PHIL. 4:1-7 "PEOPLE OUR CHURCH COULD NOT DO WITHOUT"
A) Paul organized many churches and his interest in them never ceased! * This was only natural!
* Some of these churches pleased him, some of them disappointed him!
B) It seems that the church at Philippi was his favorite!
* In the text, he calls the members of that church, "My brethren, dearly beloved and ......."
* He felt that the church at Philippi represented the crowning work of his life, and of course,
it brought him his greatest joy!
C) There are some people in every church like these Philippian Christians!
* They are a crown to their Pastor, they make his life worthwhile!
* They cause his heart to swell with joy!
D) The church could not get along without them!
* Who are they? * Let me share with you tonight who they are!
(1) THE CHURCH COULD NOT GET ALONG WITHOUT FAITHFUL PEOPLE!
* The Bible nowhere commends anyone for greatness or brilliance, but for faithfulness!
* Matt.25:21 "Well done thou good and faithful servant ......."
A) In 1927, Lou Gehrig of the N.Y. Yankees was the outstanding baseball player of the year!
* During his lifetime he played in more consecutive games than any other man in the history
of the sport! * He never missed a game! * They called him the "Iron Man of Baseball."
B) What made Lou Gehrig so great? * It was his faithfulness!
* Every day he was out there on first base doing his best!
C) Now, if Christ picked out the most outstanding member of our church,
* Who would it be? * It would surly be the one who was most faithful!
* Jesus says in Rev.2:10, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
D) So my prayer is, "God, give us faithful Christians!"
* We need people who are faithful in giving, attendance, Christian living, service, in witness!
* We couldn’t get along without faithful people, we can’t have too many of them!
(2) THE CHURCH COULD NOT DO WITHOUT WILLING PEOPLE!
* Oh, we have willing people, all right, some willing to work & others willing to let ’em!
A) We have members who are willing to do the work of the world,
* But not the work of the Lord! * The job calls them and they go .......
* The club calls them, the lodge calls them, the outside organization calls them, and they are
ready and willing! * The Lord calls them, the church calls them, and they’re too busy!
B) A man said to me one time, "I don’t come to church on Sun. nights because,
* That’s the only time I have for my family." * Why?
* Because he gave the other nights to his social life and pleasures!
* Now he felt that he could give God’s night to the family!
C) Christians ought to be willing to make some adjustments!
* The Lord and the church ought to have priority!
* These other things will die with the setting sun, the things of Christ will last forever!
D) The grasshopper on the fence makes more noise than the ox in the field!
* But the ox does the work! * Some people talk much, but do nothing for the Lord!
E) Those who really love the Lord, say, "Any place that I can serve suits me!"
* "I’m willing to work anywhere that I can glorify God and serve His cause!"
* Are you willing to do the work or just willing to watch someone do it?
* The church could not do without willing people!
(3) THE CHURCH COULD NOT DO WITHOUT PEOPLE OF VISION!
A) We need first a vision of the needs about us! * Prov.29:18 "Where there is no ......."
* All around us there are unsaved and unchurched people by the hundreds!
* Many of them could be brought in if our people went after them seriously!
B) Then we need a vision of worldwide needs! * Jn.4:35 "Say not ye, There are yet ......."
* We must take care of the local needs, but we must not stop there! * We’re to look beyond!
C) No church can grow by keeping the good news of the gospel to themselves!
* The church could not do without people of vision! {Where there is no vision, the .......}
(4) THE CHURCH COULD NOT DO WITHOUT OPTIMISTIC PEOPLE!
* Some people say, "We can’t do that," or "We’ve never done that before!"
A) The optimist say, "By God’s help, we will do that!"
* Illustration: Moses was leading Israel toward the Promised Land.
* They came to the point where they could easily enter the land and settle down.
B) God said to Moses, "Pick out 12 men and send them into the land."
* "Have them look it over and bring you a report, then prepare to enter it."
* The 12 went in, found the land to be fertile and wonderful beyond description.
C) Ten of the men came back to make their report!
* They said, "It’s a good land all right, but the men of the country are giants, we were like
grasshoppers in their sight!" (Pessimist)
* The other two, Caleb and Joshua said, "This is true, but God is on our side, and with His
help we can take the land!" * The pessimists won out!
D) And as a result, Israel had to wander in the wilderness for 40 long years!
* I want to be an optimist, not a pessimist! * I want to say, "I can do all things ......."
(5) THE CHURCH COULD NOT DO WITHOUT INDUSTRIAL PEOPLE!
* Jesus was industrious! * He said in Jn.5:17 "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."
* He filled every hour with good service to God!
A) As you read through the Bible you find that God never used a lazy person!
* Moses, Noah, David, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul were all industrious, they were workers!
B) The church has a great program that was designed by Christ Himself!
* But He needs industrious Christians to carry out His work!
C) He has no hands but ours to do His work, no feet but ours to run His errands!
* If the work of the church is left to the lazy people, the church will die!
* The church can’t do without industrial people, those that do the work!
(6) THE CHURCH COULD NOT DO WITHOUT ITS BOOSTERS!
* We need boosters, we need people who who are out everyday, in every walk of life,
* Telling others of the good times to be had in our church!
A) Soon they’d know we got something worthwhile for them!
* I like the slogan seen on some doors, "Come in without knocking, go out the same way."
* Remember, that if you knock the church you are knocking yourself, for you are the church!
B) If you want your church to grow and prosper, boost it!
(7) THE CHURCH COULD NOT DO WITHOUT LIBERAL PEOPLE!
* Who are the liberal people? * The one who gives a dollar a week may be, but the man who
gives a hundred dollars a week may not be!
A) We must measure a man’s generosity by what he has left over!
* When a millionaire gives $50,000 we say he is liberal, but he still has $950,000 left over
and he will not suffer financially!
* But a poor man who gives $5.00 & only has $1.00 left over, may be making a real sacrifice!
B) One day Jesus was sitting by the treasury! * Some men came by and dropped in their
large gifts, and some gave them in such a way that everyone could see the gifts!
* Probably someone said, "Did you see how much Mr. Abraham gave?"
* "My, he must love the Lord very much to give such a gift."
C) Then a little woman, a widow, slipped in some small coins!
* She was probably very sorry that she could not give more! * Nothing was said about her gift!
* But Jesus, who saw the woman and her gift, made her forever famous!
D) He said, "She hath given all that she had!" * He measured her gift by what she had left over!
* If you love the Lord you need not be afraid of giving too much! * He will always outgive you!
* Churches seem to get along without rich people, but they can’t get along without liberal people!
CLOSE
A) We need to love our church so much, that we’re willing to give in support of it!
* Let’s give it our best! * If we do, we’ll have a church that pleases God!
B) These are some people our church cannot do without!
* Are you faithful? * Are you willing? * Do you have a vision for your church?
* Are you optimistic? * Are you industrious? * Are you a booster?
C) Are you liberal in your giving of financial support to your church?
* If you are all these things, the church cannot do without you!
