“Setting out on a Missionary Journey!”
Captivated by Christ: An expositional sermon series on Paul's Letter to the Church in Philippi
Pastor Jerry Ingalls
April 11, 2010
This morning we are starting a new sermon series called, “Captivated by Christ.” In the months to come, we are going to walk verse by verse through Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, the first church in Europe in the region of Macedonia.
As a teacher, I hope to inform your mind and excite you to study God’s Word on a daily basis. As a preacher, I prayerfully anticipate the Holy Spirit will transform your life and cause you to take the next step in your spiritual journey! As a pastor, it is my spiritual ambition that we will be captivated by the amazing grace and extravagant love of Jesus Christ as a faith-community and set out together on God’s missionary journey!
Before I teach our Scriptures lesson, let me briefly give you the historical context of Philippians. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter while in prison [gesture to stage set]. Paul was imprisoned in Rome awaiting a trial by Caesar; the outcome of which he knew could lead to his death. Paul would eventually be martyred in the year 67 AD and he received his prize!
Paul wrote this letter in the year 61 AD to the Church in Philippi on the occasion of their helping Paul by sending Epaphroditus to him with a financial gift.
On that visit, Epaphroditus gave Paul an update on the state of the church he planted on his 2nd missionary journey in 49 AD. This is a letter of friendship to his faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Philippi to both thank them for their faithful partnership in the Gospel, but to also deal with some of the issues that he learned about their fellowship from Epaphroditus.
The Apostle Paul is the great missionary, called by God, to extend the reach of the good news beyond the Jewish people to the Gentiles (people of non Jewish heritage). Recorded in the Book of Acts, found in the New Testament, are Paul’s three missionary journeys and his journey to the Roman imprisonment found in Acts 13-28.
Right now we are going to watch a DVD of Acts 16; this is a word for word reenactment where we will experience Paul calling Timothy to join him on the second missionary journey, we will see the vision of God leading Paul to Macedonia, and then the remainder of the chapter focuses on Paul’s activities in Philippi in 49-50 AD when he establishes the first church in Europe. Show Acts 16 DVD clip (9 minute DVD clip).
We now have a basic historical context that allows us to enter into the text of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Our Scripture lesson for this morning is found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians 1:1-2, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” [pray]
These first two verses fit the standard form of address and greeting of an ancient letter of friendship, but there is nothing standard about the word choices of Paul. You see, a standard letter of his time could have succinctly stated: ‘Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the Philippians, Greetings.’
Because Paul is the great apostolic missionary of the early church, Paul is teaching and modeling with every word he uses. He is mentoring the followers of Jesus Christ so that they in turn will engage God’s missionary call on their lives. In short, God is using Paul’s words to prepare each of us to embark on His missionary journey for our own lives! We each are called to share the good news wherever we are—in the workplace, in the schools, on the sporting teams, in the neighborhood or at home.
As we walk through these 2 verses I want to draw out to points that will equip you to answer God’s call wherever you find yourself. The first point: IN GOD'S MISSIONARY JOURNEY WE NEED...A TEAM APPROACH!
The Bible is very clear that we are better together in Christ Jesus! A key strategy to having a successful ministry in the work place or schools is to find out who you can partner with. Find out who the other Christians are and then start meeting for prayer together. Start simple by building alliances and forming prayer teams. Don’t GO alone! Jesus always has his disciples around and Paul always had partners in the missionary work.
Good leaders do not make a go at the mission by themselves and successful missionary work (local and global) takes partnership!!
To have a team approach, we each need to have a BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHO I AM IN JESUS CHRIST!
Philippians 1:1a states who is sending the letter, “Paul and Timothy, servants [douloi] of Christ Jesus..."
Paul mentors us in three 3 significant ways:
1. He shares the title block and teaches us to multiply ourselves by mentoring! Timothy is his trusted companion and apprentice; not the co-writer of this letter. In fact, in Acts 16 we see that Paul invites Timothy to come along with him to Philippi. Timothy is Paul’s apprentice and later in this letter Paul speaks of sending Timothy to Philippi in his place. You will find later in the New Testament two letters that Paul writes to Timothy near his death; final words of the master missionary to the already seasoned missionary and pastor Timothy. We must invite partners to walk with us in ministry!
2. Paul does not use the accustomed title of “Apostle of Jesus Christ” as he does in his more formal letters teaching us that we do not always have to lean on our titles and positions to have influence. There are times to utilize that God given authority, but Paul is teaching us a valuable lesson: love is a leader’s greatest influencing attribute! Paul was very close to the brothers and sisters in Christ and he is relating to them as a friend. He is not lording His education, position, and calling over them. Rather he is influencing them through friendship. He is thanking them for their fellowship (partnership) and encouraging them to stay the course!
3. If those 2 teaching lessons are not enough, let’s look at how Paul does identify himself and Timothy to the Philippians—“douloi of Christ Jesus.” That is the Greek word for slaves (Plural), often translated into servant in most modern translations. Paul chooses a word that demonstrates humility to the Greek culture, but rich theological meaning to the brethren. Let me explain.
- To be a slave is to be the absolute possession of our master! Paul states in 1 Corinthians 6:19c-20a, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." This is a fantastic mind-blowing truth! It is gospel! We must understand that when we accept what God has done for us in Jesus Christ that we truly are no longer our own; we are bought at a price and become the children of God—sons and daughters of the King. In reality, to be the slave of Christ is to be royalty; it is the way to true freedom! What an amazing irony that we must lose ourselves to find ourselves!
- To be a slave is to have absolute obedience and allegiance to your master! Paul declares in Ephesians 4:1-3, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."
I love this reality that Paul is so clearly teaching in his letter to the Ephesians that he ever so slightly directs our attention to with the word douloi…the implications of being the slave of Jesus Christ is that we must live up to our master’s commandments. This impacts our character, our attitude, our actions, our words, our unity with one another! We must forgive, reconcile, and be unified because we are not our own; we are the master’s!
That brings us to the next point…In this Team approach, we need A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHO THE CHURCH IS IN JESUS CHRIST!
Paul first introduces himself and Timothy, he continues in verse 1 by addressing the letter to its intended recipients, "To all [pas] the saints [hagiois] in Christ Jesus at Philippi..." (Philippians 1:1b).
Paul could have simply wrote to the Philippians or the church in Philippi, but rather he does what he does in so many of his letters, he teaches us who we are as the church in Christ Jesus—we are the “hagiois in Christ Jesus.” If we are to come together on this missionary journey that God is calling us to then we must start seeing one another as God sees us—we are the consecrated ones, the set apart ones, the holy ones in Christ Jesus.
Our title as saints is not merited by us performing a certain amount of miracles; rather we are saints by the miracle of God’s justification by faith! The miracle is in the indescribable gift that God has lavished upon us so that we may be called the children of God!
When we accept by faith that God sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, then we are bought at a price by His blood. Our sin in that moment is forgiven because Jesus Christ paid the price for our atonement; the cost was not cheap; it was His life-the sacrifice of the Son of God! Our sin put upon the Cross and God placed the right standing of Jesus Christ (the Righteous One!) upon each of us.
In the Old Testament book of priestly law, Leviticus 11:44a, God speaks these words to His chosen people, "I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy."
God is holy and He has made a way for humanity to be holy as He is holy. The Old Covenant (the Law between man and God) was fulfilled in Christ Jesus through His death and resurrection, and God has now made His Church the chosen people through His Holy Spirit!
What a scandal that God should bestow upon us, sinners, His holiness so that we may be called the holy ones! This is only possible because of Jesus Christ! “Worthy is the Lamb!”
The Apostle Peter declares this truth in 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
This is our missionary journey! We have been set apart as God’s chosen people for the mission of God!
We are the God’s treasured possession for the ministry of reconciliation! We are to declare the praises of the God who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light! We are the Church because we are in Christ Jesus! This is what Christ has done for us!
There is one more point that we must get if we are to have a team approach in God’s mission. We need A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE ALL FUNCTION TOGETHER!
Paul finishes the addressing of this letter in verse 1 by adding this clause, "...together with the overseers [episkopois] and deacons [diakonois]” Philippians 1:1c.
The Greek word pas which is translated all, entire, or whole is significant. Our translation states, “to all the saints”, but it could be translated, ‘to the whole/entire body of set apart ones in Christ Jesus.’ We are one body! Paul then continues by stating, “together with…”
In the only reference of these leaders in the entire letter, Paul greets the overseers (some versions translate this word bishop, it is the Greek word we get Episcopal) and deacons (this is the Greek word we get Deacon and it means servant).
He could have said, all the saints under the overseers and deacons, but he doesn’t. He says, all the saints together with! They are all one entire body!
Let me show you a very important teaching about church structure and leadership that is the basis of my understanding for my calling and for those gifted and called by God to be leaders of His church. Ephesians 4:11-13 teaches, "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
I could go on for hours about this section of Scripture, but let me just point out one thing. God gave these Spirit-filled leaders (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) to prepare the set apart ones of God (His Church) to do the good works of ministry by teaching, serving, decision-making, modeling, and equipping so that the one body would be built up until we all reach unity, have maturity, and attain the fullness of Christ!
This is the true radical teaching of the church that has been lost in so many church structures. We are each called to do our part as members of the body; we each are the body and the body needs each of us! The overseers (episkipois) and deacons (diakonois) are not being emphasized as being over the entire body because they are parts of the entire body.
To bring this home to FBC, I am no more important than you and you are no more important than me.
Your gifting and my gifting are both essential and key to us being effective in the mission of God! We need one another and if one of us leaves, then the entire body is affected! We are the priesthood, not me alone, but us together! We are the chosen ones, not me alone, but us together!
An excellent summary of this body metaphor is captured in 1 Corinthians 12. Here is a sample. Paul states, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27).
We are one body! How then should we act? Paul teaches us in Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
If we do not have love for one another manifested in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, then we will never get there my friends! We will be impotent in God’s missionary journey if we don’t learn who we are and how then we should function! It is not about me or even about you, it is about us together!
Let’s look at verse 2 and our last teaching point. Did you get anything out of that first verse? Amazing stuff! But all that we have learned so far is impossible to put into effect separate from God or when we are depending on ourselves and our own wisdom or power.
[I ended the sermon here on Sunday; I will cover verse 2 next week]
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