“The Preacher & the Chicken Man”
(Phil. 2:1-4)
Dr. Richard S. Koole
Chapel Pointe
July 13, 2008
I. Introduction
A. The joy of church picnics
1. The day the tent nearly blew away
a. Freezing in July
2. Rain in Hagar Park
3. The best food around
a. The ladies of Chapel Pointe
b. The “chicken man”
3. Relax and enjoy each other’s company
a. Let the kids toss the water balloons
b. Everybody is invited
4. My sermon for today…. “The preacher and the chicken man”
a. Will some how tie it together
5. But first a look at the secret to “becoming a person everybody loves”
II. Text – Phil. 2:1-2
A. Paul’s request…..v.1-2
1. Pastor Paul to his church in Philippi
2. “If you want to make my joy complete”
(1) If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, (2) then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
3. “If”…..v.1
a. First class conditional clause
1. “If—and it is true”
2. or “since”
b. “Since you are united with Christ….do the following”
4. “make my joy complete ”…..v.2
a. How can they fulfill his joy?
b. “be like-minded”….v.2
1. Think and act like Christ
2. “since you are united with Christ”….v.1
5. That was to be their purpose in life
a. As it should be ours
B. The importance of having a purpose in life
1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (a non-Christian) (Ogilvie, p.279)
Abraham Maslow, one of the giant thinkers of the 20th century, brought a radical shift of perspective to psychology and began an entirely new approach to therapy as he realized the importance of people finding purpose outside of themselves. Since Sigmund Freud, practitioners in the field of psychology and psychiatry were oriented toward the pathological. They studied sick and dysfunctional people.
Maslow took the opposite approach, studying people who were vitally alive and fully functioning, radiantly happy whole persons. In the process, he developed a theory called “self-actualization,” and described a composite person whom he designated “self-actualized.” In his search for the secret of self-actualization he wrote, “Without exception, I found that every person who was sincerely happy, radiantly alive, was living for a purpose or a cause beyond himself.”
2. Rick Warren and “The Purpose Driven Life”
a. You need a purpose or cause beyond yourself
1. “It’s not about you!”
b. We are on a great mission
c. We are part of an exclusive team
3. Your purpose is achieved by thinking and acting like Jesus
a. They are challenged in six key areas
b. Will produce great benefits
1. You will please God, and…
2. You will be loved by those closest to you
c. Your obituary will not be able to contain all the kind words people will have for you
6 words that will please God….and change your life
1. Encouragement (v.1)
(1) If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
a. “Para’ kle sis”
1. “To come alongside and help, counsel, exhort”
b. Christ is our encouragement
c. What an “encouragement” to be united with Christ
1. Salvation
2. His daily presence
d. If that means anything to you, then share that encouragement
e. Encourage the people God has place in your life
f. How to encourage
1. Encouraging words
101 WAYS TO ENCOURAGE A CHILD
WOW . WAY TO GO . SUPER . YOU’RE SPECIAL . OUTSTANDING . EXCELLENT . GREAT . GOOD . NEAT . WELL DONE . REMARKABLE . I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT . I’M PROUD OF YOU . FANTASTIC . SUPER STAR . NICE WORK . LOOKING GOOD . YOU’RE ON TOP OF IT . BEAUTIFUL . NOW YOU’RE FLYING . YOU’RE CATCHING ON . NOW YOU’VE GOT IT . YOU’RE INCREDIBLE . BRAVO . YOU’RE FANTASTIC . HURRAY FOR YOU . YOU’RE ON TARGET . YOU’RE ON YOUR WAY . HOW NICE . HOW SMART . GOOD JOB . THAT’S INCREDIBLE . HOT DOG . DYNAMITE . YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL . YOU’RE UNIQUE . NOTHING CAN STOP YOU NOW . GOOD FOR YOU . I LIKE YOU . YOU’RE A WINNER . REMARKABLE JOB . BEAUTIFUL WORK . SPECTACULAR . YOU’RE SPECTACULAR . YOU’RE DARLING . YOU’RE PRECIOUS . GREAT DISCOVERY . YOU’VE DISCOVERED THE SECRET . YOU FIGURED IT OUT . FANTASTIC JOB . HIP, HIP HURRAY . BINGO . MAGNIFICANT . MARVELOUS . TERRIFIC . YOU’RE IMPORTANT . PHENOMENAL . YOU’RE SENSATIONAL . SUPER WORK . CREATIVE JOB . SUPER JOB . FANTASTIC JOB . EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE . YOU’RE A REAL TROOPER . YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE . YOU ARE EXCITING . YOU LEARNED IT RIGHT . WHAT AN IMAGINATION . WHAT A GOOD LISTENER . YOU ARE FUN . YOU’RE GROWING UP . YOU TRIED HARD . YOU CARE . BEAUTIFUL SHARING . OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE . YOU’RE A GOOD FRIEND I TRUST YOU . YOU’RE IMPORTANT/. YOU MEAN A LOT TO ME . YOU MAKE ME HAPPY . YOU BELONG . YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND . YOU MAKE ME LAUGH . YOU BRIGHTEN MY DAY . I RESPECT YOU . YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME . THAT’S CORRECT . YOU’RE A JOY . YOU’RE A TREASURE . YOU’RE WONDERFUL . YOU’RE PERFECT . AWESOME . A+ JOB . YOU’RE A-OK-MY BUDDY . YOU MADE MY DAY . THAT’S THE BEST . A BIG HUG . A BIG KISS . SAY I LOVE YOU! .
a. Does your wife need to hear an encouraging word?
b. How about your husband?
c. Make a list of the people you know whose day will be brightened by a word of encouragement
d. Surprise somebody today with a phone call
2. Encouraging actions
a. Thank you cards and emails
*Norma’s Card
b. Caring for someone’s kids
c. Yard work
e. Help someone
f. Kids and “random acts of encouragement”
1. Clean the house
2. Make dinner
3. No fighting
4. Clean your room
g. Who do you know that needs encouragement right now?
1. Determine those in need and go to them
2. You will share a priceless gift that will cost you nothing
a. …and you will benefit as much as them
2. Comfort (v.1)
(1) If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love,
a. “If any comfort from His love”
1. “para mu’ thian”
2. Greek….. “portrays the Lord coming close and whispering words of gentle cheer or tender counsel in a believer’s ear”
b. He tenderly assures us of God’s love and compassion
c. In addition, He actually gives us someone called “The Comforter”
1. The Holy Spirit
2. Promised by Jesus
a. “I must leave but I will send the Comforter”
d. Every true believer possesses “The Comforter”
1. Rom. 8:9
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
2. Your body is actually the “Temple of the Holy Spirit”
3. And one of his primary tasks is to comfort you
e. The comforting role of the Holy Spirit includes
1. Guaranteeing your salvation
2. Praying for you without ceasing
3. Empowering you with a special spiritual gift
4. Helping you understand God’s word
5. Helping you resist temptation
6. …and comforting you in times of trouble
e. That should bring you comfort….now share it with somebody else
1. The little girl whose friend died
a. “I sat on her lap and we cried together”
2. Who do you know that needs comfort?
a. Has just lost a parent
b. Alone in a nursing home
c. Facing cancer
3. Can you think of at least one person you know who needs your comfort right now?
3. Friendship (v.1)
(1) If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit,
a. “fellowship”
1. “koinonia”
2. A deep “friendship”
b. The gift of friendship
1. Taking the time to listen
2. Searching for those without friends
3. Being there for them when they need you
c. Who do you know that needs a friend?
1. A church can be the loneliest place
a. People more comfortable with those they know
b. Standing alone in a crowd
c. Alone at a church picnic…
2. Who do you know who needs a friend?
a. Intentionally befriend them
d. The challenges of a growing church
1. Fellowship happens automatically in churches of 200
2. But it takes effort in a church our size
3. Why we stress small groups
e. What you can do each Sunday
1. Introduce yourself
2. “How long have you been attending?”
3. Ask them their name
*how often I’ve asked some of you
f. Our desire to get you involved more deeply
1. The Foyer
2. The Living Room
3. The Kitchen
4. Tenderness (v.1)
(1) If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
a. NKJV…. “affection”
b. God’s tenderness with us
1. Has every reason to deal severely with us at times
2. But he is like a gentle shepherd
c. Have you been “harsh” with somebody?
1. The impact on a child
2. Husbands who lack tenderness with their wife
d. People respond to tenderness
5. Compassion (v.1)
(1) If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
a. “if any tenderness and compassion”
1. “affection and mercy” NKJV
b. Jesus set the standard for compassion
1. Why He went to Calvary
c. Definitions
1. Justice makes sure that people get exactly what they deserve.
2. Grace gives them a blessing they don’t deserve.
3. Mercy withholds a punishment that they do deserve.
d. Show the mercy of God to others
e. Watchman Nee (Boice, p. 123-124)
Watchman Nee, the Chinese evangelist, tells of a Christian he once knew in China. He was a poor rice farmer, and his fields lay high on a mountain. Every day he pumped water into the paddies of new rice. And every morning he returned to find that an unbelieving neighbor who lived down the hill had opened the dikes surrounding the Christian’s field to let the water fill his own. For a while the Christian ignored the injustice but at last he became desperate. What should he do? His own rice would die if this continued. How long could it go on? The Christians met, prayed, and came up with this solution. The next day the Christian farmer rose early in the morning and first filled his neighbor’s fields; then he attended to his own. Watchman Nee tells how the neighbor subsequently became a Christian, his unbelief overcome by a genuine demonstration of a Christian’s love for others.
f. The compassion of Jesus
1. Mt. 9:35-38
(35) Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. (36) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. (38) Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
a. Jesus saw lost sinners
b. Literally…..“He was moved with compassion”
1. One word in Greek
2. He ached with pain
2. Why?
a. Saw what lay ahead for those without salvation
b. Hell
g. How do view people on the streets
1. They are not the enemy
2. Do you ache over their future?
a. You’ve been saved by His affection and mercy
b. Show it to others
3. You didn’t deserve it
a. No one does!
b. Salvation
6. Selflessness (v.3-4)
(3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (4) Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
a. Don’t be motivated by “selfish ambition or conceit”
1. But rather in humility
a. lowliness of mind”
2. “consider others better than yourself”
3. Giving consideration to others
a. The definition of true humility
b. Place the welfare of others ahead of your own
III. Summary
A. Six words that will change your life
Encouragement
Comfort
Friendship
Tenderness
Compassion
Selflessness
1. Will please God
2. Cause you to have an impact on the lives of others
3. Let me share an example
B. The preacher and the fried chicken
The evangelist Paul Rader on one occasion shared the story of a preacher and some fried chicken. Mr. Rader mentioned having known three ministers, all of whom came from a particular part of the South and were all characterized by a spirit of intense self-abnegation and kindly interest in the needs of others. To one of these Mr. Rader said, “I have known two other men from your part of the country and you have all commended yourselves to me by your unselfishness. How come you are all so much alike?”
Modestly the preacher answered, “If we have any such marks as you speak of, we owe our unselfishness to a circuit-rider. When we were just boys he used to come to our section every two weeks.”
He then went on to describe him as a lean, cadaverous-looking man of the Abraham Lincoln type who, on the first Sunday he preached in the country schoolhouse, gave a sermon in the morning and another in the afternoon. Between the services the ladies of the congregation served a picnic lunch in the open air. Great platters of fried chicken, ham, and other meats were laid out on gleaming white table cloths; these were surrounded by stacks of biscuits, corn pone, hard-boiled eggs, cakes and other delicacies. When all was ready, the assembled group sat down on the greensward to enjoy the repast.
A number of lively boys were always at the front, hoping to get nearest to the platter of chicken. But on this particular occasion, so great was the crowd, the boys were told to wait until their elders were all served. Angrily they went off back of a nearby shed and indulged in the pastime of shooting dice, in revenge for the unkind way they felt they had been treated. They appointed one lad as a watcher, to keep tab on the way the food was disappearing.
Ruefully, he told of piles of chicken disappearing as still more people kept pouring in. Suddenly, in great excitement he exclaimed, “Say look at that preacher! The old squirrel! He’s eaten all he could and now when he thinks no one sees him, he’s filling those big pockets in the tail of his long coat.” All looked angrily and saw it was indeed true.
Just then one of the women exclaimed, “Why, look at the preacher’s plate. You all are neglecting him. Hand over the fried chicken.” And she heaped his plate up with appetizing pieces; he nibbled a few minutes—then surreptitiously took two bandana handkerchiefs out of each breast pocket and, filling them with select pieces, stored them away.
Rising with the rest, the preacher backed off, as the boys thought, to hide his loot in his baggage. But after moving away from the crowd he turned, and hurried down to the back of the barn where the angry boys were waiting the second call to lunch. “Boys,” he exclaimed, “I was afraid they were forgetting you, so I saved a lot of the white meat and drumsticks for you.” Out came the four clean handkerchiefs and he passed the tender morsels around. The boys were instantly captured. Amazed, they eagerly accepted the proffered dainties.
“This was characteristic of that preacher,” said Mr. Rader’s friend. “We felt we had found a real friend—a man who loved other people better than he loved himself. He could do anything with us. He led us all to Christ during the years of his ministry among us, sent several out as foreign missionaries, and we three into the ministry at home. It was the unselfish spirit he manifested that gripped our hearts and won our confidence; so that his sermons reached our consciences and brought us to know his Savior as ours.”