main text, read in full from the New Living Translation as the basis for the sermon
1 Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord.
3 Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.
9 The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
referenced for the reminder that God is working in you, giving the desire and power to do what pleases him
1 If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,
2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputes,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,
16 holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.
17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.
18 In the same way, you also rejoice, and rejoice with me.
19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.
20 For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.
21 For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News.
23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.
25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need;
26 since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.
28 I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor,
30 because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.
Jesus's question about whether worrying can add a single moment to your life
1 “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does,
4 so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
5 “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 In praying, don’t use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.
8 Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.
9 Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
10 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
13 Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 “Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;
18 so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
19 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
25 Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?
27 “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
28 Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin,
29 yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?
31 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Carl preached a Thanksgiving message from Philippians 4:1-9, walking through Paul's instructions for handling conflict and disagreement. The passage was written to a church Paul loved deeply, and he wanted them to see that the same wisdom that helped two quarreling women in Philippi is available to us today.
What was said
Paul opens the letter to the Philippians with genuine warmth, not a list of rules. Before he gives any instruction at all, he tells the church he thinks of them, prays for them with joy, and longs to see them with the tender compassion of Christ. Pastor Carl pointed out that understanding Paul's heart matters because it shows why the instructions come: not to manage behavior, but because Paul cared deeply for people he loved.
Verses two and three name two women, Euodia and Syntyche, who were in a real disagreement. We do not know what it was about. What Pastor Carl lingered on was Paul's description of them: coworkers in the gospel whose names are written in the book of life. He asked whether we could learn to see the people we are in conflict with that way, as precious souls made in the image of God, rather than opponents to defeat.
The instructions that follow are meant to help those two women, and us, find a way through. Be full of joy in the Lord, recognizing the favor God has already shown you. Be considerate, which Pastor Carl described as a generous spirit that takes the high road and chooses not to return insult for insult. He connected this to 1 Peter 3:9 and its call to pay back insults with a blessing instead.
Pray rather than worry. Pastor Carl shared a poem from the home of Ray's parents that laid the contrast out plainly, and then cited Jesus's question from Matthew 6: can worrying add a single moment to your life? Paul wrote Philippians from jail, not knowing if he would live, and yet he is the one calling the church to rejoice and give thanks. Gratitude, Pastor Carl said, is not dependent on circumstances.
The result Paul promises, in verse seven, is a peace that exceeds anything we can understand, one that will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Pastor Carl stopped on the word guard and asked what our hearts and minds would need guarding from in a conflict. His answer: anger, bitterness, jealousy, and the desire for revenge. Those things can take up residence quietly, he said, and God's peace is what keeps them out.
Verse eight's list, fixing our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise, was presented as a practical counterweight to the human instinct to spend a conflict rehearsing what you plan to say next to prove you are right. Pastor Carl was honest that these instructions run hard against our nature and that grabbing the list and trying harder will not work for long. What changes things, he said, drawing from Philippians 2, is that God is already working in us, giving us both the desire and the power to do what pleases him. That is what makes these instructions livable rather than exhausting.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Carl talked about Paul writing instructions for peace to a church that was already in conflict, not a perfect one. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to practice gratitude when things are not going well?
Paul describes Euodia and Syntyche as sincere believers whose names are written in the book of life, yet they were in real conflict. How does thinking of someone you disagree with that way change how you see the situation?
CarlCome, you thankful people. Come. Amen. You can have a seat just here for a moment, and Nick is gonna share a few announcements with us.
Speaker 2Here he
Carlis. Hey. Good morning.
Speaker 2I like to jog in like it's the, you know, how the the the pitcher who's called in to close things up. Alright. Hey. Welcome everybody to First Baptist Church. Lovely to have you here.
Always lots going on. Let's go and check out what's going on here at First Baptist Church. I think the first one yep. Operation Christmas Child. We had 113 boxes packed.
Well done. And a couple people brought some in late. So, yeah, clap. That's really great. Yeah.
Praise God. And if by any chance anybody still has one, please take it directly over to Community Bible Church. Mike D took the last of them over today from the church. So if you do us a favor and just take them directly over. But all those boxes will be used to be sent all over the world and to bless kids all over the world with not just gifts, but also a message of hope in the gospel, which is great.
Thanks for participating in that again. That was really wonderful. There is a talk, a purity talk for our youth that's gonna be here at First Baptist Church on December 2 from six to 8PM. Apparently, a really renowned speaker is coming in and gonna do a talk here. There's pizza and cookies involved as well.
So send your kids you know, that's a big selling point apparently. So send the kids out this way. We'd love to have them. Invite the neighbor kids and stuff too. There's more information on a big poster out in the lobby.
If you want and congratulations to our Sparks kids who won a long light long line night. They had 58 feet worth of food set end to end, and they were competing against the other groups, and the Sparks won with 58. That's that's great. And thank you to the parents who actually gave them the food to bring in. Don't think you're forgotten.
There is no Monday night Awana this Monday, though. But join us the following Monday after Thanksgiving, and we'll be we'll be back at it again. There are calendars, twenty twenty four calendars out in the lobby. They are $10, and we're using them to raise money for youth programs. So please pick them up for Christmas gifts and stuff like that.
Don't get one for me. I already have one. So thank you. Appreciate it. Tell me you can if you want to.
That's that's fine. I'll give it to Carl. He needs another one. And this morning, we had Syed Jimenez was baptized, which was a huge blessing. You can watch it during the first service if you want to, but he grew up in this church, and a lot of you have touched his life.
And it's really awesome. And if anybody else would like to be baptized, the water is here and ready. So I'll give this back to Carl. Thanks for being here.
CarlThank you, Nick. Shall we stand together and sing, father God? Are you catching the theme of thankfulness this morning in our songs? I love it. Jesus, we just wanna thank you.
You can have a a seat here for a moment. This is a worship through giving part of the service. And you may have noticed we have a cello player today. And this is James Jordan. His parents are Philip and Amy.
And he's back on a college visit. And it he'll be playing Bach today. And I am so I am so impressed with the level of talent, talented musicians, and Julia joining, and Judy, and that I'm just saying that's something I'm very, very thankful for this morning. Steve, can I ask you to pray? We'll give thanks.
Speaker 3I have to agree with Carl. Thanks so much, you guys, for playing. I like to tell my family and the kids that I teach, I can't even play hardly play the radio. And without you, it'd be a lot harder to worship. So but let's pray and we'll worship in giving today.
Jesus, like this song we just sang, You Are So Good. We are so grateful that you gave us the church, that we can come and grow together, love each other, learn about you, and how to change our lives to be more like you. We take a couple minutes here to take an offering, and we put our sacrifices in this offering. We ask that you would use them the way you want them used to further your kingdom. We praise you for who you are, God.
Amen.
CarlThank you, James. Really, that's beautiful. Well, happy Thanksgiving, everybody. How are we? Just curious.
I I think about food a lot. Who's making a turkey and a ham for Thanksgiving? Oh, just the turkey? I'm asking for a poll here. I'm not seeing any hands.
Okay. Or no turkey at all? Okay. I just have so many questions. All right.
I'll save them for later. But I love this holiday. I love that our daughter Rachel is coming home for from college, and she's just like yeah. Just like your son, James, came home from college, and this is a first for us of, know, sending kids away. Then they come back, and I'm just I'm grateful.
There are so many things to be grateful for. A time to reflect on gratitude. What what better holiday, truly. And as I was looking for verses on this topic, let me see if I could get this to work. Philippians four six came to mind.
And the verse is, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he's done. And I thought, oh, that's a wonderful verse for thanksgiving. That alone right there is a sermon.
But and then, of course, you you know, we've gotta look into the context and go, well, what what happened around it? And I was reminded that Paul wrote that verse to a church that was having conflict and disagreement. He was urging them to practice gratitude in the midst of that conflict. So funny story here, it might explain a lot about old Carl. I thought back to my my childhood Thanksgivings.
And I have a big family. I have lots of aunts and uncles. We have over 15 male cousins at these get togethers. So can you picture this in your mind? Over over 15, you know, not just boys, but rowdy, rowdy boys.
And one year, someone, I won't name names, thought it'd be a good idea to bring boxing gloves to Thanksgiving. Boxing gloves, can you believe that? I can't believe my I mean, I I wonder sometimes, how do my how did our parents how did they get through this? But throwing punches on the day of thanks. There was there was a thanksgiving memory.
You know, I thought these things were normal, you know, growing up with all these boy and boy cousins. And then I met I met my wife, Christa, and she said, Carl, that's not normal. Families don't do that. They don't do these kinds of things. It's one way of dealing with conflict.
Philippians four one through nine give us a better way. And, that's what I want to share. Whether it's church or work or holiday get togethers or marriage or wherever people are gathered together, conflict and disagreement are bound to happen. They just do. It's a part of life.
And these instructions that Paul gives here lead to peace. The heading in my Bible is words of encouragement. And here's how I would like to approach this text. First, I'd like to share Paul's heart for this church. Just to understand his love and his care and his compassion for the Philippians.
Next, I'd like to take a look at what those instructions are for them. Then note the results as they carry those out. And, of course, application for today. Rediscovering this chapter was a huge blessing for me. I didn't realize how much I needed it.
I told Christa, man, I I wish that I could just I I should have just a note card with these verses on it, so that whenever I find that I'm in a conflict or disagreement, I pull out this little note card and go, oh, there they are again. It is great relationship wisdom that leads to peace. This is great relational wisdom that leads to peace. So here it is, it's Philippians four one through nine. I'm reading from the New Living Translation.
And here here's what it says verse by verse. The words will be on the screen if you'd like to see it there. It says, therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and I long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. Now I appeal to you, Euodia and Syntyche.
Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. I ask you, my true partner, to help these two, for they worked hard with me in telling the others good news. They worked hard, along with Clement, the rest of my coworkers, whose names are written in the book of life. Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again, rejoice.
Let everyone see that you're considerate in all that you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then, you'll experience God's peace, which exceeds anything that we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent, and worthy of praise.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me, Paul says, everything you heard from me and saw me doing, then the God of peace will be with you. So I'm gonna stop there for now. I would have loved to read the whole book of Philippians all the way through. I'm not going to do that. Our focus will be on these nine verses.
But can I pray first and then just work our way through these wonderful, helpful verses? Let's pray first. God, with gratitude in mind, we have sung it. Lord, we experience it. Truly, we are feeling grateful.
Thank you for this word to us today. Instructions and wisdom that leads to peace. Lord, would you fill us with your love? Would you fill us with your spirit? Would you fill us with your truth?
Would you fill us with your peace? Would you fill us with your power as we yield our will to yours? May the overflow, the overflow cause us to rejoice, to be considerate, to pray rather than to worthy, to give thanks, to fix our thoughts on what's true and honorable, right and pure, lovely and admirable, excellent and worthy of praise. Lord, would you help us? Would you give us understanding?
Would you meet us where we're at? In Jesus' name. Amen. So again, here's how I'd like to approach this text. Paul's heart, his instructions to the church, the results as they carry out these instructions in the Lord, and, of course, application for today.
I tend to oversimplify. I'll just say that out loud. I do. But I'm gonna do it anyway. Alright?
So here we go. First, Paul's heart for the church. Isn't it good to know that life is more than a list of do's and don'ts? Isn't it good to know that? We want to know the heart behind the instruction.
We really a lot we're asking ourselves, why should I do those things? In chapters one through three, we get to hear Paul's love and his care and his compassion for the church. There's a reason that he's giving them these instructions, so that it might go well for them, that he cares so deeply for for them. These are two of his dearly loved friends. And they're having a conflict.
They're having a disagreement. And and and here is his heart for that church, for those friends that he's speaking of. Here's some examples to illustrate. May God, our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Right out of the gate, right from the beginning of Philippians, Paul's desire is to extend grace and peace, God's favor and his gift of wholeness upon you, Philippians.
And may I say too, because I get the microphone here, God's gift of grace and peace be upon you first be. Truly. Truly. May I extend that to you? Every time I think of think of you, I I give thanks to my God, he says.
Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy. Are you hearing his heart here? How much love? I think of you. I pray for you.
As I pray for you, it brings me joy because I love you so much, church. Seven and eight. You have a special place in my heart, he says. God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ. Think about that for a moment.
The tender compassion of Christ. You think about how Jesus loved people so dearly. There's one verse that comes to mind a lot. It says that it was the rich young ruler, I believe, and Jesus met him and he said it said that Jesus looked at him and he loved him. He cared for him.
That's how Paul is that's what Paul is sharing with the church, those tender compassions of Jesus. For one, I love you and I long to see you dear friends. You're my joy and the crown I receive for my work. This is a very, very genuine thing. This aren't this isn't just instructions.
Hey, do this. Don't do that. It's church, I love you. I care for you. As as Christ loves Paul, Paul loves this church.
It's just it's just an overflow. That's what I see in Philippians. It's it's Christ just overflowing out of Paul's heart. There is joy, his crown, his partners with him to defend and confirm the truth of the good news, to grow in the knowledge and understanding of Jesus until Jesus comes again. And it's because of that, that he gives these instructions.
And here they are in a neat little list, if you if you prefer. It says, settle your disagreements, rejoice, be considerate, don't worry, pray, thank him. Fix your thoughts on what's true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise, and practice what you've learned. And the results, as they are putting these things into practice, living their lives in Christ, the God of peace will be with you. The God of peace will be with you.
You experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. Some of your translations say, a peace that passes understanding. And his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. So beginning in verse two, here's Paul's appeal, Euodia and Syntyche. We don't know what their disagreement was.
We do know that Paul loved them dearly. He's made that clear. We know that they're sincere believers in Jesus. They worked alongside Paul in sharing the good news of the gospel. There's coworkers.
That their names are written in the book of life. I don't know what it was about that one, but it grabbed hold of me so so much this week. Their names are written in the book of life. And I thought, boy, could we see those we are in conflict with as their names are written in the book of life. That is a precious soul made in the image of God.
Dear friends, co laborers with Paul, he did not want them pitted against one another. And nor, catch this, nor did he ask the church to pick a side. Hey, you be team Euodia and you be team Syntyche. He wanted them to settle their disagreement, to come together, to be of one mind in the Lord. We also don't know who this true partner is, but Paul's asking them, whoever that partner is, to help these two ladies, to assist them, to help them settle that disagreement, to be of the same mind in the Lord.
And I believe that these verses that follow help them to get there. And you know what? They help us to get there. This is timeless truth right here. To work through our own conflicts and disagreements by doing this.
In verse four, he says, always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again, rejoice. Joy comes up again and again and again in Philippians. Have you noticed that? And and it really what it means is to delight in God's favor.
To delight in it. To be conscious of it. To be aware of it. To be glad for it. And I believe Paul starts there because if indeed God has shown that favor toward us, favor that we delight in, favor that we are conscious of, favor that we are glad for, then this favor, if indeed it is given to us, it should be filling us up to overflowing into our relationships with other people.
The freely, freely you have received, freely, freely give, That's real. That's real. So he begins with joy, first to recognize God's favor, his grace. And then next, he says this, let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do. In other words, a generous spirit that rises above offenses.
A generous spirit that takes the high road. It chooses not to return insult for insult. First Peter three nine comes to mind for this, that don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults. When people insult you, instead, pay them back with a blessing.
Pay them back with a blessing. I see a fellow hockey player in here, and sometimes things get a little they get a little heated on the ice. I mean, they do. And I I don't always like myself on the ice because I I I I'm it doesn't always bring out the best in me. I love it.
I love the game. I love to play. But I also know that there's a little of this here, the the the the tendency to want to retaliate. What is he saying here? Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
Speak well of them. Speak well of them. That's what God's called you to do, and he'll grant you his blessing. Consider it. A generous spirit that rises above offenses.
Next one is this. Don't worry, pray. Don't worry, pray. I'm seeing some smiles here going, I'm gonna share a little poem to illustrate this one. So Ray's mom and dad have this poem in their home.
I I've been trying to allow Ray just some space to just be together as a family. They're checking out colleges for Paschal, and I believe he he he may even be home preaching in his hometown church in Shiloh, Georgia right now. But his folks, his parents have this poem in their home and I wanna share it with you. It says this, worry. Why worry?
What can worry do? It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you. It gives you indigestion and sleepless hours at night. It fills the days with gloom, however fair and bright. Puts a frown upon the face of sharpness to the tone.
We're unfit to live with others and unfit to live alone. Worry, why worry? What can worry do? It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you. Pray.
Why pray? What can praying do? Praying really changes things, arranges life anew. It's good for your digestion, gives you peaceful sleep at night. It fills the grayest, gloomiest day with rays of glowing light.
Puts a smile upon your face. The love note in your tone makes you fit to live with others and fit to live alone. Pray. Why pray? What can praying do?
It brings God down from heaven to live and work with you. I like that. That's sweet. Here's the abbreviated version from Jesus in the form of a question. Matthew six, can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
I've tried this. Losing sleep, worrying about things that have not even happened yet. Jesus is asking, can these things, can worrying about those things, that haven't even happened yet, can they add a single moment to your life? We know the answer. Prayer seems to be the better option.
Paul says, don't worry, pray. Here's another. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he's done. There's a lot of studies on gratitude, but they all point to grateful people are happier people. They truly are.
And we can be grateful no matter what the circumstances. How do we know that? Because Paul's writing this from jail. He does not know if he'll live to see another day. He doesn't.
And yet, he continues to rejoice, to be thankful, to count his blessings one by one. He is so grateful for the grace that God has extended to him that that grace, it spills over onto others. And that's the letter. That's that's that's the letter to the Philippians. God's grace to Paul, and then he's just pouring it out onto this dearly loved church of his, knowing that they're just as human as we are, and there's conflict, and there's disagreement, and they can work through it.
But thankfulness, gratitude, that's a big part of that. And here's the result in verse seven. Then you'll experience God's peace. That's God's gift of wholeness, making us whole, complete, which exceeds anything that we could understand. A peace that passes understanding.
And his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. That word guard captured me because the question that comes to mind is, well, in a conflict or disagreement, what would our hearts and minds need to be guarded from? And the things that I started to think of were, well, how about anger, and bitterness, and jealousy, and resentment, or revenge. It doesn't take long for those things to take residence in our hearts and minds. Has anything ever crept up on you and kind of surprised you and thought, why am I so upset right now?
Where did that come from? It were things that we had been storing up over time. And, it's God's peace, Catch this. It's God's peace that guards our hearts and minds from those things. It guards our hearts and minds from anger, and jealousy, and bitterness, and revenge.
God's peace can take up residence in our hearts and guard guard us from those things that are so toxic. This is good news, church. This really is. This is available to us if we want it. It's there as we live in Christ.
Check this out. Because this is we're not making this up. This is Jesus. This is coming out of the mouth of Jesus. He's saying, I'm leaving you with a gift.
Disciples, followers, peace of mind and peace of heart. And the peace that I give is a gift that the world cannot give. We cannot get it here. No matter where we look, no matter how hard we try, we can't find a peace like the peace of God. We cannot.
It's not here. But it is through him. We can have it. A peace that will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This is beautiful.
This is wonderful news for us. Circling back, here are actions that lead to peace in chapter four so far. Being joyful, being considerate, a generous spirit that rises above offenses, praying rather than worrying, and gratitude, thankfulness. These lead to peace. I want to pause just for a moment here before we keep going to ask ourselves, okay, you ask you and I'm I'm going to ask me, what if, what if we did this first?
Before anything else, what if we did that first? Backing up even more. What if what if first, for the other person, we would do what Paul said and said, hey, grace and peace be to you. Like, I really want God's grace, and I want his favor to be upon you. I care for you.
Like, with the tender compassions of Jesus. Like, you mean something to me. And we recognize God's grace is favor to us. That spills over onto the other person. We're considerate of that other person.
We're praying rather than worrying, just staying up countless hours and losing sleep. We're instead saying, God, I'm going to give this all you. I'm going to first Peter five seven and cast my cares on you because you care for me. I'm gonna do that first rather than worry myself sick about something that hasn't even happened yet, and may or may not even happen. And, I'm gonna practice gratitude.
I'm gonna count my blessings one by one. These are actions that lead to peace. Then on to verse eight, here's some more instructions. And I'll kind of just touch on these, but they are self explanatory. They don't need a whole lot of they don't need a whole lot of explanation.
Fix your thoughts on what is true. We're asking, what is true here? What is reality? Now what do I think or what do I assume, but what is actually true? Let's fix our thoughts on that.
Next, what's honorable? That's something that's deeply respected. What is deeply respected? Say I'm in a conflict with you right now, what can we agree upon that is deeply respected by both of us? And right.
Specifically, this is right in the eyes of God. This is conforming to God's standard of justice, and rightness, and uprightness. So rather than our own, I make the rules about what's right and wrong, I say, no, I'm gonna look through God's lenses here, what his standard of justice and rightness and uprightness is, and I'm gonna look through his lenses of what it means to be right. And pure, that's that's self explanatory, uncontaminated, free from the influence of sin, pure. Lovely.
That's what's pleasing and agreeable. Pleasing and agreeable. Dearly prized. It's worth the effort. Lovely.
The next is admirable. In other words, what are the kinds of actions that would be well spoken of? And and and here's kind of how I thought about that one this week is, when the dust settles, when the dust settles, maybe there are some witnesses to a conflict. But, when the dust settles, what would be well spoken of? Not who was the ugliest, who said the rudest thing, who was right, you know, who made themselves right, but rather, what would be well spoken of when all is said and done.
Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. There's an enthusiastic acknowledgement there for what's good and what deserves praise. Now, just imagine how differently we might respond as we fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. Rather than fix our thoughts on, what could I possibly say next to prove that I am right and they are wrong? I mean, can you imagine yourself in this scenario?
How often are we going, boy, I I'm not even I I don't even know what they're saying right now. All I know is that when when I talk again, they're gonna get it. Right? Right? This is our human nature.
And I'm I'm saying, this is me. I'm going, what could I possibly say right to prove that I truly I'm the right one here. Paul's saying, hey, put these instructions here. Put these into practice. I was thinking, man, I should have a printed out list for myself here.
Would you like one too? As a result, let me back up. 49. Put these into practice, he's saying. A routine habit.
Practice. Practice. We know what that is. And as a result, the God of peace will be with you. That's the result.
The God of peace will be with you. God's gift of wholeness will be with you as you carry out these instructions in the Lord. So he shared his heart. He says, man, I love you church so much. I care about you so much.
And then he gives these instructions, and that as they do these instructions, settle their disagreements and rejoice and be considerate. As they don't worry, they pray instead. As they thank God, as they fix their fix their thoughts on this list here of what's true and honorable and right and pure, that as they do these things, practicing what they learn, the result, as these things are being done, is that the God of peace will be with you. God of peace will be with you, and you'll experience God's peace, and it'll exceed anything that we can understand. You ever had a peace that passes understanding where you thought, I shouldn't be alright right now, but I am.
Because I have the Lord's peace. And I know it's the Lord's peace because I've looked for it all over the place here. I couldn't find it, but I found it in the Lord. And I shouldn't be okay right now, but I am because God has given me that peace. Have you been there?
Man, is it refreshing. Oh, it is so good. And this peace will guard your hearts and minds from Christ Jesus. It'll guard us from anger, bitterness, resentment, revenge, the things that take residence in our heart, that darken our hearts. He pours that peace, that light into us, and it gives us freedom.
It makes us free people. This is beautiful. As far as application goes here, again, this is great relational wisdom that leads to peace. It just is. And if you didn't need it, I sure do.
Paul says in verse nine, let's be putting these things into practice. Let's be practicing these things. They're not difficult to understand, but they really work against our human nature, don't they? I find myself fighting and kicking against these at times. Where if I would simply yield my will to the Lords and go, Lord, what would you have here?
What would you like me to do? Oh, you're telling me to fix my thoughts. How differently would things go? This is why I love chapter two, and I'm wrapping up with this here. Paul reminds them, he's reminding us too.
We're we're we're actively listening along here as well. I mean, this is as much for first b as it is for the the Philippians. He says, God is working in you, church, and he's giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. God is working in you. And and and may I just, emphasize that part, that this is a work of God empowered by the Holy Spirit in and through us toward others as we live in Christ.
And may I just share that one more time because I think it's so important. If if we grab a list and go, boy, I I'm really gonna do these this week. We will run out of steam very, very quickly. But, if we know that this is a work of God empowered by the Holy Spirit in and through us toward others as we live in Christ, that's a game changer. It really is.
This is a work of God. He's working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Now, a little application point here as well is, if we were even to focus on just one of these things this week, just one. I don't expect anybody to memorize the list. I don't have it memorized.
But, say thankfulness for example. Thursday, Thanksgiving, thankfulness. Having gratitude, knowing that we've been given favor that we didn't even deserve, we didn't even earn it, it can radically improve our relationships with others because we then can extend what has been given to us. It's just an extension. God, you have given this to me.
I didn't earn it. I didn't deserve it, And yet, you gave this to me. And so you know what? I'm gonna give that to so and so. I'm gonna give that to the next person.
They don't deserve it. They didn't earn it, but I'm still going to give it. Why? Because you have given me this undeserved favor and grace. It's a beautiful thing.
God fills up. We pour out. God fills up. We pour out. And he's filling us with peace as we yield our will to his.
This is beautiful. So this is the good word. That's the good word from Philippians four one through nine. And I'd like to close in the doxology. So can I invite Judy and Julia and James back up again?
And, praise God from whom all blessings is a very, very fitting, closing for us. But before we sing, can I pray again? Lord Jesus, thank you for your patience with us. Oh, how we need it. Truly.
This isn't just for other people. This is for us. This starts here. This starts in our hearts. Thank you for your patience with us, and thank you for your power in us to do what pleases you.
God, would you forgive us truly? Forgive us when we fret and we worry. Forgive us when we treat others in a way that is disrespectful or rude or proud. Holy Spirit, would you bring to mind the things that we have seen in Philippians four in the midst of conflict? Would you bring to mind that we are to rejoice in you, to be considerate, to pray rather than worry, to be thankful in all circumstances, to fix our thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure and lovely and admirable and excellent and worthy of praise.
Holy Spirit, would you recall these things to mind when we're about ready to flip our lid and and and show us and remind us once again, Lord, how you've treated us in Christ, how your mercy, how you've given how you've given us mercy, how you've given us grace, and that we're to extend that to others. Put these things into practice each and every day, a routine. In Jesus' name, amen. Beautiful. I love the doxology, and I want to share this as a a a benediction sending verse throughout the week.
It's let's not should I can I just say let's not us, me and myself included, let's not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, to present our requests to God? And the peace of God, there it is again, his gift of wholeness, that transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. Lord, would you guard our hearts and minds? Give us a peace that passes understanding as we carry out these instructions in you. In Jesus' name, amen.
