INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• The ushering in of the New Year causes us to have to make some real decisions.
• SLIDE #2- CAT
• The New Year ushers in new hope, so much so that we make this awesome New Year’s resolutions.
• From the web site Statistic Brain I learned some interesting facts concerning New Year’s resolutions. This comes from a 12/13/2012 Study from the University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology.
• Percent of Americans who USUALLY make a resolution- 45%
• Percent of Americans who INFREQUENTLY make a New Year’s resolution- 17%
• Percent of Americans who ABSOLUTELY NEVER make a New Year’s resolution- 38%
• Percent who are successful in achieving their resolution- 8%
• Percent who have INFREQUENT success- 49%
• Percent who NEVER succeed and fail (CRASH and BURN) on their resolution- 24%
• The top 10 resolutions for 2012 were starting with #10- Spend more time with family, 9-Fall in love; 8-Help others in THEIR dreams; 7-Quit Smoking (I WILL DO THIS ONE );6- learn something exciting; 5-Staying Fit and Healthy;4-Enjoy life to the fullest; 3- Spend less, save more; 2- Getting organized; #1 LOSE WEIGHT!
• I would like to offer some other resolutions that are not on this list that I found.
• I will no longer waste my time relieving the past; instead I will spend it worrying about the future.
• I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.
• I will read the manual... just as soon as I can find it.
• I will lose weight by hiding it somewhere you'll never find it.
• I will start smoking to lose weight.
• I will stop buttering my doughnuts.
• I will watch less T.V…. in standard definition.
• Here is one for you, Stop buying worthless junk on Ebay, because QVC has better specials.
• Here is a final one for the yuppies and younger. Spend less than $1825 for coffee at Starbucks this year.
• Today as we have some laughs about resolutions, I want us to think about 1 resolution that we ought to work on keeping. This one resolution is important because what we do with this resolution reflects our commitment to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
• In our passage today we unwrap today the Apostle Paul is writing the Philippian church about the importance of living for Jesus no matter what the circumstance.
• As I read Philippians I thought our verse was apropos for where we are on the calendar.
• Let’s turn to Philippians 1:27.
• SLIDE #3
• Philippians 1:27 (ESV) Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
Here is one resolution we should consider keeping.
I. Let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel.
• In the previous verses back to verse 18 Paul is on the subject of speaking of the dilemma he faces. His real desire is to be in heaven with Jesus.
• He longs for that time, but yet he realizes God has a plan and purpose for Paul’s life as long as he is here on earth.
• Verse 21 encapsulates his thinking and feeling.
• SLIDE #5
• Philippians 1:21–22 (ESV) 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
• As Paul works through this dilemma, Paul surmises that he really needs to stay around in this world for a little longer.
• His selfish ambition to be with the Lord will need to wait because God has a purpose for Paul and that purpose was to help others grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• That brings us to verse 27, our passage of interest today.
• The verse starts with the word ONLY.
• This indicates that Paul is emphasizing that what he is going to share with us is of the upmost importance.
• What we are seeing is the ONE ESSENTIAL thing. The NIV translates it this way, WHATEVER HAPPENS.
• The translators are trying to catch the flavor the passage by saying NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, follow this instruction!
• We are encouraged to reach our potential in Christ; we need to live life with PURPOSE.
• The PURPOSE or the 1 RESOLUTION TO KEEP is for us to strive to let our manner of life be WORTHY of the Gospel!
• Now here is a real interesting thing to know about what Paul is saying when he uses the phrase “MANNER OF LIFE”.
• The word translated MANNER in the ESV is in interesting word. The verb usually means something to the effect of living as a citizen.
• What is special about this term? The people of Philippi had a GREAT deal of pride in their ROMAN citizenship.
• They held the privileged status of a Roman colony and its citizens understood this honor and the implications of this elevated status.
• Not only were the a Roman colony, the city also possessed the highest privilege obtainable by a provincial municipality.
• Consequently, as the citizens of Rome, so the citizens of Philippi could buy and sell property, were exempt from land tax and the poll tax and were entitled to protection by Roman law.
• Paul himself was a Roman citizen and he used that citizenship to his advantage when he needed to. Like when he used it to be released from prison in Acts 16:36-40.
• In using this word, the readers were encouraged to put that same pride and zeal into living as a citizen of heaven.
• Heavenly citizenship has a higher standard and has a higher stature than even the great Rome had. Heavenly citizenship is of more importance than being a citizen of our great nation.
• SLIDE #6
• Philippians 3:20 (ESV) But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
• Our lives are to reflect our citizenship in heaven.
• When we do not live up to being good citizens of our country, it reflects poorly on our country.
• When we do not strive to live a life worthy of the Gospel, it will reflect poorly on the God we serve and the Heaven in which we are citizens of.
• For the Philippians if they did not live up to the privledge of being
• We are encouraged to let our manner of life be worthy of the Gospel because our new existence is based on being obedient to the call of the Gospel.
• We are won to Christ through the Gospel!
• What does a worthy life look like? Please remember, a worthy life is not a sinless perfect life with zero mistakes, although that would be nice, in reality we will have our struggles, but a picture of a life worthy of the Gospel will call us to…
• SLIDE #7
A life worthy of the Gospel calls us to…
II. Stand firm in our faith.
• Now we get to see a picture of HOW this worthy life looks. In verse 27 we are reminded of the first characteristic of this worthy life. …so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm.
• Paul emphasizes the motivation for standing firm, for making our life worthy of the Gospel.
• The motivation was not just to please Paul, he says they are to do this whether he is there or not meaning they are to do these things because of their love for the Lord!
• Our RELATIONSHIP with Jesus is our motivation. This by the way is the difference between being religious and having a relationship with Jesus. Religion is about us a relationship is about Jesus!
• The phrase translated STANDING FIRM was a military term used of a Roman soldier at his post. This was a serious matter because if a Roman soldier fell asleep or failed to carry his duty he was put to death.
• This is what the word used by Paul means, this word had to strike a chord with his readers as to the importance of standing firm for Jesus.
• We are to stand for Him as if our very lives depend on it. In a sense it does.
• SLIDE #8
• Matthew 10:33 (ESV) but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
• We are called to stand firm in any and every circumstance. Too many times we let circumstances dictate our resolve.
• A Romans soldier could not say he fell asleep on duty because he was tired. He was to stand firm no matter what the circumstance.
• I believe in the United States too many Christians have become circumstantial Christians. We will be faithful until we perceive a circumstance is bigger than God.
• When we face those circumstances, we then fail to stand firm. Especially of what we are facing may cost us some money or cause inconvenience to us.
• Stand firm no matter what, God is bigger than what you are facing! Now I want to look at a couple of other issues that are part of the picture of the worthy life.
• Some people will say that your faith is a private personal thing. There is a grain of truth in that thought, but living a live worthy of the Gospel includes others also.
• SLIDE #9
A life worthy of the Gospel calls us to…
III. Strive for unity of spirit and mind.
• A united front gives strength. As Christians we if strive to be united in purpose and thought we can accomplish so much.
• The world will take note when we stand firm together.
• One of the best illustrations of this is in sports. A team that is not united in purpose will lose even if you have the greatest player available. The great Michael Jordan did not win until he worked together with and trusted his teammates.
• If a team is full of people who just care about their stats and their contracts, they will fail.
• As Christians if our faith becomes only about self, we will fail. We are called to strive of unity of spirit and mind.
• We are not to stand alone in isolation, we serve together. When we were raising Rachel, we had an awesome Christian family the Hallatt family, their daughter Kristen was Rachel’s age. It was nice to have another Christian family who shared our values that we could rely on.
• If you want to have an easier time parenting seeking other Christian parents who share your biblical values. Then you will not feel like you are the only one on the island of trying to raise your children in the Lord.
• Now it is one thing to be united in spirit and mind, but in our final observation, we are called to take it to the next level!
• SLIDE #10
A life worthy of the Gospel calls us to…
IV. Strive to put unity into action.
• It is one thing to say we are united in spirit and mind, be we now need to put that unity into action.
• We are reminded, “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,”
• The word translated STRIVING has its roots in athletic terminology that emphasized teamwork.
• As a church teamwork is important if we are going to carry out our mission. I feel so blessed to serve at FCC in part because I feel that many in the church understand this. They know that the growth of the church both numerically and spiritually falls on all of us.
• I am not a good enough preacher to bring them in on the strength of my personality or skills. It takes all of us working together from the nursery, to the teachers, to the ushers and all the other behind the scenes people who serve the Lord.
• We have to serve side by side to reach people.
• We have some awesome people who are not shy to ask and invite others to FCC to hear about Jesus.
• When personal agendas get in the way of a team, the team falls apart. As a team sometimes something will not go the way YOU want it.
• What do many do when this happens? What should we do? Work with the team as we strive to serve side by side.
CONCLUSION
• I do not know if you are one of those who make a resolution, but I would challenge you to make and strive to keep this one resolution for 2013and beyond!
• Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ,
• The past is the past, let us boldly look to the bright future together!
