Thank God For A Church Family

DECEMBER 27, 2020 STUDY NOTES PHILIPPIANS 1:3-5 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES THANK GOD FOR A CHURCH FAMILY INTRODUCTION My first thought for today’s message was don’t go to our new study, the book of Philippians Find an appropriate message for the last Sunday of the year 2020, my search came up blank I went back to Philippians and realized why, when I read the title, I had given our next study What greater way to close out a year than, “Thank God for a Church Family?” A title that I had already selected before Patty and I had coronavirus, God is in control I think you will all agree, it could easily read, “Thank God for a church family in the year 2020” John taught us how important Christian fellowship really is, 1Jn 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Paul is telling us how meaningful Christian fellowship can be God is teaching us in our day how important and how meaningful a church family really is Paul’s relationship with the Philippians had its beginning 10 years before he is writing this letter He had been separated from them by distance but not by spiritual relationship Pay attention to his words of appreciation for them and learn from his example How close is your spiritual relationship with your church family today? How thankful are you for them? How often do you think of them? Paul was thinking of the Philippians even though he had not seen them for 10 years What united Paul’s strong relationship with them? They were in his mind (vs. 3) He remembered to pray for them (vs. 4) Thanking God for them, praying for them maintained the fellowship (5) I REMEMBER YOU Php 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Thank God for old friends---Listen to the song There is no better way to remember your church family than thanking God for them Paul gives us another Christian example when he says, “I thank my God” Paul’s testimony was “think and thank,” have we learned to do that? Paul was thinking of the Philippians and thanking God Paul had a lot of other things he could think about, I know that we do too It is easy for us to think about our personal problems and not be thankful for anyone or anything Paul was in a Roman prison because of his faithfulness to God, yet he did not cease to be faithful Persecution did not turn Paul from praising God or thanking God (Acts 16:16-40) It never crossed Paul’s mind that because of his circumstances God was no longer with him If you find yourself in a spiritual prison, you incarcerated yourself Christians are to always, at all-times, give thanks to God through Christ for “all” things, 1Th 5:18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Don’t live your life thinking of what you can complain about every day Begin every day thinking of what you can thank God for every day Unthankful, complaining people are not the most pleasant people to be around, there is no joy A person who is pleased with Jesus and pleased with God’s people are joyful and pleasant people Paul was always thankful for his church family, for other Christians, they were upon his mind The way to be mindful and thankful for others is to pray for them on a-daily basis We must also consider another important point from this verse, Paul said, I thank “my God” 1 “My God,” Paul speaks with confidence, assurance, intimacy, and fellowship with God Exactly what David was saying, Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Prayer should be unto “The Lord,” which means that we respect Him as the Master of our life He is “my shepherd,” “My,” was of utmost importance to David, just as Paul said, “my God” We must be able to honestly say, I know “The Lord is “my” Shepherd,” and “my God” There is no personal meaning to those words without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Unless you have walked hand in hand with Jesus through the battles of life Unless you know that Jesus has been there to help you carry the burdens of life Then you don’t “know” the meaning of “Shepherd,” and you don’t understand “my God” Can we speak of such a relationship with God, how close do you feel to God right now? Have you ever felt closer to God than you do today? God does not move away from us, any separation between us and God is our move There was a time when David moved away from God and he experienced the consequences, Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. There is a reason why God’s presence was so real to Paul, Gal 2:20 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. God’s presence is real when we live by faith and trust our “Living Lord” Paul said, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Probably this does not mean that every day Paul prayed by name for everyone in Philippi He likely thanked God for the Philippian church, based upon their faithfulness to God Such as you and I saying, “thank God for Prairie Grove Baptist Church” I am sure there were individuals who came to his mind from time to time and he prayed for them Here is a lesson for us to learn, there are many-different ways for people to come to our mind It is easy for people to come to our mind who are unfaithful and may have troubled us It is so easy to point out the problems in a person’s life and talk about their shortcomings So, what do we do? Jesus taught us to pray for them, Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Regardless of our feelings toward others, regardless of their needs, the answer is, pray for them Only by God’s grace can you pray for all those Jesus identified in Matthew 5:44 I PRAY FOR YOU Php 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, We always talk about prayer, people say, “I pray all the time,” really? If so, what are we praying about? Our needs, our wants, our personal desires? There is nothing wrong with praying for those things, God wants you to do that But don’t say “Amen” at the conclusion of your praying for self, there is much more to pray for Evaluate your prayer life, how much time do you spend in prayer and what are you praying for? How much prayer time is “Thanking God?” How much prayer time is for others? How much prayer time is thanking God for your Church Family? Prayer without praise is selfish praying. Prayer and praise together will be powerful praying Note that Paul was praying for people and not things, things are temporal, people are eternal Pay attention to “for you all,” Paul did not go through the church roll and select or neglect people Too often Christians have-a tendency to select those that they want to sit by in church We had a lesson on that subject in our recent study of James, the sin of partiality (James 2:1-13) Too often Christians have-a tendency to select those they want to pray for 2 Which member of our church family does not need prayer? Who do you want to place on the no need to pray for them list? If you want your church family to be praying for you be sure you are praying for them There are those who have immediate prayer needs, pray for them now, today But don’t neglect any of our church family, ask God to bless our church family daily According to Paul praying for one another is a joyful experience The joy comes because you know that you did what you should do, you prayed for others We desperately need the power of prayer working among us in this day of coronavirus, Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Read James 5:13-18 and note that pray is mentioned in every verse, you learn a lot about prayer The “Prayer of Faith” is prayer in the “Name of the Lord,” accepting that He is Lord Our relationship with God and our relationship with one another is important to our praying James reveals to us how powerful prayer can be He also teaches us how great a hindrance sin can be to our prayer life Confession of sin, is a must, confession of sin must be a part of the “Prayer of Faith” We are to pray for “one another,” the one who is wrong prays, the one who is wronged prays Pray that both “may be healed,” the word translated “healed” means to cure, to heal, to restore Does James have in mind the healing of the body or the healing of the spirit? The same Biblical truths apply to both, James probably has both in mind And just as James has already presented, they are both in the “name of the Lord” An “effectual fervent prayer” is the righteous faithfully praying for one another How great is our need of prayer today? We need the righteous to be faithfully praying James said that kind of praying “availeth much,” prayer can and will accomplish much In our world today we need Christians who are right with God praying with power Be sure you are right with God and be sure you are praying right A right prayer is the “Prayer of Faith” If someone comes to your mind, pray for them, for some reason God put them in your mind Did Paul really pray as much as scripture indicates that he did? If so, how did he find so much time to pray? I am not sure, but I have some thoughts Paul didn’t have a T.V., he didn’t have a computer, he didn’t have a cell phone He did have 24 hours in a day, just like you and I, he did have priorities and we do too There is the big difference between Paul and you and I, the priorities Paul’s prayer list was in his mind, he had an attitude of prayer and nothing hindered his praying Too often the church of today has turned to programs, promotions, and publicity for success It is time to turn back to the power of prayer that we find in the early church, Act 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Act 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. Act 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Act 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. We must pray like Paul said, making request with joy It is interesting that the word translated “request” is the same word translated “prayer” Telling us that our “request” should be made through “prayer,” turning them over to God 3 We are to turn them over to God and leave them with God, 1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Why cast your care upon “Him?” Because He is the one who “cares for you” “Casting” means to hand it all over to God, deposit it all with the Lord, put it all in His hands Then turn it loose, leave it in God’s Hand, which is the only way to be relieved of the pressure Instead of allowing the burden to wrap around you, let God’s hand wrap around you Take it to the Lord in prayer and leave it there, prayer time is to be a time of “joy” “Joy” is probably one of the most important subjects for us to study in this present day According to the time of the season we are in the “Season of Joy,” Luk 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. The Christmas season and the year 2020 has not been a season of joy for most people Too often attention has been turned away from Jesus and our relationship with Him Paul wants us to understand the truth of joy, the word joy is found 5 times in Philippians The word rejoice is found 9 times in Philippians, God’s Word is where we find the truth of joy You cannot go to a dictionary and get the true meaning of “joy” you must go to the Bible According to the dictionary, both joy and happiness are dependent upon what happens According to the Bible, Biblical joy can be ours regardless of what happens In fact, the time of Christian joy may be the greatest when the circumstances are the most painful The true experience of joy can only be through the Person and Work of Jesus within us Joy is the results of knowing Jesus and trusting His decisions for our life Joy begins with Jesus and continues to be ours throughout life because Jesus is with us Joy is more than knowing who Jesus is, it is experienced when we let Jesus be who He is in us If you have lost your joy of salvation you cannot blame it on the coronavirus pandemic You cannot blame it on the outward circumstances of your life, the problem is within Think about it, you did not receive the joy of Jesus because the outward circumstances were good You received the joy of Jesus through the Holy Spirit when you received Jesus into your life The joy came when you confessed sin and received the righteousness of Christ The joy came when you were united into the Body of Christ, the NT Church You were filled with joy when you came together as brothers and sisters in Christ Joy is the freedom to pray without ceasing and daily read and study the Bible The Joy of Jesus is sharing the gospel with others through your daily words and deeds Paul said, I SHARE WITH YOU Php 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; At first glance verse 5 may appear to be an insignificant verse, but it is of utmost importance It is likely one of the most neglected areas of prayer within churches today Praying for Christians working together in sharing the Gospel First-of all, praying that we will be working together to spread the Good News of the Gospel How great is that need today and how little of it is being done? Sharing the gospel was on-going for Paul and the Philippians, they were doing their part Paul called it “fellowship” which means they shared the same vision They not only had the same desire they were personally involved in sharing the gospel They were willing to give time, money, effort, and prayer to get the gospel to a lost world Paul has in mind the preaching of the gospel to a lost sinner that they might be born again, 1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: Paul also refers to the sharing of Christian doctrine, teaching all that Jesus taught, Mat 28:20 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. I have read that in the first century the Greek word translated gospel was a common term A common question was, “do you have any good news for me today?” That is a good question for our day as you watch the daily news, where is the good news? Christians do have “good news” for the world today and it is time we give attention to verse 5 Pray that Prairie Grove Baptist will “fellowship in the gospel” in the year 2021 The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not only Good News it is also a powerful promise, Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. The promise is God will use the gospel to save the lost if we will only share the gospel When is the time to share the gospel? From the first day until now I fear that “from the first day” tells us that we have fallen short on prayer and sharing the gospel The Philippians had not fallen short, they had not slowed down, they continued to be faithful Regardless of outward circumstance they were growing spiritually and maturing in the Lord “Until now” speaks to my heart as pastor of Prairie Grove Baptist Church A great church, loving, caring, praying, sharing, but “now” not a soul-winning church Our New Year commitment should be to share the gospel of Jesus with those who are lost “Now” we must fellowship in the gospel, experience the joy of telling others about Jesus The year 2020 has been the most trying and difficult year our church family has ever faced The year 2021 must be the most joyous year that our church family has ever faced The outward circumstances we face will not be the cause of a church failure The inward joy we share with Christ and one another will allow us to sing “Victory In Jesus” The victory of Jesus is not only because of Jesus, but because of Jesus in us, Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, I am sure that we all need a revival of private prayer, a renewed prayer habit A New Year commitment should be a commitment to pray more each day You don’t have to be on your knees in the closet with your eyes closed to do that Get up in the morning, get your coffee, go to your comfortable chair, relax, and think Don’t turn on the TV, computer, or cell phone, think and thank, think God and thank God Have your Bible open to your planned Bible reading, God’s Word will open your mind to prayer Let the Holy Spirit lead you back and forth between your reading and praying Don’t begin by telling God all of your problems, you will get around to that Thank God for your salvation, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit, your family, your church family You will find the door of prayer wide open, pray for who and what comes to your mind Remember, prayer is not a burden to bear, it is a blessing to share, pray and you will be blessed When you go to bed at night, don’t count sheep, count your blessings, talk to God about them Thank God for your church family, pray for your church family, pray for all-of our needs I want you to pray for a specific need, we need to “fellowship in the gospel,” we need it “now” We need to see many come to be a part of the “Family of God” in 2021 It can happen again just like it did in the early church, Act 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. The song you are about to hear has always been one of my favorites Having gone through the weeks of my coronavirus experience the song has new meaning (Listen) 5