Always Room For Growth Series

“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” This week we are beginning a new series on a community of Christians that really understood the meaning of this quote, the Philippian church. and we will be in this letter for the spring, until right around the end of June. Philippians is one of my favorite New Testament letters. The church in Philippi was one of the strongest, most faithful church plants of Paul, and it is clear that Paul had a deep, deep love for them. This was a church that found joy in sacrificial love in the name of the Gospel. They understood the joy to be found in being a part of a mighty purpose, and they gave sacrificially of themselves and their resources to advance that purpose. When Paul first came to Philippi to preach the gospel, he was thrown into jail, but he found the people of the city immediately receptive and welcoming to the gospel. The first Christian in the city of Philippi was a woman named Lydia, who immediately invited Paul and Silas to her home, and through Lydia and her household, the church in Philippi grew. They were close to Paul’s heart, and he became very close with the people of Philippi. And as Paul’s ministry went on and he eventually was imprisoned, the Philippians sent money and support to Paul, people came from that church to testify on his behalf before the Romans. They also financially supported other churches that were not as blessed financially. They were a church that was filled with love and joy in the gospel, and Paul says that he thanked God for them every time they came into his thoughts. Whenever they came to mind, he was filled with joy and happiness. But like every community of believers, they also had struggles. There were problems that needed to be addressed. They had plenty going for them, and we are going to see that today in this prayer of Paul, a prayer of thanksgiving. But what we will also see today, and during this study, is that no matter where we are in our walk with Jesus, there is always room to grow. There is always room for more maturity, to grow closer to God and closer to each other. There is always room to become more Christ-like. And it is my hope that as we study this letter to the Philippian church, that we will share in the joy that Paul felt, and that we will learn much both from their example, and the words that Paul had for them.

This week we are going to start off right in chapter 1, and we are going to cover verses 1-11. This is a prayer of Paul for the church in Philippi. And while we are going to be taking some deep theological dives during this series, this week is meant to not be TOO heavy, but to be an introduction to the letter, and to start to get our minds and hearts ready to receive the word of God over these next few months. So with that in mind, lets read these first 11 verses of chapter 1 of Philippians: “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.”

So this letter is introduced as being written by: “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.” We believe that this was written while Paul was in Rome under house arrest, and it is a part of what we call the “prison epistles”, which are Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon. And Timothy is there with him. They identify themselves as “servants of Christ”, or “Doulos” in Greek, otherwise translated as slaves. They are bound for life in service to God. And while the church knows that Paul has authority as an apostle, this title carries a sense of humility as well. We are all servants of Jesus, carrying out his work and his will. “To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.” This is the only place that these specific Greek words are used in the introduction to a letter, and we translate them here as overseers and deacons. Overseer is sometimes translated as bishop, elder or pastor, but the English translation in this passage gives the sense of the word rather than a title, to the ones who oversee things, whatever we call them today. And then deacons. A literal translation of the Greek word deacon would be “Those who serve” And then when it says, to all God’s holy people, that word Holy is translated as “saints”. This is to all the believers in Philippi, all the leaders, and all of those who serve in some capacity. Verse 2, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a combination of both Greek and Hebrew words and concepts. Grace is the free, spontaneous unmerited love of God to sinful humanity, making its appearance in the redemption that came through Jesus. And then peace is the fruit of this love in the lives of those who have accepted that love, and its main characteristic is reconciliation to God through Jesus.