PHIL. 2:12-16 “A NEW YEAR FOR RLCC”
A) Several years ago when our country was showing signs of economic instability, right in the
heart of the nation there was a pocket of prosperity!
* It was the booming city of Wichita, Kansas! * Unemployment rate was only 3% …….
* It had a $14 million city hall under construction and the board of education had just approved
a $30 million building program.
* Right in the midst of a nation plagued with economic problems, there was a pocket of prosperity!
B) What does our world need most as we exit 2006 and enter the new year 2007?
* Can I tell you that, what we need is pockets of spiritual prosperity!
* We need groups of dynamic believers scattered all over the place.
* We need colonies of heaven, living clean lives as children of God in a dark world full of people
who are “crooked and perverse” (morally corrupt), as Paul points out in v.15.
C) That’s the church … That’s the way it was meant to be and the world needs it to be!
* What will enable a body of believers to be this kind of church?
* Let me give you four things this morning that will help RLCC to become this kind of church …
(1) A CONSUMING PASSION TO KNOW JESUS!
A) A well known Christian motivator says there are two questions he asks as he comes to a
group to begin his work … “What do you want?” and “Where are your men?”
* What do we want as a church? * What are our goals? * What is our fulfillment through service?
* Ask Paul what did he want … Look at Phil. 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power …”
B) The way he put it, he wanted to know Jesus better!
* He doesn’t leave the impression that his desire was mild … It was a driving passion!
* It was knowing Christ at any price! * Now almost 20 centuries later, this is still where the action
is … There is no real spiritual life apart from Jesus Christ!
C) This is the day that Christians need to honor their vows!
* This is the day in which Christians need to let Christ be the center of their lives!
* This is the day in which Christians need to seek Him, the living Word in the written Word!
* This is the day that we should talk about Him … That should be something that comes natural!
D) We should share Him because He is the best we have!
* And it’s no surprise that if we do these things, our relationship will be alive.
* John explains it in John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
* John 10:10 “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it …”
* A pocket of spiritual prosperity will be found only when there are Christians who have a
consuming passion to know Jesus!
(2) AN OVERFLOWING LOVE FOR OTHERS!
A) Paul was not only inwardly excited, he was outwardly motivated!
* His love reached out to others … And the reason is no secret …….
* Christ filled his heart with love for others.
* Paul practiced love in action … Love reaching out to others at a great cost to himself.
B) Love which got him in prison … Stoned … Persecuted …….
* Does loving this way come naturally for those who trust Christ?
* Well, it begins with trusting Him, but it is enhanced by other exercises …….
* For instance: It’s necessary to get near people before we can love them!
C) It’s also in order to pray for the necessary love!
* That’s what Paul did for the Philippian Christians … Phil. 1:9 “And this I pray, that your …”
* Paul wanted these Christians to overflow in their love for one another.
* When you truly love one another as Christ does, you love them in spite of their faults!
* If we want a great church in 2007, we must have an overflowing love for others!
(3) A WILLINGNESS TO PAY THE PRICE!
A) There is no bargain day in the kingdom of God!
* Jesus made that very clear in Matt. 13:44 … He told of a man who sold all that he had in order to
buy the treasure which he found hid in a field.
* In Matt. 19:16-22 He told of a wealthy young inquirer that the way to eternal life was to sell all
that he had and give to the poor! (Explain)
B) Turn to Luke 9:57-62 for some more good illustrations …….
* v.57 … Here was a man who was evidently attracted by the grace of Christ.
* He came to Jesus apparently of his own accord and declared his readiness to follow Him.
* But Jesus immediately tested him by saying in v.58 “Foxes have holes, and birds of the …”
C) It’s as though Jesus was saying, “If you follow Me, you must not expect earthly gain!”
* “I don’t promise an easy time down here … I don’t guarantee temporal comforts …….”
* “I have no home Myself … I have no riches … If you follow Me, it means a life of self-denial.”
* I don’t know if he ever followed the Lord after hearing that.
D) v.59 …Jesus notices another man and it appeared that he desired to follow Him!
* So Jesus looks at this man and gives the invitation, “Follow Me.”
* And the man gave his excuse for not following Him right then, “Lord, suffer me first …”
* This man was saying, “Lord, I love You, and I’ll be ready to follow You someday …….”
* “But I’ve got an aged father, and I can’t leave him … When he passes away and I bury him, then
I’ll follow You.”
E) Notice Jesus’ response in v.60 … Jesus as it were said, “You must not put anything first!”
* “If My message has touched your heart and soul … If I have your trust and confidence …”
* “If you feel a divine call to represent Me in Israel, don’t wait until family circumstances change.”
* “Begin now to tell others what God has done for you and what He can do for them.”
* I don’t know if he ever followed the Lord after hearing this.
F) v.61 … Another man offered himself to Jesus, “Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first …”
* Note the words “but” and “first.” * The man was willing to follow Christ, but something else
needed to be handled first! * That little word “but” has hindered many from following Jesus!
* “I’ll follow You Lord, BUT I can’t give this up.” * “I can’t yield wholly to thee because …”
G) This man said, “Lord, I’ll follow You, but I must first go talk it over with my family!”
* Jesus answered in v.62 “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit …”
* We need to realize this more and more … That Christ must have first place in our lives!
* There is no indication that this man ever followed Christ either after hearing this.
H) It’s hard today to get people who are willing to pay the price for serving Christ!
* They are like these men in Luke 9 … They only want a partial commitment!
* But wherever a body of believers who has a contagious faith from which light is shining in a
dark world, somebody is paying a price!
* Hear the Apostle Paul cry out in Phil. 3:7-8 …….
* Paul is saying, “I have given up everything to win Christ!”
I) This is dependant upon what we want to be as a church in 2007!
* A crowd who will settle for nothing less than being a pocket of spiritual prosperity will pay the
price! * Will you pay the price in Christ’s service? * Can we depend on you? * Will you help?
* Or will you be one of those who say, “I will, BUT let me FIRST …”
J) We need nursery workers … We need church cleaners … We need help in fund raisers …
* We need people to help in the thrift store … Will you help?
* Or will you make your excuse, “I will, BUT let me FIRST …”
* How bad do you want to see the land paid off this year and see a building go up the next year?
* Are you willing to pay the price … To sacrifice your life for Christ and His church in 2007?
(4) A CONFIDENCE THAT GOD WILL PROVIDE THE RESOURCES!
A) David Livingstone, a missionary to Africa for 18 years came home to speak at a University!
* He got up to speak, face wrinkled by 27 fevers, darkened by the sun, with one arm hanging limp
due to a lion’s bite. * He gave a speech that left the audience quiet with amazement.
* He closed out with, “And you know what … I’m going back!”
* He said, “Shall I tell you what sustained me amidst the toils, the hardships and loneliness of my
life?” * “It was the promise of Jesus, ‘Lo, I am with you always …’”
B) The Apostle Paul through all his afflictions said in Phil. 4:19 “But my God shall …”
* God has proven that verse true time and time again! * Abraham on Mt. Moriah …….
* Abraham named the place “Jehovah-jireh,” meaning “The Lord will provide!”
* The widow of Zarephath … The lad who gave his lunch … etc.
C) I could use many other Bible truths concerning God providing for His people!
* Listen RLCC … We have to have confidence in our God that He will provide the resources we
need to build a church … The money is out there … The people are out there …
* My question to you is … Will you commit your life to the service of the Lord this year, to help
in any way you can, to let’s build a church for God’s glory!
CLOSE
A) A pocket of spiritual prosperity … A likely description for a body of believers …….
* Ready to be the church our community and our world needs in 2007.
* And the four things that will enable us to be the church God wants us to be is …….
B) A Consuming Passion To Know Jesus … An Overflowing Love For Others …….
* A Willingness To Pay The Price … And A Confidence That God Will Provide The Resources!
* Come to Jesus today and tell Him that you want Him to have all of you!
