Scripture – Philippians 4:1-13 NIV –
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Bob’s thoughts:
I will never complain about not being able to follow the service because I’m sitting with a grandchild, but being with a few at the same time left little attention for the message.
Today, with two of my granddaughters whom I don’t get to see as often wanting to share my seat with me, left me thinking that this is the love we should be feeling for Christ. There is nothing more important than being in His Presence basking in His love for us. I want to love God like the love these girls show for me.
I need to share a special God moment from this week when He answered my prayers and led me to my lost wedding ring. Last Tuesday I realized my ring was gone. One of the many places I looked was a bag of store bags in my garage, and I went through the bag twice. Yesterday, while I was cleaning my truck, I felt God sending me to look in the bag. When I did, there was the ring, right on the top of the pile.
God is never late…always right on time.
Jan’s thoughts:
Again today we were blessed to worship with our kids and grandkids. I sat next to our 14-year-old grandson who puts his arm around me when we stand to sing, and Bob had one (sometimes two) of our granddaughters on his lap. How can we call ourselves anything but blessed?
Sometimes when we visit here, we have no real conversation with anyone outside our family, but today I got to talk with a couple of people I’d not met before. No visit is perfectly smooth even when it’s a church we’ve visited as often as we have this one, but when a connection is made, I leave feeling enriched.
Today’s message was part two of a series called Habits. Last week’s topic was putting God first and today, in Monitor Your Mind, the pastor spoke on the importance of one’s mindset. He stated that:
1 – monitoring my mind leads to peace,
2 – positive thinking about people leads to positive relationships,
3 – positive thinking about our future leads to opportunity, and
4 – believing God’s view of us allows faith to grow.
In order to build the habit of healthy thinking, he advised us to select our input and use positive words.
He said that a positive, optimistic mindset is likely to bring success whereas a negative mindset will most certainly bring fear, frustration, shrink our world, and increase stress. We choose our thoughts and we have the power to filter them.
Faith = risk and in faith, God calls us to step into the unknown.
Our prayer for this church:
Lord, we pray Your church is mindful of the endless blessings You pour out upon them. Amen.
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