Riverside Covenant Church -- West Lafayette, IN
Life together.
Philippians 2: 19-30
“Christians today often feel that society is hostile to them…As Christianity moves from being the dominant religious perspective in Western society to being only one perspective that competes equally with many others, feelings of exclusion and mis-representation is inevitable….
Philippians 2: 12-18
Having laid out Jesus as the supreme example of someone who humbled himself for the good of others, the topic of unity is still on Paul’s mind as he continues in the application section of the letter. As he uses the image of an offering to describe his life and service, Paul continues the theme of selflessness and calls on the believers to mirror his efforts as they mirror those of Christ (v. 18). He uses the language of athletics, as he does in several other places in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 9: 24 – 27; 2 Timothy 4:8 ), to express his hope that in the end he did not “run or labor for nothing” (v. 16).
Philippians 2: 5-11
This section of the letter is directly tied to the first four verses of chapter 2 where Paul commands the believers in Philippi to be unified as a church, based on their common experience and standing in Christ. Here he turns to Christ as an illustration and example of what they must do in order for this to take place, which in a word, is to live with a selfless and sacrificial attitude rather than a selfish one. The passage is also interesting and highly important because of what it teaches about the incarnation and the person of Jesus. Thus, today we will discuss both the theological and practical implications of this section.
Several weeks ago I shared some blog posts from a friend of mine whose father had a bleeding ulcer in his stomach. The situation was tragic and most believed fatal. It took 41 units of blood to keep him alive. By the grace of God, he is recovering beyond his doctors’ understanding. You can read his story here. Out of thanks to God and as a response to the blessing of those that donated blood to support his life, his church recently held a blood drive.
On June 7, 2009, Riverside will be hosting our own blood drive. I hope you will consider giving the gift of life. Please sign up here or on the signup sheet available on Sundays. I am on the list.
Philippians 1:27
“Taliban workers said they killed Williams [Gayle Williams] because she was spreading Christianity. But SERVE Afganistan said she was following the organization’s policy against proselytizing. … A 2008 UN report stated that there were more than 120 attacks targeting aid workers in the first seven months of 2008 alone” (Christianity Today, January 2009, p. 12)