Paul was going to send Timothy to the church at Philippi to help and encourage them. He praised Timothy because he really cared about the work of Jesus and not just himself. If I am perfectly honest, I would have to admit that I spend a lot of time on myself and not on the work of Christ Jesus. What is the work of Jesus you ask? In Acts 20:24 Paul says, I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I finish my work. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace. The work of Jesus is to tell others about the Good News of salvation. How do we do that?
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If complaining was an Olympic sport I would probably get a gold medal. I don't think I would be the only one in medal contention either. Complaining seems prevalent in the western world even though we actually have very little to complain about. We have food, clean water, clothing and shelter. In fact we have more than we need. Verse 15 tells us why we shouldn't complain and argue - So that you will be blameless and pure, children of God without any fault. But you are living with evil people all around you, who have lost their sense of what is right. Among those people you shine like lights in a dark world. We live in a sinful world and should shine God's light by doing the right thing. Our attitude should be one of gratefulness, not one of complaining.
CHALLENGE: This week try to be mindful of when you complain. You might keep a tally or have a complaints jar where you put 10c in every time you complain. Every time you're tempted to complain. Think of something you're grateful for. I don't know about you, but I don't feel very powerful. God has a purpose for each one of us, to love, encourage, teach and help others. Now if it was up to me, I would probably hide in a corner and wait for someone else to do the hard lifting. But God promises to give us power to do his work. This is the same power that created the universe, the same power that parted the red sea for the Israelites to escape the Egyptians, the same power that healed the sick, the same power that raised Christ from the dead... This power lives in you! So next time you think you can't, remember that God can.
CHALLENGE: Is God calling you to do something that you feel unqualified to do? He will do it with you. You just have to provide the arms, legs, ears and mouth (sometimes he can get by with less than that). Verse one of this chapter tells us why we should care about each other - it's because God loves us and has shown us mercy and kindness. It's easy to say, "yeah, I love everyone," but do your actions show it?
Verses 2-6 of Philippians 2 is a poem. It is basically a summary of the Gospel. Jesus came to earth as a baby and became like us (the Christmas Story), then he died on the cross and rose again so we could become his children (the Easter Story). And what is the whole point of this story? LOVE!
Challenge: do you have friends who don't know Jesus? Perhaps you could invite them to church this Christmas so they can hear it for themselves. No one really likes to talk about suffering but it is unavoidable. I didn't really understand how the early church suffered until I watched the film, Paul, Apostle of Christ. Paul was in prison when he wrote the book of Philippians - that was the suffering he was referring to. Philippi was a Roman colony and the Romans were pretty upset that the Christians were preaching that Jesus is King so they were being persecuted and were suffering. You might wonder what that means to you now. In some countries, people still risk death by following Jesus. That is not likely to happen in Australia, but some people will ridicule your faith or criticise your beliefs. I'm willing to be unpopular or considered weird for Jesus. He died for me.
Man this girl talks fast but it's good stuff. It's summer in Australia and the topic of modesty is particularly relevant. Modesty doesn't mean dressing like a nun, it means dressing in a way that is decent. Like Sadie said, that's different for everyone - it's between you and God.
Different cultures have different values and beliefs. If you're ever visited another country you will have noticed that what they say, do eat, wear etc are very different. The values and beliefs of the world are vastly different to Christian values and beliefs. We are God's people. We need to behave like citizens of heaven - what we say, how we dress, what we watch and listen to...
The verses before this one give us a clue as to how we can be fruitful. Philippians 1:9-10 says, I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. Paul prayed that their love, knowledge and understanding would grow. When we understand how much God loves us it should inspire us to love Him more and to love other people more. This kind of love makes us want to do good (to be fruitful). And when we are fruitful it gives glory to God.
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