Sermons Page - 08.08.04

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Who Are We Living For? (08.08.04)
(Philippians 1:1-14, 20-27)

This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. It is written to all of God's people in Philippi, who believe in Christ Jesus, and to the elders and deacons.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 I always pray for you, and I make my requests with a heart full of joy 5 because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
6 And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.

7 It is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a very special place in my heart. We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others the Good News. 8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation--those good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ--for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

12 And I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.
13 For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.
14 And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold in telling others about Christ.

20 For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die. 21 For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don't know which is better. 23 I'm torn between two desires: Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be far better for me, 24 but it is better for you that I live.

25 I am convinced of this, so I will continue with you so that you will grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26 Then when I return to you, you will have even more reason to boast about what Christ Jesus has done for me.

27 But whatever happens to me, you must live in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ, as citizens of heaven. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing side by side, fighting together for the Good News.
~~~~~~~

One of the highlights of my recent trip was being able to share my testimony with the church in St. Petersburg our last Sunday there .
– Figuring they would be able to relate it to something in their lives, I shared with them about my journey with cancer, and how God's grace has been so sufficient through it all.
– I knew the Lord used me right away when two of the visiting students (from Seattle Pacific University) came up to me after the service and thanked me for my words. One was a young lady whose mother had died of cancer a few years ago; another was a young man whose father, also a pastor, has been living with cancer.
– Then, just this past Friday I received the following email from Kathy Mowry, one of the missionaries in St. Petersburg:

Dear Jim,

I'm sure Jon will get back with you about the team you want to bring, but I wanted to just send my thoughts and prayers and lots of blessings for these upcoming days of cancer treatment. You are in our hearts. We so enjoyed being part of this special trip for you and Juliann. Your presence and testimony were one more monument for our people to show them that God is with us in the middle of the river. Thank you for giving of yourself so transparently…. Blessings,

Kathy

And as I shared with you about Barbara, the desk clerk in Zurich, it was primarily because of what God has allowed to come my way in life that I was able to share with her about a real, true, living hope no matter what life brings.
– This is what I long for in each of your lives as well.

Next Sunday will be the last Sunday I get to be with you for awhile. August 22nd my family and I will be in Iowa celebrating my parents' 50th anniversary. Then Thursday the 26th is my surgery, followed by chemotherapy after recovering from surgery.
– There are new chemo drugs for colon cancer since I last had chemo, but we don't know what the side effects are going to be.

Here's what I do know, however:
Whether or not I am with you as your pastor, God is always with you as your God.
– It may or may not be optimal for me as pastor to be absent from the life of our church. In fact, nothing would please me more than to have HRCN thrive and grow dramatically while I'm away.

The church is not about me, it's pastor, any more than a human body is all about it's big toe.
– A pastor is only one part of the church just as a big toe is only one part of an entire body.
~Would you miss your big toe if it were gone? Yes.
~Would you wilt and die if your big toe were gone? That's up to you.

You see, people have a choice how they handle hardships, as well as all the less than optimal circumstances that come into our lives.
– I don't want HRCN to be known as the church whose pastor has cancer and so they aren't able to do much for the Kingdom of God.
– I want our church to be known as a vibrant, Spirit-filled, God-empowered congregation of people who trust God unquestionably and thrive in the midst of adversity.

Romans 12:4-13 NLT
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
6 God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. 7 If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
9 Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.
12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. 13 When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.

Are we:
1. Living for the Lord enthusiastically?
2. Patient in trouble?
3. Always prayerful?
4. In the habit of inviting guests into our homes?
~~~~~~~

Paul gives us some inspiring words to live by in these verses. Though he is facing an uncertain future that might mean execution or further imprisonment, he says:

20 For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die. 21 For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better.

What is Paul saying here? “IT'S ALL GOOD. If I'm living – I'll be walking with Christ and being strengthened by the Holy Spirit. If I die – I'll be in heaven.”

"Too often for us it's 'to live is Christ, plus other pursuits (work, leisure, accumulating wealth, relationships, etc.). And if the truth were known, all too often the 'plus factor' has become our primary passion."

QUESTION: What do you truly live for?
– Personal advancement
– Material things
– Pleasure
– Your kids
– Your spouse
– Your boyfriend/girlfriend

Unless you can say, “I'm living for Jesus! For me to live IS Christ!”, you'll be heading for many disappointments throughout life because all those other things will at one time or another let you down.

That's why Jesus said:

Matthew 6:33 ESV
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33 NLT
[God] will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

Matthew 6:33 MSG
Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Though Paul was under house arrest with an uncertain future ahead of him – he was able to be a joy filled person because he knew what was most important; living for Christ.
– And he knew that even if the worst happened and he was executed, all that will happen is he will experience GAIN!

This is the kind of perspective that will change you from the inside out when you experience hard times.

Knowing that what happened to him would have an effect on the believers in Philippi, he instructed them…

Philippians 1:27 NLT
But whatever happens to me, you must live in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ, as citizens of heaven. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing side by side, fighting together for the Good News.

Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade, one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world, once prayed, "God, kill me before I do anything to shame the name of Christ."
– Could you pray something like that? That's the kind of prayer Paul would have prayed. That's the kind of life he longed for the Philippians to live.

That's the kind of life God desires for us to live as well.
– Why? Because living for Christ everyday is the BEST way to live as a joy-filled person.
~It's the key to one day looking back at your life and knowing you lived it to the full!
~It's the key to one day hearing God speak to you “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest.”

The way we look at life determines whether we have joy or despair.
– It's something like what Coach John McKay of USC said to his team after they had been humiliated 51-0 by Notre Dame. McKay came into the locker room and saw a group of beaten worn-out and thoroughly depressed young football players who were not accustomed to losing. He stood up on a bench and said, "Men, let's keep this in perspective. There are 800 million Chinese who don't even know this game was played." That's what you call perspective.

That's one way to get the situation in perspective, but Paul went a step further. He didn't just make the best of a bad situation he actually saw the positive results of his imprisonment.
– We're not just talking about seeing the cup half full rather than half empty. We're talking about seeing what is going on in your life – really seeing your entire life – as something that God is at work in and through.

As Christians we're to say:
For to me, living is for Christ….

CONCLUSION:

You want to be a joy-filled person?
– Live life with an eternal perspective.
– Let God use your tough circumstances for His purposes.
– Live for Christ everyday.

PRAYER
– For those of you who are undergoing tough times, will you allow God to use you in those circumstances? Will you confess your anger toward Him and ask Him to use you to show His love to others?
– For those of you who have been living for anything other than Jesus, will you tell God you're sorry, and with God's help, make the changes you need to make?