How to be a good team player

Read Philippians 1:3–6 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

Intro

What is your favorite sports team or player? ask

For me it’s the Washington Wizards.

I want to briefly

talk about the greatest upset in NBA history.

The 2011 NBA Finals.

Where the Dallas Mavericks (mavs pic)

Beat this team (Miami heat pic)

Can any of you name a player on the Mavs?

Can any of you name a player on the Heat?

The Miami Heat had 2 hall of famers

in Dwayne Wade and Lebron James

along with all-star Chris Bosh

they were called the big 3.

This was a team full of stars.

They were the heavy favorite to win the championship.

While the Mavs

other than a couple players

you would only recognize if you are a big NBA fan

were pretty much a team of nobodies

upset the Heat

and won the 2011 championship

in what is seen as the greatest upset

in all of NBA history.

How did they do it?

Straight teamwork.

While the Heat

had a bunch of superstars

far more skilled

individually

the Mavs won

because they played together.

They were united.

They played as a team.

You see with a good team

anything is possible.

But a team is only as good

as the individual players

who make the team.

I know

FBC student ministry

and the entire church

is capable

of doing great things.

We are able to bring great glory to God.

But we need

everyone to be a part.

The better

you are as a team player

the greater glory

we can give to God.

You see

Not every church is bringing glory to God.

Some bring shame to God

with scandals

disunity

or splits.

And I know none of us

want that for student ministry

and for our whole church.

So how can we avoid that?

1. Be humble (v.1-2)

Humility

is essential

for a good team.

Otherwise no one

would pass the ball.

No passes

and nothing gets done.

What does being humble mean?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary

humble means

1. Not proud or arrogant 2.reflecting expressing, a spirit of respect of authority and submission

So now that we know

what being humble means

let’s see what the Bible teaches

about being humble

in v.1,

‘Paul’.

Does anyone know who Paul is?

He’s an apostle

who wrote many

of the letters

in the NT.

Without Paul,

our Bible would be incomplete.

Not only

did he write a large portion

of the NT,

he also founded

an innumerable amount

of churches

in the Roman world. (Roman map)

To say Paul did a lot of good things

is to put it very lightly.

He was extremely succesful

in progressing the church

by spreading the gospel

all over the known world

and writing

some of the most influential books of the bible.

But to say it was all Paul

would be very wrong.

Because Paul was not a one-man army.

He had a team.

It says, ‘Paul and Timothy’.

Timothy was a young pastor

who was trained and mentored by Paul.

He eventually came to pastor a church,

but also helped Paul in his journeys.

One of the things he likely did

was write this letter

for Paul.

Paul would dictate or speak

what he wanted the letter to say

and then Timothy would write it down.

The point is

that the apostle

could not

do it all.

He only has two hands

and two feet.

He is limited.

He’s not God.

And that’s why

he needed others.

He needed a team.

A team of dozens of people

that if you were to count

all the names

of the people who partnered

with Paul in the Bible

I wouldn’t be surprised

if it were over 50,

even 100

would not surprise me.

And you

need others too.

You need teamwork.

But in order to have teamwork.

You must be humble.

And that’s what Paul is doing here

in the first 3 words

of this letter

is staying humble.

He didn’t just leave his name

and no one else.

He gave credit

to another, Timothy.

Because Paul was humble,

and he knew

that without others

he could do nothing.

And you need to do the same.

How often

when someone offers you help

do you say,

‘nah I’m good’

‘thanks though’?

I know I have.

There’s been so many times

when someone offers me help,

‘Pastor Brandon do you need any help?’

and then I turn it down,

and then after

I realize

oh wait

actually I could have used your help!

Whether when I’m trying to put away things at church

or help clean,

in the past

when I was in high school

friends would offer to help

sometimes with schoolwork

or something on the computer,

and I would often say no

because of pride.

‘I’m not weak

I don’t need your help’.

And now today

it still lingers

as a habit

I will often say no

as an automatic response.

But when you humble yourself

and accept help from others,

not only do you get more done

you also give others

opportunity

to serve.

Accepting help

not only helps you

it helps others.

Someone may be gifted

in the way they want to help you

and when you say no to help

you are also taking away

their opportunity to serve.

That’s how powerful

being humble is.

Instead of seeing

accepting help

as a sign of weakness

see it as a sign of humility

and a way to give others oppurtunity

to shine.

But the humility doesn’t end with being a team.

It goes deeper

into Paul’s identity.

‘bondservants of Jesus Christ’.

The word ‘bondservant’

literally means slave.

Now slavery in the Roman world

was completely different

than the slavery in America,

but if you have any questions

about slavery and the bible

feel free to ask me after.

Regardless,

Paul and Timothy refer to themselves

as slaves of Jesus Christ.

Not because Jesus is a cruel master

but because they see their lives

as completely belonging to Jesus.

And I’ll tell you what.

No proud person

would ever

call themself a slave.

But humility

comes from recognizing

that as a Christian

everything you think

and do

is done according

to what Jesus Christ wants.

And thankfully Jesus Christ is God

and wants

what is good.

Matthew 9:13 (ESV)

Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Students do you see yourself as belonging

completely

to Jesus Christ?

Do you live

in a way

that asks

‘Does God like what I’m doing?’

or do you live

according to whatever

you want to do?

The next phrase says

‘to all the saints in Christ Jesus’

As mentioned before

saints is not

a special class

of Christian.

Every Christian is a

saint.

Saint simply means

‘holy ones’

or ‘set apart’.

That you are to be literally different

compared to everyone else

in the world.

Because you are built different

by God.

That you don’t follow

the culture

when it practices sin.

Students some of your friends

will come up

and ask you

about church

about God

simply because you are a Christian

or simply because you don’t curse.

Because people who are different

stand out

and you are to standout

for God.

And tell them

about Jesus.

That’s why you are called saints

holy ones.

And not only are you holy

but you are in

Christ Jesus.

That your

identity

is not

what grade

you are in

what school you go to

or are going to

but who you are

is defined

by who Jesus Christ

says you are.

That you are loved

and saved

because of what He

has done for you.

And that’s all that matters

at the end of the day.

But these aren’t just some random Christians

Paul says ‘who are in Philippi’.

People who were citizens of Philippi

had special privileges

such as land

and tax exemptions.

Because it was a Roman colony. (Philippi pic)

Even though it was far

from Rome

the citizens there

were treated as if they were in Rome.

And so citizens of Philippi

were proud of it.

Some high schoolers

are more proud

of their school

than others.

I wasn’t

very proud of my high school

because it was pretty bland.

But students

that were from big high schools

modern buildings

and had lots of money

to do more programs

and fund more things,

tend to be more proud

of their school

than others.

So these were people

who were very proud

of their city.

And that’s why

humility

was such a focus

for Paul in this letter.

Every letter

Paul wrote

had different

points of focus.

And the Philippians

needed to stay humble.

What is something that makes you proud?

It it the place you are from?

Is it your high grades?

Is it your physical prowess?

Be humble students

because all of those things

are a gift from God.

And speaking of gifts.

God gifts

every Christian

to do certain things

in the church.

For example pastors.

That’s why Paul writes, ‘with the bishops and deacons’.

Bishop

also refers to a pastor.

And deacons

are those who serve

the church.

When you become a member

of FBC

you are assigned a deacon

who will pray for you

and check-up on you

to support you.

Both pastors and deacons

can become proud

of their position in church.

But Paul says no

I’m going to mention the leaders too

because the leaders

are not above

what I’m going to say in this letter.

It’s easy when you are in a high position

to think

‘haha, this doesn’t apply to me’.

But regardless

of your position

and if you are a leader

you need to be humble too.

Matthew 20:25–28 (ESV)

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus is saying worldly leaders

like to throw around their authority

and abuse it.

But Christian leaders

must be servant leaders.

If you want to be great

you must become a servant

even as humble

as a slave.

And Jesus was no hypocrite.

He laid down His life.

To serve

and to save others.

If you are a leader

do you see yourself as a king

or a servant?

Even if you don’t hold an official

leadership position

at school

or church

or work

in student ministry

if you are older

than another student

you are

an unofficial leader.

If you are in 6th grade

you’re thinking

‘whew

I’m safe’.

You’d be wrong.

Because once you become

a 7th grader

you automatically

become an unofficial leader

to the upcoming 6th graders.

Be humble students.

Be servant leaders.

Because when you are humble

it leads to blessing others.

Look at v.2, ‘grace to you and peace’

What is grace?

Does anyone remember what grace means?

Undeserved favor from God.

When your parents

take you out to ice cream

even though your grades are bad,

that is grace.

And when you are humble, students

you naturally

become graceful to others.

‘How can I show grace?’

‘How can I treat someone nicely

when others have been mean to me?’

You must first be humble.

There was a manager

at a shoe store.

The manager wanted to inform

the customer at checkout

about the ongoing sales and discounts

and the customer rudely responded,

‘you think I’m poor?’

The manager responded,

‘no these are just our current promotions.’

The customer responded,

‘why are you looking at me funny?

‘it’s because I’m black isnt it?

The customer looked to a friend

for affirmation

but the friend

just looked back with confusion.

And the manager responded,

‘how can I serve you better?’

And the customer quietly

purchased the shoes and left.

Students

what would you do there? (ask)

The manager was treated completely wrong.

For trying to help the customer save money,

the manager was treated with rudeness

and false accusations.

The manager would have had every right

to defend

and bite back.

But instead of seeing oneself

as a superior person

or the authority,

because the manager

saw oneself as a servant,

the manager was able to treat

the rude customer

with grace.

Humility leads to grace, students.

If you’re wondering

why you fail to be

graceful,

look at how you view yourself.

Do you see yourself as better,

or as a servant?

But there is another benefit

of being humble students.

And that is peace.

Peace means

being free

from worry

or fear

no matter the circumstance.

Is something constantly

bothering you?

Then you don’t have peace.

And it’s not just the troubling situations

that can give you no peace.

But the comfortable ones as well.

5 years ago

I was in a very comfortable situation.

I had a job that paid well.

And I lived in a very luxurious place. (emerson apartments)

Married,

making good money

living in an awesome place.

Things were perfect.

Only they weren’t.

In this ideal and comfortable season of my life,

I had no peace.

God was calling me

to be a pastor.

Unless I followed Him

it didn’t matter

if I was a billionaire

I would have no peace.

Because biblical peace

is not about

the right circumstances

and a comfortable life.

True peace happens

because of what’s happens on the inside.

That’s why

Paul says,

‘from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’.

Grace and peace

can only

come from God.

And not just any God.

Not the God of Islam.

The God of Hinduism.

The God of Mormonism.

But from the God of the Bible.

The trinitarian God.

God the Father

God the Son, Jesus Christ

and the Holy Spirit.

Grace has been shown

from God

in it’s purest form

when The Father

sent the Son

to die on the cross

for the substitute of sins,

rise from the dead,

and give eternal life

to anyone

who believes.

Romans 5:15 (ESV)

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

Peace

comes only from God

because only God can free you

from fear and worry

by saving you

from your sin.

Fear and worry comes from sin.

Unless you deal with sin

you can’t have peace.

But because Jesus can pay for your sins,

you can have peace.

John 14:27 (ESV)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

If you want peace students,

come to Jesus.

Humble yourself

and confess

that the way

you have been doing things

is not working.

Your struggle

to find peace

without Jesus fails.

But come to Him

and He will give you a peace

that the world

could never give you.

Perfect peace

that can’t be stopped

by trials

or prosperity.

This is true blessing students.

Grace and peace.

Imagine a team

full of people

who are humble

and blessed by God

with grace and peace.

That’s the church students.

What a place to be.

Who wouldn’t want to be at a place like that?

When new students come here

and see a humble student ministry

they will want to be a part of it.

That’s how student ministry will grow.

Rather than thinking of yourself

as the guy

you talk and are friendly with everyone

because you are humble

and see yourself

as a servant.

If you want to be a good team player

be humble.

Gospel/conclusion

This is how

God designed the world to be

a world full of great team players (God’s design).

Because of pride

people sin

and hurt one another.

That’s why we live in a broken world. (brokeness slide)

But the good news (gospel slide)

is that Jesus humbled himself

by taking on flesh

lived a sinless perfect life

and died on the cross

to be the substitute

for the punishment

we deserve

for our sin.

And He rose from the dead

to give eternal life

to good people?

To people who have earned

their way into heaven with good works?

No simply by believing in Him (believe slide).

If you want to be saved today

just put your faith in Jesus Christ

and what He did on the cross

right now

and He will save you today.

And restore you (restore slide)

to be an awesome

humble team player

that he designed you to be.

Let’s pray.