Philippians 2:12-18 | What Happens in Church Doesn't Stay in Church

Sunday Morning | October 12, 2025 | John C. Majors | Louisville, KY

This week’s message, “What Happens in Church Doesn’t Stay in Church” (Philippians 2:12–18), reminded us that what God does in our hearts during worship should overflow into every part of our lives. Paul urged believers to “work out” their salvation—not to earn it, but to strengthen and grow in obedience through God’s power at work within us. When we love our church and live out our faith without grumbling or compromise, we shine like stars in a dark world, showing others the light of Christ. Ultimately, our faithfulness brings joy—not only to us but also to others who see the evidence of God’s transforming work in our lives.   

You can join us on Sunday mornings at 11 AM for worship. We are located at 8911 3rd Street Road, Louisville KY 40272.

Transcript

0:05

All right. Good morning, Valley View. We're continuing our study, the book of Philippians today. If you have a church Bible that'll be on page 921. If you don't have a Bible, we have those out in the lobby. Our note taking outlines that I'll be referring to are out there as well. So grab those. Slip out any time if you need or want one. There's a city in the U.S. that has a famous slogan. You can probably finish it if I start it. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Now, here's the funny thing about that as much as we might want that to be true, if you've been to Vegas, it in this day and age of cell phones, pictures, video, social media as much as you might want that to be true, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. And even if you kept whatever thing you did there that you didn't want anybody to know, even if you kept it secret, it still travels with you in your heart. It's still a part of you. There's something in our humanity that wants to think we can compartmentalize our lives. I can act this way over here and act this way over there. But here's the big idea that we're going to unpack today. What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. And what happens at church doesn't just stay at church. In fact, another way to say that, and we're going to unpack it here in three different ways in the passage today. What happens here matters. And Paul is going to help us see in the book of Philippians today why what happens at church matters. This is why we come. We come expecting that things that happen here matter in our lives and matter in the lives of others. And what happens here doesn't just stay here. So we're going to be in Philippians chapter two. We're going to look at the first couple of verses here. Verse 14 in particular, or verse 12 to help us get around this idea, get our minds around the idea why what happens at church matters. Look at verse 12 with me and we'll read that fair for my beloved, as you have always obeyed. So now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Okay, the first reason that we're going to unpack here about why what happens in church matters. It's because of your growth. Your growth matters. Your growth as a Christian matters. We want you to be growing, to continue to grow. That's been our theme through the year. You saw it on the big wall when you walked in. Growth. The encouragement is to continue to grow. We don't want anyone to ever just hit a plateau and stay there long term and be okay with it. Of course, we all have our ups and downs and our seasons. I'm not talking about that. You're allowed to have a bad day. We're not talking about that. But we should have a growth mindset at every age and stage in the church. Now, of course, look, we say this all the time, come as you are. You don't have to have it all figured out to walk in the door. Friend of mine used to say, you don't have to get cleaned up to take a shower. Come on. Come as you are. But here's the other side of that. Come as you are so you don't have to stay as you are. And every single one of us here wants to grow. That's. That's why you're here. You want to come. Otherwise you. There's something about you. You want change it. It's true for me. I don't want to stay where I am. All of us want to be growing. In fact, I had a conversation with one of our more, let's say, experienced members this week. And she said, you know, I just love working with the children. I love seeing how God's at work in their life. I love hearing their stories, their testimonies. We need to hear that some of us can get stuck in our ways, she said. I didn't say it. She said it. Some of us could get stuck in our ways, and we need to hear that. We need to be reminded that God's at work. He's still working and he wants to work in your life. No matter where you are. There's no pinnacle you reach and it's done, and it's over. Your growth really matters and God cares about your growth. We're going to see that here in verse 12. He points that out. Now before we get into it, it's important to point out the very first word of this section because this sets up everything. It's the word therefore verse 12, therefore, my beloved, therefore those who I care for that are for those who are loved. And you always ask the question, what is the therefore? Therefore, what is it pointing back towards? Last week we looked at verses nine through 11, which were all about a day when every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, and we collectively bow our knee and confess that Jesus is Lord. We don't have to wait till that day when he might make some do that. We can do that now. We can celebrate that now. So in light of that, Paul is saying, live your life in light of the reality that there will be a day when Jesus comes back. Sometimes it's easy in the midst of the day to day to forget that, to think, no, there won't be a day of reckoning. No, there won't be a day when I need to account for my life. No. Therefore, live in light of that. Let that shape every part of your life. Let that shape the way you approach, approach growing in Christ. Now, there's some difficult concepts in this section as we talk about how to understand how Paul wants us to grow. In fact, some have been very troubled by a couple of these verses, verse 12 and 13 in particular, very confused by it. So we're going to look at these, unpack these a little bit. Notice though in context what he calls them. He calls them obedient. Look at verse 12 again, my beloved, as you have always obeyed. So now not only in my presence but also in my absence. So he's recognizing that they are obedient. They are people who are attempting to follow Jesus's commands. And this is really important. It's important to recognize the difference between disobedience and rebellion and immaturity. You know, a child who makes an immature, zealous decision that's different than outright rebellion and disobedience and defiance. You treat those differently. One is more tending corrective care. The other is, well, you pick your punishment. We don't have to get into that. The other requires a heavier hand. It requires direction. And sometimes there's some stuff going on in the heart that they're not going to change. The same is true in church and Paul. Philippians is often called the most tender letter in the New Testament, the most encouraging letter in the New Testament. And Paul, in approaching them, he's not coming with a heavy hand to rebuke them. He's coming to love on them. Care direct. Though there is immaturity in a young church which you would expect, but he begins by calling them, no, you are obedient. I saw that when I was with you. I hear about it now that I'm gone, in a way, and in prison. I still hear about your testimony, about your hunger to follow Christ. And so now, because he knows they care about obedience, he does give them a command. This is a direct command here in verse 12. Look at what he says to them. He says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now here's the hard part of that verse. Many people have read that and thought, okay, what does this mean? Does this mean that somehow I have to figure out salvation on my own, that I have to somehow find my salvation, do a good enough stuff to earn my salvation? Some have read James 226 Faith without works is dead, and read that in that light as well. So if I don't work enough, I don't have faith. Is that what all this means? Well, here's the really important part to understand about any part of Bible study. You always study the Bible in context. That's the key word there in your outline. In context. Study the Bible in context. Context determines meaning. The meaning of anything is made by what surrounds it. The same is true. I know Danny Pierce, our realtor here in the church. There may be others as well, but he understands what determines value of the home. Danny, you want to tell us what are the three words? Location, location, location is the way many people say it. Sorry to put you on the spot, Danny. Location, location. Location. The. What determines the value. You can take the same home in my neighborhood. That's two $300,000. I don't know, drop it on the beach in California, it's$5 million. Location, location, location, context determines meaning. And the same is true in Scripture. Now here are the layers of context. The first is here in the outline. The whole Bible. So keep in mind Ephesians 212 is in the context of the whole Bible. So we've got all the rest of the Bible to look across. I said Ephesians, Philippians 212 is in the context of the whole Bible, but we have verses like Ephesians two eight. By grace you have been saved through faith. It is not a result of works. It is the gift of God so that no 1st May boast. Okay, so this this can't mean we've got that other verse that says it's not what you do that saves you, not a result of works. It's not about you being able to say, look how many great things I did. Jesus picked me. I'm the all star here in the group. Now you also have Romans 4 or 5 ones, 4 or 5 to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted as righteousness. The one who does not work. So we know this verse in the context of the whole Bible. Can't mean that. It can't mean work in a way that earns you your salvation. By the way, we also have the context of the book of Philippians chapter two verse 12 lands within the whole book of Philippians. And we know he started the book in chapter one with just a couple of phrases. Here in verse five he called them, what do you call them saints? In verse one he called them partners in the gospel. In verse five he called them partakers of grace in verse seven. So he's calling them fellow Christians, people who already know and follow Christ. So he can't be saying to them, now go create your salvation. He already knows. They know Christ. So what does this mean? Probably a better word to use is the word grow. When we say work out your salvation, probably a word more like grow is better. Grow, build, strengthen. You can't grow what you don't possess. If I were walking to the gym and I say, hey, I'm going to go work on my arms. And you said, John, you don't have any arms. If I didn't, let's say pretend with me, then I wouldn't say, yeah, but I'm going to go get some at the gym. I'm going to go create them by going to the gym. No no no no no, you can't work out what you don't possess. You got to have it to begin with. But if I have arms, which I do, I can go to the gym and try to strengthen and grow and build and improve. And so what he's saying here to them is along that realm, I know you're saved. I know you're obedient because of that grow. And here's where we have the context. Lastly, that helps explain this. It's the immediate context. This is how we know he's driving at that. Verse 12 and verse 13 go together. They're back to back for a reason. The immediate context is not just the whole Bible, not just the book of Philippians, but right here together. Next to each other is verse 12 and verse 13. Look at verse 13 again. We'll repeat verse 12, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so I know now, now, so now, not only is in my presence much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And then he has this word for, for. Here's the reason, because here's why you can work out your salvation. Here's why you can be confident that you can grow. Here's the reason why behind that, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. This is the immediate context right next to this, the reason why you can walk in the confidence that you can grow as a Christian is because God is the one working in you. And look, this is so important because so many of us face the seasons where you feel stuck and you feel like there's nothing you can do to get past something. Maybe it's a sin that you've struggled with for years and you feel like, I guess there's no path forward. I guess I've got to just accept that this is who I am. I guess that I'm just got to give myself over to this. It is God who is at work in you, and you're thinking, I can't seem to get past this. And you. The beautiful part of that is you want to know what's true is you're exactly right. You can't. If you're trying to do it just on your own, you can't get past it. It's true. And you felt it. But it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And that last phrase means everything. Because we don't often get a glimpse into God's motivation for how he interacts with us. Sometimes we don't know. Sometimes we wonder, why did you do that? God, I'm not sure. But here it says you want to know why he's at work in is for us to grow. It says right there at the end of verse 13, it's both to will and to work for his good pleasure. He delights in your growth. He delights in seeing you grow in Christ. So why does it matter that we come here? It's for our growth. He wants to see us grow and flourish and keep growing. And there's no endpoint. There's no plateau. No matter how much you feel like you've grown in the last year, there's more horizons of growth out ahead of you, far more abundant than you can ever imagine. And that's intimidating and exciting at the same time. Your growth matters. That's the first reason he points out here. Now let's look at the second. This will be in the next group of verses. The second here is is when you love your church. The reason why what matters here. The reason why what happens here matters and doesn't just stay here. It's number two. When you love your church, you change the world. When you love your church, you're a part of affecting the world. When we love one another here, well, that shapes and affects the rest of the world. That's part of why what happens here matters. And look, everybody wants to make a difference in the world. That's why there are people's names on buildings and headstones. And we all want to be remembered. We all want to matter. What happens at the starting point is here. Start here. Paul knows that. And that's why his first words to them here are a little difficult to read. In this section, look at verse 14 and what he says to them. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. That's his first words to us here in the church when it comes to knowing how we interact with one another, he starts with a little bit of a rebuke do all things without grumbling or disputing and you expect to have to say that, let's say to a four year old siblings, right? Stop arguing, stop fighting. We don't expect to have to say that to, let's say once they're 35, right? You don't think? Now we have to say that, though it still happens, especially maybe when there's some inheritance involved. Yeah. You start to see those four year olds coming back out. And we especially don't expect to have to say it here, do all things without grumbling or disputing. He's saying it. That means it probably was existing. And at one level we shouldn't be surprised. It's a young church, probably just about ten years old, in the faith, where there wasn't a second and third Philippi down the street. This was the only church to have come to that area in the history of mankind. Gospel comes to a city. Of course it's going to take some time for us to mature and to figure out what's the first importance, what's second importance. We fight over things that we thought were so important, and we see they're not central. That's some immaturity that takes time. And he reminds them, do all things without grumbling or disputing. Now it's really important to understand this about this phrase, because Paul does this in the book of Philippians. We talked about this last week. He doesn't directly quote from the Old Testament like he did or like Peter did in first Peter over and over again, because it says it says here in Psalms, it says here in Isaiah, he builds this case. He makes the point, stacks up verse after verse after verse. But here instead, it's more inferences, more hints. We did an exercise on that last week. I can say a couple of words and you know where it come from. I can say one word and you know who the author is. You tell me if I just say Romeo and Shakespeare or I say one word Romeo, Romeo. Or if I say we hold these truths to be self-evident, you know, right away I am quoting very important founding documents for our country. You only have to say a few words to point to a broader idea and hear these words grumbling and disputing. Both point back to one story in particular, and that's Israel in the wilderness and the very thing they asked for. They got God, take us out of here. We're enslaved to the Egyptians. Would you remove us, Lord? Why would you persecutors, by taking us out here in the wilderness where we have to walk and we don't have the lovely food we have? We asked for it, but that's not how we wanted it done. Lord, the very thing they ask for. They're grumbling, they're disputing, they're upset. And Paul has just a hint. Don't be like the rebellious Israelites. Don't be like that. A couple of weeks ago, I went hiking with my son in Colorado and it was so hard. Oh, it was so hard at so many levels. I'm 51. He's 21. Just take that ad alone. Keeping up with him was impossible. And then the altitude difference and oh, but one thing I kept telling myself all throughout John, you chose to come. Don't complain, don't complain, don't get into this. I can't believe is when can we stop? No no no no. Don't complain. Enjoy it. Choose to enjoy every moment. Even the thing that seems impossible and hard and maybe seems not fun. He calls that type two fun. It's not fun in the moment, but you'll look back later and say, hey, that was fun. Maybe we can look back and enjoy the memory later. I no, I don't want time to fight. I want it all to be great right now. I don't want to be like rebellious Israel. And look, this is so gross to read because I know that tendency is in my own heart. How many of us pray? I pray, God, would you grow me? Would you grow me into a godly man? Help me to become the kind of man that you'd be proud of. And then he brings a hardship to prune me and I go, not that. No, not that way. Lord. No no no no no. Why do you persecute me? Why do you hate me now, John? You asked for this. You see what he's hinting at here? Do all things without grumbling or disputing. Don't end up like the Israelites. Now here's why. Look at what he says to him. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you may be blameless and innocent. Children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that. So that in the day of Christ I may be proud that you did not run in vain or labor in vain. What we do here matters. The way you live matters. The world is watching. The world notices the way you live in life. And that's the only hint they have about where your hope is. I had a good friend in high school. I worked with him in the grocery store. He would not come here to church where I attended because our most difficult customer, the person who was most demanding about the way their cheese was sliced, rightly or not, at the counter, was somebody who went here and he knew that. And he said, if they go there, I'm not going there. Now, look, we all have our moments in line. We all have our times driving a car. We all have moments where we go. That wasn't my best moment. But then we come back around and go, look, I'm sorry I was so demanding about the way I wanted my cheese sliced. I apologize, it's okay. I'm going to get over it. The world is watching how we live, and that influences whether they want to be a part of faith or not. And he's saying, look, we want to be seen. Look at some of these words you use blameless, innocent in the eyes of the world. We want to stand out as those who are of good standing. Even in a world who doesn't hold to Christian values, we want to be seen as those blameless, innocent. Some translate that is pure. I like this word undiluted, especially on the day of the chili cook off. I don't want my chili watered down. I want to be able to eat it with a fork. Give me some chick thick chili. Have you say that undiluted, pure, innocent, blameless. In fact, he calls this generation that we live among crooked and twisted. Those are hard words. If I call someone crooked, I don't. I don't trust him at all. If I call him twisted and there's there's something probably off morally about them, I definitely don't trust them. Put them together. That's that's really bad. But once again, this is another hint. This is pointing to the Old Testament. In fact, if you look at the reference here and the notes is Deuteronomy 32 five, and once again he's using it of Israel, Israel crooked, twisted, rebellious. Don't be like them. And he's reminding the Philippians, by the way. And it's a reminder to us that apart from Christ, we're going to live however we want, apart from Christ. I mean, imagine what society would be like if everyone just gave themself over to whatever they were feeling. I think it was 1969, in Montreal. The police went on strike and everybody knew they were going on strike. They knew the day in the hour when the strike began. And that day, an hour is when the looting began. Why not? Who's going to stop us? And maybe all of us wouldn't start looting the minute that the police went on strike. But the reality is, apart from Christ, there's an element of us that, apart from some outside force that gives restriction to our morality, where do we go? Crooked, twisted? Rebellious. Running from Christ. And that tendency, apart from Christ is there's something that's healthy to acknowledge. And that is true for any of us. We need to stand out such that our character stands out so greatly that when anyone sees us, they've got to make up stuff about us. In fact, there's this great quote quote from the church, early church father Tertullian. He was around 200 A.D. and someone said to him of another Christian, he's a good man, even though he is a Christian. I don't like his beliefs. I don't I don't care about his faith. But let me tell you that someone I admire, it should be said of us that way. We should be described that way in Daniel. I've got the reference here. Daniel six five. Daniel's life was so upstanding, they had to go digging deep in his faith to find something to use against him. We got to almost make up stuff against him. We're called in the midst of this generation to be blameless, innocent, holding fast to the word of life. And here's why. The last part of the verse says, so that you shine like lights, shine like lights in the world. In fact, that word lights in your blank usually is translated. Stars shine like stars in the world. And what does stars do, especially at this time? Give direction. Give a map. Show you where to go. Stand out in the darkness. We're called to be that the way you live your life matters in the world. What happens here doesn't just stay here. And so if we're infighting and divisive and difficult here, it's going to end up out there. And by the way, I don't think we are in general, I don't have any situation in mind. I think in general, this church is for one another is encouraging, isn't doesn't fall apart over the smallest little things, doesn't look for a fight. We all have our moments where we don't like something and maybe we voice it a little too much. I get that I do that too, but look for in general, I love that this church is a church of encouragement, support, unity, humility and that matters. If that spirit is built here, it's going to spill out into the rest of the world. So what matters here? What happens here matters. Number two, it's because it spills out onto the world. And then look at the third reason, the last reason that church matters. Number three, it's for your joy. It's for your joy. Look at verse 17 and 18, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and I rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. Now remember Paul's circumstances. He's in prison in Rome. Many have speculated about what that situation might have looked like based on history, likely maybe chained to his captors. Probably not experiencing his best life then at that moment. And yet he's full of joy. He's rejoicing. And I read this engagement. That's that's what I want to be like. Listen, when I see other Christians and they're full of joy, that gives me hope and encouragement. But when I see them and the pattern is the opposite of that, I think if you're not a Christian and you see that and go, I don't, I don't know that that's for me. Walk in joy. Keep in mind, Paul knew his circumstances. Look at what he says here. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering that probably refers to his martyrdom, to his death. He knew we saw back in 121 whether to live or Christ or die is gain. He knew it. It was certainly possible that he could be killed for his faith. Even if that happens, I rejoice. I'm full of joy. And when you walk in joy here, when you walk in joy with one another, what happens here doesn't just stay here. It matters. One of my mentors is, Bob Russell, who was the pastor of southeast for years. And we've met a number of times. And I tell you the thing that I've always admired about Bob, the one defining word I've used of him is the word joy. And if you don't know who he is and you don't, you haven't met him. He is. He's just constantly radiating joy. He always has just a hint of a smile on his face. You always wonder what kind of joke he's going to tell, and he just walks in joy. And I just thought, that's who Bob is, you know? That's that's how he's wired. He's got this huge church, seems to have had a great life. Of course he'll be full of joy. And so I called him not too long ago with a question and here's this challenge, Bob. How do I handle it? And and he said, John, you can't live your life worried about what other people think of you. I said, I wasn't doing that, Bob. I saw right through that. And he said, John, you want to know how many people deeply dislike me? I said, Bob, you there are people who dislike you. He's like, oh yeah, you have no idea. Here I am, here I am thinking Bob has had it easy. He's had this great church in this great life and therefore, why wouldn't he be full of joy? Well, gosh, I mean, of course, how naive of me not to think of how many problems he's had and faced and encountered, and how many people dislike him. He chooses to walk in joy. And here's my plea for you. This is the final plea, the call for you. I don't know what you're facing. And by the way, we are all many of us. Some are facing incredibly hard things. I'm not minimizing that, but we've got a choice. Walk in joy. Pray every day. Walk in joy. God, would you give me the strength today to walk in joy? And you got to figure out what that means for your circumstance. Again, I'm not saying then you just need to pretend that something's not hard and act like it didn't really happen when it did. Now look, there are hard things to deal with. There are hard times. It's okay to be sad, but how do we pursue joy in the midst of that? Paul did it in prison. If he says that to Philippians, I think we can embrace that too. And so I'm going to pray for you. And while I'm praying, I want you to pray. Pray this specifically. God, would you give me the courage to walk in joy today? Would you pray that for yourself while I pray? God, I thank you for your word that guides us. Thank you for Paul having the courage, the courage to say to the Philippians, don't grumble. Don't dispute, but walk in joy. We have infinite joy in you, even in the midst of the persecution of the challenge, of the hardship. And I pray especially for those today who are facing things that seem overwhelming. Would you help them to choose joy today? Because we know that what happens here matters. Help us to be shining like stars in the midst of the world today. Jesus, we love you and that's in your name we pray. Amen.