The peace of God is not the absence of trouble but the presence of God in the middle of it, and it grows in the believer who feeds his faith and starves his fears. In this message, Dr. William P. Hohman starts with the chaos of Genesis 1, shows how God spoke purpose into it, and teaches from Philippians 4 how prayer, thanksgiving and right thinking open the door to a peace that guards the heart and mind.
Below you will find the full video, a structured summary of the sermon, a side-by-side look at fear and faith as he describes them, the Scripture behind each point (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline and practical steps you can take this week.
Sermon at a Glance
This message was broadcast from NTC Ministries in Merrill, Wisconsin, and posted on March 30, 2020, during a season when fear of a new plague was spreading around the world. After worship, Dr. Hohman is introduced as senior pastor and tells listeners across Wisconsin, the United States and the world that he wants to talk about the peace of God, because believers need to be reminded by the Scriptures how to come into a place of great security and strength.
He opens in prayer, asking that the eyes of everyone’s understanding would be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18) and that the anointing would destroy every yoke of bondage and fear, so that peace would rise and hope would come.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Speaker | Dr. William P. Hohman |
| Series | Word of the Day (single message) |
| Main text | Philippians 4:6–9; Genesis 1:1–3 |
| Key theme | Feeding faith and starving fear so the peace of God can guard your heart |
| Length | About 43 minutes, including worship and closing prayer |
God Speaks Into Chaos
Dr. Hohman begins in Genesis 1:1–3. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, with darkness on the face of the deep, while the Spirit of God moved over the waters. Without form and void, he explains, means chaotic. When there is chaos, nothing looks like it has any purpose or potential.
He says that some of the times God moved most powerfully in his own Christian life looked chaotic from the outside. People were being empowered by the Holy Spirit and healed, yet you could not see the purpose in the moment. There was one, and if God worked that way in the very beginning, we will see Him do it throughout time.
What God did next is what we must pay attention to. God said, let there be light, and He saw that it was good. Then He spoke the firmament, the gathering of the waters and the vegetation into being, and each time it was so. Into a dark, empty, chaotic situation, God started speaking out a vision of the earth’s potential, and it came forth.
As long as we live on this earth, he says, we will face things that seem bigger than we are. We have to do what God did. Not crying out in fear, wondering what God is doing, but taking His Word and promises and speaking them into the circumstances so that His purpose comes forth. He believes that the strong will come out of such seasons stronger, with greater growth and increase.
The sad part, he adds, is that those bound in fear tend to get worse. He recalls the stock market crash almost a century earlier, when some people who lost their money could not see a future at all. Life is more than money, but without hope people give up. Fear is a terrible thing, and it wants to take hold of every single person on earth.
Feed Your Faith, Starve Your Fears
Dr. Hohman teaches that, in Hebrew syntax as he explains it, fear carries the sense of something ever-present. It is always around, but you do not have to take hold of it, work with it or let it grow in your life. He feels for people without Christ who live in that fear, and he says believers can help them, even though no one can live another person’s life for them.
One of his mentors once gave him a saying he passes on: feed your faith and starve your doubts to death. Or, as he puts it in this message, “we have to feed our faith and starve our fears.” Ephesians 2:11–12 describes life apart from Christ as having no hope and without God in the world.
His key idea is that fear is an acquired commodity, just like something you buy at the store. Faith is an acquired commodity too. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). You keep hearing what God has said in the middle of what the world, the doctor or the counselor is saying, because man does not live by bread alone but by every word from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). No one could see the potential of the earth while it was formless and void, but God spoke its purpose and it happened. Walking through something that requires faith, he says, takes stepping out aggressively.
Fear and faith, as he describes them, grow from the same kind of seed but bear opposite fruit:
| As he teaches it | Fear | Faith |
|---|---|---|
| How it is acquired | By listening to voices without hope | By hearing the Word of God |
| What it does in a crisis | Cries out, wondering what God is doing | Speaks God’s promises into the situation |
| What it produces | Buckled knees, a head swinging with fear, sleeplessness | Security, strength and sleep like a baby |
| Its example | Job: what I greatly feared has come upon me | Jesus: let us cross over to the other side |
He passes on a warning from another mentor in the early 1980s about constantly feeding on voices that spread confusion. Dr. Hohman connects it to Babel, where people tried to reach heaven by their own work and God confused their language. When we cannot understand what someone is saying, we call it babbling, and much of what is heard in a crisis is exactly that: confusion that breeds fear. His counsel is simple: turn it off and get into what God has said.
God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). He built us to weather storms and gave us His Word to bring our purpose and destiny forth, no matter how chaotic things look.
Build on the Rock and Strike the Water
When you need God, Dr. Hohman says, you cannot be pussyfooting around. You cannot do the hokey-pokey to get across the Red Sea, putting one foot in and one foot out. Israel had to go for it and trust what God said. God had told them they would go out to worship Him and then into a promised land, and that hope built faith in them to walk through the sea.
Like Moses, he says, we have to use the rod. Moses struck the water with the rod he carried (Exodus 14:16). Psalm 23 says the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want, and His rod and staff comfort us. Dr. Hohman teaches that the rod is the Word of God, and the Word and the Spirit are what comfort us.
This is not something to do only during an epidemic, he adds. It is how children of God live, like kings in the courts of the living God. Tell the Lord you will declare His Word and stand on His promises. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4). Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35).
God created us strong enough to withstand instability, he teaches, but that strength must be bolstered by the Word. Without that foundation his knees would buckle and his head would swing with fear like anyone else’s. Instead, he says, he sleeps like a baby. Even if a doctor came with a long face and a word like cancer, he says, there would be nothing to fear, because his faith is in the living God.
In Luke 6:46–49, Jesus asks why we call Him Lord and do not do what He says. The one who hears and obeys is like a man who dug deep and laid his foundation on the rock, so the flood could not shake his house. The one who hears and does not obey built without a foundation, and his house collapsed. Dig deep into the Word, Dr. Hohman urges, and read your Bible every day. He says the Bible tells us not to fear 365 times, one for every day of the year.
When Jesus crossed the lake and a storm filled the boat, the disciples woke Him, asking if He cared that they were perishing. He rebuked the wind, said peace, be still, and asked them where their faith was (Mark 4:35–41). Dr. Hohman puts the question this way: why are you so friendly with fear, and why don’t you build a friendship with faith? Jesus had said they were going to the other side, and His word is His bond.
When God made His promise, He swore by Himself because there was no one greater (Hebrews 6:13), and He watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). Faith will stretch you, he admits, but stretching makes room for more faith. He has been through things he would not wish on anyone, and each time he came out stronger, showing forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
The Peace of God Guards Your Heart
Peace, Dr. Hohman says, is a gift from God, and if it is a gift we just have to receive it. Paul shows how in Philippians 4:6–9: do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
He clears up a common misunderstanding. Thanksgiving does not mean thanking God for every bad thing. If your dog is hit by a car, you do not thank God for the car. You thank Him in the situation for His promise that He will take care of it. He gives thanks in everything, not for everything.
The same applies if you are sick and afraid. Isaiah 53:4–5 says Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Dr. Hohman stresses that sickness is not God scolding you or teaching you a lesson; the chastisement of your peace was on Jesus, so you can have peace no matter what.
Then comes the promise: the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous or praiseworthy, think on these things. People without hope may call that foolish, he says, but he is putting thoughts of hope into himself as God told him to.
Paul adds that whatever you have learned, received, heard and seen in him, do, and the God of peace will be with you. Dr. Hohman underlines the word do. You cannot just hear this message; you have to put it into practice. If you cannot sleep at night, he asks, what are you planting? You are a garden, and whatever you put in will produce a harvest.
Stop planting seeds of worry, fear and doubt from the ways of the world, he urges, and plant seeds of faith, hope, love and the Word. You were created to succeed and destined to fulfill the promises of God, but you have to personally take hold of eternal life. It is a choice.
Choose Life and Rise Above the Pull
God set before Israel life and death, blessing and cursing, and told them to choose life so that they and their descendants might live (Deuteronomy 30:19). So, Dr. Hohman says, do not blame God if you keep choosing fear and listening to people who have no hope. Be responsible for yourself and build friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
As a pilot, he uses an illustration from flight. To escape earth’s gravity you have to go faster and higher than any car or small plane ever will. You need rocket boosters. Getting free of the pull of this world means doing more than you are doing now: reading your Bible every day, finding God’s promises and declaring them over your life. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give abundant life (John 10:10), and he intends to take it.
He chooses not to invest his time in worldly trivia, because he is an eternal being. If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above and set your mind on them, because your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1–3). Even some Christians ridicule him for it, he says, but he chooses to feed his faith.
There is another kind of faith, he warns: faith in what you fear. Job said that the thing he greatly feared had come upon him (Job 3:25). Faith in your own intellect is also a trap, because pride goes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). The peace of God transcends all human understanding and lifts us above the corrupt elements of this world, like a rocket that leaves gravity behind.
His definition is the heart of the message: “Peace is not the absence of the war; peace is the presence of God in the midst of war.” Jesus said, peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; let not your heart be troubled (John 14:27), and you believe in God, believe also in Me (John 14:1).
People with great hope, he adds, will always be on the side of life. Faith without works is dead (James 2:17), so we apply what God says. As we have opportunity, we do good to all, especially the household of faith (Galatians 6:10), and speak the truth in love even if it costs a friendship. It begins with denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus (Luke 9:23).
Living in the Peace of God
Dr. Hohman closes with an invitation. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). He admits he is not all that and a bag of chips, but he finds his righteousness in Jesus, and anyone in Christ is a new creation. He leads listeners in confessing Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9–10). These steps come straight from the message:
- Speak into the chaos. Like God in Genesis 1, declare His promises over the situation instead of describing the darkness.
- Feed your faith. Read your Bible every day and keep hearing what God says above every other voice.
- Starve your fears. Turn off the voices that only bring confusion and fear, and refuse to let fear grow.
- Pray with thanksgiving. Bring every request to God and thank Him in the situation for His promise, not for the problem.
- Guard your thoughts. Use Philippians 4:8 as a filter for what you dwell on, and put it into practice.
- Choose life daily. Plant seeds of faith, hope and love, and take responsibility for what you are sowing.
He ends by praying God’s protection over every listener’s household.
Timestamped Outline
- 0:02 Worship and introduction
- 2:11 Opening prayer: eyes of understanding
- 3:17 Genesis 1: without form and void
- 5:40 God speaks and it is so
- 6:52 Speak His Word into the circumstance
- 7:53 Fear is ever-present but need not grow
- 9:00 Feed your faith and starve your fears
- 10:13 Faith comes by hearing; Hebrews 11:1
- 12:29 Babel, confusion and a spirit of power
- 14:45 Moses’ rod and Psalm 23
- 17:08 Created to withstand instability
- 18:29 Luke 6: building on the rock
- 19:40 Peace, be still
- 20:59 He watches over His word
- 22:11 Philippians 4:6: prayer with thanksgiving
- 23:23 Isaiah 53: the chastisement of our peace
- 24:36 The peace of God guards your heart
- 27:02 You are a garden
- 28:16 Choose life; escaping gravity
- 30:28 Set your mind on things above
- 32:52 Peace is the presence of God in war
- 38:35 Prayer of salvation
- 42:25 Closing blessing
Frequently Asked Questions
Does having faith mean I will never feel stretched?
No. Dr. Hohman is clear that faith will stretch you, and he says that is fine, because stretching makes room for more faith. He has walked through situations he would not wish on anyone and had never faced before. Each time, holding on to God’s Word, he came out stronger and more upright with God than before. Peace is not the absence of difficulty but God’s presence in it.
What does he mean that fear is an acquired commodity?
He compares fear to something you pick up at the store. You acquire it by what you keep listening to and dwelling on. Faith is acquired the same way, by hearing the Word of God. So the question is which one you are buying and feeding. Job’s words, that what he greatly feared came upon him, show that fear itself can operate like faith in the wrong thing.
Why does he say to read the Bible every day?
Because the Word is the foundation that lets a person withstand instability. Without it, he says, his knees would buckle like anyone’s. Jesus compared the obedient hearer to a man who dug deep and built on the rock. Dr. Hohman adds that the Bible tells us not to fear 365 times, one reminder for every day of the year, so daily reading keeps faith fed.
Scripture References
All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:
- Philippians 4:6–9 — the peace of God guards your heart
- Genesis 1:1–3 — God speaks light into chaos
- Romans 10:17 — faith comes by hearing
- Hebrews 11:1 — the substance of things hoped for
- 2 Timothy 1:7 — not a spirit of fear
- Luke 6:46–49 — building on the rock
- Isaiah 53:4–5 — the chastisement for our peace
- Deuteronomy 30:19 — choose life
- John 14:27 — My peace I give to you
How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.
Watch More Messages
If this message helped you find peace in an anxious season, there are many more teachings from NTC Ministries to strengthen your faith. Browse the full sermon archive and keep feeding your faith every day.
