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Daniel Norman

Joyful Gospel Partnership - Philippians • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago • Presented 6 years ago

Acts 16

Philippians 1:1–2

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A healthy Church comes to gether with a singlemindedness about the Gospel.

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Introduction

(Get mail out of the mailbox)

How many of you like to go out and get the mail? On nice days like today it gives us a great excuse to get outside and take a little walk to the mailbox. Of course it is less fun in a polar vortex when you just grab it on the way by.

My father was a career postman, some 30 years or so and I remember how on Federal holidays when my Dad would have the day off my Mother would love to ask him to go out and get the mail. He fell for it over and over again and my mom would just laugh.

Dorothy and I discovered that our families have something in common. Dorothy was nurse and her late husband was a mail carrier just like my mom was a nurse and my father was a mail carrier. I don’t know if you ever did this Dorothy, but on Federal holidays when my Dad would have the day off my Mother would love to ask him to go out and get the mail. He fell for it over and over again and my mom would just laugh.

Most of us

Most of us, however, either like or dislike getting the mail based on what is inside. It is a little bit of a mystery because you never know what is behind that door.

The Church in Philippi is an example of a mature Church

It might be a stack of advertisements or what we commonly call “Junk Mail” - Yuck

It might be a stack of advertisements. Yuck

It might be a stack of bills that we know we have to pay but still don’t really want to see in our mailbox - Double Yuck

But occasionally you go to your mailbox and find a personal letter - and that could just make your day. There is something about someone stopping to take time to write a letter in their own handwriting that is just a very speacial gesture. - Yes!

For those of you young people a “personal letter” is a piece of paper called “stationary” that someone wrote a note on with a pen or pencil, folded it up, stuck it in an envelope and paid the U.S. government 55 cents to deliver it to someone else. I know texting, twittering and face-chatting is quicker today, but there is something special about a personal letter (Ok, I can’t really pick on the “young people” because I had to google the cost of a stamp - I had no idea how much a stamp costs these days)

Tension

My points is that a letter is something that is personal. The fact that this person stopped to take the time to write in their own handwriting a note to you makes it something very special.

My points is that a letter is something that is personal. Even in the handwriting you can see the personal touch of the person who is sending this letter.

Even the “junk mail” people know this don’t they. Have you ever gotten the plain white envelope with just your name and address on it in what looks like someones handwriting. You open it up thinking it might be a personal letter and then “Bam” they got you lookinf at their add for hair plugs or time shares or whatever.

Because there is just something intriguing, something inviting, something special, something personal about a letter.

Tension

The reason that I bring up the idea of personal letters today is that we are beginning our summer series today on the book of Philippians. Philippians is one of the books of the Bible that is actually a letter. We call these letters epistles. We are going to find as we go through the book of Philippians that it was a very personal letter. It was a letter addressed to particular people in a particular Church that the author, the Apostle Paul had great affection for.

, yes, but more specifically it is what we call an “epistle”. This means that it is a letter. We are going to find as we go through the book of Philippians that it was a very personal letter. It was a letter addressed to particular people in a particular Church that Paul had great affection for.

Listen to how the Apostle begins the letter to the Church in Philippi:

Philippians 1:1–7 ESV

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Philippians 1:1-

Today if we were going to write a letter we would probably start out by say saying who the letter is for and then ending with who it was from. For example I might start out one of my letters by saying “Dear Rachel,” and then I would end it with “Love Dan”. Well in the ancient world they began each letter by mentioning the sender first and then right after that they would mention the recipient. This is common in the many letters of “epistles” in the New Testament and this is how it sounds here in our book of Philippians:

Can you feel the closeness? It is clear that Paul knows and loves this Church at Philippi. In fact, unlike the many other letters of Paul, Philippians is the only letter that does not include a confrontational tone. In each of Paul’s other epistles he writes them to correct something that they are doing wrong, but not this letter. The Church of Philippi appears to be doing well, so well that theologians typically point to the Philippian Church as an example of what a mature and healthy Christian Church looks like.

Philippians 1:1 ESV

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

This personal letter is coming from Paul and his ministry partner Timothy and it is written to the “saints in Christ Jesus” and their Overseers and Deacons. Which tells us that it was written to the established and organized Church.

But what I really want you to see this week is how much Paul loves the people in this Church. It is so clear in how he writes this letter that this is not “junk mail”. This is not a form letter that he send out to all the churches he planted. He is personally knows these people and he genuinely loves them. Listen to how this comes through in his language as he begins this letter:

Philippians 1:2–7 ESV

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Philippians 1:2-

Can you feel the love? It is clear that Paul knows and loves this Church at Philippi. In fact, unlike the many other letters of Paul, Philippians is the only letter that does not include a confrontational tone. In every other letter, Paul says that he is writing to address something that the Church is doing wrong, but not Philippians. The Church of Philippians was doing well, so well that theologians typically point to the letter of Philippians when they want to identify what a mature and healthy Christian Church looks like.

Paul loved the Church in Philippi

Philippians 1:1–7 ESV

Don’t get me wrong, it is not that the Church was perfect. Paul actually does mention a couple of women who were having trouble getting along, but all in all the Church was a healthy Church. That is such a great gift for us isn’t it? To have a picture of a healthy Church. Isn’t that what we want to be here at Friendship Church? A healthy Church?

Philippians 1:1–6 ESV

So it leads us to ask the question: What makes a Church a healthy Church?

What did it take to become such a healthy Church? Did they go out and get the very best “super Christians” to lead them? Highly educated religious type people who could tell you what the Bible had to say on any topic? Did they start out with the “best of the best” the “elite”. A perfect blend of people who were like minded in all things so there was never any conflict or differences of opinion. --- Nope. None of that.

This healthy Church in Philippi began with one of the most diverse team of individuals that you could even imagine and yet it stands out among all of his other Churches as the Church that appears to be the most healthy. How did this happen?

Nope. None of that. In fact, this healthy Church in Philippi began with one of the most diverse team of individuals that you could even imagine. As a church planter, Paul broke all the unwritten “rules” when he planted this Church, and yet it stands out among all of his other Churches as the Church that is the most healthy.

Philippians 1:1

Sometimes you hear people say that they are having a hard time finding a Church because they can’t find one where they feel like they fit it, but what if the reason that so many Churches are struggling to be healthy is because they are full of people who actually have too many things in common. The people in that church “fit in” too well with each other. The share so many things in common, that they have a hard time staying focused on the one thing that they are supposed to be gathering themselves around.

That does not seem to be an issue for the Church in Philippi. As we introduce the book of Philippians this morning we want to get to the story of how this unique Church began and we find that story in the book of Acts Chapter 16.

So open your Bibles withme to the book of (p. 924) I’ll pray and we will dive into the story of the beginnings of this healthy Church.

s with so many churches is that we have too many things in common.

At times I have heard people say that they don’t go to Church because they just haven’t found a Church where they feel like they fit it, but maybe having too many things “in common” with other. One of the things that I believe we will uncover about the Philippian Church

The Church in Philippi is an example of a mature Church

I would like to suggest to you this morning, that it was the fact that these people had nothing else in common that drove them together so purely in the one thing that they now did. The diversity that helped to make them such a strong and healthy Church

We might think that the Church in Philippi was full of super Christians, but it was made up of a very diverse group of people and yet they operate with the Spirit’s power in such a way that we can learn so much from them.

Truth

At the beginning of we get the story of when Timothy first meets the Apostle Paul and then how they were going from Church to Church to encourage them and to bring them instructions from the Apostles. The Holy Spirit was leading them to go to certain cities and to avoid others and in verse 9 of chapter 16 we see God calling Paul to go to the region of Philippi.

Acts 16:9–10 ESV

Acts 16:9–12 ESV

9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.

Acts 16:9

This region did not have an established Christian Church yet, so the goal for going there was to preach the gospel and establish a Church.

Acts 16:11–12 ESV

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.

Actions 16:11-12

We learn two things from the Biblical description of the city of Philippi, and both of them will continue to come into play as we look at the book of Philippians this summer. First of all it was a significant city in size and stature and and secondly, despite being right in the middle of Greece it had a decidedly Roman culture. So it was not a place a lot like Mondovi, but more like Madison where the higher population and significant standing brought with it many diverse world views and perspectives on how live is best lived.

Also, as a Roman colony there were long tested tensions between the native Philippians and the new Roman residents. In particular because Rome had gifted land allotments in this colony to many of their esteemed retired military veterans. So you can just imagine the disparity in power that was at play with the many connections that these retired generals had. So the city had a dominant Roman culture, laid over top of a ancient Greek culture and little to no Jewish presence to be found.

withlittle to no Jewish Also, unlike the many other places that Paul visited, there is no mention of a synagogue in Philippi, so there must not have been a significant Jewish presence in the area.

All of that is to say that it would NOT be difficult to find people cut from a different cloth here in Philippi, and that is exactly what happened, no pun intended, for the first founding partner in the Church at Philippi that we meet is a fashion designer who was

A foreign, wealthy, worshiper of God who welcomed Paul

Acts 16:13–15 ESV

13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Acts 16:13

Without a synagogue. Paul and his team go outside of the city to a serene place alongside a river where they thought they would find people meeting to pray. Many of us can relate to the idea of having some of our best prayer times out in the beauty of God’s creation. This is where we meet Lydia.

She is not a Greek. She is not a Roman. She is from Asia. Specifically she is from Thyatira, which if you read earlier in the chapter we find out that is one place that Paul wanted to go, but was prevented by the Holy Spirit. Instead, here he is in a Roman colony in Greece sharing the Gospel with someone from that very city. Have you ever noticed how God sees the game board from such a higher perspective than we do?

She even invited the Missionary Team to come and stay in her home.

Lydia the fashionista

Financially she was doing very well for herself. Purple cloth was a very valuable good that only the financially elite could afford. Plus, she must have had a good sized home to invite this whole Missionary Team to come and stay with her. We don’t know exactly how many people were traveling with Paul but we do know that Timothy, Silas and Luke the one writing the story were all there.

So Lydia was a wealthy, foreign, worshipper of God who receive the Gospel into her heart, was immediately baptized and invited the missionaries into her home.

If we were living this story then we would probably want to meet a whole flock of Lydia’s, but God has something better for his Church. For the second person we meet is...

Secondly, we meet a

A demonic, local, slave girl who annoyed Paul

Talk about the other end of the spectrum! Her story picks up at verse 16...

Acts 16:16–18 ESV

16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

It is a little comforting to know that even the Apostle Paul got annoyed

The word translated “divination” here is not used anywhere else in Scripture, and it has a direct reference to Greek mythology. The word is “Python”, like the snake and according to this myth the god Apollo killed the massive snake Python in the city of Delphi in Greece. Maybe you have heard of the “oracle at Delphi” where a priestess is said to be able to tell you the future. Delphi was a little far from Philippi, so it is doubtful that this girl was THEE priestess at the temple there, but she gave the city of Philippi a local experience of the oracle at Delphi and for this her masters were being made very wealthy.

For many days she just kept following Paul and his team around declaring this true thing about Him until finally Paul had enough and directly rebuked the demon and the girl was set free. The truth is that we are not told what happened next for the slave girl. We don’t know if she remained a slave to these men in a different way, or if they just got rid of her after her so called “gift” that was really a “curse” was gone. Many Bible teachers have speculated that she became a part of the Church in Philippi because of the impact of her experience in being set free from demonic possession and the expression of her understanding that Paul carried the news of the Gospel, the message of salvation. That makes sense to me, as she would certainly not be the first nor the last person to be rescued from a pagan religion to be released in the freedom of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The truth, we are not told what happened next for the slave girl. We don’t know if she remained a slave with a new task or what was next for her after her so called “gift” that was really a “curse” was gone. Many Bible teachers have speculated that she became a part of the Church in Philippi because of the impact of her experience and the expression of her understanding that Paul carried the news of the Gospel, the message of salvation. I like to think that is what happened, certainly she would not be the first person, nor the last person to be rescued from a pagan religion and released in the freedom of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

While what happened to her next is not told us, but what happened next because of her certainly is:

Acts 16:19–24 ESV

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Acts 16:19-24

It is in this very unjust and violent event that we meet our third founding partner in the Church at Philippi

A nervous, suicidal jailer who oppressed Paul

According to Greek mythology, the god Apollo killed the massive snake Python in the city of Delphi in Greece. . For more than a millennium, people sought the prophecies of Apollo’s famous oracle at Delphi: Pythia, a priestess at the temple, who was said to have the spirit of the god

So Paul and Silas were the victims of mob violence and the tensions were so high that the magistrates commanded them to be beaten with rods and put in prison. This jailer understood that “keeping these men safely” was now his highest priority and he was not going to take any chances. He dragged them naked and bleeding as deep into the prison walls as possible and secured them in stocks that were reserved for the most violent of criminals. From the outside looking in we would thing that Paul and Silas would be hopeless, but in his many journeys with Jesus Paul had learned to never look at outward circumstances for his hope. True hope always comes from within. So listen to how Paul and Silas respond to oppression of this nervous jailer:

Acts 16:25–30 ESV

Acts 16:25-

Acts 16:25–34 ESV

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Little did this jailer know that there is no such think as secure confinement when it comes to the power of our God. God brings an earthquake that shakes the prison down to it’s foundation where the doors were opened and the bonds were unlocked and in a crazy twist of fate the jailer now finds himself in circumstances that seem to be hopeless. Knowing the consequence of allowing prisoners like this to escape the jailer plans to take the step of utter hopelessness …until he hears the voice of Paul break through with hope. This supernatural act changed everything for him. He goes deep into the prison and personally brings these men out and falls down before them asking the greatest question any person could ever ask: “What must I do to be saved!”

Lydia the fasionista

How would he even know to ask Paul a question like this? Because instead of complaining, crying and moaning over the injustice done to them, Paul and Silas were singing of their great salvation - in the deepest darkest part of the dungeon. And then when everything door was unlocked they didn’t see only the opportunity to escape, but they saw an even greater opportunity to share the hope of the Gospel with this jailer who had lost all hope. And listen to the results:

What an opportunity…so this is what happened next:

Acts 16:30–34 ESV

30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Acts 16:30-

You gotta love the exuberance of a new Christian! Someone who knows how they have been transformed from no relationship with God to sweet fellowship with Him though Jesus Christ. It is such a beautiful and powerful energy to see this kind of drastic transformation in a persons life.

The next morning the magistrates sent news to the jailer to let Paul and Silas go, but they were not going to let these magistrates get away with this injustice. They publically beat them and imprisoned them without ever giving them a chance to defend themselves. You see they thought they were just visiting Jews with no standing in a Roman colony, but when they heard that they were Roman Citizens they got scared and came personally to apologize and to invite them to leave before word of their blunder got out. But Paul wasn’t ready to leave yet, He had one last stop to make.

Acts 16:35–39 ESV

35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.

They publically beat them and imprisoned them without ever giving them a chance to defend themselves. You see they thought they were just visiting Jews with no standing in a Roman colony, but when they heard that they were Roman Citizens they got scared and came personally to apologize and to invite them to leave before word of their blunder got out. But Paul wasn’t ready to leave yet, He had one last stop to make.

Acts 16:40 ESV

40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

Slave girl who was demon possessed

The Church had already begun meeting at Lydias home. They were just getting started, but already they were developing in a local expression of the body of Christ. The very Church that Paul would later write his letter to and we would be able to read 2,000 years later. Remember that this Church with such diverse beginnings would grow into one of the most healthy churches mentioned in the Bible.

Roman Soldier

Gospel Application

So how can we take what we see here in the story of the Philippian Church in Macedonia and apply it to our Friendship Church here in Mondovi? Let me ask you, Have you ever seen anyone like these three founding partners of the Philippian Church in your life today?

Let me ask you, Can you see anything of three founding partners of the Philippian Church in your life today?

If I was looking at a Lydia today I would probably see someone who has been going to worship services for years but never really understood the message of the Gospel. A moral person with a disciplined life that has served her well, but always feeling like there was something missing. She understands the value of things like generosity, compassion, hospitality and a respect for God and she has been living in those things for some time.

When a “Lydia” responds to the Gospel it gives clarity where before there were just questions and then it sharpens those good things that have been a part of her life for some time.

I think we

When thinking of a slave girl, I don’t so much think of a modern day slave. Unfortunately that is a very real part of our world, but it is hidden in the underground where this girl was an active part of her community. No, when I think of this slave girl I think of a girl who was raised in an environment where the adults in her life cared for themselves more than they ever did for her. A home with a very broken moral compass where she was rarely exposed to anything that resembled compassion, generosity, or hospitality. Her understanding of “spriritual things” was the same as everything else, you use it to get what you want. All the grown ups in her world place themselves as #1, and when she is grown up she will do the same thing.

When someone like this is gripped by the Gospel it turns everything in their world upside down, and while they may take huge steps toward living rightly, they are so far behind that it often takes a long time to rid their life of the habits and perspectives that they spent so many years learning.

When someone like this is gripped by the Gospel it turns everything in their world upside down, and while they often take huge steps in the right direction it often takes a long time to rid their life of the habits that they spent so many years learning.

She was never taught the value of things like generosity, compassion, hospitality or a respect for spiritual things. Her life is been about survival and might makes right.

Lastly, when I think of the Philippian Jailer I see a hard working blue collar type that is gonna “get-er-done”. This guy is grinding it out. You do what your told. You stay in your lane. You keep your hand to the plow and everything will work our just find. He doesn’t have much use for all of that mamby, pamby spiritual stuff. People will take advantage of you every chance they get, so you gotta stay strong. Until one day when that something happens that doesn’ fit in any of the lanes he has created for himself. All the sudden something that should have happened didn’t happen or something that should not have happened did and he has to have a place to park that experience, and he just can’t make any sense of it without being open to something beyond his black and white world.

When a guy like this encounters the Gospel in such a powerful and supernatural way it changes him so profoundly that he just wants to tell everyone about it.

I don’t know about you but I have met these three kinds of people in my experience with the Church. And lets just be real with each other this morning as we recognize that when we gather together in this place to share the message of the Gospel with one another we can expect that some people will welcome us, some people will annoy us and some people at times will just seem to have it out for us. How can you build a healthy Church in the midst of these kinds of responses?

And did you notice how these three treated Paul? In the same way that every person encounters relationships.

Paul tells us how the Philippian Church did it at the very beginning of his epistle:

Paul tells us at the very beginning of his epistle:

And did you notice how these three treated Paul? In the same way that every person encounters relationships.

Some people will welcome it. It is an answer to questions that they have had for some time and when we share the Gospel with them then things just start to click. And they are so close to right understanding of the Gospel that they quickly begin to serve and bless the Church with their many gifts talents and resources.

we just click, we have so many things in common that we are quickly welcomed into someones life.

WELCOMED ANNOYED AND BETRAYED

The response of some other people will be such that it will just rub us the wrong way. Like scissors on a chalk board, they are just annoying. We can put up with it for a while, but then just like Paul we gotta do something to keep our sanity.

Others that we meet for whatever reason will respond in hostility. Maybe they had a a bad experience with someone once who talked to them about Jesus, but they don’t even seem to be listening they are just closed to anything that we have to say - but they might be listening anyway.

God does a powerful work in each of their lives and these three very diverse people, along with others, come together to form the most healthy church mentioned in the Bible. How did it happen? Paul tells us at the very beginning of his epistle:

And yet these three were able to come together to form the most healthy church mentioned in the Bible. How did it happen? Paul tells us at the very beginning of his epistle:

Encountering people who are different than us - Gospel Opportunities.

So how do people with such different experiences come together to form such a healthy church? Paul tells us right in the beginning of his epistle.

Philippians 1:3–5 ESV

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Philippians 1:

There is an old saying that “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing” and for a Christian Church the main thing is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From the very “first day” Paul says that this Church full of strikingly different backgrounds were all in when it came to the Gospel.

When a Church centers itself on the Gospel then every question and every concern gets re-written in such a way that it brings the Church together instead of driving it apart.

Every question now becomes “How will this work toward more people hearing and growing in the Gospel”

Every concern now becomes “How might this keep someone from hearing and growing in the Gospel”

A healthy Church is not driven by questions like “Is everyone going to like it” or concerns like “We have never done it that way before”. Those kinds of question don’t bring us together, they drive us apart. We divide into those who do like a particular change and those who don’t. We divide up into those who have been here for the “traditions” of the past and those who are new.

A healthy Church is not driven by questions like “Will people like it” or concerns like “We have never done it that way before”. Those kinds of question divide us into those who like or those who don’t and those who have been here a long time and those who are new. But if we keep our eye on the goal of Joyful Gospel Partnership then we can become a healthy Church.

Three different people

Philippian Jailer’s question was “What must I do to be saved” the answer was not stop being Roman. It was not stop being a jailer. It was “believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

A healthy Church is not driven by concerns like “We have never done it that way before”. Those kinds of question divide us into those who like or those who don’t and those who have been here a long time and those who are new.

These kinds of things break down a Church, but we will see throughout the book of Philippians that the key to becoming a healthy Church is to keep our eye on the goal of Joyful Gospel Partnership.

But the key to becoming a healthy Church is to keep our eye on the goal of Joyful Gospel Partnership.

Landing

This is why we have been doing the Gospel Project all year. This is why I end every sermon with another call to respond to the Gospel. We are never going to have everything in common, but it we can channel at least the dominant part of our efforts toward gaining and growing disciples by declaring and demonstrating the Gospel then we will be well on our way to becoming a healthier Church.

It is the one thing that we all have in common that if we would fully embrace the significance of the Gospel then everything else would just fade in the realm of insignificant.

The way to a healthy Church is the same today as it was in Paul’s day...

It is my prayer that everyone who comes in through those doors sees this place as a place that more than anything else lifts up the message of the Gospel. The message that says that because of our sin we can never be right with God on our own, but God was not ok with that, and He sent his son Jesus to live a perfect life, die an undeserved death so that we could be given His eternal reward.

This is what the jailer was asking for when he fell at the knees of Paul and Silas and said,

Acts 16:30–31 ESV

30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 16:

If you have this question too and you don’t think you have ever found the answer, then please come talk to me after the service. I would love to talk to you. Or talk to one of the Overseers here or someone else you trust is walking with Jesus.

If you have, then let me encourage you to consider Joyfully partnering together with us here at Friendship Church in our work to share the Gospel. We are going to continue to unroll what that looks like over these next few months and it is my hope that we will come out of this summer being an even healthier Church than we are right now.

Individuals responding as the jailer did...

Become focused on the one thing that we must have in common

But for this morning one of the ways that we show our unity around the Gospel is to celebrate it in communion. Let me invite those who are serving communion this morning to go ahead a get that ready and I will pray. COMMUNION!

And then other things become much less distracting