Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am 30 July 2023 Pentecost 9
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Minister: Brad Childs
Worship led by Raymond Baker
Children’s time: Peter Eerkes
Music director: Binu Kapadia Vocalist: Vivian Houg
Elder: Jane de Caen
We gather to worship God
Music prelude
Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.
Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship
Call to Worship
L: In love and joy God calls us together.
P: And so we meet this day, as friends, as neighbours, as sisters and brothers in Christ.
L: Called together by God, we bring our offerings to God;
P: Our songs, our hearts, our prayers, our lives.
L: Grateful for this opportunity to give and receive, let us worship God
Opening praise: Love the Lord your God
Prayers of approach and confession
Lord, make us an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us bring love.
Where there is offence, let us bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let us bring union.
Where there is error, let us bring the truth.
Where there is doubt, let us bring faith.
Where there is despair, let us bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let us bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let us bring joy.
O Master, let us not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
It is in accepting your sacrifice, Christ, that we have eternal life.
Amen (Modified Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)
Response: We come to ask your forgiveness, O God
Assurance of God’s forgiveness
“Who is in a position to condemn us? Only Christ – and Christ died for us; Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. This is good news for us. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. So be at peace and make peace with one another for Jesus’ sake.” (Romans 8, paraphrased)
We listen for the voice of God
Children’s time
Gradual: Open our eyes, Lord
Story: Text unavailable
Prayer: Text unavailable
The Lord’s Prayer (535)
Transition music
Song: Rejoice in the Lord always (421)
Today’s Message
Scripture readings: Philippians 4:4-9
Response: Behold the Lamb of God
Message: “Do not be anxious. Fill your minds with good.” (Call up the King)
Good Morning, my name is Raymond Baker. I went to college and seminary with your minister, Reverend Brad and he is a friend of mine. Just a few months ago I preached here and felt very welcomed by this congregation, so thank you for having me again. I am looking forward to talking about one of my favourite Scripture passages today: Philippians 4:4-9.
To begin, let’s go back to the not so distant past, during the height of the Covid Pandemic. I was working full time in an assisted seniors’ centre with 160 suites that were under outbreak lock-down. For three months, the seniors living in this centre had to stay in their rooms and could not be visited by any friends or family in person. Their food was delivered to their rooms, and they had very little interaction. Many of them began to complain of depression and anxiety while being isolated. Myself and a manager came up with a solution. Every weekday morning at exactly 10 AM I would go to the fire panel for the entire building and lift up the emergency microphone and do a devotional–always focusing on positive things and the salvation of Christ.
A month into doing these devotions, the manager told me that many family members called her to say that their loved one looked forward to the message that would come through the little speaker in their fire alarm. As well, during this time, fewer complaints of depression and anxiety were expressed by the residents.
Interesting – when the seniors focused on the positive thoughts and the devotion to Christ there was less depression and anxiety even when they were cooped up in their rooms!
Paul, in Philippians 4 states, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, Rejoice.”
What does it mean to rejoice? Some Bible translations use ‘happiness’ or ‘joy’ instead of the word rejoice. Tony Evans’ commentary in the Study Bible says that happiness for the most part is an outward reaction to pleasant things, where joy can be a deeper characteristic that sustains us during trying circumstances.
In Greek, the word for rejoice is: ‘chairete’ which means to be favourably disposed to God’s grace. The root of ‘rejoice’ is very similar to the Greek words used for joy and grace in the Bible. In fact, some translators use ‘joy’ instead of ‘rejoice’ in Philippians 4:3.
Having godly joy was exemplified by Paul and Silas in Acts during a trying time. Paul had just healed a slave woman who had an evil spirit that allowed her to tell the future. When the slave woman was healed, she was no longer of use to her owner to make him money, so the owner of the slave had Paul and Silas arrested and put them in jail. Paul and Silas prayed and praised the Lord even though they were in prison.
We know the rest of the story–just as they were praising the Lord there was an earthquake and the cell doors flung open, but Paul and Silas did not leave. Then the jailer wanted to take his life, because he thought Paul and Silas had escaped. The story ends with Paul and Silas sharing the salvation message of Christ with the jailer. I love this whole story, but for today’s sermon I want to point out that Paul and Silas were in a Roman Prison in the first century. These were disgusting places without washrooms. Paul and Silas were rejoicing in the Lord as they sat in utter filth. Look at how it turned out!
I am not saying that God will cause a natural disaster for your benefit, just because you thought about good things and praised the Lord. What I am saying is that God promises to give you peace during tough times if you focus on Him.
Next, Philippians 4:5, states: “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
Have you ever been in a fight with your sibling, wife, husband, or friend and you wanted to avenge yourself? I have and it never works out! This kind of thinking is like the wicked witch of the west played very well by Margaret Hamilton in the Wizard of Oz movie, “I’ll get you and your little dog too!!!” In Romans 12:19-2, Paul explains that we should not take revenge, because that is God’s job. In that same chapter Paul goes on to say, “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” To be gentle, is to find good in others. I think that letting your gentleness show is seeking to understand another’s point of view, while respectfully presenting your own.
In Dale Carnegie’s book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” he wrote that there is no winner in arguments, because if one feels he/she has won, the other will feel defeated or angry, leaving the relationship somewhat broken.
The second half of the greatest commandment is: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself…’”(Matthew 22:36-40). Could loving your neighbour be thinking and saying good things about them? Gentleness is to find good in others.
Philippians 4:5 also says, “The Lord is near.” In this context Paul is referring to the conflicts going on in the Philippi churches. He wants the conflicts to end because the Day of the Lord is coming. It is important that our relationships are right. Paul’s concern is that we need to be ready for Christ’s return. The Bible says the day of the Lord is like a thief in the night–we don’t know when Christ is coming back.
Let’s go to the next verse where Paul states, “do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” God is giving us a formula for peace in our lives. He is not telling us just to sit and not worry. That is like me asking everyone to not think about pink elephants right now. I believe if we could take a picture of what is in everyone’s mind we would have a stack of pink elephant images! God, here, is giving us directions. Instead of worrying, fill your minds up with things that we are thankful for and also pray to God about our circumstances.
When I was first dating my wife, Jacquie, she was in an accident on Calgary Trail. The night after her accident we prayed together. During her prayer she presented her requests to the Lord and as it says in today’s verse she did it with thanksgiving. She thanked the Lord that she and the other driver were not hurt and then she thanked the Lord for the accident so that she may learn something God was teaching her. I was stunned. Did I hear correctly, my girlfriend just thanked the Lord that she was in an accident? As I work through today’s verse where it says “in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” I believe that Jacquie was not nuts, but giving it over to God with thanksgiving.
In Psalm 110:4 it is written, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” It is good to be thankful in prayer. I like it when my nephews and nieces are thankful for what I do. How much more should we be thankful to God who died on a Cross for our sins and sustains us through life and offers us eternal life.
Jacquie and I were just in London England. We were at Buckingham Palace and the flag was flying at full mast. Does anyone know what that means? Yes, King Charles III was in residence. We stood there watching the changing of the guard and I imagined what it would be like to go see the King.
What if King Charles was my friend and I got into trouble in England. I could just ring up my friend, the King and he would do the best he could to help me. King Charles is not that powerful, but our God, the Lord of the Universe, the Alpha and the Omega is all powerful. We do not have to ring him up, rather we can pray to him about all things.
Unfortunately, in my lifetime I will probably never have access to King Charles III, but through Christ I have access to the throne room of God. God knows us more than our friends, He also knows what we need and want. If we leave things in His hands why would we need to worry about them. Once we have prayed and given all our problems over to God we are promised the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The peace of God that transcends all understanding is the result of being able to rejoice and be glad when things are bad. We know that God is in control, because we have given everything to God in prayer.
Positive thoughts are whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–we should think about these things.
A renowned Canadian preacher and counsellor, Dr. Ed Weiss was leading a large Christian youth conference in Sweden. On his way to set up for the conference, he noticed a street girl doing skateboarding tricks at the train station. He yelled out to the skater girl that she was good at skateboard tricks. The girl stopped and looked surprised that a well dressed man in his late forties told her that she was good. She skated over to him. Her head was shaved and her body was covered with piercings and tattoos. She spoke perfect English, and used a lot of profanities.
He asked for her name and it was Namoi. He reaffirmed that she was very talented at skateboarding. She seemed to eat up the compliments. The next day, Naomi was skateboarding again and saw Pastor Ed. She asked if he wanted to go for a burger, which is street talk for, “Will you buy me a burger?” They went for the burger and the preacher noticed that she could switch from French, the common language in that part of Sweden, to English very quickly. During the meal he told her that her English was amazing.
Once again Naomi seemed to love the positive compliments. After their lunch, the pastor went into the conference centre. Bryce, an organiser, informed Pastor Ed that everything was ready for the conference and assured him that an interpreter would be provided. Pastor Ed let him know he had his own interpreter. Pastor Ed then left the conference centre and looked for Naomi in her usual part of town. As expected, she was there. When he asked her to interpret his talk for the conference because she could switch between English and French so fluently, she agreed, beaming at the compliment.
After the conference, the pastor asked Bryce how Naomi did with the translations. He replied, “She did well, but the conference has never heard so many profanities in preaching before.” Pastor Ed just laughed.
Five years later Pastor Ed received a phone call from Bryce telling him to google the homepage for The International Symposium on Street Children. It advertised a huge conference to take place in Geneva. The picture of the keynote speaker was Naomi.
You never know what impact a compliment or positive words can have on the people you meet. Bringing out the good you see in others by focusing on whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, excellent or praiseworthy in them will bring good to the world. Look for the good in the world, in people and in yourself.
If there can be a transformation in Naomi, imagine what God can do for you. If you think about what is pure, what is lovely, whatever is admirable, you will have peace.
Since the Covid pandemic and the increase of people on social media, there are many conspiracy theories being brought forward. I am not here to deny them or say that they are true. I am just noting that most of them focus on negative aspects of leaders, scientists, economists and doctors. It seems that myself and many of my friends are drawn to dwell on the negative when speaking about the present world situations.
Just for a minute, let’s pretend all the negative is true and that every scientist, world economic leader, and politician is nefarious and wants to control us to make money from us or even kill us. Everyday we read the feeds and podcasts that present these views. How are we going to feel, respond, and think on positive things like Paul is instructing us to do? Will we find peace?
In 1 Timothy 2:1-4 Paul states, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. What if we prayed for our leaders? According to the Bible, the result would be that we live peaceful and quiet lives. What if everyday was Easter? Not with pink bunnies and chocolate eggs, but what if everyday we celebrated that the Lord of the universe humbled Himself and became a human to die on a cross for our sins and on the third day He defeated death and rose to heaven and is victorious!
What if we filled our minds up with thoughts about Christ as our Lord and saviour. What if we meditated on that because it is true, admirable and praiseworthy? Would some of the depression that has been getting worse in our present society be lifted? In a dark world we are the light of Christ. In this dark world we don’t want to put the joy of the Lord under a bowl, we want to spread the Good News.
The wonderful result is that the God of Peace will be with you and you will be a light of Christ in a dark world. You may be transformed like Naomi and God may use you to help transform another person, a city, a province, the world! The amazing result is having the peace of God that transcends all understanding in our lives and the lives of others.
This is why Philipians 4:4-9 is my favourite scripture passage: thinking of positive, praiseworthy things can transform how we feel and speak. If we pray about everything with thanksgiving, the peace of God will be with us, and with God we can bring the Kingdom of the Lord to the entire world! With God we can be World changers!
Praise God and Amen!
Song: Praise, I will praise (420)
We respond to serve God
Reflection on giving: Dayspring is empowered to carry out our mission of worship, service, and care by generously given volunteer time, talent, and treasure. Many thanks to all who give so generously!
Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
God of all true treasure, we offer our gifts with thankful hearts, knowing you keep providing what makes life truly rich. Bless these gifts so that your goodness is multiplied to touch the lives of those in need, for Christ’s sake.
Lord Jesus Christ, we offer you our thanks on this day for you are the true source of peace and healing for us in a world that feels dark so often.
Today we pray for those who face choices and decisions about their health: or those trying to follow good diets and exercise enough; for any waiting for appointments or wondering if they should make another call; for those who find caring for their health frustrating, and for all feeling pain or anxiety as they wait for healing and peace… God, in your mercy, guide us in our choices and challenges.
Lord Jesus Christ: We offer you our thanks on this day for you are the trustworthy source of love and forgiveness in a world full of criticism and self-doubt.
Today we pray for those facing choices and decisions about relationships: for people, we ought to call but just haven’t; for those with whom we feel a grievance but haven’t worked it through; for those we’d like to invite into closer relationships but haven’t yet found the courage; and for those we miss dearly and need to tell how much we cherish them. God, in your mercy, guide us in our choices and challenges.
We offer you thanks on this day.
In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Song: Give me oil in my lamp vss. 1, 3, 4 (655)
Sending out with God’s blessing
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7, NIV)
Response: God to enfold you
Music postlude
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Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).
The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2023) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.