Philippians 1:12-18 Why Me

Philippians 1:12-18 Why Me

Why do things, events or situations steal our joy? Is there a way past them to find joy again? This is what Philippians is all about, finding joy again.

1.       Life is unfair
a. Paul is in prison

b. because of his witness for Jesus

c. some seek to harm him even there vs 15, 17

d. physical

e. financial

f. work, school, ect.

2. looking past the situation
a. joy vs comfort
b. vs 12 to advance the gospel
c. encourage others to be bolder (Nelson Mandela)
d. 18 in every way and even with bad motives Christ is proclaimed

3. Getting past it
a. You have a right to be broken and angry
b. I understand I have been there
c. break the cycle of depression
d. stop asking how, why, and who
e. start asking how can God use this?

Paul found joy because he saw his goal of telling people about Jesus was being carried out even by those who meant to hurt him. If we are to find joy we must look for what God is doing and can do even with our suffering. Until we can do this joy will elude us.

July times

Sitting on my desk is a piece of Lava Rock that I picked up on a hike across a lava flow near Split Rock Lighthouse on the shore of Lake Superior. Before this, I never thought about how volcanos helped to build the Great Lakes. Volcanos erupting are not usually considered a great thing to happen. They can kill thousands of people, damage property, and even change the climate.

Our lives have volcanos erupting from time to time. The doctor says it’s cancer, your spouse says it’s over, your bank says it’s empty, there are thousands more to be named. Some of these volcanos of life are big and some are small, but all of them are uncomfortable to endure.

Back to my walk across the lava flow on a sunny day by Split Rock Lighthouse. I was looking for colorful stones called Agates. Agates form in air bubbles in the lava. As the Lava cools water and minerals fill the bubbles and crystalize forming a very shiny smooth stone. I wanted to collect a few of them. Not only did I find some agates, but I also found some iron ore and some copper ore. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are filled with iron and copper mines; much of the area was settled because of mining.

Many wonderful things come up with the lava during eruptions, iron, copper, tin, gold, diamonds, and lots of pretty rocks. While life’s volcanos bring pain and difficulty they also bring valuable things to our lives. It could be a life lesson, a new friend, a deeper faith, a new outlook on life, and many other things. Some of these we can walk along the lava of life and find for ourselves, for other we may need help.

Here in the north-woods people worked together in iron and copper mines to dig the valuable ore from the lava that brought it to the surface. Some of the ore required digging deep into the ground to reveal it. It was not easy work, but they got it done.

Romans 8:28 says “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” This does not mean that the volcanos of life are going to feel good or their pain go away. What it means is that along with the horrible and destructive lava, valuable things have come as well. Gems of diamonds, agates, gold, iron, copper and tin are all to be found in the volcano’s flow.

Some of these gems are on the surface and easy to find on your own, while others will require some help. This is one of the reasons I believe every Christian should have a church home, a church family. Each of us will have days when the lava of life is to much for us and we will need someone else to dig us out. There will be days when together we will find diamonds of faith only because we dig for them together.

When we find the gems in the midst of the lava we need to remember they are a gift of God and thank Him for those little wonders. James 1:17  reminds us; “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

The volcanos of life will come. What will we have when they are done? Hot lava, and destruction? Or will we find diamonds, gold, copper, iron tin and even agates. Anyone can find lava, but if you want the good stuff you will have to look for it, dig for it, stop and pick it up.


Times June

You would not know it to look outside today with the ground wet by two days of light rain, but most of our country is in a horrible drought. In our greatest food producing state, California, things are getting dangerous. Reservoirs once filled with what seemed an endless supply of water are already dry or will be soon. Farmers have not planted crops because they know they will not have the water needed to bring them to harvest. In the cattle states like Texas ranchers have sold their herds and shut down because there is not enough water to keep the herd alive. You would be a rich person if you could have figured out that people would be paying $2.00 for a bottle of water to drink.

Interestingly, I read in one of my backcountry hiking books a report that said most people in the USA live in a constant state of dehydration. People just do not drink enough water so their body can function correctly. Dehydration affects your kidney function, muscle function, your cognitive abilities, and even your ability to fight off diseases.

 All this got me to thinking about how many people live in a spiritual state of dehydration? How many would describe their spiritual life as dry, lacking energy and empty. This spiritual dehydration also affects the rest of our life, just as physical dehydration does.

Jerimiah 17:7&8 says “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Psalms 1:1-3 says “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”  

The spiritually dehydrated person’s life is filled with fear during difficult times, withered and dry leaves as well as a lack of fruitfulness. For the spiritually dehydrated life does not feel prosperous, like its going somewhere; life feels like a struggle to stay alive.

I think we all feel spiritually dehydrated at times. If we take time to reflect on the passages from Jeremiah and Psalms we find that we are not putting our confidence or trust in God or His Word. That’s not something to beat yourself up about but is something you want to change. It is time to refocus our trust in the Lord and His word.

   

Our hope for the world Phil 1:1-11

Our hope for the world Phil 1:1-11

1.    Partakers of grace (7)

2.    Your love may abound (9)

3.    May know a life of excellence (10)

4.    God will bring his plan for you to completion (6)

a.     He gave you life

b.    Jer 29:11

c.     A plan for your life

5.    God desires that His plan would be completed

6.    The start of the plan is grace

7.    The result is joy John 15:11

Our prayer is that you find Joy
Our prayer is that you find peace
Our prayer is that you find love
The key to it is grace eph 2:8&9
1 John 1:9,  2 Cor 5:17

Will you experance All of God’s plan for your life? Will you know the joy, peace and love that Jesus wants you to have? The key is forgiveness which unlocks the forgiveness of God. A simple prayer “Lord forgive me a sinner. Search my heart and show me how to live. Lord Jesus give me your grace.

2 Timothy 2:1-7 “As Iron Sharpens iron”

2 Timothy 2:1-7 “As Iron Sharpens iron”

When I started the building by design series, I began with the idea that we are to not only bring people to salvation but we are to also disciple them, teach them. It’s a picture of new believers not stumbling upon the principles of faith by acedent, but teaching them so they can teach others.

We have looked at these principles of faith.

·         Jesus as the center

·         Word of God

·         Prayer

·         Witnessing

·         Fellowship

2 Timothy 2:2 “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.”

A new kind of church

·         A church ministry with a real purpose and thought out design

·         Each member working toward a common goal

·         Not entertainment, nor self pleasing

·         Determined and dedicated to carry out God’s mission

A new kind of fellowship

·         Not a group of people gathered in the same room on Sunday

·         One body, deeply connected and supporting one another

As Iron Sharpens Iron, Proverbs 27:17

·         Remove the rust

·         Remove the dullness

·         Prepared for the battle of life

2 Timothy 2:15 says

·         Do your best, your best effort

·         One approved by God, one God approves of

·         One who has no need to be ashamed, on the day of judgement…

I am confident that God is not finished with us, I believe that our little church has much to do for Jesus in our communities. I know when we dedicate our lives to carry out the mission of God through the design of discipleship God will and can do great things. 2 Timothy 2:2 “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.”

Fellowship Hebrews 10:24 & 25

Fellowship Hebrews 10:24 & 25

The final spoke of the wheel is FELLOWSHIP. We blanket under this word everything from two people chit chatting over coffee to congregational dinners and picnics. There is so much more to fellowship than that. One of the things that growing churches have is a healthy fellowship.

1.      Consider how to

a.      Think about it

b.      Plan it

2.      Stir up one another to love and good works

a.      Churches are good at getting all stirred up, just not to love and good works.

b.      Stir = wiped, wound.

c.       The football team that comes out doing their warrior dance.

d.      Home team takes the field

e.      Cheerleaders getting crowd going.

f.        Cheerleaders for the church

g.      Urging each other to victory in our lives.

h.      Praise music – whip the team up to go and win this week

3.      Meeting together

a.      For your benefit

b.      For the benefit of others.

c.       Romans 12:3-8

d.      Eph 4:4-16

e.      Does anyone know what is going on with ___________?

f.        A test.

4.      Encourage one another

a.      This is personal

b.      This is close

c.       You can do this, you can beat this, I stand with you.

d.      Finishers go back and run with those struggling to make it.

e.      You did a good job, I like this. I’m proud of you.

5.      As the day draws near.

a.      Your day

b.      Their day

c.       Our churches day

This is what growing churches have going for them, real fellowship. We need to regain that sense of connectedness. Being a true Christian, a disciple of Jesus, is not a me thing it’s a we thing.

Will you get excited about doing God’s work?

Can you do more to encourage other people in the church?

Can we stir-up the church, be each other’s cheerleaders?

Do we believe God can use this church to change the world?

Will you join in the harvest?

Witnessing 1 Peter 3:15

Witnessing  1 Peter 3:15

There is that awkward moment when the opening to talk about your faith comes. It could be with a friend or it could be with someone you just met. Your heart says share and your head tells you wait or keep quite.

Excuses flow out like water. Who am I to tell someone about God? I don’t know how? I don’t know what to say? They might get offended? I might hurt their feelings? Or worse what if they want to listen?

In that awkward and strange moment you make a decision that might affect eternity.

 

God’s command

1 Peter 3:15

Matthew 10:32&33

Mathew 28:19&20

John 7:38 streams of living water not swimming pools or water towers.

John 4:14 a spring of living water

The time is now

Matthew 9:37&38

John 4:34-38

1 Peter 3:15 “in season and out”

What to share

1 Peter 3:15 “the reason for your hope.”

Why do you believe?

What has Jesus done for you?

Make a list and get to know it

 

When that weird and awkward moment come, will you be ready? Will you dare to step out in faith say something? Or will you let it go by? Will you confess your faith in Jesus? Will you give a reason for the hope you have in Jesus? Someone’s eternity may hang in the balance of what you choose in that moment. We need, we must, be ready to make the right choice.

Ephesians 3:20 “Dream Big”

Ephesians 3:20 “Dream Big”

In the first Star Wars movie Leia tells Hans that he would be rewarded with more wealth than he can imagine. Hans replies “I can imagine a lot”.

Our passage describes God as one “who can do far more abundantly than we ask and think”

This passage got me to thinking and it raised a question. Are our prayers to small? Do we dare to pray big? I mean bigger than ourselves? Will we dare to pray the impossible and keep on praying the impossible for however long it takes? One thing we need to learn and need to teach is that we need to pray big.

I have mentioned Dawson Trotman, the man who founded the Navigators and developed the follow-up ministry for Billy Graham. As a young man he and a friend started praying for their city, then the state, then our country and finally the world. They prayed that God would help them reach the world! God answered their prayers. Through Billy Graham and the Navigators Dawson Trotman reached the world. He still reaches the world, in fact he wrote the discipleship books we use for conformation class.

I wonder if God gets frustrated with the smallness of our prayers. He is able to do more than we can ask, yet with all that power we only ask for the possible not the impossible. While living in California, every once and a while I would get to see a real sports car. Jaguars, Porsches, Ferraris, and other cars like them, all capable of going 160 – 200 miles an hour. There they would be in a lane next to me crawling along the highway in stop and go traffic. All that power going to waste.

Consider some prayers of the Bible. Isaac prayed for his wife to have children, Gen 25:21. Moses prayed that pharaoh would let the people go, Exodus 10. Moses prayed and God parted the red sea, Elisha prayed and Fire came down and consumed the sacrifice. Gideon prayed and God sent most of the army home and they still won the battle.

Do we pray to small? Do we pray for things we see as possible? If we do pray for something big do we pray thinking it is a waste of time? James 1:5-8 says that we are to pray with confidence that God will answer.

We need to be people who pray kingdom size prayers. Pray for the salvation of our neighbors, our town, and our area. We need to pray for the growth of our church and be willing to follow God to the answer to that prayer.

James 4:2&3 says we do not have because we do not ask.

Notice what we will do. Kill, covet, quarrel and fight. Anything except ask and believe.

Notice the motive of prayer. Wrong motives, selfish motives hinder prayer. You can pray for good things for the wrong reason. “Lord make my neighbor a Christian so they will stop wakening me up with their drunken parties on Saturday night.” O Lord help our church to go so I will not have to donate so much to keep the church going and I will not have to give as much of my time to its work.”

Jesus wants His disciples to pray kingdom size prayers, with kingdom motives.

What questions does the college graduate in philosophy ask? “Do you want fries with that or should I supersize it?”  God wants us to go for the fries, the shake and the dessert as well. God wants us to supersize our prayers. Expand your vision and faith to kingdom sized prayers for kingdom size motives. Perhaps like Dawson Trotman God will give you the world!