Joyful Peace

Opening:

Church feuds are not uncommon, especially among cliques in the congregation. But when the pastor and choir director get into it, stand aside. One week, the preacher preached on commitment, and how you should dedicate yourselves to service. The director then led the choir in singing, 'I Shall Not Be Moved.'

The next Sunday, the preacher preached on giving and how we should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The choir director then led the song, 'Jesus Paid It All.'

The next Sunday, the preacher preached on gossiping and how we should watch our tongues. The hymn was 'I Love to Tell The Story.'

The preacher became disgusted over the situation, and the next Sunday he told the congregation he was considering resigning. The choir then sang 'Oh, Why Not Tonight.'

When the preacher resigned the next week, he told the church that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was taking him away. The choir then sang, 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus.'

Transition:

Well I am so thankful for Bruce and his leadership in Worship and that our relationship is not at all like that story. We are ready to have him back next week. It’s been a blessing to have others come lead us in his absence but we are grateful for Bruce and that he does the opposite of that funny story and matches up the songs we sing so well to themes we are preaching.

But the story is a little hard to receive, because even though it is over the top it’s not too far off from stories you’ve probably heard before that have happened in churches. Today we will see that Paul has been building towards chapter 4, his final chapter of Philippians, and one of the things he has been working towards is encouraging two church members to put their disagreements aside for the sake of unity. Along with that Paul will remind us to not be anxious but instead think of things from above, and finally emphasize the importance of healthy gospel partnerships. So let’s jump in and read today’s text.

Scripture:

Philippians 4:1–23 (ESV)

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

1. We Fight for Unity!

Paul knows the danger of a church that is not unified. The reality is we are a collection of sinful people coming together to worship God and collectively be a gospel outpost for our community. Unfortunately we don’t always reflect the love and grace of God, that we are united in through our faith in Christ Jesus.

The two individuals in question are listed as Euodia & Syntyche. We don’t know the source of tension between these two ladies. The big ask Paul has is to reflect Philippians 2:2 “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” That is to help them get their eyes of themselves and onto Jesus.

Paul also knows the power of reconciliation since it’s a picture of the gospel. In my study I came across this which I thought was helpful:

Reconciliation is the Gospel

Ephesians–Philemon Section Overview

This exhortation is not an afterthought to the gospel; it is an application. Reconciliation is gospel application. The gospel is relevant for all of life, including personal conflicts. Gospel reconciliation requires gospel thinking

So Paul is in essence saying if you believe in all that I have written about the gospel…than live it out in this circumstance of division. If we have received reconciliation between us and God through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross, why can’t we offer the same to others we disagree with?

Another key concept we want to pull from this text is that sometimes disagreements require a third party in order to reach reconciliation. The reality is that Paul valued these two ladies as gospel partners, working side-by-side with them in ministry. Because of this close proximity to them in ministry Paul knew their hearts and knew what an asset they were to the church in ministry.

Paul also knew that there were others in the church who could intervene and seek reconciliation between these two ladies. It was worth the effort, because Paul knew what was at stake. Too often we rush to disagreements and often prefer to go our separate ways than to do deal with the issue and it harms the church when we do this. Our commonality in faith in Christ is plenty sufficient to work through difficulties. So we are called to be peace makers within the church in our own lives and when appropriate to step in as mediators between others, all with a pure heart and the goal of reconciliation being central.

This leads us to wonder about our own lives. Are there people that I need to offer reconciliation to? Do I need to be that third-party helping bridge the gap between two believers who are at odds? Do I regularly pray for unity among our church and fight for it? Well, all of these things are worth it and for the sake of our influence in our community we must fight for unity!

2. We Set Our Minds on Things from Above

As Paul continues in the text we see that he goes back to the refrain of” Rejoice in the Lord; again I will say rejoice” and then offers us a line that has become a memory verse that you’re probably very familiar with:

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The theological nugget we can extract from these verses is that though our human tendency is to be anxious, we can combat this by trusting ourselves into the hands of our loving Father, whose peace will guard us in Christ Jesus.

Our joy is not found in our circumstances but in the fact we have a sovereign, living God that is available to us at all times through all of lives difficulties. We are to strive for deep contentment in the assurance we have in a loving God who cares for us.

To end this first section of verses (v. 1-8) Paul calls on us to place our thoughts on things of God. We are to set our minds on things that ultimately inspire worship of God and service to others.

Two ways that we can live this out is by having a proper spiritual outlook, which means we are in his word and the second way is following the examples of others.

The pattern than is to dig into the word and then to put it into practice by living it out. Our faith is not something that is merely an intellectual pursuit, nor is it just doing acts of service. Rather we respond to what we learn about God, but putting those things into practice.

I love a good sports analogy and I think about when I coached middle school girls basketball. Most people thought I was crazy when I took that job, but I knew the group of girls that were coming through because I had them in my elementary school PE class and I knew that I would enjoy working with them. One thing about middle school girls is that many of them had never played basketball before and even the ones that had, didn’t think they were experts. If you flipped over to the boys side they all thought they were going to the NBA and believed they were ready to play varsity basketball on Friday nights.

Well in a similar way to Paul’s example these girls were eager to learn and then were ready to put it into practice. We had one girl named Taniya who was just and incredible athlete and we had another girl Jaren who could shoot lights out and had a good feel for the game. Most practices we just worked on the very basics of basketball…dribbling, passing, pivoting, positioning on the court, etc. But one fun part was drawing up some specific plays for their unique skill sets. Well we knew that Jaren commanded a lot of attention because she could shoot so well, so we used her as a decoy on an inbound play and looped Taniyah around a few screens and actually lobbed the ball up by the goal and she jumped and caught it and tipped it in towards the goal in one movement. The ref told me that was a first. He had never seen a middle school girls team execute, let alone try, and alley-oop inbounds play.

The reason it worked was they had a hunger to learn and then put it into action in a game. The same is true for us as believers…we have to think about spiritual things and learn about what scripture calls us to do…and then we have to go and do it!

The reminder for us as a church is to not get distracted and discouraged by the challenges of life. We are to set our minds on things that matter spiritually and then put them into practice. Remember back to James…James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” So let’s be known as just that. A church that lives out their faith!

3. We Value Gospel Partnerships

As we reach the conclusion of the book of Philippians Paul takes time to rejoice in the Philippian church and their faithfulness in gospel partnership. One of the main reasons this letter between Paul and the Philippian church exists is because he wanted to take the time to thank the brothers and sisters for their continued support of his gospel ministry. Paul reminds them that they were faithful to help support him after he left Macedonia when no one else was willing to. This is a famous passage that gives us some great verses that Christians have clinged to for years. In fact it’s not uncommon to for athletes to scribble Philippians 4:13 on their shoes like Steph Curry or on their eye black like Tim Tebow once did. Of course it’s important to keep it in the context of the book of Philippians.

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

What it doesn’t mean is that God will somehow bless us to have success on the court or field just because we display this verse. What it does mean is that the secret to living to through the difficulties of life, is by trusting God to where we can say “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” If you look at the verse above 4:13 you see Paul is talking about being content even when his physical needs weren’t met. He’s saying I will trust God no matter what.

It is through our obedience to God that we can have this confidence to face the various trials of life.

Paul goes on to talk about how their gifts to support his ministry are pleasing to God drawing on the OT offering system where the sacrifice created a “pleasing aroma” to God. The Philippians deep care for Paul and willingness to not only partner through prayer, but by giving sacrificially financially is a credit to their faith and belief that God is working through their brother in Christ, Paul. He has confidence that God will provide for them as they have giving to him. It’s another testament to the strong belief in God’s providential care for his people. We know that if we are obedient to what God calls us to he will provide.

This week was a fun week at Liberty Baptist. Our Thanksgiving fellowship was such a joy to be a part of. It was a sweet reminder to me and my family that God is indeed in control. It was a big deal for us to move here, leaving all that he had provided in North Carolina in getting to work with great folks at Apex Baptist and all of the friendships my family had made there. It was so encouraging to see some new faces with us and getting a small glimpse of what God has in store for us here in our new home Bridge City, not to mention the amazing group of guys who are probably grateful to not be hanging out in my backyard anymore as they blessed us by putting in a fence at our home….he is good and he is faithful to provide.

We are blessed to be able to form some amazing partnerships in ministry:

This Wednesday our kids and students participated in stuffing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. I don’t know if you’ve seen the pictures but there’s one really sweet picture of Dallas praying over his shoebox. So sweet.

It reminded me of when I was able to be on the opposite end of that experience and got to deliver some of those shoeboxes to kids from orphanages in Ukraine. When we first moved back from the mission field our girls did shoeboxes at Jess’ home church in Florida and they wanted to make sure our shoeboxes got sent to Ukraine….well if you’ve done it before you’ll know you can’t really choose. They have an option to scan the box and set up tracking and once they have been delivered you’ll get an email finding out where it went. So we tried to communicate to them that it was unlikely that they would end up there but we will see what happens. Of course in God’s providence that year we got an email saying indeed their shoebox ended up in Ukraine. It’s the idea that if we are faithful to walk in obedience God will provide.

I just got back from the SBTC convention in Houston. I got to spend some time gathering with other pastors and church leaders across Texas and hear some good preaching, conduct business, and then hear reports about the work of SBTC. My big takaway was that we are better together!

The theme for the SBTC is “Moving Forward Together” and there was great emphasis on working together in what they termed as “Partnerships Synergized”. We see this in churches planting other churches, giving cooperatively for efforts such as the Texas Baptist Home for Children, Disaster Relief. I’m excited about these partnerships!

Our Cooperative Program, the catalyst for the Southern Baptist Convention for giving, allows our funds roughly 10% to combine with other SBC around the country to support the IMB, NAMB, our seminaries including Southwestern Seminary outside of Dallas, and supports entities such as Lifeway. It’s a core part of our DNA as the SBC.

and finally we have the amazing opportunity to partner locally with GTBN and tether to ministries like the Ministerial Alliance and I’m looking at potential partnership with Hope Women’s Resource Clinic and other ministries in our area. Then of course our church has pledged support to pastor Daniel and the Mountain Church in Seattle and Kidz Connect in Belize. All of this is to live out the gospel by partnering together.

Closing:

Back in NC our Baptist State Convention’s motto was “As NC Baptists, we are a movement of churches on mission together.” I really love how they captured the spirit of cooperation. One of my big takeaways from Philippians is that in our Christian faith we are at our best when we work together with others.

We partner financially with those on mission like the Philippians did with Paul

We create mentorships as we look to exemplify living out our Christian faith in our church body

We encourage each other by preaching the gospel regularly; both corporately, to ourselves, and in small group settings. This will help us get our eyes off ourselves, and our problems, and back on truth of the gospel- that Jesus came to die for our sins, & defeat death and make relationship with God possible and offer us the hope of eternity with him.

So let’s cling to that hope and share it often, let’s fight for unity within our church so others will look at us and see there is something genuine about our faith and how we express it….lets look to partner with others who also have a gospel focus, and let’s be the example for others or perhaps you need someone in your life to mentor you…well our beautiful expression of a multigenerational church is the perfect spot for that to be lived out!

Let’s pray!