Side by Side Witness

I want you to pretend that someone who didn’t know anything about Jesus at all was given an assignment...

Their assignment was to watch our church interact with one another and in the world for one week… and then they were to write an article about who they think Jesus is, what he has done, and what it means to follow him...

The only catch was: we weren’t allowed to speak directly to them and we didn’t know they were there.

They could LISTEN to us interact with one another and others… but we couldn’t speak directly to THEM and we didn’t know they were there.

They got to sit in on our services… listen to multiple conversations in the lobby…

They followed you home and saw the way you interact with your family...

They went to your Gospel Community meeting with you and listened to your kitchen conversations… the way you pray together.... the way you talked during the discussion time… the things you shared during the mutual ministry times…

They could read the texts that you sent to other members in the church, and listen to the prayers you prayed for them.

By the end of the week, what impression would they have of who Jesus is, what he has done, and what it means to follow him?

In our mission statement at Oak Hill, we say that we are here to “Proclaim Jesus, Equip Servants, and Send Witnesses to the glory of God.”

A lot of times we think of “witnesses” as merely going out door to door and SAYING SOMETHING TO unbelievers…

And listen… proclaiming the gospel to the lost is TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT. Don’t hear me downplaying that.

But today we are going to see that what we SAY must be accompanied by what others can SEE… a life lived in surrender to Jesus Christ.

Today we are going to see that a church with an effective WITNESS for Jesus is a church that shows the EVIDENCE of Christ’s work in our lives that reflects his own life.

The greatest argument for Christianity is the self-sacrifice of a church captivated by their Savior and Lord.

Here’s what I PRAY would be true of Oak Hill if someone were to watch our interactions for a week:

Big Idea: Demonstrate the evidence of Christ’s powerful work in his people to the world.

We are working through the book of Philippians in a sermon series called, “Side by Side for the Gospel”...

And we’ve said that Paul’s purpose for writing this letter… and our purpose for studying it is that we would partner together in the pursuit of knowing and proclaiming Jesus.”

Paul is writing (something like) a missionary prayer letter...

They’ve supported him in the past as a missionary.... he wants them to stand with him in the future.

And he is exhorting them to stand side by side in relationship with each other… with him… AND with Jesus… so that the gospel can keep going to more and more people.

Last week we saw that in order to do this, they needed to embrace a “Side by Side Humility.”

There were some minor divisions among them… some selfish ambition… some vain glory-seeking… some putting themselves first...

And they needed to put OFF that “self-focus” and PUT ON a common mindset in Jesus Christ… the mindset of a humble servant.

The passage that we are studying today is really the end of the section that we studied last week… it’s the result of pursuing humility in community...

Read with me in Philippians 2:12-18.

Paul wants the Philippian church to stand out as saints in the world… He wants them to...

Demonstrate the evidence of Christ’s powerful work in his people to the world.

And he says that the first piece of evidence we present for Jesus is this...

Exhibit A: Responsive Obedience. (v. 12-13)

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13, ESV)

Explain: Paul is calling them to Responsive Obedience. At the beginning of verse 12, we read the word, “Therefore”… [what’s the question we always ask?…]

Therefore is a word of RESPONSE… it signals that we need to understand what he JUST wrote so that we can understand what he’s ABOUT to write.

This is part of a section that started all the way back in 1:27 where Paul exhorted them to “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (or live like a citizen of heaven consistent with the good news of that JESUS has WON the victory for your salvation)...

More specifically, everything in this section has been about how they live worthy of the gospel TOGETHER in Christ’s church…

It’s not so much about their personal walk or personal evangelism… that will play a role... but it’s more about their witness for Christ TOGETHER as parts of a whole.

Most recently, Paul emphasized that their WITNESS for Christ meant that they needed to “have ONE mind”…

That is, they needed to embrace the MINDSET of JESUS... who though he was the perfect holy God, HUMBLED himself as a servant by becoming OBEDIENT to the point of death… and who God highly exalted to the highest place and gave the highest name: LORD.

So that brings us to verse 12… THEREFORE… they are to OBEY… they are to obey Paul’s teachings… but really they are to obey him because they are the teachings of CHRIST.

Paul is just carrying out the commission that Jesus gave to make disciples… they were teach them to OBEY all that Christ commanded.

As you have always obeyed… so now… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling....

Now does that seem... different... to anyone? All of this talk of “obedience” and “work” in relationship to your own salvation?

Like, doesn’t Ephesians 2 say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV)

And does Titus 3 say, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy...” (Titus 3:5a, ESV)

So what’s the deal with this “work out your own salvation” stuff?

I’m glad you asked… because we can tend to go to one of two extremes with this...

Some people run to the one extreme and say, “Obey?!?! Stop using that blasphemous word! We’re saved by GRACE… we don’t have to obey!”

They assume this must be a CONTRADICTION to Ephesians 2 and Titus 3…

Others will go to the other extreme and use this verse to to say, “LOOK! SEE!!! We WORK for our salvation! You can’t have any hope that you are saved until you get to the end of your life and see that you were GOOD ENOUGH!”

And so which is it? Well… neither… and in some sense it’s both.

You see, our problem is that we tend to look at God’s work of salvation from only one perspective.... it’s like this curtain rod.

If I hold this curtain rod out to you and you look at it from the end, all you see is a singular point. Some people think about salvation MERELY as the POINT of conversion.

As long as I said in the past that I have FAITH in Jesus… then I’m saved by grace through faith and it really doesn’t have anything to do with how I live right now.

Other people tend to look at salvation from the other end... all they see is this OTHER point. They tend to think about salvation MERELY as the POINT of glorification… the time our faith is made sight and we enter into glory...

And that’s the only time I can truly know that I’ve put my faith in Jesus… is when I get to the end of my life and I can see if I was good enough...

But if I turn the curtain rod sideways… then you can see the whole thing at once:… the point of conversion… the point of glorification… and everything in between.

And ALL of this is God’s work of salvation… he has saved us… he will save us… and he IS saving us from the power and presence of sin BY GRACE ALONE through FAITH ALONE in CHRIST ALONE from beginning to end.

We work as a response of faith to God’s saving grace in all of it.

So when Paul says “obey”… and... “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” he’s saying, “Live out God’s saving work in your life… live out what you believe about Jesus and what he has done.”

The evidence of salvation RIGHT NOW in your life is RESPONSIVE obedience.

The word that he uses for obey is the word used for responding to a knock at the door.

Someone knocks, we obey the knock by walking to the door and letting them in… it’s a RESPONSE.

Paul also uses the word in Romans 1:5 to refer to “the obedience of faith.”

In other words, the actions of obedience that respond to what we CONFESS to believe.

The EVIDENCE of saving faith is responsive obedience.

So in this context, what is Paul writing about that we believe and respond to in obedience? (remember that word THEREFORE)

Obedience is...

The response of faith to Christ's Obedient Example (v. 8)

Look up at chapter 2:8… “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8, ESV)

We believe in a Savior who set the example of obedience.

The Son of God responded to the will of God in obedience.

And even though, with respect to his humanity, he had an aversion to the physical and spiritual pain the cross would be, he said, “Not my will but yours be done.”

His DIVINE will was ONE with the will of the Father and he became obedient to the point of death, EVEN death on a cross.

To believe in JESUS is to believe that JESUS did THAT for you and for me. If Jesus wasn’t obedient, we don’t have salvation!

So let me ask you this: Would it make any sense to say, “I believe in Jesus... who OBEYED the will of God… but I don’t need to think about obeying God in my own life.”???

NO!!! That would make NO SENSE!!! … but that’s what people do all the time, especially in our “everyone’s a Christian” culture.

You can’t say, “Sure, I believe in Jesus… I guess I’ve always believed...” but then show no evidence of who that Jesus is and what he has done in your life!

You can’t say, “I believe in a Savior whose obedience in death made a way for me to have LIFE… but I don’t really care what he has to say about how that life should be lived!”

There has to be a REPENTANCE… first of what we BELIEVE about Jesus… that results in a turning of our actions and attitudes to obedience.

So many in our culture think that they have saving faith because they said they believed in Jesus sometime… But their version of Jesus expressed in their lives looks NOTHING LIKE the real Jesus described in Philippians 2… and they prove that they do not know him because they do not care to obey him.

Our obedience is a response of faith to Christ’s obedient example.

But that’s not the only thing our obedience is responding to… Obedience is...

The response of faith to Christ's Supreme Exaltation (v. 9-11)

Look at verse 9… “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11, ESV)

So imagine saying, “I believe in Jesus… I believe that he’s the supreme Lord that every knee will bow before…” but then saying, “But I don’t think I need to obey him.”

That makes NO SENSE!

When we really ponder what we believe about Jesus…

When we gaze upon him as the risen and reigning Lord in all his glory...

When we think about the work that he has done to rescue us from our sin..

When we consider that word “SALVATION” itself… which means to be RESCUED from HARM...

And we consider that we were SNATCHED out of the DEATH GRIP of the DESTROYER of our souls… and we were given new life in union with Christ...

When we think about the superiority of the life lived in Christ...

It ONLY makes sense to respond in obedience.

Now remember… I am not saying that we work FOR our salvation...

We work OUT the salvation that God has already given. Remember Paul’s words in 1:28… he said that your salvation is FROM GOD.

We work OUT of the faith that has responded to God’s gracious work.

Obedience is...

The response of faith to Christ's Gracious Empowerment (v. 12b)

Look at the second half of verse 12… “...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13, ESV)

Our salvation is not dependent on OUR ability to perfectly obey…

Our salvation is dependent on our willingness to trust and surrender to the power of God to save us… and KEEP saving us… until the end.

It is GOD who awakens our hearts to faith at conversion…

It is GOD who saves us at the day of glorification where he clothes us in righteous robes washed by the blood of the lamb...

And it is GOD who works in us… that word means EMPOWERS us… to live by faith in the moments in between.

Remember what Paul said in Philippians 1: “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.” (Philippians 1:6, ESV)

If you have truly put your faith in Jesus, God is finishing the work that he started… he is EMPOWERING your obedience actively and personally. “Both to will and to work.”

He is working in us to shape and empower our WILL… he’s shaping our desires and motivations as we submit to the Holy Spirit’s conviction in our lives.

He is working in us to WORK… he’s energizing new ACTIVITY of obedience… he’s giving us everything we need to SERVE HIM (physical strength, mental capacity, spiritual resilience).

You can be confident in that fact… I love that AS Paul calls them to obedience, he expresses his confidence in them…

He starts out this sentence calling them “beloved” (my DEAR FRIENDS)…

He’s like, “God is working in you! I’ve seen the evidence myself when I was with you! I’ve seen the evidence of Christ’s in your life with my own eyes…

Just don’t let anything change that since I can’t be there with you to remind you.”

And then he says, “God is working in you.”

This is so important if we are going to stand side by side in obedience… if we are going to hold one another accountable to obedience to Christ...

We NEED to express our confidence that God is continuing to work in one another’s lives.

It’s like parents who trust their teenagers to stay home alone while they go away for the weekend, but they still give them that little reminder before they walk out the door…

“We KNOW you guys have obeyed us… that’s why we are able to leave you in the first place… just make sure you KEEP obeying…”

We can express that kind of TRUST because we KNOW it’s GOD who finishes the work he starts!

Isn’t that so encouraging?

Too often, our version of accountability for obedience sounds more like this: “You said you were going to obey. You’d better, or else… or else you are going to have to deal with my peer pressure… or else you’ll be exposed for your shame… or else you might not be a believer.”

There can be a place for questioning someone’s faith after persistent evidence of unbelief… that’s why we have a church discipline policy laid out in Matthew...

But it can’t be our normal starting posture toward one another.

The normal posture is… obey Jesus… I’ve seen the evidence of God’s work in your heart before… I know he will bring you to obedience again.

Can I just encourage you: If God, in his grace, gives you the opportunity to see someone else’s sin… and to be a tool in their life to move them toward obedience… make sure that you express your confidence that GOD is at work in them to finish the work he started.

God is eager to empower you as you work out your saving faith… it is his OWN GOOD PLEASURE to do so.

He’s like a Chick-Fil-A worker… God can you help me obey? “My Pleasure.”

Is there an area of your life that God is calling you to respond to him in obedience? Especially as you think about what we’ve been studying the past few weeks…

Maybe you’ve been focused on your own agenda and your own desires and God has been calling you to partner with his people in the pursuit of knowing and proclaiming Jesus… and you’ve been putting it off… or resisting him in some way…

Maybe you’ve been allowing fear or frustration about your circumstances to control you… and God has been calling you these past few weeks to live out of your FAITH in Jesus that TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN!

Maybe you’ve been acting out in pride… and God has been calling you these past weeks to humble yourself so that you can live in unity with his church.

Respond to your faith in Christ with obedience.

That’s Exhibit A that Christ is working in his people… now in context, that obedience will specifically play out in their humility toward other believers.

That’s why he continues in v. 14… “Do all things without grumbling or disputing...” (Philippians 2:14–15, ESV)

Their obedience would result in this second evidence of Christ’s powerful work in his people:

Exhibit B: Radical Unity. (v. 14-15a)

Explain: Remember the context… Paul is calling them to be of the same mind (the mindset of Christ)… to have the same love… to be of full accord and of one mind.

And if they are going to that, they need to put a HARD STOP on grumbling and disputing.

These words recall the description of the Israelites who grumbled and complained against Moses and the Lord in the Desert after the Exodus from Egypt.

They forgot that the Lord had brought them out of slavery using Moses… and they didn’t trust him to lead them into the Promised Land.

Over and over, the scriptures point to this grumbling as a result of a hardness of heart… of unbelief.

The word “grumbling” implies the sinful tendency to cop an attitude when expectations aren’t met.

So you’re serving in ministry… and the deacon in charge of that ministry didn’t do something that you thought they should do… or they said something you thought they shouldn’t say...

So you think to yourself, “Can you believe this guy? Can you believe what they expect me to do? Do they seriously want me to work under these circumstances?”

Or maybe you are a leader… and the people you are leading don’t respond the way you want them to… and instead of actually leading, you just get frustrated and say, “How does God expect me to lead THESE people!”

Grumbling is usually behind the scenes… maybe by yourself or to your spouse or a few select friends… it’s more of a murmur than a fight.

The word “disputing” is more of the external fight… it means constantly arguing to put your own opinions first… it can also mean doubting or anxious reasoning...

So this could be someone who never trusts the direction the leaders are going and they always need to make their dissent known.

Now I’m not saying that leaders should never be questioned… but Paul is talking about making the assumption that you are always right and they are always wrong and having an argumentative spirit because of that.

That attitude needs to be brought into submission to Christ for the sake of unity.

This could also be leaders who are always trying to force their own way in the church, even if it doesn’t have a foundation in God’s word…

A qualification for elders is that they not be “quarrelsome.”

They are to avoid unnecessary arguments that are rooted in preferences and opinions rather than than word of God.

We are to pursue radical unity by avoiding grumbling and disputing. That’s the powerful evidence that GOD is at work in us.

And let me just say on this point… when I talk to other pastors about grumbling and disputing that they hear in their churches, I’m INCREDIBLY grateful for you all...

I hear some things here and there, but on the grumbling and disputing meter, I believe Oak Hill does pretty well.

And honestly, that’s probably where the Philippian church was as well.

They had a few things going on… but Paul is able to point out two main offenders (which means it’s not widespread yet)…

This is more of a warning about the tiny seeds of discord that we can sow, which will turn into BIG problems to our witness later on.

Because grumbling and disputing are right at home in our sin nature. And pursuing unity is radical.

Think about the rest of the world who doesn’t know Jesus… We are at a point in our society of EXTREME polarization… grumbling and disputing is the native tongue of the public sphere.

So then how much more will it point to Jesus when we stand united in him?

When the world sees us laying down our own preferences and opinions?

When we show grace to one another instead of “canceling” one another for disagreeing with us?

That’s radical in our world. And it’s radical to our sin nature.

I think we can all be prone to grumble or dispute.

Some of us are more prone to grumble… to murmur and complain in a more “under-the-breath,” “behind-closed-doors” sort of way..

Some of us are more prone to dispute… to make our complaints known and to try to get our own way…

It just takes the right thing to set us off... What topic are you most prone to grumble or dispute about? What’s the thing in the church that frustrates you the most?

Now before you start to dwell on that thing, I want you to actively surrender it to God. [Pause for prayer???]

TRUST him to work through his church to produce his purposes.

TRUST that forbearing and forgiving and loving and seeking harmony is more powerful than always getting your own way.

I guarantee you, the world will notice a church that is united when everyone else is divided...

That’s what Paul says in the rest of verse 15… [14] “Do all things without grumbling or disputing,] 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life...” (Philippians 2:14–16a, ESV)

The context here shows that our obedience and our unity are part of our WITNESS in the world. They lead to this the third evidence of saving faith:

Exhibit C: Radiant Purity. (v. 15b-16a)

Explain: Paul says, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing… THAT you may be blameless and innocent.

Grumbling and disputing will keep us from pursuing what’s really important: radiant purity.

We GRUMBLE because we are turned inward and focused on our own sinful preferences and desires that aren’t satisfied.

We DISPUTE because we are turned outward against the preferences desires of others.

But when we put off those desires of the flesh and turn our hearts UPWARD to the desires of Christ, we become blameless and innocent… radiantly pure… because we are pursuing our Savior.

The word blameless means that we are above reproach… that the world cannot throw an accusation at us that will stick, except that we live by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The word innocent means that we are pure… we are unstained by continual patterns of sin… we walk with integrity, consistent with the gospel we proclaim.

This is our calling… that we would not be defined by sin, but that we would be defined by our relationship to God…

Notice he says that we are blameless and innocent “Children of God” without blemish.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, God makes us his children.

Contrary to popular opinion, not everyone is God’s child…

If you’ve been reading in our reading plan in Ephesians chapter 2, the Bible says that apart from Jesus, we are “by nature children of wrath.”

Here in Philippians 2:15, Paul says that each generation is twisted and crooked…

Each generation is marked by a new way of twisting God’s design… his standards… his beauty...

We destroy what is meant to be pure and blameless, staining it with our sinful desires and passions.

But God, in his grace at work through faith, saves us and makes us HIS CHILDREN… CHILDREN OF GOD…

And it is out of that identity as his children that we grow in righteousness.

I used the analogy the first week in this series… that we are growing up to look like our heavenly father.

We have all of the spiritual DNA we need to be blameless and innocent… we receive that at the point of conversion [hold up curtain rod]

We’ve been washed by the blood of the Son...

We’ve been united to the Son...

We have the HOLY SPIRIT of God indwelling us and leading us to look like Jesus.

We simply need to surrender to his leading… to fully rely upon him… to believe that his desires are best and his power is sufficient… and then to act accordingly.

In the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, living as children of God will stand out.

We will look different. We will shine as lights in a dark world...

But how do we produce this kind of radiant purity in our lives?

Because I don’t know about you, but I know sin still exists in my heart and it taints my desires… it corrupts my actions at times.

I deal with sin every day… so how do we put off the evil works of darkness and shine as lights...

How do we produce this kind of radiant purity? We do it by holding fast to the word of life [instead of grumbling and disputing].

[The word of life is a reference to the gospel].

If we are going to live like lights… and God is our power source… then the word of life is like the switch that allows the power to flow to the lightbulb.

We need to make sure the switch is constantly in the on position by holding fast to the gospel… by reminding ourselves… and reminding each other… of the gospel that saves us.

Remember, this is a command to the church together… they are to shine as LIGHTS (PLURAL)… not just one light alone, but a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

And so they needed to hold fast to the gospel together. This is why we don’t have time for grumbling and complaining… because it distracts us from what we really NEED: the GOSPEL!

This is one of our vision goals for the Fall… that we would hold fast to the gospel through CONSISTENT Gospel Community.

How’s that going for you?

I know that some of you still need to get plugged into a gospel community…

Don’t drag your feet on that… make it a priority in the next two weeks: you are only hindering your growth in Jesus by waiting!

Some of us need to deepen our connections… we need to get real about how we are struggling to live with blameless purity…

We need to confess where we are tempted to sin so that we can be encouraged to put that sin off and put on the radiance of Christ.

We need to challenge others to the same kind of vulnerability and meet them with the beautiful truth of the gospel that makes us pure in Christ.

Some of us need to increase our consistency in connecting outside of the scheduled gathering…

Remember Hebrews 3: exhort one another EVERY DAY as long as it is called today that we might now be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

We need each other every day because we are tempted to sin every day.

So this week our GCs are NOT SCHEDULED to meet… but that doesn’t mean it’s an “off week”... how are you going to connect with someone from your Gospel Community to encourage them to HOLD FAST to the word of life?

Call someone up and pray for them.

Grab a cup of coffee together.

Spend time thanking God for them and then tell them why you were thankful for them.

When we help one another hold fast to the word of life, we will shine in this dark world with Radiant purity… and Christ will be glorified by a beautiful bride at his return.

That’s all that Paul wants to see… that the gospel he proclaimed had its effect in their lives...

Look at the end of verse 16 - “[holding fast to the word of life,] so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2:16–18, ESV)

Paul longs to see the evidence of their responsive obedience and radical unity and radiant purity… because in the end he knows it will produce this fourth evidence of Christ’s power:

Exhibit D: Resilient Sacrifice. (v. 16b-18)

Explain: Remember, as Paul writes this letter, he’s under house arrest, chained to a Roman guard.

And he says, “You know what will make all this worth it??? If I see that you held fast to the gospel until the very end.”

It will make it all worth it if the world keeps seeing the gospel’s power THROUGH YOU until the day Jesus returns...

If you were just some “conversion statistic” because you prayed a prayer or walked an aisle but it doesn’t change you… it’s not worth it for me.

If you just went through the motions of coming to church… and we had this really big crowd of unchanged people… then I would have labored in vain.

But if you sacrifice your life because of your FAITH in the gospel I preached, then I will know that my own sacrifice was worth it.

Paul says, “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering.”

In other words, “Even if I give EVERYTHING for the sake of demonstrating Christ’s power to the world...”

If I know that my sacrifice is joined with your sacrifice of faith… then I can rejoice!

THAT was the EVIDENCE to Paul that their faith had taken root… resilient sacrifice.

FAITH that doesn’t stop when we the cost feels too high.

I can understand what Paul is saying here. Maybe you can too. Ministry can feel like a constant outpouring of yourself… And the evidence that it was worth it isn’t always immediate.

You are pouring yourself out in relationship… you see someone take a few steps forward… then they a few steps back…

You invest time and energy and love… and then they say something that hurts...

And you wonder if it is worth it.

But then you look to your left… and you look to your right… and you see the evidence of OTHER people joining in that work with you… sacrificing because of their faith in the gospel… there is something SO ENCOURAGING about that!

When I see our elders and deacons and ministry servants taking hold of their faith to the degree that they sacrifice their time and talents and treasures for the sake of the gospel…

There is incredible JOY in that!

There is JOY in standing side by side for the gospel… and it’s a JOY that keeps us going.

And so Paul expresses his joy… and then he invites them to reciprocate his joy.

He says, “I’m finding joy in this whole sacrifice for Jesus thing… you should try it with me!”

Look for the evidences of resilient sacrifice in the people around you...

Partnering together in the pursuit of knowing and proclaiming Jesus…

and experience the joy of sacrificing together.

A church that sacrifices together is a church where Christ’s power is evident.

So let’s return to the scenario from the beginning of the sermon: if someone observed our church interact over the course of any given week, what would they learn about Jesus? What evidence of Christ’s power would they see? Would they see...

Responsive Obedience.

Radical Unity

Radiant Purity

And Resilient Sacrifice

Do YOU see the evidence in your life? In our church? If so, REJOICE and be GLAD!!!… if not, go back and seek the God who powerfully works both to will and to work for his good pleasure.