Sermon Tone Analysis

Testing 123

Series: Philippians

Title: Week 1 – New Beginnings

Text: Acts 16:13-40

Introduction

Today is the beginning of a new series, we are going to begin to work through Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

This letter is the only letter we have from the apostle Paul that is not based on instruction or correction.

It is the most positive book in the New Testament!

The main theme in this book is Joy.

It’s a fitting theme since most of us would love to experience joy on a regular basis.

As a matter of fact the search for joy consumes us in our culture today.

We seek joy in all kinds of places, yet most people struggle to find true joy, the kind of joy that Paul talks about in his letter to the church in Philippi.

The Search for Joy

Our pursuits for happiness has lead humanity down a slippery slope.

Many seek joy in monetary things, “if I can just afford to buy a bigger house, a newer car, then I will be happy”.

Others seek joy in relationships.

One thing that I have observed as a pastor about our North American pursuit of happiness is that we seem to hang our hopes on someone or something.

“If I could just find the right husband, or wife, then I would be happy”, or “If I could just get my dream job, then I would find happiness and joy at work”.

I could go on and on, my point is this….our

pursuit of happiness, our search for joy and contentment isn’t working!

In our culture today we are more discontent then ever before.

We are driven by consumerism, and the pursuit of more.

We self medicate with food, alcohol, drugs, tobacco.

Mental health struggles are at an all time high.

It’s not working, we are not finding true contentment, true joy when we do it the way the world tells us to.

This is why we have Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Paul is going to teach us how to find true joy, and contentment.

He is going to remind us that ultimate joy isn’t derived from comfortable circumstances, but from a living, vibrant communion with Christ.

He doesn’t say.

“Look at my house; now rejoice,” or “Look at my wife….my

kids….my

bank account.”

No, he says, “Look at Jesus, like I am doing, and rejoice with me”.

Philippians is not just about joy, it is also about partnership.

Partnership for the advancement of the Gospel.

We are going to see that not only are we called to a life of joy, but also a life that fearlessly advances the Gospel with joy, as we work together in hardship.

The advancement of the Gospel is always at the centre of Paul’s theology, it’s what drives him, and it should be what drives us!

Philippians is a letter full of encouragement around how to have good Christian friendship, and how to develop true community, true unity.

It is a book full of coffee mug quotes and some of the most famous verses in the New Testament:

Philippians 1:6 (NIV): being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:21 (NIV): For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 2:12–13 (NIV): Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Philippians 3:20 (NIV): But our citizenship is in heaven.

And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:13 (NIV): I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:19 (NIV): And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

There are so many more, it’s such a rich book.

Many Christians have built their lives on verses like these.

It is my hope that this series will help you find purpose, joy and contentment.

I know that I have while studying for this series.

The Background

Before we can head into the book of Philippians I would like to take some time to give you some background context.

So today we are not going into the text of Philippians, instead as an introduction we are going to be in the book of Acts, where we have the background story as to how this church in Philippi began.

Philippi was an important city in the province of Macedonia.

It was the city that was most like Rome, a vibrant city thriving with wealth and prosperity.

Philippi was an important city, and Paul’s first church plant on European soil.

Think of it like New York City or LA today.

It was a city that everyone had heard of.

Most of the people that lived there were Roman citizens, so the Gospel was not a common thing, nor was the Jewish religion.

Neither had really penetrated this city.

There were no Christians and only a small group of Jews.

If you could turn your bibles to Acts 16:6, as we take a look at how the church in Philippi began.

Essentially, you can group this churches beginning into two parts: submission to the Spirit and evangelistic encounters.

Submission to the Spirit

Paul is on his second missionary journey, and he receives a vision.

Acts 16:6–10 (NIV): Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

This is a key moment and something we need to take a moment to discuss.

Paul as Luke tells the story does something extremely important in this passage.

Paul listens to the Holy Spirit, he responds and goes.

I can’t help but stress to you how important this is to the Christian life.

Paul doesn’t push his agenda, he doesn’t go where the Spirit tells him not to.

I am sure he had a plan, it was most likely to preach in Asia Minor, but for some reason the text tells us the Spirit kept them from this.

Paul gets a vision from God and he goes.

He doesn’t analyze it for seven days, he doesn’t question it, or pray about it for months.

The text tells us that he had a dream, and the next day they went to where Pauls dream was telling him to go.

You see this all the time in the book of Acts, God leading someone to a place they never expected to go, and they respond.

That’s what living a life centred on the Gospel is all about, responding.

Submitting to the Spirit.

That is how the church in Philippi began, through Paul’s willingness to go and make disciples.

Evangelistic Encounters

But going is not enough is it?

Once you get to where God has called you to go, you have to do something.

This is exactly what Paul does, there are three different types of evangelistic encounters described: The first meeting is with Lydia and some other ladies:

Acts 16:13–15 (NIV): On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer.

We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth.

She was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home.

“If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”

And she persuaded us.

Luke tells us that Lydia is a significant individual.

She was a women of means (dealer of purple cloth), who worshiped God, but that doesn’t mean she was a Christian.

She was probably a God-fearer.

But when Paul spoke the Gospel God opened her heart to believe, her household also believed.

She immediately has Paul and his team over to stay with them.

This was a common response in the book of Acts.