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Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

Living The Jesus Life Part 3

Philippians 1:27-2:4

Living The Jesus Life

This series is the next in an annual practice of spending time focusing on one book of the Bible. In this case, the study is of Philippians – the letter Paul wrote from a Roman prison to the church at Philippi, the first church Paul started in Eastern Europe (see Acts 16). The people at Philippi were facing the resistance of Rome but remained a vibrant community of faith.

As we continue in our teaching series, the Apostle Paul will challenge us to see that the citizenship that matters most in our lives has nothing to do with speed traps, spring taxes, or voting

The most important thing for us to live our lives by, is not determined by our physical location, but rather our citizenship in heaven.

That’s the call of living the Jesus life. To live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ.‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬-‭28‬‬

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.

Paul has already mentioned some of the challenges he is facing, now he turns to address some of the matters that the church is dealing with.

Nothing in the letter itself explains the details of the opposition they were facing, but it seems like it was coming from the Roman empire- from those outside the church.

The word for “Conduct yourselves” is unique in the original language. It certainly has implications of how we live and act. But, in the original language it also includes how people conducted themselves as citizens of a particular state.

So, Paul makes a play on that idea here- He implies that they should live like a colony of heaven. What should shape how they live is their relationship to heaven through Christ.“Conduct yourselves like heaven, right here on earth!”

With that focus, Paul anticipates that several things will be true of their lives together-That they will stand firm in The Spirit

That they will strive together

That they will not be afraid‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬-‭30

‬‬For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Paul doesn’t want his friends to think that they have done something wrong because opposition has arisen, or because they are facing challenging times.

In fact, as he writes from a Roman prison, Paul wants them to know that suffering for Christ, is a sign, a gift of living the Jesus life.

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭4‬‬

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in 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 of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Have the same mind, focused on the kingdom of God- strive together

Don’t allow selfish desires to veer you off course- Unity can breakdown strongholds and dispel fear, but selfishness destroys the work of God.

Friends the vision of Living the Jesus Life that Paul had from a roman jail nearly two thousand years ago, is still the call to live the Jesus life today.

To live by the heavenly code- by the values and ethics of the Kingdom of God.

As you think about your life today- What citizenship does your life reflect?

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Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg Living The Jesus Life: Part 2

Philippians 1:19-26

Living The Jesus Life

This series is a part of our annual practice of spending time focusing on one book of the Bible. In this case, the study is of Philippians – the letter Paul wrote from a Roman prison to the church at Philippi, the first church Paul started in Eastern Europe (see Acts 16). The people at Philippi were facing the resistance of Rome but remained a vibrant community of faith.

Philippians is a letter that speaks to living life as a disciple of Jesus in 2023. That’s why we’ve entitled the series, ‘Living the Jesus Life’.

Today’s focus is Philippians 1:19-26.‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬-‭26

‬‬for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

The end brings clarity.

As Paul writes in this next part of chapter 1, he is reflecting on his life and his possible death (remember, he is writing from a Roman jail).

His life could end at any moment and the end, at least the thought of end, brings incredible clarity.

-Paul might be facing his death any moment now, and with that he declares that He wants Christ to be exalted no matter what, whether by life or by death.

-The focus of this passage is on these 8 words in verse 21: “to live is Christ and to die is gain”.

1. To live is Christ-Paul found His true life in Christ. Eternal life but also life today.

-Paul’s source of joy (a theme throughout Philippians) is Christ. It is safe to say that Paul’s life found its ultimate meaning in Christ. So, if Paul lives, he gets to live serving and pleasing Christ.

-His life IS Christ, to live IS Christ.

2. To die is gain

-We fear death. To us, death seems like the end. But since Paul finds ultimate meaning in Christ and in relationship with Him, then death is just the end of this life, but the doorway to eternal life with him.

-His ultimate concern and most precious possession, both now and forever, is Christ and his relationship with Him.

-If He lives, that’s great because He lives for Christ. If he dies, that’s even better! Paul is in a no-lose situation.

“Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.”

D.L. Moody

The question Philippians 1:21 asks of us is this: who is Lord?

Bottom Line:

Living the Jesus life means that your life is in His hands, one way or the other.

Verses for further study/reflection:

John 15:13

1 John 3:16

Luke 9:24

2 Corinthians 5:15

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Living The Jesus Life: Part 1

Philippians 1:1-11

Living The Jesus Life

This series is the next in an annual practice of spending time focusing on one book of the Bible. In this case, the study is of Philippians – the letter Paul wrote from a Roman prison to the church at Philippi, the first church Paul started in Eastern Europe (see Acts 16). The people at Philippi were facing the resistance of Rome but remained a vibrant community of faith.

Philippians is a letter that speaks to living life as a disciple of Jesus in 2023. That’s why we’ve entitled the series, ‘Living the Jesus Life’.

Our journey begins today in Philippians 1:1-11.

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭11‬‬

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Paul is saying, “You are pure and blameless when you are filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus.”

Living the Jesus Life means to be filled with HIS righteousness. Not just His righteousness, but the fruit that comes from being filled with HIS righteousness.

1. God’s Righteousness is not earned-We are talking about a standard that we don’t measure up to

More importantly, we can’t measure up to this standard.

-Trying to earn His righteousness is a life destined for frustration, for legalism, and for bondage.

-It’s true that you can’t earn this. But it’s also true that you don’t have to.

2. God’s Righteousness is not bought-Just as it cannot be earned. God’s Righteousness cannot be bought.

-God’s righteousness doesn’t cost you anything, but it cost Jesus everything.

-We receive His righteousness through an exchange: our sin for His righteousness.

-We are declared righteous and justified because of the blood of Jesus Christ. No other reason.

3. God’s Righteousness is not temporary

-God’s declaration over you is not temporary. It is over and done, once and for all.

-We don’t live our lives seeking to be more righteous, you already are.

-We now walk surrendered – in step with His Spirit.

Bottom Line:Self-righteousness isn’t righteousness at all – only that which is found through Christ.

Verses for further study/reflection:

1 John 3:7

1 John 2:29

Philippians 3:9

1 Corinthians 1:30

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

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Church of the Nazarene – East RockLiving The Jesus Life

Philippians 1:1-11

Living The Jesus Life

This series is the next in an annual practice of spending time focusing on one book of the Bible. In this case, the study is of Philippians – the letter Paul wrote from a Roman prison to the church at Philippi, the first church Paul started in Eastern Europe (see Acts 16). The people at Philippi were facing the resistance of Rome but remained a vibrant community of faith.

Philippians is an ideal manual for living life as a disciple of Jesus in 2023

Our journey begins today at verse 1 of Philippians.‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬‬

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What we call the book of Philippians, is really a personal letter written by the Apostle Paul.

The city of Philippi was a thoroughly Roman city, very loyal and patriotic to the Roman government as many retired Roman military lived here.

It’s believed there weren’t enough Jewish men present to start an official synagogue, so those wishing to pray simply went outside the city on sabbath to gather and pray.

When Paul and his companions went out to pray on Sabbath, they encountered a wealthy woman named Lydia and some others praying.

Beginning with Lydia, then her whole household, the Holy Spirit used that encounter to establish what would become Paul’s favorite Jesus Community.‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭6‬‬

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

As we will see in the coming chapters, the church had commissioned a man named Epaphroditus to carry a gift to Paul while he was in prison.

The text we have today is Paul’s response to that gift. Epaphroditus would deliver back to them as an encouragement in their faith. You can already tell that the savor of this letter is different from some of the others that we find of Paul.

In Verse 4 he makes it clear that as he prays for them, he does so with Joy. Throughout this letter joy or rejoice will appear more than a dozen times.

Think about that- a man in prison, under arrest, possibly even chained to a Roman guard, unsure of his future, goes on and on about JOY.

During his first visit to Philippi Paul was harassed by a demon possessed woman, he was arrested, beaten with rods, thrown in prison, and then told to get out of town.

Within the first few verses of this letter, we see that Paul thinks a little differently about things- He is making the choice to view everything through the lens of Jesus and his Kingdom. His confidence is placed entirely in Christ.‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬‬

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

Paul likens his affection for them to the love that Christ himself would have.

You can only imagine how encouraging and heartwarming this portion of the letter was for them. To know that their gift was received, that they were not forgotten, even though it had been so long.‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬-‭11

‬‬And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

He asks the Lord that the Philippians Love would abound more and more.

Paul is asking the Lord that they would be people known by, or characterized by their Love.

He concludes his prayer asking the Lord that as the Philippians would be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

It may seem too simple, or too obvious, but the only way to live the Jesus life, is in and through the person of Jesus. Yet there are Christians all around us who are trying to live their lives with Christ as only an after-thought, or a Sunday morning visit.

There is never any doubt for Paul- The righteousness of Christ- right standing with God and right living- are only found through the person of Jesus.

The secret to living the Jesus life, is turning it all over to Him.

That’s what Paul is praying- That we would be filled with the fruit of righteousness (right relationship to God and right living) that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God

The focus of the letter of Philippians is on Christ- His righteousness, His mind, His love- Its about living the JESUS life. That’s the book of Philippians.

That’s the journey we are on together- to seek out and live the Jesus life, that only comes through faith in Him.

Will you commit to living the Jesus life?

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Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Stories of Your Life Part 4: Peter

Great desperation is met with great forgiveness.

Welcome back to our Sunday morning teaching series “Stories of Your Life”.

As a church family we are seeking to understand the meaning and the impact of Passion week through the perspectives and stories of key people involved.

As we continue in our teaching series today, we will look at the story of a man who probably experienced many feelings of guilt, shame, and regret following his great failure.

To be a disciple of Jesus doesn’t prevent us from failing-even failing historically- for all the world to see.

As common of an experience as failure can be in our story-It doesn’t have to be final. As we will see in the story of Peter, your failure doesn’t have the power to define your future- Only your savior can do that!‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭54‬-‭61‬‬

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”

Peter denies the Lord, not just once, but three times. He betrays Jesus completely.

This was a complete and utter failure. There’s no other way to describe it. Peter had failed.

The truth is, we all can relate to failure. Failure is a reality in this world.

But this is not a story of failure.

This is a story of how we respond when we fail, and even more important, how our Father responds when we fail.How would Peter respond to failure?

How would Jesus respond?‭‭

John‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬-‭17

‬‬Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

There is a clear parallel between Peter’s 3 denials and Jesus’ 3 questions. For each of the times Peter had denied Jesus, he now affirms His love.

Once we examine what Jesus is commanding Peter to do (‘feed my lambs’, ‘take care of my sheep’, ‘feed my sheep’ ) we see that Jesus is not just forgiving Peter, rather Jesus is commissioning Peter for ministry.

Peter is never the same:-He’s there on the day of Pentecost as the Spirit of God moves in a powerful way.-He’s there as the church is born and as he immediately begins to preach and 3,000 people were saved and baptized.

-Peter is there, healing and preaching.

-He’s thrown in jail and keeps preaching.

-He’s persecuted and he keeps proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.

Before when Peter faced opposition, he folded and ran away. But now, in the face of opposition, he is bold, he is obedient. And he becomes one of the most influential leaders the church has ever known.

Peter knew Jesus. Did Peter fail? Yes. But even in the midst of his bitter weeping, it’s clear that He knew Jesus.

Peter knew Jesus well enough to know His grace.

He knew enough to know that if he came running after Jesus, he would not be rejected.

Peter knew His grace.

The question is: Do we?Bottom Line:

Peter’s story isn’t so different from ours – great desperation met with great forgiveness.

Scriptures for future study/reflection:

Matthew 18:21-22

1 John 1:9

Hebrews 8:12

Acts 10:43

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