Philippians 4:10-20 | Gospel Partnership (Updated)

Introduction

‌Good morning, First Baptist Church. It is a joy to be with you again after these two years.

Since we first left for Ethiopia two years ago, God has done wonderful things that I am excited to share with you, and as I do, the overwhelming feeling we have is gratefulness. Gratefulness to God for what he has done, and gratitude towards you, First Baptist Church. Because when we first were raising funds and looking for partnering churches, you all stepped in in an encouraging way. You were the first church that asked us to visit and present our ministry. Then, when the pandemic hit, we had to reschedule our meeting with you, and as it started to clear, you all were the first to invite us back.

While we were here, you invited us into your homes. You shared meals with us. You were so eager to hear of our plans to move to Addis Ababa and our dreams of what God would do. And after we left, you all have continued investing heavily in us. You’ve prayed for us. You’ve given generously to us. And you’ve even sent both of your pastors to Addis Ababa to further express your partnership with us. You’ve encouraged us repeatedly, and we are incredibly grateful.

‌When I was last with you, I read these words to you from Philemon 7, and as I think back on all of these ways you encouraged us, I find that they are still true today, “The hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you.” Indeed, our hearts were refreshed and refreshed again by being with you today. Thank you for being that kind of church that has a genuine love for Christ, his mission, and his people. It’s wonderful to be with you once again.

For those who don’t know us, my name is Josh Pannell; I’m here with my wife, Sabrina, and our children, Lily and August.‌

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‌We are missionaries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Located right in the horn of Africa. Today I have the great joy of encouraging you with what God has done in Addis Ababa. As I was talking with Ben and Alex about how best to do that, we decided it would be best to start by updating you on the ministry in Addis Ababa followed by a brief sermon.

Why Ethiopia?

Let me show you a picture and tell you a story to answer that question.

Over the 19th century and early 20th century, Africa was conquered and divided up by Europe in the Scramble for Africa. But Ethiopia was never colonized. In fact, Ethiopia is the only country in the entire continent that was never colonized. The Italians tried twice, but Ethiopia fought them off, led by King Menelik the Second, at the Battle of Adawa. This story is central to how Ethiopia views themselves and how the rest of Africa views Ethiopia.

‌That’s the story. Now let me show you the picture.

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When you walk into the United Nations Building in Addis Ababa, you’re greeted by a large stained glass window depicting a group of Africans walking into the future led by an Ethiopian man and an Ethiopian woman holding a torch. The picture represents Ethiopia leading all of Africa into a post-colonial future. And that is exactly what Ethiopia is doing.

Addis Ababa is one of the most important cities on the African continent.

Approx Population -- of 10-12million people, Addis has more citizens than New York City and Chicago combined.

Addis Ababa hosts over 120 embassies, the African Union, the United Nations, and Ethiopian Air, Africa’s largest airline.

Ethiopia is leading Africa into the future. But what will that future look like? We believe Ethiopia can lead Africa, not just with the torch of post-colonialism, but with the light of Jesus Christ. And we believe that’s worth giving our lives for.‌

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And so, after about a decade of preparing to move to the mission field, we were sent out from Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We sold nearly everything we owned, packed our lives to seven 50-pound bags, and flew across the world to start new lives in a new country.

With two goals in mind.

To help plant a church right in the capital city of Ethiopia.

‌To establish a Pastors College to train the next generation of Ethiopian pastors to lead future church plants out of trinity fellowship.

‌Or, to put it simply, we moved to Ethiopia to plant churches and train pastors.

But, thanks be to God, when we were sent out from our church, we weren’t sent out alone.

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Our home church in Louisville sent three families to Addis Ababa to be the core church planting team. So Let me introduce you to our team.

In the middle is Michael Granger, our lead pastor. Michael has been working in Ethiopia for almost two decades. His wife is Ethiopian. And he’s been working towards planting this church in Addis Ababa for nearly eight years.

‌On the right are Jordan and Lauren Thomas, who moved to Addis to establish our children’s ministry at Trinity Fellowship in Addis Ababa. A ministry your church has given towards

In this picture, you can see Sabrina on the left and me.‌ I’ve been charged with establishing and running the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College to train up future pastors and church planting teams.

And together, with a few local Ethiopians Michael knew, we planted Trinity Fellowship.

We started with just 15 people meeting in the Granger’s living room on Sunday mornings. We began a short sermon series on Romans 3, asking, “what is the gospel?” This question, though simple, was radical in our context.

Hardly a Sunday goes by that I don’t hear this story…

And as we were preaching this simple gospel message, the church continued to grow.

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We soon outgrew the Granger’s living room and moved into a local movie theater large enough to seat approx. 75 people.

Philippians series.

People kept coming….

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The Church continued to grow and need for a new building. Just before our first anniversary, we had our first membership Sunday, and 70 people joined the church. And while we’re meeting here today, Trinity Fellowship is preparing for its second membership Sunday, where we plan to add another 50 members to the church, just in time for our second anniversary.

Membership Interviews … approx. 90% converted in the last year by hearing the gospel preached.

‌“I’ve never heard before that Jesus died for my sins.”

As the church continued to grow, we noticed that God was bringing us an unusual number of young men who desired to pastor.

Stat: 100 years in the last 20 years. Youtube. Expositional preaching and gospel-centrality.

“This is exactly what I’ve been praying for.”

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Decided to start the Trinity Fellowship Pastors College to train the next generation of Ethiopian pastors for gospel-centered ministry.

And on September 2021, we had our first official pastors college class.

Context of the local church, pastored through your education.

Holistic theological training.

Life and Doctrine. Pastoral Qualifications.

Preaching and Teaching

Counseling and Membership Interviews.

Explain the three years.

Pastors College: Full seminary studies. 41 classes. Greek. Authors and theologians. Faithful pastors of 20 years.

Apprenticeship: doing in the church.

Ordination: prospectus, exams, serving in the church.

Outcomes: Sending men out.

‌First graduating class.

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‌Mohammed (Back Row, Far Right):Mohammed (not his actual name) is a Somali believer. Somalis are 99.9% Muslim. He’s a walking miracle! He has been imprisoned 14 times for preaching the gospel. He has a current ministry organizing Somali believers into churches and mobilizing evangelistic efforts toward Muslims. He desires to continue to help strengthen the Somali church in Addis and eventually return to Somalia with a partner to establish healthy Somali churches.

Amani (Back Row, Third From the Right): Amani gave up a promising career at Ethiopian Airlines to invest fully in our church and pastors college, and invest fully he has! In addition to our studies, Amani has preached twice at Trinity Fellowship and assisted Michael regularly in counseling meetings. Amani is a gifted preacher and a compassionate counselor. He hopes to lead a church plant out of Trinity Fellowship in the upcoming years.

Sammy (Back Row, Far Left):Sammy is one of our brightest. He desires to pursue further theological studies and is already applying for MtH programs. After that, he hopes to teach at our pastors college so that he might invest in the future pastors of Ethiopia long-term.

Yeabtsega (Front Row, Second from the Left): Yeabtsega is also sharp theologically. He won our Academic Award after graduating with a 3.99 GPA. He desires both to church plant and to start a theological training center among unreached people groups in the Horn of Africa.

AB (Back Row, Second from the Left): AB won our Leadership Award at graduation after the students agreed he demonstrated the greatest degree of Christ-like leadership throughout the year. AB is a talented musician and has served as our worship leader at Trinity Fellowship since it began. TFPC has greatly strengthened him both in his theology and pastoral gifting. In addition to continuing to lead worship on Sundays, AB wants to produce gospel-centered music in Amharic (the local language). His goal is to write songs that are easily singable in church and so impact the Ethiopian church at large.‌

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Three Goals for the next decade:

1) To see Trinity Fellowship pastored by an all-Ethiopian elder team.‌

2) To see The Trinity Fellowship Pastors College run completely by Ethiopians.‌

3) To send out 10 church plants from Trinity Fellowship.

‌God is doing something unique here in Addis Ababa, and it’s incredible to see him so clearly at work. We’re already looking forward to the 2023-2024 TFPC class, and I pray that we will still be sending out pastors to plant and strengthen churches hundreds of years from now.‌

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As we think of all that God is doing in Addis Ababa, we are grateful. Gratefulness towards God for all he’s doing, and gratefulness towards you. Because, in a very real way, you are making this all possible through your partnership with us. You’ve invested heavily in us through your prayers, financial gifts, and sending your pastors, and we are incredibly grateful.

And that heart of gratefulness I hope you’re feeling is in us because we truly believe that these generosities you’ve shown us in Silvis have served to further what God is doing halfway across the world in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. And as I was thinking through how best to encourage you this morning, Paul’s words in Philippians 4 kept coming to mind. So would you turn there with me, please? These words penned by the Apostle Paul give us a glimpse into his heart for the Philippian church and their heart for him. But more than that, we see how Paul thought and felt about the financial gifts the Philippian church had sent to him, and I desire to encourage you with these words Paul wrote because we feel them towards you as well.

So let’s read this text together, and as we do, please feel our own gratefulness in these ancient words.

Read: Philippians 4:10-20

‌Paul, the church’s great missionary, wrote these words from a Roman jail where he was imprisoned for preaching the gospel. If you remember, Paul’s journey began in

‌In Acts 13, when the church in Antioch was fasting and praying, the Holy Spirit spoke to them, and he told the church that day to send out Paul and Barnabas to be the church’s first missionaries. Little did that church know that their prayer meeting that night would change the world. And as Missionary Paul went from one town to another, he planted churches, raised up elders to lead those churches, and then often returned to strengthen those churches. By anyone’s standards, Paul was a missionary par excellence.

And as Paul sought to continue bringing the gospel from one city to another, he was financially supported by different churches. That was his regular rhythm of life — to receive financial gifts to provide for his daily needs so that he could focus all his time on the mission. And while many churches sent gifts to Paul, it seems the Philippian church had a unique partnership with him. This church had indeed given to Paul, and it seems that a gift they had given him while he was in jail is what prompted the letter in the first place. Look back with me at verse 10:

‌I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length, you have revived your concern for me

‌The Philippian church cared for Paul, and their care expressed itself in a financial gift while he was in jail. But this wasn’t the first time that they had given to Paul; look at verse 16,‌

Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again.

‌If we look back at Acts 17, we see that Paul visited Thessalonica right after his time in Philippi, so what Paul is saying here is that the first gift the Philippian church gave was almost immediately after he left them. And it seems that their gifts towards him weren’t just one-time gift but ongoing gifts. See how he describes them as coming to him not just “once,” but...

“once and again.”

‌‌And these gifts weren’t small gifts either, it seems. Paul says that these gifts were

“for my needs.”

in verse 16. One translation puts it like this, “according to my necessity.” We could even translate it like this “you sent me help according to the need I had.” Whatever need Paul had, this church sent him the money necessary to meet. It. So much so that in verse 18, Paul can say,

“ I have received full payment and more.”

Because of the Philippians’ gift, he has all the money he needs to complete his mission and even some extra. The Philippian church was generous, indeed, and they used their money to fund the missionary, Paul.

‌There is a temptation here, though, to think of these kinds of financial gifts feeling like simple financial transactions. Like a swipe of the credit card or a click, and the money is moved from one account to the other. Something insignificant or even trivial. And in these verses, Paul elevates their gifts and shows them that there is so much more to their gift than a mere transaction.‌

‌As Paul writes to the Philippian church to thank them for their financial gift and to encourage them that their gift meant far more than the amount written on the check. Their gift was far more than simply a deposit to Paul’s bank account; no, their gift meant something far greater than the Philippians even knew. How, then, are we meant to think about financial gifts from churches to missionaries? It’s not just a simple transaction; no, it’s far more than that. The word Paul uses is “partnership” or “fellowship.”

The word in the original is κοινωνία. That “fellowship” word. He uses it twice in chapter 4 and once in chapter 1. The word carries the idea of close companionship, family unity, and mutual sharing. It’s less the idea of one-way “support” and more the idea of mutual giving and receiving, and Paul says as much in verse 15,

“No church entered into a partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.”

The idea here is that the financial partnership between a church and a missionary goes beyond money exchanged and reaches far deeper than we’d expect. No, when a church gives to a missionary, they enter into a deep relationship with that missionary that extends far beyond money sent to the missionary’s bank account.

And where there are many ways that partnering churches experience this “sharing” or “fellowship,” there are two that our texts especially point out for us that I’d like to consider this morning.

First, Partnering Church Share in the Missionary’s Life

Second, Partnering Churches Share in the Missionary’s Reward

MP1: Partnering Church Share in the Missionary’s Life

‌Look with me again at verse 14,

“It was kind of you to share my trouble.”

This most recent gift from the Philippians came while Paul was in jail. And how does Paul describe his reception of it? As the Philippians’ sharing in his affliction. In the original, the word Paul uses for “share” is “κοινωνία,” the “partnership” or “fellowship” word again.

We could translate it like this, “you deeply shared in my hardships.”‌

The picture is that of a friend who is right there with you in the hospital room.

A friend who, when you hear bad news, is right by your side.

They are with you in your victories, and they are with you in your defeats.

That’s how Paul describes their gift. We could even say it like this, “your gift communicated so much more than I could say. It was like you were right there by my side when my hardships came.” Why? Because Partnering Church Share in the Missionary’s Life. In successes and failures, joys and sorrows, in the good and bad, partnering churches are right there alongside the missionary.

And, First Baptist Church, let me encourage you in this; your hospitality, your prayers, your gifts, and your sending your pastors halfway across the world have done the same for us. You’ve stuck with us. You’ve often been on our minds, and we’ve felt your partnership in the joys and the sorrows. You shared all of these with us.‌

Yes, there have been wonderful joys in our ministry in Ethiopia, but there have been – to use Paul’s words – deep afflictions as well.

Many of you know that we moved to Ethiopia when Sabrina was 5-months pregnant. And it took months to find a doctor for Sabrina in Addis. Then, after we found him, he soon began expressing concern about possible pregnancy complications. So Sabrina went out of the house every day for three weeks looking for the tests the doctor prescribed, only to later be told that those tests weren’t available in Ethiopia and that we’d have to leave the country to have our baby.

Then, after we returned, to Ethiopia, our landlord broke our lease requiring us to move out and find another home, at a significant financial loss to us.

As many of you know, Ethiopia was in the middle of a civil war when we first moved to Addis Ababa. And there was a time when the war was getting more intense, and the rebel forces were just a couple hundred miles outside of our city. Our attendance at Trinity Fellowship was cut in half during that time. On top of all this, the Ethiopian government told us that they wouldn’t honor our visas and that we couldn’t be in the country.

Then, after we were allowed back in, we had 13 professors drop out of teaching at our pastors college due to the civil war, and I was often working to find substitutes last minute or even teaching the class myself. And you uniquely shared in that affliction as you sent our Alex to substitute teach one of our church history courses. Let me commend him and Carley to you, because when one teacher was afraid to keep his commitment, Alex stepped in with just a few weeks’ notice and taught the class. His presence was a loud statement of your confidence in us and your commitment towards us. And Carley, let me commend you as well, because you not only gave up time with your husband as he prepared and taught his class, but you supported him as he came at a time of instability and uncertainty. As an expression of true fellowship and true partnership, you stood by us in our affliction, even when others wouldn’t.

On top of all this, we battled frequent sickness due to food poisoning, respiratory issues, sickness from bacteria in the water, and more; for a year and a half, one or more of us were sick all of the time.

Our first two years in Ethiopia were hard indeed. And while it is true that the Lord was with us and comforted us during this time, there was a sense in that our financial partners were with us too. We felt their presence and their support. We felt God’s faithfulness to us through their faithful giving. And as their names and faces came to mind amid hardship, we experienced the same joy Paul mentions here.

And you, First Baptist, are among those people. Your gifts, friendship, and hospitality came to mind again and again, both in the joys and the sorrows. And there is a very real sense in which we feel, like Paul, that you shared these experiences with us. Thank you. Please feel that encouragement from me and the Lord.

But that’s not the only way our text encourages us this morning. Not only do Partnering Church Share in the Missionary’s Life, but…

MP2: Partnering Churches Share in the Missionary’s Reward

‌Look with me at verse 17.

“Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.”

Paul here alludes to the Philippians that he hopes for and expects additional financial gifts in the future, but he’s sly and indirect about it. He certainly he thanks the Philippians for their gifts in the past, but he also subtly asks them to continue giving here. And while he may be subtle here, he certainly is less than subtle in chapter 1 verse 6 when he thanks them for their gift and then prays that their “love would continue to abound” — or that God would continue to work this same generosity in their hearts until the day of Jesus Christ’s return.

But as Paul does ask for more money from the Philippians here, do you see his heart as he does it? He certainly needs the money, and he is grateful for the money he’s already received, but his deep desire is not for the funds but that the Philippians would experience reward from Christ on the last day.

The word Paul uses here for “seek” is intensified. It’s used by Jesus for the way the Gentiles seek the things of this earth to increase their earthly bank account. It carries with itself a sense of earnestly seeking, pursuing, an all-consuming passion for something.

Picture a stock broker in New York whose every waking moment is consumed with the ups and downs of the market, as he seeks the wealth of this world and the lifestyle that comes with it.

That’s what we should have in our minds. And Paul flips this image on it’s head. He’s using that same zeal as he fundraises, but that zeal is not as much for the money in his bank account to increase as it is for the Philippians’ reward in heaven to increase.

He is that zealous stock broker, and as he sees his financial needs being met he rejoices because he knows that means those giving to him will receive a great reward from Christ.

Because while earthly bank accounts might have suffer loss when the partnering churches give, their reward in heaven is growing. Why? Because partnering churches share in the missionary’s reward.

It’s easy to think that, when we get to heaven, that Jesus will somehow feel deeper pleasure in the missionaries doing the work on the ground than he finds on those who make their work possible through their gifts. That Jesus will have a smile for all of his brothers and sisters, but that his smile will be bigger for missionaries. And, in this verse, Paul takes that ideas and demolishes it. Jesus is no less pleased with partnering churches than he is with missionaries, and partnering churches share in the missionary’s reward.

My friends, let me encourage you in this. the day is coming, when we cross into heaven itself, and there will be Ethiopians there with whom we shared the gospel, who were members of our church, whom we trained at our pastors college. They will be thanking us that we gave up our lives here in the US to move across the world to preach the gospel. And behind them will be even more Ethiopians who were pastored by the men we trained, and they will thank us too.

But my friends, I hope you feel this, when they greet us and shake our hands, I believe with all my heart that you’ll be standing right there next to us. And Ethiopian men and women whom you never met will turn to you, look you in the eyes, and they will say “thank you.”

Your gifts made this possible.

You sacrificed. You looked over your budget again and again and you weren’t sure how you could make it work, but you did. And we’re here, with you, feeling full and deep joy in Christ and his gospel because you gave.

Why? Because partnering churches share in the missionary’s reward.

And while this picture is certainly encouraging, Paul goes a step beyond it in verses 18 and 19. Here what he says,

‌I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

This is the height of Paul’s encouragement. It could not grow beyond these words. He points out that when the Philippians gave to him, it was not he who received it. Paul views the Philippian’s gift, not as a gift given to Paul the missionary, but as a gift given to God himself. The church Father, Chrysostom, said it like this, “How high does he lift their gift! It is not I, he says, who have received it, but God through me.” Paul might be the one whose bank account increases with the gift, but the gift was not to him, he did not receive the gift. No, the gift was given to God himself.

Paul makes this explicit at the end of verse 18 as he goes on to use the language of an OT sacrifice to describe the gift. Remember those sacrifices in the Old Testament that people brought to God, giving him their very best. A costly sacrificial gift given to God himself. The smoke arising from the altar to the very nostrals to God that when God smelled it, he was pleased. Paul takes that vivid picture and encourages the Philippians that their gift was also a pleasing an aroma ascending, not from a table of sacrifice, but from offering plates being passed through the pews, and as the money was dropped into the plate the sweet smell of that sacrifice goes into the very nostrils of God, and he is well-pleased.

And because these gifts are given, not to the missionary, but to God himself, Paul is able to make the great promise he does in verse 19. God will provide for the financial needs of his people when they give towards missions, because those gifts are actually to God himself, and God will be sure that no gift to him goes unrewarded, and his people can give freely, knowing that no gift goes unnoticed by heaven.

And while this certainly is encouraging, there is more here, because Paul goes a step further in his description of their gift, because the language he uses here to describe the sacrifice is only used in one other place in all his writings. Do you remember it?

“Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2

Paul could give no more encouraging description of their gift that this, he describes it with the very words he reserves elsewhere to describe the death of our Savior. Why does he do that? I think we could say it like this, financial gifts to missionaries are motivated by the gospel and are reminiscent of the gospel.

They are motivated by the gospel because, were it not for Christ, and his death in our place on the cross, taking the full weight of divine wrath that we justly deserved, we would be among the most selfish people on earth.

And while our bank accounts were full of unrighteous deeds, and thoughts, and feelings, Jesus transferred all of that onto himself on the cross, so that he was judged as though he was the greatest of all sinners.

And he transferred to us the great wealth of his righteousness that is far more previous than all the money in all the bank accounts on earth. And he freely gave us that righteousness, motivated by nothing but pure love and lavish upon us his free grace.

And it’s reminiscent of the gospel because, “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9) Jesus, the King of heaven, had more wealth than all this world has to offer, and he came to earth, born in a manger, homeless, rejected, and dying with no possessions, all for us.

‌ Financial gifts to missionaries are motivated by the gospel and are reminiscent of the gospel. That precious gospel of grace that turns scrooges into philanthropists, and takes comfortable Americans me and moves them across the world to a developing nation, and all of those sacrifices are seen by King Jesus and are held as precious by King Jesus.

And because he rescued us and saved us, we can look again to that day in heaven when you and I see the many Ethiopians who were rescued from divine judgement because of our partnership together, and I can say to you with confidence, First Baptist Church, that not only will these Ethiopians greet you and thank you, but Jesus Christ himself will look you in the eyes, call you by name, and he will say to you, “well done, good and faithful servant.” Why? Because Partnering Churches Share in the Missionary’s Reward.

These are the glories of the gospel-partnership we have entered into together. You’ve shared in our joys and sorrows, and we will share together in the joys of the heavenly reward. We’re in this race together — you’re running right alongside us. Thank you.

And because of this, and only because of this, both the missionary and the partnering church will join in unison on that say and shout together verse 20,

“To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Let’s pray.

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