2
April
2007
FIVE NECESSARY SEEDS For Each Member of Whitesburg First Baptist Church
1. Meet God – SALVATION
God seeks the lost and provides the way of salvation. Jesus died on the cross to reconcile us to God. We respond to Him with belief and confession. The result is that God forgives sin and begins the process of transforming us into the image of His Son, Jesus. Without a genuine conversion experience, we cannot become a child of God.
2. Honor God – WORSHIP
The first and most important purpose of the Christian is to worship God. This includes both public and private worship. Worship is the giving of ourselves to God and is practiced in many different ways.
3. Touch God – PRAYER
Through prayer we access the power of God and fellowship with Him.
We intercede for the lost to be saved and for the emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of the believers. Our prayer focus is the advancement of God’s Kingdom.
4. Know God – DISCIPLESHIP
Through Bible study, prayer, and service we learn the secrets of God’s Kingdom. Through the Holy Spirit’s power, we grow to become more like Jesus Christ. This is a life-long process.
5. Love God – FELLOWSHIP
We find nurture for the soul by spending time with other believers. Loving our fellow Christians and experiencing their love are indicators of genuine love for God. We grow stronger in our faith when we are sharpened by mature believers.
THREE FRUIT Every Member of First Baptist Church Should Produce
1. Tell people about God’s Kingdom
We witness through our words and our actions. Our scope of witness is from where we live to the ends of the world. We recognize that the only mission of the church is to spread the Good News of Jesus.
2. Teach people the secrets of God’s Kingdom
As we learn and grasp the secrets of God’s Kingdom through Bible study, prayer, and service, we disciple other believers to grow.
3. Care for the People of God’s Kingdom
We love and care for other believers when they are in need. We provide encouragement through the spoken word, our presence, and ministry opportunities.
WHAT IS THE MISSION OF THE FAMILY LIFE CENTER?
Through the family life center we, the family of the Whitesburg First Baptist Church, seek First of all to love and honor God in every activity. Secondly, we seek to fulfill the Great Commission – to lead people into a relationship with Jesus Christ, disciple believers, and bring people into the fellowship of the Body of Christ. Thirdly, we seek to utilize the family life center to minister to the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of our church and community.
Posted: Thoughts
2
April
2007
Philippians 1:27-30
Many times during my Christian walk, I have wanted to be like Jesus. I want to love like He loves. I want to forgive as He forgives. I want to be able to witness for Him, teach for Him, and preach for Him. I want to be His hands and feet to serve people on His behalf, to give a cup of cold water in His name. But I never thought about suffering like Jesus or for Jesus.
Yet, that is what Paul tells us here. Read verse 29 again. “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”
The specific kind of suffering Paul is talking about here is brought about by the opposition. He calls them adversaries. He refers to the problem as conflict. Perhaps, because the opposition from the enemy had been so great, Paul feared that some of the Philippians would give up. That is why he encourages them here in these few verses to be strong in the threat of persecution. How does he instruct us to do this? He offers three attitudes towards suffering that would honor Christ and encourage us to stand fast.
1. Embrace anything in your every day lives that would be worthy of the Gospel of Christ
He tells us to let our conversation be…or…our manner of walk be…that which is worthy of the Gospel of Christ. The word for conversation is actually the word for citizenship. Let your citizenship be… You see, we are citizens of Heaven already, though we still live in the flesh. Live everyday aware of the fact that this world is temporary and all suffering and persecution is temporary. In Philippians 3:20, Paul speaks of citizenship in Heaven: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Some people lived as though they were citizens only of this world. They lived for personal pleasure and physical satisfaction. He says that they have their mind on earthly things. What should guide the Christian instead is the Gospel of Christ. Our lives should witness to the fact that Jesus lived and died and rose again…and has the power to save. Gospel means “the good news of what Jesus has done”.
1 Thessalonians 2:12, “That you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto his kingdom and glory.”
Ephesians 4:1, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.”
Our lives, our conversations, our every step should reflect our devotion to the wonderful story of Jesus. The right focus on Christ and our promise of Heaven should motivate us to stand fast in the face of persecution.
Paul uses two military or sports words here. Stand fast pictures a team standing together as one. Striving side by side gives the image of soldiers marching together in formation. The idea he conveys is one of unity. You know the saying, “United we stand, but separate we fall.” In unity we can face the enemy without fear. Alone, we flee in fear. That’s why we need our church family. We are strong together, weak when we separate ourselves from the Body of Christ.
2. Live with courage in the faces of the enemies of the Gospel
We are to be frightened by nothing the enemy throws at us. The word for fear or fright in this verse refers to a horse that is suddenly startled by a noise. You are only startled by that which you are not expecting. So, if you expect the enemy to sneak up on you and try to scare you, you won’t be afraid.
Fearlessness on our part is assurance of our salvation and an indication of the ultimate judgment of evil. We can live fearlessly only when we know in our hearts that we are on the Lord’s side. It is a confidence in the triumph of Heaven over the evil of this world.
Paul uses two military or sports words here. Stand fast pictures a team standing together as one. Striving side by side gives the image of soldiers marching together in formation. The idea he conveys is one of unity. You know the saying, “United we stand, but separate we fall.” In unity we can face the enemy without fear. Alone, we flee in fear. That’s why we need our church family. We are strong together, weak when we separate ourselves from the Body of Christ.
Philippians 2:2 “Fulfill my joy, that you be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
I Corinthians 1:10, “Now I beseech you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
3. Learn to accept suffering as a means that glorifies Jesus Christ
Two great privileges of our Christian faith are the gift of believing in Jesus and the gift of suffering for Him. Oddly enough, Paul does not speak of suffering as a result of our Christian faith, rather the goal of it.
Look at the example of Jesus:
Philippians 2:5-8, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Hebrews 12:2-3, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.”
God gives us the grace to be able to suffer on behalf of Jesus. Suffering is the result of conflict. The word for conflict in verse 30 translates the Greek agona, from which we get the word agony. It was a Greek term in Paul’s day that referred to an athletic struggle, like a wrestling match or a tug of war. The Apostle Paul talks personally about his own conflicts. He was flogged, stoned, jailed, and more. The Philippian Christians were well aware of his conflicts.
CONCLUSION:
This passage affirms that suffering as a Christian on behalf of Christ is a privilege. We identify with him in suffering. Jesus stated himself in Matthew 16:24-25, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
He clarifies in Luke 14:26-27, 33, “And whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, cannot be my disciple.”
As Christians we are to be actively engaged in battling evil and the mindset of the world. Paul told us already in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”
Posted: Sermons