CULTIVATING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, PART 2

CULTIVATING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, PART 2 Philippians   1:3-11 Aug 8, 1999 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory Last week we got a running start at Philippians 1:3-11. We considered the history of that young church and her very close relationship with the apostle Paul, her founding apostle. In the process I believe we discovered a little more of what the biblical concept of FELLOWSHIP is. We learned that it is more than pie and coffee after services--it is BEING ONE IN PURPOSE AND ACTIVITY, MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION, HAVING A COMMON MISSION. I think a recognition of that great truth and our walking it out in our daily lives with one another is critically important if we want to be the church Jesus wants us to be. Beyond that, though, there are a couple of specific behaviors we Christians who are in fellowship with each other are challenged to engage in which will help us to cultivate Christian community. One of those is PRAYING FOR ONE ANOTHER. The bottom line issue of community is each member of the community asking himself, "What can I do to serve and help the others in my community?" Praying for one another is one universal answer to this question. It has been suggested by one author that "our bitterest regret" will come when we are in heaven and we see for the first time the real power and privilege of prayer. Our spirits will cry out saying, "If I had only known, how I would have prayed. Dr. Paul Cho, of Seoul, Korea, says, "The American Church will give their money, sing songs, build buildings and preach, but they will not pray." I’d like for Metro-East Christian Fellowship to prove him wrong. We know that prayer is effective, not only because that is what the Bible promises, but also because we’ve seen the difference prayer makes. But, did you know that in recent years there have been many scientific studies that strongly support the power of prayer in healing? There was a rigorously-controlled study conducted by cardiologist Randolph Byrd, then professor at the University of California. He said he designed it as "a scientific study of what God is doing." During the 10-month study 393 men and women patients admitted into the coronary care unit of San Francisco General Hospital were randomly computer-assigned into two groups. 192 patients were prayed for by "home prayer groups," and 201 patients were assigned to the non-prayed-for-group. It was a double-blind experiment, meaning neither the patients, nor doctors nor even the nurses knew which patients were in which group. Dr. Byrd recruited Catholic and Protestant prayer groups in all part of the county. they were given the names of the patients and information on their conditions, but no specific instructions on how to pray. The groups were simply asked to pray. Each patient had five to seven people praying for him or her. The results were striking! Prayed-for patients differed from the others in many ways: They were five times less likely than the unremembered group to require antibiotics (only 3 patients out of the 192) They were three times less likely to develop pulmonary edema (lungs filling with fluid because of heart problems) None of the prayed-for group required endotracheal intubation, contrasting with 12 of the unremembered group Dr. Larry Dossey, who wrote a book on this topic and draws the same conclusions, wonders, tongue in cheek, why more physicians don’t prescribe this to their patients: "Take two aspirin. Pray twice daily. Call me in the morning." Prayer works. and if this passage before us has anything to say to us it is this. We ought to follow the example of the apostle Paul as he prayed for his brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. This morning, I want to encourage us to a ministry of intentional mutual prayer. It is right that we should pray for one another. Amid all the talk of praying for the lost world, for laborers to be sent out into the harvest, for government leaders, for spiritual battles in the heavenlies--which are all highly important, biblically mandated prayers--we might have lost sight of the very simple truth that we are to pray for one another. When Paul finished his strong discourse on spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6, do you know how he closed it? With firm and tender exhortation to the saints to pray for one another. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this is mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18) What I believe this passage would say to us today is that much of our prayer exercise ought to be in behalf of one another in the body of Christ. Regular maintenance goes a long way in preventing major problems. Three years ago I sold my 1986 Pontiac Bonneville. It had 290,000 miles on it--original engine. I saw it about a year later and looked at the dash to see that it was closing in on 320,000 miles. I am no mechanic, but I do know this--regular oil change is the best thing you can do for a car’s engine. They call it "first echelon, regular maintenance." Healthy people need emergency medical care far less frequently than those who don’t eat right and engage in unhealthy patterns living. I’m no doctor, but I do know this--a good diet, clean living and regular exercise is the best thing you can do for your body. It’s called first echelon, regular maintenance. I am no apostle, but I do know this--praying for one another is the best thing we can do to keep the body of Christ healthy and ready for the ministry. I like to call it first echelon, regular maintenance. How do we pray for one another? Let’s take some direction from the excellent example before us in Philippians 1:3-11, where Paul prays for the saints. Verse three begins with "I thank my God every time I remember you..." I have a professor friend who loves to quote this verse to those he sees only on occasion. He says it’s perfect, because he wants to be honest, and avoid saying, a so many do, that he prays for them everyday or "all the time", when in fact he can’t even remember their name. But, he does care for them and when he thinks of them and pictures them in his mind, he has disciplined himself to pray for them. So, he says, I just started quoting Philippians 1:3 - "I thank God every time I remember you..." I’m not sure that is the intent of what Paul is saying, but he does make this startling and edifying point as he writes to the believers in Philippi, whom he loves dearly: "I thank the Lord for you, and I think of you often." What an encouraging word to these fellow Christians! The apostle who pioneered their church, who has gone on to take the gospel to key cities throughout the Roman world, whom most of them have not even met personally, this important Christian leader is praying for them personally, and, believe it or not, is thankful for them! How would you feel if the next time we received a mailing from the Billy Graham organization in preparation for the Crusade in October, he sent a personal letter to our church, which was not computer generated, but hand-written, and it said, "Dear saints at Metro-East Christian Fellowship, I want you to know that I think of you often and when I do I thank God for you and your partnership in the St. Louis Crusade. Your team leaders are doing a good job under the capable leadership of David Ingerson. Tell Cheryl to keep up the good work on promoting the kidz gig for that Saturday. And I so appreciate what your Section Leaders, Billy & Cheryl, Ed & Marge, Jim & Beth, Joe & Pat and Charlotte and Gordon, are doing to promote the "Christian Life and Witness" course through the cell leaders..." Love in Christ, Billy. P.S., Ruth sends her love. Wouldn’t that be encouraging? To think that such a leader would take the time, not only to pray his thanks to the Lord for us, but also to send us a note to let us in on it? That is true, but we’re not going to get such a letter--because Billy Graham is too busy. But, do you know whose prayers of thanks for the people in the body of Christ here at MECF are even more important than Billy Graham’s? Yours. Do you know whose little notes of encouragement and reminder that someone is praying for someone else is of even greater consequence in edifying this body of Christians? Yours. Here is a practical assignment to take away from today’s teaching that will help each of us to remember, to pray and to let those for whom we pray in on that regular prayer. Pass out prayer list reminders and prayer notes. What is it worth to you to edify the body of Christ around you? Is it worth the 6-7 minutes a day it will take you to reflect over the names and faces of those fellow believers with whom God has stationed you in this outpost of the Kingdom we call MECF and to pray for them? What is it worth to you to see those who stand by you in ministry made stronger and readier for the day ahead of them when they will fight the Tempter, evangelize the lost and serve the Lord of the universe? Would it be worth the ten minutes it will take to write a short note (notice these prayer notes are small by design) to bless them? What is it worth to you as a member of this church to do a little first-echelon maintenance on the body you are a part of? Would it be worth a 32-cent stamp and a walk to the mailbox for you? How about a cyber-blessing--just a quick note via e-mail that says "Hey, just a reminder that I thank God for you and I am praying for you regularly"? Or, if a scripture comes to mind as you pray for someone, jot it down, along with a short word about how you are remembering so-and-so? What is it worth to us, church, to be healthy? Call it an oil change, call it supplemental vitamins, call it first-echelon maintenance, or just call it what it is--spiritually-proper, biblically-commanded, apostolically-exemplified, powerfully-effective body-building exercise for the church. Now, let’s look at more of the content of Paul’s prayer for the saints at Philippi. First, there was thanksgiving and there was note-sending. Verses 9-11 are a pretty significant clue as to what the Holy Spirit might be urging us to pray for one another. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. Brothers and sisters, we simply must learn to pray for one another like this! What a model of mutual intercession, that, of practiced sincerely, could bring such strength and blessing to the church that no crisis could subvert her service, no sin could master her members and no threat could weaken her witness. I tell you, that our beauty as the body of Christ, our strength as soldiers of Christ and our ambition as ambassadors for Christ all begin here, in this basic ministry of mutual prayer. Specifically, Paul prayed for GROWTH. It is no secret to veteran Christians that growth here does not mean numerical growth. It means growth in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It means an ever-increasing ability to appreciate the Lord and His grace at new levels. Two pages earlier in your bible, Paul prayed for believers that they would have the ability, "together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:18-19) Wow! What if twenty or twenty-five of your fellow believers were praying that for you every morning at breakfast? What would that do for your walk in Christ? And what would it do for you if they regularly told you that was what they were praying for you? Philips Brooks said, "O, do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks." When I think of the things that God wills this church to do, if I consider them only in the natural mind, it is laughable. But when I think that it will be not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit at work in devoted people--ordinary people equipped with extra-ordinary power--it is not ridiculous at all. But it causes me to pray that we would soon become the kind of believing community that would cast off restraint and fall so irreversibly in love with Jesus that He could fill us in this way. Will you join me? Will you pray for those seated with you here in this auditorium, for their children back in the classrooms? Will you ask God to grow them in knowledge and depth of insight? Will you pray for the most unlikely people here to become valiant warriors for the gospel? They can! And they will if we pray! Pray today and raise tomorrow’s champions for Christ! Secondly, Paul prayed for the believers to be totally aware of God’s will, and ready to walk it out in their daily lives. Verse 10: "so that you may be able to discern what is best..." The more exposure I have to younger, newer Christians, the more I am coming to realize that they are hungry to know more about God. They want to know what God wants of them. They want to know His will. When you hang with these excited neo-Christians, they will ask you the most disarming questions, with remarkable candor. Questions like, "What’s the best way to lick my anger toward my brother--because I know it stands in the way of my witnessing to him?" "How much money should I be giving to the church?" "How do you handle lust?" "Would you help me learn to quit stealing?" "Now that I’m a Christian, should I stop shacking up with my girlfriend?" They want to know the will of God. Sometimes I wonder why the rest of us have lost that craving to know His will better. Here’s an answer for both needs--pray for everyone you can remember, "God, help them be able to discern what is best; help them to test and approve what Your will is--You good, pleasing and perfect will. And, Lord, use me whatever way you will to help them." Have you run out of words and themes to pray in your daily prayer routine? Try this one on for size. ‘Can’t understand how anyone can pray for an hour at a time and still have things to talk with God about? Take your church phone directory and go down the list praying for each one, "This is my prayer for this person, this family, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that they may be able to discern what is best..." And I’ll see you in a couple hours when you come out of the prayer closet. By the way, how would your life in Christ improve if a couple dozen people were sincerely praying for you to know the will of God every day? Could you remain depressed or complacent if, every other day, you got another note from someone saying s/he is praying for you in this way? The bumper sticker says, "Prayer changes things." I’ll stick another line on that one: "Prayer changes people." Make a real difference in the church--do your part in this critical ministry of mutual prayer--and watch the saints become strengthened, our witness become more winsome and our discernment become deeper. The final specific target prayer I see in Paul’s exemplary intercession here is his prayer for purity. Picking up at verse 10, "so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. You know, I’ve heard a lot of moaning in the body of Christ, especially among pastors, about how worldly the church has become. If that’s true, there’s one place where we can do something about it--on our knees! Let’s take up the biblical practice of praying for the purity of God’s people, so we can all be filled with the "fruit of righteousness" Paul talks about. Paul prayed that his friends in Christ would be people of sincerity, honesty, cleanness of mind, who live lives that are transparent before God and other people. Do you ever get discouraged when you pray for someone who is not behaving correctly? While you’re interceding for him you’re thinking, "This is fine, to pray, but this jerk is going to have to decide to stop sinning!"? Listen, don’t stop praying, because when you pray, the Spirit of God works on your brother’s "decider". What am I saying? I’m saying that Paul wasn’t just whistling in the wind when he prayed for Christians to stop sinning and start living in righteousness. He knew his prayers were activating something in God’s purpose on behalf of those for whom he prayed. He knew that "God is at work in His people, both to will and to act according to His good pleasure (he wrote those very words over in chapter 2, verse 13. And Paul knew that the fruit of righteousness comes from God (verse 11). So he said, "I’ll ask the Lord to help my brothers and sisters become purer and more righteous in their walk. You know, that’s a pretty awesome responsibility the Lord has shared with you and me--to pray for the righteousness of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Do you sense the implications of that responsibility? That means when we know a fellow believer is struggling with purity, we don’t talk about him and his problems to others--we go to his Father and stand in gap for him. We have a further, second-echelon responsibility, as well--to go to our brother if he is in sin and confront him love, but that’s another teaching. The point is, we are to truly help a brother whose living is less than righteous, by going to the only two people who can really do anything to help correct the behaviors: His God and him. May I plunge the sword of the Spirit into the heart of this group of Christians and insist in Lord that we never talk about sinning brothers except with those who can do something about it. God, the brother himself and then those who know him best and love him the most. Along these lines, did you know that you can actually pray for the forgiveness of a brother’s sin? James 5 says we are to "confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we can be healed." In the same passage, which deals with the body of Christ ministering to a sick and/or sinning brother in prayer, "if he has sinned, he will be forgiven." I also invite you to consider a fascinating truth tucked away in the fifth chapter of 1 John. There in verses 16-17 we read: If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. It is interesting to see that John says there is a sin that leads to death--one that not even prayer from the brothers and sisters can deliver the sinner from. That apparently is the unforgivable sin of absolutely and knowingly rejecting the Holy Spirit’s conviction and influence in one’s life. John writes, I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin which leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. So, what will we do the next time it comes to our attention that a brother or sister is in sin? #1 - we will not go to any other person about the matter until we have gone to the Father in sincere prayer asking for forgiveness and health for the erring brother. #2 - after having sincerely prayed, we will go to no one except the sinning brother, one on one, to confront him in love about his sin. #3 - if he remains stubborn and unyielding, we will go to another couple of brothers who know the sinning brother well and clearly love him to bring the matter to their attention, with a view to a redemptive confrontation with him again. And we still refrain from talking to anyone else about the matter, lest we fall into the life-decimating sin of slander. Back to Philippians 1. May I urge on us, the body of Christ who are individually members of one another, who are called to love one another as a demonstration to the world of the Lord’s presence among us, who are called to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, and who are commanded to pray for one another, that we do just that? Let’s take up the challenge of Paul’s exhortation and his example, and engage in the significant ministry of mutual prayer. Stand and recite the modified version of the prayer together. My Prayer List Date: _____________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________           [Back to Top]