Meditate on These Things

January 28, 2018 · Philippians

Series · Philippians · Week 16 of 47

Scripture referenced 10 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Psalm 92 introduced as the source of the opening song sung by the congregation

1 It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh, to sing praises to your name, Most High;
2 to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night,
3 with the ten-stringed lute, with the harp, and with the melody of the lyre.
4 For you, Yahweh, have made me glad through your work. I will triumph in the works of your hands.
5 How great are your works, Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep.
6 A senseless man doesn’t know, neither does a fool understand this:
7 though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
8 But you, Yahweh, are on high forever more.
9 For, behold, your enemies, Yahweh, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered.
10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. I am anointed with fresh oil.
11 My eye has also seen my enemies. My ears have heard of the wicked enemies who rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts.
14 They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
15 to show that Yahweh is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

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Colossians 3:1-4

read aloud before prayer, on being raised with Christ and setting hearts on things above

1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.

2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

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Philippians 4:6-7

quoted as the passage from the previous week, on being anxious for nothing and the peace of God

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.

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Philippians 4:8

the main text of the sermon, listing things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy

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.

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Philippians 4:9

the second verse covered, on doing the things learned and received and heard and seen in Paul so the God of peace will be with you

9 The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

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Philippians 2

referenced for the parallel use of conditional ifs about consolation in love and comfort in Christ and fellowship in the Spirit

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.

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Philippians 3:17

cited as the verse just before the main passage, calling believers to follow Paul's example as a pattern

17 Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example.

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John 17

Jesus praying in the garden, quoted as saying father sanctify them by your truth your word is truth

1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;

2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.

5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.

6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.

7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,

8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

9 I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.

12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

13 But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15 I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.

16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.

17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.

18 As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.

19 For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,

21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.

22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;

23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.

24 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.

26 I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

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Isaiah 1:18

alluded to in the phrase though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, used to illustrate the concept of purity

18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

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Micah 6:8

read as the closing benediction, on acting justly loving mercy and walking humbly with your God

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This message worked through Philippians 4:8, the verse calling believers to meditate on whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. Pastor Blake took the congregation through each word slowly, asking them to think of their own examples rather than just receiving a list. The aim was to show that what we habitually think about shapes whether we experience the peace of God described in the verses just before.

What was said

Pastor Blake opened by connecting Philippians 4:8 to the passage the congregation had finished the week before, verses six and seven, which promise that the peace of God will guard hearts and minds when believers bring their anxieties to God in prayer. He framed verse eight as the next step: once anxiety is handed over, what should fill the mind in its place? Paul's answer is this list of eight qualities.

Rather than moving quickly through the list, Pastor Blake slowed down and asked the congregation to do word association with each term. He offered his own examples, not as the only right answers, but to model what personal meditation on scripture actually looks like. For "true" he went immediately to scripture, describing the Greek word as pointing to something that cannot be hidden and that withstands full testing. For "noble" he recalled waking up in a hospital in Mexico and watching a woman mop the floor without regard for who was in the bed, and said that kind of steady, humble service was what the word brought to mind for him.

He worked through "just" as meaning righteous in God's eyes, "pure" as something unmixed all the way to its core, and drew a connection to the image of blinding white snow and the promise that sins made scarlet can be made white as snow. "Lovely" he traced to a Greek word built from two roots meaning affectionate and caring, a leaning toward someone with favor, and he linked it to the concept of grace. "Good report" he described as speaking in a kindly spirit, and pointed to the human interest story buried in a newspaper full of bad news as a small example of what it means to seek out and dwell on things that are well spoken of.

"Virtue" he connected to the Greek word arete, the same word the ancient philosophers used when they sought after moral goodness, and "praiseworthy" he described as enthusiastic acknowledgment for what genuinely deserves it. He pushed back gently on the idea that fame automatically equals worthiness of praise, and offered laying down your life for your friends as something that truly deserves it.

From there he turned to the question of how this plays out practically. He held up a phone and a television and asked directly whether what people watch, scroll through, and post about measures up to this list. He said he has had people tell him they feel angry all the time, and that the first question he asks is whether they are on Facebook, because what we consume shapes what we think, and what we think shapes whether we have peace.

Pastor Blake closed with verse nine, where Paul tells the Philippians that the God of peace will be with them when they put into practice the things they learned and saw in him. He pointed out that Paul's entire letter has shown the congregation a window into how Paul keeps going through flogging, shipwreck, and imprisonment, and the answer is that Paul keeps his mind on what he knows to be true about Jesus and concentrates on things that are noble, just, pure, and praiseworthy. The congregation was encouraged to write Philippians 4:8 somewhere visible for the week ahead and to watch what effect it has.

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.

Pastor Carl talked about the peace that God gives in the middle of anxiety, and said that 'waiting is hard work.' Where in your life right now are you finding it hardest to wait on God, and what does that waiting feel like?
When Pastor Carl walked through the list in Philippians 4:8, he asked the congregation to think of personal examples for each quality. Which one of those words, true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtuous, or praiseworthy, is easiest for you to call something to mind, and which one is hardest? Why do you think that is?

and 3 more questions in the guide

Open the study guide

Read the full transcript 5,349 words

Find in this transcript

0:00 Speaker 3Good morning, everyone. Good to

0:02 Speaker 2see you. Good to see you. How about this?

0:04 Speaker 3Let's stand up together. We've got reason to praise from Psalm. This this song actually comes right out of Psalm 92. A song to be sung on the Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the Lord to sing praises to the most high.

0:28 Speaker 2Alright. It is good. It is good to praise you, Lord, and make music to your name, most high. It is good to praise you, Lord, and make music to your name, oh, most high. Oh, more side.

1:08 Speaker 3Alright. Let's try that again.

1:10 Speaker 2Verse two. It is good to praise you, Lord, and make music to your name, O most high. It is good to praise you, Lord, and make music to your name, oh, most high, to proclaim your love, to proclaim your love in the morning, and your faithfulness at night. Let's sing that again. To proclaim.

1:51 To proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night. Oh, I sing for joy. Oh, I sing for joy, at the sound of your name and the works of your hands. Oh, woah, you make me clear And for all of my life, let my song to you rise, oh, most high.

2:42 Speaker 3Let's sing that verse one again. It is good.

2:46 Speaker 2It is good to praise you, Lord, and make use to your name, oh, most high. It is good to praise you, Lord, and make use to your name, oh most high, oh most high.

3:31 Speaker 1Amen. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. We got a few announcements this morning. There's a men's retreat that's still going on in Island Park, Idaho over there.

3:42 Carl went up, I went up, we came back. The best thing you could do for a cold is not snowmobile for seven hours, But it is fun. So they're having a ball up there, and it's it's still a good time, but it's a little spotty here this morning because there are lot of them there. We have Monday nights at first b going on tomorrow night.

4:01 Speaker 3Yep. Baked potato night tomorrow and more about seeking God's kingdom first.

4:05 Speaker 1Amen. Good. Awana happens at the same time in this room, to start off with, and they spread out over the whole church. Next week, between services, we have a traditional Latin American breakfast that's being prepared by Guadalupe and Felix, and we are looking forward to that. It's a fundraiser for Guatemala, so we are raising funds for the team to be able to go down there, but they've volunteered when we asked them.

4:31 Right? And they said, yeah, they they volunteered to do it. Can't help it. And that's the way that's gonna go. That's next week.

4:39 So plan on being here for breakfast in between services. Coming soon Valentine's Day on Valentine's evening, we're gonna have babysitting available here at the church for parents that wanna go out and have a Valentine's date night. So we'll give you more details the closer we get to that. That's Wednesday, February 14. And that's all in preparation for the team that's going to Guatemala around Easter time, and we're leaving at different times.

5:02 It's an unusual time to go, or way to go to a mission trip, but we're all leaving at different times right around Easter. February 11, there'll be one service, so that's not this coming week, but the next week, February 11, we're doing one service and following that with a congregational meeting. It's our normal annual congregational business meeting, so that'll be about 11:15 or 11:30 after that service is over. And this is something that's kind of new. Mike asked, he said, can we just everybody's going watch the Super Bowl anyway, can we just show it here?

5:35 And so we figured out licensing and all that kind of business, and we're going to do that down in the Fellowship Hall. Bring some food if you'd like to gather, February 4 p. M. February 4 at 4PM at First right down in the Fellowship Hall. Pray for your enemies, it says.

5:52 Nick made that slide. Cross there's a cross country ski with First Bee that's happening today at one If any of you want to go cross country skiing, you could see Al Galbraith or Diane Galbraith. It's everybody from novice to expert cross country skiing up in Moose, I believe. There's more information in the bulletin about that. And that's everything that you need to know about what's going on the next little while.

6:18 It should be in that bulletin. There are paper copies out there. If you didn't grab one on the way in, grab one on your way out. Anybody have anything else? Well, just would you stand up and greet one another?

6:30 Hugs, high fives, handshakes, or whatever.

7:20 Speaker 2Unveil why we're made. Come set our hearts ablaze and full. Like while I've been out there so old and the spirit could We seek your kingdom first. We hunger and we thirst. Refuse to waste our We pray and revive this earth.

8:32 Alright. Build your king. Build your kingdom. The darkness fear. Show your mighty ill are street, and land.

8:49 Set your church on fire when this nation back. Change the atmosphere. Build your kingdom mew. Pray. On the beauty changing hearts.

9:27 You made us for much more than this. Awake the kingdom seat in us. Fill us with the strength and love of Christ. And we are the church, and we are the home on earth. Build your kingdom.

9:53 Build your kingdom. The darkness fear. Show your mighty hand. Heal our streets and lay. Setting your church on fire when this day shun back.

10:15 Change the

10:33 Speaker 3Amen. I'd like to pray on that. God, we sing it, but I also pray it. I do pray that you would change the atmosphere of our hearts and in this building. It really comes from a change from the inside out.

10:45 And I thank you, God, for the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, that you don't just make bad people good. You make dead people alive. That's that's the work that you do. That's what your spirit does in us. And I do pray, God, that the church can truly be a light, a light to the nations, a light to the people around us, that they can see your goodness, not because of us, but because of what you do through us.

11:12 God, our hope truly is in you. Amen.

11:25 Speaker 2Alright. I meet with you. I meet with you, and my soul sings out. Yes. Your word throws down far away.

11:40 I sing to you in my heart cries only. I've been doing a father in your heart. My hope is in you. My hope is in you, Lord, all the day long. And I won't be shaken by drowned over a storm.

12:06 A peace that passes passes understanding is my song I sing. My whole peace in you low. I wait for you in my soul, I'll find rest in my silverishness. You show me grace. I worship you in my heart cries glory.

12:37 I'll then do you, father, you were here. My hope is in you. My hope is in you, Lord, all the day long. I won't be shaken by drowned or sown. A peace that passes understanding is my song I sing.

13:04 My hope is in you alone and I'll wait on you. I'll wait on you. You're my refuge. Just sing that again. I will wait.

13:23 I'm waiting on you. You're my refuge. My hope is in you, Lord, all the day long. And I won't be shaken by drowned over a storm. A peace that passes on stand.

13:53 It's my song now sing. My hope is

14:18 Speaker 3Amen. I'd like to pray again. God, that that's so true. You you give a peace that that passes understanding, that beyond that's beyond our comprehension that you give peace even, in the middle of a storm. You didn't promise a promise us a a problem free life, but we can have peace in our problems.

14:39 And so, God, I thank you for that very real, very abiding peace, that you give to us. And it really is through faith as we press into you, as we wait on you. And waiting is hard. It is hard work to wait for anything. But, as we do, you give peace.

14:59 And I pray just for more of that, that your peace would rest, on this church. In Jesus' name.

15:14 Speaker 2Before the throne of God, I have a strong and perfect fleet, a great high priest whose name is love whoever lives and pleads for My name is graven on his hand. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands. No tongue can bid me thence deep heart. No tongue can bid me thence deep heart.

16:05 When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within of word I look, I can't see him there, who made an end of all by sin. Because the Hallelujah. Praise the one risen son of God. Behold him there. Behold him there, the risen lamb.

17:22 My perfect Spartan's One in himself, if I cannot die, my soul is purged just by his blood. My life is set with Christ on eye, With Christ my savior and my God. With Christ my savior and my God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

18:14 Praise the one risen son of God. Let's sing that again. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

18:52 Speaker 3This is from Colossians three one through four. It says, since you've been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things, For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. That's so cool. Your life is hidden with Christ in God.

19:10 His life then becomes ours. And it's not like we lose our personality or anything, but we gain it fully because we see who we were created to be in Christ. Does that make sense? For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ and God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

19:31 I'd like to pray on that. God, thank you for that right there. That that sweet sweet promise that when you appear, when you come, that we'll appear with you in in glory. And, God, I I I do pray that we would set our our our hearts on on things above. Thank you God for every material thing that you give us.

19:56 But I pray that with those things that we we could live life with an open hand. And I thank you God for how this church does that so well. You have, given so much joy, to the the people of this church. You've given, people so much generosity. And I pray that that would continue to just be our our our mantra here, at first be, that we would just be a generous people, that living life with an with an open hand to you.

20:28 And, God, would you use the gifts that that you give us to, to to build up your kingdom? We sing it, but we really do mean it. We want to see your kingdom advance, not just here in Jackson, but to the ends of the earth. So, God, would you continue to make us a a generous, open handed, loving, gracious church, modeling ourselves after you. In Jesus' name.

20:53 Amen.

23:09 Speaker 1This is gonna be fun. Oh, boy. Good morning, everybody. I'm glad you all are here. I have before it's just two verses a day, and really we're gonna spend most of the time.

23:22 Yeah. I feel like I need to walk around saying unclean, unclean. I have not done even so much as a fist bump this morning. I'm holding back. So it's time for children's church and they know it, so they're heading all out.

23:35 They're not they're not running from me. I hope. I'm scaring the children. Meditate on these things. This I'm I'm gonna go through this.

23:45 There's two verses. Really, we're gonna concentrate most of the time on one verse, and I'm gonna slow down. I talk pretty fast for someone with a draw like this, and I get I tend to get through a lot of scripture at a time. I try to go paragraph by paragraph, and I don't want it ever feel like we're going super highway and just running over stuff, but I want this one to be a little bit more like a path in the woods and take our time and sit through it. So my cadence may change a bit, but meditate on these things.

24:13 Really take the time to think and ponder these things is where we're going. Now last week we ended up with this little passage, and a lot of y'all contacted me and said that was very helpful for what I'm going through right now. We are all going through something right now, you know, and this is a great place to go. The Lord is at hand. If you believe in Christ, he has promised you he'll never leave you nor forsake you.

24:41 You have him to speak to, and this is what this verse gets into. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So we ended up with that last week.

25:00 I think it's a great that's something that's great to meditate on, in itself, just that we have a mighty and awesome and ever present God that listens and cares, and he can give peace, and he can fulfill requests too. But peace is what that verse is mainly about, the ridding ourselves of anxiety or him ridding us from anxiety, better put. Then he turns a corner at four eight and says, finally, which is like a pastor saying, in conclusion, there's still more to come, but he is starting to wrap this letter up here. Finally, brethren, after having considered that thought, he says, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble this is a New King James version of the Bible, by the way. If you have your Bible with you and you have a different translation, I may ask you in a minute to to yell out some of your translations.

25:59 Okay? Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, 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 anything praiseworthy. And those ifs right there are just like the ifs that we shared earlier in chapter two when he says, is there any consolation? If there's any consolation in love, if there's any comfort in Christ, if there be any fellowship in the spirit, those are saying that there are. They're affirmative.

26:37 Okay? There are virtuous things and there are praiseworthy things. Whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtuous, or praiseworthy. And this is why I say I'm gonna stop. Slow down, whatever things, I'm gonna say them over and over again.

26:58 I'd like for you to be thinking of examples, what comes into your mind. It's not a it's not a psychology test, but word association. When you think of whatsoever things are true, where do you go from there? To me, I immediately go to scripture. I was brought up in church, and I know that God's God's word will stand.

27:18 Though every mountain crumble, God's word will stand till the end. So the things that are true, the Greek word there, unconcealed, that which is true, true in fact, worthy of credit, truthful, that which cannot be hidden. Does that make sense? The truth will come out. It stresses the undeniable reality when something is fully tested.

27:42 It is true like pure gold. It will ultimately be shown to be fact or authentic. And Jesus, praying in the garden actually, last, this past week, I don't remember which day that was, but there was a service at the Catholic church, and it was between the Catholic church, Roman Catholic church, and the Lutherans, Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran Church. And they had a bishop come in from, Cheyenne, the diocese of Wyoming as a whole diocese, I guess. And they basically apologized for 500 of ugliness and asked for forgiveness and wanted to go forward unified from a place of contempt and conflict to a place of communion.

28:29 It was, for me, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever been a part of. The liturgical tradition is not my thing typically, but I really, really enjoyed it. If Jesus, when he's in the garden the night before he's crucified is praying for our unity, this is how he says we'll get there. He says, father, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.

28:57 And so if we get together around what it says and we put our opinions beside behind us and we humble ourselves, which is what this whole book, Philippians, the Bible too probably, but Philippians has been about. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth is what Jesus said. And so those things that are true, concentrate on those things. I'll keep going.

29:20 What comes to your mind when you think of something that's noble? Is it nobility? Is it really royalty? I think we've seen enough about royalty that we don't tend to think of them, at least in this country, with a whole lot of nobility still left intact. For me, well, let's I don't want to just say for me.

29:41 Noble seminar. Venerable, honorable, that which has weight, grave, gravity, serious, dignified, weighty, deeply respected because viewed as majestic or having gravity gravitas. That is all good and true, that's what the word means. When I think of nobility myself, I woke up one time in a hospital in Mexico, and I didn't know how I got there, I just woke up and I'm in a hospital, and there was a lady mopping the floor. And I was there for three days.

30:14 And each day at the same time she came in and she just kept going forward. And I thought, she doesn't care who's in this bed. She's serving me. Does not matter who's here. She just keeps on going forward, I was overcome with the nobility of just doing a job well to help other people.

30:36 So that's totally me. But that's one of the things when I'm meditating on this, whatever things are true, I think of scripture. Whatever things are noble, I always think of that as noble. I don't know exactly why, but that to me is what a a king or a government should be doing is serving the people well and just keep on moving forward in humility. So that's me.

31:01 That one is opinion. But when you're meditating, it's very personal, right? Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever is just. Just, the word there means righteous, actually right righteous. Just, especially just in the eyes of God, and that one comes up a lot, and that word is translated as either just or righteous most of the time.

31:30 Whatsoever things are pure. Pure. Hagna. It's a cognate with hagios probably, which means wholly set apart completely, properly. It's pure all the way to the core.

31:43 Virgin, chaste, unadulterated, pure, inside and out. It's uncontaminated, undefiled, unmixed without spoilation, even all the way down to the center of one's being, not mixed with guilt or anything condemnable, pure. Meditate on that for a minute. Can you think of something that is pure? It's just pure.

32:12 After spending so much time yesterday on a snowmobile riding through and seeing the whiteness of snow to the point of it just being blindingly white. You know, snow coming off of the trees as you're riding past and just complete white. It's pure, completely unmixed with anything else. And though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Pure.

32:35 God has sent Jesus to suffer our penalty so that we might be pure. Meditate on that. It'll be convicting. How pure are we in practice? But whatever things are pure, meditate on these things.

32:56 Keep moving forward, think, too. Lovely. Whatever is lovely. Lovely. It's an adjective, an extending toward enphileo.

33:09 It's made from two words. Affectionate caring. It is extending toward someone affectionate caring. That's lovely. Properly, it's worthy of personal affection, dearly prized, worth the effort to have and embrace.

33:23 It's only used in this one particular spot in the New Testament, but it's a leaning towards, and I think of grace. Grace is a leaning towards someone with favor. Loveliness goes alongside that. Can you think of something that's lovely? I'm asking you all to meditate this morning.

33:47 It's a weird sermon. I know. Whatever is of good report, of good report, Ephesimah, well reported of, spoken in a kindly spirit, laudable or reputable. This is my mother's and probably your mother's too. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

34:12 I think that was just to get some peace and quiet, honestly. Can you talk about good things? Have you you have a friend that you think every time that I see them, all that I hear come out of their mouth is bad stuff? Have you ever tried to play the game of I'm gonna just say good things until they say something good? That can go on for a pretty good while.

34:41 Whatever is of good report, though, if there is something, a human interest story. You know, you read the newspaper and you see all of this stuff and it's like, oh my goodness. We are inventors of new ways to do evil. There is all kinds of bad stuff all over the place, and then there's a story that's so great, and it's of good report. It's not gonna be on the front page.

35:01 Might be in the picture on the front page, but euphema, well reported of. Think on things that are of good report. If you have a praise, give it. That's what it is good to praise you, oh God. What we sang, first lines we sang this morning.

35:22 Whatever is virtuous, virtuous is arete, that's moral goodness. If you think back to Aristotle and Plato and the guys and Greek philosophers, they were seeking after truth, goodness, and beauty, and this is that same word for goodness. Goodness. It is that which is morally good, a gracious act, a virtue, or uprightness. It's akin to just.

35:48 It's akin to all these really, but it's about moral goodness. Doing the right thing even in the face of a lot of wrong temptations, bad things. So arete. And then praiseworthy. Praiseworthy is just that enthusiastic acknowledgment for what deserves praise.

36:12 So on this one, I'm drawn to think of stars like rock stars or singer songwriter stars or stars who receive a lot of praise and a lot of adulation. Are they worthy of it? Enthusiastic acknowledgment for what deserves praise. They might be. They certainly get us thinking, whatever is praiseworthy.

36:41 To lay down your life for your friends, that's praiseworthy. It doesn't just have to be biblical. It can be an act that somebody has done, enthusiastic acknowledgment for that which deserves praise. Let another man praise you and not you yourself, you know, not your own lips. Whatever is praiseworthy.

37:04 And then it says meditate on these things. Do you have things, as I've been going along, have you been thinking of specific things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report? If there's a word in your Bible that you have in front of you that's not listed up there for any of these, would you just holler it out? Honorable? Excellent?

37:28 Good repute, honest, excellent. Do we think on these things? Do we meditate on these things? Okay. This is the convicting part of the sermon.

37:51 Yeah. For the kids, this is a television. This is what people used to watch before they did it on the phone. So before this, there was this, UHF, VHF, yes. So as far as what we consume in the media, I'm not one to blast all the time on this.

38:10 But these neutral devices that we have in our hands, we meditate on them. We think about them. If it's down to 2%, you're thinking about where I'm going to charge these things up, right? Go to a snowmobile retreat and a bunch of manly men, men doing manly things, you know, and all of them have their phone plugged in somewhere. They were ignoring them for the weekend, but they were plugged in.

38:34 You know? Mine was too. They're neutral, and they can be used for good, honorable, praiseworthy, excellent things. They can be. An encouraging text, oh my goodness, does so much, you know?

38:50 Television. Is this what you watch when you watch television? Things that are true and noble and just and pure and lovely and good report, virtuous and praiseworthy. Is that what you watch? The ratings say no.

39:04 Actually, Hollywood has seen a turn where good things are making money, and they are starting to have some of these come out. Now when you're on any of these things, which I know very little about, honestly, I can't keep up with them all. Is this what you're Facebooking about? True things, noble things, just things, pure things. I have people from time to time come in and say, I'm just angry all the time.

39:37 And I say, do you watch the news? Well, not really. Are you on Facebook? Because lobbing grenades back and forth is all that seems to be happening right now, and that's not the truth. The truth is somewhere between those two extremes.

39:51 Or not at all. It's not noble to just blast all the time. It's not. It's not right. It's not just.

40:01 It's definitely not pure. Not lovely. They might have a human interest story there every once in a while of something of good report. Something goes viral that's really good. I love to see that.

40:16 Virtuous and praiseworthy. Are those the things that you watch? When you're watching Netflix, does it say because you watch such and such, we recommend this for you? You go, oh my goodness. You really recommend that for me?

40:32 Is somebody paying you to recommend that for me, or is this from my history watching this thing? Now next verse is this, the things which you learned and you received and you heard and you saw in me, this is Paul speaking to Philippians, Paul and Timothy actually, but since it's singular, I'll go with Paul. The things which you learned and received and you heard and you saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Now this is following up right after 03:17. He says, brothers and sisters, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern and our beginning slide of the day, the Lord is at hand.

41:15 Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication. Let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. It will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. That peace of God, Paul says, is available when you put into practice the things that you learned and you saw and you heard, the things that are good and true and noble and pure and lovely and of good report. For hearing about all of Paul's troubles and being flogged and being beaten and being snake bit and being shipwrecked and all of that sort of stuff, and then seeing that he concentrates, He's given a window into his world.

41:57 How does Paul keep going? Because he's concentrating on the things that are true. He knows what he knows about Jesus, and he knows that he, though be though he had been and can still consider himself to be the chief of sinners, is saved by God's grace through his faith. He knows what's true. He knows what's noble.

42:18 Caring for those who don't care for you is noble. He knows the things that are just and right. He knows the things that are pure, lovely, of good report. He knows the things that are virtuous and praiseworthy, and he does. He has actually praised a couple of guys for doing things, for putting their faith into action earlier in this.

42:45 He's living this out. Is that the end, Blake? Okay. I told him I thought it was gonna be a short sermon today, but I never admit that up front because who knows where it could go. Would you all stand up, and we're gonna sing a chorus that we've been this is an abbreviated version of reign in us.

43:01 And this week, it's Philippians four eight. This week, would you write that down somewhere near a mirror or somewhere, maybe on your computer, and stick it on a sticky note up there. Write it down in your own hand, and write it up there and just think about those things this week and see if that doesn't have an incredible effect. It brought about great peace, for me to start concentrating on those things.

43:32 Speaker 3Can I share something real quick? So last weekend, Ray and I were invited to a first birthday for a little one year old named Mia Maestas. And Mia was born with some there was some birth.

43:46 Speaker 1She was born at twenty eight weeks. Yeah, '28. Which is twelve weeks early.

43:50 Speaker 3Yeah, very. And so it was honestly the best first birthday that I've ever been to. Best birthday I've ever been to period because here we are in this room, and, Danny and Colleen are are just kind of looking around the room and and thanking everybody for, you know, how how they helped and and how much they meant to them. And and then they looked at one another to to share how much, you know, they loved one another. And I just thought, man, those are those are the things

44:23 Speaker 1Yep.

44:24 Speaker 3That that life is is really should be be about, you know, the things that are are worthy. And, anyway, I just thought I'd share that because it just meant so much to me. But

44:36 Speaker 1Thank you. Reign in us.

45:12 Speaker 2You knew our names before we came to be. You saw my very day when far away from you. Down this belief we need to be redeemed. Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus.

45:33 Come lead us. Word is spread for your touch. Great and mighty one. Let's sing. Oh, great and mighty one, with wonders how we come.

45:50 That you would reign, that you would reign in us. We're offering up our lives of living sacrifice that you would reign, that you would bring in us. Alright. Let's sing. Of We're the name of the midst

47:38 Speaker 1So this is, from Micah six eight, kind of the blessing benediction as you leave out today. He has shown you, oh mortal, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. In Jesus' name, Lord, would you spread your good gospel through holy lives of your people. Amen.

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Anxiety And Peace Controlling Your Thoughts Media Consumption Philippians 4:8 What To Think About

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