Fellowship Of The Gospel Series

Technicolor Joy

A Study in Philippians 1:3-8

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

4-30-2-23

The Fellowship of the Ring

Four little hobbits with large, hairy feet - Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.

Two human men - Boromir and Aragorn, who happens to be the son of the King.

One wizard named Gandalf.

One elf - Legolas

One dwarf - Gimli.

They had little in common. In fact, elves and dwarves hated each other.

What brought these nine together? One common purpose and mission - to save middle earth from impending evil and darkness.

They united to protect a little hobbit who was tasked with carrying the One Ring to it’s destruction in the fires of Mount Doom in Modor.

Who am I talking about? Tolkien’s “Fellowship of the Ring.”

What comes to mind when you think of the word fellowship? Coffee? Euchre? The time before church service?

All of those events can be fellowship. But not the kind of fellowship that Paul shares with his dear friends at the church in Philippi.

They were closer than friends. They were a band of brothers and sisters.

Last Week

I would encourage you to go back and watch the sermon from last week that set up the context for this letter.

We began with the greeting, where Paul describes himself and Timothy as “slaves of Christ.”

Paul wants the Phiippians to follow his example of submitting his life to Christ and finding his joy in that submission.

The letter is addressed to the Christians at the church in Philippi.

He calls them “saints in Christ.” The word “saint” is confusing to many in our culture. Biblically, a saint is not a super elite special Christian like Mother Teresa or Augustine.

Who are the saints in the Bible? They are simply the ones that believe and have put their full faith and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Then Paul uses a customary greeting to show that salvation is because of Christ.

Paul often begins his letters with "grace and peace.” Grace is the normal way a Gentile would begin a letter. Paul changes the normal word for “greetings” by a few letters and it becomes grace, Peace (Irene/Shalom) is the way a Jew would begin a letter.

Grace is God’s unmerited favor to sinners who deserve hell. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:9)

Grace leads to peace with God, the peace of God, and peace with others.

Jesus said:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

I ended last week’s sermon by saying that we will

Fight for joy

Find our joy

Face the future with joy

That brings us to our section today.

Read Philippians 1:1-8.

Prayer.

This week, we will study Paul’s idea of Gospel Driven Fellowship. Next week, we will look at his Gospel Centered Prayer.

The church was made up of people from different backgrounds, different ethnic groups, different socio-ecomic statuses, different sexes, slaves and free. On the surface, they had little in common.

Much like the fellowship of the ring, their fellowship was a deep connection forged in a common love for Jesus and shared suffering for their faith.

A. Joyful Thanksgiving

“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…”

Paul was under house arrest in Rome, chained to a Roman soldier, awaiting Nero to decide whether he lives or dies.

When he remembers the Philippian believers he smiles and his heart is filled with thankfulness.

Wait. Do you remember what happened to him in Philippi? He was arrested, falsely accused, stripped, beaten and put into prison in stocks.

I’m not sure that I would look back on my time in Philippi with thanksgiving, would you?

But it is common for Paul to begin his letters with thanksgiving and this letter overflows with gratitude.

He probably closed his eyes and remembered Lydia responding to the Gospel, or the look of utter amazement on the slave girl’s face when he cast the demon out of her. Or the joy in the the Philippian jailer’s eyes when he and his family were baptized.

And not just them, but the dozens if not hundreds who had been added to their church over the past ten years.

He’s thankful for all of them. Every…single…one. Even the ones who were in conflict? Yes. Even the ones who might be giving in to the false teachers? Yep.