On Mission Together

We’re All in this Together

When I was in high school all the guys wanted to be Zac Efron and every girl dreamed of being Vanessa Hudgins. They were the main characters in High School Musical. I remember the night it first came out. I tried my hardest to convince my younger sister that I couldn’t be less interested in this “kid” stuff, but I sat and watched the entire movie. And after I went outside to shoot the basketball around, because the star athletes were basketball players, and I sang the theme song to myself over and over again.

We’re all in this together, duh duh duh, duhduhduh duhduhduh duhduhduhduuhhh… I never memorized the words. This movie caught fire among my generation. But it wasn’t just a catchy sing-a-long high school musical. Instead, it taught an invaluable lesson:

Teamwork makes the dreamwork. Or in other words, if we all work together, show each other respect, use our individual abilities, and love above all we can accomplish huge goals for the benefit of the entire team.

I am always appreciative the life lessons that we learn from movies, sports, music, and other pop culture areas. It certainly beats the alternative: senseless entertainment. What makes life lessons in pop culture even more memorable is when they line up with the life lessons we learn from Scripture. And “teamwork makes the dreamwork” is nothing if it isn’t biblical.

My Excitement in the New Partnership

Today is a special day for many reasons. Not the least of which is that it is my very first official day as the preacher here at Thomaston Road Church of Christ! I don’t know about you but the long anticipation and wait has been so worth it to be able to finally arrive and begin our partnership together. I pray and hope that this partnership will develop into many kingdom fruits as we all strive to save lost souls together.

Part of beginning any partnership requires the exciting and long process of getting to know each other. So, over the first few weeks I wanted to allow you to get to know me. You will be very fortunate to do so (*invoke laughter*). In all seriousness, I thought a good way to start our relationship together would be to preach over some of my favorite passages. And later, as Annalena and I get to know each of you, we will ask you to share your favorites with us: favorite verse, favorite biblical book, favorite Bible character, favorite Bible story, and so on. I mean, what greater way to get to know each other in Christ than to learn our biblical favorites?!

The first favorite I wanted to share with you is my favorite New Testament letter, and that is the letter to the Philippians. I love this letter for many reasons, but one of which is the joy that is found in it. Ironically, this joy is found amidst a time of severe hardship. Paul actually writes this letter from a prison cell yet he still writes joy into every section!

Another reason I love this letter though is because it is a missional letter, and I hope to be a very missionally minded Christ follower. This letter is a missional letter, written by a missionary in chains, sent to his mission support team. It has updates on the mission, gratitude for support, and ultimately fellowship in the mission itself. Actually, the word fellowship is right at the heart of this letter.

Now, I want you to think of your own close friends. How did you get that way? A lot of things make friends close: shared interests, shared laughs, shared troubles, but for me, my best friends come from a shared mission. Paul calls this the, “fellowship of the gospel.” And it’s a powerful bond.

You can read about Paul’s developing friendship and fellowship with the Philippians in Acts 16. At the time of the letter the church at Philippi would be a thriving church and a core part of Paul’s mission team. They knew Paul, he introduced them to Jesus, and they believe in his mission and they support it financially it appears. Now, Paul is in prison in Rome awaiting his sentence, and he writes to the Philippians telling them, “hey I’m chained up but the mission is still on!” Now, while joy is all over this letter, it isn’t really a letter about joy. Instead, it’s joyous because of what Paul is writing about and who he is writing to. Look at verses 3-5:

Philippians 1:3–5 ESV

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

Don’t you love how this letter begins?! Paul says, “I thank God for you and when I do I have joy in my heart and a smile on my face!” Why Paul? Because of the fellowship he has with them in gospel.

Paul shows us how that we need to develop strong connections

I think the word fellowship has kind of lost its meaning over time. When we talk about fellowship usually we are talking about a meal after church. And, well, let’s face it the best fellowship happens in the company of good people and great food! But fellowship is more than sharing some coffee and cake. Paul, here, is talking about a fellowship that is the kind you find on mission together. You have shared goals, shared hardships, shared stories, prayers, laughters, and tears. Or, in other words:

When God sets you on the same mission, and sets His love in your hearts for the same people - that’s fellowship.

This type of fellowship has depth. It’s the type of fellowship that is developed over the passage of time. This type of fellowship is a connection. A strong and purposeful connection. And we need these types of connections while we are on this mission together. But understand a few things about these connections:

Connections occur when problems are solved

Sometimes connections are created in moments of crisis. I feel a special connection to the crazy crew who came out to help me move my furniture into my house a few weeks back. I had a problem and others stepped up to help me solve it. This built connections.

Connections happen when needs are met

Think about the church in Acts 2. Many new converts were far from home and they didn’t plan for their extended stay in Jerusalem. When they left for Passover and Pentecost they only packed enough clothes and resources to last them for their ordinary Jewish feasting times. But now they were new converts to Christianity and their stay was extended. The church stepped up and those who had met the needs of those who had not. We will build strong connections with our fellow Christ followers when we meet their needs in similar ways.

Just think about the raise the roof campaign. A need was there and you, as a church, stepped up and met that need. Now you are left with a special connection because of that. When people look at this roof you will all know, “Hey we worked together to meet that need and that roof happened because of us all.”

Connections are about purpose and partnership

Sometimes connections are created purposely. The connection we have as a family of God is purposeful and it creates in us a partnership. In other words, our connection is created out of a shared interest and that shared interest is a shared mission: advance the kingdom of God! Again, Paul talks about this partnership and calls it a partnership in the gospel. It is a purposeful partnership that seeks to use our individual abilities to benefit the whole body of the church. Paul speaks more about this partnership in verses 6-8:

Philippians 1:6–8 ESV

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. 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. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Paul teaches us to pray for our partnerships

1. First we pray that God will bring our work to completion. Verse 6 is key to this. Paul teaches us that the work - the mission that we share together - is not just our work. It’s God’s work in and through you. And God does not leave His work unfinished. He is completing His work. The NIV says Paul is “confident of this.” I like that! It gives me confidence to know that God is completing a work in each of us that will fulfill the mission of the gospel! This is not just self-confidence, but God-confidence. The message we see is that our work is God’s work and our story is God’s story!

2. Second, we pray for each other during the good and bad times. In verse 7 Paul reminds us that we are all partakers with each other of the grace of God. We are partakers in the good times and the bad. We ought to pray for each other whether we find ourself in a season of imprisonment or a season of immense blessing. Our prayers will provide strength for each other.

3. Finally, we pray for our partners with affection of Jesus Christ. In verse 8, Paul says he yearns for each of the Philippians. I think about the many partnerships I have had in the gospel. Having a partner in your gospel work is a very biblical concept. Paul had Barnabas and then Paul had Silas, Luke, Timothy, and Titus. Think about Jesus and how He had the 12 apostles and an even closer circle of close partners in His mission in Peter, James, and John. And when Jesus sends out the 72 disciples in Luke 10 two by two. It is important that we develop strong connections and partnerships. If you have not found that partner in the gospel yet I encourage you to begin praying to God and asking Him, “God send me my partner in ministry.” My wife is my partner in ministry, but she is not the only one I have. I pray everyday for the partners God will put in my life for the ministry He desires me to do for Him. Pray for God to send you your partners in ministry, and when He does show them the same yearning that Paul shows the Philippians.

I am so glad that God has answered my prayers in the partnership we have found in each other here at Thomaston Road. God has and continues to bless us and when we work together we can accomplish more than we could ever imagine! Isn’t it exciting to think about all that we can do for God and His kingdom as we work together?! One of the things that excited me most at Thomaston Road was the level of community involvement and outreach that happens here. This is a moving and working fellowship of God’s people and we all work together growing more and more in our love. Paul speaks about this in verses 9-11:

Philippians 1:9–11 ESV

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

We’re all in this together

Paul shows that we’re all in this together. Paul says his prayer is that their love would abound more and more with knowledge and discernment. And there is a purpose for this! So that they can approve what is excellent and be pure and blameless before Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes from Jesus and brings glory and praise to God!

That verse just excites me so much! I love how when Paul prays for his Christian family often He prays with such fervor for them to grow. Do we pray for each other this way? Do we pray that we grow and grow and grow and abound and abound and abound?! This is the type of prayer Paul prays for his family and it is the type of prayer we will do well to pray if we truly love each other and believe that we are all in this together.

Over the last several years now there has been a growing moving about how we need to have a faith that is a “personal relationship with Jesus.” I believe this. I believe we need to have a personal relationship with Jesus, but I don’t believe that our relationship with Jesus was ever supposed to stay personal. I believe it was meant to grow and flourishes into a relationship that was lived out in our lives as we build community, fellowship, share mission together, and grow as a family. Our personal relationship becomes very communal.

For example, look at this rope here. These caribeaner’s each hold 500lbs of weight individually. I don’t repel from mountains and I doubt I ever will because I simply do not trust this tiny device to hold my large self. But they claim it holds 500lbs. Well, if I were to take five of these and place them on this rope vertically how much weight would it hold together? 500lbs. In this fashion, the thought “You are only as strong as your weakest link” is true. But if I place these on the rope horizontally my weight capacity begins to grow exponentially. The church works the same way.

You see we are to have a personal and vertical and individual relationship with God, but there is a second command to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and that is to love your neighbor. A vertical relationship does no good if there is not a horizontal relationship. We need to demonstrate our love for others by serving, loving, fellowshipping, and partnering with each other. We become stronger by being on mission together!

We’re All in this Together lyrics

Listen to the lyrics of the song I spoke about at the beginning of this lesson:

Everyone is special in their own way We make each other strong (we make each other strong) Were not the same Were different in a good way Together's where we belong

We're all in this together Once we know That we are We're all stars And we see that We're all in this together And it shows When we stand Hand in hand Make our dreams come true

We're all here And speaking out with one voice We're going to rock the house (YEAH YEAH!) The party's on now everybody make some noise Come on scream and shout

We've arrived because we're stuck together Champions one and all

It fits our faith pretty well. Now, listen again to Philippians 1:1-11

Read my version of Philippians 1:1-11

Philippians 1:1–11 ESV

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 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. 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. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Sound familiar? We really are all in this together. I thank God for our partnership! I pray for our partnership! I pray that we will grow together and be completely filled with the fruit of righteousness abounding in our love more and more and more and more and more as we seek to serve God and serve each other!

I want to encourage you to join this partnership! Being a member of the kingdom of God is the greatest blessing anyone could ever receive. You can become a citizen today! All you have to do is believe these words you have heard. Confess that you believe Jesus is the Son of God who can take away your sin. Repent of your sins by leaving your old life for this new life in Christ. Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, and raise up a new creation living obediently for God, a partner with His family!

I hope you will make the choice to put on Christ today. I want all others to know that the invitation is open always. Whether you are in need of prayer. Need to repent. Or maybe you are just so excited about the message of God that you can’t sit still any longer I want you to know that you can come now and always while together we stand and sing!