Showing posts with label Phillipians. Show all posts

Review of/Introduction to Scripture reading:

Here in this setting, it might at first appear to be a bit out of place to think of it, but I’d like us to think for a moment about how dog racing works. From the moment a greyhound is let out of its pen at the beginning of the race to the moment it crosses the finish line, it has one thing in mind, catching the “hare”. 

For the entirety of the race, the hare remains just out of reach from the fast moving pack of dogs. Never-the-less, they charge on as fast as their bodies and physics will allow, working their legs as hard as they can and instinctively cutting all the angles in an all out effort to just to get even one step closer to their prize.

Greyhounds are lithe and graceful to look at. Even standing still, it’s not hard to visualize how fast they can move. In prime racing fitness, they’re terribly lean of fat, rippling with muscles visible just under the skin, particularly in the areas of their bodies that matter most, their legs. Only to look at them is to know their purpose.

As a pack, they can often move in smooth ebbs and flows like waves on the open sea. At times, one dog might pull ahead and lead the pack while another drops behind. One hits the outside of a turn while another hugs the inside; every one of them, even when working within the context of a single pack, with a single purpose of mind; the prize.

When I say greyhound, whether I have one at my side or not, the odds are very high that you’re thinking exactly what I want you to think; racing and fast lean dogs.

Once the pack is off running, very little can be done to distract it away from its purpose. Of course, when one or more dogs are distracted, because it does happen, it can produce disastrous consequences, often causing serious, if not career ending, injuries to the dog.

Within the context of today’s text, I really like this analogy. It might be a crass way of saying it, but this is the picture that I see Paul painting for the Philippians; reach ever and always for that prize, which is the hope of your salvation. Don’t be idle, be distracted by nothing, and work with all of your passion together towards the common goal. Anything short of this jeopardizes your ability to be a part of the race.

Greyhounds aren’t bred the way they are without purpose any more than we’re not given faith without purpose. While a greyhound’s purpose manifests itself on the track, ours should manifest itself in our lives through the work that the *Lord* has prepared for us.

Scripture Reading  Text:

Philippians 1:27-30

Lessons from text:

Specifically, here are the lessons we can learn about service from today’s text. If at all possible this week, please try to take some amount of time, however short, to dig into these verses for yourselves in prayer and study in order to see them on your own and to more fully understand the implications and meaning behind them.

1.       The way in which we conduct ourselves as children of the living God will be measured against the perfect model that Christ has provided in himself

2.       True, or sincere, love for Christ should be self-evident in our life, not just to those around us, but to ourselves in private as well. As God said, “I Am” so must our love simply “be”

3.       We MUST work together as one and with equality. Even Christ our King lowered himself as our brother to the same work of the Gospel and the suffering for its cause.

4.       We will suffer under the blows of our adversaries, who may at times may even rise up from among ourselves, but the cause of their fight will be the instinctive retaliation against the effective testimony of the Gospel, which strikes them harder than any blow they could possibly throw at us

5.       If we don’t consistently exercise the faith given us through the means provided in our service, we will not be fit for the battles that lay ahead

Application/Conclusion:

This is the last for now that I have to post on the topic of service and I pray that it’s been both helpful and an encouragement to you.

As we’ve seen and been reminded of over the last four posts, God’s Word is very clear that service within the body is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of the office of responsibility in which we may or may not have been assigned.

The purpose of our work couldn’t be simpler, centering around one thing; the Gospel.

• We should not work for the sake of working. 
  
• We should not work only to fill our bellies.  
  
• We should not work for personal gain. 
  
• We should not work because “if we don’t, it won’t get done”. 
  
• We should not work in order to achieve or improve the quality of our perfect salvation.

• We should work and do what is required so that the body is able to pray and preach the Gospel. 
  
• We should work because we’re obedient to the heart that God gave us the moment we were born again. 
  
• We should work because we’re all preparing as one for the struggles that lie ahead, if it’s not already upon us. 
  
• We should work because we have a sincere desire and joy to be a part of God’s will. 
  
• We should work because this is the testimony that God has prepared for us.
  

Review of/Introduction to Scripture reading:

As we’re all aware, of course, Jason and I have been looking with you into the Scriptures in order to see what it tells us about serving God and about serving one another for the purpose of being built up profitably and for the nurturing of the Spirit driven unity that God has so perfectly provided to us.

In the first week we began by first understanding what the primary purpose and responsibility each one of us has as a member of the Church body; prayer and the preaching of the Word of God, the Gospel. We also saw that our joint participation in the Gospel produces a self-evident source of thankfulness, joy, confidence, and core desire for one another in sincere love.

Last week we examined the work and the attitude produced among the saints through their service. Reading of the selfless and willful sharing of possessions to meet the needs of the saints was an incredible model, I think, of a positive attitude from a heart filled with a sincere love. Having said that, however, what I personally haven’t been able to shake out of my mind all week, what jumped out to me so powerfully, was the story of Tabitha in Acts 9:36-39. Those weren’t simply “tunics and other garments” sowed together to accommodate modesty or keep warm. What the widows showed Peter was Tabitha’s love for them. That love had shape, form, color, smell, and purpose. It was tangible, it was physical, it was real! That was a love that Tabitha was able to give, through the talent and heart given her by the Spirit, which could be smelt, looked at, touched, enjoyed, shown as a true witness and testimony of her heart attitude towards the widows.

Also, please keep in mind with me WHO it was that showed Peter the clothing; widows! If we’re paying attention then this fact should speak volumes to us. 7 deacons had been selected to minister to the needs of the widows, but it was Tabitha’s work among them that we’re reading about 3 chapters later! Beyond a very quick reference to “the seven”, the first 7 deacons are never mentioned again within the context of their initial charge. Of course, Steven and Philip are mentioned later, but in a completely different context. As a matter of fact, Philip wasn’t later called “the deacon” or “the minister to the widows” in Acts 21:8 when “the seven” was referenced again. He was called “the evangelist”.

With that review fresh in our minds, what we’re going to read about today is Paul’s defined ministry to the saints at Philippi, to give them ample cause for glory in Jesus Christ, and his placing this outcome above his own desires for himself.

Scripture Reading  Text:

Philippians 1:20-26

Lessons from text:

Paul begins with two statements and to these everything that follows relates directly back. In this we learn at least 4 things, that is:

1.       Life in the flesh is work for the outcome of God’s will

2.       Our hope is not that our work will produce reward for us in the flesh; it’s for reward at the death of the flesh

3.       We aren’t to see death as the release from work but as the arrival of our hope after our labors have been fully completed

(Please pay careful attention to this last one and be sure to think about it carefully)

4.       We may be pushed forward by the hope of our reward, but we’re pulled by the hope of others

Application/Conclusion:

I’d like to urge us to this:

Let’s not set our minds to looking for ways to enjoy ourselves, to finding personal comfort or to simply having fun. Let’s not allow that to be our beacon. Let it be enough to know without a doubt that these very things and more will flow naturally and of their own accord through the outpouring of the Father’s love for us. Let’s always keep in mind that God is the perfect provider.

He knows our every need and proper pleasure and has a desire to meet them. His desire for us, his children, is love exemplified (attested to).

Let’s prayerfully look to the Lord to understand the needs and the proper pleasures of our brothers and sisters and willfully seek with determination to meet them.

The second lesson that I'd taught on service was during our family teaching time during our Sunday meeting, which has a particular emphasis on the youngest children, so the following post is really the teaching activity  outline rather than a fully laid out message.

Introduction to deacon series:

I’d like to start by sharing with you what the deacons have been praying about, considering and discussing with one another over the past month or so.

There are a couple Scripture verses, in particular, that direct us, very plainly I think, in regards to the function and purpose of the office of deacon; I Tim 3:8-13, where qualifications for a deacon are presented and Acts 6:1-7, where the narrative relates the first appointment of qualified deacons and the bountiful harvest that was yielded by the Spirit through the proper execution of their duties.

To begin with the latter verses, the narrative in Acts tells us that as the Church body grew the needs brought by each individual multiplied to the point that they weren’t able to be rectified without a significant amount of attention being paid to them. Of course, as was properly recognized by all through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, it was not proper that these needs be allowed to displace the primary responsibility of the eldership, and for that matter, for the Church; prayer and the ministry of the Word. So to meet this need, 7 men were appointed to manage the particular situation that had arisen, Stephen being the most prominent among them, of course.

Now getting to the former verses, one of several qualifications required of a deacon is that they manage their children and their own households well. In Paul’s outlining of this exact qualification for the eldership immediately prior to this, he tells us exactly why this is necessary; “for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” (the 2 operative terms in that rhetorical being ‘manage’ and ‘care for’.)

So all this to say that our focus and task as deacons, as specified by the Word of God, is to manage, or minister to, the satisfaction of the needs of the Church body so that the overseers, or the eldership, are able to focus on their primary duties, as defined for them in the Scriptures.

(I recognize that there are a whole many more things that could be said about the office of deacon, and perhaps you have immediately in mind some other functions or responsibilities of that office, but that’s really not my main purpose here, so I’d ask that we hold off, at least for the moment, any further thoughts or conversation specifically regarding the office of deacon.)

Purpose of deacon series on serving the Saints:

From a practical perspective, and what I’m hoping we’ll begin to see when we look at today’s Scripture reading, is that just as we’re all to have a part in prayer and in the preaching of the Word of God (note Stephen’s recognition of this fact in Acts 7) we’re also to have, each one of us, a part in the ministration of one another’s needs.

Most, if not all of us, are pretty well familiar with the examples that other churches provide us in regards to leading both the deacons and the body in this endeavor; in both positive and negative ways. One approach that our church could take would be to seek to establish structures, rules, lists, policies, procedures and such in order to define parameters and metrics for our behavior and ministry towards one another. I’m pretty confident, however, that everyone here would agree with what Jay, Jason and I have come to agreement about is that this would an approach that’s pretty incompatible with our philosophy of ministry as well as our personality as a body.

Rather, what seems to be a more reasonable approach for us would be to develop and prayerfully nurture a consistent heart attitude of sincere love and fellowship, holding one another in higher regard than ourselves; just as we’re directed to do in Philippians 2:3.

Over the next month or so, Jason and I will be using the Scripture reading time, and on some weeks, the family teaching time to examine the Word of God and see what it has to say to each and everyone one of us in regards to how (regardless of age, gender, individual capacity for understanding or teaching) we are to minister to one another and why; which, in short, is to say in love and for the praise and glory of God.

Introduction to Scripture Reading:

As you open your Bibles to Philippians 1:1-11 for today’s Scripture reading there are a few things that I would like to draw attention to before we begin.

Philippians is a letter written from Paul to the believers at Philippi. It is not a book written to or about the unelect. In this letter, Paul gives thanks for the church’s gift to him as well as a report on someone named Epaphroditus, who had delivered that gift to him on behalf of the church and then become ill. Additionally, Paul, because of his sincere heart-felt love for them, sought to encourage the church to unity, service and love toward one another so that ultimately they would be found with a pure heart and blameless before Christ. He also wanted them to enjoy and have available to them the full and complete benefits of the faith given them, through Paul’s ministry, by the Holy Spirit.

There are direct references in the letter to believers preaching Christ from impure motives, such as envy and rivalry (1:15). While Paul doesn’t lose sight of the ‘big picture’ (as it were) by being very clear about his joy that the more important thing is getting accomplished, that is ‘Christ is being proclaimed’ (1:18), he’s also just as clear that to do so from impure motives, from ‘rivalry or conceit’ (2:3), is shameful to the individual and not something able to provide a cause for them to glory in Jesus Christ, who is, of course, the author and finisher of our faith.

Lessons from text:

Paul is very specific that what he’s written is not intended only for those hearing it read but also for those reading it. No one is exempt from his instruction, which is this:

1.       The source of thankfulness and joy that we have for each other is in our joint participation in the Gospel

2.       We can have absolute confidence that what we are doing is a good and excellent thing if it’s God’s will that we are obedient to and not our own

3.       An examination of our heart should result in a self-evident love that we have for one another (for it’s from here that God will witness either for or against us)

4.       A sincere love will produce an insatiable core desire for fellow workers and for the work

Application/conclusion:

To mash together a couple of popular phrases; we’re to be cautious not to find ourselves flailing about our hearts with an emotionally guided hatchet, as it were, in the blind hope of carving out some vapid ambiguous ‘love is all you need’ kind of feeling for each other. What is produced with this type can best be likened to tall stately reeds rising high out of a marsh or bog. These reeds might even have very attractive flowers budding at their tops. At the first wind of trouble or storm of crisis, however, these reeds are blown wildly about, uprooted and broken in pieces. What, if anything, remains once the storm has passed looks nothing like its former self. It’s ugly, knurled and misshapen. Ultimately, of no use even to look at.