Peace Be Still

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Peace Be Still

January 28, 2024 • Jason Corder • Philippians 4:6–9

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Near Tiberious on the shore of the sea of Galilee, there is a valley called the Arbel. Two thousand years ago there was a road through this valley that led from Nazareth to Capernaum. No doubt Jesus walked that road many times. Because it is lined on both sides by steep mountains, the Arbel is sometimes called the wind tunnel. Any storm coming from the west would blow through that valley and hit the Sea of Galilee with enormous force. Thus the lake (that’s really what the Sea of Galilee is, a large lake) might be peaceful and then a storm would suddenly arise, with driving rain and gale-force winds. Any boat on the Sea of Galilee would be in peril when that happened. The many boats at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee bear testimony to the power of a raging storm in the middle of the night, when a boat is tossed helplessly by the wind and the waves and there is no one who can rescue you, and nothing you can do to save yourself. That’s what makes the text of Mark 4 so powerful; On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

The key to understanding this story lies in one important question. If you know the answer to this question, then you know what this story is about.

Whose idea was it to get in the boat in the first place?

A New Perspective

January 21, 2024 • Jason Corder • Philippians 1:12–13

I recently found myself comfortably holed up in my home office, heater on high, sitting on my couch, watching a video of a group of adventurous friends preparing to face a mountain. From the confines of my cozy office, I imagined joining friends, prepping, and heading out on some wild adventure of our own. Scrunched over, I lace up my hiking boots, feeling the snowflakes brush my cheeks and the chill in the air warming my heart. I gaze ahead at the trail before me, anticipating the steep climb's joys, challenges, and unknowns. But I know it's all very different when you are at the base of that mountain. From a distance, all of the preparations and heartaches feel distant because I am comfortably insulated from the realities of the climb by the screen. Still, at the base camp, the cold cuts to the bone, the red frozen fingers ache and throb, the snow and ice sting the face, and the weight of the packs strains the necks and the backs. Life is like that; when we sit back in comfortable times, it seems easy to plan how we will respond to particular situations in life or to criticize others for how they respond, but in the moment, we will often react in ways we regret because the environment or stress gets to us. Sometimes, we need to step back and reframe the situation, which is what prayer is all about. This week, we will examine how Biblical prayer changes our perspective and response to more closely match those of Jesus Christ.

Think On These Things

January 14, 2024 • Jason Corder • Philippians 4:8–10

We are all different from one another, and that variety is the spice of life. Some of us have upbeat dispositions, while others play the music of life in a minor key. Yet how we respond to life's trials affects not only our overall disposition but also our witness. The famous hymn writer Fanny Crosby lost sight when she was only 6 weeks old. She lived into her nineties, composing thousands of loved songs. On her 92nd birthday, she cheerfully said, "If in all the world you can find a happier person than I am, do bring him to me. I should like to shake his hand." Fanny carried out a resolution she made when she was only 8 years old: "How many blessings I enjoy that other people don't. To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot, and I won't." At an early age, she chose to "rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4) no matter how bleak the situation might appear. The prophet Nehemiah reminds us that it is "the joy of the Lord is our strength", and Jesus boldly proclaimed in John 15, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." Our challenge for this week is, when faced with the choice of self-pity or faith-filled joy, to respond with joy.

Winning the Mind War

January 7, 2024 • Jason Corder • 2 Corinthians

In the beginning years of genetic research, French scientists took tissue from parts of the Japanese quail brain thought to control the bird’s call and implanted it in the brains of five chicken embryos. The experiment worked. Researchers say the hatched chicks sounded like quail rather than chickens. Those poor chickens were of two minds: were they a covey or a flock? Sometimes, we can feel the same way; two stories are competing for our minds and hearts. The first story broadcasts loudly across culture and social media. It claims that you and I are the center of the universe. We are unique individuals, and we can be awesome. We need to create our identities. By making the right choices with our wardrobe and weekends, and by hanging out with the right people and doing the right things, we can be limitlessly happy. The second story is quiet. It’s more of a whisper from the darker corners of our minds, but it will not go away. It’s there in the middle of the night, a longing when the promises of the first story are underdelivered. The whisper tells us we were made for more. In hushed voices, it insists that we have an immovable and essential identity, a sort of real home somewhere out there. We long for it, and we know it’s not just in our imaginations. There’s got to be more to this life. In that second story, we find the ultimate truth: we are created for more; we are created to have the mind of our master, Jesus Christ. That transformation is often subtle and tedious to navigate, but ultimately, it is God’s desire for each of His children that we might see life increasingly from God’s perspective.