The Weekend Sermon -- "Philippians 2:19-30"

      It is time again for the Weekend Sermon, and I am glad to be able to post this message. Thank you for reading the message, and may the Lord's blessing be on you all. 

     As you are probably aware, we are studying through the book of Philippians. Today, we are going to finish up chapter 2. Much of this chapter has concerned following the example of Jesus in His humility. The chapter speaks about caring for others, and thinking of others and their burdens more highly than of oneself. 

     In today's message, I want us to look at the whole role that companions and friends play in our lives. Paul wasn't going all over the world telling people about Jesus by himself. He had others who came with him. When he first started his journeys, he went with a man named Barnabas.  A man named Silas went many places with Paul. We also know that Luke accompanied Paul often. That was how he was able to write in Acts so extensively about what Paul was up to. 

    One of Paul's important companions was Timothy. Timothy was a young man who Paul trained up to be a leader in the church. He relied on Timothy to carry out tasks, and Paul knew that he could trust Timothy to the full extent. In our text today, Paul also mentions Epaphroditus. He had been sick, but God healed him. He was a helper to Paul, and Paul wanted to send him and Timothy to the Philippians to encourage them and help them in the faith. 

     None of us can make it in this life alone. That is just on the human and temporal level. We need helpers and we need friends. If someone says that they made it where they are in life by their own efforts, they aren't telling the truth. Everyone has had someone help them in life to get where they are. 

     We all need friends who help us in this life. I had great parents who helped me to be able to study the word of the Lord. I had my friend Toby that the Lord sent me to help me not fall into depression and have other problems. I would not be here today if the Lord had not sent my friend Toby to me. I also had a good friend growing up who shared many great times with me and my family. 

     I have people who help me now. My brother and a man that I've known for many years have helped me when I was down financially. My brother is always there when I need help. 

    In the ministry, we all need to rely on others. The pastor can't do everything in the church. He needs help from others in the body of Christ is order to make sure that the local church functions in the way intended by the Lord Jesus. We all need to work together to advance the cause of Christ. 

     All of us have our own role to play in doing what needs to be done for the Lord in this world. Paul was a great Apostle, but there were others who had to come alongside and do things in order to help his ministry be more effective. 

     Everyone who is a part of the body of Christ has his or her own role to play in the life of the body of Christ. We each have our own calling and spiritual gifts. We do our part to help each other and to make this world a better place. We all work together to fulfill the Great Commission. 

     Don't try and go it alone in life or in ministry. You won't succeed. We are all important, and we all need each other. Be there for others. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying that my health will continue to improve.

     Pray for those who were affected by flooding in Texas. Pray that they will get the help that they need. 

     We need to keep praying for peace in this world. Ukraine needs peace as does Israel and Gaza. Pray for Syria as there is renewed fighting there. Pray for peace in Colombia as there is renewed fighting there as well. Keep praying for peace in Sudan. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Tanzania and Nepal. Pray that many will come to know Jesus and His great love. 

     Next week, we will start Philippians chapter 3. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all.

Verses For The Week

 Luke 6:37 -- "Judge not, and you will not be judged, condemn not, and you will not be condemned, forgive, and you will be forgiven."

I John 1:9 -- "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Weekend Sermon -- "Philippians 2:14-16"

      Thank you all for once again taking the time to check out the message for the week. I hope that you are all doing well and are in good health. I am feeling pretty good. I just want the weather where I live to be less stormy and rainy. 

     Last week, we continued in Philippians looking into the fact that Paul wanted to make sure that those who where in the church at Philippi where being obedient to the commandments and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted them to know what it really meant to be saved. 

     There is something that I want to add to this that I didn't write about last week. There is a teaching that has become very prominent in the church. It makes being a Christian all about going to Heaven and not going to Hell. To be saved means that a person won't go to Hell. But, being a Christian and being saved so to speak is much more than this. Being saved means that a person decides to become a follower of Jesus. A person makes Jesus the Lord of his or her life. That means that in this life, we are committed to following what Jesus has told us to do. We follow what He said generally to all of those who have come to Him, and we follow what He has told us as individuals to do in this world. It's not all about the life to come. Being a follower of Jesus means just that. We follow His example. We do what He would do in this world. We live lives of holiness that are pleasing to the Lord. We don't seek our way, but we seek His way. 

     In verse 14 of our section today, Paul instructs the people to, "Do everything without grumbling and arguing." This is of critical importance. When I was growing up, my parents attended and were very active in a very fundamentalist church, and they sent me to this church's school. The church was very evangelistic, and they tried to get people in the community to come and hear the message of Jesus. There was one big problem. This particular church had the reputation in the community as being a church where the people couldn't get along. We went to this church until I was about 16. During those years, I can't even count the number of people who got mad and left the church. There was one church split after another. When I went there, that church had an average attendance of about 60 to 70. However, if everyone who left the church because of a dispute had stayed there, the attendance would easily have been 150 to 160 or more. The church had a bad reputation in the community, and no one really wanted to hear what it had to say. Thankfully, the Lord delivered me out of this situation. When we left this church, I was in such a state of depression I wasn't long for this earth. If the Lord Jesus hadn't brought my friend Toby into my life at about this time, I probably wouldn't even be around today. I am glad that I got to find out who Jesus really is. I have written a little about all of this before. In the future, I might get more into things. 

     When churches and Christians argue and fight with one another, it creates a bad testimony. It drives people away from the Lord. Things are supposed to be the exact opposite. We are supposed to shine as lights in this world as Paul says. People who don't know the Lord should see that we are living for Him and thus be drawn to want to know more about Jesus. 

     Jesus said it this way. He said that we are to shine as lights in the world so that people can see our good works and as a result give glory to the Father who is in Heaven. We don't ever want to do something bad that will cause someone to turn away from the Lord Jesus. 

     I believe that one of the main reasons that people don't want to come to church in my country is due to what they are seeing in many churches and with many Christians. They are seeing so many who are calling people names and acting in a hateful and a belligerent manner to others. And it is mostly due to politics. All of this drives people away. And it should not be this way. 

     Paul lays it out. We need to be living in such a way that when Jesus returns, He has good things to say about us. When Jesus returns, or when we meet Him after we die, we want to hear Him say, "Well done good and faithful servant." We don't want to be ashamed at His coming. 

     With this in mind, let all of us do good and right in this world. Let us love one another and love our neighbor as ourselves. Let us help to make this world a better place. May we do all that we can to draw others to Jesus. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I am sure that many of you have heard about the tragic flooding in the state of Texas. Many have died, and many are still unaccounted for. Please pray that if someone is trapped and still alive that they will be rescued. Pray that people will get the aid and the help that they need in this situation. 

     Pray for those suffering as a result of other natural disasters. There is flooding in New Mexico, and a tropical storm hit the east coast. I know that there were storms in Taiwan and China. Please pray for all of those in harms way. 

    Continue to pray for peace in this world. Ukraine needs peace. Israel and Gaza need peace. People need to be able to access aid in an orderly and peaceful way. The remaining hostages need to be released. Keep praying for peace in Yemen, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan and it the other troubled areas of this world. 

    For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Burkina Faso and Mali. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will post the verses on Tuesday. I hope that in the next few weeks that if my health keeps improving that I can get the new book on the Psalms posted here on the blog. More on that later. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

      I wanted to give everyone an update. I have been feeling pretty well lately. I thank the Lord, and I thank you for your prayers. I would like everyone to pray for those suffering as a result of the flooding in Texas. Pray that the Lord will be with everyone, and that aid will reach those who are in need. 

     Colossians 3:17 -- "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

     I Chronicles 16:34 -- "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever."

Weekend Sermon -- "Philippians 2:12-13"

      Thank you for joining me today for the weekend sermon. I am so glad to be able to post this message. We've been having a lot of bad weather where I live. I've had to go up on the roof and repair damage. Please pray that I can get all the work done, and that there won't be any more problems from all the rain and storms. I hope and pray that all of you are doing well. 

     Today, we are resuming our study in the book of Philippians. Last time, we focused on the section known as the Christ Hymn. This section shows clearly the humility of Jesus Christ. He was willing to set aside His Heavenly glory to come as a human in order to redeem the universe from the fall. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. 

     Now, chapter two takes a turn. As we've seen, Paul is away from the church at Philippi. In our first verse today, Paul urges the people to obey his teachings even more now that he is away from them as they did when he was with them. Paul gave the people his example and the teachings of the Lord Jesus about how they were to live their lives in the world. The mark that they were really getting the principles of the Lord Jesus deep within their hearts was that they were living according to the teachings and commandments of Jesus at all times. It was a consistent part of their lives. They didn't need Paul there to monitor what they were doing, they were simply willing to do what the Lord wanted them to be doing. 

     Paul goes on to tell them in the rest of verse twelve to, "Work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved." First of all, what does this verse not mean. Paul is not telling anyone that they are saved by works or by doing good deeds. We are saved by grace through faith alone. We are saved not by anything that we have done, but we are saved because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. 

     What Paul is getting at is that being saved means that we do certain things. A person who has a true possession of faith and not merely an empty profession of faith is a person who is living in such a way that it is evident that Jesus is the Lord of their life. A person who truly knows what it means to be saved is a person who is doing all that they can to love the Lord with all that they have within them, and they are doing all they can to love their neighbor as they love themselves. To be saved means that we are following the teachings and the commandments of Jesus. By doing this, we know that we have eternal life dwelling within us. We aren't saved by good works, we are saved unto good works. Good works are a natural outflowing of one who has Jesus within their heart. 

     Paul concludes our section by stating that we can only really follow the Lord and His commandments through His work within us. We have to be empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to be able to live for Jesus in this world. We can't do anything through our strength alone. We need the help of the Lord, and we must rely on the help of the Lord in all things. 

     A person who has true faith in the Lord Jesus will be a person living in such a way that it is evident that Jesus is living within their heart. We must all strive to live each day for Jesus as the Spirit gives us the power. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying that I will get to full health. 

     Continue to pray for peace. Pray for peace in Israel and Gaza and pray that the ceasefire holds between Israel and Iran. Keep praying for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. Pray for peace wherever you know that there is conflict and strife within this world. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Indonesia and Algeria. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     Next week, we will continue with our series. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week

 John 10:30 -- " I and the Father are One."

Colossians 2:9 -- "For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily."