As Christians we are called to be the light of the world, to live like Jesus Christ lived. Paul encourages us to take continual stock of our lives in Christ, and to make sure that we are moving in the right direction.

Today’s message is a simple but tough one. Look at Philippians 2: 1-11 and take stock of your life according to the example He set. This can be a very sobering process but it is important to know why we seek to follow His example. It’s because of His amazing love for us that we are saved. Being obedient to His Word and following His example are just two ways of showing that we love Him.

Philippians 2: 1-11

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like‑minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, 
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, 
taking the very nature of a servant, 
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, 
he humbled himself 
and became obedient to death– 
even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 
and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father.

By placing God’s way as the central focus of our lives we will bring Him glory. This video shows a prayer that you may like to echo:



Lord, make me an instrument of peace
Where there is hatred, let me bring love
Where there is wrong, let me bring forgiveness
Where there is discord, let me bring harmony
Where there is error, let me bring truth
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith
Where there is despair, let me bring your hope
Where there are shadows, let me bring light
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy
Lord grant that I would seek
Rather to comfort, than to be comforted
To understand rather than to be understood
To love than to be loved
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds
Its is forgiving that one is forgiven
It is by dying that one awakens eternal life
AMEN

(St Francis of Assisi)

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Christian, God has a new name for you. You don’t know what it is yet, but this what
Revelation 2v17 says, that to those who overcome, God will give a white stone with a new
name written in it, that only you will know! The name Timothy means Honouring God, so do
you wonder what the name is that God will give you?
Today we are going to carry on through the next part of the book of Philippians 2v19→23,
and in this section we will get to meet a Christian whose name was Timothy. There isn’t
space here to discuss the life of Timothy, but if you want to learn about him have a look
here.
To remind ourselves of what is going on here, Paul is in prison and he is writing a letter
to his friends that live in Philippi. In this part of his letter Paul tells his friends
that he really wants to send Timothy to them so that he (Paul) can hear how they’re
keeping. What is really interesting is why Paul wants to specifically send Timothy, and
this is something we can lean about ourselves today.
Paul wants to send Timothy for one main reason; Timothy cares about them. Timothy really
cared about Paul’s friends in Philippi, and therefore Paul wanted to send him to them.
Timothy cared more about the Philippians than he cared about himself. Now for us today,
this whole idea of really caring more about another than we care about ourselves is a crazy
idea. Practically nowhere in modern culture will anyone understand that there is any
benefit in caring more about someone else above themselves. The only time that there is
anything nearly like this in modern culture is in the realm of family, but this is not
frequent.
So what about us, we are all part of God’s family, as Christians we have brothers and
sisters all over the world. Do we care for them more than we care for ourselves, do we
actually care for them at all? Take this opportunity to develop a Timothy (God honouring)
care for your brothers and sisters in the Lord, pray for them, take care of those that you
can. If you’re from South Africa have a look at this website else look here. Remember God has
a white stone with a new name on it for you, what will your name say about you?

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Take a look at the sky on a clear day, there are no stars. Where have they gone? Why are
they not there any more? Look up at a patch of sky on a clear night (especially away from
the city) and see the stars, see how brightly they shine! What changed? Lets take a look at
you and your life, please read Philippians 2v12→18.
You are a Christian, you have been saved by Jesus, you have repented and have faith, but
now what is there to do. People say that Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a way of life,
but what exactly are they talking about. Here in this section of scripture Paul is writing
to his friends in a place called Philippi, while he is in prison, and what he tells them
will help us.

Work it out…
Paul tells the Philippians Christians to work out their salvation (remember that Paul is
speaking to Christians here) that is to say, that since God has saved you, go and figure
out what He (God) wants you to do for Him. And the same is true for you today, if God has
saved you He won’t leave you, He’s going to put you to work. God has saved you to do great
things for Him (using His power working in you!).

…and see what will happen…
Once you’ve figured what God has wired you to do for Him, and you set that as the greatest
desire of your life, do it without grumbling or complaining! This is a very rare thing in
this world, a person living their life doing what God has built them to do, and loving it.
These people are like the stars, God wants you to be like the stars; while the rest of the
world fade back into the black background, you will shine out like the stars.

… you will overflow with joy!
Remember Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter, that’s why he says what he says
here. Yet all the external circumstances were on little significance to him, he was doing
what God had built him to do, and his joy was untouchable! This is what God has for you,
this is what you should be seeking. But how often do we trade the untouchable joy that God
has for us, for a fleeting moment of happiness, that’s what we do when we sin…

So where do the stars go in the day time, well the foreground becomes to bright, when the
sun comes up, the sky gets bright and the stars fade out. But when the sky goes dark, the
stars shine out bright! We so often see the sin that our culture offers us as something
good, we want it, and when we do choose sin we don’t stand out as Christians, we’re like
the stars during the day. But when we choose to reject sin, and follow Jesus with our
lives, all of a sudden we will stand out from our culture, we will be like the stars on a
dark clear night!

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Paul carries on in his letter to the Philippians and as we read through Philippians 1v19→26 we get an awesome sense of how Paul just totally trusted Jesus, He knew that everything would turn out exactly as it should. We can learn some awesome lessons about who God is, and how we should live in light of that, as we go through this section of Paul’s letter to his friends in Philippi.

Paul is sitting in prison as he is writing this letter, and yet he is rejoicing. The reason that Paul could rejoice was because he didn’t let his life be directed by the circumstance he found himself in, he let God direct his life. That is why as Paul was sitting in horrendous conditions he could rejoice! Paul’s greatest concern was not for himself, it was not for material things, it was not for anything except that Jesus would be honoured. Paul’s greatest desire in life was that God would use him, all of his life, to bring honour to Christ, Paul’s drive was to make Jesus famous.

Because of Paul’s motivation in his life, he could honestly say those famous words – For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Paul’s earthly life was sold out to Jesus, and when he died, Paul knew that he would be with Jesus; so whether Paul lived or died, there was no loss for him! Imagine living your life like this, knowing that everything in your life is working towards the one thing that you are most passionate about, and that when you die, that passion will be ultimately fulfilled! Welcome to Christianity, this is what it is to be a Christian…

However, there should be a question bugging you; how can every single moment and aspect of your life bring glory to Jesus? The answer to that question is not found within you, rather it is found in God. God is sovereign, everything that God sets out to do, He will do. No person or thing can get in the way of what God sets His will to do. Acts 4v24→30 speaks about God’s sovereign plan in sending Jesus, even though the rulers of the day thought they were thwarting Jesus’ plan, they were in fact fulfilling it! Because God is sovereign, you can trust that, if you desire to live for Jesus, that God can use every moment of your life to make Jesus famous, even when you are mowing the lawn, or whatever you’re doing.

Therefore, we see that Paul trusted in the sovereignty of our awesome God, and that he knew that whatever his circumstance was that as long as he tried to live as God would have him to live that his life would be of eternal value. Christian, this is what God is calling you to today, that you would really trust Him, and fully surrender control of your life to God, that God will take every moment of every day of your life, and make it count towards the ultimate purpose, God’s glory! There is no other way you will find joy.

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Paul is in prison, things weren’t going well, he was living in the will of God, he was ministering for God, his heart was set on God, and he was in prison. Today as we carry on into Paul’s letter to the God worshipers in Philippi, we’re going to be looking at Philippains 1v12->18 and seeing Paul’s example of living in joy. In this passage we will look at two aspects of Paul’s reaction to what was happening around him and to him.

What happened to him…
Paul was in jail, and we would expect that he would be a little depressed because of the situation in which he finds himself. God has called him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and now he is stuck here in a jail, how frustrating! But this isn’t how Paul reacts, in verse 12 we see that instead of expressing his frustration, he sees God’s sovereign hand in what has happened to him. Paul knows that God is sovereign, and that God had allowed Paul to be in the situation that he found himself, so Paul doesn’t spend energy and emotion questioning and advising God, rather he throws all of himself into making the most of the situation that he finds himself in. Paul speaks about Jesus to the palace guard and his fellow prisoners, and Paul hears that other Christians are becoming more and more bold in proclaiming the Gospel because of what happened to Paul.

What motivated him…
Even though there is all this good news in Paul’s situation, there is still some bad news, some people are telling other people about Jesus out of impure motives. Some people were preaching the truth about Jesus, but they were doing so to try and gain things (status, recognition, profit, etc) for themselves, and to try and hurt Paul. But how does Paul react to this news? Again, he does not throw himself a pity party, nor does he feel hard done by because it is just so unfair. No, rather Paul is deeply joy-filled at the situation because Jesus is being spoken about to people who didn’t know Jesus.
This is the secret to Paul’s joy, and this can be the secret to your joy too; Paul was more concerned about Jesus than he was about himself. Right there, that is how Paul could live in unshakable joy, how even when everything around him was falling apart, as long as he had Jesus, and Jesus was being made famous then Paul had true (not fake) joy. This can be you in your life, God wants you to be joyful, in what do you honestly find your joy, if it isn’t in Jesus then you will never ever have true joy.

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