Sermon Tone Analysis

Title: Live Worthy

Text:

Intro Tyler Hilinski, a twenty-one-year-old, red-shirted sophomore on the Washington State Cougars football team was the odds on favorite to be the starting quarter-back next year.

But that will never happen, for he was found dead in his apartment Tuesday after he didn't show up for practice.

He died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

His family in California issued a statement saying they were in "complete shock and disarray" over his death.

A makeshift memorial sprouted near the football stadium on the Pullman campus, next to a bronze statue of the team's mascot.

Social media were also filled with comments, including one from former Washington State star quarterback Ryan Leaf, who said he couldn't stop crying.

According to National Data on Campus Suicide and Depression, one out of every 12 college students makes a suicide plan and 7.5 students per 100,000 kill themselves.

The stats are similar for athletes.

35 college athletes killed themselves from 2009-15.

Twenty-nine were male athletes and 13 played football.

Depression convinces a person that his or her life doesn't matter or that it doesn't matter enough to counter the pain that life is causing them.

But our lives do matter.

They matter to family members.

They matter to friends and neighbors.

They matter to classmates and fellow-workers.

They matter to God.

In our text today, the apostle Paul, who is in a prison cell, wants the Christians in the city of Philippi to understand how and why their lives matter to God and to others.

God knows and we need to realize that every life touches and impacts a multitude of others.

The classic Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, illustrates this principle so well.

In the movie George Bailey finds himself in a mess, no fault of his own, and as a result, he wishes he had never been born.

An angel grants his wish and then he sees the consequences of him never having been born.

Many people suffered in various ways, including the whole town of Bedford Falls, because George Bailey was never born.

Unfortunately, we haven't been given the opportunity to see how our lives can make a positive and wonderful impact on others for the glory of God.

What we can see, however, is a statement from God telling us to live a life that is worthy of the gospel.

A life that is lived in such a way to be worthy of the gospel will be one that impacts others for their good and God's glory.

This kind of life begins with God calling us into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

He then calls on us to be the light of the world and salt to the earth.

We are God's representatives.

We are ambassadors for Christ, consequently, we are to live like it and live worthy of it.

READ TEXT: -31

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

The first thing that stands out in our text is how our lives matter.

I. Our Lives Matter

Satan, however, tries to convince us that we don't matter and how we live doesn't matter.

He tells us that we are little fish in a great big ocean, so what we say and do, doesn't really matter.

And for some, he tells them, "You're so unimportant, no one will miss you if you decide to end it all, so just give in to your depression."

This, however, is a lie from the pits of hell, and Satan is the father of lies.

God says we matter too much to give up, give in, or give out.

God says we can make a difference in this world, we can impact lives for the glory of God.

We are important to Him and to others.

A. We Matter to God

Paul understood this truth.

He wanted the Philippians to understand this truth.

God wants us to understand this truth.

We've always been important to God.

We mattered even before we knew God and made Christ our Lord and Savior.

We mattered so much that God sent His Son into this sin plagued, pain filled, world for us.

We matter so much that Christ willingly left a beautiful, joy-filled, pain free place called heaven, in order to come to earth and suffer rejection, ridicule, torture, and death on our behalf.

It is because we do matter to God and to others that we are told in verse one to let our manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.

In lieu of what God and Christ did for us, we are called on to live a life worthy of their actions, worthy of the gospel.

Since we matter to God, we ought to live like it.

How we live determines how we impact others for their good and God's glory.

Matthew Henry has said in his commentaries, "if our religion is worth anything, it should be worth everything."

If what God and Christ has done for us is worth anything, it is worth everything.

If the gospel is worth anything, it's worth everything.

So I ask you now, does the sacrifice Christ made for you, touch you, move you, and create a sense of awe and wonder in you?

If it does, then your faith in Christ is worth everything to you?

If it does, you will strive, seek, and work to live a life that helps others and glorifies God.

But if it doesn't move you, and touch you, then may God once again move you with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Living worthy of the gospel also has to do with understanding that we matter to others as well as to God.

B. We Matter to Others

In our text today and in our previous message we see that Paul's life mattered to the Philippians and the Philippi Christians' mattered to Paul.

In fact, in our last message, Paul pointed out how that many were being influenced by his willingness to be imprisoned for preaching the Gospel.

He said many had been encouraged and motivated to preach the gospel and to take a bolder stance for the sake of the gospel because of his imprisonment.

Boldness for Christ is caught, more than it's taught.

Our actions impact the lives of others, even more so than our words.

We encourage or discourage others for the sake of the gospel by the way we live.

In verses 12-14 of this chapter, Paul wrote, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Paul didn't just honor God and Christ by his preaching and willingness to suffer imprisonment for it, he impacted others for the sake of the gospel.

While Paul's life impacted others, those at Philippi impacted Paul's life.

He writes, Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,… (verses 18-20).

C. We Should Matter to Us

In a world that is consumed with the mindset of, "Me, Mine, and Ours," you wouldn't think there'd be a need to emphasis why we should matter to ourselves, but there is.

We have been brainwashed by Satan to believe that our pain and hardships should matter more to us than we ourselves matter.

For instance, if our pain or hardships become great enough, Satan tells us that suicide is an acceptable way out.

This kind of thinking can only occur if our lives don't matter enough to us to warrant fighting our depression or pushing through our pain and problems.

Please nail this principle down, God doesn't make junk.

We are valuable to Him, to others, and should be to ourselves.

Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll once said, I use to preach, "I'd rather burn out, than rust out.

But now that I'm older and wiser, I realize that both are wrong.

Either way you're out of the picture.

Either way you're no good to God or others.

Our value to God and others is such, that we must also value our lives.

We must take care of ourselves.

We must get help when we can't deal with the pain or the depression on our own.

Now, don't take me wrong, we are not God, so we shouldn't expect people to worship and bow down to us.

We are not all-knowing, so we shouldn't expect everybody to drop what they're doing and listen to us like on the old E.F.

Hutton commercials.

We are, however, valuable to the degree that Christ died for us.

We are valuable because God created us, and left us in this world to bring about good to others, honor Him, and we do both by pointing others to Him.

It's our value to God and others that Paul is focused on when he says, Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents (verses27 & 28).

Paul wants to hear about how their lives are honoring God.

Why?

Because it encourages him.

It motivates him.

It comforts him.