Sermon Notes, July 17, 2016
Rev.
Garry McGlinchy
The second sermon in Pastor
Garry’s sermon series on the fruits of the Spirit, based on Galatians 5:22-23
and Philippians 4:4-9, was titled “The Fruits of the Spirit: Joy and Peace.” Pastor
Garry had us define Joy, then Peace. He
told about the joy he felt when Beccy became his bride, and about the peace
that came over him when he accepted the call to pastor this church. Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice, not to
be anxious but to pray with thanksgiving about everything, and to think about
things that are noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, admirable or
praiseworthy.
Joy In Us. Paul wrote
this letter during his imprisonment in Rome, approximately A.D 61. He wrote to thank the believers in Philippi
for a gift they had sent him, and to strengthen them by showing that true joy
comes through knowing Christ. Joy is one
of the mega-themes of his letter to the church in Philippi. When you think about the fact that Paul was
in prison when he wrote this letter, his instructions for the church to “rejoice”
seems a bit strange. One thing we can
learn from Paul is that our inner attitudes are not bound to our outward
circumstances: what’s going on around us doesn’t have to affect what goes on in
us. Paul was able to maintain a joyful
heart because he was positive that no matter what happened Christ was always
with him. Paul appealed to the church in
Philippi to be joyful because it was what they needed to hear. The church was going through some unity
issues, specifically among the women. Their
disagreement was something that needed to be addressed because they were
pivotal servants in the church; many had come to Christ through their ministry. We all know how easy it is to become
discouraged about unpleasant circumstances that go on around us. But when we allow the Holy Spirit to truly
fill us, our inner attitudes are not bound to our outward circumstances.
Peace Through Us. Philippians 4:6-7 talks about worry. Can you imagine your life without worry? The reality is that we all worry—about finances,
family, health, safety---and the list goes on and on. Paul writes that we should turn all of our
worries into prayers. To put it simply—Pray
more; Worry less! We need to understand
that God’s peace is much different than worldly peace. (John 14:27) True peace is not found in positive
thinking. It isn’t without
conflict. It is not born out of good
feelings. True peace comes from knowing
that God is in control. Jesus tells us
not to worry. (Matthew 6:25-34) The
promise in Psalm 91:9-13 tells us that God is our refuge. And don’t forget the words of Moses to all of
Israel in Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake
you.”
Rev. Billy Graham says: “The
peace that Jesus came to bring was not the peace of appeasement, or the peace
of compromise and conformity. It was a
spiritual peace. The world doesn’t give
peace, for it doesn’t have any peace to give.
It fights for peace, it negotiates for peace, it maneuvers for peace,
but there is not ultimate peace in the world.
But Jesus gives peace to those who put their trust in Him. If you have received His peace, then you are
in His camp. But if you have rejected
it, then you are against Him. His peace
is available to everyone who will receive it.”
(John 16:33) If we are to
experience true peace in our lives, we need to turn all of our anxieties and
worries into prayers. And by doing so we
will draw closer to God.
Jesus In the Middle.
We experience unadulterated JOY and unmeasurable amounts of PEACE when
Jesus is in the middle of our lives, when He is at the center of
everything! Jesus was in the midst of
all Creation. Daniel saw the Lord with
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the middle of the fiery furnace. (Daniel
3:25) We see Jesus in the midst of His
people when the disciples were gathered in a house behind locked doors and He
came and stood among them saying, “Peace be with you.” Jesus is in the middle when two or three are
gathered together in His name. At
Calvary, Jesus was in the middle of sinners, when they crucified Him with two
others, one on either side. (John 19:18)
On the evening of that first Easter Sunday, Jesus stood in the middle of
His disciples. (John 20:26) As the Lamb
in Revelation, Jesus is in the midst of the throne of Heaven. As our resurrected Lord, Jesus is in the
midst of His Church. This theme is
repeated throughout the Scriptures because Jesus is in the middle of it
all. This is the key to Christian
Kingdom living. It is where we find our
Joy and Peace every moment of every day.
As followers of the Christ we
are called to let Jesus be Lord of our lives, to be in the middle of every
aspect of your life, to be in the middle of all that we do. Jesus should be at the hub, at the center of
our lives. We all have different “compartments”
that make up our lives: work, school, hobbies, family, church. Many people mistakenly make Jesus just
another compartment, another spoke in the wheel of life. But Jesus should be, needs to be, at the very
hub of our lives, connecting every spoke.
No Christian, no follower of the Christ can be spiritual, can be
powerful and maturing in the faith unless Jesus is in the middle. And when
Jesus Is in the middle of our lives, He promises us that we will experience
true JOY and PEACE.
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