Be Like Timothy

Philippians 2:19–24

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Since chapter one of Philippians, Paul has been striking a singular chord with the Philippian church: walk in a manner worthy of the gospel by laying down your life to bring others to Jesus. In other words, be like Jesus. Paul knows our human tendency to let ourselves off the hook by arguing we are not Jesus and never could be. It is easy to make excuses for not doing something when it is abstract and theoretical.

But Paul wants to see the gospel grow and flourish in the Philippian church (and in us!) and so, he promises to sent Timothy. And that’s the beginning of our text this week: “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you” (Phil 2:19). What does Paul’s plan to send Timothy to Philippi have to do with you and I living in southern MN in the 21st century? Paul gives some specific reasons for sending Timothy and by doing so, he is holding up Timothy as an example of Christ-likeness for the Philippian church and for us. This weekend we’ll look together at Timothy’s example and how striving to be like Timothy can ultimately make us more like Jesus. Would you join us at Sojourners Church at 10am in the Skyline plaza?

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We Work Because He Works

Phil 2:12–18

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We believe the Bible teaches that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, through faith alone, as a gracious gift of God. What, then, are we to make of Paul’s command to the Philippian church in Philippians 2:12: ”...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”?

What role does our obedience (“work out”) play in our salvation? We can come up with all sorts of confused answers. On the one hand, since there is nothing we can do to contribute to our salvation and since God has done all the work, we are tempted to coast with regard to our spiritual life. We expect the fruit of the Spirit to come easy. On the other hand, we can be tempted to think that with a little more effort and a little more obedience, we can make ourselves more worthy. We treat God like we can earn his favor with our obedience. Neither of these approaches is what Paul is talking about here.

So what does Paul mean that we “work out” our salvation? What should motivate us to obey this command? What hope do we have of obeying it successfully? These are the questions we’re going to wrestle with together on Sunday morning. Paul gives us a glorious promise and shows us the tremendous power that motivates and enables our obedience. Join us this Sunday in the Skyline Plaza at 8:45 am for Sunday school and 10 am for Sunday service, and we’ll explore Paul’s answers together.

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Gospel-Centered Unity

Philippians 2:1–4

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“Hey you guys, get along back there!” How many of us have yelled that to kids in the back seat—or had our parents yell it at us? Getting along is not a distinctly Christian thing. We all desire the fruits of tolerating each other: peace, harmony, comfort, etc. But as a church, we’re called to more than just tolerating each other.

In Philippians, Paul writes to two Christian women, Euodia and Syntyche, “Get along ladies!” (Phil 4:2– 3). Unlike our appeal to kids in the back seat, Paul’s appeal to unity in the Philippian church is distinctly Christian. And he starts that appeal all the way back in chapter two.

Paul writes in Philippians 2:1–4, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” What makes this appeal to unity distinctly Christian is the same thing that makes everything Paul writes distinctly Christian: Paul connects it to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul could have skipped over verse 1 and gone straight to his appeal: “be of the same mind, have the same love, be in full accord and of one mind.” But he doesn’t. He grounds his appeal in the magnificent realities of the gospel. And this is where we should ground our striving for unity in the church. Too often, we skip straight to “How can we get along?” without looking at or connecting it to what Christ has done to unite us. This Sunday, we’re going to linger over these four verses and think deeply about the magnificent realities of the gospel and how they connect to Paul’s call for us as the church to walk in humble unity. My prayer is that our hearts would be stirred by the powerful realities of the gospel to humble ourselves as Jesus humbled himself and walk in Christ-exalting unity together. Would you pray that God would do that? And would you join us at 10am at the Skyline Plaza?

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Be a Good Citizen

Phil 1:27–30

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This Sunday, we’re going to get political. In Phil 1:27, Paul writes, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ....” This statement might not seem political on the surface, but a little digging will show you what I mean.

The ESV includes a footnote which says "Greek ‘Only behave as citizens worthy’”. That’s because the Greek word Paul uses here (πολιτεύεσθε) doesn’t have an easy English equivalent (hence, “let your manner of life be....”) But, if we take a cue from the footnote and read the rest of Philippians with our ears open for citizenship language, we’ll find some in Philippians 3:20. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” The sentences look unrelated in English, but are connected in Greek. If we poke around in Philippians 1:27–30 and 3:20–4:3, we see more shared vocabulary and concepts (stand firm, agree, strive/labor side by side, etc.). This means that Paul wrote Philippians 1:27–30 and 3:20–4:3 with similar themes in mind and we should read Philippians 1:27–30 with those themes in mind (especially citizenship).

The one thing, then, Paul wanted the Philippians to get was this: “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.” (Phil 1:27 NLT). This is how Paul summarizes the Christian life: “Be a good citizen.” This brings up a host of questions. How are we good citizens? What does it mean to be “worthy” of the gospel? Why did Paul think this was the most important thing for the Philippians (and us) to do? We’ll answer these questions and more this Sunday. Join us at 10am at the Skyline Plaza to marvel that our citizenship is in heaven and to learn what it means to be a good citizen of heaven here on earth.

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To Live Is Christ

Philippians 1:18–26


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Jesus’ death and resurrection massively changed the equation of life and death for his followers. For everyone in Christ Jesus, no longer does “death = loss”. In Christ, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:54–55). At the cross, Jesus “destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and delivered all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb 2:14–15). Our freedom from fear of death and our victory in Jesus’ resurrection are fundamental to our hope as Christians.

This glorious truth surely on Paul’s mind when he wrote in Philippians 1:21, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” These words have been a mixture of promise and inspiration for countless generations of Christians. We aspire to be like the missionary ideal: convinced that death is gain, we are ready to give anything and everything (even our life!) to bring the gospel of Jesus to a people who have never heard the good news. This verse challenges and inspires us.

Yet, as we look at this verse in context, we see that it’s even more challenging than we thought. For Paul, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” redefines not just death but life. Because “to live is Christ,” Paul finds joy even though he is momentarily denied the “better” (to depart and be with Christ) for the sake of the necessary (to remain with the Philippians for their progress and joy in the faith). In other words, since death is gain, Paul is able to joyfully live for Christ by denying his own desires and serving the good of the Philippian saints.

This Sunday, we’ll unpack this truth from the text of Philippians 1:18–26. Join us this Sunday as we rejoice together in the truth that Jesus died to bring us to God so that we could live to bring others to Jesus. I pray that we will be challenged to ask ourselves: “I am willing to die for Christ, but am I willing to live for others?”

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Philippians: Living on earth as citizens of heaven | Philippians 1:18-26 | "To Live Is Christ"

Unshakable Joy

Phil 1:12–18

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Just shy of her 18th birthday, Joni Eareckson Tada dove into the Chesapeake Bay. The water was shallower than she realized and she hit her head, fracturing her spine. She has been paralyzed from the shoulders down ever since. This young woman with a bright future was now faced with a lifetime of apparent limitation and suffering. What would you expect her life to be like? How would you expect her to view her circumstances?

Fifty years later, in 2017, Joni wrote: “...affliction isn’t a killjoy; I don’t think you could find a happier follower of Jesus than me. The more my paralysis helps me get disentangled from sin, the more joy bubbles up from within. I can’t tell you how many nights I have lain in bed, unable to move, stiff with pain, and have whispered near tears, ‘Oh, Jesus, I’m so happy. So very happy in you!’ God shares his joy on his terms only, and those terms call for us to suffer, in some measure, like his Son. I’ll gladly take it.” (Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of My Diving Accident). This joy in Jesus has overflowed in Joni’s life and circumstances. Over the last fifty years, she wrote over 40 books on suffering and God’s sovereign goodness as well as established an organization, Joni and Friends, that has helped countless others wrestle through these same things and find joy in the midst of deep pain. How did this happen? How can Joni possibly say, “Jesus, I’m so happy!”, when her life is so painfully hard?

In God’s Hand in our Hardship, Joni writes, “The weaker I am, the harder I must lean on God's grace; the harder I lean on him, the stronger I discover him to be, and the bolder my testimony to his grace.” This is just another way of saying what Paul says in Philippians 1:12–18: “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.…and in that I rejoice.” For Paul, prison and suffering at the hands of the Romans had actually served to advance the gospel. For Joni, pain and suffering brought on by disability had actually served to advance the gospel (in her own life and in the lives of others).

Paul and Joni and countless other Christians throughout the centuries have been able to say in the midst of deep pain and hurt, “and in that I rejoice,” not because they love pain, but because they love Jesus. Because the advance of the gospel is the measure of their rejoicing, they’ve experienced unassailable joy in the midst of deep heartache. And that’s what we’ll be talking about this Sunday. Join us at 10am as we look at Philippians 1:12–18 and see how Paul’s gospel-centered thinking leads to joy and how the same kind of thinking can lead to joy for you and I.

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Philippians: Living on earth as citizens of heaven | Philippians 1:12-18 | "Not Because We Love Pain, But Because We Love Jesus"

Partners In Grace

Philippians 1:3–11

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Think about the the first members of the Philippian church (Acts 16): a successful business woman; a formerly demon-possessed slave girl; a jail guard. What do they have in common? Not much! Yet God, in his wisdom, gathered these and others together as a church—people from different backgrounds, different social classes, different jobs, different life circumstances, different ages—all gathered together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And when Paul wrote the letter of Philippians, he wrote to all of them (Phil 1:1).

It’s remarkable then, that Paul writes in our text for this weekend: ”I hold you in my heart...I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:7–8). Paul’s letter is full of affectionate language. In chapter four, he calls the Philippian saints "my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown...” (Phil 4:1). Paul clearly had deep care for the Philippians; they weren’t just his church plant, they were his friends!

In our culture, we often make friends based on things we have in common: we both like hunting, we both have kids in elementary school, we’re both farmers. And we often find it hard to “be friends” with those that are significantly different from us. I hear this sometimes as a pastor. “How can I relate to ____? We have nothing in common!” Jesus calls together and unites as a local church people remarkably different from each other. Sometimes all we have in common with someone at church is the gospel!

But we see from Paul that the gospel is enough. Paul was not able to talk tent-making with the Philippian jailer and the slave girl had no idea what Jewish practices in Jerusalem looked like. Yet, Paul considered them friends and was filled with gratitude and affection and stirred to pray for them. “It is right for me to feel this way about you all,” Paul writes, “because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace…” (Phil 1:7). Through Paul’s example, we’ll see that the gospel is the key to joy-filled, Christ-exalting friendship. Join us this Sunday at 10am at the Skyline Plaza as we gather to see how gospel-centered thinking reshapes our friendship.

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Philippians: Living on earth as citizens of heaven | Philippians 1:3-11 | "I Hold You In My Heart"

In Christ, At Philippi

Philippians 1:1–2

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This Sunday, we start our new sermon series through the book of Philippians. I am eager to study this book with you! Paul and Timothy wrote the letter “to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi.” (1:2). On Sunday, we’ll look at the book as a whole through the lens of “in Christ, at Philippi.”

You see, Paul recognized that the Philippians (like us!) held dual status: residents in the fallen world (at Philippi), but citizens of heaven (in Christ). This dual status created tension as the Philippians faced opposition from outside the church and struggled to get along with one another inside the church. All of this struggle and hardship began to diminish the joy they once had in Christ. They became weary and discouraged. Sound familiar?

Just like the Philippians, we are “in Christ at Philippi”. And just like the Philippians, we feel the tension this creates around us. We know Jesus is coming soon, but soon feels so far away. We know we’re called to stir one another up to love and good works, but we’re so easily distracted by life. We know we’re called to love our neighbor, but it’s really annoying that their yard is so messy. We know we’re called to make disciples, but life feels so tiring and we don’t have any energy to spare. The weariness and discouragement of living “at Philippi” threatens our joy.

But this is why this letter is so important for us (just as it was for the Philippians). Because through this letter, Paul will show us how we can live joy-filled, Christ-exalting lives “at Philippi.” And the answer is found “in Christ.” Join us this weekend at 10am at the Skyline Plaza as we gather to see how our citizenship in heaven brings us joy and keeps us standing firm on this earth as we await Christ’s return.

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