Today, we begin a series entitled, God is Bigger. This will be a short 4-week study of the book of Philippians.
I want invite you to supersize your faith in the coming days by turning to Philippians 1. Easter Sunday was a good day of harvest for our church family 12 people indicated they either prayed to receive Christ or wanted to know more information.
What if you received a letter from a prisoner who is unjustly incarcerated and his rights were trampled because he was beaten? What would expect the letter to say? Probably the letter would discuss the legal strategy and the work of quality attorneys working pro-bono on behalf of your incarcerated friend? Maybe he or she would explain how their DNA was being tested against some DNA material left at the crime scene. But what if the letter didn’t have any of this but instead, read like this?
Today’s Scripture
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:3–11).
Is that the kind of letter you anticipate reading from someone who was unjustly incarcerated? The Apostle Paul writes from prison where he was unjustly incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit. Paul probably writes the letter of Philippians around 62 AD from Rome to the church in Philippi. He writes them because he cannot see them in person. There is an urgency to this letter. The weight of the letter from someone who is suffering a great injustice and their freedom is severely limited… … you read it differently because you know who the person writing this letter is under the shadow of execution.
1. I Thank God You’re in My Life
Look again at Philippians 1 and recognize the main verb of just one sentence in the Greek is the verb “thank” in verse 3: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel” (Philippians 1:3-7).
We are shown three reasons for gratitude – let me show you all 3 so you’re relationships will be enriched.
1.1 I’m Grateful When I Think of You
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…” (Philippians 1:3a). He says in effect, “Every time I remember you, I give thanks to God for you. And when I remember you, joy comes flooding into my mind. My brain is filled with joy every time I think of you.”
“It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart…” (Philippians 1:7).
When Paul thought of these brothers and sisters, he smiled. The thought of them gave him pleasure. In fact, every thought of these believers was a reason for him to smile. If you take time to read Philippians 4:10-20, you’ll find these believers also thought of Paul when he was in prison.
1.2 I’m Grateful When I Remember Our Partnership
“I thank my God … because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3a, 5).
Partnership is a wonderful word describing all that is needed to make a church flourish. Partnership in business is when you and I sacrifice together to make a business flourish for the purpose of making profits. Partnership in a marriage is when your spouse and you sacrifice to make our marriage flourish. Partnership in a church is when you and I sacrifice together to see the kingdom of God advance. Partnership is a shared vision of seeing the gospel of Jesus Christ go forward. They assisted him financially and they encouraged him by sending word, “We haven’t forgot about you.”
Let’s pause so you can ask yourself a question: does anyone praise God because of you? Does your life bring joy to someone else by your sacrifice? In a private prayer time, does your Bible study leader, your parents, or maybe your spouse, give thanks to God for you?
Again, the key word here is this word “partnership” in verse five. Paul says that his faith has grown because of the loyalty of his friends there in Philippi. Let me ask you, “Have you taken any responsibility for your church to flourish?” Our faith is supersized when take responsibility for others’ to come to faith in Christ.
A church secretary took a most unusual phone call recently. The caller asked if he could speak to “the Head Hog.” Well, she quickly defended the dignity of her pastor, and with an irate tone said, “I want you to know that our pastor is held in the very highest esteem around here, and we address him as Rev. Jerry Perdue. Currently Rev. Perdue is not available to speak with you.” The man then responded, “Well, I am sorry. I just learned about your new building program and my CPA recommended that I donate $1 million to provide a good tax write-off for me.” The secretary quickly responded, “Wait just a minute, I believe I see the fat pig coming down the hall right now.”
Let me brag on you for a minute. Our church family has more than 200 widows or widowers ad all of these are cared for by our deacon body – I’m so proud of these guys. In addition, several of our men go into nearby jails to share the gospel each month – may more people copy their behavior! And then we have some mature people who work on a volunteer basis to shepherd and teach believers around our Bible Fellowship model. There are men who gather for breakfast and hold one another accountable. There are older women who mentor younger women in the faith. And there are so many of you who give generously because buildings are not free.
19 Minutes Prayer Meeting
By the S Couch area here at NRHBC, and along one of the black drapes there at Cross Church, you’ll see a mural where we are asking you to commit to praying for a minimum of 19 minutes for one day for Cross Church and our big push for getting into the building. Why 19 minutes? We are asking you to pray for because Sunday, May 19 is our last big offering day of the Stronger Together campaign. Commit to pray for 19 minutes at least one day – can you do this with me, church family? We need our church family to join together one more time for a big push on May 19.
1.3 I’m Grateful When I Think of God’s Continuing Work in You
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)
You and I start things only to stop. We are distracted or something comes up that keeps me from finishing. God finishes what He starts. And He has started something in many of you. Now, pay attention to this: if God has saved you from your sins, this is simply the start: “…he who began a good work in you…” (Philippians 1:6b). Some of you consider the moment of your salvation your graduation. God, on the other hand, considers you’re the moment of your salvation the “starting gun” sound for life to begin. You begin your Christianity by trusting Christ to forgive your sins, but you don’t stop there. You move on to make Christ first in your life in other practical areas of your life. And be assured of this: God will finish what He has started in your life.
1. I Thank God You’re in My Life
2. I Pray for Love in Your Life
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9–11).
2.1 Pray for Believer’s Love to Grow
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound…” (Philippians 1:9a). The word “abound” is a picture of water being poured into a bucket until the bucket literally overflows. God supersizes your faith when you get involved in others’ lives – when you put others before yourself. When you sacrifice for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. You share the gospel or when you help start churches. …or when you disciple someone of the next generation in the foundations of faith. Remember, Philippians 1 isn’t written because Paul is getting on their case, but is written to really good believers to improve, to supersize their faith in Christ. Your faith needs upsizing.
When you go through the drive-through at your favorite fast food restaurant, your supersize the drink or the fries, right? Your faith grows when you involve yourselves in the lives of others. Now, the truth is your God doesn’t grow bigger for God is God. God does not change (Hebrews 13:8). But even though God doesn’t change, for many believers it seems like God grows bigger and stronger over the years. Like a Supermoon, we know the moon hasn’t grown larger, but it’s simply a full moon when the orbit of the moon is closest to the earth. So the moon doesn’t grow and certainly God doesn’t grow. In reality, our faith in God grows and increases because we move close to God.
Here’s three fun ways to think bout your faith.
Smart Car Faith
This is an itty-bitty size car (place smart car image on screen). I am sure this car gets fantastic gas mileage and if Jimmy Carter is ever elected again, this is the car I want, right? Remember the oil embargo? I remember waiting in line for gas back in those days.
Some of you are brand new believers in Jesus Christ. You’ve have trusted Him to save you from your sins. But now it’s time to spread your wings a little and leave the nest. Now, it’s time to grow. Now, Smart-Car faith is a great start but all faith is alive and all things that are alive, grow. And one of the confirmations of real faith is real faith is alive and it grows. The apostles/disciples said to Jesus on one occasion, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5)! Jesus said in effect, “You’d be amazed at what even small faith in God will do. For small faith in a big God is powerful!” “And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you’” (Luke 17:6). I wonder what “mustard seed” love for other believers would look in the mid-cities and in North Fort Worth?
2.2 Pray for Wise Discernment to Increase
“…that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, …” (Philippians 1:9b).
The 1970s Mid Size Car Faith
I remember my Grandpa Howard driving the 1972 Mercury Montego for years (place image of Mercury Montego on screen). This is what we drove back in the day. I am not sure if this is a mid-size car for that era but I do remember thinking I could hide body underneath the hood with plenty of room left over. This car is 17 feet long and over 6.5 feet wide and weighs 1.6 tons. His car had vinyl seats that stuck to my legs when it was hot and sweaty in the summer. The hood was so far out there, it entered into other time zones hours before we would. I remember the trunk was so large, I thought homeless people could shelter in there for weeks on end. This was a normal car back in the groovy 1970s when our hair grew over ears.
Again, even small faith grows because all faith is living faith. And nothing alive, when it is alive, stops growing.
“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green…” (Psalm 92:12–14).
“How do I grow in my faith,” you might ask. One of the ways we all grow from small faith to mid-size faith is when we trust God with more areas of our lives. You begin your Christianity by trusting Christ to forgive your sins, but you don’t stop there. You move on to make Christ first in your life in other practical areas of your life.
I’ll tell you the story of Sujo John, who will be speaking to our church family over July 4th weekend (you will not want to miss this). Sujo and his wife, Mary, arrived to New York City from Calcutta, India with only $50 and two suitcases. He had landed a great job in the Information Technology field upon four weeks of his arrival and soon, he wanted for nothing. Even though he was successful, he began to feel a deep sense of emptiness. He worked in Tower 1 on the 81st floor of the World Trade Center. At 8:05 EST on September 11, he writes an email to a Christian friend telling him how he longed to have purpose and direction in his life. At 8:45 a.m., he walks back to his desk when hears a horrific explosion as the building shook when American flight 11 crashed into the tower. Miraculously, he was able to walk down the flights of stairs and exited his building only to have the South Tower collapse on him. Here’s what happened next in his words, “When the entire building had collapsed, I found myself in three feet of white soot and glass. Not a single boulder or any material had fallen on me. I stood to my feet, surrounded by silence and death.” Sujo experience something that few of us will encounter, but he was surrendering more of his life over to the controls of Jesus Christ. In addition to sharing his story, he has involved himself in freeing young people from sex slavery. Christ enters into more and more areas of our lives as we grow in Him.
Let me ask, “What are of your life needs to be turned over to Jesus this morning?” Let me mention three areas this morning that will impact nearly everyone us.
My Money
Some of you trust Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, but you cannot trust Him with your finances. You are in essence saying, “Jesus, I know you get me out hell, but I don’t think you know enough to get me out debt.”
My Marriage
Some of you need to trust Jesus in your relationships. “Jesus, I understand you created the world in seven days but can you really handle my marriage?” Some of you are flirting around with pornography and adultery and emotional affairs all the while you are married. You need to grow in Jesus Christ today but doing a U-turn in life.
My Mercy
“Let’s stay on relationships, for $1,000, Alex.” Lastly, some of you grow in the area of forgiveness. You sit here nursing a wrong done to you yesterday or years ago – no matter when. You’re growth is “locked down” because your love isn’t growing. Your love isn’t growing because unforgiveness is blocking your growth. If you and I sat down to speak for ten minutes, you and I would both see the huge obstacle where you’re unwilling someone. So, there are three common areas where you and I need to grow: our money, our marriages, and our mercy for one another.
Texas-Sized Faith
When I grow up, I want a big ol’ Texas-size Truck (place image of massive Ford 350 on screen). I love just about everything about these things (except they cost the size of a house). If you’re going to truly supersize your faith, then you will grow in godly character.
2.3 Pray for Godly Character
“…so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…” (Philippians 1:10).
Growth as a believer is knowing and discerning more of the holy character of God and reaching up to this ideal. Now, I want you to circle the word “love” in verse none and circle the “pure” in verse ten and draw a connecting line between them. Many people feel love means to accept any kind of morality. So many feel to be a loving person is to forgo being a morally pure person. Yet, supersizing our faith means know the moral categories of holiness. If we are going to grow strong in Jesus Christ, then we are going to grow strong in moral purity.
“…that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, …” (Philippians 1:9b).
Are you growing morally? Are you supersizing your honesty? Are you supersizing your sex life or you basking in the American way of life. You are either a stepping-stone or a stumbling block to Jesus.
