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It is staggering to think of everything Jesus left behind to come to earth and save us! He set aside all His kingly rights, made himself nothing, and became a humble servant to show us what sacrificial love really looks like. However, it is not enough for us to admire His humility from a distance. The Bible calls us to humble ourselves in exactly the same way and to love others as Jesus loved us.
The war that killed more American soldiers than any other war in history was the Civil War. More lives were destroyed by fighting among ourselves than by fighting an outside enemy. The same is true in the church. If Satan can get us to turn our swords on each other, the gospel will never advance, and the name of Christ will be tarnished in the eyes of a watching world once again. Are you contributing to the unity or disunity of your church?
Philippians 1:27 urges us to live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. This literally means that our lives should give equal weight and value to the sacrifice that Christ made by giving His life for us. If His death was placed on one side of an old-fashioned scale and our life was placed on the other side, would it reveal that we are living in a way that measures up to what He did for us? Are our lives an appropriate reflection of the gospel?
Death. It’s a topic no one likes to talk about. People do everything they can to stay young as long as possible and extend their life in the hopes of delaying the inevitable. Even many Christians are afraid to think about death. But as followers of Christ, we not only have nothing to fear about death, the Bible tells us that dying will actually be our greatest day ever! If we can truly say, “For me to live is Christ,” then the last half of that statement will also be true: “…and to die is gain!” Join us for a very uplifting and encouraging look at this normally gloomy subject.
What are you living for? It’s a simple question, yet how you answer it has profound implications. For the apostle Paul, the answer was unmistakable. He said, “For me to live is Christ!” Could your life’s statement be that clear; that there would be no need for additional words or further explanations? Is Christ the very purpose, priority, and passion of your existence?
Some people teach that God never uses pain or trials or sickness to bring about His will. While this may sound good, it is absolutely not biblical. As we will see today, God uses many things, including suffering, to bring about His purpose. The question is not whether we will face trials, but whether we will respond to them in ways that glorify God. If you are in the middle of a painful, confusing time in life right now, we pray that this message will be a great encouragement to you!
Paul opens his letter to the church in Philippi with incredible words of love and encouragement, thanking them for their faithful partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now. Then he tells them that it was God who saved them, and it will be God who carries their salvation on to completion. He is reminding them that there is nothing they can do through their own efforts to earn salvation or to keep their salvation secure. If you ever worry about losing your salvation, these are great verses to help you settle this matter once and for all.
The great church in Philippi began, not through clever planning and brilliant strategy, but because of “failed” plans by a missionary team. They had planned to take the Gospel into Asia, but the Holy Spirit would not allow them to go there, and sent them instead to the city of Philippi where they were severely beaten and thrown into prison. Surely this could not be God’s will for them! Yet out of that hardship came a beautiful church. Are you learning to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, even when His plans don’t make sense?
When facing discouragement and difficulties in life, do you turn to yourself and the world, or do you turn to the Lord? As the narrow road becomes hard to travel, we must not shrink back from our faith. Join us as we hear an inspiring message about standing firm in the Lord.
The church has been called to function in unity in order to display the Gospel to a watching world. However, churches sometimes mistakenly think that unity means uniformity. This is a costly mistake that creates churches filled with man-made rules in an attempt to make everyone look the same, think the same, and act the same. This was never God’s intention! Instead, we have been called to find unity in one thing — The Truth — and learn to function together as the Body of Christ, despite our other differences.
As Americans, we observe Memorial Day to honor and remember those who have given their lives for our freedom. But may we never forget that the greatest sacrifice ever made was when Jesus willingly bore our sin and died on the cross to purchase our freedom. For us, every day should be a “Memorial Day” as we honor and remember our Savior for shedding His innocent blood to save us!
What would you do if you discovered the richest hidden treasure in all the world? Would you be willing to trade in all your old junk in exchange for that treasure? In Christ we have discovered life’s greatest treasure, yet so few Christians are willing to invest even a small portion of what they have into His mission. What will we say when we stand before God one day… will we weep tears of regret knowing that we refused to invest in His kingdom work, or will we rejoice knowing that we held nothing back? We must all decide what we value most before it’s too late.
