Looking At Ourselves, Looking Out for Others

Text: Philippains 2

Title: Looking at Ourselves, Looking Out for Others

Textual Theme, Goal, Need:

Theme:

Goal:

Need:

Sermon Theme, Goal, Need:

Theme: Christians must have the mind of Christ, thinking of how we must lower ourselves for the good of others.

Goal: to encourage Christians have a mind notices the needs of others first

Need: we often think that we are fine, others are the ones with the problems.

Textual Outline:

Textual Notes:

Sermon Outline:

Introduction about loving others.
Looking at your own interests
Looking out for others interests.
Looking to have the interests of Christ.
Conclusion: Nail the goal. Notice the needs of others first

Sermon in Oral Style:

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

What is love really all about? Many people believe the place love has to start is with having more and more love for yourself. Then you can start giving it to others. The second greatest commandment is love your neighbor as yourself. Well, If I don’t love myself enough, then how am I ever going to truly love my neighbor? The focus of loving others then begins with loving yourself.

Its an interesting theory, and we shouldn’t bash ourselves so much that we are unable to love. But at the heart of that second great commandment is that loving others is most important. Christ’s point is different from the self help gurus of today. He never wanted us to think so highly of ourselves that it helps others feel loved. Jesus Christ would make a terrible afternoon talkshow host. Christ’s teaching is all about self sacrifice and discipline, never about loving yourself.

We just sang the song, standing in the need of prayer. Not anyone else, Lord, but its me standing in the need of prayer. This songs is not focusing on how we are the ones who deserve prayer. It’s a song that acknowledges that we have our flaws. That it isn’t about praying for the problems of others. Its about looking at ourselves and realizing we need prayer and forgiveness. We need to acknowledge that we do sinful things and part of the brokenness in our lives might just have something to do with what I have done or what I failed to do.

Love your neighbors as yourself isn’t a call to love yourself so much that it overflows into becoming love for other people. We try to live that way. We try to love that way. But we are wrong in doing it that way. Love always starts with meeting the needs of others.

In our passage today it tells us that we shouldn’t look out only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others.

It’s easy enough for most of us to look out for our own interests. Our passage kind of assumes that we naturally are going to do that. Looking out for ourselves isn’t always a bad thing. Unless looking out for our own interests actually makes us forget about the interests of other people.

So, I would suggest the first thing Christians who are told to truly love, the first thing we have to do is look at our onw interests. Look at your own interests.

The things that drive your life, what are they? If you don’t have an answer to that question in a short time, it is definitely time that you think about it again. Take a look at what driving forces you have in your life. What motivates you to live? What is truly living, in your opinion? What needs do you need fulfilled in your life?

Answer it for yourself. Then think about the way your closest non church-going friend would answer it? They often see our true colors shining through. Would they say the true interest of your heart is something like God, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Would they say it is something like love, joy, peace patience, kindness…? Or would they say it is about getting through the week so you can drink, hang out, gamble, hunt, gossip, flirt, or whatever the rest of the weekend. Would they say its about getting ahead whatever the cost. What desire would they say is driving your life?

What are your interests? What do others say your interests are?

Maybe it would be good to say here, that I hope church is not an interest of yours. I hope that church in itself isn’t an interest of yours.

I hope being a part of a church is just one way that you live out one of the deepest interests in life, and that is showing Christ how thankful you are that he saved you. Church is not an interest in itself. Belonging body and soul in life and in death to our faithful savior Jesus Christ, now that is a driving force for a person’s life.

As we are reaching out to those who have wandered away, one of the things they will notice very quickly is when our interest is in church and is not in Christ.

Think about your friend, coworker or family member. Many of them will be disgruntled with the church because or people who simply do the church thing without living for Jesus Christ. Maybe its one of the things that makes you distracted from worship. Christians, fellow believers in Jesus Christ, who live for church on Sunday. They may even help out in the life of the church during the week, but they live without Christ in the rest of their lives.

When we wonder why people have trouble coming to church, or coming back to church again. We need to first look at ourselves. Is it possible that our interests are not in Jesus Christ, but are in something less important?

What are your interests? Are they in line with who Christ expects you to be? We need to take a close look at our own interests. When our interests are wrong, we definitely need to change and confess to Christ. It’s Me. It’s Me. It’s Me oh Lord. Standing in the need of prayer.

Now remember what our passage says,

Verse 4 says, “4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. [1]

In this verse it reminds us to look at for our interests, as long as those interests are good interests. But more importantly we look out for the interest of others

What good does this do? Lots. In many cases you could say this makes all the difference in the world. A person comes into the church who has been away for years and years. They step up the courage, it really is a courageous thing to be back in the place you haven’t worshiped at for many years. They step back into church and they experience what the body of Christ at Ebenezer is like.

If the first thing they say to themselves as they exit the doors of the church is “boy they sure are good at paying a lot of attention to their own interest.” Then with good reason they aren’t going to feel like being a part of Christ’s body.

We are called to Look out for the interests of others, the needs of others. It is nice that we have deacons that look out for financial needs, but deacons are only to help us all become better servants of others. Looking out for the interests of others.

Truly looking out for the interests of others is impossible inside the walls of the Church. If we serious about affecting the faith and the eternity of the people we love who have wandered away, we don’t hope they come to church and then get confronted with the need of Christ. Nope. It starts when outside of the walls of this building Christians be like Christ to others. “Hey… how you doin’” Things have been rough for you… let me help you this week. Tell me what’s going on in your life.

What a different message will be sent when we show others that we are looking out for the deepest aches of their hearts. That’s the love Christ was talking about!

And why do we do this? It is because as Christians, we need to have the mind of Christ. That’s what Paul tells us again in the passage. He wants us to be unified together. He wants us to be humble and look out for the interests of others. Then it says in verse 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: [2]

We look out for others because that is definitely what Christ would do. That is what Christ’s life was all about. It was about seeing people that had deep seeded needs. It was about seeing the sins of all humanity and then doing something about them. Dying to rescue us from them.

He was God. He ruled the entire world, and then emptied himself of all that glory. To be like us and die on the cross for us. That is the unselfish love of God. That is the heart of God for those who are lost.

Paul tells us. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. What does it matter what people think of the worship in the church, or the education groups, or the opportunities to interact with other Christians. What does it matter if when people meet us in Church or on the street and they don’t see the mind of Christ in us, or the love of Christ.

But if they see that we are serious about taking the name of Christ upon ourselves during every day of our lives, then others will start to get it.

Practical examples of how Christ’s mind could change the way you love. You are annoyed by the high schoolers that hang out some are innocently hanging out. Others, not so innocently. But those students are full of needs. Having the mind of Christ would involved looking out for the needs of the highschoolers. Understanding their needs. Being Christ to them. That would be as simple as instead of telling them off, just have a conversation about life, or school, or home…. Whatever. Listen to their hearts. Discover their needs. That’s love.

Your daughter has fallen away from the church. Or your brother has taken the wrong course in his life. If we were just churchclub attenders we would only want them to come in the doors and sit in the pews and do the religious thing. That would be only meeting our own interests to see them near us in church.

But we are Christians. We belong to a savior that has bent down to meet our deepest needs. For your daughter. For your brother. Find out their needs. Listen to their hearts. And show that you are covered by the blood of Christ. And filled up with the mind of Christ. By trying to care for them in their need.

One person who had the mind of Christ, St Francis of Assisi said, Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary use words. Look at your own interests. . Look out for the interests of others. Use your hands, use listening ears. Use a caring heart. But have the mind of Christ

This is God’s will from his word. And all God’s people say, AMEN.

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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Php 2:4

[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Php 2:5