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Philippians Sermon

Joy-filled Goals – Philippians 3:12-14

Do you have goals in life that excite you so much, goals that don’t make you sleep at night? Here is a man who is just crazy with his goal in life, he is none other than apostle Paul.

Who is Apostle Paul?

  • Roman citizen
  • Hebrew of Hebrew
  • Pharisee (Perfect Law keeper)
  • Persecutor of Christian
  • Apostle to Gentiles
  • Missionary
  • Miracle Worker
  • Leader
  • Author
  • Tentmaker (entrepreneur)
  • Beheaded for His goal in life.

Why I want to preach this sermon. (Purpose)

1. You will develop a desire to know more and more of Christ.

2. You will set priority in your life and pursue the things that matter most in life.

Before we get into the first point I want you to know the tense of Salvation

  • Past – Justification (God Declare you righteous)
  • Present – Sanctification (process of cleaning)
  • Future – Glorification ( We will receive glorified body)

Please turn with me to Philippian 3:12-14.

12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I presson so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

1. Pursuing to KNOW more of Christ.

The main focus of chapter 3 is knowing more of Jesus. V. 3: 8, 10, 11.

8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

10 I want to KNOW Christ—yes, to KNOW the power of his resurrection andparticipation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Examples:

  • Zacchaeus the tax collector climb up sycamore tree to see Jesus. (His life was changed)
  • Nicodemus a Pharisee and a member of Sanhedrin come to Jesus at night. (His life was changed)
  • Son of Korah: As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

A question to ponder:Did you really Know Christ? Matthew 7:21-22?

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Application:

Did you know Jesus? if yes? Did Jesus know you? Did He really know you?

How will I know I am truly born again believer.

1 John 2: 3-6. says –
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.

This is how we know we are in him:

6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

We cannot claim that we are born again believer and didn’t obey Him, the Bible said we are a liar and the truth is not in us.

Your action or your fruit will prove that you are a true believer.

Application:

If you are Born again believer, my question Are you pursuing to know more about Jesus.

Let us learn from Apostle Paul, He chases to know more and more of our Dear Saviour.

And If you are confused about your faith in Christ, come to father soon before it is too late, He is lovingly waiting for you to come home, come home.

Let’s move down to our second point, shall we read verse 13 and 14.

13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do:forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

2. Pursuing the goal for the prize. 13, 14.

Remember one day we all will all stand before God and give account for the life we live. Remember one day God will reward you for what you have done on earth.

Remember it is not just eternal life we are receiving but God will reward all of us.

Apostle Paul knows so well about the great reward for him so He keep chasing and pressing toward the prize God has for him.

Remember, Bible promise us 5 crowns for believers:

  1. The Incorruptible Crown ( Those who faithfully finish the task mission. ) (1 Cor. 9:24-25)
  2. The Crown of Rejoicing ( Soul winner ) (1 Thess 2:19.)
  3. The Crown of Life (those who went severe hardship, testing and tribulation, physical death) (Rev. 2:10)
  4. The Crown of Righteousness ( those who live righteous life and those who wait upon His coming) (2 Tim.4:8)
  5. The crown of Glory (Pastors/ teachers of the word of God) (1 Pet. 5:1-4)

How should we pursue

  • By forgetting the past
  • Past achievement / Success has nothing to do with present and future,
  • Past guilt and sin. – Paul mean to say that we should not live in the past, if we are to achieve our goal in life we should forget the past and focus and march forward toward the goal.

Romans 8:1, 2 Cor 5:17, Heb. 12.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Isaiah 43:18.

Illustration:

Apostle Paul sacrifice his life for gospel,

At last he said,“I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Tim 4:7.

Few life application

  • William Carey
  • Hudson taylor
  • David Livingstone
  • Adoniram Judson

Application:

Are you pursuing for the upward call?

What have you done for the Lord?

Let us remind ourself today that focusing on the goal God has for us is the things that matter most in life. “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. the night is coming, when no one can work”. John 9:4.

1 Corinthian 15:58.

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Conclusion :

We have seen two points under the topic Joy filled Goal.

1) Pursuing to know more about Christ

2) Pursuing the goal for the prize.

As children of God let us pursue to know more about our saviour and keep growing in the Lord and let us focus to the goal God has set for us.

May God give wisdom to all of us.

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Philippians Sermon

Joy-filled Identity – Philippians 3:1-11

As we continue our series on “Joy filled life” from the letter to the Philippians, we’ll explore today what a “Joy-filled Identity” is from chapter 3 v1-11. What does that look like? Let’s turn to our passage for today:

[Read Philippians 3:1-11]

1. We all have a flawed Religious Identity (v4-7)

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,[c] blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

The context of today’s passage was that Paul being their spiritual father was trying to warn the church to be careful of false teachers who were telling the church that they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved and considered as believers.

Circumcision in the OT was a defining mark of being part of God’s covenant people. It started from Abraham and then got passed on through the generations of the Israelites.

Now circumcision was a preparatory sign used by God but its fulfilment was found in Jesus. Through Jesus, we are not only considered as members of God’s covenant but even more intimately as members of His family (v3).

Now the Philippians were Gentile believers & they came to faith by believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Suddenly these false teachers came in and were trying to tell them that just faith in Jesus wasn’t enough.

They needed to also get circumcised. And that was a dangerous thing to get into. I’ll tell you why.

Imagine someone telling to a person who says they’ve understood the gospel, repented of their sin and trusted in Jesus Christ finishing work on the cross – “Faith in Jesus Christ is okay.

But along with this if you want to be a pakka believer then you must : Change your name, start eating non-veg, stop talking to unbelievers in your home or friend circle, you must live the way a certain spiritual person lives, you must dress like a way a certain person does – only if you do these things you’ll be saved”.

I hope we all can see the danger of the teaching that Christ’s sacrifice is not enough but needs to be supplemented. And this is absolutely wrong which is why Paul uses such strong words for these false teachers.   

And Paul then uses his own example to explain how meaningless it was to trust in his religious identity. In fact he tells them in a sense – if you guys think that it’s important to trust and have confidence in our religious identity before God, then I had more reasons when I was an unbeliever. And he goes on to list it down:

  • Circumcised on the eighth day – as per the law
  • Of the people of Israel – Both his parents were Jews – so Paul was a pure pakka Israelite
  • Of the tribe of Benjamin – It was the only tribe along with Judah that remained faithful to David’s descendants. Also Saul – the first king of Israel came from the same tribe.
  • A Hebrew of Hebrews: He was fully loyal to all the ancestral traditions
  • As to the law, a Pharisee – They were very strict in their interpretation and practice of the law.
  • As to zeal, a persecutor of the church – so zealous was he for the traditions that he went ahead and persecuted the church – arresting them, dragging them violently and also ordering their killing.
  • Righteousness under the law, blameless – in terms of external obedience no one could point a finger at him. He followed everything to the tee.

But after doing all of this, he arrives at the conclusion that “all of this was a loss” – useless -empty! He did all of this and it amounted to ZERO! Now I know as I’m talking about this – many of us probably think – “Hey, I know the gospel message.

I believed it many years back. And I don’t trust in my religious identity anymore – I only trust in Jesus Christ”.  But let’s examine our foundations. How do you know if a building has strong foundations? Not when the weather is pleasant and calm but when it goes through storms and earthquakes and still manages to stand.

Let’s ask ourselves: “How do I respond to God when I fall into sin?”

Do we think “God’s mad at me right now. He’s probably really angry with me. Let me avoid God for a few days and hope that the anger goes away”? After a few days do we think “if I spend more time reading the Bible, if I spend more time praying, if I get more involved with the church and immerse myself in church activities, then God might be happy…He might be appeased.

He won’t be angry anymore” Are these the thoughts and responses toward God when we fall into sin? If yes, then we are still in manner or form trusting in our religious identity. At a deep heart level we say and believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross isn’t sufficient and needs to be supplemented with our bible reading, praying and service in the church.

Don’t get me wrong – reading the bible, praying and serving in the church are good things and God wants that from all of us but that’s not the reason God approves and accepts us. Those are not the reasons why God calls us His children. 

Many times we forget the sheer impossibility of reaching God by our religious identity. 

This is what Jesus says in Matt 5:20 – For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

What? Is Jesus really saying that my righteousness (works done to be pronounced as upright before God) needs to exceed Paul’s righteousness when he used to be a Pharisee? I mean we just saw the list – in that case it’s virtually impossible for us to enter the kingdom of heaven and fellowship with God if this is the standard. 

Praise God that He didn’t leave us there with our flawed religious identity but in fact 

2. Christ Gifted us a new Identity (v9)

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith

Many of us might be aware of the story of Derek Redmond. He was a British athlete who holds the record for the 400m sprint in Britain and has won gold medals for his country in the World Championships. 

By the time of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he was in very good form. He clocked the fastest time of the first round, and went on to win his quarter-final. In the semi-final, Redmond started well, but in the back straight about 250 metres from the finish, his hamstring tore. He hobbled to a halt, and then fell to the ground in pain.

Stretcher-bearers made their way over to him, but Redmond decided he wanted to finish the race. He began to hobble along the track. He was soon joined on the track by his father, Jim Redmond, who barged past security and on to the track to get to his son.

Jim and Derek completed the lap of the track together, with Derek leaning on his father’s shoulder for support. And in a sense that’s the picture of us who need to trust in the faithfulness of Christ. Our own religious identity that we build for ourselves can’t get us to the finish line. We are disabled and injured and we desperately need the help of Jesus to carry us to the end.

Right throughout the Bible – that’s been the message of grace. God never tells us – fix yourselves. Straighten up. In fact the message us – You can’t do it yourself. You need a Savior. And He will give you an identity you cant earn or purchase by ourselves. The Greek word used for “faith” also means “faithfulness” in this text.

This righteousness has been gifted to us through the “faithfulness of my Savior Jesus Christ”. He came for you and me. He is the only one who has ever lived and will ever live a perfectly righteous life. And then willingly laid down His life to show His commitment and faithfulness toward us.

He rose again on third Day declaring His victory over everything that enslaved us. And for everyone who comes to Him in humility – losing their flawed religious identity – not my Bible reading, not my Bible knowledge, not my spiritual activities, not my good efforts at living a life – all the crutches that they are holding onto and desperately call on Him to save – He will save and will gift them a New Identity – His own identity. That’s the beauty of the gospel message – Christ’s righteousness not attained but gifted! 

But what’s the purpose of this gifted identity? 

3. The purpose of the Gifted Identity is for Intimacy (v8,10-11)

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

At one time our religious identity was used to earn favor and approval from God which we couldn’t because it was flawed. But if God has now approved and accepted us fully in Christ Jesus, what is the point of the identity? It is for INTIMACY! To know Him better. And that makes total sense! 

Imagine you were drowning in the sea calling out for help. You called out loudly but no one heard you and no one came to help. But then one man saw you from a distance at the shore, had compassion on you and jumped into the sea – risking his life to save you.

He pulls you out and saves your life. What’s your response going to be toward him? Extreme gratitude and indebtedness. Yes, absolutely but also you want to know him. I want to know this person better who risked his life to save me.

Not only would I now want to know him but now I’ll want to testify about him. When I speak to my family, friends and colleagues and tell them about my incident, I’ll always tell them about the man who saved my life. 

Now Christ has not just saved us for our earthly lives but He has saves us for eternity! Why is this important for us? It’s important because it reminds our heart that everything that we do is to enable us to know Christ.

If I’m reading the Bible or studying theology – the goal is to know Christ and testify about Him. If I’m serving the church in some way – the goal is to know Christ and testify about Him.

If I’m sharing the gospel with someone – the goal is to know Christ and testify through that experience. If I’m obeying Scripture – the goal is to know Christ and testify about Him. Intimacy is the goal!

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Philippians Sermon

Men Like These – Philippians 2:25-30

The passage we will look into today is Philippians 2:25-30

Before we begin, I want to ask a question. Can you name your favourite hero from the Bible whom you like & admire? And why?

Very often, when we think about our favourite heroes, we prefer the ones that are famous and the ones who are top leaders in their community. We usually have a perception that only a few men with exceptionally high qualities are great. The world looks up and appreciates men with exceptional attributes and looks down on the ones who are insignificant and small.

But in the bible, in Luke 9, an argument aroused among the disciples of Jesus as to which of them was the greatest and Jesus responded by saying “For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” 

In today’s passage, we will read about one such hero. His name is Epaphroditus. 

Philippians 2:25-30:

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Honestly, I knew nothing about Epaphroditus until I read this passage and started investigating him. Could be because he wasn’t a famous hero like the other characters in the Bible who achieved great things for the Kingdom of God and there is also not much written about him to grab our attention.

But even though he wasn’t great like others, he was a special one. I won’t be surprised to hear that in heaven, he’s considered one of the greatest, greater than other folks, maybe even greater than King Solomon. 

In closing of this passage in verse 29 while talking about Epaphroditus, Paul writes to the Church of Philippi saying “receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honour such men”. And that is what we will discover in today’s sermon, what makes Epaphroditus so unique. I’ve made three observations that make men like Epaphroditus unique.

The first quality I see in men like him is that they…

Are fully transformed by the Gospel 

Interestingly, Epaphroditus’s name is of pagan origin. It means “belonging to Aphrodite”—the name of the goddess is incorporated into the name Epaphroditus.

I am assuming that when Epaphroditus heard & received the Gospel, it opened his eyes to the dead religion he was following, made him aware of the vanity of life, and set him free to serve the living God. The idol he worshipped had no claim on him, regardless of his name.

Brothers & Sisters, I hope you know that the life we live on this earth without God is a total lie. It is twisted and bathed in sin. The world we live in is not the world God created and intended it to be. When God created the world and human beings, he instructed us to walk in his precepts so we can enjoy it as God intended, but unfortunately the first man God created sinned against him by disobeying his commands. 

According to the law of God, even though the punishment for our sin was death, instead of killing us, God gave us a second chance, second chance not to try and make it right in our own efforts, which we will never accomplish. Second chance by giving us an opportunity to receive the gift of salvation through his son Jesus.

Externally, to accept this salvation, we repent of our sins and put our faith in Christ. But internally there is a miraculous transformation that happens in our heart when we receive Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour.

And the proof that we are truly believers and followers of Christ can’t be determined only by the mere external confessions, like repentance and saying it out loud to others that we believe in Jesus; it is the internal transformation that’s the proof of the pudding.

A portion of food placed on your table can look beautiful & pretty, but the real test is the taste when we put it in our mouth.

It is tough to know whether a person is a true believer in the first instance. It is only when we spend time with him/her and get to know that person better that we see the effects of the transformation evident in the person’s life.

Reading about Epaphroditus, looking at his life and reading Pauls words, we can surely confirm that his life was a fully transformed life. He was not someone who would say I love Jesus, but I also love goddess Aphrodite, both are same for me. In my house, I have Jesus’s picture and Aphrodite’s picture side by side, and they are both gods for me.

He was not someone who would say I love Jesus, but I also love the world and its pleasures. On Sunday I go to Church, sing songs and listen to whatever the preacher blabbers, on Friday I go to GC, and enjoy the party. But other days are for me, and I live it as I like. 

What makes Epaphaditus and men like him special is the fact that their repentance and faith in Jesus are genuine & true and it could be witnessed by their transformed lives. 

It doesn’t mean that they were perfect human beings but you can see the fire of the Gospel burning in their heart, transforming them into the image of Christ every single day.

If we had met Epaphraditus and asked him about his life, what is special about him and about his life, he would have definitely said: “Christ in me the hope of glory”.

The second quality that makes men like Epaphroditus special is that they…

Are committed to, loved & approved by the Church 

Paul was in prison, and the Church wanted to send him a care package. It was a risky operation, and they wanted a man who could be trusted, courageous, servant-hearted, humble – and Epaphroditus was chosen for it.

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need

Epaphroditus was not chosen randomly but chosen with due diligence. Paul’s words in verse 26 “for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” suggests that he had a deep and affectionate relationship with the Church in Philippi. When the Church needed help to deploy a risky operation, they found Epaphraditus worthy and ready for the task. 

After observing him for months and years, they knew there was no better person than Epaphraditus for the task. Under no circumstances will Epaphraditus abandon the mission. They knew he had a servant’s heart and will faithfully serve Paul with a genuinely loving heart. 

To be chosen by them for such a task, Epaphroditus must have walked faithfully while he was among them, fully committed to the Church.

Epaphroditus was a man of obvious devotion, faithfulness, and self-sacrifice. He put “the interests of others” before himself, and so modelled the mind of Christ.

Epaphroditus may not have been a very talented guy with extraordinary skills, but seems to me like a regular guy who served the Church with whatever capacity he had. He was in love with the Church, and the Church loved him, and when a need arose, he was chosen and approved. That makes him special.

To Paul, he was a “brother” (belonging to the same family), a “co-worker” (labouring toward the same goal), and a “fellow soldier” (sharing the same trials). 

We can see the nature of Christ displayed in him, not just in his words but also in his actions towards one another. We can witness how much he has grown in his faith and is devoted to Christ, who is using him for his glory.

Last and the final observation about men like Epaphroditus was that they …

Are filled with zeal for the Kingdom of God 

Paul was a spiritual father to the Church of Philippi; in fact, he was the one who planted the Church. During that period, God was using Paul in unusual ways, whether he was free or in prison. He was an asset to the Kingdom of God. Paul’s ministry was quite a crucial one, and his survival was essential to the Church.

Just like many other churches, the Church of Philippi was indebted to Paul and his service to them. When they heard about Paul’s imprisonment, they knew he needed his family to stand by him, support him and encourage him so that he can continue doing ministry. And to do that they decided to send him a care package and lots of love through Epaphroditus.

I believe when Epapharaditus was chosen for the task, he knew what his actions would mean to the Church and Paul. He knew the significance of the moment and the impact his actions would make in the expansion of the Kingdom.

And even thought it was a risky operation where he could lose his life he still threw himself in it… because of his zeal for the Kingdom of God and for missions. In v30 Paul writes “for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.”

He could have stayed back and decided to continue with whatever career or business he was pursuing, he could have stayed back to be with his family and look after them. But at the right time, when the Church called him out, he chose a more significant task.

Epaphroditus was not just fully transformed by the Gospel and served in the Church in big and small ways, he was zealous for the Kingdom of God, was aware of the lostness around him and knew that he had to play his role in supporting and serving Paul as he was reaching out to the gentiles with the Gospel of Christ.

As a Christians, the very reason for which Christ came to this earth, died for our sins, redeemed us from sin and satan is for Kingdom extension. So that through our transformed lives, He would continue to reach out to the lost in the world. 

He did not save us just to be good people who go to Church every Sunday, get filled with a head knowledge, get married, bring up children, make lots of money and accumulate wealth and possession. 

He called us out to be used for his glory and extension of his Kingdom. Epaphroditus knew that and had dedicated his life for the task and had given himself to Christ and his mission.

Brothers & sisters, we may not be like Paul, Peter and other disciples & leaders, we may not be a gifted evangelist or a preacher or a teacher, but we all can become men like Ephaphraditus, men who are fully transformed by the power of the Gospel, men who are in love with Jesus, men who are committed, loved and approved by other fellow believers and men who are zealous for the Kingdom of God. As we continue to yield to Christ, he will continue to grow us and use us in ways beyond our imagination. 

We may look like the lowliest of people doing the lowliest of jobs for the Kingdom, but it is the least among us who are considered as greatest in the Kingdom.

And as Paul mentioned, we ought to rejoice over such men and honour them for their love, commitment & service for the Kingdom.

Epaphroditus is a perfect example of what God can do in and through the lives of simple people like us. And that is why we celebrate the Gospel, celebrate what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary.

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Philippians Sermon

Joy-filled Concern – Philippians 2:19-24

Good morning church! We continue our exciting series titled “A Joy-filled life” as we go through the book of Philippians. Last week we learnt that as we joyfully obey God, we are called to fight the sin of grumbling and arguing. But after these instructions, we see Paul’s tender and the affectionate concern being listed in today’s passage in Philippians 2:19-24:

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s[d] proven worth, how as a son[e] with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

I couldn’t wrap my head around this. When I was a brand-new believer in the Lord, I started going to this youth group. I could remember the way I felt like a new believer! It was so comforting and enjoyable to fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

But a few months after that my priorities changed. And as much as I wanted to fellowship with other believers and study the Bible, I also wanted to also be part of the church choir and make great music with them. There happened a time when the timings for both meetings clashed and I had to make a choice and I chose the choir.

But one of the leaders from the youth group continued to follow up with me twice or sometimes thrice a week. And he used to come back from work late each night and would call me and speak to me for hours. Quite a few times I’ve managed to put him to sleep with my talk! I still didn’t understand why he would still call me even though I didn’t go to the youth group.

It was something strange and different for me as a new believer. For the first time, I experienced genuine concern for my faith and my life.  So a couple of questions I want us to think over as we start: Is genuine concern for your brothers and sisters important? What does it look like for you and me to genuinely have concern for each other?

1. We were created to have a CONCERN for each other

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.

Why was Paul so concerned? Why did he need news from them to be cheered up? We realize even though the Philippian church loved Jesus and partnered with Paul in the spread of the gospel they were still going through a lot of issues. 

There was Internal Disunity – grumbling, arguing, pride, selfishness within the members of the church. If anyone’s still looking for a perfect church, just know that no church is going to be perfect until Christ returns! Just think what the Philippian church was going through. Not just that they were facing External Opposition – they were being persecuted by hostile unbelievers.

And Paul being their spiritual father is deeply concerned about them. These are my children whom I shared the gospel with. These are my children whom I nurtured. How are they doing? I can’t imagine what they are going through. Are they going to hold on to Christ after all this or are they going to crumble under the pressure and weight of sin & persecution?

It’s a beautiful passage where we see Paul intending to send Timothy to the church so that he can encourage and strengthen them in the Lord – so that they don’t lose faith – so that they don’t quit and abandon the Lord or the church. We see here a great design of what the church is. It’s not a building. It’s not an organization. It’s not an event. It is a FAMILY. It’s deep and committed. Not shallow and non-committal as the world sees relationships.

One of the biggest challenges to seeing our local church as a family is our APATHY! Apathy basically means “Who cares! I definitely don’t care”. Apathy ultimately finds its root in selfishness and pride. 

In our selfishness, we’ll say “Why should we be concerned about this person? Doesn’t have anything to do with me. Why should I simply add extra stress in my life by being concerned and burdened about someone else?”

In our pride, we say “This other person got themselves in a mess due to their own decision. If I were in their place, I would do it differently. No reason for me to unnecessarily get involved now”. 

I was convicted of my sin of apathy in this week only. And I had to realize that God’s design for us and our lives isn’t apathy. God design for us – is to show deep concern just like He is concerned. 

In Ezekiel 34 – is one of the places where we see the great concern God has for us. God prophesies through Ezekiel and is deeply concerned because the leaders of Judah haven’t taken care of His sheep. 

4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. (Ez 34:4-6)

Should we be apathetic when we know that our brother or sister is struggling with habitual sin? Should we be apathetic when we know that our brother or sister is struggling with finding their identity in Christ? 

Should we be apathetic when we know that our brother or sister struggling with fear of failure and rejection? No, our desire should be like that of our Father. Deep concern. 

I was really touched a few years back by a youth retreat that I had attended. It was conducted for students and I was a volunteer for the retreat. Now whenever I’ve gone for retreats, the main sessions were the main thing but out here I noticed that while the main sessions took place, a few leaders went aside to a room to pray.

I joined them on one of the mornings and was moved by what I saw. These leaders who have been ministering to these students for many months prayed with tears for each of the students individually. It didn’t feel planned or manipulative.

They were just expressing their concern for all the areas in which they wanted God to work in the lives of these students. Let’s pray and ask God to break the sin of apathy? Ask him to break our hearts for the things that break His own heart?

Not only are we created to have a burden for each other

2. We are called to sacrificially serve each other (v20-24)

20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s[d] proven worth, how as a son[e] with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

I find it so interesting that Paul chooses to send Timothy to encourage the Philippians. Why does Paul do that? Why doesn’t he send anyone else?

Son in ministry & Faithful coworker: In Acts 16 we see the first time Timothy is mentioned there. When Paul comes to Lystra, Derbe and Iconium in what was known as his 2nd missionary journey, the believers from there spoke well of a person called Timothy.

Paul takes this passionate young believer under his wing on his missionary journey. You can imagine what’s going through the mind of young Timothy. Not knowing exactly how God would provide and what lies ahead of them, in faith he travelled and ministered with Paul for 20 years.

Let’s not forget that Timothy was with Paul when the church at Philippi was being founded. The church has seen his faithfulness as a co-worker which is why Paul could say to the church “you’ve seen Timothy’s proven worth”. 

He didn’t just see the highs of ministry where people were getting saved and added to the church but he also saw suffering. Almost every city where they went, they were met with hostile opposition – beating, death threats and imprisonment. Despite all this, he stuck with Paul as a faithful, trusted son.

In Paul’s mind, this is the perfect guy who needs to go to the church in Philippi. This is my trusted son. My precious one. I have no one else like him. He is genuinely concerned for your welfare. So I am sending him to you. Does this sound familiar?

I think we can see the picture of the gospel at work here. When we were lost and scattered, when we rebelled against God, when we rejected him and went astray – Yet God didn’t turn the lights off on us – Instead He said I will send my trusted one. My precious Son.

I have no one else like Him. He is genuinely concerned for your welfare to the extent that He will lay down His life to save you!! 

Earlier we read about the concern of God in Ezekiel 34…see what it says in v11

11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.[a] I will feed them in justice.

Here is our God who just doesn’t have a concern in His heart and mind but also acts upon it. He comes after those who are lost and scattered. Even today if you think you are the lost sheep, just know that He pursues you still. He sent His Son to die for you.

He rose on the third day so that your relationship with God can be healed. You can turn back to Him and surrender your life totally today!

And that’s the main and only motivation to serve each other sacrificially. It’s because God did that to me – someone who didn’t deserve it at all. As God is building a heart of concern in you, He is also calling you to love and sacrifice what might be precious, costly to serve your brother or sister.

It might be our time, our convenience, our comfort, our resources but you will never know how over time God will use our faithfulness to strengthen a brother or sister’s faith.

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Philippians Sermon

Are we really Obedient? – Philippians 2:14-18

Last Sunday, we spoke about obedience, and obedience is a hard thing. 

To walk in obedience to God’s word in the culture and surrounding we live in is not that easy. At times we have to push ourselves to walk in obedience to God, but if we are not careful there is another tendency in us that is equally sinful than all other sins from which we are trying to run away.

While doing the right things, we also have a natural tendency to lean towards grumbling in our heart and/or arguing with others to prove our point or show others how superior we are.

Probably that’s the reason why Paul, immediately after talking about obedience, in verse 14 says “Do everything without grumbling or arguing”

Imagine pursuing holiness and purity by keeping away from adultery, fornication or pornography when everyone around us seems to be enjoying it without guilt or shame – in college, in offices, in our society. And when they see us taking a stance against such lifestyle, we are mocked and made fun of. 

In such scenarios, we can quickly get into a complaining mode with God when we treated badly for our righteous actions, saying why is it that they get to enjoy all the fleshly pleasures and not me. 

Or we can get into an arguing mode where we bring in our righteous SELF and start pointing fingers and correcting others, showing them how superior we are from them because we do everything right.

The same kind of attitudes also manifests in other situations. When we see people in the office do all the wrong things and yet are promoted to higher positions, when people adopt unethical ways to do business and make money for themselves.

Often when complaining, we forget that we are living amidst “the wicked & crooked people” of this world as pointed in verse 15. We cannot stop anyone, and we cannot change anyone. The only thing we can change is the way we look at our situation and react to it.

Brothers & sisters, complaining, grumbling & arguing is not the right way to do it & as I pointed out earlier is equally sinful as other sins.

Here are a couple of things to remember from our passage today that can help us in such scenarios.

What God thinks about us is more important than what people think.

V15a – “so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”

What Paul is saying is that when we obey God without complaining and disrupting in such manner, we present ourselves blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish.

Often, we are too worried about what others think about us, how others will treat us. And we forget that ultimately we all are accountable to God for the kind of lives we live on this earth. We are either living as children of God or as children of the devil; however, we chose to live will decide what our eternal destiny will be, whether heaven or hell.

What God is doing in us & through us is more glorious.

V15b – “Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.”

As we live holy and obedient lives without complaining and arguing, God is using us as shining stars in this dark generation. God’s ultimate goal is to save this wretched world from the hands of satan. He is saving the world through our obedience in Christ.

One day we will all die, and in our last days, all this wealth & pleasures will seem meaningless. And when we are in our death beds, the greatest joy in our hearts will be to cherish all the beautiful gifts God has given to us, whether our salvation, our family, our friends, the joy, and the peace.

Like how Paul puts it in verse16 “as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour in vain.”

Another thing that can help us in our struggle is when we remember the high price Christ had to pay to set us free from Sin and death. While we were sinners, Christ died for us, paid the penalty of our sins on the cross of Calvary. Nothing we go through in life for living an obedience life can be compared to the shame, mocking, beating, insult our Lord Jesus had to go through. 

Our repentance and belief in the Gospel have given us this new life, and unlike what the world thinks, this new life is far more glorious than what the world has to offer us.

And finally …

We ought to rejoice and be glad as we walk in obedience to God’s commandments.

v18 – “So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.”

Paul ends this conversation in verse 18, saying “Rejoice & be glad”. But why do we rejoice?

We rejoice because we know that God is pleased with us. He is not pleased because of our obedience, he is pleased in the obedience of his son Jesus, who lived a fully obedience life on our behalf. He is pleased with us for excepting Christ as our saviour and Lord; he is pleased with us because of our love for Jesus.

We rejoice, because, greater is He that is in me then he that is in the world. 

We rejoice, in the fact that God, the creator of the universe, is using us as instruments in his hands for his glory. What is a privilege it is?

We rejoice, because, in the end, we will be rewarded for our love and obedience.

Therefore, brothers & sisters, let us continue to walk in obedience to God but without complaining and without arguing, which is an acceptable sacrifice unto our God.

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Philippians Sermon

Joy-filled Obedience – Philippians 2:12-13

Good morning church! As we continue our series on a ‘Joy-filled Life’ from the book of Philippians, we will see today how the breathtaking view of Christ’s obedience to the Father which we read in last week’s passage now informs us to live in obedience every single day.  Let’s read from Philippians 2:12-13.

12 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, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

It was the most nervous Sunday School class for me! When I was probably in 3rd grade, I remember being part of a Sunday School class taken up by a lady from church who was close to my family.

Initially, it was exciting because she was a familiar face to me but then it turned into anxiety because midway through the class she told everyone “I know someone who has been very disobedient to his parents”. Immediately my joy turned to sorrow and I was sweating.

I didn’t want to be called out…that also in front of my friends. As she was going to announce who it was – my heartbeat started racing – and finally, she said that the person was her “son”. Phew! What a sigh of relief. Now the reason I got so stressed that day was because my greatest concern was that I didn’t want to be embarrassed before my friends.

Similarly, we sometimes view obedience as something to make us look good or bad before people. So we spend a lot of time trying to appear to be “obedient followers” in front of others. But what if we saw our obedience as something that our heavenly Father wanted from us? What if we recognized that God is deeply concerned about our obedience?

Our obedience matters to God! And it matters for our joy in Him too.

Three things about obedience from this passage that I think it’s important for us to know:

  1. Obedience involves total surrender (v12)
  2. Obedience is a response to God’s grace (v12)
  3. Obedience is a miracle of God (v13)

1. Obedience involves total surrender (v12)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence

The word obedience is something that we’ve overused in our church culture and even at home. So we sometimes think of obedience as obeying rules and disobedience as not obeying rules. But the word “obedience” whenever it’s used in Scripture describes surrender and submission. I’m surrendering myself to heed to what this authority is commanding me to do. 

Paul was imprisoned far away from the church at Philippi while this letter was written. The church was having issues within themselves where members were getting into arguments while from the outside they were being persecuted. Paul – being their spiritual father in the faith, what does he tell them to do?

as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence

That’s why I used the word  “total surrender” because I think it captures the idea to be obedient not just when your spiritual family is around but also when they are absent. 

Each day there are many people who come to Mumbai from different cities far away from their homes and families. I can imagine the pressure of temptation that they feel because they’re tempted to think that since they are all alone, they can now let their guards down. They think they can do whatever they want and probably not get caught.

And it’s not just those who come from other cities but you can be living with your family in Mumbai itself but due to college or work schedules spend hours outside of the home. Maybe you get to meet your family only early morning or late evenings.

Even with the church you probably only get to meet them once or twice a week. For the remaining time you’re living by yourself. And I can understand the pressure of temptation that people face to do things in isolation – in secrecy – in private that no one knows about.

When I was new to believing in Jesus, one brother told me something that stuck to my mind. He said “Most of the time people live restricted and self-controlled lives because they’ve got family around or because they’re afraid of getting caught.

But the moment they go to another city or country for studies or college, that’s when they are really tested because they think that even if they compromise there’s no one who would know”. There’s a real danger to living in isolation. 

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1)

It can be relationships that we are in right now that our family or church has no idea about. It can be images and movies that we watch on a computer screen. Or it could be conversations and jokes that we have with our colleagues and college friends that we know are dishonouring God but we would never mention this before our family and friends. In our sinfulness, there is a tendency and an urge to keep a private, secret life.

Both me and Saju even though we are elders here – I wanted to tell you guys that there’s a need for us to fight this battle every single day. We are in no way taken off the hook. 

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) 

I’m really thankful to God for a loving wife who shows me grace and applies the gospel daily & for brothers and sisters who encourage me to fight this every day.

One thing that has helped me grow as a believer has been this truth – for a believer in Christ, there isn’t a concept of private life. Why? Because all of our life – every single part of our life is owned by Christ. There’s no room for a secret stash. And this is something very important for us to consider.

If we want to really obey Christ, the question is – are we willing to fully surrender everything? Even our private life and that would mean bringing that to the light and sharing it with a trusted brother or sister who would urge you to repent and go back to the gospel. And let me tell you it’s freeing to confess and repent. We end up feeling enslaved and miserable when we conceal.

Not only is obedience total surrender

2. Obedience is a response to God’s grace (v12)

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

The first question that came to my mind when I read this was – Is Paul talking about working for salvation? Is he telling that we should have good works to get saved? No, he’s not contradicting what he said in Ephesians 2:8,9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast

Rather, what Paul is saying here is that because you are saved…because you have experienced and received God’s grace through Jesus, you need to obey with seriousness and reverence. We are not working for salvation but we are working out of salvation. True obedience is an outflow…it’s a result…it’s a response to the grace of God. 

The Bible in Luke 7 has an interesting story of Jesus being invited to a house of a Pharisee. A woman from the city who was known for her sins heard this and brought an alabaster jar of ointment and came to the house. She stood behind him weeping and wet his feet with her tears and wiped it with hair and kissed the feet and anointed it with the ointment.

Now according to the culture of that day, it was improper for a woman to do this in a public setting. On top of that everyone seated out there knew this woman was a sinner. And Simon the Pharisee thought to himself – “If Jesus really was a prophet, he would’ve known what sort of woman this is who is touching him – she is a sinner”.

Jesus knew what he thought in his heart and told him this parable “a moneylender had two debtors – one who owed him 500 denarii and the other who owed him 50. When they could not repay the debt, he cancelled both of their debts.

Which of the two do you think will love the moneylender more?” Simon said, “I think it’ll be the one whose larger debt was cancelled”. Jesus said, “that’s correct”. “When I entered your home, you didn’t give me water for my feet but she wet it with her tears and wiped it with her hair.

You gave me no kiss but from the time I came, she’s not ceased kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, her sins even though they are many are forgiven – for she loved more. But he who is forgiven little loves little”.

The seriousness and obedience that we show toward God is often a reflection of how much we think we have been forgiven. If we think we had a massive debt over us and that was cancelled through the what Christ has done, then our obedience would be quite serious and radical! But if we think that our debt was small and minute, that would, in turn, be the love and obedience that we show to Christ.

But not only is obedience total surrender, not only is it a response to grace but 

3. Obedience is a miracle of God (v13)

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Now, this is might be slightly confusing for us. In the last verse, this is telling us to “work out our salvation” – meaning we need to actively obey God because of grace. But in this verse, it’s telling us that it’s God who actually works in us!!

Wait a minute? Am I the one to obey? Yes. Is God working in me to make me obey? Yes. How does that work? 

During our honeymoon is when I learnt how to float for the first time. My wife being a good swimmer decided to help me out a little. So we found a shallow bed of water where we could practice how to float. She told me to lie flat on my back, lift my feet up and then I would float. But the moment I did that, I started sinking.

The next time I did that, I frantically started paddling with my hands and feet and still sank. This continued for almost half an hour and about the time when I almost decided to call it a day, she told me to calm down and allow the water to handle the weight of my body. She told me to lean back and calmly rest on the water body and before you know it – I started to float!!!

And similarly, I think when it comes to obedience –

  • God empowers us to obey. He gives us the TOOLS which will allow us to obey Him.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3)

  • When we obey – we are actually cooperating with Him – submitting to His final authority and acknowledging that He knows better than us
  • Then we actually see how God carries us forward, strengthening us to complete obedience. 

It’s like floating on water. Who is the one causing us to float? It’s actually the water. We are just cooperating with the buoyant force that is allowing me to float. Obedience is active, intentional, radical but as we are obeying God we’ll see how we are able to do it only because He empowers us to do the same. 

Sometimes we wonder why is it that we are not experiencing that kind of intimacy with God. We wonder why aren’t we experiencing the powerful presence of God as we ought to. And the question we need to ask ourselves is “have we been obedient to God?” 

Me and Glen were having this conversation yesterday. Imagine two scenarios. One where we live our lives for our own selfish goals and pleasures and maybe we do gain the riches and luxuries of the world.

The other scenario where we probably don’t gain the riches and luxuries and where everything doesn’t go our way but instead as we are obeying God and surrendering to His will we are experiencing His power and might in such an amazing way not just in our lives but also around us! I would choose this over the former any day. There is a thrill in obedience!

And God has given us a few TOOLS to help us live out a joyfully obedient life:

1. We are His children through Jesus Christ. Sin no longer defines us. Even though we sin, even though we mess up but we can go back to God and find restoration. If you are experiencing distance from God due to your private, secret life – I want you to know that you can turn to God in repentance. He is your Father who is waiting for you with open arms.

2. He has given you the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not a weak spirit that is there within you. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 He is God and has brought God’s power and presence into your life. He will enable you to wage war with sin and struggles. We need to yield to Him in prayer and surrender. 

3. We have brothers and sisters to help us fight. If you’re a man,I would encourage you to find one or two brothers who love the Lord with whom you can share your “private life, secret stash” and have them hold you accountable. If you’re a woman, find one or two women who love the Lord who can hold you accountable. Brothers, I want to tell you and encourage you that there is immense power in the prayers of brothers and sisters that deeply care for your spiritual health. Spiritual battles have been won. Sin has been fought with. People have been redeemed when men and women have come together to seek divine help. He will definitely answer!! 

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Philippians Sermon

Joy in Brokenness – Philippians 2:5-11

This sermon is part of the series called ‘A Joy-filled Life’ and today’s topic is ‘Joy in Brokenness’. The Bible passage we will be looking at is Philippians 2:5-11.

If we are honest, we will all say that our hearts desperately yearn for a spiritual revival. I need one. For me, the last couple of weeks has been very rough, I’ve missed on my prayer & devotions, I’ve missed out on my scripture readings, and is feeling quite dry spiritually. 

There might be some of you who are maybe going through the same feelings as I am. To overcome such feelings, we are seeking a revival that will get us back on track with our relationship with our creator God.

Now, whatever may be our experience of failure and barrenness, God, the maker of heaven and earth is never defeated. His power is boundless. And we, on our part, have only to get into a right relationship with Him through His son Jesus Christ, and we shall see His power demonstrated in our hearts and lives and service, and victorious life will fill us and overflow through us to others. And that is Revival in its essence.

If, however, we are to come into this right relationship with Him, the first thing we must learn is that our wills must be broken to His will. To be broken is the beginning of Revival.

Psalms 51:17 – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

It is painful, humiliating, but it is the only way. It is being “Not I, but Christ” (Gal 2:20), and a “C” is a bent “I.” The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal Himself until the proud self within us is not broken.

What today’s passage offers is a perfect example of what it means to be broken to our self. We see our Lord Jesus, our Saviour and our redeemer, the King of king and the Lord of Lords, our champion & our hero, setting us a perfect example of what it means to be broken, contrite & humble – To have a posture and an attitude that will please our Father in heaven and set us in a right relationship with him.

This passage is a portion of a letter that was written by Paul to the churh in Philippians. And if you read the earlier chapter you will to know that the church is going through a turmoil in their relationship with one another. And often times when our relationship with another hits the rock, its a good indicator that our relationship with God is also not going well. Both are interconnected. And they needed a Revival to get sorted.

And therefore, in verse 5 Paul is saying to the church “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus”. He is telling the church to imitate Christ and his posture of humility that will help maintian right relationship with God the Father.

We can learn three lessons from Jesus, which can be applied in our current situation as we seek revival in our hearts.

Jesus gave up his status & position

V6. though he (Christ) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped

Often times, what keeps us away from a healthy relationship with God is the SELF in us. This simply means that the hard unyielding self, which justifies itself, wants its own way, stands up for its rights, and seeks its own glory is the biggest hurdle in our heart.

It doesn’t want to bow its head to God’s will, doesn’t like to admit its wrong, doesn’t want to give up its own way to Jesus, doesn’t want to surrender its rights and doest want to discard its own glory.

It is so often the self who even tries to live the Christian life, do Christian work. It is always self who gets irritable and envious and resentful and critical and worried. It is self who is hard and unyielding in its attitudes to others. It is self who is shy and self-conscious and reserved. No wonder we need breaking. 

If we are honest, we can all see how much of this self there is in each of us.

As long as SELF is in control, God can do little with us, and therefore it has to be crucified.

It was the SELF that drew Adam and Eve to Sin against God. And when the SELF took over, darkness entered our hearts. The beautiful relationship we had with our creator God was broken. The whole human race is suffering the consequences of that fall.

But because of our fallen state, and because God so loved us, he sent His only Son Jesus to come to earth and live a life we ought to be living. 

And here’s what Paul is saying about how Christ lived among us – Even though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

If there was one person on this earth who had the rights to follow his SELF then it was Jesus. He could have easily chosen to abandon us and leave us in our sinful state, and there will be no questions asked. But what we see is He willingly gave up his rights so that he can redeem us back to the Father.

In our lives, ultimately it is God who is bending our will to His, but there is an active part we also have to play without which the process is incomplete.

And Jesus has set a perfect example for us to follow.

Brothers & sisters, let’s examine our heart and identify the areas where our SELF is dominant. Do we always lean on our wisdom and strength to achieve the goals of our life? Or Is it the wealth and possessions we have that determines what we want to become? Or Are we acting stubborn with God saying – “This is the way I want to live my life, so please grant me my desire”, “This is the only kind of girl/boy I’d like to marry, so pls throw him/her from heaven”, “This is the only kind of job I would like to do”, “This is the only way I want to ministry.”

If thats true, then we have to crucify the SELF and its desires so that we can enjoy our relationship with the Father.

Jesus emptied himself by taking the form of a servant

The second lesson we learn from Jesus is that he not only gave up his rights, but he emptied himself and took the form of a servant. He came not to be served but to serve.

To be a servant is not just mere superficial servanthood we are talking about here. Often times this word is misinterpreted by our society, especially by the people in authorities. People in authority often project themselves are the servant of the people, we hear politicians say that, entrepreneurs say that. Thats not the servanthood Jesus showed us.

He literally washed the feet of his disciples. The Holy God of the universe stooped down to the unworthy, unholy, undeserving insects like us and washed our feet. 

When was the last time we served someone in this manner?

We don’t help our mother’s & wives at home. We think it’s the lowliest thing to do. It takes a lot of courage and dying to SELF to be able to serve others in this manner. It starts at home, then in Church and then to society at large.

Our act and attitude in serving others in this manner shows us how willing we are to be broken to our self so that we can draw near to God.

Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.

Jesus not only gave up his rights and took the form of a servant, but he also humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.

Jesus fully obeyed His Father in heaven, to the point, that to save us from the wrath of God, he took all our Sins, all our infirmities, and died in our place, paying the full penalty of our sins. 

The suffering wasn’t an easy one. In the Garden of Gethsamane, right before he was supposed to be taken away to be crucified, his cries out to God in prayer saying “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

His humility by becoming obedient to the point of death is what gives us the privilege to become sons and daughters of God, as we repent and put our faith in Jesus.

Can you imagine what would have happened to us if Jesus never fully obeyed His Father in heaven? Our lives would have been devastated.

What is our excuse for not walking in obedience to God’s word?

John 14:15,21,23-24

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

THAT IS WHAT BROKENNESS IS ALL ABOUT!

Brokenness is not God forcing us into the image of Christ, so that in spite of my desire to sin He causes me to do what is right anyhow. 

Asking God, “Lord, please make me a broken man!” is like praying, “God, please force me to love you!” God wants loving, obedient servants, not blindly obedient robots. He wants the willing, voluntary slave, not forced labor.

Many times, when in the midst of temptation, we would pray, “God, please help me!” (meaning, “God, please intervene and do something to prevent me from committing this sin!”)

God’s response over the years has been, “I already have helped you. Jesus died to set you free from bondage to sin. Go read Romans 6 again!”

We are without excuse! God is the sovereign Creator of the Universe – He gets to set the rules! It is my part to love and obey.

He commands, He expects love and obedience, but He also gives us encouragement, reminders, and the power of the Holy Spirit living in us to conquer the nature of sin that still plagues us!

Brother & sisters, if we are experiencing dryness in our heart & a detachment from God the Father this morning, it is not because God has kept a distance from us. It is because we are not letting our self die, not emptying ourself at the throne of God’s grace, unwilling to serve & not humble ourselves to the point of total obedience to God.

In Philippians 2:9-11 Paul continues to write

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Father not just delights in a broken and a contrite man but he also rewards them. Just like he exalted his son he will also exalt us and pour out his Spirit over us and fill our hearts an overflowing joy and peace..

And the greatest joy he offers us is the privilege to participate in the final celebration when Jesus will come back again. We all get to see Him, bow down to him and confess Jesus is Lord. What a Joy?

Brokenness is not a one-time thing. To have a continued communion with God, we need to have continued brokenness in our spirit at all times.

Brokenness is a good thing it directs our hearts to God.

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Philippians Sermon Unity

United in Joy – Philippians 2:1-4

Good morning church! How’s everyone doing a week after the retreat? I would say that the retreat was a blessing for all of us and what’s interesting is that today’s passage seems like a continuation on the topic of “Unity”.

It does seem like something that God is impressing on our hearts as a church. As we all turn to Philippians 2 in our series titled “A Joy filled life”, I want us to be reminded of what’s been happening at the church at Philippi.

A couple of weeks back we did learn about the persecutions that these believers were facing because of their faith in the Lord Jesus. But not only were things difficult for them with the world outside but internally things were not great between members of the church too.

Two women who apparently were co-laborers with Paul got into a disagreement and this was affecting the rest of the church. How should the church respond? Let’s read in v1-4

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

“You’ll never find a perfect church!” I remember this quoted being mentioned to me ever since I became a follower of Jesus. It didn’t take me too long to realize the reality of that quote but that presented a set of problematic questions: “How is the church ever going to be united with so many differences and disagreements?” “Should they overlook and ignore all the issues?” “Or should they pin-point and correct every single issue?” “Specifically, how am I as a follower of Jesus required to live in the midst of this?”

And knowing that we have married couples in our congregation and young people who are looking to get married sometime in the future, I want to extend these questions on unity to them as well – “How can I experience true unity in my married life?”

4 points of observation from today’s text:

1. Unity can only be brought about through the Gospel (v1,2)

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

What I find so interesting is how Paul starts this chapter – He starts by talking about amazing truths and gifts that are ours through Jesus Christ. 

  • Encouragement in Christ: Because Jesus Christ saved us and rescued us from the wrath of God, we are encouraged to approach the throne of God with boldness. We need not be afraid of the presence of God anymore.  
  • Comfort from love: For people who were once staring at hopelessness and eternal death, the amazing truth is that we have God who eternally comforts His people with love. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you”. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thess 2:16,17)
  • Participation in the Spirit: God graciously pours out His Spirit on everyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ. All of us have the same Spirit who convicts us, changes us, works through us to make us more like Jesus! 
  • Affection and Sympathy: These are words that basically mean compassion and mercy being shown to someone. When God saw us in our sin and misery, He had compassion on us and came after us to pull us out of pit of sin and darkness. 

And his point is that – if we’ve truly experienced these amazing things, then it needs to be evident in our lives as well. 

Right now because we are expecting a child, we do have a lot of experienced parents who meet us and give us advice. A few weeks back someone shared with us that after the 20th week or so, the baby in the womb actually has a capacity to hear.

This parent advised us to be mindful of what we communicate during this period and also encouraged us to sing Christian songs and read verses that the baby will actually identify once out of the womb! And that process continues even as the child grows, what the child sees the parents do, that they’ll imitate and do. Wow! And I kept thinking – isn’t it that same with all of us spiritually as well.

God being our Father wants us to experience His grace, love, mercy and kindness and be filled in it so that we can extend it outwards to the people around us! 

Here’s what I think the application for this point is. If we think that more events or programs or combined activities is what is going to keep the church together or the marriage together, then that’s a very meaningless, faulty line of thinking.

There’s only one way for your marriage, your family, and the church to experience true unity and that’s going to happen when we understand and respond to God’s grace, love, mercy and kindness – the message of the gospel.

2. Unity doesn’t necessarily mean similarity (v2)

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

My immediate thought when I read this verse was: Is he trying to say that all people should talk the same way, think the same way and walk the same way? I don’t think he’s saying we need to become similar people.

We are so wired in the world to group ourselves around similar people – people who think, talk and walk like us. People who are different from us are labeled as “awkward and weird”. When the world talks about unity – they are more or less talking about similarity.

But when the Bible talks about unity – it has to do more with the One gospel and Savior & how we now care for each other within the church. 

If you ask around the room today, you’ll hear many unique testimonies of how God saved each believer here. Some of us were saved when we realized the purposelessness of sinful addictions, some of us got saved while we heard the gospel being preached at a Christian meeting, some of us got saved when someone personally shared the gospel with us and my own story is that I got saved while reading a Christian book.

So many unique stories but one Savior Lord Jesus and when we heard the amazing love – that He would lay down His life on the cross and rise again on the third Day – our eyes opened and we turned from our sins and ran to Jesus to save us and our lives completely changed! And that’s what unites young, old, dark skinned, light skinned, tall, short, male, female alike. It’s not so much how similar we are but how united we are despite our differences. 

Sometimes in our churches or even in our marriages, we also bring in this baggage of trying to make the other person like us thinking that if we are more similar then we’ll be more united. Not true.

For example in churches there’s always an issue between the elderly and the youths. The elderly people accuse the youths of being free-spirited and naïve. Young people accuse the elderly of being rigid and over-disciplined. But the thing here is that both groups need each other.

The elderly need to be encouraged by the zeal of young people to still remain passionate and radical for the things of God. The young people need to have the guidance and wisdom of the elderly to be able to grow in maturity. We need to learn how to embrace each other’s differences – in terms of giftings, cultural backgrounds, lifestyles, language and see how we can actually learn from each other. 

As long as the gospel is our foundation and love is the motivation, the gospel allows us freedom to actually embrace each other’s differences and yet still be strengthened in unity. 

3. Disunity is a result of SIN (v3,4)

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Please carefully note what these verses are trying to say. The reason for disunity isn’t really style issues, or worship preference or in marriage “communication issues” but the real issue that causes disunity is the “SIN ISSUE”.  

There are 2 main root sins mentioned here:

a) Self-centredness: 

  • How can I get noticed for doing this or that in the church?
  • If I’m serving the church in this way or that, I’m hoping that at least someone appreciates and acknowledges me for what I’m doing.
  • If I do this for the church or my spouse, what will I get in return? 
  • At the core of it, I’m most concerned of how my needs are met in my church or my marriage? 

b) Pride: 

  • I’m not as bad as the person sitting next to me
  • I’ve got more biblical knowledge and I’ve been so actively involved in the church for years
  • This church event or Sunday service is successful due to my hard work.
  • Why should I go and reconcile when I was the one wronged? I’m right! I’ve not done anything wrong. Especially in marriages there is that common joke which people crack – best way to have a successful marriage – just say that the wife is right. I don’t agree to that because in an argument or a fight – both are in sin and both aren’t right.

If I have to sum up all of these statements that I’m sure we’ve said or thought about in our lives, it’ll come to this “I deserve better”. In our sinful selves we all think we are entitled to something better because we think that we are great human beings.

But we aren’t. We are people whose hearts the Bible describes as “desperately sick”. Apart from the grace of what Christ did for us, we have absolutely no hope. And we are no better than the person sitting right next to us. The person sitting next to us needs infinite grace and so do we.

Even though we are believers saved by grace, we need to recognize the pride and self-centredness that is so evident and prominent in our hearts. 

Which brings me to the last observation:

  1. Only the Gospel can heal Disunity (v3,4)

How do you know if a person is truly in love with Jesus? By his biblical knowledge? No. By his charisma? No. By his great spiritual feats and accomplishments? No. 

Look at his humility! And how does a man become humble knowing how prideful and self-centred we are? 

By kneeling before our Savior and realizing what Jesus did for us in spite of our rejection – how He faithfully pursued us, how He laid down everything for us, how paid the costliest sacrifice and opened the glorious gates of eternal fellowship with Him. That absolutely humbles us. 

Brothers and sisters, I want to encourage and remind you of the power of the gospel this morning. I remember many times either at home, or while listening to a sermon travelling or while at a church gathering like this – my heart was filled with pride and selfishness and being hardened.

But in those times when the gospel was preached, I can’t express but it felt like something was powerfully breaking through my hardened heart mainly humbling me and allowing me to receive the truth and instruction from God. If you are also experiencing self-centredness and pride this morning,

I would urge you to come before our Savior and ask Him to reveal His love and kindness to you. Ask to melt your hardened heart so that you can enjoy true fellowship with Him. 

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Ephesians Sermon Unity

United in Community (Session 2 – Ephesians 4:1-16

I want you to imagine a conversation between a news reporter and a Sunday churchgoer. Let’s call him Akash.

The interviewer asks Akash, “Why are you part of a local church?” Akash quickly answers “It’s because I love the fellowship. The people are very nice and friendly and I’m able to relate with them well”. The interviewer then asks him, ” Well, how is the church any different from any social group- like a football club, chess club, or really close family and friend circles? Isn’t that the same?”

Akash then says “no this is different because I get to sing these beautifully tuned worship songs and because there’s a pastor who teaches some really good and practical stuff for life”.  

The interviewer responds by asking him, ” See…Right now we are in a digital age – you can access all of these best Christian songs and listen to the best preachers from your home itself, why do you have to be a part of a church?”

By now Akash is a little irritated by the questions, “He says – what are you saying…every Sunday I have to go to church. I cannot imagine not going. I’ve been doing that for many years. Apart from this, there’s nothing else that I can do on Sunday”.

Now, this might seem like a silly imaginary conversation but I want all of us to think on why we invest so many hours each week in the weekend Gathering and community? Why don’t we do anything else during that time? And I want us to be challenged by this line of questioning. And how much should we invest in this? Is it just 2 hours a week or much more? Is it worth sacrificing your entire life for it?

The first thing I want us to grasp is that we are in a community not because of social reasons or because there’s nothing else to do but:

We are united by Truth (v4-6)

There are these amazing life-altering truths that joins us together.

A) One body – We are many members of Christ’s single body. We may look different, come from different backgrounds but through Christ, we are now members of one body. Glen and I once shared a shared rickshaw with an elderly couple. Saw a Bible in his hand and we started talking. He was a believer and even though he was 80 years old but also my brother and fellow member of Christ’s body.

B) One Spirit – It’s mindboggling to think that God’s own Spirit dwells in each of us believers. And also to realize that everyone shares the very same Spirit. No partiality. We know that as much as we yield to the Spirit, we are being controlled by Him but in giving us the Spirit God shows no partiality. 

C) One Hope – We will be resurrected. Not ashamed. Pronounced not guilty. Living as heirs in God’s kingdom with God even though we didn’t deserve to be there in the first place. 

D) One Lord – All of us who believe in Jesus have one Master and one Savior. There was only one person who lived the life we could never imagine living – holiness example – walking on puddles. Yet He was willing to take on the punishment that we deserved and give us His righteousness. Exchanging His robe for ours. And His sacrifice transforms our lives once for all. Can anyone else be our Master? He is a Faithful Lord.

E) One Faith – Trusting in Christ’s work to bring us to God. Example: A man drowning in the sea and holding onto a rope. 

F) One Baptism – Declaration of our fellowship with Christ and the church. Doesn’t matter if you’ve been baptized in an interior village of India or at the Omkar pool. It’s a sign of your commitment and God looks at all of it as obedience. 

G) One God the Father – In a country where we boast of 330 million gods, the Bible says there’s only one God – He rules over everything, He is powerful to work through everything so that ultimately everything displays His greatness. 

Secondly, the reason why the church can’t be a disconnected affair where we can be virtually connected through Livestream is because:

We are united for Strength (v7-16) 

We need each other to grow stronger in the Lord. 

I) God giving gifts to each individual believer (v7) 

*  Spiritual Gifts – ” Grace” – undeserving gift of God according to Christ’s measure. There is a purpose to God giving you a gift.

II) Wonderful purpose of spiritual gifts

    * Church leaders are God’s gift to the church to equip (perfect, complete furnishing) the saints for the work of ministry. Servants of the Lord & the church – Church leaders are like joints – binding the skeleton together, giving structure and allowing muscles to move bones to perform different activities. Our job as church leaders is to bring people together, give direction (casting vision) and allow people to use their gifts to do the work of ministry. Coach the church so that everyone is active in body building. (V11, 12) 

    * Unity and Maturity – When will we be fully united? when we become like Christ. When will we be fully mature? When we become like Christ. The goal is to attain the measure of the full stature of the fullness of Christ – Christ likeness is not going to happen alone. It’s going to happen with the church. (V13, 14) 

    * Growth is going to happen when each part of the body is working properly. (V15, 16) 

United in love (v1-3)

Even though we have been given “grace” yet we experience issues within the church – making it more difficult to attain unity. “Sin” and “Strangeness”. What should we do? 

Should we quit? What does Scripture call us to do?  Loving each other through humility and gentleness. Patiently bearing with each other in love. Ensuring with one another. 

If we all are honest, we’ll admit that this is very difficult and impossible to bring about this type of unity by our own efforts. So what’s the solution? 

This is only possible through the Gospel. Only knowing Christ and experiencing His grace can allow us to extend that outwards to each other. 

Questions for discussion:

1. In your experience in the past, what have you perceived the purpose of spiritual gifts to be? 

2. What kind of barriers can stop a church from experiencing unity and maturity in the faith? 

3. Based on today’s passage, what are some things that God is calling you to do in a church which can promote unity and maturity? 

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Ephesians Sermon Unity

United in Heart (Session 1) – Ephesians 2:11-22

The theme of our Retreat for the next two days is the word UNITY: Oneness in Christ. 

The word ‘UNITY’ is a very familiar word to all of us. Probably some of you are already saying “I know all about Unity, I’ve been hearing this word since the time I was born”

But there is a possibility that even though we are familiar with the word ‘Unity’, we haven’t still understood it as we are supposed to, according to the scriptures.

And therefore, let’s keep our hearts and minds open and be willing to empty ourselves. Let’s keep aside all our preconceptions and allow God’s word and His Spirit to change us, in the direction of becoming more like Jesus.

Our country India is known to be a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. We celebrate our diversity, and why shouldn’t we?

  • More than 1500+ languages are spoken in our country.
  • People of different religions viz. Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism etc. live together.
  • We have 29 states and seven union territories. Each of these states and union territories has its unique culture, traditions, food, dressing sense, belief systems.

Of course, we should be proud of ourselves. Here’s how our Prime minister Mr Narendra Modi proudly speaks about India, he says “Vividhita Main Ekta Hamare Desh ki Vishehta” (Unity in diversity is our country’s speciality)

But even though we celebrate Unity in diversity, the truth is, we are all divided in our hearts, one against another. And not in two or three pieces but hundreds and thousands of parts, probably as many cultural, languages & caste divisions that exist in our society.  

If we truly believe we are united, we wouldn’t have inequality amongst us, every citizen in our country would have had equal rights, equal opportunities, and most importantly, freedom to pursue their dreams.

But that’s not the case. Statistics says the top 10% of Indians owns 76.3% of the wealth in India. Do you think that is a fair distribution of wealth among the people who call themselves united?

If we were united, preferences in government offices, private companies, schools, colleges and other societies, wouldn’t be given based on caste, colour, education, wealth, gender, state background, language etc.

And therefore, even though we celebrate Unity in Diversity, we can see how our Indian society is divided. 

Unfortunately, we also get to see such discrimination in our so-called churches and Christian organizations.

Now, I don’t want to dwell too much on these differences and divisions but would like you to give some serious thoughts about it later.

Instead, I want to point our hearts to God’s word and show you what true UNITY is, why is it important and how can we genuinely experience UNITY in our hearts.

The passage I want to turn to is Ephesians 2:11-22

Alienated & divided because of Sin

Verse 11-12: Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 

In this passage, Paul is addressing a group of Jews & Gentiles who seem divided on the issue of circumcision. The Jews were saying, believing in Jesus is good, but to become a true believer, you also have to be circumcised. To which Paul confronts them saying that this is not what the true Gospel is. Instead, he is saying that it is only by Grace through Faith we are saved and not by our works. 

And as he is addressing the issue on circumcision and the division caused by it, he first reminds them all saying “you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

When God made us, in his image, he did not mean for us to live in disunity. In fact, the very purpose of Him creating us was to share the fellowship and unity that the triune God – God the Father, God the Son & God the HolySpirit had & enjoyed among themselves. 

God made man so that we would enjoy the same relationship with Him and with each other. But in our rebellion and selfishness when we chose to disobey him, his virtues & his good-intended laws, we broke that relationship with Him which also affected our relationship with each other. 

The first murder in the bible, the older brother Cain killing his younger brother Abel was the result of that Sin.

The first major split or a division happed because of Sin. Genesis 11:1-9 tells us the story of the Tower of Babel. 

Genesis 11:1-9: Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

It was Sin and sinful motives of sinful people that caused the first division.

Therefore, even in our Indian context, where we are talking about disunity and disharmony among people, let us all be aware that the real cause of it is Sin. 

It is because of Sin; we are in hostility – unfriendliness, opposed to one another, hatred towards our fellow brother & sister. And unless we deal with Sin, we are never going to experience true Unity in our heart and in this world. 

When the government talks about Unity, they do so to get votes and gain power. When organizations talk about Unity, they do so to sell their product & services. When various other entities talk about unity, they do so for their own personal benefits.

We see how Sin has taken deep roots in our society and culture that even though when we talk about Unity in diversity, it is to take advantage of each other for selfish gains. In our Sin, we are living like animals where the Law of the Jungle is ‘Survival of the fittest’, where nobody wants to know the truth when it is only the Truth that can set us free from this bondage and misery, and allow us to live in Freedom and Peace.

And what is the Truth? 

United through Christ

Ephesians 2:13-22: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 2In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

When we hear the account of Jesus and what he has accomplished for us on the cross, we realize that God’s ultimate purpose is to bring us back to himself and to one another, as one man, one bride as per the original design.

In our Sin, we were far away from God, but now we have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

We may think as if God is doing all this for us, for our well being. Yes, of course, that is true but the greater truth is that He is doing all this for Himself, to restore back that which was broken because of our disobedience and failure and to bring the order of creation, that which He intended while he was creating us.

Therefore, Unity is not just something that we need as a society to bring back order in our lives but it is primarily God’s agenda for restoring back what was lost. Through the sacrifice of His son Jesus, God is uniting his people for the big day of his return, his rule and his dominion on this earth. Satan will be defeated forever and we will be united to Christ in a grand marriage celebration.

Either we are in it & for it or we are not in it & not for it.

Brothers & sisters, as we talk more about Unity, the agenda is not to manipulate you into something we want to build for ourselves. It is not about the Gathering church and our small little community, but it is about the Kingdom of God. It is about the greater goal that is far beyond ourselves and our identity and comfort on this earth. It is about God.

This is not some new kind of lifestyle we are calling you but this is the ultimate purpose for which we are being created. 

Therefore, when the Gospel is truly understood and applied in our lives, every circumstance, every faulty mindset, every faulty cultural belief, every broken relationship, it should bring peace, joy and restoration that ultimately unites our hearts to Christ and to one another.

Without Christ, Unity has no purpose.

Without Christ, Unity has no meaning,

Without Christ, Unity is not possible.

In some way or the other, we have all fallen prey to the schemes of the enemy and have separated ourselves from receiving and experiencing the grace of God.

We have failed to surrender our lives to God for the sake of unity with Him, we have allowed our sinful hearts to take over our choices, our decisions, our affections, & our emotions.

There is no one who can say that he or she is perfect before God, and therefore as we’ve heard God speak to us and if He has convicted us of our sins, our response should be repentance and faith, surrender and commitment to the Gospel. 

Group Discussion Questions:

Q1. What are some specific areas in your life where you are currently experiencing disunity with God?

Q2. What are some specific areas in your life where you are currently experiencing disunity with one another?

Q3. What are some cultural, traditional, emotional, political or sentimental reasons that hold you back from seeking unity with God and with one another?

Q4. How do you think the Gospel addresses your specific reasons for not seeking or pursuing unity with God & with others?