All taking ownership
Philippians: All taking ownership. Sunday 23 Nov
Philippians is written in a time of intense persecution
· Paul wrote it to them while sitting in Jail in Rome, awaiting possible death sentence
· Philippi was Roman colony- Roman city with roman customs, dress, and architecture. Great commercial centre of trade
· He planted the church through much persecution and the church themselves it seems were suffering persecution because of the gospel.(1:29)
They understood what it meant to suffer for Jesus
· Yet one of the themes of book is Joy. Joy mentioned 5 times and rejoice(verb) 8 times in 4 small chapters
Paul’s greeting to the whole church
Read 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus
Humble introduction. No great titles here
Paul knew the church, didn’t have to emphasize his ‘apostleship’
Titles don’t give respect, character does
doulos- slave
Slave had no rights- were in absolute possession of their master
Jesus is our master, we live to do His will and are in His possession.
He has bought us with a price-blood
To all the saints in Christ Jesus
Saints just means ‘called out’, different from the world, set apart for holiness
Only living in Jesus makes you holy
‘When Paul spoke of Christians being in Christ, he meant that the Christian lives in Christ as a bird in the air, a fish in the water, the roots of a tree in the soil. What makes Christians different is that they everywhere conscious of the encircling presence of Jesus Christ.’ M Vincent
Paul writes to all the saints and elders and deacons
What does this tell us, the fact that Paul wrote these letters to the whole church, not just the leaders?
Paul expected the whole church to take ownership of the church
Every Christian
See the example when Paul writes to the Corinthian church
Church was been infested with sin and problems with man sleeping with his step mother.
Read 1 Cor 5:1-2
He wants the whole church to take care of the problem
We see the Philippian church was far from perfect
1. There was possibly rivalry, disunity and complaining in the church and Paul has to write to encourage them to unity (2:2) and humility.
2. There were some who questioning leaders on everything and trying to promote themselves, their ministry, their teaching
3. Their were two women, possibly deacons who could not agree (4:2) and Paul has to write to them to help them sort out their disagreement
If you want to find the perfect church…. then go to one where there is no people! Where there are relationships there will be issues and we have to accept that and work through it, not run away
All of us to take responsibility for the church
So the question is: who is responsible ultimately for this local church?
We all are, leaders and members
o Leaders must give an account
o Every Christian must give an account
§ Did you stir up and encourage others to love and good works? Heb 10:24
§ Did you gather regularly and consistently with the saints? V25
§ Did you fight and guard the unity of the church? Phil 2
V2: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul ends off his greeting with this.
Greeks always greeted each other with Grace to you
Jews always greeted each other with peace to you from God
Paul combines it
In Jesus may we have joy and gladness from God and also peace from God enabling us to live together in peace and joy
The lesson for us is:
For a church to be healthy we need everyone to take ownership
We are each a part of Jesus’ body (if you are born again) and Jesus wants his body to be healthy and active
You don’t have to be saved a long time to serve and be used
Hand out questionnaire
Deals with areas of ministry, gifts, serving
God’s gifts he gives to us are free
Nothing to do with maturity or wholeness
Break bread together- guarding our unity- we are one loaf. 1 Cor 10:16-17
Worship together