you peace at the funeral of a loved one and the ER with a sick parent when God saw that your heart was broken from a broken

relationship, when your friends left you, when you didn't know where you were going to go, God gave you peace, and it blew your mind. And the beauty about this is that this divine, lofty peace, last piece here, is guarding peace. It's guarding. That's what he says. He says, verse 7, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, here's the beauty. will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Have you ever felt like you wanted to give up?

I mean, it's no surprise that suicide rates exponentially go up during the holidays. Have you ever thought about losing your mind because of what you were going through? Have you ever felt that your heart wasn't going to heal from the situation? God says in this text that this piece is Kevin Costner piece. It's a bodyguard piece. It will guard your heart and your mind. In fact, that's the terminology he uses. It's the same terminology of the Roman guard that would have been watching him in prison,

walking to and fro, making sure Paul would not escape. That's the same type of peace you have. It's a piece that will never leave you nor forsake you. It's a piece that says, many are the afflictions of the righteousness, but the Lord will deliver you out of them all. There is a peace that reminds us that it will guard your heart and your mind. Many of you may not have heard of the name Thomas A. Dorsey. Thomas A. Dorsey is the father of gospel music.

He was actually kicked out of more churches than he was abided in because Thomas A. Dorsey was once a blues and jazz musician that brought many of those influences into the black church. But it would become an ordained minister and a classic hymn writer. On one occasion, when he's preaching, he received a telegram right in the middle of his message. I told him his wife was delivering the baby early and died in labor.

A few days later, that child would also pass. Thomas A. Dorsey would devolve into depression and despair, removing himself from the ways of ministry. House of a loved one at front of a piano. During that moment of depression and anxiety and grief, he felt the rushing wind of the Holy Spirit overtake him and move his hands over the ebony and ivory keys and began to pin out these words.

Precious Lord, take my hand, which would become a classic hymn in the black church. He realized that his purpose, Perseverance and his hope and his rejoicing in God was not relying upon his hold on God, but God's hold on him. Maybe you need to be reminded of that this morning that God has got his hand on you, that yea, even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil because his rod and his staff comfort you, that he will prepare a table and the presence of your enemies. and surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. Why? Because the good shepherd has his grip on you.

He has his grip on you, but you need to let go of your grip on some other things. Can we just bow our heads and close our eyes? Heads bowed because we give reverence to God. It's a physical posture of an inward reality. Close our eyes so we're not a distraction to ourselves or to anyone else. James chapter 1, verse 22 tells us to be doers of the word and not heroes only. Let me just say, this message was not for somebody else. It was for you.

Some things you need to let go. There's some anxieties. There's some baggage that Jesus says, give it to me. Matthew 11, 28 through 30, Jesus tells us, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy lading, that I will give you rest. Don't enter this Advent season. Caring baggage that belongs at the altar.

God wants to commune with you. He wants you to pray about it so you're not anxious about it. All over this room, as a sign, wherever you are, this is for you. As a sign of surrender, as a sign of saying, God, I need to be reminded that your grip on me is what's most important. And I need to lose my grip on some things. Would you just slip your hand in the air? Hand in the air saying, God, I need your peace.

God, I need your hope. God, I need your rest. Hands, I see hands all over. This is your sign of surrender. This is just a tangible act of faith. Put your hand, keep it there. It's a sign of worship. Father, I pray a special blessing upon those hands.

Lift it up and surrender this morning. I pray, Lord, that right now you would consecrate them and set them apart to be testimonies of your goodness and your faithfulness, even though they're walking through the storm. Would you show them how to dance in the rain? Father, would you give them peace that surpasses all understanding? Because it is a peace that comes from you and not a change of circumstances, but from revelation of your character.

You give them perseverance and strength right now in the name of Jesus. Father, I also pray for my friends here who do not know Jesus. who have never surrendered their lives to them, never put their trust in them, and they've been putting their trust in a bunch of different places and still have not found peace. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, would you show them that Jesus lived the life they should have lived? But your son, Jesus, was sent to die the death they should have died. On the cross, he took our sin, but he's risen from the dead. those who confess and believe in him as Lord and Savior shall be saved. Saved from what?

Save from hell. Saved from ourselves. Saved from sin. Saved from ultimate death. Father, will they trust in you right now? Confess you as Lord and Savior in the solace of their own seat and the chambers of their own heart. Now, Father, I pray for our next moment of worship. I pray that we would gather here at the altar to pray about it, to lay down our burden, to bring it to you this morning.

God, we need you. We need your presence. We need your power. We need your strength. We need your faithfulness. We need your steadfast love. We need your hope. We need to trust in you.

So, God, would you move in this moment to break chains? to relieve burdens and show us more of your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.