Celebrating the Gospel
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and thank you for having me today. I’m honored to speak before you this morning and be with you as you Celebrate the ministry God has been doing here through your church.
I’m thankful for (list of people)
I’m also very grateful for your pastor, Dennis. Pastor Dennis has been a blessing and encouragement to me since meeting him this past year.
He is a man that loves the Lord, he loves his family, and he loves this church. What an example of a pastor Dennis is to any of us in ministry. He is a man who you don’t question his motives. You don’t question his dedication. You don’t question his character. He feeds the church faithfully week in and week out. He prays for the congregation and every time I talk to him gives glory to God for the things going on here and the privelage he has to serve.
Dennis, thank you for being a selfless servant of Jesus and setting the example for other pastors to follow.
As we celebrate this ministry and your pastor today, I believe I can speak for your pastor when I say it’s not a man or a ministry that should get the glory for what the Lord has done and will do. It’s Jesus. Amen?
This morning I’d like for you to turn your attention to Phil 1 where I want us to see how Paul wrote to this church about celebrating Jesus and the gospel.
The book of Philipians is widely known as a book about Joy and this first chapter exmplifies Paul’s joy in various circumstances.
It is joy that allows us to celebrate as Paul did. He didn’t celebrate his circumstances, I believe he celebrated the Gospel.
Celebrating the gospel doesn’t always means celebrating in times of great victory, it means having a proper focus on Jesus, an understanding of your call, and be united around the message and truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today as we I preach I want you remember in your minds the great things you have seen God do in the life of your church. I want you think on how you can be apart of the great things God not only can do, but will do in the future of your church as you Celebrate the gospel.
Follow along with me as I read this morning
Phil 1:12-20
12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
PRAY
I. Celebrating the Trials
I. Celebrating the Trials
Paul wrote this letter from prison while he was chained to a Roman guard 24/7. So when he is talking about the things that have happened to him he isn’t speaking of any of the victories he had seen. He is referring to his false imprisonment that lasted for a couple of years.
The Apostle Paul is known as a man who was seeking to do something great for God. He was seeking to get the gospel to all that he came in contact with. He was living a life dedicated to the furtherance of the cause of Christ. In his time he was stoned, shipwrecked, and imprisoned, yet he had joy. He was celebrating the gospel no matter the circumstances.
He lived the truth of
Rom 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
A church like this that preaches the gospel and seeks to have an impact on its community for Jesus I’m sure there have been and know there will be trials.
The question is what will you focus on during the trials?
Paul chose to focus on two things. First, he focused on Jesus.
A. Focus on Jesus
A. Focus on Jesus
A little back story of what God has done in my life: In 2015 I got out of the Marine Corps after 9 years as an Air Traffic Controller. I came on staff to a church that was only 4 years old.
The Sunday before the church voted to increase the budget to bring me on we experienced our lowest attendance in almost a year.
We had started attending the church, Freedom baptist in Yuma Az, in December of 2012 when it was in an old video store. In late 2013 God opened the door for us to move into an old Catholic church that we baptized in paint and made many adjustments to.
Speaking of adjustment to buildings. Your pastor has a great vision for what to do around here. It was exciting walking around the property to hear his heart to see this property be transformed and used for the glory of God.
But back to the church I came on staff at.
In January of 2015 we experienced a church split. Now I wont’ go into the details but at the time I remember thinking things like “Are we going to make it” and praying that more people would come.
It was after that my pastor sought to lead us by keeping our focus on Jesus and the message of the gospel. To be unified in our efforts to reach our community to Christ.
He brought me on by faith that summer and then a few months later the Lord answered our prayers in a way that we never saw coming.
Within the next year we saw much spiritual growth and physical growth.
We like to think its abnormal for churches to endure difficult situations but in reality every church faces difficulties at each stage of its existence. Just a Paul faced difficulties at each stage of his ministry.
What determines the long term effectiveness of a church and a Christian is what they choose to focus on and celebrate during the times of trials. Do we focus on the difficulties and what God could do or are we focused on Jesus and what God will do?
When we focus on Jesus and celebrate the power of the gospel we will focus on the 2nd thing Paul had his heart set to during difficult times and that was a focus on others.
B. Focus on Others
B. Focus on Others
Phil 1:14-18
14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
Paul wrote to the Philippians about the brethren who had gained confidence in preaching the gospel because of his trials.
He saw how is trial would be one that could be used to impact others for the sake of the gospel.
He even heard of people preaching the gospel so that they would personally benefit and that his bonds would increase. He had no desire to stop them. He had no desire to see the truth of the gospel stop being preached because of his own personal dilemma.
His desire, his focus, was on Jesus, and on Others. Because he wanted others to know about Jesus how he knew Jesus.
This mindest has been coined in recent years as a Kingdom Mindset. A mindset that says we can look different but as long as we preach the gospel, we don’t have to be enemies?
Paul knew that if they believed the gospel they would be in Heaven together one day. He was more concernd about filling the throne room of God with worshippers than filling his churches with worshippers of himself or his way of doing things.
In the midst of trials he wasn’t trying to raise support for himself or his release, he was focused on raising awareness of Jesus and the good news of His death burial and resurrection.
Jesus was the greatest example of someone focused on others.
Matt 20:28
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
He gave all that He was for the purpose of serving others.
As disciples of Christ we have the privelage of giving all that we have in service to Him. I’m not speaking of just finances, although we should be faithful in giving to the Lord through the local church, and I know your pastor is thankful for your faithfulness in this area especially through the last 6 months of uncertainity. It’s a testimony to your faith in the Lord.
Jesus gave of himself through his time and his efforts. Paul did the same.
Paul Celebrated the trials by focusing on Jesus and on others. Which allowed him to Celebrate the Task.
II. Celebrate the Task
II. Celebrate the Task
The task that was set before Paul is the same task we face today.
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
It is a calling that is placed upon each believer. It’s firs a call to live
A. A Call to Live
A. A Call to Live
Phil 1:21-23
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Paul wrote of this same principle in
Gal 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
It was a message that he delivered to all of the saints of God. To live is Christ. To truly live for Christ and allowing Him to be known through our words and actions is the great calling each of us that have put our faith in the gospel has the privilege and honor of carrying out.
It’s living in light of what God is going to do instead of what God did not do.
Living out the calling of God on our lives isn’t always beautiful but it’s always beneficial in the end.
Some of you may have heard of a missionary named Adoniram Judson. He and his wife Ann, went to Burma in 1813 where Judson would spend nearly forty years translating the Bible and preaching the gospel. They labored for 6 years before seeing one Burmese person get saved.
During Judson’s time in Burma he suffered as few would be willing: he was denied permission from the king to preach the gospel, was imprisoned numerous times, suffered the death of his first and second wife and several of his children, and endured many other difficulties. Yet he was faithful to the work God had called him to do. Before his death in 1850, he translated the Bible into Burmese and wrote an English-Burmese Dictionary. Speaking of the trials he endured, he wrote, “Had it not been for…an assured conviction that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I must have sunk under my accumulated sufferings.”
Adoniram Judson lived for Christ because he realized that living for Christ mean that it was also a call to Die.
B. A Call to Die
B. A Call to Die
I know, that sounds a little dramatic. And it isn’t necessarily a call to die physically, although church history is riddled with stories of men and women that have been martyred for their faith and there are plenty of men and women today in foreign countries being persecuted for their faith.
For us in 21st century American I believe the application of this text can be taken to mean we are called to die to our own ideals of how life should be. We are called to die to ourselves. We are called to lay our desires down at the foot of the cross and let Jesus give us the desires He would have us pursue.
In American we will find many Christinas living lives for the pursuit of the American dream. If all we pursue is the American dream I’m afraid we will find it to be a Christian nightmare.
The Christian life is a selfless one. It’s one that I see evidenced by the hearts of the people of this church and your pastor. Thank God for churches like Glastonbury who are willing to bring in backpacks and support others at a time when some would be solely looking on the inside you’ve chosen to reach out.
You’ve chosen to deny yourselves and invest in others.
When God used Elisha to fill the widows vessels he did not ask her to get vessels that were full, he did not ask her to get vessels that were half empty, he called on her to get vessels that were completely empty of anything and then God would fill them.
Thats what our call to Celebrate the task is. Celebrating our own emptiness, Celebrating our weakness, and reveling and glorifying God in his fulness and goodness as he pours into us when we die to our selves.
We can Celebrate the Trials, We can Celebrate the Task, and lastly, we should celebrate together.
III. Celebrate Together
III. Celebrate Together
Phil 1:27
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
The word conversation in the text there means our walk or our lives. We are to let our lives represent the gospel of Christ.
When we as individuals are living our lives as it becomes the gospel of Jesus and represents him, we will find that we are together two ways. First, we are together in One Spirit.
A. In One Spirit
A. In One Spirit
The phrase one spirit speaks of the fact that we should have unity and shared convictions.
Acts 2:46
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Our unity is not found in our agreement upon everything.
Unity is not found in the color of the paint or the arrangements of the chairs. Unity is not found in agreement of attire or other matters of opinion based upon biblical principles.
Unity is found in the Gospel through the Holy Spirit.
Not everyone looks at a situation and sees it the same...
I recently read about a lady who said “I was curious when I found two black-and-white negatives in a drawer. I had them made into prints. I was pleasanlty surprised to see that they were of a younger, slimmer me, taken on one of my first dates with my husband. When i showed him the photos, his face lit up. ‘Wow, look at that!’ he said with appreciation. ‘It’s my Old Plymouth’”
See, the unity of that marriage was affected by the different viewpoints however that couple, prayerfully, didn’t get divorced over that little disagreement because their unity wasn’t found what they saw in the picture. Their unity and a church’s unity is found in their agreement on the Gospel and willingness to yield to the Spirit as He directs each individual life according to the Word of God.
I’m thankful for the unity of believers I sense here at Glastonbury and your wilingness to love and follow your Pastor as he seeks to modernize and update methodology to get out the message of the gospel.
Don Sisk, a man in his late 80’s who served as a missionary to Japan for a number of years, worked at Baptist International Missions Inc., and now continues to serve on staff at West Coast Baptist College is quoted as saying “Methods always change but the Message never does”
Just because it may look different doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
Unity isn’t found in our opinions, it is found in the Word of God through the illumation of the Holy Spirit.
Then we are to be of one mind
B. In One Mind
B. In One Mind
As the Spirit illuminates truth to us and we allow our opinions to be just that, opinions, we will find ourselves of one mind as a body of believers when we are focused on the same person, Jesus Christ.
Phil 2:5
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
When we have the mind of Christ as believers, there will be unity. We will be focused on loving God and loving others.
Time of Response
Time of Response
When I close a message I like to close it with what I call a time of response.
It’s during this time I’d ask you to think on the truths of the message that was preached and what the Lord brought to your attention during it.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes please?
God has done some great things here at Glastonbury Baptist. God can and will do great things here at Glastonbury Baptist.
God blesses faithfulness. God blesses unity. It’s my prayer this message has helped you see how Celebrating this church is a Celebration of the Gospel. It’s a Celebration of the trials God has brought you through. It’s a Celebration of the Task at hand of getting the gospel out and it’s a Celebration of the Unity found when beleivers love God, Serve Others , and have a desire to make an impact.
Pastor Dennis....