A Peace Of My Mind
Joyful Gospel Partnership - Philippians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Good morning Church, it is great to gather together with you again. Last week we gathered among the trees enjoying the fresh air, humming birds and gentle breeze of God’s creation. It was a joy to be the Church with you all in such an environment. This week we have gathered to be the Church again but in the building that God has provided for us to steward well. We can meet as a Church anywhere, but God has given us this building as a Kingdom resource and so we want to use it for his glory.
And I am sure that you have seen that we have been taking some visible steps this summer toward stewarding the property that God has given us. We have installed new carpet in the lobby and JoAnn and the decorating team have begun to rejuvenate that space with some new fixtures and furniture in order for it to be a welcoming and inviting environment here in the building.
We are also looking to make some improvements to the outside of our building. James and Facility Maintenance Team are looking for help in updating some of our landscaping and our playground equipment. You probably don’t know this, because you aren’t here all week like I am, but many of the families in our neighborhood use our play ground. Every week I see families coming over on bikes and wagons and strollers to play on our equipment, and if you look closely at it you can see that it is not as secure and stable as it should be. So this is not just about is it good enough or our kids, but does it reflect our care for our community around us. I have often walked out and talked to parents who have brought their children over, it’s a great opportunity for community interaction. So If you are a handy type guy and would like to help with that then you can connect with James, and if you have some feedback for the Decorating Team please connect with JoAnn if she hasn’t connected with you already.
So we want to care for the resource of our building here, even as we look for ways to also connect outside of our building like we talked about last week. If you weren’t with us last week, we introduced our fall plan for what we are calling “life groups”. It is our next step to moving our connections with one another beyond our Sunday Morning Gatherings. The goal of these groups is to help us to be more visible in each others lives so that we can help each other grow into deeper levels of maturity in Christ. More information will be coming in the next couple of weeks, but at this point all we are asking you to do is to pray about how God would have you and your family be involved in this deeper level of commitment to growing toward becoming a healthier Church.
Because we don’t want to just spend the summer talking about what a healthy Church looks like, we want to start putting those things we are learning into practice.
we are starting out with two groups at the Taubert and the Prissel homes, and right now all I am asking you to do is pray over how God would have you be involved in this next step toward becoming an even more healthy church.
Tension
It seems clear from what we have been learning from Philippians that if we are to become a Joyful Gospel Partnership as Paul describes then we will need to become more visible in each others lives. The only way that we will be able to encourage one another, learn from one another and challenge one another into deeper levels of maturity in Christ is to know what is going on in each others life. I whole heartedly believe that this will be a fruitful step for us as a Church, and I am excited about having the opportunity to get to know you all better. And I know that many of you are excited about this as well, especially if you are a people person, but all of us know that growing deeper in a relationship with someone also has it’s risks.
I whole heartedly believe that this will be a fruitful step for us as a Church, and I am excited about having the opportunity to get to know you all better. And I know that many of you are excited about this as well, especially if you are a people person, but all of us know that growing deeper in a relationship with someone also has it’s risks.
The more we get to know one another and begin to challenge one another the more opportunities there are for conflicts to arise.
Most of the conflicts in a Church are not doctrinal, they are typically relational. Even when working together in building and decorating endeavors as I described can bring up the possibility of conflicts. Churches have even been split over things as silly as the choice of the color of the carpet, so maybe it is better to just keep you distance in order to not risk getting hurt.
If we keep all of our relationships floating along on the surface level of a the hearty handshake each Sunday then their is little risk, but there is also little reward. There is always risk in deepening relationships, but the reward of becoming the Joyful Gospel Partnership that God intended His Church to be - is worth the risks. And I am convinced that at times God himself leads us into some of these conflicts, in order that we will come out on the other side having grown closer together and even more dependent on Him.
as we grow as a Joyful Gospel Partnership, we will see our conflicts, which we will have, be handled in such a way that they grow us closer together instead of driving us further apart.
So how does a healthy church handle conflict? Well Paul tells in Chapter 4. Turn with me if you will to Philippians chapter 4, page 982 in the Bibles in the chairs. I’ll pray, and we will look into Paul’s answer to conflict in a healthy Church.
becoming more visible in each others lives is an important step in becoming a Joyful Gospel Partnership, but what I did not focus in on is the nMore information will be coming on that, but for now I have asked you to be in prayer over
[Tug A War example with three volunteers]
Tension
Truth
I have been using visual aids all summer to highlight the truths of the book of Philippians and I didn’t want you to be disappointed this morning so I have brought with me this morning my “Tug A War” Rope. I invited three volunteers to come up with me to demonstrate something. How many people here have ever been to an event with a tug a war? It is a common event at Summer Fairs and Family reunions and the like. The idea is that there are two teams so I have invited these strapping young men (and Nick) up here to demonstrate this for us. Sometimes there will be a mud pit or just a marker in the middle and which ever team gets the other team across that line wins.
Set up the guys...
[Tug A War example with three volunteers]
1…2… Just kidding, you guys can have a seat. Thank for helping out.
The reason that I wanted you to see the panic on Nick’s face was because I wanted to help us to understand a particular word that is in the center of our text today. It is literally in the center of the text, as well as it is central to all that Paul is saying in this section of scripture. The word is “anxious”.
begins by saying “do not be anxious about anything”
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication 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 minds in Christ Jesus.
Clearly Nick was a little anxious there, but more than that I wanted to bring us to the meaning of the word. The Greek Word is “merim-now” μεριμνάω which means to be anxious, full of cares, particularly cares that are pulling you in opposite directions. Much like these guys were about to pull Nick in opposite directions. And when we think being anxious that makes sense.
This is what was happening in the Church at Philippi. While the Church was by all acounts a healthy Church there was conflict there that was causing the Church to be pulled in opposite directions. It was bringing in anxiety and Paul then had to address it. But did you hear that? The church in Philippi, the Church that by all accounts is a healthy Church, also has conflict. This is so important for us to see and understand.
Healthy Churches Have Conflict.
The presence of conflict in a Church does not make it an unhealthy Church. We should expect that conflict will happen, because even healthy churches have conflict. It is not the presence of conflict that makes a Church healthy or un-healtly, it is how the church handles the conflict.
Healthy Churches Have Conflict
Healthy Churches Handle Conflict in a healthy way
So lets look at how Paul instructs the Church to handle conflict in a healthy way
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Philippians 4:
Whenever we are reading the Bible and we see the word “Therefore” we have to stop and look backwards because what is about to be said is contigent on what was said previously. In this case, Paul is about to give specific application to the Doctrines that he laid out in the previous Chapter. Chapter 3 explained that we cannot be saved by our works of righteousness, but only by our faith in Jesus and then as we are maturing in that faith we do more and more works of righteousness. It is the Doctrine of Justification and Sanctification which we have covered at some length over the last several weeks.
So in his love for the Church in Philippi, Paul gives them these direct instructions on how to apply the things that he has been teaching. Paul knows that learning the ways of God is worthless unless it leads to obeying the word of God.
[Evelyn and Sarah]
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.
“Evelyn” “Sarah”
ok, obviously I substituted in more modern names because I didn’t want you to distance yourselves from the experience because of the difficulty of these ancient names. These were two women in the Church who were well know and their conflict with each other was having such an impact on the Church that Paul calls them out by name. For 2,000 years Christians have read of their correction by the Apostle Paul. And you thought getting your name in the paper for speeding was bad.
This was not a doctrinal issue or Paul would have addressed it as such, it was a relational one. It was an issue that Paul did not take sides on. He purposely didn’t list their names together lest they think the order meant he agreed more with one than the other. He list them out seperately “I entreat you___________ to agree in the Lord” and to exactly the same degree “I entreat you _____________to agree in the Lord”.
What does it mean to agree in the Lord? Paul has already told the entire Church to do this. Look back to where Paul instructs the Church to:
Paul has already told the entire Church to do this. Look back to where Paul instructs the Church to:
Philippians 2:
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Philippians 2:1-
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
This is the same Greek word, “Phro-ne-oh” φρονέω to be of the same mind. So what he taught earlier in doctrine, he is not teaching in direct application. So what else can we learn about the conflict between these two women...
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 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.
Philippians 4:2-
We don’t learn much about the conflict these women are having, but we do learn about their character. These women are not wolves among the sheep. Paul recognizes them to be true believers, even partners with him in the work of the Gospel. These women are part of the core group of the Church...and yet they are causing relationship conflict in the body. (gasp) Can you believe that? Conflict at Church among active Church members. Thankfully that would never happen here…guys this is going to happen.
As we grow closer together as a Church we are going to experience even more conflict even among the more mature believers. And we should never assume that conflict means that one of the two people involved are not true believers. Especially when we are one of the people in the conflict, hmmm because guess who is probably not “right with Jesus” then? We have to keep this mindset always in front of us guys,
We have to keep this mindset always in front of us guys,
Healthy Churches Have Conflict, but Healthy Churches Handle Conflict in a healthy way.
Healthy Church Handle Conflict in a healthy way.
So after Paul calls these two believers out on their conflict, he instructs other mature believers to help them do what needs to be done. This falls in line with what we learned last week about needing mature believers. We need to be imitating other believers who are mature in Christ even as we are becoming more and more mature in Christ. So Paul calls on these mature believers to step in and help these women do what he knows they are capable of doing.
We don’t exactly know who Paul is giving this instruction to. Some say that since he uses personal names for the two women and Clement that the Greek word that we translate “true companion” is the personal name for someone named “Susigos” σύζυγος. That could be, or he could be talking to the Epaphroditus who he spoke so higly of earlier and was charged to deliver the letter. We don’t really know, but I am not sure it matters much for us today. The idea is that a mature believer is to come along side these two women and help them to agree in the Lord. That is a point of application that we can apply today.
But what does that look like? Well let’s keep reading as Paul offers more instructions, or really more applications to what he has already written down for the Church at Philippi.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
:
Those words might ring familiar to you, but did you realize how they are offered in the midst of instructions on handling conflict. We typically don’t see step one of handling conflict as stopping to rejoice together. Come on Paul. We are looking for advice on how to handle this conflict that is tearing about our church and you want us to…what break out the guitar and start singing praises? We don’t have time for that right now, we are trying to do conflict resolution here Paul. It’s like he is having a “squirrel” moment…but he is not. He knows exactly what he is saying. This is at the heart of where all conflict resolution begins inside the body of Christ. It doesn’t necessarily involve singing, but we do draw all the parties involved back to our shared joy in what Jesus Christ has done for us.
We Remember Our Shared Joy in Christ
We Remember Our Shared Joy in Christ
joy we have. We Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS - even in the midst of conflict resolution.
Why does this work? Because as Paul taught earlier in the letter true believers have died to themselves and they now life for Christ. It is hard to maintain a conflict with someone over your rights and what you deserve when you remember that: you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. () When ridiculous things start flying out of our mouths about all the things that we deserve, it is helpful for me to picture Jesus on the cross and then ask myself again, what is it that you deserve. have things fly out of our mouths like “I deserve this or I deserve that...” and then we look at Jesus on the cross and we
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Or when you remember the words of Jesus: “Anyone who would come after me must take up his cross daily and follow me.” When we bring that back into the focus that it should have in our hearts and minds then the emotional charge of our conflicts often loose much of their steam. Our battles are no longer our own. We are ambassadors of Jesus Christ and our actions reflect back on him.
when you are reminded that you gave up all your rights to follow Jesus. tear into someone else over what you deserve when you remember that except for Jesus the only thing you really deserve is the wrath of God. It is going back to that dying to our sin and our selfishness. As Jesus said, it’s picking up your cross daily to follow after him. When that vividly in focus, conflicts often loose the vigor they began with.
But we are emotionally impulsive creatures. Emotions are always a part of conflict, and the answer is not to ignore them or to pretend they don’t exist but to handle our emotions in a healthy way. This is what Paul addresses next:
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
The word translated ‘reasonableness” here in the ESV is a tough word to translate. Other translations offer “gentleness” or “gentle spirit” but that doesn’t quite fit Paul’s meaning here. Charles Spurgeon believed that the word “Forbearance” is the best understanding, but for most of us that is a word that needs to be defined too. I think it is worth the effort though, because the word is structurally so close to another very familiar word. The word “Forgiving”.
Just as “For - giving” is letting go of your right to an offense, “For-bearance” is “refraining from the enforcement of something that is due”. It is being patient or gentile with someone who is heated up in the moment, and showing Forbearance is choosing not to enter into the turbulent waters of those emotions. We might still feel the emotions swirly around in the conflict, but we don’t allow ourselves to get swept up in them. Instead, we choose to calmly seek understanding rather than react in defense of our perspective.
We Refrain from Impulsive Reactions
We Refrain from Impulsive Reactions
That is a beautiful picture in our mind, but as it is easier said than done, Paul follows it up with how you can have the strength to show forbearance even in heavy conflict with another believer. After we have stopped to
After you have stopped to
after we have stopped to Remember Our Shared Joy you in Christ.
after we have stopped to Remember Our Shared Joy you in Christ.
after we have Refrained from an Impulsive Reactions
after we have Refrained from an Impulsive Reactions
Then we Rely on the Answers we receive from our prayers.
Then we Rely on the Answers we receive from our prayers.
spond by bringing the conflict to the Lord
spond by bringing the conflict to the Lord
have calmly responded to the emotions, remembering not to be dragged into them yourself
Then you remember that you can do nothing, but you lean into the one who can.
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication 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 minds in Christ Jesus.
Do not be anxious about anything. Do not be pulled apart in double minded loyalty. Going back and forth between relying on yourself and what you might be able to offer in this situation and relying on what God has promised to do for you. Notice that the sentence begins with “The Lord is at hand” and so Church we go to him in prayer.
All of these are components of communication with God:
All of th
Prayer - general idea of talking with God
Supplication - is asking God for the good gifts that he has promised
Thanksgiving - is being appreciative for the things that He has already done in your life
Making your Request - is specifically asking him to reveal to how to handle this conflict in a healthy way.
Prayer / Supplication / Thanksgiving / Request
The truth is that Paul isn’t really offering us some sort of complicated formula, he is simply telling us to lean into the relationship that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ. Stop trying to understand every angle of each side of the conflict so that we can make a good judgment on who is right and wrong. We go with them to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords and we seek his judgement on every issue together.
And here is the most important thing guys, it could be that in some situations here at Church we might be able on our own to argue and debate our way to the right decision... but at what cost. Even if we do end up coming to the right conclusion, more often than not we will leave a trail of broken relationships, crushed spirits and divisions within the body. So we don’t start with our heads, we start with our hearts. We bow our hearts before Jesus and we seek him.
And then we see this beautiful result: “The Peace of God will guard our hearts and minds”. Like a soldier defending a kingdom, the peace of God will protect both our hearts and minds. Everything that comes from our hearts: our emotions, our affections, our feelings will be protected. Truly protected…not like the make shift walls that most of us try and build around them shutting everyone else out. The peace of God will open doors to deeper relationships, not drive us away from one another.
We bring our conflicts to Jesus and “The Peace of God will guard our hearts and minds” Notice hearts and minds are plural. He is not talking about one persons heart is good when so many others are crushed. Like a soldier defending a kingdom, the peace of God will protect our hearts and minds. Everything that comes from our hearts: our emotions, our affections, our feelings will be protected. Truly protected…not like the make shift walls that most of us try and build around them shutting everyone else out. The peace of God will open doors to deeper relationships, not drive us away from one another.
Not only will the peace of God guard our hearts but it will also guard our minds. Remember that Paul told these women and the entire Church to have the same mind. When we come to God in prayer then we are able to have minds who see things closer to the way that God sees them. And when this happens we can think much more clearly to handle conflict in a healthy way. What does a peaceful, protected mind look like? He tells us in the very next verse:
“The Peace of God will guard your hearts and minds” Notice hearts and minds are plural. He is not talking about one persons heart is good when so many others are crushed. Like a soldier defending a kingdom, the peace of God will protect our hearts and minds. The emotions of our hearts are real, and God is able to protect our hearts better than any wall that we can build up around it. His peace can reign over our hearts, but it can also reign over our minds.
Jesus into our heart, but God is just as interested in our minds.
Same mind - was the call and the issue
8 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.
Instead of having a divided mind, think about these things...
These are the things that our minds dwell on ....when we have protected them with the peace of God. Don’t just go to this list like some sort of checklist thinking it will work to validate your side of a conflict. In your sin you won’t be able to see any of these things rightly.
We start with remembering our shared Joy, our dependence on Jesus for all things
Then we pull back on any emotional impulsive reactions to defend our side of things
ture, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent or worthy of praise. We had to use God’s standards in these thingsThese things that have been revealed to us because we have stopped to
Then we bow our hearts in prayer and God opens our minds to His true, His honorable, His just, His Purity, His lovely, excellent, commendable and praiseworthy. We set our minds on that and we can handle conflict in a healthy way.
Think about these things. Set your minds on these things.
Too often we take lists like this in the Bible and use them as checklists not to verify but just to validate what we have already decided. Ok, do I think that my side of this conflict is true, honorable, just etc...The key to this is to understand that these are not things that we come to from our own understanding. We don’t measure things according to our perspective to determine if they are these things, we are
Gospel Application
Remembering how we would have nothing if not for Jesus.
Remembering how we would have nothing if not for Jesus.
8 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. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Refrain from Impulsive Reactions
Refrain from Impulsive Reactions
Relied on the Answers we receive from our prayers.
Relied on the Answers we receive from our prayers.
Then we will be able to recognize these things with the renewed mind that we have been given in Christ.
Gospel Application
You know anxiety is a big topic in our culture today. Lots of information and research out there aimed at trying to help people deal with the struggles of worry and anxiety. You know there was a study done a few years back where they took a large pool of people and had them right down everything that they were worried about throughout a period of time. And you know what that study uncovered? The study revealed that only 8% of what people worry about is actually real. 92% of what the cares that were weighing poeple down did not even exist. They were based on false information, poor communication and unhealthy perspectives. Isn’t that crazy? No. It really isn’t. Because we can probably see ourselves in those numbers.
We are so worried about things that we don’t even know are there. We get anxious, full of cares, pulled back and forth with these many ideas that a certain situation might go terribly wrong or a certain relationship might go terribly wrong. This is not how God intended for us to live.
He created us to be in a perfect relationship with Him and then we messed that up in our sin. Our first parents Adam and Eve sinned and every generation since then has just gotten worse and worse. But that is not the end of the story. God was not ok with his very good creation being destroyed like this so he made a way for His creation to return to the glory that He intended. That way was to send his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place. Now we do not have to pay the penalty of our sin, because Jesus paid it for us. That is the “life giving” message of Jesus Christ. When you trust and follow Jesus and your Savior and your Lord then you have a Joy that the world does not know. You have a peace that they have yet to experience. You no longer need to worry about the endless possibilities of things that you do not know - because of who you know.
Do you know Him? Do you know the Prince of Peace? The one who you can fully trust to guard both your heart and your mind in his perfect peace? If you don’t know him yet or if you have any questions about what it looks like to live in this kind of peace then I invite you to come talk to me after the service. I would like to talk to you about it, or ask someone else that you trust and if they want you can both come and we can talk, but don’t keep going without knowing the one who can give you peace.
Landing
Our passage today talked a lot about the role of the heart and head, but the Apostle Paul never intended for it to stop there. After we have bowed our hearts in prayer and God opens our minds up to his truths in his Word then he expects that we would take the next step. Remember this part of Paul’s letter was about application. It was not just about praying rightly, and thinking rightly it was also about doing rightly. So the he ends this section of application here:
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Head. Heart. Hands.
A Healthy Church, a Joy Gospel Partnership, engages it’s people in all three.
Let’s pray.
Head
Heart
Hands
Landing