Philippians 3.1 says,...
Today's verse is Philippians 3:1, which reads,
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
One verse today. Paul says "finally" and I remember when I was just waiting for the minister to say that word or something like "in conclusion" and I was hoping it was truly his conclusion and not just some words to fill the space. Church was just something to fill that space of time that was a weekly duty and then it was onto the other exciting stuff. When did it change? When did I hate to hear the word "finally" from the preacher's mouth? We sometimes get the end of the book or the TV series and don't want it to end. We are at a concert and we are calling out "encore" many times because we just want one more song from the great singer. It changed when my hands went into the hands of the Savior and I realized that these were His words and there were no greater words on the planet.
I will meet this morning with the brethren who are beloved. My local brothers and sisters of the family of God will gather to hear something from God's word. Because of the love that I have for them and for the Lord I will do my best to present the greatest words of all time in a way that makes them wanting for more. "Don't stop pastor keep on going!" "This is so good that we are canceling our afternoon plans!" "Who needs lunch? We are being feed from the Word of God." This unique opportunity to bring before the body of Christ His very words need to come with passion and power to do justice to them. They came out of love to us and I need to dispense them out of love to the beloved brethren.
We are to rejoice in the Lord. We rejoice first and foremost because of the salvation that we have in Lord. Our salvation trumps all the other blessings that we have received from the Lord, any physical healings or any other answers to prayers. Our salvation given by the grace of God through the cross of Christ is everlasting and gives us the assurance of a heavenly home with Him. May our thoughts of this given salvation be upon our minds as we gather as a body of forgiven and saved sinners that Christ came for.
What is amazing is that we will listen to some words that we have heard before and probably many times. You heard them in Sunday School class as you sat at the little tables with the little chairs. You saw them in a skit that you did in the youth group. You studied them in more depth in a small group in someone's family room. You heard them from the pulpit and now your pastor is mentioning them again. What is so amazing is that God keeps unfolding those words to have a new impact that you or I have never seen before. He makes them new. He allows us to understand them even more than before. This book called the Bible astounds us as we look into in again this morning.
What we read is not purely for pleasure but it has a purpose. It is a safeguard to us to help us to conduct our lives in a holy manner that is pleasing and giving glory unto God. It is a safeguard to keep us on the narrow path of truth and not on the wide road that leads to destruction. It is a safeguard that continues to show us truth from error and cuts through the deceptions of the evil one.
I imagine the Philippian Christians yelling "no" when the reader of the letter said the word "finally." I see them wishing that the letter wasn't 4 chapters long but 40. They didn't have chapters back then but you get the picture. They were so much in love with the words of instruction from the Lord through Paul that even a spoken letter by someone who did not write it left them wanting and asking for more. Do you see the pressure on the preacher on any given Sunday morning? He is reading a letter that he did not write to a group of beloved followers of Christ and many times the response of those who are gathering are just waiting for him to say "finally." If that is you this morning, I think you need to do some soul searching as to what you value. I think you need to come before the Lord and confess for a lack of luster for His words and ask Him to open your eyes again to the words that contain your very salvation and the very holy steering of your life.
Gather with an expectation of hearing from God this morning through His word spoken. Let's pray.
"Lord, how other things can take priority over the gathering for worship to hear Your words to us. How we can be looking onto the next thing rather than soaking in another opportunity to come together as believers to rejoice in You. May You help us to raise our expectations before we ever hit the front door of the church. What is coming from Your word is so much for my benefit that I will structure other things around it. And Lord, help that guy up front to give His all this morning to the beloved brothers and sisters. Amen."
Pastor Adam
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
One verse today. Paul says "finally" and I remember when I was just waiting for the minister to say that word or something like "in conclusion" and I was hoping it was truly his conclusion and not just some words to fill the space. Church was just something to fill that space of time that was a weekly duty and then it was onto the other exciting stuff. When did it change? When did I hate to hear the word "finally" from the preacher's mouth? We sometimes get the end of the book or the TV series and don't want it to end. We are at a concert and we are calling out "encore" many times because we just want one more song from the great singer. It changed when my hands went into the hands of the Savior and I realized that these were His words and there were no greater words on the planet.
I will meet this morning with the brethren who are beloved. My local brothers and sisters of the family of God will gather to hear something from God's word. Because of the love that I have for them and for the Lord I will do my best to present the greatest words of all time in a way that makes them wanting for more. "Don't stop pastor keep on going!" "This is so good that we are canceling our afternoon plans!" "Who needs lunch? We are being feed from the Word of God." This unique opportunity to bring before the body of Christ His very words need to come with passion and power to do justice to them. They came out of love to us and I need to dispense them out of love to the beloved brethren.
We are to rejoice in the Lord. We rejoice first and foremost because of the salvation that we have in Lord. Our salvation trumps all the other blessings that we have received from the Lord, any physical healings or any other answers to prayers. Our salvation given by the grace of God through the cross of Christ is everlasting and gives us the assurance of a heavenly home with Him. May our thoughts of this given salvation be upon our minds as we gather as a body of forgiven and saved sinners that Christ came for.
What is amazing is that we will listen to some words that we have heard before and probably many times. You heard them in Sunday School class as you sat at the little tables with the little chairs. You saw them in a skit that you did in the youth group. You studied them in more depth in a small group in someone's family room. You heard them from the pulpit and now your pastor is mentioning them again. What is so amazing is that God keeps unfolding those words to have a new impact that you or I have never seen before. He makes them new. He allows us to understand them even more than before. This book called the Bible astounds us as we look into in again this morning.
What we read is not purely for pleasure but it has a purpose. It is a safeguard to us to help us to conduct our lives in a holy manner that is pleasing and giving glory unto God. It is a safeguard to keep us on the narrow path of truth and not on the wide road that leads to destruction. It is a safeguard that continues to show us truth from error and cuts through the deceptions of the evil one.
I imagine the Philippian Christians yelling "no" when the reader of the letter said the word "finally." I see them wishing that the letter wasn't 4 chapters long but 40. They didn't have chapters back then but you get the picture. They were so much in love with the words of instruction from the Lord through Paul that even a spoken letter by someone who did not write it left them wanting and asking for more. Do you see the pressure on the preacher on any given Sunday morning? He is reading a letter that he did not write to a group of beloved followers of Christ and many times the response of those who are gathering are just waiting for him to say "finally." If that is you this morning, I think you need to do some soul searching as to what you value. I think you need to come before the Lord and confess for a lack of luster for His words and ask Him to open your eyes again to the words that contain your very salvation and the very holy steering of your life.
Gather with an expectation of hearing from God this morning through His word spoken. Let's pray.
"Lord, how other things can take priority over the gathering for worship to hear Your words to us. How we can be looking onto the next thing rather than soaking in another opportunity to come together as believers to rejoice in You. May You help us to raise our expectations before we ever hit the front door of the church. What is coming from Your word is so much for my benefit that I will structure other things around it. And Lord, help that guy up front to give His all this morning to the beloved brothers and sisters. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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