Being a missionary for God

Philippians- Being a missionary for God. Sun 11 Jan

When you think of a missionary, what type of person do you think of?

I think of someone who ministers, who has given up everything to go and tell others about the message of Jesus, someone whose greatest treasure is not their possessions but their relationship with God. Who loves Jesus passionately and is willing to do anything for him

Quite simply: Someone who has ordered their entire life around the gospel

Every Christian is called to be a missionary

Don’t think that a missionary must be someone who wears no makeup, is unmarried, lives in middle of africa

You might be a businessman, student at school, farmer, housewife, mom, salesman, businesswoman, teacher, pastor..

We all called by God to tell others about Jesus in our families, workplace, town,

We all called to order our lives around the most valuable treasure there is- God and his kingdom

As a church we believe this and want to help you to be this

This portion of scripture today describes the kind of missionary God has called us to be:

Phil 1:12-18

1.      Has the right message. V15- 16

Preaching about Christ, defense- apologia- to explain and defend the gospel

Many Christians don’t understand or know the gospel

Story about CS Lewis who walked into a room with a group of his friends discussing the differences between Christianity and the other religions- Lewis summed it up in one word- Grace: undeserved, unmerited favour

What is the gospel? Word literally means ‘good news’

‘preach the gospel to yourself every day’ We must personalize it this message into our hearts and minds so it is real to us.

Read Galatians 2:20 ‘loved me and gave himself up for me’

Refreshing for me to remind myself:

-          God does not count my sin against me

-          I am accepted by God because of sin bearing sacrifice and sinless life of Jesus

-          Need to remind ourselves of it as an antidote to performance and guilt

We are all qualified, according to Col 1:12, to share in the inheritance of the saints

In formula one racing- drivers must work hard to qualify for positions on the grid

What have we done to qualify for this reward? Nothing, Jesus worked on our behalf to gain it. We just trust and put our faith in him, believing he did

He raced on our behalf so we can enter the race. We all start on the front row of the grid!

2.      Sees difficulties as opportunities to live out the gospel

V12 What happened to Paul, v13- he was in prison

Paul saw all circumstances as opportunities for the gospel

How did Paul’s prison sentence advance the gospel? Seems absurd- in chains!

In two ways:

1.      V13 speaks of: The imperial guard and many others have heard about Jesus through Paul. Imperial guard were the Roman elite soldiers who had immense influence in Rome

2.      V14. It made others bold and confident to preach because of Paul’s imprisonment.

They saw how Paul was bold in the face of opposition and made them bold

The nature of persecution- when Christians see their friends being persecuted it actually makes one bold

CJ Mahaney- God gives two gifts every day: prosperity and adversity

*At six weeks of age, Fanny Crosby was blinded, but even as a youngster she determined not to be confined by the chains of darkness. In time, she became one of the greatest hymn writers of her day.

In all these circumstances, still called to represent Jesus

* at joburg airport waiting to check in for zim flight, massive queues, had a chance to sow some seeds, witness

3.      Has the right motive

V15-18

2 motives here:

Competitive spirit. Some out of envy and rivalry v15

Heart is to promote Self

Envy- being jealous of someone else. Me jealous of Matt Harrison- leading worship wco

Rivalry- trying to oppose and undermine someone else. Often subtly done- bit of gossip or neg words.  Brings great division and discord

In v18 Paul says that they preached in pretense- with false motives. They don’t preach sincerely, from the heart.

Competitive spirit is an ambitious attitude, selfish ambition. Some ambition is good. Eg for those desiring leadership

Compassionate spirit Others out of good will and love v15-16

Heart is to promote Jesus and others

Often our motives are mixed- we minister and give out to others with compassion and love but sometimes ambition mixed in

Lets ask God that our ministry this year, in all we do for him, with right motive

Even when others around us doing it with wrong motives, rejoice that Christ is preached.