- Think True thoughts.
- Think Honorable thoughts.
- Think Just thoughts.
- Think Pure thoughts.
- Think Lovely thoughts.
- Think Commendable thoughts.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:01-00:02
What do you think?
00:06-00:13
What do you think? All right, um, what do you think?
00:17-00:25
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Yeah, let's get in the truth.
00:26-00:35
Amen. As long as you promise not to tell anyone, I'm going to tell you a little secret.
00:35-00:49
At the pastor retreat, we had sessions and meetings and stuff in the morning, and then they gave us kind of a break in the afternoon, and then there was an evening session, And I skipped one.
00:50-00:51
All right, don't tell.
00:52-00:56
But Aaron and I snuck away and went to Universal.
00:59-01:04
And we went there several years ago and just really enjoyed it.
01:04-01:09
And it was literally 15 minutes away and we just couldn't resist.
01:12-01:15
But you know, you know what those places are called?
01:16-01:23
like Universal and Disney World and Kennywood and Cedar Point.
01:23-01:24
What do you call those places?
01:25-01:27
Amusement parks, right.
01:27-01:30
Those are called amusement parks.
01:31-01:33
Do you ever think about that?
01:33-01:37
What does amuse mean?
01:38-01:39
What does that word mean?
01:42-01:43
Well, muse means what?
01:45-01:46
Amuse means think.
01:47-01:52
And when you put an A in front of a word, when you put that prefix, what does that do to the word?
01:53-01:54
It negates it, doesn't it?
01:55-01:57
So amuse means what?
02:01-02:01
Come on, shout it out.
02:02-02:03
Amuse means what?
02:04-02:05
You're not thinking, right?
02:05-02:06
You're not thinking.
02:07-02:08
So here's a park.
02:10-02:11
Here are several parks.
02:11-02:19
Here are millions and millions and millions of dollars spent to build a place where we can go to avoid thinking?
02:23-02:39
Well, your brain, all three pounds of it-- some of us a little more, some of us a lot less-- has more information in it than the Library of Congress.
02:41-02:42
17 million volumes.
02:43-02:43
Did you realize that?
02:46-02:48
Take all the information in the Library of Congress.
02:48-02:51
You have more information than that in your brain.
02:54-02:58
I see some parents looking towards their children now.
02:59-02:59
Use it.
03:01-03:01
Right?
03:02-03:06
Psychologists say that we have 10,000 thoughts per day.
03:08-03:10
Honestly, I would have guessed more than that.
03:11-03:13
I'm not a psychologist though.
03:14-03:19
And you're like, well, when we're talking about thinking and thoughts, this is really a psychology thing, right?
03:19-03:20
Well, wrong.
03:21-03:24
God's word says much about your thinking.
03:26-03:29
God's word says much about your thinking.
03:29-03:36
And I've actually done sermon series on thinking and was tempted to do so again.
03:38-03:40
But let me just share this with you, for example.
03:42-03:44
You know, what does the Bible say about thinking?
03:44-03:46
What does the Bible say about your mind?
03:46-04:00
One of the most important teachings in the Bible, the teaching that every single preacher in the Bible, every sermon started with this concept is to repent, right?
04:01-04:03
You see it all through the Bible, don't you?
04:03-04:03
Repent.
04:04-04:04
Repent.
04:04-04:05
What does that mean?
04:07-04:13
I think sometimes we think that means we just change our actions, but that's not what repent means.
04:14-04:17
Repent literally means to change your mind.
04:19-04:26
Speaking for myself, you know, there was a time that I was in sin and loving it.
04:27-04:30
At the same time, while it was destroying me.
04:34-04:39
The call to repentance was for me to stop and rethink about what I was doing.
04:39-04:40
What am I doing?
04:42-04:48
It's thinking the way God thinks, it's looking at my sin the way God looks at my sin.
04:49-04:50
This isn't great.
04:51-04:52
This is wickedness.
04:52-04:53
This is destructive.
04:55-04:58
So repent means to change your mind.
05:00-05:04
The question is, Christians, is that just a one time event in your life?
05:06-05:08
Like, yeah, I repented back in 1995.
05:09-05:16
Well, actually, no, the Bible says Luke 3 8 to bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
05:17-05:18
So hear me.
05:20-05:27
Yes, it is a one time event, but it's a one time event that is continuous for the rest of your life, meaning this.
05:28-05:30
Change your mind about sin.
05:32-05:37
And when sinful thoughts enter your mind again, you keep getting back on track.
05:39-05:42
This is what the Bible calls renewing your mind, right?
05:43-05:49
Romans chapter two, verse two, you know, do not be conformed to the image of the world, but be what?
05:50-05:57
Be transformed by the well, how do we get transformed by the renewing of your mind?
06:01-06:21
Ephesians chapter 4, verse 23, the Apostle Paul writes, "Be renewed in the spirit of your minds." We still live in fallen flesh, we live in a fallen world, so it's easy to get off track sometimes upstairs.
06:23-06:31
You know, when we first came to Christ and we experienced the joy of forgiveness and we're like, you know what, I'm going to forgive people.
06:31-06:39
And then a year, two years, five years down the road, we have a fallout with somebody and we say, I will never forgive that person for that.
06:42-06:43
Now, you need to repent.
06:43-06:50
You need to change your mind again or still, because your thinking has gotten off track.
06:52-06:53
Change your mind.
06:56-06:59
Let God's Word and God's Spirit renew your mind.
07:03-07:11
So not only do we still live in fallen flesh, we live in a fallen world, but the other problem we have is we have a storehouse of sin in our brains.
07:11-07:22
I have 20 years worth of, you know, history, a big head start in life of stockpiling sinful thoughts and sinful images.
07:22-07:30
And as I told you last week, we need to check up from the neck up because we're tore up from the floor up.
07:31-07:31
Right.
07:34-07:36
So we're talking about your mind.
07:37-07:38
We're talking about your mind.
07:39-07:43
And you're like right now, you know, I hear what you're saying, but we're kind of in church right now.
07:43-07:47
And really I'm trying to get to a spiritual place right now.
07:47-07:49
So why are we talking about the mind?
07:49-07:51
Do we really need to talk about the mind?
07:51-07:53
Like I said, that's sort of a psychology thing.
07:54-07:57
Do we really need to be talking about these kinds of things in church?
08:00-08:02
Well, let me offer you this.
08:05-08:08
What goes in your car affects the way it drives, correct?
08:09-08:13
Is that true or not true? What you put in your car affects the way it drives, right?
08:16-08:34
If you don't believe me, go fill your gas tank with syrup and see how your car drives. What goes in your car affects how it drives. What goes in your body affects your health. Now, I don't need to like ask the general audience, we have an expert.
08:34-08:58
Is that true? What goes in your body affects your health, right? I know when I eat healthy I feel good, and when I have a milkshake I feel terrible. But what goes in your body affects your health. What goes in your computer affects the programs that it runs, right?
09:02-09:07
We're going to see from God's word here this morning that what goes in your mind affects your attitude and your actions.
09:11-09:23
Last week. We were talking about peace and the apostle Paul was teaching us, do you want peace? Well, you've got to ditch some things, you've got to ditch conflict, you've You've got to ditch negativity.
09:24-09:25
You've got to ditch unreasonableness.
09:25-09:26
You've got to ditch anxiety.
09:28-09:30
You're going to cast these things off.
09:30-09:31
So what should go in my mind?
09:32-09:33
You know, I can't think about nothing.
09:34-09:39
I've had this conversation with my wife, probably 10,000 times.
09:39-09:40
Like, what are you thinking about?
09:40-09:41
And she says, nothing.
09:42-09:44
And my response is always, that's impossible.
09:45-09:46
You can't think about nothing.
09:47-09:47
It's impossible.
09:47-09:50
You're thinking about something at all times.
09:54-09:57
So what we're going to look at today, really just one verse.
09:58-10:00
These things are the other side of the coin.
10:00-10:09
You know, Paul says, "Get rid of the conflict, get rid of the negativity, the unreasonableness, the anxiety." So what should I be thinking about?
10:11-10:15
Well, let's look at verses 8 and 9, and really we're going to camp out in verse 8.
10:17-10:53
Paul writes, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, If there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
10:55-11:06
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.
11:08-11:18
I drew a line in my Bible from verse 7 to verse 9 because in verse 7 he says, You can have the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.
11:18-11:22
And in verse nine, he says, you also have the God of peace.
11:28-11:30
So what goes on in that head of yours?
11:33-11:34
What are you thinking?
11:36-11:43
And for many of you, you might be struggling with, you know, life just seems so rotten and life stinks.
11:43-11:49
and I've been having such a hard time, and I hate everyone, and I hate everything, and I just can't seem to get it together.
11:50-11:53
The problem is happening between your ears.
11:54-11:55
It is.
11:57-11:58
And I want you to write this down.
11:58-12:02
Before we get to our, we're gonna look at the six things that he kind of lays out here for us.
12:03-12:06
But I want you to write this down at the top of your outline.
12:06-12:08
I am in charge of my mind.
12:08-12:09
I want you to write that down.
12:09-12:11
I am in charge of my mind.
12:14-12:16
You control what you think about.
12:19-12:21
I am in charge of my mind.
12:27-12:37
Some of you aren't convinced, but you know, I took a whole class on this, about being in charge of your mind.
12:37-12:39
I took a whole class on it.
12:41-12:42
It's called Lamaze.
12:44-12:45
Aaron was there too.
12:47-12:49
Otherwise that would have been weird.
12:52-12:53
But do you know what they teach you at Lamaze?
12:53-12:55
At least the class I went to.
12:56-12:57
Do you know what's up with that breathing?
12:57-12:58
Do you know why you do that breathing?
12:59-13:00
Do you know why?
13:02-13:04
You're like, yeah, because your lungs need oxygen.
13:05-13:07
Yeah, but there's another reason you do the breathing.
13:07-13:07
Do you know why?
13:09-13:11
Yes, it's a distraction, right?
13:12-13:25
It was (whistles) at least that was the pattern that we had and Erin had this whole thing about like the pattern tracing down like my face, like she had this whole thing.
13:25-13:49
Anyways, it was a distraction because you're thinking about this rhythm and pattern of breathing and thinking about, okay, we did the three short ones and then the long one and then you go back to the three shorts and the long three shorts and a long..." And you're thinking about that so much that it's supposed to take your mind off the fact that a human being is coming out of you.
13:52-14:10
And one of the exercises we did, this is... I pray for my wife, but one of the exercises that we did was the person that was teaching the class says, "Okay, I I want you to close your eyes and you're going to create a place in your mind that you're going to go to.
14:11-14:16
And this place is a garden. And this place has a wall.
14:16-14:22
And she was just going on and on and on about the flowers and the sounds of the birds and the sun.
14:23-14:25
And it just... she was going on and on.
14:25-14:36
And then finally I said, "The flies in my garden are terrible." And I got some laughs and a dirty look from Aaron.
14:37-14:45
But the whole point of that whole exercise was, you're having a baby and it's painful.
14:46-15:01
So what we're going to do as much as we can is to put some tricks in your magic hat, so to speak, that you can get your mind off of the incredible pain.
15:02-15:06
But the point of all that is this, I'm in charge of my mind.
15:09-15:10
I'm in charge of my mind.
15:10-15:12
So what should I be thinking about?
15:12-15:14
This is all straight from the text.
15:14-15:18
Really like any one of you could come up here and preach this message.
15:18-15:20
It's all right there in the text.
15:22-15:25
So number one, what should I be thinking about?
15:26-15:27
I think true thoughts.
15:28-15:29
Think true thoughts.
15:35-15:40
Racing through your mind should only be thoughts that are true.
15:42-15:43
Like where do I go to for that?
15:44-15:52
Well, John chapter 17, verse 17, Jesus said, "Thy word is truth." The Bible tells us that the truth is in Christ.
15:52-15:55
John 14, six Ephesians 421.
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Jesus Christ is truth.
16:01-16:05
So the first thing the apostle Paul says, racing through your mind should be truth.
16:06-16:21
And isn't it interesting when God wanted to give us a revelation of himself, of his character, of his mercy, of his judgment, of the condition of the human race, of history, of future history.
16:21-16:24
And what form did he provide that?
16:25-16:27
You know, he could have given us a DVD, right?
16:29-16:39
God's like, here's my revelation to man, available on Blu-ray, and you just pop it in and you sit down and watch it, but he didn't do that.
16:40-16:42
God could have said, here's a CD.
16:43-16:47
You know, when you're in the car, you can kind of listen to it, and it's, he didn't do that either.
16:47-16:51
What did God give us to reveal himself?
16:52-17:04
What did he give us? He gave us a book, right? And why did he give us a book? The reason he gave us a book is when you read a book you need to use your mind.
17:05-17:23
You read the words. It's objective outside truth that you you read and you think about and you meditate upon and you examine. And he gave us a book to engage our minds. So my encouragement to you is have a plan to get in the book.
17:26-17:45
Get the word in you. Be preaching the word to yourself. You know, that's the problem that I have. I only get to preach to you for about 40 minutes a week. Do you know who's preaching to you for another hundred and sixty seven hours in 20 minutes. You are.
17:47-17:56
You are you are constantly preaching to yourself, did you know that you ever stop to listen? What's the content of your sermon?
17:58-18:00
All this little sin that I'm hiding, it's not that bad.
18:01-18:02
I'm not going to get caught.
18:03-18:13
I'm not really hurting anyone with this little sinful secret thing that I have hidden, this little flirtatious affair that I've had going on, it's not really hurting anyone.
18:13-18:15
And, you know, I deserve this.
18:15-18:18
And, you know, things have been rough lately.
18:18-18:21
I kind of deserve this little release and I can handle it.
18:21-18:22
It's not going to get out of control.
18:23-18:25
Your preaching lies to yourself.
18:29-18:36
Instead, when you get this and this, your sermons take on a different tone.
18:39-18:45
"This is not who I am in Christ. In Christ, I am a child of God. I'm dead to sin.
18:46-18:55
Sin is not my master. I should hate my sin because it killed my Savior." Those are the sermons that start coming out when you get this and here and in here.
18:58-19:01
Every thought, every thought doesn't line up with God's Word.
19:04-19:05
Does this thought echo His truth?
19:06-19:09
You need to take every thought, you know the Bible tells us to take every thought captive.
19:14-19:15
We think horrible things sometimes.
19:17-19:18
I think horrible things sometimes.
19:19-19:20
Let's be honest.
19:22-19:26
Have you ever thought of something that you were like ashamed that that thought ever entered your mind?
19:26-19:30
That's happened to me. Anybody else? Just me and Taylor? Must be a preacher thing.
19:31-19:35
Okay, thank you. You're like, "I'm embarrassed that I even thought that.
19:36-20:01
I can't believe that went through my mind." That's why the Bible says, "Take every thought captive." You know, when you say things like, "I'm completely useless. I'd be better off dead." That's a lie, man. The Bible says that you were fearfully and wonderfully made.
20:02-20:07
The Bible says that in Christ, God has good works prepared beforehand that you should walk in them.
20:10-20:12
You're ignoring your big why.
20:14-20:16
And you've been preaching to yourself, why bother?
20:20-20:28
For this one, my wife is just on my nerves and that raises your mind or my spouse, you know.
20:30-20:37
He's just been on my nerves, I can't even stand to look at him or she is such a nag, I am so sick of her.
20:40-20:43
Preaching God's word to yourself says, you know, I'm commanded to love her.
20:44-20:45
I am commanded to love her.
20:46-20:51
My love for my wife should emulate the love that Jesus Christ has for His church.
20:52-21:08
And wives say, "My love for my husband should be like the love that the church has for Jesus Christ." How about this one? "My children are rebellious." "My children just aren't going to get it. They're rebellious, they're wayward.
21:10-21:12
I've failed as a parent.
21:13-21:15
I've completely failed as a parent.
21:18-21:19
You're preaching lies to yourself again.
21:21-21:28
Instead, what you need to be preaching from God's word, God gave me the job of discipline and correction and instruction.
21:29-21:30
God gave me that job.
21:30-21:31
And yet I don't do it perfectly.
21:32-21:33
I don't do anything perfectly.
21:35-21:36
But I press on.
21:40-21:48
I'm going to do the best I can to do the job of raising my children because God gave this job to me.
21:50-21:55
And yes, I'm going to rely on Him and I'm going to get other people to help me, but it's my job.
21:58-22:01
Now, speaking of, here's a sermon that we preach often to ourselves.
22:01-22:04
I hate my job. I hate my job.
22:06-22:09
My job stinks and I hate my boss and my.
22:11-22:24
The Bible says I should work as if I'm working for Christ himself and I could go on and on and on and on and on, but you see, so often the things that run through our mind are contrary to what runs through God's word.
22:26-22:30
So the first thing is think true thoughts, think true thoughts, is that true?
22:30-22:32
Is that true? Is that true?
22:33-22:33
Think true thoughts.
22:34-22:40
Secondly, it's right there in your text, what's the H word think?
22:42-22:45
Honorable thoughts, honorable thoughts.
22:48-22:52
Right down the word gracious, really, that's a good synonym for this.
22:52-22:53
What's it mean, honorable thoughts?
22:53-22:58
It means gracious, gracious air on the side of grace.
22:59-22:59
Right.
23:02-23:08
It's taking the high road. It's asking yourself, "Is this the highest option?" Do you remember the fad?
23:09-23:13
Oh gosh, must have been like 15 years ago now.
23:13-23:17
How many people remember the WWJD bracelet fad?
23:18-23:27
It was at the point where you're like, "Your salvation is seriously in question if you're not wearing a WWJD." Is there anybody wearing one today?
23:30-23:33
How many people were rocking them though back in the day?
23:33-23:35
Okay, see? It's kind of a fad.
23:36-23:37
You know what the sad thing is?
23:38-23:41
Like the bracelets went out of style and so did the concept.
23:46-23:47
What would Jesus do?
23:49-23:53
And see, that's what he's talking about here, thinking honorable thoughts, thinking gracious thoughts.
23:53-23:55
How would Jesus think about this?
23:56-24:03
You know, that guy at work that has been just harassing you has blatantly insulted you in front of your other co-workers.
24:04-24:07
How would Jesus handle that? What would He think about that?
24:11-24:13
Somebody lashes out at you.
24:15-24:19
Somebody's gossiping behind your back. Somebody's making false accusations.
24:23-24:29
And you say, "Well, I could defend myself. I could retaliate against my enemies.
24:29-24:37
I could use social media to write messages about them publicly." You know, those little veiled messages, like, "Oh, you know I'm talking about you.
24:38-24:49
I'm gonna update my Facebook status." And to the rest of the world, it's gonna look a little cryptic, but Derek Edwards, you know I'm talking about you in this, pal.
24:51-24:53
Yeah, could you see Jesus doing that?
24:54-24:58
How many people could totally see Jesus tweeting stuff like that?
24:58-25:01
No, absolutely not. It's immature.
25:02-25:05
And that's what he's talking about here. Think honorable thoughts.
25:06-25:08
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable.
25:10-25:30
So easy to get caught up in the emotions and forget this basic foundational truth of the gospel, And it is, we've already studied it twice in Philippians, "I am not a citizen of this world, and I shouldn't act like I am." That's why Paul tells us in Philippians, "We're citizens of where? Heaven.
25:31-25:33
We're citizens of heaven, act like it." That's what he said.
25:34-25:37
Just imagine all the stuff that's happening in heaven right now.
25:37-25:39
Do you think there's gossip happening in heaven right now?
25:40-25:45
No. Do you think there's retaliation, revenge, vindictiveness, anger, hostility?
25:45-25:48
No. None of that stuff's happening in heaven.
25:49-25:51
I shouldn't be letting that stuff roll around in my head.
25:52-25:55
I'm a citizen of heaven. I should act like it. I should think like it.
25:57-26:00
So, number three, think just thoughts.
26:00-26:04
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just.
26:06-26:10
Just literally means right, meaning righteous.
26:13-26:19
God has a standard, His standard is perfection. He has given us His perfection in Jesus Christ.
26:21-26:28
Thinking just thoughts means thinking about the right things, thinking about specifically how to do what is right.
26:31-26:38
You know, don't think that just thoughts means that like justice, like what's the best way for me to get even with Him.
26:41-26:43
Just thoughts, that's thinking this way.
26:44-26:46
"Okay, I have decisions I have to make.
26:49-26:51
What's the right thing to do?
26:52-26:53
What's the right thing to do?
26:53-26:59
Not what's going to make me feel the best, not what's going to get me in the least amount of trouble.
27:00-27:04
It's what is right." And look at this next one.
27:06-27:11
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just." And then he says, whatever is what?
27:13-27:13
Shout it out.
27:15-27:15
Shout it out.
27:15-27:16
Come on.
27:17-27:20
Pure, yes, pure, think pure thoughts.
27:22-27:23
What does pure mean?
27:25-27:27
Like, seriously, what does that word even mean anymore?
27:29-27:33
The question is, is this morally faithful?
27:38-27:42
Does this line up with God's design for marriage and sexuality?
27:46-27:47
Think pure thoughts.
27:49-27:53
In 2013, I don't even know what I don't even know how to communicate this.
27:56-27:59
I don't think people even have a grasp on what purity is.
28:01-28:09
And the church is trying to hold the line, right, you have the silver ring thing, and we've done purity classes and things of that nature.
28:11-28:14
Do you think the world at large really gives a rip about purity?
28:14-28:15
Do you think?
28:20-28:22
Anything goes.
28:22-28:25
That's how it is for the world for sexuality.
28:25-28:27
Anything goes, right?
28:28-28:29
Whatever makes you happy.
28:34-28:42
Well, let me ask you, when it comes to issues of sexuality, where do you draw the line?
28:43-28:49
As in, let's talk about what's right and what's wrong.
28:49-28:51
Let's talk about that for a second.
28:51-28:52
What's right and what's wrong?
28:52-28:54
Because we live in a day that there is no right or wrong.
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So what's right and what's wrong?
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All right.
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How about marriage, right or wrong? Marriage between a man and a woman?
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I think most people would say that's right.
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What about cohabitation? What about living together without being married?
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Is that right or wrong?
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What about sexting? We're not like really in a relationship, but we send impure messages to each other. Is that right or wrong?
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What about adultery? Is that right or wrong? Is it ever right? Is it always wrong?
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What about homosexuality, right or wrong?
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What about pedophilia, right or wrong?
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See the problem?
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When we decide where we're going to draw the line, we are all over the place, right?
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You'll have people that'll say, "You know what, pedophilia, that's definitely wrong.
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Pedophilia is definitely wrong.
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But homosexuality really isn't wrong, because it's just between two loving adults that care about each other.
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So that's on the right side.
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And then you have people, well, pedophilia wrong, but homosexuality's okay, and adultery's wrong, because you're betraying.
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The problem is, here's the problem.
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What in the world makes us think that we have the right to draw the line? I just don't get that. Like, we're going to vote for the definition of marriage? Like, I'm sorry, I thought that was already established. I thought God already defined that. I didn't realize that God appointed a committee to reevaluate this marriage thing to see if we needed to change it. Who do we think we are? I'll tell you where the line is. The line is where God drew the line. And God says marriage is for one man and one woman for one lifetime. That's right. Well, what goes in the wrong category? Somebody tell me. Everything else goes in the wrong category. Think pure thoughts. Think pure thoughts. That's why pornography is such a danger. There was a day that you had to find it in certain stores or certain gas stations and it was only limited where it was available. Now it is just one mouse click away.
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And it gets images in our minds that have no business being in our minds.
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I heard one preacher, a preacher friend of mine say this.
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I don't know if it was original with him, but this Baptist pastor friend of mine said, "Sex is like fire.
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"In the right place, it's beautiful.
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in the wrong place is destructive, right?
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Fire in the fireplace is fantastic.
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It heats the house.
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It's warm.
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It's beautiful.
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Fire on the middle of the living room floor will burn your house down.
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But we live in sexual anarchy.
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Pure thinking is this-- My affection, my physical attraction, my thoughts are reserved for my spouse or my future spouse.
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Pure thoughts.
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Every time I marry a couple, I tell them this phrase, "Sex and marriage is God's thing. Do God's thing God's way." That's all I got.
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I didn't invent marriage. Some pastor or theologian didn't invent this concept of marriage.
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God invented sex and marriage.
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It's God's thing to do it God's way and think of it God's way.
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That's why he says whatever is pure.
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Hey, two more, think lovely thoughts, think lovely thoughts.
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This is the only time this word is used in the New Testament, it means pleasing, attractive, literally it means it means friendly towards.
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It means friendly towards.
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The best way to define it is to give you the antonyms, really.
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There are many ugly things that we think about.
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Envy and violence and hatred.
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Right? Envy.
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"Oh, I can't stand that guy. I can't stand that.
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I don't know why everybody thinks that guy is so great.
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I think he's an idiot." That's an ugly thought.
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You know, violence.
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I would just like to punch that guy right in the throat.
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Man, I'd like five minutes with that guy.
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Can't stand him.
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Violence, that's an ugly thought.
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Hatred, hatred, I will never forgive that person.
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I hope their life is miserable.
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I hope they burn in hell.
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Those are hateful thoughts, right?
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Hateful and they're ugly.
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And see this word actually means the opposite.
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We're thinking friendly thoughts.
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We're not thinking of things that are stirring up a part of me that doesn't need stirred.
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Think lovely thoughts, friendly towards, positive, not negative.
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Do you get that?
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And the last one, he says, "Whatever is commendable." Whatever is commendable.
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This literally means well-sounding words.
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Well-sounding words.
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I think sarcasm is hilarious, and that can be a problem.
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Because have you ever been around that guy?
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You know what I'm talking about?
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Have you ever been around that guy?
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The guy that has to give a sarcastic comment about everything.
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Anybody know that guy?
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You've worked with that guy?
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You have an uncle that's that guy?
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You know what I'm talking about?
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You can't say anything that they don't have to cut it up, make fun of it, make their little sarcastic comment.
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I never wanna be that guy.
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Don't let me be that guy.
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Ripping on everything.
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It gets old.
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And here he's talking about well-sounding words.
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I don't have to be the comedian.
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I don't have to express my opinion and commentary on every matter.
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Instead of thinking, how can I make a joke out of this?
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Commendable thoughts is thinking, how can I be an encouragement to this person?
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How can I be an encouragement to this person?
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At this point, you're like, you know what?
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Can you just stop?
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This is a lot of stuff.
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You're right, it is.
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You're like, how about you just like stop here and sum it up for me?
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Fantastic, here it is.
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He says, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
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That's a summary statement, really.
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That's really all that is.
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It's a summary statement.
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Excellence.
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What does that mean?
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Brace yourself.
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Are you sitting down?
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Excellence means human goodness.
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It's a word that the apostle Paul like never uses.
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Why?
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Because he talks about how by nature, we're fallen and sinful and dead in our sin.
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He doesn't often talk about inherent goodness in people.
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That's what this word means.
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It means, it literally means this.
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Excellence is something that the whole human race would regard as good.
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Does that make sense?
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the whole human race would regard it as good.
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Can you think of anything?
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Oh, I got one, a baby, a baby.
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Well, isn't that something like the whole human race would be like, babies are great.
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For the person that says otherwise, they're a monster, honestly, they're a monster.
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And I don't mean like a Sesame Street monster, I mean like a real nasty monster.
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Babies are fantastic.
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That's something like the whole world rallies around, right?
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Or like puppies, right?
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The whole world rallies around puppies.
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He's not just saying, think about babies and puppies.
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What he's saying is, think about things that are good.
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Think about things that are good.
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And then he says, praiseworthy.
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That's really the icing on the cake here, right?
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Which the icing is always the best part.
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Praiseworthy means this, is it vertical?
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Is it vertical?
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Meaning, is this something people think about in heaven?
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And as people are standing around the throne of Jesus Christ and shouting adoration of praise, is this something that's running through their minds in heaven, praiseworthy?
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He says, think about these things.
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And that phrase comes from an Old Testament concept, which comes from a, which actually comes from a farm animal concept.
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It's ruminate.
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Think about these things means ruminate.
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Do you know what ruminate is?
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You know what ruminate is?
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Ruminate is this.
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How many stomachs does a cow have?
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Four, right?
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Don't cows have four stomachs?
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Two?
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We gonna vote?
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I think it's four.
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More than one, thank you.
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See, thank you, Mark.
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And what a way to bring peace back.
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Somebody Google that, but not now because we're like in sermon time.
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A cow has more than one stomach, I think we can all agree with.
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Reason being is when it eats grass, it doesn't just like eat it and pass it through.
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What does a cow do?
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A cow eats it.
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Somebody wanna come up and do a demonstration as to what happens next?
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He eats it and then he brings it back up again.
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Like that.
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And then what does he do?
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He chews on it.
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Swallow.
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Chews on it some more.
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That is a really gross picture, but it is a really good picture because this is what we are to do with God's word.
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As we read it and memorize portions of it, the reason we do that is to get it gone in our heads that we're constantly chewing on it.
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We're constantly chewing on it.
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That's what we do in sermon prep, isn't it, Taylor?
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We get that passage of scripture and we like, our goal is to tattoo it onto our brains the whole week.
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So we are constantly meditating on God's word.
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And you don't have to be preparing for a servant to do that wherever God has you in his word.
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Constantly be thinking about it.
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Why does God's word say this?
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And what does it mean?
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And I wonder why he used this word and why he didn't say it this way.
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And what all does that include?
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And how can I reflect this to my family?
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And what does this mean at my workplace?
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And that's meditating on God's word.
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That's getting it in and bringing it up and chewing on it.
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Ruminate, Paul says, think about these things.
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You know, there's very little you can control in life.
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You can't control your circumstances.
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Many times there are health issues that you can't control.
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You can't control the choices that other people make.
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You can't control when wrongs are done to you, but there is one thing that you always have control over, and that is what you are going to focus on in your mind.
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So what do you think?
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Let's pray.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Philippians 4:8-9
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.