Sermon Tone Analysis

! BEING THANKFUL IN TOUGH TIMES

Thanksgiving Messages

*Philippians 4:4-8*

*Rick Warren*

!! November 28-29, 1992, #543

 

 

Philippians 4:4-8

/       “May you always be joyful in your life in the Lord.”/

Vs. 4 (GN)

 

*1.

STEP ONE:  ________________________________________ ABOUT NOTHING!*

 

       /“Do not be anxious about anything…”/  vs.

6a

       /“Do not fret or have any anxiety…”/  (Amp)

 

The facts about worry:

 

________ %  never happen

 

________ % concern the past

 

________ % needless health concerns

 

________ % insignificant~/petty issues

 

________ % are legitimate concerns

 

 

/“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough troubles of its own.”/

Matt.

6:34

 

 

       Key:

 

 

 

*2.

STEP TWO: ________________________________________ ABOUT EVERYTHING.*

 

/“… but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”/  Vs.

6b

 

 

“Petition”:

 

/ /

/“When you pray, tell God every detail of your needs.”/

(Ph)

 

/“Unload all your worries on Him since He is looking after you!”/  1 Peter 5:7 (JB)

 

/ /

/“You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him, for you are His personal concern!”/ 1 Peter 5:7 (Ph)

 

       /“…  You do not have, because you do not ask God.”/  James 4:2

 

 

       Insight:

 

 

* *

*3.

STEP THREE: ________________________________________ IN ALL THINGS.*

/“… in everything (pray) … with thanksgiving…”/  vs.

6b

 

       /“always asking Him with a thankful heart.”

/(GN)

 

       /“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”/ 

1 Thess.

5:18

 

 

       Insight:

 

 

 

*4.

STEP FOUR: ________________________________________ THE RIGHT THINGS.*

/“Finally, brothers, whatever is true … noble… right… pure… lovely… admirable….

If anything is excellent or praiseworthy  -- think about such things.”/

v.

8

 

       /“…fill your mind with those things…”/  (JB)

 

 

       The root cause of stress:

 

 

       /“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”/

Pr.

23:7 (KJV)

 

 

 

The Result:

 

 

/“If you do this, you will experience, God’s Peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

His peace will keep your thoughts and your heart quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”/

Vs.

7 (LB)

 

\\ !

BEING THANKFUL IN TOUGH TIMES

* *

*Philippians 4:4-8*

!!  

 

I found a can that said, “Warning: Contents Under Pressure.”

I thought that should be a warning label I put on people that I meet often.

I have never seen as many stressed out people in the last few months as I’ve seen.

I want to talk about that this morning.

There’s a well known stress scale called the Holmes Stress Scale which lists the 100 most stressful events you can have in life – the death of a spouse, a divorce, death of a loved one, etc.  On that scale after much study they have discovered that the single most stressful time of the year is the period between Thanksgiving and New Years.

You start to worry about presents.

You start to worry about parties.

You start to worry about all kinds of problems that happen, gifts, finances.

Some of you worry about the relatives you’re going to have to see.

The stress level goes up significantly.

Someone has said “This is the season to be uptight.”

I was at the mall Friday.

Nothing destroys the Christmas spirit faster than trying to find a parking spot.

You start worrying.

We’ve just celebrated Thanksgiving.

How do you be thankful in tough times?

When the economy is not good.

When things aren’t going your way.

How do you be thankful in tough times?

In Philippians 4, Paul says in verse 4, /“May you always be joyful in your life in the Lord.”/

Is that possible?

Is it always to be joyful, no matter what the circumstance?

Yes it is.

One of the words for the Lord’s Supper in Greek is the word Eucharist or /eucharistos/ which means, “I receive with Thanksgiving.”

I felt like I needed to share with you a couple of scriptures on a strategy for surviving seasonal stress.

I’d suggest you write these down and then tack them up to your refrigerator wall for the next month to help you make it through the pressured times of the holidays.

In Philippians 4:6 Paul says /“Don’t be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

/ Then he says, /“Finally whatever is true and noble and right and pure and lovely and admirable, think about such things and the God of peace will be with you.”/

In this very short passage we have the four keys to surviving stress.

They’re very simple to say, they’re a lot more difficult to apply.

Step One:  Worry about nothing

Step Two:  Pray about everything

Step Three:  Thank God in all things

Step Four:  Think about the right things/ / 

 

 

\\ *1.

WORRY ABOUT NOTHING*

* *

*V*.

6 /“Don’t be anxious about anything.

Do not fret or have any anxiety.’/

That’s easier said than done.

It’s no sweat to say it…….

but as soon as you’re finished saying it,….

you start worrying about something.

*/The Smithsonian Institute/* magazine in a recent article says that we are in the *Golden Age of Anxiety*.

We not only have micro worries, which are your personal worries, but now you’re confronted with macro worries, worries of the world.