True Living

Opening Prayer:

Heavenly Father, as we look at the apostle Paul, let us see Your guiding hand in every situation of his life and every situation of our lives. I pray that we may live a fruitful life that brings forth much spiritual fruit for Your praise and glory. Whether we live or die, we thank You, Father, that our lives is in Your hands and that Your grace is sufficient. Thank You that my light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are working in me an absolutely incomparable, eternal weight of glory. Praise Your holy name forever and ever, AMEN.

Today, I want to emphasize the utmost significance of living in the present moment and living for Christ. We live in a world that never stops, where our lives are filled with obligations and distractions that make it tough to stay connected to the present. However, it is essential that we exert ourselves to remain present and engaged in our lives because every second we have is a unique and priceless gift from God.

Let us remember that Paul is under house arrest in Rome before a possible trial before Caesar Nero. This fact alone speaks volumes about the heart of Paul. Circumstances beyond his control were seemingly against him. Paul was eager and bursting with holy anticipation of how God would be glorified regardless of his outcome – an outflowing of the joy he knew in his relationship with Jesus Christ – we discussed that last week.

Paul’s wholehearted commitment to honor Christ in every situation shows up here, too, in how he sought to approach both potential outcomes – living and dying – and that’s where one of the most beloved verses in scripture comes from Paul, verse 21, Paul explicitly chooses his perspective: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Living for Christ is true living.

When we live for Christ, we are living in the moment, in the present. Living in the moment means that we can fully appreciate the splendor that surrounds us. We can take in and relish the beauty of nature, the melody of music, the aroma of flowers, and the warmth of sunlight. We can cherish the delightful taste of food and the joy of spending time with our loved ones. When we live in the moment, we can experience life to its fullest potential.

Philippians 1:21 says, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Most people focus on the second part of the verse, “to die is gain,” and contemplate the joys of heaven. Paul knowingly declares what many of us confess unknowingly – too often, our lives are based around things other than Christ. We fail to recognize Him as our source of true life and contentment.

Maybe you’ve had some experience with this?

Have the promises of the world, the promises of earthly success, filled you up or let you down? Think about this with us.

How many times have we come to know someone working in a career they once thought would fulfill them but no longer does, yet they continue to cling to their job due to fear of something else?

How many times have we been asked what happened in your past to get you here? We must forget what is behind us and press on to what is ahead. Everything we do right now will either bring us reward or regret. Will we regret everything we have ever done when we stand before Christ?

Rope illustration

Paul’s example helps us understand the power of choosing our perspective and then being willing to trade all of that for a sole devotion to Jesus. That took real courage in Paul’s day, and so it does in our day, so much so that it causes us to wonder how Paul can choose from that. How could I ever choose that?

What allowed Paul to look past a difficult situation and see potential gain in even something his culture deemed disadvantageous? Simply put, it was “Following ‘The Way’” Jesus.

That answer, my friends, lies in the hard-fought lesson Paul learned through years of suffering. He came to understand that in the times he had stopped trusting the Lord and His plan, instead valuing his efforts over any other means of success, through repeatedly being broken down and built up, Paul came to realize that, even in great difficulty, he could have confidence that God was actively working within every second and that choosing to accept His plans would result in true joy. Thus, Paul began to understand true living: living in the moment for Christ!

Every moment for Paul was an opportunity to further conform to the image of Christ, so hardship was not something to be feared or shied away from but embraced for the benefit it brought. Paul’s newfound perspective about Jesus Christ was large enough to encompass even the unknown, thus giving room for eternal gain even during suffering. I think Paul began to trade fear and anxiety about his circumstances with curiosity and anticipation.

Paul began to live a life fulfilling a trend for us a few years ago, “What Would Jesus Do?” Paul began to encourage others to live and follow his example because he followed the example Christ had laid out for us.

“To live is Christ” means that we pursue the knowledge of Christ. We want to know Christ better and better each day. Not just a set of facts about Christ, but Christ Himself. “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

“To live is Christ” means that we are willing to give up anything that prevents us from having Christ. Paul’s testimony in this regard: “Whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. Moreover, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (Philippians 3:7-9). We cling to the promise of our Lord in Mark 10:29-30 that our sacrifices for Jesus’ sake will be repaid a hundredfold.

I know how difficult it is to live in the moment. Many are stuck in the past, convinced that our best years have passed. Others of you are living in the future, trying to work to get to the next goal. Friends, you can’t control time. The past is frozen, and the future hasn’t happened yet. Embrace what God is giving you right now and appreciate it.

I pray that today, we will remember that life is an extraordinary and unique gift. Every moment is an opportunity to experience joy, gratitude, and contentment. Living for Christ fully allows us to appreciate the beauty of the world around us and cultivate a greater sense of peace in the moment.

I want to leave you all with this simple thought to begin every day before your feet touch the floor in the morning, talk to Jesus, and then look for Him throughout the day.

Holy Communion

INVITATION

Pastor stands behind the Lord’s table. Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

CONFESSION AND PARDON.

Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

All pray in silence.

Leader to people:

Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God's love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

People to leader:

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Leader and people:

Glory to God. Amen.

The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. The pastor may lift hands and keep them raised. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through the prophets. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

The pastor may lower hands.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

The pastor may raise hands.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ate with sinners. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. When the Lord Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always, in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit.

The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread, or touch the bread, or lift the bread.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the cup, or touch the cup, or lift the cup.

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

The pastor may raise hands.

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

The pastor may hold hands, palms down, over the bread and cup.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

The pastor may raise hands.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER*

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.

The pastor lifts the cup in silence, or while saying:

The cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ.

GIVING THE BREAD AND CUP

The bread and wine are given to the people, with these or other words being exchanged:

The body of Christ, given for you. Amen. The blood of Christ, given for you. Amen.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.