Think on These Things by Pastor Paul Becker

Philippians 4:8-9

In the opening of his sermon, Pastor Paul emphasized the importance of living our faith within a community of other believers. He urged us to recognize that our spiritual journey, though personal, is not a solitary endeavor but rather a communal one within the life of FPCB.

Pastor Paul directed our attention to the Apostle Paul’s encouragement in Phil 4:8-9, where he wrote:

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.

Paul offered a list of virtuous categories of thinking. Each virtue is tied to topics in his letter and his history of ministry in Philippi. So, what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable? Let’s look at the letter for some answers!

What is…

True? In Phil 2:5-11, Jesus’ humility and exaltation are true. Jesus’ humility is the foundation of every portion of this letter. We are to meditate on how we are to live like Jesus, in service to the needs of others and to God’s glory.

Noble? In Phil 1:27 & Phil 3:17, Paul implores the Philippians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel by standing firm in one spirit AND striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.  Ah! There it is! Firm unity in a common purpose is the noble way to live! Pastor Paul reminded us that the Nominating Committee is working to call church members to noble service as Elders and Deacons. Elders aren’t keepers of an institution or protectors of tradition. Elders are to lead our church in gospel ministry.  As for Deacons, they have the noble work of loving and caring for the members of the body of Christ at FPCB.

Lovely? In Phil 1:3-8 and 2:1-4, the Philippian Church was lovely because of their unity in mind, spirit, and purpose. The Philippians were united around a single-minded purpose to share the gospel about Jesus Christ with one another and with those who didn’t know Jesus. Gospel ministry, offered by fully convinced and committed Christ followers, is a work of the Spirit that brings life and beauty to a dark, lifeless, sin-stricken world.

These are just three examples that Pastor Paul led us to examine. Click here for the full sermon video.

The sermon's conclusion offered a call to every church member to imagine gospel ministry at the center of our life together. Gospel ministry is Christ’s mandate for our church’s existence, worship, life together, and work in the world. It is the purpose of Elders to lead us into living this mandate. Elders must know and focus on this mandate. And if our church strays in any way, it is the function of Elders to call us back to gospel ministry. Gospel ministry also requires humility by groups and individuals of our church to unify behind the priority of gospel ministry. Our Mission Statement is about doing gospel ministry: We are on a journey to follow Jesus, grow together, and make disciples. This mission is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable - and thus excellent and worthy of praise!