SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone, I'm Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Steve Holt.
SPEAKER_02: I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_02: Each week we go into God's Word.
SPEAKER_02: We teach chapter by chapter, verse by verse.
SPEAKER_02: We are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.
SPEAKER_02: So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.
SPEAKER_02: Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the road.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for being here on a frigid uh November morning, almost December.
SPEAKER_00: You're the tough, brave ones.
SPEAKER_00: So uh it's great to be with you all this morning.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Joey Fallett.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the youth pastor here.
SPEAKER_00: Um I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family.
SPEAKER_00: I hope it was full of family, friends, food.
SPEAKER_00: As we get started this morning, would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: God, thank you for this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for this building.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for heat.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for friends and fellowship.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you be so present with us this morning as we open and read your word?
SPEAKER_00: Would you speak to us?
SPEAKER_00: Would you lead us and guide us?
SPEAKER_00: Would you bless us this morning?
SPEAKER_00: And would you be glorified in Jesus' name?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh, before I became a youth pastor, I was an eighth-grade American history teacher, and I did that for a number of years.
SPEAKER_00: So because this is the Sunday on the heels of Thanksgiving, I'd be remiss if I didn't open with a few thoughts on the history of Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: And I promise that this will both apply to today's message and set up today's message, and I promise that it'll be brief.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So about 405 years ago, uh 102 English men and women uh set sail across the Atlantic Ocean in a ship called the Mayflower, very good, towards modern day uh New England.
SPEAKER_00: About half of them were what we call separatists.
SPEAKER_00: They were men and women separating from the Church of England.
SPEAKER_00: And uh about half of them were of the 102, and the conditions on that ship were terrible, um, as you could imagine.
SPEAKER_00: It's the 1600s.
SPEAKER_00: It was very hot.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they ran out of food or the food went bad, they got sick, and just the thought uh, for my wife Allie at least, just the thought of being on a ship in the middle of an ocean without seeing land for two months is also a terrifying thought, uh, is it not?
SPEAKER_00: So that alone would be rough.
SPEAKER_00: But they left in September of 1620, and they arrived in what is today Massachusetts in November of 1620.
SPEAKER_00: And because they landed right at the beginning of winter, they didn't have time to build adequate shelter for the winter.
SPEAKER_00: So they actually spent that first winter on the Mayflower for most of it.
SPEAKER_00: And it was terrible.
SPEAKER_00: About half of them died and did not survive that first winter.
SPEAKER_00: And of the surviving half, only five of them were women.
SPEAKER_00: And the cause of death was you know varied from sickness to the cold to uh lack of food.
SPEAKER_00: For whatever reason, it was terrible.
SPEAKER_00: But they survived.
SPEAKER_00: Well, not all of them, but uh some of them survived.
SPEAKER_00: And then in April, the Mayflower left and went back to England, and the pilgrims were forced to actually settle inland.
SPEAKER_00: And thanks to the help from a local tribe called the Wampanoag and specific English-speaking natives like Samoset and Squanto, the pilgrims learned how to hunt, they learned how to fish, and they learned how to farm.
SPEAKER_00: So then that resulted in a successful harvest in the fall of 1621, sometime in between September and November.
SPEAKER_00: It might have been the fourth Thursday of November.
SPEAKER_00: It was probably sooner, because harvest usually happens a little sooner for most vegetables.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but in that time of 1621, they celebrated their first successful harvest, and the pilgrims and the natives together enjoyed a three-day Thanksgiving celebration.
SPEAKER_00: Now, they didn't call it Thanksgiving yet, it was named that later.
SPEAKER_00: And the food was probably a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't eat turkey, uh, but they did eat different types of wild bird.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and seafood as well, being it was, you know, is New England.
SPEAKER_00: They probably ate lobster and eel and different things that they could find uh where they were where they were staying.
SPEAKER_00: And today, though, as we as we talk about the the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving and as we tell the story to our kids, I think we we often skip over just how bad and terrible it was at the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: And I think we kind of glance over that and skip over it and we don't think about it very much.
SPEAKER_00: And so I want you to imagine with me for a minute what it would have been like to have been a pilgrim in the New England area in the winter of 1621, harsh winter, little food, loved ones are sick and dying.
SPEAKER_00: It would have been pretty scary in a land that you're unfamiliar with, the people there don't speak the same language as you.
SPEAKER_00: All would have been very unfamiliar and scary.
SPEAKER_00: And on the surface, you know, as we talk about, and I have young kids, we talk about the first Thanksgiving, we read books, and you talk about how it was three days long.
SPEAKER_00: And to a kid, that probably sounds excessive.
SPEAKER_00: You know, especially you know, three days we spend a whole day, and my mom makes me say what I'm thankful for.
SPEAKER_00: And imagine doing that for three days, right?
SPEAKER_00: It sounds excessive.
SPEAKER_00: But when you pair that with just how terrible of a beginning it was and how hard it was, and it and it's not to say it was easy after they celebrated Thanksgiving, there were plenty of challenges after as well.
SPEAKER_00: Uh struggles with the with the natives, more hardship, famine, all sorts of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: So the the struggles came and go.
SPEAKER_00: But if you think about what they overcame that first year, maybe three days wasn't even long enough, right?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they should have celebrated even longer.
SPEAKER_00: And even through the struggles, what I love about the pilgrims, through the struggles, they did not lose their faith.
SPEAKER_00: They did not lose their faith.
SPEAKER_00: And they remembered to give thanks to God when the good came after that first year.
SPEAKER_00: Through the struggles, they did not lose faith.
SPEAKER_00: And I wondered as I was I was thinking about the pilgrims and reflecting on this this past week, I wonder in the midst of their suffering that first year, did they ever question why they were where they were, why they were in the situation they were in?
SPEAKER_00: Did they regret leaving their homeland of England, where it was all they ever knew, where all their their family and friends were?
SPEAKER_00: Did they ever regret or question that decision?
SPEAKER_00: Did they ever ask themselves why?
SPEAKER_00: Did they ask themselves why?
SPEAKER_00: And what was their why?
SPEAKER_00: What was their why?
SPEAKER_00: Because their why was their desire for freedom to worship how they pleased and how they felt led.
SPEAKER_00: Religious freedom was their why.
SPEAKER_00: Something they didn't have in England.
SPEAKER_00: The Church of England controlled religion in the whole in the whole uh country, and the pilgrims felt that they had the Church of England had kind of rejected the Bible and and veered away from the teachings of the Bible, the truth of the Bible, and had become corrupt politically.
SPEAKER_00: And separating, though, if you tried to separate from the Church of England while you were in England, that was illegal.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so they left first, went to Amsterdam, they didn't like that, and then ended up here in America.
SPEAKER_00: They had a powerful why.
SPEAKER_00: And religious freedom is something that we may take for granted today, but it was something these men and women were willing to risk their lives for, and many of them did lose their lives in the pursuit of religious freedom.
SPEAKER_00: Recognizing your why is very, very important.
SPEAKER_00: It's motivating, and in the midst of a struggle and a trial, you'll ask yourself, why?
SPEAKER_00: Why am I here?
SPEAKER_00: Why am I keeping going?
SPEAKER_00: What is motivating me?
SPEAKER_00: So knowing your why is important, and the pilgrims had a powerful why.
SPEAKER_00: So this morning we're gonna continue.
SPEAKER_00: The last couple weeks, we've been talking about worship.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna continue to talk about worship this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We're also gonna talk about gratitude and thanksgiving and the powerful connection between the two, the power of praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: And to do that, we're gonna look at one of uh my favorite historical figures, favorite biblical uh historical figures, and that's the Apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Definitely a top three historical figure for me.
SPEAKER_00: And you didn't ask what my top three is, but in case you were wondering, I would rank it this way Jesus, the Apostle Paul, George Washington.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have your Bibles, would you turn with me to Acts chapter 16?
SPEAKER_00: Is the primary passage we're gonna be in this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 16.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul, what I love about the Apostle Paul is he seemed to understand the power of praise and gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: The power of praise and gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: And he often wrote, often wrote, about praise and gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: Almost all of the letters that he wrote, and he Paul is responsible for writing about half of the New Testament, and all of those are letters that he wrote to various churches during his ministry.
SPEAKER_00: And almost every single one of Paul's letters opens with uh prayer and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't believe me, check this out.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 1, he said, I give thanks to my God always.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 1, I do not cease to give thanks.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians 1, I thank my God.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians 1, we always thank God.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Thessalonians 1, we ought always to give thanks to God.
SPEAKER_00: In Philemon, I thank my God always.
SPEAKER_00: So in most of these examples, Paul's giving thanks to God for the people he's writing to and for what the Lord is doing in his life and their lives.
SPEAKER_00: Paul seemed to have a heart posture of gratitude and praise.
SPEAKER_00: And we also know that Paul spent time in worship, sometimes in unusual places, which is where we are in Acts 16.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna pick up the story in verse 19 in just a minute.
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to put a finger on 19.
SPEAKER_00: But what we see earlier in the chapter is Paul and Silas were led by the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: They were doing ministry all over the place, and the Lord led them to Macedonia, and they were doing amazing things with the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: They were really seeing the Lord move in a lot of really cool ways, and they're they're newly to this Macedonian area, they're walking around, and this slave girl who is possessed by a demon starts following Paul and Silas, and she's making a lot of noise.
SPEAKER_00: She's yelling, um, and a lot of the stuff she's saying wasn't like false.
SPEAKER_00: She was saying, you know, Paul's here on a on mission from God.
SPEAKER_00: And but Paul, for whatever reason, decided he didn't need free advertising from a demon, and was getting, and the scripture says he got annoyed.
SPEAKER_00: So he got annoyed, he turned around and he cast the demon out in the name of Jesus, and immediately the demon left.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're gonna pick up in Acts 16, verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: Would you follow along with me?
SPEAKER_00: He says this.
SPEAKER_00: But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities, and they brought them to the magistrates and said, These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city, and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.
SPEAKER_00: Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.
SPEAKER_00: Having received such a charge, he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stalks.
SPEAKER_00: The owners of the girl had been profiting off of the demon possessing her.
SPEAKER_00: They were taking advantage of her, making money off her, with little care that this poor girl was possessed by a demon.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't care, they were making money.
SPEAKER_00: And so naturally, since they're bad people, when that hope of money went away, because Paul, through the power of Jesus, cast the demon out of her, they became angry.
SPEAKER_00: And they got the crowd stirred up, and there was already a lot of anti-Jewish sentiment in this area of Macedonia.
SPEAKER_00: So it wouldn't have been hard to get everyone riled up and angry at a couple of Jews who weren't from there.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what they did, and and eventually it led to Paul and Silas being captured, stripped, beaten, and put not just in prison, but the innermost part of the prison, and their feet are fastened into stalks, which would have been incredibly uncomfortable and painful, and they already would have been in a lot of pain because they just got severely beaten.
SPEAKER_00: The Romans were very good at this, very good at torture and imprisonment.
SPEAKER_00: So not a comfortable situation for Paul and Silas.
SPEAKER_00: They had been beaten, they're sitting in harsh conditions in a Roman prison.
SPEAKER_00: So how are they going to react?
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul and Silas responded with praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: Responded with praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: While in pain, while in a dark situation, they responded with prayer and worship.
SPEAKER_00: And not only was this response ministering to themselves, right?
SPEAKER_00: They were ministering themselves to each other, it also ministered to the rest of the of the prisoners, right?
SPEAKER_00: It says that everyone else was listening.
SPEAKER_00: And could you imagine what was going through the minds of these other prisoners in that moment?
SPEAKER_00: They're probably thinking, who are these guys and what are they doing?
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to sleep, if sleep is possible in a Roman prison.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: But they're they're probably very confused and and uh at midnight, you know, I'm sure those are not the normal sounds you would hear inside of a Roman prison.
SPEAKER_00: It would have been rather strange.
SPEAKER_00: And how we respond, what Paul and Silas understood is how we respond to situations, to circumstances is powerful.
SPEAKER_00: How we respond is powerful.
SPEAKER_00: When things get difficult like they did for Paul and Silas, are we choosing to respond with praise and worship?
SPEAKER_00: Are we choosing to respond with thanksgiving and gratitude?
SPEAKER_00: Because things happen when we do.
SPEAKER_00: Things happen when we respond that way.
SPEAKER_00: There is power in responding to our circumstances with praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: So I have three things that happen for you, uh that happened uh for you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Three things that happen when we respond to situations with praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: And the first is this strongholds shake and chains loosen.
SPEAKER_00: Strongholds shake and chains loosen.
SPEAKER_00: So let's read our next verse, 26 said this.
SPEAKER_00: So after they they were singing hymns to God, the prisoners were listening to them, suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains were loosened.
SPEAKER_00: There is no doubt that this earthquake was supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: There's no doubt that this earthquake was from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Not only do the geography of the situation, the timing point to that, but the results do as well, right?
SPEAKER_00: That says the foundations of the prison shook, and everyone's chains were loosened and doors swung open.
SPEAKER_00: This was a supernatural event from God.
SPEAKER_00: A natural earthquake would not have had this effect.
SPEAKER_00: A natural earthquake would not have had this effect, right?
SPEAKER_00: To have the chains just loosen, pop off.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the the Lord was releasing Paul and Silas.
SPEAKER_00: When you choose to worship, when you choose to praise, when you respond that way, things shake.
SPEAKER_00: Things break and chains loosen.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God moves.
SPEAKER_00: God moves.
SPEAKER_00: And you might not see it right away.
SPEAKER_00: For Paul and Silas, they did.
SPEAKER_00: They got to see it immediately, right?
SPEAKER_00: They're spending time in prayer and worship.
SPEAKER_00: Boom, God moves, shakes, and they're and they're released.
SPEAKER_00: We don't always get to see it in real time, but things are happening.
SPEAKER_00: When you have a posture of praise and great and gratitude and thanksgiving and worship, and you respond to circumstances, that way God will move.
SPEAKER_00: You want to see results in your life, you want to see God move, do what Paul and Silas did.
SPEAKER_00: Hit your knees, pray, and worship.
SPEAKER_00: So that's number one.
SPEAKER_00: When we respond with praise and thanksgiving, strongholds shake and chains loosen.
SPEAKER_00: Number two is this doors open.
SPEAKER_00: Doors open.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 26 said the doors of the prison were opened.
SPEAKER_00: The praise and prayer and time that Paul and Silas spent set the stage for what was about to happen.
SPEAKER_00: They they spent time in prayer and worship first, and then God moved, freed them, and opened the doors.
SPEAKER_00: And yes, the physical doors of the prison were open.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm not just talking about the physical doors.
SPEAKER_00: See what's so cool about this passage is God also opened up doors for ministry for Paul and Silas.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't just the physical doors.
SPEAKER_00: He opened an open door for salvation, and Paul and Silas jumped on it.
SPEAKER_00: The normal reaction in this moment, the normal reaction probably could have and should have been to book it out of there.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: They should have booked it out of there.
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
SPEAKER_00: Like God freed us, let's go.
SPEAKER_00: But they didn't.
SPEAKER_00: They stayed where they were.
SPEAKER_00: They stayed for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: They stayed right there, and God provided an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: So let's keep reading and see what happened.
SPEAKER_00: Twenty-seven.
SPEAKER_00: And the keeper of the prison, awakening from his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul called out with a loud voice, said, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.
SPEAKER_00: Then he called for a light, ran in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, and he brought them out, and he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
SPEAKER_00: So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.
SPEAKER_00: Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house, and he took them the same hour of the night, washed their stripes, and immediately he and all of his family were baptized.
SPEAKER_00: Now when they had brought them into his house, he set food before them, and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
SPEAKER_00: And when it was day, the magistrate sent the officers, saying, Let those men go.
SPEAKER_00: Paul and Silas saved the keeper of the prison's life.
SPEAKER_00: He was about to kill himself because he knew if if the prisoners left on his watch, then he would be imprisoned or potentially killed.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what he thought was happening.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul and Silas didn't run.
SPEAKER_00: They stayed put, and it saved this man's life.
SPEAKER_00: How did they know to stay?
SPEAKER_00: They were in tune with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And how do we get in tune with the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_00: You spend time with him, right?
SPEAKER_00: You spend time in prayer and worship, and that's exactly what Paul and Silas were doing.
SPEAKER_00: They had just spent time in prison, just spent time in prayer and worship.
SPEAKER_00: They were involved with the Holy Spirit, they were listening to the Holy Spirit, and that's how they knew in that moment, wait, don't run.
SPEAKER_00: There's an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: And they stayed.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know exactly what Paul and Silas were praying for when they were in prison.
SPEAKER_00: It just said they were in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: If I were in that situation, I would have been praying for a way out.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe they were, maybe they were praying for a way out, maybe they weren't.
SPEAKER_00: But regardless, they got whatever they thought the answer was and they didn't move, they stayed put, and it led to the salvation of an entire family.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that is what they were praying for.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they were praying for more opportunities for ministry, even in prison.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Paul and Silas weren't interested in personal gain.
SPEAKER_00: They were interested in the gain of the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: They weren't interested in making themselves famous or what was comfortable for them.
SPEAKER_00: They were interested in making him famous.
SPEAKER_00: And when that's our goal, when the goal shifts from it's not about me and what I'm doing and what I'm accomplishing, it's about what's being accomplished for God and his kingdom and making him famous, not me.
SPEAKER_00: When that's our goal, powerful things happen and opportunities are just gonna present themselves over and over and over.
SPEAKER_00: And that was their focus.
SPEAKER_00: So my question for us this morning is are we praying for open doors for ministry?
SPEAKER_00: Are we praying for open doors for ministry?
SPEAKER_00: And when they come, are we grateful for them or do we grumble about another thing we have to do?
SPEAKER_00: And last week I remember I was in the situation where my to-do list was piling up and I was feeling stressed and anxious about things that I had to do, and so I was spending time in worship and prayer and submitting those things to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment I felt God just change the anxiety I had about my to-do list, he changed it into gratitude.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly I found myself thanking God for the opportunities that I had instead of stressing about them.
SPEAKER_00: And then my prayer time turned into, well, Lord, help me be intentional with the time that I have and make sure that I can do all these things well and for your kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And he turned my have to into a get to.
SPEAKER_00: And I was grateful.
SPEAKER_00: He turned the anxiety into grateful.
SPEAKER_00: And I can't stress enough how how crazy it is what Paul and Silas did, because instead of running out of the prison, they stayed to hang out with the guy who could keep them there.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The only guy who had the power to keep them in prison is who they ran to.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of running towards freedom, they ran to the guy who could keep them there.
SPEAKER_00: Do we worry about what is comfortable or uncomfortable when it comes to ministry opportunities?
SPEAKER_00: Paul and Silas trusted in the Holy Spirit and how he was letting leading them, and it led to something powerful.
SPEAKER_00: So that's number two is when we respond with praise and thanksgiving, doors open.
SPEAKER_00: Doors open.
SPEAKER_00: And number three is the Lord provides peace.
SPEAKER_00: When we respond with praise and thanksgiving to our circumstances, the Lord provides peace.
SPEAKER_00: So would you turn with me to Philippians chapter four?
SPEAKER_00: Philippians chapter four.
SPEAKER_00: So something happens when we choose praise and thanksgiving, when we choose gratitude, something chemical actually happens inside of your brain.
SPEAKER_00: And I, like I said, I was a history teacher, not a scientist, but I can tell you this much your brain has two halves.
SPEAKER_00: You know that?
SPEAKER_00: You have a right side of your brain, a left side of your brain.
SPEAKER_00: And when you're practicing gratitude, when you're praising God in the middle of your situation and circumstances, when that is your heart posture, when you're thanking God for what you Have appreciating what he's done, something happens in your brain.
SPEAKER_00: The joy part, there's a joy part in the right side of your brain.
SPEAKER_00: It expands, and serotonin and dopamine are released, and cortisol levels are reduced.
SPEAKER_00: And this can actually lead to short-term and long-term positive effects on your mental health, and it actually changes your brain chemistry.
SPEAKER_00: That's all I got scientifically.
SPEAKER_00: But there's like studies and stuff that back us up.
SPEAKER_00: It's super, super cool.
SPEAKER_00: So it's good for your mental health, it's good for you to be thankful, to be grateful, and to praise God.
SPEAKER_00: And another cool fact is that gratitude and anxiety can't coexist in your brain at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not possible to be truly grateful and to also be struggling with anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: They can't coexist.
SPEAKER_00: And the cool part about all of this is that scripture supports it.
SPEAKER_00: Like scripture supports it.
SPEAKER_00: So, Philippians 4, written by Paul, also from prison.
SPEAKER_00: He was in prison a lot.
SPEAKER_00: He wrote this passage from prison.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to read four, uh chapter 4, 4 through 9.
SPEAKER_00: And notice kind of there's some challenging things that Paul is asking his readers to do.
SPEAKER_00: Some challenging things.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk about them in a minute.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to start in verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: Paul writes this Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_00: Again, I will say, rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: Let your gentleness be known to all men.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_00: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.
SPEAKER_00: The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul starts by asking people to do some difficult things.
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, the first thing he says is, Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_00: And again, he has credibility because he's writing this from prison.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So if he can say, Rejoice always from prison, then he can say it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_00: There are times when I don't feel like worshiping.
SPEAKER_00: There's times when I don't feel like giving praise.
SPEAKER_00: There's times when I don't feel like being thankful.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God is worthy of our praise always.
SPEAKER_00: God is worthy of our praise always.
SPEAKER_00: And we can choose to praise, we can choose to be grateful because of who he is.
SPEAKER_00: Not because of us or our circumstance or our situation or where we find ourselves, but we can praise him because of who he is, because he is good and because he is with us.
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice in the Lord always.
SPEAKER_00: Then he says, Let your gentleness be known to all men.
SPEAKER_00: Well, there's days I don't feel like being gentle, or my initial response isn't gentleness.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, Let your gentleness be known to all men.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's the kicker.
SPEAKER_00: He says, be anxious for nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Other translations say, don't be anxious about anything.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right, Paul.
SPEAKER_00: How are we supposed to do that?
SPEAKER_00: There's things daily that cause us anxiety, that cause us to worry, that cause us to stress.
SPEAKER_00: He says, be anxious for nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And again, Paul was encouraging us to do these things from prison.
SPEAKER_00: From prison.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, I've never been in prison, but if I was in prison, I think it would be hard to be joyful, I think it'd be hard to be gentle, and I think I would be pretty anxious.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And those are the three things Paul is saying be joyful, don't be anxious, and be gentle.
SPEAKER_00: And he didn't just say that, he gave us instructions on how to do that.
SPEAKER_00: How to do that.
SPEAKER_00: So the solution comes in verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Bring everything in prayer and supplication.
SPEAKER_00: Bring everything in prayer and supplication.
SPEAKER_00: Pray about what makes you anxious.
SPEAKER_00: And we saw Paul and Silas do this from prison.
SPEAKER_00: They're in prison, again, probably a situation where they would be anxious.
SPEAKER_00: And what do they do?
SPEAKER_00: They prayed about their situation and they praised the Lord and they spent time in worship.
SPEAKER_00: And when I practice this, I often have to work myself through these steps in Philippians chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: And when I do it, I often picture like I'm pushing a burden of anxiety and stress up to the throne room of God, the things that I'm worried about, and asking for his peace, which we'll talk about as peace in a minute, to replace that spot where I was carrying those things, right?
SPEAKER_00: So I'm pushing that burden up and I'm asking, and I do this out loud, I'll pray these things out loud, and I feel it.
SPEAKER_00: I feel that exchange happen.
SPEAKER_00: Taking every thought captive.
SPEAKER_00: And also I'll in those moments I'll journal because sometimes when you're anxious, you have all these like things that you can't even sort out in your brain, like what is actually causing me like anxiety and worry right now.
SPEAKER_00: You're not even sure.
SPEAKER_00: So I write them down and I give each one to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And that's, I think your scripture talks about taking every thought captive.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's at least for me how we do it.
SPEAKER_00: We write it down.
SPEAKER_00: Take that thought captive and release it, give it to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I trust you with this situation.
SPEAKER_00: I trust you with this circumstance, because you're a lot better at figuring it out than me.
SPEAKER_00: So please help me and give me your peace.
SPEAKER_00: So bring everything to him in prayer and supplication.
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul says, with thanksgiving, be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: From prison, Paul is encouraging fellow believers to practice gratitude, to be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: He knew that gratitude and praise was the solution, the remedy.
SPEAKER_00: And he isn't telling anyone to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself.
SPEAKER_00: Paul knew the way to combat anxiety and combat this situation was in the proper way to respond to his circumstances was with praise and thanksgiving, because he'd seen it be fruitful in his own life.
SPEAKER_00: And he knew that the result in practicing these things is peace.
SPEAKER_00: And we see that in verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7 is the promise.
SPEAKER_00: The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Supernatural peace.
SPEAKER_00: Peace that doesn't make sense, peace that guards us and guides us.
SPEAKER_00: Peace that comes in a situation when you shouldn't have peace.
SPEAKER_00: Paul should not have peace sitting in a prison cell.
SPEAKER_00: That's not a peaceful situation.
SPEAKER_00: It's an anxiety-filled situation.
SPEAKER_00: He was in physical pain, emotional pain, all sorts of things, and he had peace.
SPEAKER_00: That's supernatural peace.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord can give you peace in a situation when you shouldn't have it.
SPEAKER_00: Because of how Paul responded.
SPEAKER_00: Because he responded with praise and thanksgiving, because he brought everything to the Lord in prayer, he received supernatural peace from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And the same is available for us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever your circumstances are, peace is available.
SPEAKER_00: Then Paul encourages us to focus our minds on a certain list of things, right?
SPEAKER_00: He says, focus on what's true, noble, just pure, lovely, good, virtuous, worthy of praise.
SPEAKER_00: I love that first one.
SPEAKER_00: Focus on what is true.
SPEAKER_00: Have you noticed that anxious thoughts are usually not true?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: They may start with like a shred of truth and then they spiral into something crazy, right?
SPEAKER_00: Focus on what is true.
SPEAKER_00: And then he promises peace again, right?
SPEAKER_00: And the God of peace will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: The God of peace will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: See, every day, men and women, we have a choice.
SPEAKER_00: We can choose daily how we respond to circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's a massive challenge like that of the pilgrims or that of Paul and Silas.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes it's just our daily challenges, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like the boss at work, parenting, sickness, relationship problems.
SPEAKER_00: The choice in front of us every day is how we respond.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 17, again, the words of Paul.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
SPEAKER_00: Other translations say, in all circumstances, give thanks.
SPEAKER_00: In all circumstances, give thanks.
SPEAKER_00: You see, our circumstances don't determine God's worth or value.
SPEAKER_00: Our circumstances don't determine God's worth or value.
SPEAKER_00: God is always worthy of our worship.
SPEAKER_00: God is always worthy of our thanks.
SPEAKER_00: Because of God, we can be grateful no matter what the circumstance is.
SPEAKER_00: We can be joyful no matter what the circumstance is.
SPEAKER_00: We praise God and practice gratitude, not just on Thanksgiving, but every day because it's powerful and because it bears fruit, and because He is good and worthy of our praise and worship.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: He is worthy of our praise and worship.
SPEAKER_00: Every day.
SPEAKER_00: Now you might be thinking, Joey, this is really, really hard.
SPEAKER_00: Joey, you don't understand the circumstance that I'm in this morning, and I don't even know how I would begin to give praise and thanksgiving in this situation.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's you and you're feeling that way this morning, would you please come up at the end of service?
SPEAKER_00: I would love to pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: Our ministry team would love to pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: And or maybe you're thinking, I have no idea how I could respond this way when things do get difficult.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not in that season right now, but I might be.
SPEAKER_00: And how can I respond like Paul?
SPEAKER_00: How do we prepare for that?
SPEAKER_00: And if we want to respond well when things are tough, then my question is, what are we doing when things are good?
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing when things are good?
SPEAKER_00: And we build our faith and our trust in the good seasons.
SPEAKER_00: We build our faith and our trust in the good seasons.
SPEAKER_00: You see, trials don't produce faith, they show you how much you have.
SPEAKER_00: Trials don't produce faith, they show you how much you have.
SPEAKER_00: So are you preparing for those seasons?
SPEAKER_00: And how do we prepare?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's it's generating these habits, these times spent with God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we saw Paul do um in his daily life.
SPEAKER_00: He's spending time in God's word, time in worship, time in prayer, time in fellowship with other believers, in time where we regularly are praising and thanking God.
SPEAKER_00: We're in that practice, that routine of praising and thanking God regularly.
SPEAKER_00: Paul lived that way consistently, which is why he was able to respond with thanksgiving and praise in the trials.
SPEAKER_00: Another biblical figure who understood this was David in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: David wrote the majority of the Psalms, and so, so, so many of the Psalms talk about praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: But not all of the Psalms are like David in the good times, right?
SPEAKER_00: About half of them are psalms of lament when David's going through trials.
SPEAKER_00: And he's still finding a way to worship and praise the Lord, and he often responded to his circumstances with praise and thanksgiving, because David had an intimate relationship with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So when the difficult things came, when the craziness came, he was ready.
SPEAKER_00: And he faced plenty of crazy, right?
SPEAKER_00: Teenage David stood before a giant, the king of Israel tried to kill him on numerous occasions.
SPEAKER_00: He faced difficult and challenging times.
SPEAKER_00: But what we can learn from David, and what I encourage you to do is spend time in the book of Psalms.
SPEAKER_00: There's countless examples of him choosing to be pray uh to praise the Lord and to be thankful.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to read just a few.
SPEAKER_00: So if you you can turn there if you want, but I'm gonna read Psalm 95.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 95 says this: O come, let us sing to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: Let us shout joyfully to him with Psalms, for the Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods, and in his hands are the deep places of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: The heights of the hills are his also, the sea is his, and he made it, his hands form the dry land.
SPEAKER_00: Oh come, let us worship and bow down.
SPEAKER_00: Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
SPEAKER_00: So my invitation to you this morning, my invitation to you this morning is to worship the Lord with gratitude, with thanksgiving, and with joy.
SPEAKER_00: And to come right now exactly as you are.
SPEAKER_00: And the point of this message is not that that we should pretend that that everything's fine all the time or pretend that everything's good or or just smile through it.
SPEAKER_00: That that's not the point of this message.
SPEAKER_00: The point is to be honest with where you are right now and bring that to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: If you feel broken today, come as you are, because there is something to be grateful for.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to feel grateful for the for the circumstance itself, but be grateful for the one who is with you through it.
SPEAKER_00: Because he wants you, he wants all of you, he wants your heart.
SPEAKER_00: So I'd encourage you to press in to him this morning.
SPEAKER_00: The invitation is open for you to worship, to thank him for something, to praise him, to push in.
SPEAKER_00: And as we do that, would you stand with me and we're gonna read Psalm 100 as we close and move into a time of worship?
SPEAKER_00: Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you land.
SPEAKER_00: Serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing.
SPEAKER_00: Know that the Lord He is good.
SPEAKER_00: It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
SPEAKER_00: Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.
SPEAKER_00: Be thankful to Him and bless Him, for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.
SPEAKER_00: So, God, we thank you that you are good.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for all that you have done, all that you're doing in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And God, we thank you that you are here with us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, as we enter into this time of worship, will you meet us right where we're at?
SPEAKER_00: Will you minister to our hearts and minds?
SPEAKER_00: Will you speak to us?
SPEAKER_00: We invite you here, God, we ask you to move.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: Come, Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about The Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.
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