Assembly Required
Joyful Gospel Partnership - Philippians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 61 viewsUnderstanding Citizenship - you behavior does not earn your citizenship but it flows from it, in response to the blessing that it is.
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Introduction
[The Grill Still in the box].
So I got this new grill for Christmas and this is such a great grill, I mean it says so right here on the box. It is stainless steal with 4 burner...
But the question that you are probably asking is if I believe that this is such a great grill why is it still in the box? How can I be so excited about a grill that is just sitting there in the box in all of these separate pieces that are accomplishing nothing on their own except for taking up space.
For the grill to produce all the wonderful things it promises on the box there is “Some Assembly Required”
It has all of this working potential, but until it is assembled in such a way that it fires up to cook my juicy steak, sizzling brat, or seasoned chicken then what good is it. I can say I have a great new grill all I want, but as of right now all I have is a big box of separated parts taking up space in my garage.
The truth is I could talk to you all day about the incredible merits of this grill, but if unless you see it assembled and working as it was designed to work you aren’t going to believe me.
Tension
Tension
In our Summer series we are diving into the question of “What makes a Church a healthy Church”. We are looking to answer this question from the book of Philippians because this book is a letter to the Church of Philippi that was for all we can see a healthy Church.
One of the things that is surprising about this Church is that it was made up of people who had very little in common. In Chapter 16 of the book of Acts we read of the beginnings of this Church when Paul first went to Philippi and the lives of three people were transformed by the message of the Gospel. Much like all the parts of my grill, these three people were were separated in many different ways. They were separated ethnically, economically, culturally, occupationally and religiously. They could not have been more different. There was:
There was:
An Asian, wealthy, fashionista who worshipped God
A Greek, poor, fortune telling slave girl who was demon possessed
Last week, on Father’s Day, we upacked the idea that “The Main Thing Is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing” and that for the Christian the main thing is the Gospel. The good news about who Jesus is and what He has done for us. That is the main thing for the Christian.
A Roman, working class, pagan, jailer who treated Paul as a criminal
It is hard to imagine three people whose lives were more separated than these three. They started out with nothing in common, but after they met Paul they all came together around the most important thing to have in common.
eemed to have nothing in common, except for the most important thing. Each one of them encountered the transformational power of the message of the Gospel and this is what drew them together. This is what they assembled around.
Last week, on Father’s Day, we unpacked the idea that “The Main Thing Is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing” and that for the Christian and the Christian Church the main thing is the Gospel. This is what we assemble together around.
the
A
Last week, on Father’s Day, we upacked the idea that “The Main Thing Is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing” and that for the Christian the main thing is the Gospel. The good news about who Jesus is and what He has done for us. That is the main thing for the Christian.
Some Assembly Required.
My point is, that a church can become just like my grill here. If the Church was somehow able to be packaged together in a box like my grill then there could also be a label on it that says: Assembly Required. It has all of this working potential, but until we are all assembled together in the way that God designed us to operate, to fire us up and use us for his intended purposes, then we we too will be doing little more then just taking up space in this...big box.
The main thing about grilling is not just having a grill, but assembling it in such a way that it is useful for grilling. It might all be there but it is not doing anything to bring me a juicy steak, sizzling brat, or spicy chicken. ( It’s a good thing we moved the service an hour closer to breakfast than lunch so you are not distracted by your grumbling stomach.)
You might burn theIf we were talking bout grilling, then we would probably say that the main thing about grilling is to have a grill. So looking here on the stage you could then say that we have the Main thing covered, right? Well not exactly. It might be there but it is not doing anything. It is still in all kinds of various pieces in the box that are not doing anything to bring me a juicy steak, sizzling brat, or spicy chicken.
It’s a good thing we moved the service an hour closer to breakfast than lunch so you are not distracted by your grumbling stomach.
It has all of this working potential, but until it is assembled in such a way that it fires up to cook my brats, steak or chicken then what good is it. I can say I have a great new grill all I want, but as of right now all I have is a big box of separate pieces taking up space in my garage.
of a building we often mistake for the true Church.
My point is, that a church can become just like my grill here. It has all of this working potential, but until we are all assembled together in the way that God designed us to operate, to spritually fire us up to accomplish his purposes then we we too will be doing little more then just taking up space in this big box of a room.
I don’t want that to be our Church.
I don’t want this to just be a place where people just “come”, but a place where people “become”. That together we become the kind of people that Satan fears, God is pleased with and other people notice that there is something powerful happening when we assemble together. I think that is what Paul wants for the Church in Philippi as well, so lets dive in and find out how he instructs them to get there.
Let’s find out how Paul calls this healthy Church into this from the book of Philippians.
We are finishing up the last 4 verses of chapter 1 in Philippians, page 980 in the Bible in the chairs. As you turn there I will pray and then we will dive into these verses together.
, a church
How much is your salvation through Jesus Christ worth to you? Do you live like it?
Truth
Since we are covering just a few verses this morning I thought we could read all the way through them together and then take them a small section at a time. To get a good understanding of where we are, we should remember that we are coming off of Paul’s famous statement in 1:21 where he says:
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
And even though he struggles between which of these two good things he would desire, he lands on wanting to remain in this world in order to continue in this Joyful Gospel Partnership that he shares with the Church in Philippi. His greatest hope is that he might even get to visit them again.
Follow along in your Bible as I read:
And after sharing all of his personal thoughts on this he returns to instructing them in the Lord...
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Such a powerful call for a Church. Let’s start with that rather startling beginning. I had to struggle with this some this week because it seems like an impossible command from Paul. How on earth could any of our lives actually be worthy of the good news of Jesus Christ? And yet that is what Paul calls the Philippian Church and every Christian Church. We see the same thing found in Paul’s other letters:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
“worthy”
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Col
12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—
If the repeating theme of becoming “worthy” of the things of God feels overwhelming to you then I would say that you are thinking rightly on it, but there is something special in the way that Paul uses the word here in Philippians that helps us to better understand what he is after.
In most of your Bibles you probably have a small number right next to the word “worthy” and that if you follow that footnote down to the bottom or side margin in your Bible you will see that it says that the Greek word (axios) there means “Only behave as citizens worthy” of the Gospel.
In most of your Bibles you probably have a small number right next to the word “worthy” and that if you follow that number down to the bottom or side margin in your Bible you will see that it says that the Greek word (axios) there means “Only behave as citizens worthy” of the Gospel.
You see Paul typically used a little different phrasing, just “Walk in a manner worthy...” but he chooses to use a different phrase here because of who it is that he is writing to.
Remember that while Philippi was a city with heavy Greek heritage, at this point in history it is an established Roman colony. This means that one of the most influential identities a person can have is to be a Roman Citizen. Roman citizenship was not generously granted. Just because you were born in or currently resided in an area that Rome ruled over did not make you a citizen. You either had to be able trace your lineage back to one of the original Roman families or purchase your citizenship with an outlandish act of loyalty or an enormous amount of money.
So the distinction between those who were citizens and those who were not was a very relatable experience for the people in Philippi. They understood the significance of the term better then you or I might today. Truth is, many if not most of us take our citizenship for granted, but the people of Philippi saw first hand how important it really is. This is why Paul chooses to use this word here in Philippians.
These people would have first hand knowledge of how citizenship works in both privileges and responsibilities. Your loyalties could not be divided between Rome and anything or anyone else. However you became a one, if you were a Roman citizen you were expected to behave like one.
Of course Paul wasn’t promoting Roman Citizenship here, even though he did have it, but only using the example of Roman citizenship to help these new Christians better understand how what they now had in Christ Jesus was to affect their every day life and decisions. In chapter 3 he uses this phrasing again in saying...
In chapter 3 he uses this example again by saying...
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
This is so important to get right, guys because so many people misunderstand this fundamental aspect of the Gospel. In my conversations with many of you, I have heard things said that give me cause for concern over whether or not you get this.
There is no way that you can be good enough to be worthy of Jesus dying on the cross for your sins. You can’t do it, and Paul isn’t saying that you should ever think that you can. What he is saying, is that since you are already citizens of heaven, you should now walk in a manner that reflects that.
Just like Roman citizenship, our citizenship in heaven has been purchased. We could never purchase it, the cost was too high, but it was purchased for us by the blood of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins. When we trust in that then we have our citizenship in heaven. We didn’t earn it, we only received it as a free gift from God...but what Paul is saying here is that now that we have it, we should walk in a manner that reflects the worth of that gift.
Are you tracking with me? If you are then you are tracking with Paul and his instructions to the Church in Philippi. We could never walk worthy enough for the gift of the Gospel, but since Jesus has given it to us, now we should walk like we are the citizens of heaven that we are.
Are you tracking with me? If you are then you are tracking with Paul and his instructions to the Church in Philippi. We could never walk worthy enough for the gift of the Gospel, but since Jesus has given it to us, now we should walk like we are the citizens of heaven that we are.
And what does that look like? Well that is what the rest of the verses are all about.
And what does that look like? Well that is what the rest of the chapter is all about.
o Jesus gives us the gift for free. Now that we have a heavenly citizenship we walk like it.
And what does that look like? Well that is what the rest of the chapter is all about.
What does that manner of life together look like? He goes on to tell us...
41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
We Will Stand Together In GOSPEL Faith ()
We Will Stand Together In GOSPEL Faith ()
We Will Stand Together In Christian Faith ()
We Will Stand Together In Christian Faith ()
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
The word translated “Stand Firm” is the greek word (steko - στήκω) and it means to be set in a fixed position, not moved by other forces, anchored in one place. Most commonly a Military Term meaning to hold the battle line and not give way to your enemy. This was a call for us to hold the line individually and together as a group.
“Stand Firm” (στήκω - steko) means to be set in a fixed position, not moved by other forces, anchored in one place.
Commonly a Military Term meaning to hold the battle line and not give way to your enemy
Both Individually we will stand and together as a group
Anyone ever play the game “Red Rover”? It was this playground game that I remember playing back when kids actually played games that don’t require batteries. You would line up two teams on opposit ends of a playing field and you would link hands together and then one team would call out to the other team saying:
“Red Rover, Red Rover, send Billy on over”
And Billy would look over the line and choose a spot to aim for and then rear back and head full force toward one of the links in the chain. If he broke through and the hands let go then he got to take those two people back over to his side, but if they “stood firm” then he would be their prisoner and he would not be on their team.
The picture that I wanted to form in your mind is the Church standing firm together in a line that is awaiting whatever our opponent is sending our way. Of course our opponent isn’t a line of children across the playground but the devil. He will send people at us with false doctrines, wrong ideas, disruptive spirits, divisive attitudes all with the hopes of breaking us apart. But when we stand firm together in the faith of the Gospel then he will not be able to break apart our Joyful Gospel Partnership, AND we will have the opportunity to try and win those who came our way to Christ. If we stand firm. This is a theme throughout Paul’s letters. I particularly like the way puts it.
Not enough that just the Church leaders are strong in what the believe and think
strive to help the weaker with a stronger player next to them.
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Stand together in ONE spirit and One Mind - spiritually and mentally, belief and behavior is aligned together in defense of the Gospel.
Stand together in ONE spirit and ONE Mind - spiritually and mentally, every internal thought and belief is geared this way, standing firm in defense of the Gospel.
Two ways that Paul tells them to stand firm. They are to stand firm together in ONE spirit and ONE Mind. Notice that these things are both internal things aren’t they. They manifest themselves in outward ways, we will get to that in a minute, but the foundations of the outward action is inward unity of both mind and spirit. This is why it is so important that each one of you believe right doctrine. It is not enough just that the leaders of a Church believe right doctrine, we have to think and believe these things together. That every internal thought and belief about who God is and who we are in light of Him is unified around the faith of the Gospel. Paul describes this idea further in 2 Corinthians when he says ...
1 Cor
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Red Rover game - strive to help the weaker with a stronger player.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
That is why it is so important that we keep all of our conversations, debates, disagreements and even our agreements centered on the faith of the Gospel. On God’s Word. Nothing else has the power to unify our thoughts and beliefs like this. Paul also said in...
17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
The Christian faith is a heart level faith, there is nothing our works can add
The only hope that we have to stand together as Paul is talking about here is for it to come from a heart level, hearts that are committed to the truth of the Gospel as God has revealed it in his Word. If we want to behave like citizens worthy of the Gospel then...
????Must stand against the world, the flesh and the devil
“Faith of the Gospel” is Christian Faith
“Faith of the Gospel” is Christian Faith
The teaching of Jesus (, )
The teachings of the Apostles of Jesus ()
Sound doctrine ()
The faith handed down from the saints ()
We Will Stand Together in Gospel Faith
We Will Stand Together in Gospel Faith
and the second part of this verse that...
We Will Strive Together In Gospel Ministry ()
We Will Strive Together In Gospel Ministry ()
So the first part of the verse shows us that our manner of life should begin with unity on the inside and then move out from there to a unified striving together on the outside.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
The word “striving” is definitely an outward action word, drawing us to movement in the Gospel. Churches often lean one way or another on this.
Either they are very intentionally about championing “believing the right thing”, something theologians call “orthodoxy” or they are very intentional about championing “doing the right things”, something theologians call “orthopraxy”. Paul is calling the Philippian Church (and us) to both! He doesn’t want the Philippians to just believe the right things, but to enter into the struggle to live out those right things together in a world that desperately needs to know them!
The Greek word for “strive” here has it’s root in athletics. The idea is to train, practice and perform these things that you know at a heart level to be true. Can you imagine an athlete that practiced day and night, doing drill after drill, honing their kills in a particular sport to near perfection…and then never even stepping onto the field? What a waste.
Many Christians do this. They spend all their time in Bible study, never to step out in Bible living. Sometimes Churches are so concerned with right doctrine that all they do is show up each week to pat each other on the back for all believing the right things and then go home to wait for next weeks pat on the back. That is not how God designed his Church to operate.
Yes, we assemble together to learn and grow in our knowledge of God but just as important is that we assemble to go and strive together in our shared calling to declare and demonstrate the Good News of Jesus Christ to the World. Only half of that, either half, is not Joyful Gospel Partnership.
from God.
So we don’t just come together each Sunday as a Church, pat each other on the back because we all believe the right things and then go home to wait a week for another nice pat on the back. We assemble together to learn and grow in our knowledge of God and we assemble to go and strive together in our shared calling to declare and demonstrate the Good News of Jesus Christ.
It is a movement kind of thing - side by side for the faith of the gospel
That is why we participate in things like Ruby’s Pantry each month. That is why we look for opportunities to come alongside area ministries like we did this past year with APPLE pregnancy Care Center, Good News Jail Ministry and Hope Gospel. I hope that we will gather together for even more things like this in the coming year, striving together “Side by Side” for the faith of the gospel.
I can be a scary thing to
Often times Churches lean more one way or the other, but a healthy Church must have both. We must both stand firm and move forward!
“Faith of the Gospel” is Christian Faith
The teaching of Jesus (, John 14:21)
The teachings of the Apostles of Jesus ()
Sound doctrine ()
The faith handed down from the saints ()
Often times Churches lean one way or the other, but a healthy Church must have both. We must both stand firm and move forward!
We Will Stand Together in Gospel Faith, Strive Together in Gospel Ministry and
We Will Stand Together in Gospel Faith, Strive Together in Gospel Ministry and
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
We Will be a Sign Together of Gospel Unity ()
We Will be a Sign Together of Gospel Unity ()
28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
As we display this “Joyful Gospel Partnership" to the world around us it will be noticed. If we can get to the point when our Main Thing together is the Gospel and everything else (selfish agendas, personal preferences) is just secondary then we will be bonded together in a way that few people have ever seen, let alone experience. Our “oneness” will be a sign that God is supernaturally working within us. That we are no longer contending for our rights individually, but instead contending for the thing that we have in common: The Gospel!
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew
I am sure you have noticed this, but there is an ideology that is currently permeating our culture that says that if you disagree with someone, then you must hate them. This lie has taken up so much space in our communication channels that people are genuinely fearful about disagreeing with someone on just about anything. We hear these stories of judges in our court systems who are blatantly abusing the term “hate speech” that people are afraid of taking a public stand on anything that they believe. This kind of thing is ridiculous.
I can disagree with you without hating you. You can disagree with me and I don’t have to think - oh man, now she hates me.
I am convinced that God wants his Church to stand up against this nonsense. I am convinced that those of us that have been transformed by the Good News of Jesus are best equipped to demonstrate what loving someone and at the same time disagreeing with them can look like. Especially inside the Christian Church, because we have not “assembled” here for our own selfish ends, we are assembled here in Gospel Faith, for Gospel Ministry.
Let me just tell you and if messed up people like us can come together in Joyful Gospel Partnership like this, then it is a certain sign that there is a God and that He is working among us.
I will let you in on a little secret - The Overseers on the Church do not always agree with one another. There are times when our discussions get fairly heated and I thank God for that. Not because I like conflict, I don’t, but because after we have passionately disagreed on something we can still end the evening in heartfelt prayer for one another. We can disagree with each other, even passionatly, and still love one another. That is quickly becoming a rare quality in relationships, so I praise God because I know that our ability to do this is a sign that God is working in and through us as leaders in the Church. This is my hope for every relationship in this Church, and if it happens then you know people will notice.
If messed up people like us can come together in Joyful Gospel Partnership like this, then it is a certain sign that there is a God and that He is working among us.
tell you and if messed up people like us can come together in Joyful Gospel Partnership like this, then it is a certain sign that there is a God and that He is working among us.
And Paul says that our Unity then becomes a sign, both for the unbeliever and for the believer.
Our “oneness” will be a sign that God is supernaturally working within us. That we are not contending for our rights individually, but instead contending for the Gospel. Only God can work through such messed up people to bring about a “Joyful Gospel Parntership” so when we are opperating like this it is a sign.
For the unbeliever this is a sign of confrontation. They will be confronted with the fact that the thing that they refuse to believe can happen is happening over there at that Church. There is something supernatural happening there, something beyond what people on their own are capable of. When and unbeliever sees this then their claims that this life is all there is starts to look a bit shakey. And they have to grapple with that. And by His grace, God could then use us to point them to Him in such a way that they would repent and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
“I love ya, but I believe you are wrong on that because God’s Word says this”
“You know I love you, and because I love you I don’t want you to go down that path that God says leads to trouble. It’s wrong and it will only hurt you”
Only God can work through such messed up people to bring about a “Joyful Gospel Parntership” so when we are opperating like this it is a sign.
Our “oneness” will be a sign that God is supernaturally working within us. That we are not contending for our rights individually, but instead contending for the Gospel. Only God can work through such messed up people to bring about a “Joyful Gospel Parntership” so when we are opperating like this it is a sign.
very thing that they believe cannot happen is happening over there at that Church. There is something supernatural happening there, something beyond what people on their own are capable of and if that is the case then their claims that this life is all there is starts to look a bit shakey. And by His grace, God could use us to point them to Him in such a way that they would repent and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
For the believers it is a sign too. A sign of affirmation. A sign that we are on the right track because something this big could never be done by human effort. The kind of thing we are talking about here is something more significant than a big personality or strategic planning could produce. It is a sign for the believer that the God who we trust in for our salvation is already working in and through us just as He promised us He would. A sign of affirmation. There are few things more powerful than to have the affirmation from the Holy Spirit that says, yep - you are on the right track here.
Then the Chapter ends with a great summary of these ideas:
29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
A Sign of what?
We see all the working parts here. A healthy Church:
Sign of affirmation for believers
Stands together in Gospel Faith,
Stands together in Gospel Faith,
Strives together in Gospel Ministry
Strives together in Gospel Ministry
We Will Struggle Together in Gospel Growth ()
We Will Struggle Together in Gospel Growth ()
Strives together in Gospel Ministry
Strives together in Gospel Ministry
And is a sign together of the powerful work of the Gospel on the lives of ordinary people who assemble together for an extraordinary cause - to declare and demonstrate the Gospel!
And is a sign together of the powerful work of the Gospel on the lives of ordinary people who assemble together for an extraordinary cause - to declare and demonstrate the Gospel!
And is a Sign together of the powerful work of the Gospel in the lives of ordinary people who assemble together for an extraordinary cause - to declare and demonstrate the Gospel!
And is a Sign together of the powerful work of the Gospel in the lives of ordinary people who assemble together for an extraordinary cause - to declare and demonstrate the Gospel!
Gospel Application
29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
“What if he had just said,
Remember what we know of Paul’s story from . How he cast the demon out of the slave girl and it ruined her masters business plans. She could not longer earn him the money she once did so these men stirred up the people of Philippi in such a way that the leaders of the city had him beaten and thrown in jail. What if he had just said,
“Forget it, I don’t have to put up with this. I am done with this Philippi place. I don’t deserve to be treated this way. Here I am trying to give them the good news of Jesus Christ and they just throw me into this deep dark dungeon. Me. A Roman Citizen. The guy who is going to write most of the New Testament. Who do they think they are. If I have to deal with all of this abuse, I just won’t tell them about Jesus and I guess they will just all go to hell then...”
Conflict when he was imprisoned in Philippi and is again in Rome for the cause of Christ...
It is funny how we think that people today are so different then they were back then. They weren’t so different. Many people today do not understand the value of what Christ did on the cross. They don’t see if as a “worthy” thing. They are not drawn to it and so it causes conflict. It brings struggle. Even though it remains the most prominent declared “religion” in the World it is fast becoming the one faith that people feel free to be openly hostile toward.
It has been “granted” to you that you should not only believe in Jesus but also suffer for his sake. Engaged in the same conflict that Paul was. But we don’t have to go it alone. That is what the Joyful Gospel Partnership is all about. We assemble together to do this thing. It is something that we do “side by side”, not disconnected and seperate just showing up in the same box, but intimately connected to beautifully display the power of that which we have in common: The Good News, The Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The question is,
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Gospel Application
Is this something that you
Landing
Do you think this describes us? I would say both yes and not yet.
Some of you may have been calling yourself a Christian for as long as you can remember, but your still just a separated piece in the box. You come here, but you don’t really “become” anything here. It is just a place you go, not a thing you are. To you I would say, maybe it is time for you to consider how you could take things to a new level. How could you take just on step today toward becoming part of the “assembly” here. You probably know what that step is and who you need to talk to, you just haven’t chosen to open that door yet. Today would be a great day to begin that journey.
Some of you are weary because you feel like you are major part in the assembly here. You have been here through several pastors and have served in just about every area of the Church. You are justifiably tired. Let me encourage you with an affirmation that you are on the right track. When Church is done right, it is hard work. Hear the weight of the words of Paul here. Standing Firm. Striving. Engaging. Suffering. We might prefer Sitting, Sipping and Sleeping but that does not accomplish our mission. Thank you for the hard work that you done for His sake, and may you feel God’s pleasure in your continued efforts for His kingdom today.
Lastly there may be people here today who have never heard “Church” described in this way. You thought it was a duty or a tradition or just a good thing for a family to do once a week. Maybe you never really understood the Gospel as I have been explained it this morning. Maybe you still think that you have to earn your citizenship in heaven. If you could, then why would Jesus had come? Why would he have died? He did it to give you something that you could never earn by any manner of life, but once you have it, then you strive to live in response of the great worth of the gift you have been given. If you are here today and you don’t know if you citizenship is in heaven then please come talk to me, I would love to talk to you more about this and help you to begin this kind of relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Landing
You know whenever the Bible used the English word “Church” it a translation of the Greek word “ekklesia” which means “assembly”. It is my prayer that we would not be just a bunch a parts thrown together in the same box, but we would be assembled together in the Joyful Gospel Partnership that God intended.
Let’s Pray.
