FHCC
20241110 Worship

                • Psalm 99:1–3ESV

                • Psalm 99:5ESV

              • Majesty
              • Glory To His Name
                                      • Let There Be Glory And Honor And Praises
                                      • I Exalt Thee
                                      • Be Exalted O God
                                      • Great Is The Lord

                                                • Philippians 1:1–11ESV

                                            • Things are not ideal; People are divided over envy and rivalry; Leaders are driven by their ambition; Religion is twisted and people are bragging on their own accomplishments.
                                              What are we supposed to do? How is a Christian expected to be a witness in this environment? Are peace and joy possible if my preferred candidate loses on Tuesday? You have your ideas, others have their ideas, it is too bad that God hasn’t spoken about these situations. Wait, He has spoken to these very issues in Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi.
                                              This letter to the Philippians addresses the question of how to live as a Christian in a non-believing world. Paul begins in Phil 1:27–30, urging the Philippians to live within society in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. In Philippians 2:5–30, Paul presents Christ, Timothy, and Epaphroditus as three examples to imitate as Christians live out their faith. Finally, in Philippians 3:20–21, readers discover that God has called them to live as representatives of the “citizenship of heaven” until the return of their Lord, Jesus Christ.
                                              TRANSITION: I’m just naive enough to believe that God’s instruction to these Christians living in a Roman Colony might have some benefit for Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and Republicans in the United States of America who wish to live out true faith.
                                              First we must admit that sometimes things are not as we wish they were. And then we can lean into God’s provision for how we are to respond and overcome.

                                              A Prickly Predicament: from Prisoner to Philippians (Phil 1:1-2)

                                              Where is Philippi?

                                              This summer, one of our Mission partners, Brad Sullard, preached from Acts 16 about Paul’s Macedonian call and the spread of the Gospel into southern Turkey. Philippi is a city named by Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great.

                                              Why Does Paul write them a Letter?

                                              Paul is under Arrest (see v.7)
                                              Prisoners under Roman guard were not cared for by the warden as today we have strict limitations on cruel and unusual punishment.
                                              Many of the concerns that shape our laws today can be traced to the way prisoners have been treated throughout European and Roman rule dating back to the time of Christ.
                                              The Philippians had love and showed kindness to Paul.
                                              We will see as we get deeper into the book that the Philippian Christians had sent a care package with Epaphroditus to Paul and that Paul would send a message back to the Philippians through this same messenger.
                                              TRANSITION: While Paul couldn’t drop a text, Facetime, or set up a zoom call, He uses the time on his hands as a prisoner to write the letter in front of us today. He is compelled to send this correspondence because of a loving relationship between Paul and this church.

                                              A Precious Partnership: Mutual Partakers of Grace (Phil 1:3-8)

                                              ‌I am pleased with the way that our Missions and Outreach team prioritizes our mission partnerships. Each partner has one member of the committee who researches and communicates on our behalf. These relationships are paramount in the discussions about continuing, increasing or decreasing funding. And not only the money that is sent, but our team evaluates the potential for our own people to participate in these ministries. We heard earlier, while the livestream was muted, of one of our own whose heart was challenged from hands on partnership with career missionaries in another part of our world. These partnerships we develop are shaped partly by the example of Paul and the believers at Philippi.

                                              Memories (vv.3-5)

                                              The tone of Paul and the Philippians relationship includes thankfulness, remembrance, frequent prayer, joyful prayer, and long term partnership.
                                              Every single ministry that we partner with is connected to a memory that someone has of this field or the personnel or the particular ministry focus of the agency
                                              There are some missionary endeavors that are a little more precious to me because of personal memories. These connections are what Paul refers to in these 3 verses.

                                              Progress (v.6)

                                              1‌.But Paul isn’t living in the past. His memories give confidence that God is and will work until the good work is complete.
                                              2.The day of Christ Jesus mentioned here will be revisited in v.10 which is very clearly talking about the future time when Christ will reign fully from His throne at which all will bow.

                                              Affection (vv.7-8)

                                              1. ‌‌While the believers at Philippi and Paul in Rome are separated by miles, they were united in God’s family and God’s work.
                                              2. V.7 indicates that they had tasted of the same grace that Paul had been saved. God doesn’t adopt some people into one level of family, and others into a secondary level of family. Christ died one death that forgives all sin so that all saints can participate in one family together.
                                              3. I don’t know if Paul’s affection was so strong because he remembered them often and prayed for them regularly or if he prayed for them regularly which made him think of them often which increased his affection.
                                              4. Sometimes feelings follow an action. We choose to pray for someone or some field and God warms our heart toward their circumstance.
                                              When there is a gap between what our feelings ARE about a person, and what they SHOULD be, the first suggestion I can make is to pray for him/her. It is difficult to remain angry toward somebody we are truly praying for.
                                              5. Some of us find it difficult to pray for our current political leaders. Others of us find it difficult to pray for those who will lead us after inauguration.
                                              TRANSITION: The final 3 verses of today’s section demonstrate how prayer takes our eyes off the predicament so we can focus on the one who deserves praise.

                                              A Powerful Prayer: Love to Action to Results (Phil 1:9-11)

                                              Abundance (v.9)

                                              ‌it is near impossible to maintain without increase or decrease.
                                              Some have said, “If you’re not thriving, you’re dying”
                                              2. Paul’s prayer in v.9 is that the love of the Philippians would not become stagnant, but that it would flourish (or abound) more and more.
                                              3. Paul could allow the cold, damp, confinement of imprisonment drag him into despair, or he could do the things (prayer, thanks, and fond memories) that would insulate his heart from the hardships of his circumstance.
                                              4. Toward the end of this letter, Paul will address in more detail how to let love abound. He will write
                                              Philippians 4:8 NIV:2011
                                              8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
                                              I think one of my favorite interview questions of the last few months was when a participant in a town hall asked former President Trump to name 3 things positive about Mrs. Harris, then the next day in a Telemundo town hall Vice President Harris was asked to list 3 thing positive about Mr. Trump.
                                              5. Paul is asking his original readers, and us by extension, to increase our love more and more.

                                              Approval (v.10)

                                              ‌I see an aspiration for “the best” not just “what is acceptable”
                                              Being pure and blameless is a result of continually allowing God’s grace to rule more and more in our lives in pursuit of, not what is easy, but what is excellent.

                                              Adoration (v.11)

                                              1. Paul desired for the Philippians love to increase more and more.
                                              If he were writing to the Community Church in Chase County, he would be challenging us to live out the fruit of the Spirit in our neighborhoods. (If you forgot what the fruit of the Spirit is, ask one of our Kids Club students, or ask Phyllis Osgood to sing you a song!)
                                              2. The fruit of the Spirit is what is produced when the Spirit controls our lives.
                                              3. The fruit of Righteousness (mentioned in v.11) is what our lives look like when we are made righteous by Jesus Christ and allow Him to love through us. The is the horizontal evidence.
                                              4. The vertical evidence is not only that our neighbors will see the beauty of the gospel and taste the grace of righteousness, but that the glory of God will be magnified and His praise will increase.

                                              Conclusion:

                                              I originally scheduled this sermon to be preached last week and thought it would prepare all of us to respond with grace, peace and increasing love following the announcement on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
                                              God in His sovereignty allowed me to finish this sermon after the election results were made known, but you know what?
                                              Know the results of all the races, I believe even more that, just like Paul who found himself in an uncomfortable predicament, we need to increase our love more and more by sharing in grace, increasing in affection for people, and abiding in Christ the Vine so that our branches bear the fruit of righteousness.

                                                • Philippians 4:8ESV

                                              • Response Song

                                                  • 2 Peter 3:18ESV

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