TO KNOW CHRIST #7
Life Lessons from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians
THE POWER OF A GOOD EXAMPLE
Phil 2:19-30
HOW TO SET AN EXAMPLE WORTH FOLLOWING:
- CULTIVATE A CARING HEART
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:19-21 (NIV)
- DEVELOP AN EXCELLENT CHARACTER
22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
Philippians 2:22 (NIV)
- BUILD A REPUTATION FOR COOPERATION
25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
Philippians 2:25 (NIV)
- NURTURE A SPIRIT OF COMMITMENT
26 For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.
Philippians 2:26-28 (NIV)
- LIVE FEARLESSLY
29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
Philippians 2:29-30 (NIV)
“If all men are offended because of Christ, let them be offended; but where is the sense of their being offended at something that is not Christ and is nothing like him? We do him singularly little honor by watering down his personality till it could not offend a fly. Surely it is not the business of the Church to adapt Christ to men, but to adapt men to Christ.”
― Dorothy L. Sayers, Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine