Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

I want you to think of someone that has made an impact on your walk with Christ.

Maybe it’s a parent who raised you in a home that made Jesus the center and your parent or parent(s) taught you to love the Lord.

Maybe it’s a Sunday School Teacher who faithfully taught the Word of God week in and week out and you were able to see how precious Jesus is through the way they taught and poured into your life.

Maybe it’s a Pastor who invested in you and not only taught the Word of God in a powerful way but modeled a life that loved the Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind.

Possibly it’s a friend who loved you in a time where you felt broken and ashamed and discipled you through that tough time in your life.

I hope and pray that you can think back to someone or a group of people who have made an impact on your life.

This morning, we are going to look at two men who faithfully lived out their walk with Christ and set a good example for how followers of Christ should live, think, and act in regards to a following Christ and serving others.

Philippians 2:

Last week, we covered what it looks like to live out our faith in Christ and how to be a light in a dark world.

Paul lovingly exhorted the believers at the church at Philippi to work out their own salvation, meaning to pursue Jesus even in the midst of trials and tribulations and that God was working in them to cause’ them to be effective for the mission.

Philippians

We’ve established that Paul is writing this letter to the Church at Philippi from prison and it was not possible for the apostle Paul to come back to the church he helped start in Philippi, but we come to V. 19-30 and see Paul highlighting his travel plans.

It’s interesting to note that in Paul’s other letters, the travel plans normally come at the end of the letter, but Philippians is an exception.

Reading 19-30, you will not see any quotable passages or memory verses, but Paul’s desire through giving details about two men he is sending to the church is to give concrete examples to what he had just spent time talking about.

One of the best ways we can explain it is the fact that Paul is highlighting the faithfulness of these men to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and wanted to give the church concrete examples for what he just talked about in the previous two chapters on what it looks like to live the Christian life.

Remember that Paul had just commanded the church to walk in humility and live a life serving others just like Jesus served us on the cross.

Paul wants the church to know of these two men who are coming to them and how they are going to model the humility that he was teaching about earlier.

Thinking back to the question I asked at the beginning.

I know you probably have had or currently have someone in your life that has helped you in your walk with Christ but what is it about that person that sets them apart?

I think of my parents and the godly example they set for me growing up in the way they dealt with one another and situations that came up in our life and I am thankful that they set that example for.

me.

When it comes to ministry, when my family moved to Powell my Jr. year in high school, I was blessed with the opportunity to have a couple elder’s pour into my life and invest in me when it came to my walk with Christ.

These men not only taught me the word of God but they walked alongside me as I served him in ministry in the local church.

Without them, I would not be where I am today.

What sticks out to me about these men is not the fact they were good teachers or nice guys.

They were both of those, but they exemplified who Jesus was.

Our mission statement at First Baptist Alcoa is “The First Baptist Church of Alcoa is a family of rescued sinners called to be disciples of Jesus Christ that make disciples of Jesus Christ.

I don’t know about you, but I love examples.

Examples are often used to help us learn and grow.

Paul provides examples of two men who pursued the Lord and how it affected their life.

We are going to take an in-depth look at Timothy and Epaphroditus this morning and see what sets them apart as servants of the Lord.

As we follow Christ, we know that Jesus is our ultimate example of a true servant but it’s also good to see other examples of servants and my hope today is that we will dive in to this text and learn some characteristics of a servant.

Timothy

As Paul is writing this letter, he highlights his beloved disciple Timothy.

As Paul is writing this letter, he highlights his beloved disciple Timothy.

We know that Timothy was Paul’s right hand man in ministry and Paul poured his life into Timothy to help him grow in his ministry.

Notice Paul’s statement in V. 20 “For I have no one else like him.”

We see from that statement alone that Timothy meant the world to Paul because he was not only one of Paul’s disciples but he would have been trusted by Paul to continue the work he had started.

Paul discipled Timothy and Timothy grew in his walk with the Lord and made disciples for Jesus Christ and was trusted by Paul.

Timothy would have shared Paul’s mind and heart because he spent so much time alongside him in ministry.

That is a picture of discipleship because when we are discipled, we want to be close to the person who is helping us in our walk with Christ and we should also have people in our live’s that want to spend time with us because we are encouraging them in their walk as well.

Timothy would have helped Paul plant the church at Philippi and people would have known that Timothy was Paul’s right hand man.

Paul

What was it about Timothy that set him apart from others?

Timothy had compassion for others.

Servants have compassion for others.

The phrase “who will genuinely concerned for your welfare.”

tells us a very important lesson in not just serving the Lord but simply living out our faith in Christ in making disciples.

Servants of the Lord genuinely care about others.

We cannot and will not be effective in loving others if we don’t genuinely care about them.

As Paul is giving an example to this church of exactly what he is talking about in the previous verses, we see an example of a man who genuinely loves and cares for others.

As Paul is giving an example to this church of exactly what he is talking about in the previous verses, we see an example of a man who genuinely loves and cares for others.

The word “concerned” in V. 20 can be translated as anxious, but Timothy’s anxiety was not sinful but his anxiety was one of deep concern for the well being of the church at Philippi.

Anxiety when it relates to oneself is sinful but when it says’ Timothy was concerned it refers to the well being of the church.

May we look at Timothy’s compassion and be encouraged to be concerned for other’s well-being so much so that we move to action.

The question today is do we have compassion and concern for other’s or are we simply going through the motions of life and don’t even think about other’s needs.

I want to be vulnerable for a minute but I oftentimes feel ashamed for not having this type of compassion for other’s.

Isn’t is so easy to get into a routine of life where we are not even making time to show compassion or care for others.

Think of this scenario.

When asked how you are doing, how do you normally answer?

For me, I normally answer “good, just busy.”

There are times in my life that are busier than others, but my prayer is that I’m never to busy to love others and serve others in the name of Jesus.

There are times in my life that are busier than others, but my prayer is that I’m never to busy to love others and serve others in the name of Jesus.

When showing compassion to others, we have to be intentional and available:

Intentional because someone is not going to pop out at us and say “I’m right in front of you and I’m ready for you to love and serve me, give me a hug.”

When it comes to serving others and making disicples, we must be intentional in finding people to pour into and love in a way that will help them grow in their walk with Christ.

That’s often difficult in a culture that is private and individualistic.

I took Isaiah to the mall Friday to pick something up and one of my favorite things to do at Malls is people watch.

One of the things I notice is that people will go out of their way not to have to talk or even make eye contact with others.

Maybe you’ve been hit up by the guy that works at the Kiosk in the middle of the aisle.

He says’ sir, sir, sir, sir, sir, sir.

or ma’am, ma’am, ma’am, ma’am, ma’am while chasing you with some hair product and people go full robot mode or pretend they are talking on their phone to avoid the person.

Oftentimes, that’s how we live our life, we try to stay away and avoid other’s and simply keep to ourselves, but in order to make disciples we must be intentional.

Another good example of this is the way houses are built.

Many years ago people spent time on their front porches.

People in the neightborho

We must also be available.

How many planners do we have in the room this morning?

You may be one of those people that has every minute and every hour planned to a T.

I want to challenge all of us this morning to simply be available for others.

I know there will be seasons in our lives’ that may be busier than others, but I know there are things in my life I can cut out to simply be available to serve others and disciple others.

For us to be effective servants, we must be intentional and available.

Paul compares his relationship with Timothy as a father-son.

Timothy was like a spiritual son to Paul.

Paul was not only highlighting Timothy’s companionship but he was also saying that it was difficult to send Timothy because they were so close and Timothy was with Paul helping him through a difficult time.

Paul shows his own example of Christ-likeness by promising to send Timothy because he needed Timothy but knew the importance of Timothy going and helping this church in a difficult time.

Paul thought of others above himself.

Disciple Makers build relationships.

So a servant has compassion on others.

Disciple Makers build relationships.

Epaphroditus

Philppians 2:25-30

Epaphroditus is a great name isn’t it.

I’m trying to convince Katherine to name our next child Epaphroditus.

I can only imagine what teachers would think when calling role.

The names comes from a Greek Goddess and means “lovely” or “charming.”

That is interesting to note because his family more than likely worshiped that goddess which would have made Epaphrodotis a converted Gentile.

Epaphroditus was one of Paul’s very close companions and partners in ministry and was the messenger to the church at Philippi bringing them the letter that Paul had written them.

What we need to know about Epaphroditus is that the church of Phillipi sent him to send gifts to the Apostle Paul as he was in prison.