New Life Church - Downtown Little Rock NLC Downtown Little Rock

How does a relationship with God provide us the tools we need to live above the anxiety in our world and not carry this in our lives? How do we become people of peace in an anxious world? If we live in a world of systemic anxiety, it takes a person who is a differentiated (able to separate) non-anxious presence to lead people out of it. Here is what this scripture promises us: God is our very present help in trouble. The Lord is near.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything."Philippians 4:4-6 (NIV)
"The ability to be continually connected empowered those who relied upon the telegraph, enabling them to ship goods across the world or trade stocks in foreign markets. However, it also spread anxiety across the globe."Mark Sayers - A Non-Anxious Presence

Righteousness – a right standing with God – is never ever grounded on your accomplishments. It’s not about what you have done or don’t do for God. It’s about what Jesus has done. You can only Christ through faith & repentance as you commit yourself to Christ. And after we become one, we press into our righteousness, we press into the perfect creatures God has in store. We work with God to shape and mold ourselves into the perfectly righteous creatures he intends us to be.

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”
Philippians 3:7-11 (NIV)

You will not become who God made you to be by winging it on your own. When you repent of sins and turn towards God you become part of a new family called the Church. God designed the church brilliantly with everything we need to grow and become like Jesus.

“I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”
Philippians 2:20-22 (NIV)

In our faith the intention to obey and the cultivation of a life of obedience is our responsibility but at the same time, God doesn’t just call us to obey, he gives us the ability to obey. This is saying God gives us the desire to obey and has given us the power to do it. In this power we can go from people who are warped and crooked, bent in on ourselves, to shining examples of what humanity can be. Like a child crawls then walks, we are Christians that are maturing progressively to overflowing with gratitude and joy. 

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”
Philippians 2:12 (NIV)

“This is not the fear of a lost sinner before the Holy One, but the fear of a true child before the most loving of all fathers; not a fear of what he might do to us, but of the hurt we might do to him.”
Alec Motyner | The Message of Philippians

It requires an incredible amount of humility to set aside our secondary preferences for the greater good of our community. It’s a high goal and often seems impossible to live selflessly as Philippians calls us to because we often have great faith in God’s ability to save our souls but often low faith in His ability to transform our hearts. The truth is - security in Christ is the only cure to a life of selfishness and that security that flows into service of others. 

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
Philippians 2:1-2 (NIV)

“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”
Mother Teresa 

How can we have a life of overflow of joy in the midst of a world of consumption? We all have systems and we must evaluate what our systems are producing if we want to find the path to flourishing that God has for us. A path of flourishing that sets us apart from the world in that we have a joy that defies our circumstances through our peace and strength in our identity as citizens of heaven who are gifted with holiness.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

“Through finding a missing element such as a soulmate, meaningful career, enjoyable experiences, material things, or through exercising our self-expression, our lives can be filled with pleasure and meaning. Our consumer-shaped culture then offers us endless promises to fill our “empty selves,” which it creates in the first place. Contemporary consumer culture offers medicine to cure the diseases it creates.”
Mark Sayers | Reappearing Church