Philippians #1 The best is yet to come

The best is yet to come

Northside Church

Intro/Phil 1:1-11

Northside… two in a row!

And just like that we have met 1\2 as many times in person than we did when we were first starting before all this hit… Look at us go!

Before I just in I wanted to say another thank you… A huge part of why Northside continued to grow even when we were all in time out is…

Jim Adkins, our youth director who did such a great job of creating space for our students to connect through all of this… even delivering candy and connecting with them when it was extremely hard to. Jim man thank you! We love you! I'm proud of you!

Last week we finished up our teaching series “If my people” and I felt like it did a great job speaking into the role God’s people are to play in times just like this… You can find those sermons online if you missed any of them.

Today, we are starting a brand new sermon series called “#unchained”...

Unchained, that’s what we’re calling it. Unchained, carries a different sort of meaning than what you might think. Unchained, something that very few of us understand… cold steel around your wrists and ankles… with the intent to confine and control… To slow you down and take away freedoms… It is so much of what I would consider hopeless and helpless…

And This idea of chains… they really do come in so many forms… things that bog us down, tie us up, Steal our joy, create weight and heaviness in our lives and keep us from experiencing all we could and should… living life the way God intended… full and free. The truth is, I am willing to bet that every single one of us is either struggling with it now… or at the very least have in the past.

Whether it’s a relationship that’s unhealthy, unforgiveness, addiction, guilt, shame, addiction, porn, lust, a love of money, laziness… there are so many things that can leave us feeling empty…isolated, captive… hopeless, chained…

And this idea of being unchained… Finding Joy… Freedom… in the face of captivity.. In a time and place where those things seem hard to find. That’s what Philippians is about.

It’s a letter actually, written in the early 60’s AD. Written to an actual church plant, just like Northside from the one who planted it.

Paul was in jail when he wrote it, not for being naughty but for teaching about Jesus. and while so many would be upset and distraught… Paul’s heart and mind was on this Church that he loved.

His goal was to remind them of they joy and freedom that is theirs In Christ but also… of what it truly means to live unchained lives… unchained lives in the face of opposition.

Philippi… it was a tough place to be a believer… Philippi was an extremely important town… historic… in fact one of the coolest things about Philippi to me at least is that we can still see so much of it… (PICTURES) and it's easier for me to imagine what it must have been like… People from everywhere would travel through Philippi… it was a cultural hub and religious melting pot of sorts. It was known for its commitment to the arts and it had one of the very first public restrooms (PICTURE) that seated about 36…

It was often called the gateway to Europe and Asia… placed in an unavoidable place along what was called the egnatian way. It was named after Philipp the 2nd… father of Alexander the great. In the early 30’s BC, it became a Roman Colony… when Octavian defeated Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium…

A roman colony meant that they were under Roman law, under Roman protection, and carried all the privileges of Rome. Philippi was a place where many extremely patriotic Roman soldiers retired, which ensured order as well as loyalty to Rome…. A spiritual melting pot… loyal to Rome who claimed their emperors were like gods… you can understand the tension when Paul came teaching about the true king, Jesus and what it means to be loyal to and follow Him.

We first hear about Philippians in Acts 16… and what we learn is that Paul and his team drops their own “ministry plans” to follow through what what God tells them to do… and they immediately set sail and find themselves in Philippi… where they go down the river… expecting to find a group gathered there to pray… and they come across this small group of ladies… and you know what they say you do with a group of ladies down by the river… you share Jesus with them… and they did…

And it says that Lydia, a dealer and expensive purple cloth right there and then stepped over the line and put your faith in Jesus not just her but her entire family they were baptized. Phillipi was likely the first church in Europe… and Lydia was likely the very first follower of Jesus there too…

And as you read on, you realize that Paul and his team were doing great things, and when it got in the way of others making money it says they were stripped… beaten… and thrown into prison… Some believe this is the actual prison… Paul and Silas were in. (PICTURE)

But that didn’t stop God’s faithfulness… It says there was an earthquake and the jail fell off its foundations and the prison doors were open… and when the jailer realized what would happen, he knew that he’d be killed for the prisoners escaping on his watch, so he was preparing to Kill himself when Paul shouted out… He man we are all still here… The jailer listened to Paul… and he and his entire family stepped over the line… put their faith in jesus…they were baptized, changed forever…

And that’s how the Church started… A new church… a lady in purple and a cop… along with their families… in a culture where following Jesus wasn’t cool. Where it would be easy to feel tied up and bound… either by the culture or by our own sin…

I feel like we have so much in common with the Philippian Church.

And how much does it change the way we see and understand Philippians to know that it is an actual letter… written to a church plant… from the one who planted it… telling them he is okay, thanking them for their support, rending them of the joy that is theirs in Christ and encouraging them to live for Jesus in the face of a culture and government that is not so quietly opposing them…

Lets dive in.

Philippians 1:1–11 (NLT)

This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. 8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

You can hear just how much Paul cares for them… and how proud of them he is… as they have largely been faithful to God, Paul is saying that from day 1… they have been firm… active both in their faith but also in telling other people what he calls the “Good News” about Christ… and this partnership is obviously incredibly important to Paul.

in a harsh culture driven by idolatry…

And Paul makes this interesting Comment… That he is confident… positive… not hopeful, but sure that the same God who called Him there… and that opened their eyes and hearts to Him… that started this amazing work in them and among them… wouldn’t go ½ way. He wouldn’t stop short.

What an encouraging thing to hear. God is not finished! The best is yet to come!

And what an encouraging thing to hear i n the face of crazy times… for them and for us… That God is not finished! The best is yet to come. Regardless of circumstance… or social standing… or those in power… the best is yet to come. That everyday is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to lean more and more into Him… to become more like Him and experience more and more what it is that He has for you… to become more and more aware of His heart for you… and to know that all of it is strengthened by being a part of a Church that lives on mission… that is truly partners in the gospel…

What an encouraging thought for this group of people that were looked down upon… trying to swim upstream in a culture that was headed the wrong direction. To know that God is over it all… that there is reason for optimism and joy… not because of them… not because of where they are… but because of who He is… and what He says.

God is not finished with us… I am equally as confident… Northside… That God who called us here… and started this work… is not finished. As a Church, the best is yet to come… and I hope and pray that all of us are ready to be true partners… in the gospel. KNowing what God has done… and what He can do.

And I hope there is peace in knowing its true of you personally too. The best is still ahead… and it is totally disconnected from your circumstances today.. Knowing that… believing that… living it… brings hope, encouragement, energy… it's how we intended to live.

9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Paul shares his prayer over them… what He deeply wants for them.

And it has this cascading effect… it starts when one thing which adds to another which adds to another…

And the first thing He prays for is that their love will Abound, OVERFLOW… The ideas is that Abounding in love (overflowing) is continual. It’s never ending, that more and more love would be a huge part of their lives… but also of the way they behave as a church.

Love is a HUGE part of what the Bible talks about… both the OT and NT. When someone asked Jesus what the most important commandment was… it seems like He didn't even pause… (mt 22)

1. Love God… with all you have

2. Love others well.

One author said love is the primary characteristic of Christlikeness…

In the book of John it says people will know who we are… and whose we are how? By the way we love each other… (Jn 13)the kind of love God calls us to sticks out and ministers to those around us somehow.

The Bible also teaches that love is so much a part of who God is… it's like saying God is love.

On many occasions the Bible appears to call out love as the highest Christian virtue… The greatest out of faith, hope and love is… Love…

If you do everything right, but don’t love, you're just making noise… it doesn't matter for much… (1 Cor 13)

The Bible also teaches that love is such a huge part of who God is and what God does… that it's like saying God is love… (Jn 4)

Not some fluffy finger kind of thing… but real love is the willful commitment to think the best and desire God’s best for someone regardless of what you get in return.

Paul says love… let it overflow from your life, in part because that lens adds color.. it gives texture to knowledge and understanding in our lives.

knowledge is spiritual wisdom that comes from God’s Word…

INsight or understanding is the application of spiritual wisdom in our everyday life… living it out.

Our hearts lining up with God’s… brings great understanding… to see who God is and what He’s saying… even what He’s up to in the world around us… and it helps us engage… it helps us live it out. The condition of our heart… matters.

And it says that in that… loving well… having deeper knowledge and a better ability to live it out… helps us discern what matters most…

What would you say matters most? How well does it line up with God’s heart?

If you don’t know… know this helps. Loving people well… connecting with God’s Word and living it out… help us know and live for what really matters… It’s true!

And then Paul says this… that we might live pure and blameless lives… that is not saying sinless and perfect… in this passage, these words are primarily motivational… Paul is saying that loving well (in truth), greater knowledge, greater understanding in living it out, leads to having godly motives…

And here is the crazy thing… Having the right motives really stems from what starts with loving others well…. It stems from loving God and others well… and this idea of motives being changed… really communicates new life… a change in our heart… and the way we react to life. We see things… different. We react… different.

The choice to love well… helps us connect with the God teaches and live it out. It helps us connect with what matters most… and changes our hearts… it impacts our motives.

That is Paul's prayer for this Church that He loves… and its my prayer for Northside too. That we might live lives that are truly unchained… not bound or confined by things that were never meant to dominate our days… that we’d know and live for what matters with godly motives.

I hope you see yourself in there somewhere… we do have a lot in common…