Living in Peace: Philippians 4:6-7

Sermon Seed #8 in the Series “This Is Living!” – Philippians 4:6-7

Text: In this final chapter of his epistle, Paul begins with a section addressed in a very personal way to his dearly loved brothers in Philippi. The opening verses of Philippians 4 (v. 2-9) are bound together by the common theme of “peace.” Sandwiched between verses on either side that address the issue of peace among the brothers are two verses (6-7) that address the issue of peace within ourselves. Paul contrasts the inner peace of Christ guarding our hearts and minds with its opposite: anxiety.

Big Idea: Real peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God.

Gospel Focus: In our brokenness, we try to “fix” our anxieties with therapy, pills, food, and thrills. All of these are merely attempts to cope with our stress by masking its symptoms. The Gospel of Jesus means that we can enter freely into the presence of God, where we find a supernatural, irrational peace in the midst of any trial.

Additional Thoughts:

God is greater than all our fears. We can live in peace when we give our burdens to Him.

This peace is not a freedom from turmoil or conflict, but an all-encompassing shalom. Shalom is a spiritual, total, complete well-being in God, covering every aspect of life.

Our typical ways of dealing with anxiety by masking its symptoms (therapy, pills, food, thrills, etc.) have one thing in common: a total lack of acknowledging the spiritual component. The root of our anxiety is the belief that we must bear our burdens ourselves. Anxiety is a spiritual problem with a spiritual solution.

Notice the ways Paul talks about peace … “Peace guards our hearts and minds” … “The God of peace will be with you” … these all point to the fact that living in God’s presence is the foundation for peace.

Bullet Points:

One possibility for bulleted application is to focus on the different words for prayer. A prayer life that ends in peace will have these components (Philippians 4:6-7) …

• Prayer …

• Thanksgiving…

• Requests..

• Petition/Supplication…

This is the prayer that leads to peace, guarding our hearts and minds. Anxiety is a habit of the heart and the mind. Another possibility would be to explore heart and mind as the source of anxiety, and how God’s peace guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.