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“Giving Thanks in--and for--2020” (Philippians 4:6-20) We have come together today to celebrate America’s Day of National Thanksgiving. This is the time every year when we gather in our churches to give thanks to God for his blessings on our country. However, this year is 2020. And if you listen to most folks, you would think there is nothing to be thankful for this year. But is that really the case? Today I want to tell you that it is possible to have a happy Thanksgiving this year, under the theme, “Giving Thanks in--and for--2020.” All of our readings today...

“Rejoice in the Lord Always--Even in 2020!” (Philippians 4:4-13) As you’ve probably noticed, many people have been saying that this year, 2020, is the worst year they can remember. Maybe you’ve said so yourself. I mean, think of it. The year 2020 has seen one disaster after another: The Coronavirus pandemic got everyone’s attention back in March. Then came the shutdown all across the country. The economy went south in a hurry. The whole thing stunk: People lost their lives. People lost their jobs. People lost their businesses. That was March and April. And then: “Who had murder hornets for...

“From Rubbish to Righteousness to Resurrection” (Philippians 3:4b-14) I’m sure many of you have heard of a “rags-to-riches story.” A rags-to-riches story is one in which the hero starts out poor and penniless, but then, through hard work and perseverance, overcomes all odds and hardships to become a great success. That’s a rags-to-riches story, and we all love to hear one. Well, today in our reading from Philippians 3, we hear a different kind of story. It’s the story Paul tells about his own life. Only in this case, Paul himself is not the hero. And it’s not a matter...

“Work Out Your Own Salvation?” (Philippians 2:1-18) Last Sunday we began a series of four straight weeks with readings from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Last week our theme from chapter 1 was “For Your Progress and Joy in the Faith.” Paul said that he was writing to the Philippians to help them make progress and find joy in the Christian faith. This week, we move into chapter 2, where Paul continues along those same lines. And we’ll begin our message today by looking at the part of our text where Paul tells the Philippians: “Work out your own salvation.”...

“For Your Progress and Joy in the Faith” (Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30) Today we begin four weeks in a row of readings from Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians. Four chapters over four weeks, starting with much of chapter 1 today. The epistle as a whole is not very long--you can read it in less than 15 minutes--so you might want to consider reading Philippians a number of times over the coming weeks. You won’t regret it. Paul’s letter to the Philippians: What do we know about Philippi and Paul’s relationship with the congregation there? A little background is in order. Philippi...

“Does This Spark Joy?” (Philippians 3:4b-14) Have you ever heard of a woman named Marie Kondo? She’s a young Japanese woman who is an expert on organizing the stuff in your house. Marie Kondo is the queen of decluttering. She has written a best-selling book called, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” And this year she has her own television show called, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” This is a popular trend right now, this tidying up. And Marie Kondo has a certain method for doing it. She says to pick up this or that item you’re debating whether or...

“A Citizenship Even Bigger than Texas” (Hebrews 11:13-16; John 14:1-6; Philippians 3:20-21) His name was “Emerick,” but everybody called him “Tex.” That was our brother Emerick “Tex” Labus. He went by “Tex” for as long as I’ve known him, and that’s been over ten years. Even though he lived here in Missouri for I don’t know how long, people still called him Tex. I guess you can take the boy out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of the boy. I’ve observed over the years that people from Texas are very proud of being from Texas. And...

“Three Words for Thanksgiving: Think, Thank, Talk” (Philippians 4:6-20) Today I have three words for you. These are three things you can do to celebrate this Day of Thanksgiving. They are three words that are easy for you to remember for the rest of this day. And here they are: “Three Words for Thanksgiving: Think, Thank, Talk.” We find all three of these ideas present in the Epistle lesson for today, from Philippians 4. First of all, we’ll start with the word “Think.” Paul addresses his brothers at the congregation in Philippi and he says: “Whatever is true, whatever is...

“Rejoice in the Lord Always” (Philippians 4) “Rejoice in the Lord Always”: So says Paul in our Epistle reading today. Really? “Rejoice”? “Always”? Are you kidding me? “Rejoice always”? That’s easy for you to say, Paul. You don’t know what I’m going through. If you did, you wouldn’t be telling me to rejoice always. I mean, come on! Look at all these bills I’ve got to pay! Rent, groceries, gasoline, maintenance on the car. Insurance: car insurance, health insurance, insurance on my insurance. Taxes: federal, state, local, and sales taxes, plus the fee for my tax preparer. Paying off the...

“The Joy of Knowing Christ” (Philippians 3)I noticed in the news about a week ago--maybe you saw it too--that Monty Hall died. He was the longtime host of the television game show, Let’s Make a Deal. You remember how the show worked? Monty would pick out a member of the studio audience and offer that person, say, $200 for the tennis shoes she was wearing. Then Monty would suggest a deal. Do you want to keep the $200 you have in your hand, or do you want to trade it in for what’s behind the curtain, where Carol Merrill is...

“The Joy of Being of the Same Mind, the Mind of Christ” (Philippians 2) Today is the second in our four-week series on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians. We’re going chapter by chapter through the four chapters of this letter. Last week we introduced the series by noting that Philippians is often called “The Epistle of Joy,” because of the recurring theme of joy running through the letter. We saw it last week in Philippians 1. There Paul describes his relationship with the Philippians in what we called a “Joyful Gospel Partnership.” Through the message that Paul had preached...

“A Joyful Gospel Partnership” (Philippians 1) Today we start a four-week series of readings and sermons--and Bible classes, as well--on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians. The official Epistle readings from the lectionary have big chunks of each of the four chapters over these four weeks, but since we’re diving in whole-hog, as it were, I decided I’d read the whole chapter each week, as you just heard. So today we begin with Philippians chapter 1. In trying to come up with a theme for this message--and really, for the whole book--I thought back to a sermon I heard long...

Discovering the presence of God and His joy in every situation. The Book of Philippians is a “Reality Book” on how to live the Real Christian Life as designed by God. It is also unique for many reasons, one being that it mirrors our lives today and the culture that we live in now.

“He Humbled Himself” (Philippians 2:5-11) Have you ever been humbled? Yes, humbled, brought low. Maybe you were humbled when you got beat really badly in a game of Scrabble. Maybe you won that game of Scrabble, and you got the big head, so God had to humble you in some other way. Or think about the March Madness that’s going on right now. Sometimes there is an occasional upset, but usually, when a #16 seed has to face a #1 seed in the opening round, it can be pretty humbling. To be humbled is not a pleasant experience. Often when...

"Our Citizenship Is in Heaven" (Philippians 3:17 - 4:1) Citizenship is a big deal in our country right now, especially since this is an election year. There is talk about how to keep non-citizens out, how to keep them from entering our country. There is talk about which candidate or candidates may or may not be "natural born citizens" and thus eligible to run, and about what that term "natural born citizen" actually means. Our attention is drawn to our rights as citizens, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. And we think of our duties as citizens, to be well-informed...

“St. Paul’s Rubbish Sale” (Philippians 3:4b-13) Yesterday our Ladies’ Guild here at St. Matthew’s held a rummage sale. You know how a rummage sale works. People donate their old, obsolete items that they don’t want or need anymore, and then those items are resold, usually at a much lower price than the original purchase price. And when I say much lower, I mean much lower! I saw a television set downstairs that someone may have paid a couple hundred bucks for originally, but now it was being sold for a mere $5.00. And that was at the start of the...

“You Shine as Lights in the World” (Philippians 2:1-18) In our Epistle for today, from Philippians 2, St. Paul appeals to us Christians to live as who we are, namely, “children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.” Did you hear that? “You Shine as Lights in the World.” Yes, you do! And today we’ll find out why and how. But before you can shine, first you have to be children of God. How did that happen? God...

“The Battle for the Mind” (Philippians 4:4-13)There’s a battle going on, a fierce battle, although the battlefield is relatively small. It’s only about six inches wide, that battleground. It’s the space between your ears. Yes, your mind, a Christian’s mind, is the place where the warfare is waging, and you are not exempt. There are various forces at work, seeking to take control of your mind, whether you like it or not. The devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh are conspiring to take your mind captive. Will you let them? Are you going to surrender those six inches...

“Counting Your Gain as Loss” (Philippians 3:4b-14)I was trying to think the other day of something where, if you gained, it was actually a loss. What would it be? You have a gain, but really it should be counted as a loss. The first thing that comes to mind is if you’re trying to lose weight. You step on the scale, you see that you’ve gained three pounds--well, you would probably think of that as a loss. You had lost ground in reaching your goal. That’s an example of counting your gain as loss. But there’s another area in which...

“Have This Mind among Yourselves” (Philippians 2:1-18)In last week’s Epistle reading, from Philippians 1, St. Paul told the church at Philippi that he wants to hear they are “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by (their) opponents.” Standing firm in one spirit, striving with one mind for the defense and advance of the gospel, unafraid. And we emphasized that this matter of having one spirit, having one mind--that this transforming of our mind comes about as we dwell upon the Word of God...