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Delight in You

Be my highest desire Lord
May I delight in You alone
The Eternal one

My soul tends to cling to the earth that is fleeting
Open my eyes to see Your Beauty
Help me understand Your Love and Sacrifice
That I longed for all along

This soul can only be satisfied in You
My Creator God
Not in the world that leaves me wanting more
So let me treasure You only

The length and breadth and depth of Your love
Displayed on the cross of Calvary
Where You gave Your all
In love for me
Came back to life and promised eternity

So may my roots grow deep in You
By loving You with all of me
I know You’re worthy of my adoration and worship
Faithful One who will never leave

If I hope in a man they will pass
If I hope in my works it won’t last
If I hope in things it will soon perish

All my earthly gains are a loss
Compared to the surpassing worth of knowing You
Yes You are my greatest gain
So May I be found in You

Make my heart a fertile ground to yield to You
May I be like a tree planted by Your living waters
Full of life and bearing fruit in You
May Your law be my light that guides my wandering soul to You
May your law show your love for me

And bind my Heart to Yours
Keeping it wouldn’t be a burden when I know it’s your loving protection
And when storms come crashing in
May I stand rooted and grounded in You

My Lord,
My Rock &
My Redeemer!

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Articles

How do I Battle Depression?

To give you a background about me, I come from a broken family and my parents were separated when I was young.

I have always longed for love and that led me to some poor choices in relationships while I was growing up. So I have gone through rejection, abandonment, betrayal which led to despair, depression and a whole lot of negative emotions.

And I can honestly say that I fight these emotions every day as I have a tendency to look back at the past or get anxious about the future.

The hope in my story is Christ. I am glad that these broken paths have led me to Him. All that my heart longed for is met in Him.

My soul rejoices to know that God so loved us that He sent His only son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross and rise again on the third day so that through Him we can have eternal life.

And because He came in flesh, He alone understands the depth of my pain and suffering giving me a sure hope that I too will rise again from these momentary afflictions. (For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16)

I have found my best friend in Christ, so I can be honest in expressing my emotions and I know He is with me in my trials and sufferings. His Grace gives me the strength to face the darkness of depression and overcome it.

When I feel lonely God reminds me He will never leave me nor forsake me- Hebrews 13:5.

And when I feel burdened by my past I hold on to this –

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.- Philippians 3:13-14 God helps me with this verse to not dwell on the past and to move forward.

And when I get anxious thinking about the future Holy spirit reminds me -Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Moreover, when I feel rejected by people I am reminded I am fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:14 this helps me understand my identity in Christ and not in rejection or approval from man.

The scriptures are life-giving and true, meditating on it helps me anchor my hope not in the fleeting things of this world but in an eternal and an unchanging God who loves and cares deeply and One who is alive and present.

Christ gives me the strength and courage to rise up each day and face the giants within and in this world.

Along with the scriptures, I am also thankful to be a part of a Church community. They encourage me in my walk to learn to grow in love with Christ and His body.

Each time I feel overwhelmed, I am reminded of Peter who walked on water while looking at Jesus but the moment He shifted His gaze He started drowning.

I can identify with him when I focus on my emotions and circumstances I feel like I am drowning. But when I surrender my pain and situation to Christ I feel steady and calm.

Finally, I hope and pray that as you meditate on the Scriptures may your eyes be fixed on Him, so that you may overcome every darkness and rejoice in the life-giving love of Christ each day.

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Philippians Sermon

The Joy of Generous Giving – Philippians 4:14-23

Our passage for today is Philippians 4:14-23.

Today we are concluding our sermon series on the letter of Philippians. In these passage, Paul is ending his letter by thanking the church for sharing in his trouble and for their partnership in giving and receiving.

In times of Paul’s greatest need the church stood with him and sent him a gift offering to provide for all his need through brother Epaphraditus. And this was not the first time the church sent a gift, they did this at several occasions.

More than rejoicing in the fact that his needs were met, he rejoices for the increasing fruit the believers are going to receive because of their giving.

Here are a couple of observations we can gather from the passage.

We don’t know what exactly the gift was, it could be cash or maybe food, clothes etc. But in both cases we know for that money had to be collected.

For Epapraditus to take a huge risk with his life to deliver the gift and for Paul to say ‘I am well supplied’, the believe the gift must have costed a substantial amount.

For the church to contribute such a huge sum of money, every member of the church must have generously given.

Since we are now talking about money, let me also share some truths we need to know about money, especially in the church context.

– Whenever a donation or an offering is asked by a church leader, it is not because God needs our money, or that God’s church lacks anything. God is self sufficient and needs no man’s help to build His Kingdom, His Church.

– Everything we have belongs to God and we have no right to hold back even a paisa. We owe everything to Him and he has all the rights to take it away.

– When we are asked to give back a certain portion from what we receive from Him, God is protecting our heart from making money our idol.

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Therefore, when we are asked to give, whether as an offering to meet church needs, or for missions, or to help a brother or sister in need. God is opening an opportunity for us to search our hearts and evaluate whether money has taken his place, whether we trust in money or in God, whether we see our security in money or in God.

A man or a women who gives generously to Gods work exhibits his/her trust in God. Secondly, it is also a way in which God brings about a balance in the manner in which money and the earthly resources are equally distributed among his children according to their needs and necessities.

God uses all kinds of people and all kinds of ministry to expand His glory and it is the responsibility of each child of God to generously participate in whatever measure they can contribute.

In the Old Testament, a large group of people called the Levite’s were called to do certain tasks in the temple which did not yield them any wages. And therefore others were asked to set apart one tenth of their wages as a contribution to meet the needs of the Levite’s.

We read that in Numbers 18:21 God says “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting” Giving to the need of the church and to Gods ministry is a mandate every child of God should carry in their heart.

As we are talking about the joy of giving, here are three reasons from this passage that should encourage us to be generous giver.

1. We give because God first gave

God is a generous giver.

In verse 19 “My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” God is not holding back any good thing from us, and if there is delay from His end it is only for our good.

The greatest gift of all is even though we sinned against God and while we were still sinners, God gave his only son to die for us so that he can save us from eternal death. – He gave away His best to us.

Therefore when we are asked to give let us give from a grateful heart remembering His generosity towards us.

2. We give to receive increasing fruit

In verse 17 Paul writes, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit”, it affirms the fact that there is a reward that God gives to those who generously give.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus says “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Now, when we talk about receiving return gifts from God for our giving, we should also be careful not to do it with wrong motivation and expectations.

A lot of people when they give they give it as though the Kingdom of God is a stock market, where you systematically invest in ministries that you think will give high returns.

We don’t treat God that way. We have to careful of prosperity preachers who ask us to sow seeds in their ministries expecting high returns.

Therefore, before we give, it is important that we get plugged into a healthy gospel-centered church that help us grow and mature in the things of God that matters to our soul, allowing God to sanctify our heart and mind, destroy the idols of selfishness, boastfulness and pride.

God is not interested in our sacrifices if our heart is not in the right place. In Hosea 6:6 God is saying “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.”

When we give, we give with a right attitude, an attitude that is renewed and repaired by the influence of the Gospel. And when God sees the real heart of the giver he gives it back in full measure because God is not a debtor of man.

And finally…

3. We give to increase our joy in Christ

As we read through verse 14 to 18 we see the joy in Paul’s heart. He was in trouble, he was in need, he needed encouragement, and he received all of that in full measure through the kind and generous gesture of the Church in Philippi.

There is a certain sense of joy that we experience, not only when we receive but also when we give.

In Acts 20:35 the author reminds the church about what Jesus said about giving, Jesus said “It is more blessed to give than to receive”

At Gathering, we don’t talk a lot about the topic of giving in the church, maybe because of the abuse of money in so called Christian ministries, but it doesn’t mean that giving is not important, in fact it is so very crucial.

A generous giving of time, money and resources to the church speaks a lot about our faith and attitude towards God.

As Elders of the church we speak out of our own lives, just like you all we too have full-time jobs, we do not take any salary from the church offertory, we provide for our own needs and equally participate in giving. What we are asking you to do is something we all do and and have experienced joy and blessings.

Therefore, I encourage each one of you to joyfully participate in the Joy of giving, it is not just a request but a mandate, a command from the Lord to give.

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Philippians Sermon

Believers Journey in Christ: Philippians 4:10-13

10. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:10-13

Topic: Believers Journey in Christ.
Previous Sunday
we learnt about always rejoicing and being gentle in spirit, we learnt to not be anxious but live a prayer life, peace of God will guard you.

Last Sunday – We are to think and live on the things which are True, Honourable, Right, pure, lovely admirable.

Today we shall see 3 principles under the text we have just read.

1. Be a channel of blessing. (10)
                    10. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. Illustration: Philippians believers.

My story at train station. William Pettegrew missionary to Manipur.

Julie: You may not meet the same person twice in your life, make use of every opportunity and be a blessing to all people you met.

“Be careful how you live; you may be the only some people ever read.” Williams J Toms.

Application:
Quotation of Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence (wrong doing or crime), let me bring pardon.
 Where there is discord (Disunity), let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair (No hope), let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

Be a channel of blessing for someone everyday, let us be a channel of blessing this coming year our family, church, work place, wherever we are.

Matthew 10:42.
 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

2. Be content with God provision. (11,12)
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

 Illustration: Paul life. (Gal. 2:20) Paul live his life for God.

George muller and his wife sell all they possess and live their life contented under God’s loving provision. (If He don’t supply Gods name will be dishonour).

David “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” Psalm 37: 25. (He will supply all your need Phil. 4:19)

# Adam and Eve, Lucifer fall. (Discontentment bring destruction, pain & suffering)
# Israelite in wilderness (Complaint, Grumble to God) Result God was not happy.

1 Timothy 6:6-11.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Some result of discontent life.

1)It destroy our present joy
2) It make us restless
3) it makes our life complex and confuse
4) leads to Complain and grumble in life (Israelite)
5) It leads to anxiety.
6) It lead to covetousness.

Lesson from King Agur Proverb 30:7-9.
“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal,     
and so dishonor the name of my God.


Lesson from Asaph Psalm 73:25-26.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart     
and my portion forever.


Solution:
1) Never compare your life with others (the grass is always greener on the other side)
2) Count Gods blessing in your life.
3) Remember Gods sovereign will in your life. (you gave & you take away blessed be your name) Job.

Application: Are you content with your life?

Remember church If God is all we have we have all our need, Let us all be content with the provision of God in our daily life.

3. Be confident with God strength.
(13) “I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.”

Remember the context.

Paul is in Jail and He is saying he can face and endure all the challenges in life by Christ strength.

We will face hardship, persecution and challenges in life but remember we can do all things through Christ who strengthen me.

John 15: 5 “ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Illustration: Israelite were defeated by Ai because God was not with them. If you try to fight any battle without Gods strength you will always be defeated. You will face all hardship and shame.

Illustration:
1. Author Life.
2. King David
3. Daniel Proverb 3:5-6.
 Trust in the LORD with all your heart.

“The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer. My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ~ Psalms 18:2

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? ~ Psalms 27:1

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. Psalms 28:7

Application:
Would you trust yourself or would you put your confidence on God?

Let us learn from the life of Apostle Paul and Daniel, David. With God all things are possible

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Philippians Sermon

Whatsoever brings True Joy – Philippians 4:8-9

Let’s turn to our passage Philippians 4:8-9.

Let’s read.

One of India’s well known author, noble price winning economist Mr. Amartya Sen has written a book called ‘The Argumentative Indian’. In his book he talks about our Indian culture and how its built on arguments, arguments made between kings, politicians, religious leaders & the common men in our society.

According to Mr Sen today’s culture is a product of those arguments, our country in run based on such arguments, our constitution is built on such arguments, our company policies are made on such arguments, our society is built on such arguments, our family values & traditions are decided on such arguments, we live and look at life through the lenses of such arguments and suggestions made by people all around us. 

We are often told that to live a prosperous, productive and fulfilling life we need to hold on to these values, traditions, policies, rules that has been passed on to us by our ancestors. And even though they aren’t all bad, it does bring some sort of order and discipline in our lives, we need to know that they only bring external changes in us, and it can never ever bring permanent, true & lasting joy, peace and hope in our life.

Therefore, to experience true love, joy, peace, hope what we really need to hold on to are the things that bring internal heart changes.

Paul is concluding his letter to the Philippians and in the passage we just read he is asking the church to think about and to hold on to the things that will truly bring heart transformation and will lead us into experiencing true and genuine love, lasting joy, unimaginable peace and ever growing hope.

Therefore this morning I want to urge you brothers and sisters to refocus our time, energy, efforts, our thoughts towards such godly virtues and not what the world around us is talking, arguing and pressing on us.

And unlike the people of the world (leaders, politicians, family members, managers, bosses) Paul isn’t a hypocrite who is telling us to behave in a certain manner without living it out himself, he spent and sacrificed his whole life for the things that were true.

In verse 9 he says “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” It is very rare in today world to hear someone say that way.

There are 6 things Paul is asking the church to think about and hold on to, because of time constraints I won’t expound on all six, rather I will spend more time on the first one (which I think is most important) and then I will just introduce you the rest 5 and share some thoughts for your to ponder on when you go back home.

Paul isn’t offering us counsel; he’s giving us a command.

Think about or hold on to whatever is …

TRUE

It is important to know the Truth.

Illustration of the room being a spaceship

Unless we know what is TRUE we can never be free.

Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free”

John 8:32

But what is the truth we need to hold on to?

Just like the example of this room being a space ship, we were all born in this tiny little world (tiny compared to the vast universe), and every day we are trying to discover more about this world through experiences and through arguments with each other. And what we call as traditions, rules, logic is the intellectual outcome of our thinking which may not be true. Because no matter how hard we try, we keep failing by destroying this good earth every single day.

And we when we realize the futility of our actions, the destruction we are causing to one another as we seek our own  pleasure, our dead religion, corrupt politics, sick traditions etc Its important to know the truth. 

The truth about who we are?

The truth about why we are?

The truth of what’s going to happen?

The truth about how we are getting out of this place?

And the only way we get know the truth about our story is when we understand the story of the one who created us, created the universe – God.

Let’s understand the story of God as revealed to us through his divine providence. BTW we only know the story as much as he has revealed to us in the bible. The bible, even though it is written by men it is inspired by God, and everyday this word of God confirms its power and authority over our lives by transforming the hearts of men all around the world.

And the story of God, according to this scripture tells us that when he created the world he also created us in his own image and likeness out of sheer delight, to share a loving relationship. He wanted us to multiply and have dominion over the earth, but he wanted us to do that under His authority and rule. But because we were made in the image of God we also inherited his qualities, one of them been the power to choose and make decisions for ourselves.

 Now God wanted us to use that power he gave us to willingly choose to honour him and worship him and enjoy this good earth he created for us.

But instead of choosing the right thing we chose the opposite. When the evil one told us that by disobeying God we will be like him, we liked the idea and ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. But we forgot that God is in control and has all authority in heaven and earth to do what he pleases.

Using his authority, God had to throw us out of the garden and separated us from his love. God wanted us to know that without Him we are a wreak, we will destroy ourselves if we pursue to become our own gods. And because we chose that in Roman 1:24-26, 28-31

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 28 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.


And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Now the question is how do we get out of it?

The answer is “Only God can get us out of this”

This is how God brought us back to him.

John 3:16 says “For God the Father so loved the world he gave his only begotten son to die for us so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

God the son, Jesus himself came down on this earth, lived the life we were supposed to live, made the choices we were supposed to make, lived a perfect live our behalf, and then exchanged that life with us. He took the penalty of our wrong choices upon himself and instead gave us his righteousness. He defeated Sin and death for us and is now seated on the right hand of the Father and guess what he is doing?

He is interceding for us to the Father. Even after becoming a child of God, because of our indwelling sin we do commit sin again in our flesh, but when we fall, realize our mistake, go back to God in repentance. Jesus looks at his Father as says I’ve already paid for that which he just committed, he is worthy of love and forgiveness.

And the only way we can be set free from this sick body and this sick world is when we humbly accept and repent of our sins and receive his grace by putting our faith in Jesus.

And unless we grab hold of this truth daily, remind ourselves, soak ourselves, we will never experience internal heart change, we will never live the life God wants us to live. And that is why Paul is insisting that we constantly think about what is truth.

HONORABLE

In the bible, honor means to respect, esteem or give “weight to”

Matthew 19:19 – Honor our parents

Matthew 18:2-6 – Honor children

1 Timothy 5:17 – Double honor to pastors and church leaders

Ephesians 5:33 – honor husbands

1 peter 3:7 – honor wives

2 tim 2:21 – honor God

Honor is about serving and respecting others. It requires humility, integrity (honesty) and a constant pursuit of righteousness.

Because Jesus exemplified in all the above, It is only by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus that we may keep our minds fixed on ‘whatever is honorable’. To walk in honorable ways with one another won’t be hard if we fix our eyes on Jesus.

Go back home and read and think about the ways in which Jesus exemplified in honoring God and honoring people.

JUST

God sets the standard for what is just and right.

How did Christ treat us justly? – followers of Christ are to follow his example.

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

PURE

How do I think pure thoughts?

We think pure thoughts when we are awestruck by God’s wisdom, his character, his power, his HOLINESS.

Go back home and read and think about these things, the true definition of PURE is only found in God, therefore as we think and meditate on his purity, we will see how wrethed we are and therefore the cross will look more beautiful each day.

LOVELY

To think about whatever is Lovely is to think about everything that’s we’ve drawn from God’s mercy and grace. Starting with salvation, for the joy and peace we get to experience each day, the family God has given us, the church, the city we live in.

John 1:16 says “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”

This morning I was drawn to think about the lovely things God has done in each of your life. the way you have grown and matured in the last few years, what God is doing in your life.

COMMENDABLE

And finally he says, think about and hold on to whatever is commendable.

What should we think of whats commendable?

“For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods” (Psalm 96:4).”

“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom” (Psalm 145:3).

“You are worthy, our LORD and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).

His greatness

His wisdom

His creativity

His character

Brothers & sisters,  lets refocus our time, energy & efforts to think about these virtues that change us internally and produce long lasting fruits.

As we take communion here’s one more opportunity for us to think and meditate on his love.

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Philippians Sermon

Finding Joy in Imperfection -Philippians 4:1-3

Good morning church! We’ll be continuing our series titled “Joy filled Life” from the letter to the Philippians.

It’s been great learning what “true joy” is as we’ve studied the passages together. And in today’s passage we find that the Philippian church is in the center of a conflict situation – it’s in fact one of the main reasons why Paul wrote this letter. There is so much to learn from the first three verses of chapter 4.   Without wasting much time let’s get into the passage:

Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have labored[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Living in Christian community seemed to be a piece of cake! That’s when I used to watch “church on TV” every Sunday morning. Without much instruction on the importance of church during my first few months as a new believer, I found myself “enjoying” church services from the comforts of my sofa.


In fact, I even thought I had options to chose the kind of church service that suited me – I just had to tune in at the select timing. But a few months later as I joined my first church as a believer – reality hit me – I realized not only was church a people that I was created to be part of but also filled with broken individuals including me.


And that brought a whole new set of questions in my mind. How should I respond when conflict is caused by my own sin?  What is my response supposed to be when I’m caught in the middle of other people’s conflict? Let’s look at today’s passage to get the answers.

 1. We need to persevere in the gospel

Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I find it interesting that Paul doesn’t directly jump to what these individuals should or not do with respect to the conflict. But even before that he takes time to explain the gospel and then ask them to “stand firm” or “persevere in the gospel”.


Every time I think of the word “persevere” I think about a marathon – like a 42k marathon. The Christian life is not a 100m dash but is more like a marathon. It’s long-distance and requires great endurance. So what does it mean to persevere in the gospel?

From the previous chapter, we understand that perseverance is connected with “Knowing Jesus”. And I know that we generally use that term “knowing Jesus” quite frequently but what does knowing Him entail? Is it a feeling or a thought about Jesus? Is it merely the knowledge of Scripture? How do I know Jesus? Paul lists out the different ways by which we know Jesus:

  • We know Christ by placing our faith on Him– The most amazing truth of the Bible for us is that Christ died in our place as our substitute. On the cross, Jesus exchanged His pure white robe for our filthy rags. And then after rising from the dead, He declared that whoever would trust in His sacrifice & run to Him for safety would receive His white robe in exchange! That’s what faith in Christ means.    

  • We know Christ by obeying His Word- Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Phil 3:12). Because Christ is God and yet paid the highest ransom amount to save me, I’m not going to take my spiritual life lightly. I’m not doing it to gain favor from God but instead I’m obeying Christ to show my love for my Savior (John 14:15)

  • We know Christ by suffering with Him- Another way by which we get to know Christ intimately is by suffering for Him. If you are a true believer in Christ, then at some point you will be persecuted or mocked or insulted because of your holy life, your message and choices. When that happens to us, we get a glimpse of what it might have been for Christ to endure suffering & also have the opportunity reflect His love and forgiveness to those who oppose us.

  • We know Christ by being transformed into Him- 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor 15:19) Think about it – if all that was planned for us is to live on this earth for 60-70 years with no eternal consequence, then all what we’re doing is absolutely useless. Instead the Bible tells us that because God is God & faithful to His promise, we will be supernaturally transformed into Christ’s glorious, perfect body!

In the church today “knowing Christ” has unfortunately been reduced to just gaining biblical knowledge about Jesus or merely a feeling that you experience during a worship set.


As we look at this passage, we see that when the Bible speaks about knowing Jesus – it is meant to be deeply personal, active and transformative!!!


Knowing Jesus means becoming like Him! That’s the goal. If our knowledge isn’t making us look like Jesus, then something isn’t right about it.  That’s why it requires “perseverance”.

There was once a generous king who wanted to adopt a young boy from his country. All the bright and talented boys lined up for adoption but to everyone’s surprise, this king instead wanted to adopt a boy from the local prison!


When the king comes to the prison, he notices a boy who is battered, bruised and fully covered in dirt. The one whom no one wanted to sit beside was chosen to be the son of the King! The King brought the child home, bathed him, cleaned his wounds and gave him new clothes to wear.


The King later has a conversation with the boy & tells him that he is so glad to be his father and no one’s ever going to change that. But he also tells him that the boy will need to go to another place for a few years to undergo some training so that he understands what it means to be the son of a King.


His past life was so different from this new life and he needed to be trained. Right before the boy goes out for training, the king gives him a handwritten letter where he’s listed out all the things that he’s said to him so far with his own sign and seal.

Whenever the boy doubts or is tempted to leave the training, he can read the letter to be reminded that he is the son of the King and no longer a prisoner. He should wait for the King who will certainly come one day to bring him home!

Sometimes people ask “how much time should I read the Bible and pray”? I don’t think that’s the best question to ask. You my child. You’re not a prisoner anymore. Spending time with me through the Word and prayer is how you get to know my heart and my will for you.

Some other times people ask “Is it okay if I’m selective in my obedience?” The response would be – You’re my child. You’re not a prisoner anymore. You’ve been pulled out of prison to live a freely for me.

Someone else might ask “God is very important to me but above Him are my parents, my job and my relationship” You’re my child now. Remember how I rescued you from those things (sometime good things) that enslaved and imprisoned you. Don’t go back to that now. You’re mine.

Not only do we need to persevere in the gospel but also

2. We need to express the gospel (especially in the midst of conflict in church)

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have labored[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Euodia and Syntyche were women leaders in the Philippian church who also were actively involved in Paul’s ministry. We don’t know what caused the disagreement between the two of them but it seems like it was left unresolved and began to affect the church internally.


It could be that some people were thinking “How is it that these leaders are not able to resolve their differences?” Some others probably thought “this is what happens when we get ourselves in church ministry, things get quite messy. It’s better to stay out of it”.


And I think it brings us to this important truth – that there isn’t a perfect church – even a church as faithful as the church in Philippi had major disagreements among the more solid & active believers!

Even as I’ve been part of a few churches myself and visited others, I’ve witnessed how many people have been hurt by church and have considered leaving it. The reasons I feel are:

1. Church becomes an idol- We demand perfection from the church or the pastors and when they aren’t able to meet up to our expectations or our needs, we end up getting angry and frustrated. In one of my previous churches I remember telling a brother once how I felt let down by the church because they weren’t appreciating my efforts to present the gospel in creative ways. I only found opposition each time. And he told me something that stuck to my mind, he said “Whenever we make the church or people to be the ultimate thing, we will always be let down. Jinson, you need to look up to Christ who is the only perfect One and who is able to completely satisfy the longings of your heart”. So true – I was looking at the church to be my Savior and Satisfier.

There is a famous quote that says “Church isn’t a museum for saints but a hospital for broken sinners”.

2. Understanding that the church is still in need of grace:  Someone like me who is usually non-confrontational tries their best to avoid any kind of conflict. But what I end up forgetting is as those conflicts are being addressed through the gospel, it becomes the perfect place to display God’s grace.


I miss out on the grace lesson that God wants to teach me during those moments.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed but your biggest idols are revealed not when everything’s going great but when you’re in the midst of conflict. Selfishness, pride, insecurity – all of that gets revealed and so it’s a wonderful opportunity for the church to understand grace and repentance when it’s dealt with the gospel.

Which is why Paul in v3 asks the church (his true companion) to intervene and help reconcile these two sisters.Their role in this is not to GOSSIP about the situation but rather aid with the reconciliation process. Here are a few application points that come to mind:

i) We need to pray for the unity of the church (especially if we are aware of disagreements from within)– We shouldn’t assume that because the church has believers that conflict will hardly be there. It’s quite the contrary.

ii) We need to actively engage disagreeing parties- To reiterate the role of the church is not to be a silent spectator nor gossip, but find ways to make reconciliation possible.


And when the disagreeing parties are in front of you, what should you tell them? It’s not to take sides or talk about platitudes. What they need to hear is the gospel. That’s the only thing that can change their hearts and bring about genuine restoration.

iii) We need to trust the church to help us resolve our disagreements (be it in marriage, family, friends and church members)-  It might be the case for some of us that our first point of contact to help resolve conflicts are unbelievers but we all know that they’ll not be able to point your hearts to Jesus.


They’ll probably only be able to provide some sort of worldly compatibility advice. Instead what if you’re able to talk to few mature believers who can actually help you navigate through your issues by telling you about Jesus and His sacrifice? But for that, it calls us to be willing to open ourselves to our church speaking into our lives.


Sometime back a brother shared an experience of a bitter fight he got into with his brother during a GC. Things got so ugly that the elders had to put them in separate rooms temporarily and later brought them together and the members of the GC “gospeled” them through that process.


Now it was embarrassing for them at first but that day they had the privilege to practice grace and repentance before Christ and the church. Today that brother is one of the leaders at the church & he retells the story as a way to explain the beauty of the church in helping him reconcile with his brother.

I want to leave you with this final thought – Yes, it’s true that we are experiencing present conflict due to our sin and brokenness, but Christ will have the final word! In a very beautiful way Christ is stitching up His body that will one day be a bright, spotless bride! Don’t look at people, don’t look at a perfect church to satisfy you – look at Christ and His perfection! Know Him & Become Like Him!

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Philippians Sermon

Joy-filled Pursuits – Philippians 3:15-21

Today’s passage Philippians 3:15-21

Throughout the letter of Philippians, Paul is encouraging us to live a joy-filled life, and as he is addressing the heart issues and giving us Kingdom perspectives he is also helping us with practical bits of advice to reach our goal, the goal to know Christ and live the kind of life God intended for us to live – Blessed, Joyful, Satisfactory and Wonderful.

The passage we are looking at today is one such portion where Paul is giving us helpful, practical advice and therefore I urge you to pay close attention and receive it with an open heart because who knows this could be a life-changing moment for you today.

Practical Advice #1: Seek to be Mature in your Faith 

In verse 15, Paul writes “Let those of us who are mature”, in KJV version it says “those of us who are perfect”.

In this statement, Paul is addressing to those who are mature because he intends that some in the church are mature, but what exactly does Paul mean when he uses the word ‘mature’ or ‘perfect’.

In the worldly sense, the word mature & perfect would in relation to a person who has achieved the highest level of intellect and maybe the highest level of perfection in everything he does. 

But that’s not what Paul would define it, because he would not claim to have achieved that level of perfection himself. In 3v12, Paul writes “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

Here’s how Paul explains maturity in 1 Corinthians 13:11, he says “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

According to Paul, to be mature is to move out of the baby state and continue growing from being a baby to a man.

To Paul a mature person is not baby Christians, they are not the ones who stopped growing in their faith after they first became a believer, instead, they are the once who continue to grow in their knowledge of the Gospel.

As per Paul’s statement in v15 “they are the one’s who think this way”, in saying so he is referring to what he said earlier in 2v5-8 saying “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[awho, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[bbut emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

According to Paul, a mature Christian is the one who has the mindset of Jesus; one who is continually emptying himself at the throne of God’s grace and one who continues to stay humble and obedient to the point of death. 

Paul is expecting us to be found mature as we grow in our Christian life and in verse 16 he says “let us hold fast to what we have attained”. 

Paul also refers to those who think otherwise in v15, those who are immature. They are men who are still babies; they can maybe articulate the Gospel in words but are far away from real heart transformation.

Brothers and sisters, here’s how we know we are still baby Christians. 

 Baby Christians are Lazy – Hebrews 5:11 “We have so much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.” 

“Slow to learn” is the translation of the Greek word, “Lazy.”

Baby Christians know little about the content of the Bible – They fail to meditate and investigate the Scriptures that has the power to set us free from all our bondages. Psalms 119:36 – He inclines our heart to his word, Psalms 119:18 – He opens our eyes of understanding, Psalms 90:14 – He satisfies our souls. These are all nutritious food for the nourishment of our spiritual being to grow to be a man.

Baby Christians Handle the Word of God Poorly – 

2 Corinthians 2:17 – For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

They read the word just like everyone else but misapplies it by adding human understanding and even go about teaching the same to others.

Baby Christians have inadequate knowledge of Christ – As Paul mentions in Philippians 3:10-12, they know not the power of His resurrection, and they fail to participate in the sufferings of Christ.

Baby Christians are Christians whose attention is still dominated by earthly things – Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things.”

Baby Christians are those who are unwilling to pay the cost of being a follower of Jesus – Luke 14:33 “those of you who do not give up everything cannot be my disciple.”

Yes, it is possible to attain joy-filled Christian life but not if we are failing to grow in maturity and hold fast to who we have received. And we grow in maturity when we grow into an intimate relationship with Christ and the church.

Practical advice #2: Imitate those who imitate Christ 

In verse 17, Paul goes on to say “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

As you all must have already figured out, it is not easy to live a Christian life; there will be challenges along the way, there will be doubts and confusion in our mind, there will be circumstances that will pull us down, there will be persecution as a follower of Christ. 

God is not unaware of all that we go through; in fact, his grace and providence (help) are always with us. With full confidence, we can join with King David and say “Even though I walk through the valley of shadows of death, I will fear no evil, for he is with me” “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

One such providence that God has given us to combat fear, doubts, challenges and confusion are the faithful men and women of God he’s placed in our lives.

And that is why Paul is saying “Imitate me as I imitate Christ”, and “imitate those who walk according to the example you have in me”. Like the example of Timothy & Epapharaditus as we learned from their lives in the earlier passages.

In difficult times, it could be hard sometimes to see Christ and follow his example at all times, in our wretchedness, pride, frustrations and sadness we can fail to Christ in our situation. And what Paul is suggesting, which I don’t see as unbiblical, is that in such cases imitate Godly and faithful men who are imitating Christ. 

In doing so, we are not looking at people as an authority but as examples who follow the real authority. Not for authority but for inspiration. 

Which means we don’t make an idol out of the person we are imitating, but we are watching them respond to fear, doubt, frustration, confusion, suffering and disaster that honours Christ, and we do the same.

  • Imitate the men and women in the Bible.
  • Imitate the men and women in Church history who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Gospel, who trusted God in their hard circumstances and honoured him. Read their stories and find your inspiration.
  • Imitate you immediate Church leaders who God has placed over you as shepherds
  • Imitate you fellow brother & sister who walk faithfully alongside you.

We can attain a joy-filled life if we seek and imitate Godly men.

Practical Advice #3:  Watch out for the enemies of the cross of Christ

18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

And finally, in this passage, Paul also advises us to watch out for the enemies of the cross of Christ. And just as sorrowful is Paul as he is saying these words, I am sad too in telling you that Yes, there exist, men who seem to be godly men from outside, who seem to say the right things, quote scriptures, pray earth-shattering prayers, but they are enemies of God. Jesus calls them “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing”, the agents of the devil himself, Jesus said you would know them by their fruits.

Here’s how Paul helps us identify such men:

  • Their God is their belly – People who believe that this life on earth is all about eating, drinking, and being merry and become gluttons, alcoholics, and seekers of pleasure rather than seekers of God.
  • They glory in their shame – People who boast of those things of which they ought to be ashamed.
  • Their minds are set on earthly things – People who are taken up in the pursuit of their sensual and earthly enjoyments rather than in Christ.

Paul is urging that we chose wisely the men whom we imitate.

And finally, Paul closes this chapter with a word of encouragement and giving us hope for the future.

As we walk faithfully as mature Christians, ones who’ve been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus. Pressing on in all circumstances, imitating one another in the Lord, be watchful of wolves. 

Our final destiny is going to be even more glorious and mind-blowing. 

We will be citizens in heaven, transformed into glorious bodies.

It’s up to us what choice we make to get us there.

Categories
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.

Categories
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

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.