Philippians Adjacent

Philippians Adjacent - the context of the letter to the Philippians. Message by Vinny Tan at The Red Door Community Church.

Episode Transcript

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It is again, my privilege to beable to spend some time with you

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all this evening as we intentionallyhover around the word of God.
Together, you and I areinvited to participate in
the greatest story ever told.
It is the multi-layered, redemptivenarrative of God rescuing his people
so that you and I can commune withhim as one, and together with His Holy

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Spirit, we have the ability to bringrestoration to a hurting suffering world.
So to help us guide on our way as 21stcentury believers, there are a few tools
that we're given, to help us make senseof how we shape and how we partner with
the almighty creator of all things.
The first thing that we have is the Bible.

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The Bible is a unifiedstory that leads to Jesus.
I'll talk more about that in a second.
Secondly, we have the community ofbelievers past, present, and future.
The church.
With all of its bumps andbruises, scars and sin,
and for this season, on a microlevel, you and I have this specific

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community of faith red door, and soit is in this community that we learn
together and how to follow the way.
Of Jesus.
Now, I say that we are 21st centurybelievers, of course, because that is
the time and place that we are physicallyon this earth, and it's so important
that as we look and we hover around theword of God, together, we understand the

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context of where we fall ourselves today.
So we are at the intersection of thebeginning of the week as we celebrate the
resurrection of Jesus on Easter Monday.
The ultimate victory over sin and death.
Then we have the somber sacrificethat is Anzac Day, where the themes
of sacrifice, injustice, lovingyour neighbor, both present and

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those to come are prevalent Themes.
We also find ourselves at a raremoment where the church is under
the watchful eye of the world as thePope passes away teaching us that a
lifetime of service does lead to legacy.
But ultimately we live throughthe hearts, minds, and deeds of

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the people that we leave behind.
So funnily enough this evening,there are some military
references for your consumption.
There are thoughts about leaving alasting legacy, but as there should
be, for every single time we hoveraround the word of God, there was
always death and resurrection, deathand resurrection of dreams, death and

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resurrection of desires, death andresurrection of plans and promises.
And so this evening, I'm really hopingthat this will aid your understanding
of the letter that we've been studyingover the last couple of months.
And if I'm to be criticized forsaying the same thing every single
time I'm up here, let it be this.
As Christians, you and I are calledto follow Jesus, Jesus' heart.

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Jesus's character, Jesus' priorities.
Jesus' Way, while Jesus is andalways will be the ultimate example,
it is also useful to examine andconsider the lives of other minor yet
significant characters in the play.
And for me, as I've grown to seek tounderstand the Bible a little better,

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to observe Jesus in the flesh, thisallows you and I a momentary glands
into the personification of perfection.
The tactile nature of Jesus's physicalpresence on earth allows us to observe
perfection, unrushed, deliberate,strategic, disarming, kind, compassionate.

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Gracious and wise, it is a standard.
However that is unrelentingand try as we may to follow it.
Our fallen human nature will always findus falling short of the glory of God.
If you like, I have made the mistakeof assuming that there'll be nothing

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better after Jesus's ascensionto heaven in Acts chapter one.
May I remind you this evening, as I remindmyself that the great grand tapestry
of God's redemption continues to bewoven, but there are other characters
now that begin to grace the stage.
And we are invited to activelyparticipate with those characters as

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temples of the Holy Spirit carryingthe manifest presence of God.
So this evening I want to introduceyou to a few minor characters,
Paul Barnabas, Silas, Lydia.
A prison guard, a slave owner, theslave herself, Peter, the first, Pope
James, the mediator, the grumpy juristeachers of the law who lack significant

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bedside manner and communication skills.
These minor characters reflectJesus as despite being imperfect.
They reflect him both as a feebleimpersonation, but they also
reflect him in the opposite.
That is, whatever you observe thisevening, reverse it, and that's
what you would find Jesus doing.

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So this evening, as you sit here,I'm presuming that there are
probably two groups of people.
The first group is that you are anactive and engaged part of the Red
Door community, and so you've beenfollowing the last few months as we've
dived into the letter of Philippians.
If that is you tonight, my intentionis to put some scaffolding around

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what we've been studying the lastcouple of months, noting that in
addition to the teaching, that we arealso blessed to receive on a Sunday.
There's also the slightly more in depthoffering of Word and way on a Wednesday,
as well as the house church materialthat's been provided for you this morning.
So there's a scaffolding today.
Secondly, you may be new tored door, but not new to Jesus.

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And if that is you, you're so welcome.
But it's my hope that these littletheological hooks will allow you to
engage more meaningfully with this faith.
And it will allow you to engage withthe beauty and the drama every single
time you open the living word of God.

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And so then after that, what I'm hopingwill also happen is a moment for each
and every one of us to have a privatereflection or small group discussion
because it's in those contexts that youand I are able to mine and find the gems
of Jesus that await us this evening.
So what this may mean is that I'm askingyou as you sit there this evening, to

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temporarily suspend what may be yourautomatic assumption that a sermon
about Philippians has to automaticallybe within the book of Philippians.
Immediately, this sermon asall sermons is about Jesus.
And so.
Let's be patient as we review andhopefully allow the word to illuminate

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our path a little bit later.
After all, the creator of all things took30 years before he began his ministry.
I.
And the education that we are havingthis evening together is so important
because it's my personal view thatfollowing Jesus and understanding
the word is a slow, deliberateobedience in the right direction.

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What that means if you are aslightly younger person here is
that it is incongruous to claimthat you want to know Jesus and yet
completely ignore the living word.
And so while the church has its part toplay in educating, and while the church
has its part to play in providing a placeto unpack and share these thoughts, it is

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incumbent on you as a follower of Jesusas it is on me, as understand a few of the
tools that are necessary to understand andbe in awe of the creator of all things.
To put it another way.
As this community red door, ithas been put on record that we

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wish to be known for how we love.
You'll probably hear that a lotif you've been here for a little
while, if that is the case.
To know love is to know thepersonification of love.
To know the personificationof love is Jesus.
To know Jesus is tounderstand the living word.
May God forgive my impetuousnessand impulsivity as I skimmed over

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John one one in my pursuit of tryingto speed read the Bible in a year.
Now that is not a denigration of Project73, but that is simply me admitting my
desire for something quick and fast.
And sometimes our desire for somethingquick and fast, some morsel of
content actually sets us backwards.

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So I just wanna be able to set up a fewscriptures just to sort of, um, enforce
and in inform the point that I'm tryingto say and consistent with my style.
If you've never, um, sort of heardme before, um, I'm gonna make
mention of these scriptures, but I'mgonna leave them available on the
slides for your own private studyrather than read the whole thing.
So you'll see two Timothy three, 10 to 17.

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You'll see verse 16 confirms thatall scripture is God breathed.
Useless for teaching rebuking correctingand training and righteousness so that
the servant of God, you and me, may bethoroughly equipped for every good work.
It's pretty clear there.
And then one Peter three 15 says,always be prepared to give an answer

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to everyone who asks you to give thereason for the hope that you have, but
to do so with gentleness and respect.
How sad that people miss out and theyreject and they have a disgust of
the most beautiful story of all time.
Because as a body, we haven't developedspiritually and theologically sound

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muscles to affirm that all scriptureis what's just been mentioned.
Let's pray and then we'll get into it.
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,our only Savior, the prince of peace

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this evening, give us grace,seriously to lay to heart the
great dangers that we are in.
Our unhappy divisions take away allhatred and prejudice and whatever else
may hinder us from Godly Union in Concord.
That there is one body in one spirit,one hope of our calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God andFather of us all so that together

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we may all be of one heart and onesoul, united in one holy bond of
truth and peace, of faith and clarity,and may with one mind and one mouth.
May we glorify you throughJesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
And that's from the Book of Common Prayer.

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And it's a prayer which is about unity,which again, I will mention later.
So after Jesus ascends to heaven,there are a couple of key roads that
we must understand as we observe.
The map of the New Testament is no longerJesus, but you and I who are charged with
the responsibility of sharing the gospel.
Or the good news of Jesus.

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And so access to the presenceof God has been restored to the
death and resurrection of Jesus.
But there is a culmination wherethe royal priesthood, those are able
to access the presence of God, arebrought into focus at Pentecost.
So gonna set the runway up here.
Acts chapter two.
We see a list of 15 differentregions where there is an
understanding of the gospel beingpreached in their native language.

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You'll see that up there on Actschapter two, verse five to 12.
Now there is no express mention ofGentiles, so how does that happen?
How does the word spread asper the Great Commission?
Just a reminder, if you actuallyplot these different cities that
you see in Acts chapter two,what you will find is a compass.

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And what you will find is everysingle city is responsible for each
different corner, which is a wayof saying that the gospel spreads
to everywhere across the globe.
So how does this happen?
Well.
There is a man in Acts chapter eight.
Stephen is stoned and the churchscatters and there is a man named

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Saul which says he approves of thekilling of one of a key Jesus follower.
And he begins Saul, that is todestroy the church, and he drags men
and women and places them in prison.
As he continues to breatheout, murderous threats.
In Acts chapter nine, Saul asks thehigh priest for access to synagogues

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in Damascus so he can drag followersof Jesus in a 300 Kilomet journey
by foot to throw them in prison.
So on that road, Jesus fromHeaven meets and speaks to Saul.
And through Anani, Jesus appoints Saul tobe his chosen instrument to the Gentiles.

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So if there's Acts, chapternine, thank you very much.
15 to 16.
If you have a look here, theemphasis is there for you.
The Lord says to anani, go.
This man, Saul is my chosen instrumentto proclaim my name to the Gentiles and
their kings, and to the people of Israel.
I will show him how muchhe must suffer for my name.

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So I'm hoping you're following the train.
Right, so completely consistentwith Jesus' upside down kingdom,
which we see in Matthew five.
He uses the most unlikely of subjectsto spread the gospel to Gentiles.
A person who has spent most ofhis life so far persecuting them

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after Paul's radical conversion.
He spends about three years inpreparation and then is called
to early ministry adventures anddoes this for about 16 years.
A lot of the towns that are coveredin the account of Acts chapter two are
visited by Paul, but 16 years after Paul'sconversion, which is approximately 20

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years after the resurrection of Jesus,
there is predictably disunity amongbelievers, and this is no surprise.
'cause as humanity develops, our failedand flawed views on what is right
and wrong can corrupt each other.
So there's a pivotal moment in Acts,which I want to talk to you about

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this evening, and there is a clearinconsistency at this present stage of
what being a follower of Jesus requires.
So they gather anyone who is anyone,they summon every single significant
follower of Jesus to Jerusalem.
Peter is there, the disciples are there.

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Paul is there.
Barnabas is there.
This pivotal moment is in Acts chapter15 and is known as the Jerusalem Council.
This is my feeble attempt to summarizethe council at Jerusalem, remembering
that as 21st century believers,so much of what you and I have
experienced in the Old Testament isbased on Jewish custom and culture.

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Okay.
Huh Number one, there's a group ofpeople who believed that you can't be
saved simply by believing in Jesus.
What their view is, is thatall Jewish customs should be
followed in order to access theredemptive power of Jesus Christ.

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Peter has an argument which says No.
The Holy Spirit 15 years ago atPentecost was poured out over all people,
and the inference there is that thegospel of Jesus is an inclusive one.
Not an exclusive one.
Um, one of my favorite authors, the lateGreat Rachel Held Evans, encapsulate
this beautifully by saying the gospelis offensive, not because of who it
excludes, but because of who it includes.

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So Peter then affirms that it doesn'tmatter whether you're a Jew or a
Gentile, it's through the graceof Jesus that you and I are saved.
What happens after that is a periodof time where Paul and Barnabas
then report about all the incredibleconversion stories which they have
observed on their missionary journey.
A quick word about this, if youare sort of sitting here going,

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how does this apply to me?
Well, sometimes your personal story andsometimes your testimony is stronger
than any other well-reasoned argument.
James ever.
The mediator comes up with a fewpractical solutions to allow the
two competing schools of thought tobe able to live with the solution.

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And then there is aletter which is sent out.
So the council drafts this letterand it is now in the hands of Paul.
Implicit with this is this letterbecause Paul's had a big win.
He has just confirmed that the unitedview is that it is the grace of Jesus,

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not the laws of the Jewish history,which allows you to access Jesus Christ.
So Paul tucks this letter into his tunicand he sets out again on his travels.
And this is the letter, whichfunnily enough, sets the pathway
forward for about a quarter ofthe New Testament Philippians.

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Galatians first and second Corinthians.
So if you read the NIV version of thisletter, which I encourage you to do
so, um, even though the translationis available to us, there is a lack
of empathy, a lack of bedside manner.
Remember this, all of these gentileshave risked their life to follow Jesus.
Most of these people in the variouscities have never heard or seen

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of these wise heads in Jerusalem.
So what I did is I actually extractedwhat I thought would be the best version.
So I've got the messageparaphrase, which is the letter.
Hopefully it's up here for you.
Hello.
We heard that some men from ourchurch went to you and said things
that confused and upset you.
They had no authority from us.
We didn't send them.

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We have now agreed to pick representativesand send them to you with our
good friends, Barnabas and Paul.
We picked men.
We knew you would trust Judas different.
Judas and Silas.
They've looked death in the facetime and time again for the sake
of our master, Jesus Christ.
We've sent them to confirm in aface-to-face meeting with you what
we've written, it seemed to theHoly Spirit and to us clearly.

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'cause they're the same thing.
That you should not be saddle with anycrushing burden, but be responsible
for only these bare necessities.
Okay?
This is where the mediation comes in.
Don't get involved withactivities connected with idols.
Avoid serving food offensive toJewish Christians and guard the
morality of sex and marriage.
These guidelines are sufficientto keep relations congenial

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between us and God be with you.
Okay.
Um, this is actually my first time Ifollowing follow Jesus for about 30 years.
Well, I mean, I could read for 35 of them.
Um, and this was the first timeI actually realized what this
letter represents for our faith.
Paul takes this letter ready to spreadthe gospel to anyone who listens.

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And so with this letter, he startsbeginning making his own plans.
He makes his own path.
He tries to do it his own way.
And you see this again as Act Chapter 16plays out, but then doors begin to shut.
There are roadblocks, which thoughts?
Paul's agenda and Paul'sway of doing things.

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Maybe that's relevant for youtonight where you have held em
bridled enthusiasm with somethingwhich you know must be shared.
But try as you might, it'smet with roadblock after
roadblock, after roadblock.
So Paul has a dream and hedreams of a Macedonian man.

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So Acts chapter 16, six to 10 confirmsthat the spirit of Jesus would not
allow him to enter certain cities.
And so during the night, Paul has a visionof a man of Macedonia standing and begging
him, please come to Macedonia and help us.
And after Paul sees thevision, we got ready.

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That's Luke and him.
Get ready at once to leave for Macedonia.
So.
This is where we see the letter ofPhilippians begin to take shape.
This is the first time afterthe Jerusalem Council that Paul
arrives in the city of Philippi.

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Remember, we haven't evengot to the letter yet.
This is 10 to 12 yearsbefore he writes the letter.
Acts 1612 confirms thatthis city is a Roman colony.
This is relevant and very,very important for today.

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The reason why it's important isbecause how the law is applied
is actually an important study oncitizenship, performance and identity.
Let me explain what a Roman colony is.
Because what this does is it infers thatanyone starting a church in a Roman colony
is going to face significant pressure,significant persecution, and significant

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challenge for a Jesus following community.
So there is not peaceeverywhere in this time.
There are battles absolutelyeverywhere, and the Roman Empire is
of course the one which has the bestand most sophisticated military.
To ensure substantial and longevityrule, the Roman Empire would regularly

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recycle and retire their soldiers
to say thank you for their service.
These older soldiers would migrate onmass to places where the climate was
nicer and the conditions were better.
If anyone's seen the movie 300,it's similar, where they have 300
of their soldiers and they taketheir wives and their children.

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To be able to migrate somewhereelse that becomes a Roman colony.
So you can be geographicallydistant from Rome, but the Roman
law applies in this tiny town.
So here are some of the basic rightsthat you have as a Roman citizen.
Tax is exempt.

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Right.
You have a right to a fair criminaltrial, important for later.
There is a moratorium on embarrassingcapital punishment, including crucifixion.
Interesting.
There's better access to trade,and perhaps most importantly, if
you are a citizen of Rome, youhave the right to appeal your
criminal activity to the emperor.

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Okay.
There's no zoom.
There's no teams.
What that means is that if you have acrime, you are able to travel all the
way to Rome to appeal before the emperor.
Let's go back to Paul.
Normally, as you arrive in a newRoman colony or a new city, you

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would go to a Jewish synagogue, butbecause Philippi is a Roman colony.
There is no synagogue.
So he goes down to the riverbecause that's where the followers
of Jesus are and they are women.
There is a woman there, Lydia,who deals in purple cloth.
What that means is thatshe is a business woman.

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She clothes royalty, she diesclothes purple, the color of royalty,
and she is a follower of Jesus.
Lydia is wealthy.
Lydia has resources.
Lydia is a boss lady, but Lydiadoesn't use her wealth for herself.
Lydia uses her wealth to be generous.

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So as an aside, if you think aboutthat, what archeological digs have
found is that Philippi actually hasbuildings and churches, which are
dated back to the sixth century.
When the city became a Christianhub, what does that mean?
What that means is that Lydia'sgenerosity started a 600 year legacy.

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This little church started a 600year legacy that blessed people
long after she left the earth.
So you can see if you track theBible, little morsels of Lydia's
generosity Acts 16, 15 Acts 1640, andthe culture that she has a big part
in creating manifests in this giftbeing delivered to Paul approximately

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10 years later when he is in Rome,in prison again, writing this letter.
So this is where if you follow Jesus fora little while, perhaps if you went to
sch um, Sunday school, this next storybecomes a little bit more apparent.

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Paul now stays in the house of Lydia andthere is another female who is a slave.
This slave tells fortunes and thisslave makes her owners a lot of money.
So Acts 1618 shows us that the slavegirl taunts Paul for many, many days, and

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Paul gets so annoyed he commands the evilspirit to leave in the name of Jesus.
What this means is that the slave girlcan no longer tell fortunes and the
slave girl is now useless to the owners.
So what happens?
The owners drag Paul and his friend Silas.

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Into the marketplace in Philippiand demand that Paul and Silas
be thrown into jail because theyhave thrown this city into uproar.
Yes.
I think you know what happens next?
They are flogged and around midnightthere is a violent earthquake
that the prison is shaken.

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The prison doors are open andeveryone's chains are loosened.
So the prison officer is about to commitsuicide as a result of the shame, but at
the last minute, Paul preaches to thisprison officer the good news of Jesus,
and he and his entire household belief.

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So if you followed my train ofthought here, you'll, you'll see
that there is this significantevent which happens in the city of
Philippi, which you may not have.
Well, I didn't realize happened here.
And so after the break out of the prison,Paul actually reveals that he is a Roman
citizen, and what happens is that becausehe's a Roman citizen, he's entitled

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to certain privileges, including theright to a fair trial and due process.
For some unknown reason, Paul decidesnot to reveal his true citizenship.
But endured the suffering that a nonRoman citizen would have to endure.
This is where Philippians chapter threebecomes very important, this whole

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idea of suffering for Christ's sake.
And what happens then is thegovernment realizes that they
have made a massive mistake.
The government actually come andthey say sorry to Paul and Silas.
And say, we're so sorry.
Can you please leave to save us?

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Embarrassment.
It's all here.
And then Lydia's house becomes the church.
And so this moment here, if I can justget you to stay with me, and I know that
I've talked a lot about history and I'mreally grateful for you staying with me.
This is a seismic moment.
All right.

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In the town of Philippi, it is theequivalent of a massive event in our
history where you always remember whereyou were when that happened, right?
I'm sure you can infer the various momentsthat have happened over the last 20 years,
or where were you when this happened?
Where were you when that was happening?
Similarly speaking, for this particulargathering of believers in Philippi.

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They are going, where were you 10years ago when that guy, Paul and his
mate Silas, broke free from the prisonand basically the government admitted
that they had made a colossal mistake.
This is why when Paul writes the letter,
you understand that people aretransported back to that time

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'cause Paul is in prison again.
And when you consider the altercationthat put Paul and Silas in the prison,
if Paul had actually exercised hisright as a Roman citizen, he would've
had to travel to Rome, which meansthat none of this would've happened.
The foundational event that hasactually catapulted the Church of

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Philippi to be a thriving Christianhub would've never happened.
Funny, when you put your ownpreferences in front of Gods.
Or the reverse.
What happens when you get your results orwhen you get theologically divine results?

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And so 12 years after Paul's first visit,Lydia, the slave girl and the prison
officer have now helped grow the church.
You see this in Philippians one verseone, because there are now overseers
and deacons in this church community.
So what is this teaching us this evening?

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It's been a long runway, but what is thiscontextual analysis doing to illuminate
some of the words that may have remaineddormant on the pages of your Bible?
When we look at the above context, whenwe look at what happened at the Church
of Philippi and all the winding roads andclosed doors that brought Paul to this

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city, the arguments and disunity of theearly church, maybe this is impossible.
This is a possible invitationfor you and I to remember that
the theme of Philippians one.
As Paul has experienced is the sovereignprovidential move of God to take what
is meant for evil and turn it for good.

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So if you sit here this evening,discouraged, unaware of what is happening,
may your temporary detours, setbacks, andpain allow us together to be aware that
God is moving even when it appears dark.
This is why we see the pathogenPhilippians one, nine to 11, when he

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prays that their love will abound more andmore in knowledge and depth of insight.
That is to say, may you experiencethe love of Jesus, so to, if you are
sitting here this evening, may you trulyunderstand what it means to follow Jesus.

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May you have life altering.
And Earthquakey moments, even if youdon't have to, to look back and testify
about the faithfulness of Jesus.
Again, as I'm wanting to clarify,perhaps not literal earthquakes, given
that we live smack in the center of atectonic plate, but things which shake

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the metaphorical foundations of your mindand your heart, your career, your family.
Things which give you comfort andsecurity things which you have put your
entire life and identity into being.
Sometimes what happens to trulyfollow Jesus is that those things
are challenged, those things areshaken, those things are tested.

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There is a verse here, which I justwanted to share, um, about Philippians.
If you just allow me to turn to it.

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In chapter three, verse 10says, I want to know Christ
yes, to know the power of hisresurrection and participate in his
sufferings becoming like him in hisdeath, and so somehow attaining to
the resurrection from the death.

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So when you read that for the firsttime, perhaps with the context, may you
realize that the actual participation inChrist's sufferings is also to engage in
suffering that will come upon us from timeto time, but it leads to a greater story.
It leads to a greater victory, it leads todeath and resurrection as it always does.

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Maybe this is why after 25 years ofministry, which is where the letter of
Philippians lands in Philippians one19, Paul is able to rejoice and know
that what has happened to him will turnout for his deliverance, a simple line.
But Paul can sit there and write thiswith authority because it has happened

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to him time and time and time again.
And so again, may yourtestimony this evening.
Eventually when you get toshare it, be one where God has
shown himself faithful to you.
Time and time and time again.
I'm not convinced that actuallyGod shows himself faithful.
If everything is good.

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I'm actually convinced as I thinkwe've all journeyed with Jesus to a
certain degree, that God actually showshimself faithful when there are times
of suffering and times of trial andtimes where you are beyond yourself
and you actually have to be God.
Like where are you?
In this prison, where are youin this moment of loneliness?

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Where are you when yourself-esteem is rocked?
That's the wonderful thing aboutthis faith that we have, is that
it is death and resurrection
death to your priorities, but resurrectionto a new Christ-like priority.

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And maybe you can look at the secondchapter of Philippians where Paul
can now humbly and confidentlyassert that true joy is found in
a unified, humble community ofpeople who are following Jesus.
That life is actually best lived,marked by obedience, marked by

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selflessness, marked by serviceto others, looking yes at Jesus.
But for those who may not have beenalive, to see or hear firsthand accounts
of Jesus using Timothy and a Paphitisin chapter two 19, they are the best
examples of kindness and faithfulnessand conscientiousness to the point

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where they would suffer greatlyto be able to bless other people.
And finally, perhaps most pertinent tome, as we now launch the next few weeks
of Philippians, we look at chapter three.
And we observe that the amazing graceof Jesus liberates us from the burdens
of religious performance as we cansee in that letter, remember that

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letter, as we can see highlighted inthe new and living way post Jerusalem
council, that knowing Jesus is actuallya lot different to knowing about
Jesus, but knowing Jesus is a prize.
Which has such great value thateverything else, including life in

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and of itself, pales in comparison
and in this current society, whichwe are living and trying to achieve
things and trying to get things andbuy things and, and study things, may
this reframe for us as a community whatachievement actually is, what identity is.

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Paul here is a Jewish rabbi, andso he has the most pure and most
impressive resume of a Jewish person.
And in addition to that, he was alsofortunate enough to be born into a
Roman family, either by his fatheror by the fact that he was based in
Tarsus, which was also a Roman colony.
So on paper or papus, whichever oneyou would like, he has probably the

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most impressive resume in the world.
And to borrow a idealism.
Paul didn't give a flying figure about it,
but said that all of these achievements,all of this citizenship, all of
these things were excrement comparedto the power of knowing Christ.

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And you read that in isolation perhapsthis evening, realizing the journey
that Paul has had to go through.
To finally say that with conviction.
Hopefully that is stir somethingin your heart this evening.
And so how have you and I lived our life?
Have we curated a life and an image whichallow, which perhaps allows for dopamine

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to fill our bodies every time we gettemporary fickle assurances from people?
What is the better?
And so I just wanted to spend a minute insilent reflection, or alternatively, if

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there's a group of people that you loveand you trust that are sitting around you
to have an opportunity of fiveor so minutes just to respond and
vocalize perhaps what you've beenexperiencing while you've been
listening to me this evening.
Um, I totally understand that there is.
Receiving a, a, a sermon orreceiving a a, a lecture or

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whatever you, you deem this to be.
Um, but there is something morebeautiful by participating by
vocalizing externally or internally,what you've received this evening.
So what I'd like to do is forthe next five minutes I have some

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reflection questions, which I put up.
And the first thing, which Ifind is really useful, if you've
got your own house, church,you've got your own small group.
I found that this is the bestquestion to sort of sink and anchor
yourself into following Jesus.
Um, so understanding a little bit moreabout the context of what I've shared,

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what has this taught you about Jesus?
One option which youmight want to entertain?
Second question is, what issomething that has come back
to life in my understanding of
the Bible?
Very often
we are, um.
You know, there used to be this, um,in, in the nineties, um, there still
is, there's this book shop called Ong.
And Ong would sell these posters.

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And these posters would be littlesnippets of little verses, right?
But they would just belike 10 or 11 words.
And you would live your lifebased on these posters, but you
wouldn't understand the contextof what was actually happening.
So.
Funnily enough, if you Google famousverses in Philippians, you'll find a whole
treasure trove verses which are familiarto you, familiar to your 10-year-old

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self familiar to your 15-year-old self.
May tonight be an opportunitywhere those fresh verses from
the living, breathing word of Godcome back to life again for you.
As you can do all things throughChrist who strengthens you.
Final question.
Um, who is someone within today'steaching that I identify with and want

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to imitate as they imitate Christ?
Remembering we've
discussed, Lydia, the
slave girl, the owners, PaulSilas, Barnabas, Peter, Peter,
the Pope, James the mediator.
Um, why don't I pray and allow you toreflect on that for a little while.

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Father, for this small moment ofpeace where our hearts are inclined
and attuned to your presence.
We come in a posture of repentance, aswe admit before you, our loving father,

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that we have fallen short of your glory.
But in this beautiful letter, we seehow glorious you are that God exalted
you to the highest place and gave youthe name that is above every name,
that at your name, every knee willbow in heaven and on earth, and
under the earth and every tongue,acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.

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Even in the next five to 10 minutes, Lord,may you speak to us Holy Spirit, would
you illuminate the things and impress uponour heart the things that are upon yours?
Ultimately, Jesus, we want tofollow you and follow your way.
So even as we speak one to another, mayyou season our conversation with grace.

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Seizing our conversation withencouragement, seizing our
conversation with hope, knowingthat ultimately what this is all
about is death and resurrection.
We thank you for this time.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
I'll leave you to have, I'll leave youto have a chat for five minutes with

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someone that you trust, or if you wannareflect silently, that's also okay.