Stop Complaining!

A customer was bothering the waiter in a restaurant. First, he asked that the air conditioning be turned up because he was hot, then he asked that it be turned down because he was too cold, and so on for about half an hour.
Surprisingly, the waiter was very patient - he walked back and forth and never once got angry. So finally, a second customer asked him why he didn’t throw out the pest. “Oh I don’t really mind said the waiter with a smile, “We don’t even have an air conditioner”.
He didn’t like the casserole
And he didn’t like my cake.
My biscuits were too hard.
Not, like his mother use to make.

I didn’t perk the coffee right
He didn’t like the stew,
I didn’t mend his socks
The way his Mother used to do.

I pondered for answer
And I was looking for a clue.
Then I turned around and smacked him.
Like his Mother used to do.

As I was studying this week in my office I came across this statistic - the North American home produces 1.7 children.


Adding to the discontentment is the media’s way of creating “fantasies” and labeling them as reality. They attempt to create such lies by “plastic surgery” they are so busy promoting what is not believable and presenting it as reachable. A modern teacher suggests that a part of this comes from small families in which fewer children demand more attention of their parents. Combine this with affluence and materialism and the situation then produces selfish children who are never content with what they have. Instead of bending to the needs of the families, as what would happen in larger families, these children demand that families bend their need to them. Absent parents, who spend all of their time avoiding their families, try quick fixes for their children demands, and usually give the child what they want until their hearts are satisfied.
You ask the average high school teen what they want to do with they finish grade 12 and they answer, “I don’t know”; they have had life handed to them - why change now? You ask the average college student what they want with life when they finish college, and they answer, “I don’t know”. The reason is that all throughout life they have had their needs met by their mom and dad, and they still do not want the responsibility.

Discontentment also breeds another characteristic of our time: that being impatience. Among the seemingly endless causes of impatience and often hostility are long lines, interruptions, talkative people, rude people, high prices, traffic jams, inconsiderate drivers, and crying babies-and as I name those off, some of you are probably getting frustrated just thinking of them.

Add to the fact that 3/4 of the world’s income goes to 1/5 of the world’s population and you begin to see people get uncomfortable in their seats - desperately biting their tongue trying to be careful not to complain.

We are breeding a Generation Of Complainers.

I believe that Mark Twain may have said it best; “Don't complain and talk about all your problems - 80 percent of people don't care and the other 20 percent will think you deserve them.”
You can read of Paul’s love for the church at Philippi in the fact that he refers to them as “my beloved”. Like a father who wants the best for his children, so the Apostle wants what is best for these believers. That is why he is going to remind us that when we find ourselves in a situation that seems too difficult to handle and the circumstance seems to be dragging us down- we need to refuse to complain because our reactions are showing.

Refuse to complain because your Reactions are showing; and God has given you the Resources in order to live a life that honors Jesus Christ.


A) As a Child of God you have the presence of the Holy Spirit working in your life

B) As a Child of God you have the power Holy Spirit working in your life

Now, after giving us the resources He gives us responsibility. Responsibility can be a scary word if it is not looked at from the right perspective.

PHILIPPIANS 2:14 THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BELIEVER

Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without complaining and disputing”

A) You must realize that your Complaining might be coming from a Heart of Addiction

B) You must realize that your Complaining might be coming from a Heart of Arrogance

Ask God to take away your complaining heart and watch as He replaces that with a heart that produces something beautiful in a dark world.

PHILIPPIANS 2:15-16 THE RESULTS OF THE BELIEVER

A) You must realize that as Child of God Your Conduct Is Showing

As in Paul’s day, the church does not exist near the crooked and perverse world, but in the midst of it; and as believers, our conduct is to be “blameless”, “harmless”, “without fault”, and “shining as lights”.

“Blameless”…

A life of purity…without defect

“Harmless”…

A life of integrity…unmixed

“Without Fault”…

A life that is without reproach…this was used as a description of lambs offered upon a sacrifice

“Shining As Lights”…

A life that shines in a dark world…bold, blazing, light-giving stars

Conduct- What I Do
Character—Who I Am/What Others Say About Me

B) You must realize that as a Child of God Your Character Is Showing
The phrase, “holding fast the word of life” means this: holding out or offering something for others to take.

A life that is filled with complaining is not attractive! No nonbeliever is going to be drawn to Christ through a life that is filled with discouragement, bitterness and complaining.

We have the Word of life…learn to rejoice over it...and from our rejoicing, it will be attractive to a world that is without hope!

When we begin to see the results of living a life that pleases God we will begin to rejoice. We will begin to see something that there is a shortage of---a joyful life. A life that once was filled with bitterness turned to sweetness, a life that was filled with arrogance to a heart filled with joy, a heart filled with complaint to a heart filled with contentment.

PHILIPPIANS 2:16 THE REJOICING OF THE BELIEVER

Do all of this...why?? So we can rejoice!

Want to experience a life stuffed with joy…then stop complaining…and remember that your reactions are showing!!!
At six weeks of age, Fanny Crosby was blinded, but even as a youngster she determined not to be confined by the chains of darkness. In time, she became a mighty force for God through her hymns and Gospel songs. The secret is this: when you have the single mind, you look on your circumstances as God-given opportunities for the furtherance of the Gospel; and you rejoice at what God is going to do instead of complaining about what God did not do.
Are you living a life that is characterized by complaining or joy?
David wrote; “O Lord our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength Because of thine enemies, That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, And hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, Yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth”! Psalm 8
Life is full of questions, what am I going to do with my life? Will the kids turn out alright? What will happen to the economy? What about my job?

Jesus said the main concern of the crowd was what shall we eat? What shall we drink? And what shall we wear? Most TV commercials strive to answer these questions for us. Half of the commercials promote foods and the other half promote the medication to get over the food we ate.
Spiritual Questions: Who is God – What is He like? When will I die? – Where will I go? – What will it be like?
Philosophical Questions – Can God create a rock too big for Him to pick up? Or if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it fall, does it still make a noise?
We might say I am here to accomplish all that I can in this life. I need to get all, do all, and learn all I can. No, this is only a temporary school room for eternity. This life is like a cup of water cast into the ocean. Most of us are focusing on what’s in the cup and not the ocean. We are here to prepare for eternity...

The True Formula for Life:
John Wooden who has won many college basketball championships while at UCLA was asked what it takes to make a winning team.
THREE THINGS
1 Get players in the right condition (salvation)
2 Teach them the fundamentals (discipleship)
3 Teach them to play together as a team (fellowship)

Apply these to our spiritual life. That is why it is so important to be part of the right kind of church where the Word of God is taught to see lives challenged for eternity.

Lastly, the Pastor will be away this week; as he is headed back to Ontario to conduct a wedding between his little sister and her fiancé’. We are delighted that Pastor Henry Loewen will be preaching the Gospel for this week’s worship service.

We have been given the privilege and opportunity to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a free country. As The Psalmist said, “Let us worship His name together”. I invite you to come and worship the Lamb of God. Every Sunday morning we meet at 10:00 to have a time of prayer, and at 11:00 is our Sunday morning service. Come worship our Savior with us! Like never before, the words of the book of Hebrews should be on in the minds of hearts of all of those who belong to Jesus Christ; “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of our selves together; as in the manner of some., but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see that Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24, 25.

Pastor Paul

May God richly bless your life as you continue to serve and remain faithful to Him!