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Call to Worship

I hope it has occurred to each of you that our focus here at Grace Fellowship is on God.

The point of a worship service is not the worshippers, but the one being worshipped.

The point of singing songs to God is not simply to give us all positive feelings - though positive feelings and emotions come naturally when worshipping.

Though I joke now and then in a sermon, the point is not entertainment.

Though I exhort you to draw closer to God, to love one another, to live a life worthy of the Gospel, the point of the sermon is not self-help.

Thankfully, in serving and glorifying God and living the life we are called to, positive results come in our lives.

However, the focus is God, not on us.

I generally start Sunday mornings off with announcements, and then - whether or not anyone recognizes it - we have a Scripture reading that is not from the text of the sermon, though it can be related.

However, the point of the call to worship is to get our minds on God and off of the world.

To direct our thoughts away from the distractions outside these church doors and towards the one we are here to worship.

To call you into His presence, to prepare your hearts and minds to worship in song and receive His Word.

Today our call to worship serves to remind us who Jesus is.

To remind us of his place in the order of all things, and the amazing work he has done for us.

From the book of Colossians, chapter 1, verses 15-23:

Colossians 1:15-23

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven,

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Discipleship

The process of training people incrementally in some discipline or way of life.

To be a disciple is to seek to imitate someone else through these incremental training steps.

Baptism

Matthew 28:18-20 contains the Great commission.

It reads as follows.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

From Piper:

the command to baptize (resides) in verse 19.

The meaning of baptism develops out of this meaning of discipleship.

If becoming a disciple of Jesus means dying to your old life and walking in newness of life with Christ as Jesus taught, then it's almost inevitable that the symbolic act of that conversion should come to signify a death and resurrection.

And that's just what happened.

Paul says in Romans 6:3, 4, "All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

So Jesus commands baptism as a normative part of disciple-making because baptism signifies in an outward way what it means to become a disciple—death to self-reliance and a new life of faith following Jesus.

I believe Piper shows a great understanding of what Baptism is all about.

Baptism is not a requirement to be saved.

However, it is something commanded of us by Jesus.

All throughout the Bible, one of the first things that happens after a person or group of people comes to faith is they are baptized.

We see this in Acts 2:41, where those who believed what Peter had preached were baptized.

We see the same thing happen after Philipp preaches in Acts 8.

Acts 2:38 calls for Christians to “repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins”.

Becoming a Christian and being baptized go hand in hand.

We desire to see those who come to Christ be baptized because Jesus tells us to do that, and because it is a public proclamation that you are now a disciple of Christ.

At Grace Fellowship, we believe in believer’s baptism by immersion.

This means we go to a baptismal, or a pond, lake, river, swimming pool, livestock water tank, kiddie pool in the front yard - I don’t care - as long as you can go under the water and come back up.

It is not the water that is important but the act of Baptism as a whole.

If you desire to be baptised, let me know.

We’ll make it happen.

Membership

There is a role of protection for the church.

It’s a Biblical office.

You see the vision

You see the beliefs

You’re bought in

// Honor people who “go the second mile” (v.

29).

How does this relate to being unselfish?

(2:3)

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.

20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.

23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.

27 Indeed he was ill, near to death.

But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

1) This section of our reading seems to be an abnormal break from the surrounding text of Philippians.

At the start of this letter to the church in Philippi, Paul makes a fairly standard greeting, and also includes his fellow servant of Christ, Timothy.

He expresses his thanksgiving both to God and to the church in Philippi, and then goes on to update the Philippians regarding his status, condition, and mindset while in prison.

2) He then begins to exhort the Philippians to live a life worthy of their calling, worthy of being named a Son or Daughter of God.

He continues by describing Christ’s humility and character - one of the most beautiful sections of the New Testament, full of meaning and rich theology.

He talks about unity and being children of God who cling to the Word of life, rejoicing together as they offer themselves up to God’s holy work.

3) He then abruptly - in our reading today - switches to what some have called a “travelogue”.

He discusses his plans to visit Philippi, and also talks about the possibility of travel for a couple of other Christian ministry workers.

It seems as if his goal in this section is mostly to inform the Philippians of his plans to come and his plans to send others to come before him.

4) As we will find out next week, he then goes back into some very serious theology in chapter three.

It seems odd that he would sandwich this travelogue in there.

5) And remember when we are studying our Bibles, we are supposed to be looking for those things that stand out, or that seem odd.

We need to try and find out if there is a reason for those things being there in that specific place in the text, and what information we can gain from it.

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REWRITE THIS

From: https://bible.org/seriespage/9-timothy-and-epaphroditus-two-examples-humility-and-unity-philippians-219-30

First, there is good reason for the placement of 2:13-19 here instead of at the end of the letter.

Recall that from the outset of Philippians (1:1-2), Paul has urged, both by example and by explicit statement, that the church cultivate the virtue of humility with a view toward corporate unity.

In particular, he wants these Christians to stand firm (1:27-30) and to seek the interests of others ahead of themselves (2:3-4).

That this is such a strong theme running through the epistle is evidenced by the example of Christ in 2:6-11 who poured out his life unto death for the sake of others.

And herein lies the reason for the mention of Timothy and Epaphroditus in 2:19-30.

Both of them are living examples of people who have done just that.

In fact, it is difficult to miss the similarity of language between 2:3-4 and 2:21: Paul urges the Philippians to look out for the interests of others (2:3-4) and then turns right around and gives them the example of Timothy, of whom it is said in 2:21, that he looks out for the interests of others.