The Script

⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. _{Philippians 4:4-5}

The Plot

Growing up, a popular song we used to sing was Philippians 4:4. It went something like this:

Rejoice in the Lord, always,
And again, I say rejoice!
Rejoice in the Lord, always,
And Again, I say rejoice!
Rejoice! Rejoice!
And again I say Rejoice!

We would sing it over and over. Most time we would sing it in the round.

It’s been said that those who bring joy to others can not keep it from themself. Singing that song always brought a smile to the face of anyone singing it. I don’t know about you but I can barely say the word Rejoice! without smiling! It is contageous.

But why are we smiling? Because the Lord is coming soon! That’s enough for me!

The Walk Through

1. When did Paul say that we should be full of joy?
2. Why did Paul say that we should be full of joy?
3. How can you show your joy?

Ad Lib

Show your joy – you never know who might be watching…

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. His mind, wit and work earned him the unofficial title of “the greatest justice since John Marshall.” At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.”

The Script

² Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. ³ And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. Philippians 4:2-3

The Plot

How to turn a disagreement into a feud:

1. Be sure to develop and maintain a healthy fear of conflict, letting your own feelings build up so you are in an explosive frame of mind.
2. If you must state your concerns, be as vague and general as possible. Then the other person cannot do anything practical to change the situation.
3. Assume you know all the facts and you are totally right. The use of a clinching Bible verse is helpful. Speak prophetically for truth and justice; do most of the talking.
4. With a touch of defiance, announce your willingness to talk with anyone who wishes to discuss the problem with you. But do not take steps to initiate such conversation.
5. Latch tenaciously onto whatever evidence you can find that shows the other person is merely jealous of you.
6. Judge the motivation of the other party on any previous experience that showed failure or unkindness. Keep track of any angry words.
7. If the discussion should, alas, become serious, view the issue as a win/lose struggle. Avoid possible solutions and go for total victory and unconditional surrender. Don’t get too many options on the table.
8. Pass the buck! If you are about to get cornered into a solution, indicate you are without power to settle; you need your partner, spouse, bank, whatever.

Of course, if you listened to this week’s podcast, you heard a four step method for resolving conflict:

• T – Talk to the parties involved.
• I – Involve a mediator if necessary.
• F – Find a common goal.
• F – Find a win/win solution.

Still need help? Download this weeks podcast to hear Pastor Bart go into this in more detail.

The Walk Through

1. Why did Paul feel it necessary to address these two women directly?
2. Why is it necessary to deal with conflict right away?
3. What four keys can help us deal with conflict?

Ad Lib

French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas once had a heated quarrel with a rising young politician. The argument became so intense that a duel was inevitable. Since both men were superb shots they decided to draw lots, the loser agreeing to shoot himself. Dumas lost. Pistol in hand, he withdrew in silent dignity to another room, closing the door behind him. The rest of the company waited in gloomy suspense for the shot that would end his career. It rang out at last. His friends ran to the door, opened it, and found Dumas, smoking revolver in hand. “Gentlemen, a most regrettable thing has happened,” he announced. “I missed.”

The Script

¹⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

¹ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. _{Philippians 3:17-21, 4:1}

The Plot

Bill Hybels related the following story. One evening I stopped by the church just to encourage those who were there rehearsing for the spring musical. I didn’t intent to stay long, so I parked my car next to the entrance. After a few minutes, I ran back to my car and drove home.

The next morning I found a note in my office mailbox. It read: A small thing, but Tuesday night when you came to rehearsal, you parked in the “No Parking” area. A reaction from one of my crew (who did not recognize you after you got out of your car) was, “There’s another jerk in the ‘No Parking’ area!” We try hard not to allow people — even workers — to park anywhere other than the parking lots. I would appreciate your cooperation, too. It was signed by a member of our maintenance staff.

(This man’s) stock went up in my book because he had the courage to write to me about what could have been a slippage in my character. And he was right on the mark. As I drove up that night, I had thought, I shouldn’t park here, but after all, I am the pastor. That translates: “I’m an exception to the rules.” But that employee wouldn’t allow me to sneak down the road labeled “I’m an exception.” I’m not the exception to church rules or any of God’s rules. Exemplary conduct means encouraging others to imitate us, even in the small matters.

The Walk Through

1. Where should you look for an example of how to live?
2. As citizens of heaven, how do you need to live?
3. Why is it important to be an example to others?

Ad Lib

One of my favorite sayings is “people won’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”. As followers of Christ, our actions are like billboards, advertising to other believers and non-believers what a Christian is.

The Script

¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
¹⁵ Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. ¹⁶ But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. _{Philippians 3:12-16}

The Plot

As many of you know, I have been on a diet since January. A few months into my diet, I started exercising at the gym almost every day and more recently, I have been running about 4 miles every other day. It’s hard work. Normally, after a run, I am exhausted, hot, sweaty and sore. I know that I have pushed my muscles to their limits. I know that I am getting stronger because eight years in the Marine Corps taught me that nothing worthwhile comes without a little discomfort, and strength does not come without a little pain.

My desire to not only lose weight but also get back into shape has caused me to do some pretty irrational things. Just the other day, I decided that I needed to go for a jog. It didn’t matter that it was raining. When I lived in Japan, I ran in the rain everyday! It didn’t matter that I decided that I didn’t need my glasses – and almost got lost because I couldn’t see the trail. It didn’t matter that half-way into my run, someone stopped me to let me know that we were under a tornado warning. I kept running until I met my exercise goal for that day.

About the time I found out that I was jogging during a tornado warning, a question popped into my head so clearly that it had to be God speaking to me. He asked me, “If you are willing to endure pain, look foolish, feel uncomfortable, be accountable to others and dedicate yourself to improving your physical health, why can’t you do the same with your spiritual health?”

With my diet and exercise, I have a goal. I have something to work towards. I keep pushing myself to achieve my daily goals. Paul equated his pursuit of perfection in Christ Jesus with a race. He had a goal and worked daily to achieve that goal. He was willing to endure pain, suffering, loneliness and other hardships to press-on toward his prize. He was willing to appear foolish for the sake of Christ. Nothing was going to stop him from achieving his goal.

My new motto is “No Excuses!” Both spiritually and physically!

The Walk Through

1. What ideas does Paul’s attitude give you that you might copy?
2. What should you do that Paul was doing?
3. In what ways do you have Paul’s attitude?

Ad Lib

Sometimes it is not the prize but the journey that is the reward. All anybody needs to know about prizes is that Mozart never won one.

The Script

⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. ⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, ¹¹ so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! _{Philippians 3:7-11}

The Plot

Paul’s life was a study in contrasts. He committed his whole life into everything he did. When he was a practicing Jew, he was the best Jew that there was. He followed all of the rules and regulations. Nobody could hold a candle to Paul when it came to following the law. Then one day, Paul experienced something that would forever change his life. Paul was so impacted by the reality of Jesus’ resurrection – not only did God vindicate Jesus by raising him from the dead, but He also recreated the whole way of living. In that simple, miraculous act, that we celebrate on Easter, the old way was ended and a new way was born.

Paul experienced his own Easter moment on the Damascus Road. His encounter with the risen Lord made him rethink everything that he had previously thought. The “old” Paul died there on the road. The “new” Paul threw his entire being into spreading the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection. As Paul said in his second letter to the church in Corinth, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.” 2 Cor 5:17-18

The Walk Through

1. How do you compare your knowledge of Christ with all the other things in your life?
2. The law of Moses cannot make us right with God. What is the way to get a right relationship with Christ?
3. Do you have an “Easter” moment?

Ad Lib

Speaking of contrasts…..

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kinda esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now people are looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!) By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, a three-piece suit, and a pocket watch. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves, You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The people are thinking, The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. And now they see this elderly man drops his cane on the floor.

With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships alongside him so he won’t be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. There seems to not be a dry eye in the entire congregation.

When the minister finally gains control he says, “What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.”

The Script

⁵ I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. _{Philippians 3:5-6}

The Plot

The 19th-century Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard identified two kinds of religions – Religion A and Religion B. The first is “faith” in name only _{(2 Tim. 3:5)}. It’s the practice of attending church without genuine faith in the living Lord.

Religion B, on the other hand, is a life-transforming, destiny-changing experience. It’s a definite commitment to the crucified and risen Savior, which establishes an ongoing personal relationship between a forgiven sinner and a gracious God.

This difference explains why for many years British author C. S. Lewis had such great difficulty in becoming a Christian. Religion A had blinded him to Religion B. According to his brother Warren, his conversion was “no sudden plunge into a new life, but rather a slow, steady convalescence from a deep-seated spiritual illness – an illness that had its origins in our childhood, in the dry husks of religion offered by the semi-political churchgoing of Ulster, and the similar dull emptiness of compulsory church during our school days.”

Sometimes, we can get so caught up in doing church that we forget why we are doing church. There are many people around us, sometimes even us, that have this same deep-seated spiritual illness. An illness that denies the grace that is ours through Jesus Christ in favor of a religion full of rules and regulations.

The Walk Through

1. If you know these facts about Paul, how can it help you?
2. In what ways was Paul very good at the Jewish religion?
3. Are there area’s in your life that you favor Religion A instead of Religion B?

Ad Lib

In the book “Gaily The Troubadour,” published in 1936, Arthur Guiterman wrote the following poem. Reading this, you might think that he wrote it about today.

First dentistry was painless;
Then bicycles were chainless
And carriages were horseless
And many laws, enforceless.

Next, cookery was fireless,
Telegraphy was wireless,
Cigars were nicotineless
And coffee, caffeinless.

Soon oranges were seedless,
The putting green was weedless,
The college boy hatless,
The proper diet, fatless.

Now motor roads are dustless,
The latest steel is rustless,
Our tennis courts are sodless,
Our new religions, godless.

The Script

¹ Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

² Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. ³ For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, ⁴ though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! _{Philippians 3:1-4}

The Plot

I wish I knew who said the following, “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”

I could imagine that someone like Paul said that. We read in verse 1 above that Paul lived life in continual rejoicing for what Christ Jesus did for him. For Paul, it was a way of life. He lived life with an attitude of gratitude. We too should model the example of Paul and live our life always rejoicing for what Christ has done for us.

The Walk Through

1. What is it that Paul never gets tired of saying?
2. What human effort is required of us for salvation?
3. What kind of attitude do you model to others?

Ad Lib

You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.

The Script

²⁸So I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you. ²⁹Welcome him with Christian love and with great joy, and give him the honor that people like him deserve. ³⁰For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away. _{Philippians 2:28-30}

The Plot

Leonidas, King of Sparta, was preparing to make a stand with his Greek troops against the Persian army in 480 B.C. when a Persian envoy arrived. The man urged on Leonidas the futility of trying to resist the advance of the huge Persian army. “Our archers are so numerous,” said the envoy, “that the flight of their arrows darkens the sun.”

“So much the better,” replied Leonidas, “for we shall fight them in the shade.” Leonidas made his stand, and died with his 300 troops.

Even in death, King Leonidas’ bravery sparked a resistance that ultimately conquered the Persian army.

As brave as those 300 men were, Paul teaches us that the real heroes are those who serve Christ – even to their death. Paul lived and taught that we should honor those who give their lives for the sake of Christ.

The Walk Through

1. Who did Paul teach us to honor?
2. Who are some modern day examples of men and women we should honor?
3. How can you show honor to others who serve Christ, sacrificially?

Ad Lib

Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are. _{Thomas Carlyle}