SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna come.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, church.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, this is my fault, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Right when we pray, I'm gonna switch microphones.
SPEAKER_00: But let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be praying this morning for a pastor in Colombia.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got your Bibles, you can open them to Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: I want to make sure that you know we're gonna be in Philippians chapter one again.
SPEAKER_00: But this morning I wanted to specifically request prayer for this pastor.
SPEAKER_00: His name is Luis Carlos.
SPEAKER_00: He's the pastor of a Calvary chapel in Cali, Colombia.
SPEAKER_00: Now here's the connection.
SPEAKER_00: Five of us went down to Cartagena, Colombia, and then across the bay there to Terrabomba, and we made relationships with a pastor on an island that's sharing the gospel, doing a great job.
SPEAKER_00: There's a couple church members that may be planning a future trip, and so keep your eye on that, keep your ear on that.
SPEAKER_00: But I've stayed connected with a gentleman named Tim, he's the pastor at Calvary Chapel, Cartagena, and a gentleman named Alex, who's the pastor of the refuge church, La Refugio, in Terrabumba.
SPEAKER_00: Now, both of them have been to Venezuela over the past few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you follow World News, there was a massive earthquake in Venezuela.
SPEAKER_00: They sent mission teams and people to dig out the rubble and serve food and share the gospel and give out Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as they were doing that and sending people to Venezuela, this week there was another massive earthquake in Colombia.
SPEAKER_00: And so in Cali, Colombia, which is where Alex is from, he was born and raised in Cali.
SPEAKER_00: He sent me an audio message saying, pray for Cali, Columbia.
SPEAKER_00: The pastor of Calvary Chapel, Cali, Columbia, is named Lewis.
SPEAKER_00: Now they're doing all kinds of things, relief efforts.
SPEAKER_00: They've already sent teams and all that's in underway.
SPEAKER_00: But Pastor Lewis has this extreme challenge to minister to a people where their friends and family have died.
SPEAKER_00: To minister in a place, they rent out a building for their church, and half of the building is rubble.
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know if or how they're meeting this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And this pastor, along with his team and all kinds of church members, have been doing relief effort for the last several days.
SPEAKER_00: And I just told both Tim and Alex, we will pray for Pastor Lewis and pray that God uses him and pray that God would sustain his strength.
SPEAKER_00: So can we do that before we jump into Philippians?
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you one other quick reminder.
SPEAKER_00: This is just housekeeping.
SPEAKER_00: You got this in your bulletin.
SPEAKER_00: If you're part of our small group that meets at 11 o'clock, it is very likely it's meeting at 9 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: next week.
SPEAKER_00: Do not miss that, okay?
SPEAKER_00: All the information is right here for you.
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you put that on your fridge and you know where your class is meeting.
SPEAKER_00: Got it?
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that was just a few got it.
SPEAKER_00: Got it?
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray for Pastor Luis Carlos and uh Colombia as a nation and really Central America that's had these terrible tragedies these last few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we just sang it and we mean it.
SPEAKER_00: Christ is enough.
SPEAKER_00: And even in the presence of extreme suffering, would it be true in our lives that Christ is enough?
SPEAKER_00: We pray, God, for those that have been hurting in Venezuela, of course, and those mission efforts that people have been sending in Venezuela.
SPEAKER_00: We also pray uh for Cali Columbia.
SPEAKER_00: And I thank you, God, for a network of churches and a network of pastors that love each other well, that when something hard happens, they immediately go.
SPEAKER_00: It's to me the observation is questions are not asked, they just go.
SPEAKER_00: Their first response is to go.
SPEAKER_00: And I thank you, Lord, for that kind of love, for that kind of shared mission to say we gotta see more people know who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta minister to hurting people when they're hurting.
SPEAKER_00: And so for Pastor Lewis, just fill him with your wisdom, fill him with your grace that he might be able to one, minister to the own sheep of the flock that he's shepherding and check in on them and check in on the herding and continue the effort to rescue these people.
SPEAKER_00: But two, uh love this community well and and and declare unashamedly, there is a hope available in Christ that surpasses all of this suffering.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't make the suffering easy, but it does give a sense of hope and comfort in the midst of that suffering.
SPEAKER_00: So we pray for Pastor Lewis.
SPEAKER_00: I know he's got meetings coming up on whether or not they can have a meeting space or purchase the space that they've been renting now that it's rubble and being rebuilt.
SPEAKER_00: God, I just ask that you lead every step of the way.
SPEAKER_00: Would the gospel continue to move forward?
SPEAKER_00: And I pray that right here in Wimberley.
SPEAKER_00: Would we take seriously this vision to magnify Christ and share the gospel?
SPEAKER_00: And would the gospel move forward out of these doors, out of this building, into our community and beyond?
SPEAKER_00: Lord help us.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
unknown: Really?
unknown: 18B?
SPEAKER_00: If your English translation shows a paragraph there, there were no paragraphs or verses in the original Greek.
SPEAKER_00: So for us, we just have reference of 18B through that section that goes all the way through verse 26.
SPEAKER_00: As you're finding that in your Bible, think about this for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Life is short.
SPEAKER_00: It's a mist, it's a vapor.
SPEAKER_00: And there is something true, right?
SPEAKER_00: You may have heard the phrase, two things we can always count on death and taxes.
SPEAKER_00: You do need to pay taxes if you make money here in the US of A.
SPEAKER_00: And we all will die.
SPEAKER_00: It says it in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: It's appointed for man to die once, and after this comes judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Paul here makes a bold statement that to live is Christ and to die is gain.
SPEAKER_00: But the question we ask as we start this sermon is what will be said at your funeral?
SPEAKER_00: If it is true that we all will die, what kind of legacy will we live behind?
SPEAKER_00: What kind of things would be said about our life?
SPEAKER_00: The things that we put our hands to, the things we were most passionate about, the things we did for the Lord and for his glory, the things we did within our families, what will be said about us?
SPEAKER_00: It's a good thing to consider because if you catch it with enough time, you can start to live your life with those goals in mind.
SPEAKER_00: What are you living for?
SPEAKER_00: I'll never forget there was a man in this church, he was worship leader for many, many years, and he was sent out as a missionary with his wife to Mexico, and he came back, and they were faithful church members here.
SPEAKER_00: He had cancer and he was dying, and he knew he was dying, but God kept giving him extra days and extra months and extra weeks.
SPEAKER_00: And he sat in my office with tears in his eyes.
SPEAKER_00: This man said, Aaron, I'm here.
SPEAKER_00: Because for me, to live is Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And to die will be gain.
SPEAKER_00: And as long as I have breath in my lungs, I'm living for him.
SPEAKER_00: That is the very verse that we find ourselves looking at this morning, and it just makes us think about the quality of what we're living for.
SPEAKER_00: Because I believe that we have a gospel of good news and a gospel of hope that's worth dying for.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul will say right here in Philippians chapter one.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at it.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Yes, I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, he's in jail in chains, writing to the Philippians for them to rejoice in the hope that they have in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I know I'm in jail, I know my circumstance is terrible, but God's going to turn it around.
SPEAKER_00: I just know that God can turn this thing around.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
SPEAKER_00: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
SPEAKER_00: If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.
SPEAKER_00: Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell.
SPEAKER_00: I'm hard pressed between the two.
SPEAKER_00: My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
SPEAKER_00: But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
SPEAKER_00: Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
SPEAKER_00: Just that context, Paul's writing from jail, and he's saying, Jesus Christ is worth it.
SPEAKER_00: Living my life for Christ is worth it.
SPEAKER_00: It's worth something.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Christ is worthy and he wants his life to count for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you and I can both say with the same gumption and passion, I want my life to count for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Three ways I think from this passage that we can make our lives count for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, make your life count for Christ by rejoicing.
SPEAKER_00: It is a theme of this letter over and over.
SPEAKER_00: I will rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: He tells them to rejoice every time Christ is proclaimed, I rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, Yes, I will continue to rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: Paul ends that last section with a firm conviction that he's going to rejoice despite his suffering.
SPEAKER_00: He's in chains for Christ, and even still, he rejoices.
SPEAKER_00: And then he reminds the Philippians, I know my circumstance looks dim.
SPEAKER_00: Don't weep for me.
SPEAKER_00: I am rejoicing in the midst of this circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: You may have read an Old Testament book, the book of Job, and Job has a very similar attitude.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm just going to praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to bless his name, whether he gives or takes away.
SPEAKER_00: This is Job chapter 1, verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: Then Job arose, he tore his robe, he shaved his head, he fell on the ground and worshipped.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Naked, I came into my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Houses burned, children dead, livestock gone.
SPEAKER_00: In the world's eyes, everything Job has to live for.
SPEAKER_00: And yet he says, God gave.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed be his name.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to rejoice in the midst of this circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if you've ever experienced joy in the midst of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I talk to church members and people that come into the office.
SPEAKER_00: Often I counsel them and they say, This season of my life has been so hard, but I wouldn't trade it.
SPEAKER_00: Because I know the Lord in a deeper, more intimate way, despite the suffering.
SPEAKER_00: And so if I had to do it all over again, I might still take the suffering because I know Jesus more intimately in the midst of this suffering.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if Paul would say the same.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: No matter how hard it gets, he's going to rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: If you want your life to count for Christ, when it gets the toughest, I'm not saying put on a fake smile.
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying ask the Lord to mine in you somewhere deep in your soul a sense of true and earnest rejoicing.
SPEAKER_00: Because you know Christ and you have a hope, so you will rejoice.
SPEAKER_00: And later in this letter, Paul talks about the Philippians being like lights in the world or stars in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation to remind us the people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: A dying world that doesn't have the hope that we have is watching, and the way that we respond to hard things, suffering, physical suffering, emotional woes, trials among our family and friends and workplaces and schools, the way we respond helps people see that Jesus is worth it or helps people say, See, there's no difference between them and me, even though they're Christian.
SPEAKER_00: You want your life to count for Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Do that by rejoicing, even in the tough times.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, make your life count for Christ by trusting.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 19 and 20 again.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, or Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance.
SPEAKER_00: As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say I'm gonna get out of these chains.
SPEAKER_00: He says, even if I die in these chains, Christ is gonna be honored, and I'm gonna be delivered.
SPEAKER_00: There's something hopeful there.
SPEAKER_00: There's a twofold sense of trust and confidence that he has.
SPEAKER_00: The first part is the prayers of the saints.
SPEAKER_00: I know you, Philippians, you've been praying for me, and others have been praying for me, and that gives me a confidence.
SPEAKER_00: That second part is his trust and help that comes from the Spirit, our helper, the wonderful counselor, the paraclete, the one that sticks close to us.
SPEAKER_00: As we receive Christ, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, and that fuels his confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the prayers of the saints.
SPEAKER_00: I like this old song.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you know of a guy named Dave Barnes, maybe you don't.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna read some lyrics of a song that he wrote about two decades ago now that really dates me.
SPEAKER_00: But I first heard this song when I was a college student and I was listening to a lot of music for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: The verse, two verses, are here about a young child with cancer.
SPEAKER_00: And the chorus says that there are prayers of the saints that are working and moving even as the cancer in this baby grows.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read one of the verses, and then a chorus says Papa's alone while the sun sets red, and Papa stands fine, baby lays in bed.
SPEAKER_00: Papa blames this on what he doesn't know, and the baby looks fine while the cancer grows.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the chorus talking about the prayers of the saints, they can do what most men can't.
SPEAKER_00: God bends his ear just to hear what they say.
SPEAKER_00: Talking about the way they move and makes them do the things that they do somewhere a saint is praying for you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're walking in the midst of the frustration and brokenness of our culture or this world, or the fact that we're waiting for Jesus to return so the upside down can be turned right side up, I know that it's not easy.
SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
SPEAKER_00: But I am telling you to continue to trust in the Lord because somewhere, someone is praying for you, and God is hearing those prayers.
SPEAKER_00: God is bending his ear to those prayers, and he's working and moving.
SPEAKER_00: Even as Pastor Mike said earlier in our gathering, in our prayer time, that we've been praying for a miracle.
SPEAKER_00: God answered that prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You should have a growing sense of trust in God, knowing that he hears the prayers of those that are interceding on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, if you ever need to know a faithful group of saints to pray for you, tell my wife, mom's in prayer, Monday mornings.
SPEAKER_00: Tell Jim Chisholm, Sunday nights, five o'clock in that prayer tower right across the way.
SPEAKER_00: These are faithful saints that will pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Tell our staff, we say that every single week.
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
SPEAKER_00: Tell our staff we pray every Tuesday morning.
SPEAKER_00: Tell someone in your small group, say, I need you to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And then just trust that God is hearing those prayers, that God is working and God is moving.
SPEAKER_00: And even as Paul says, whether I live or die, there is a deliverance for me because my life is to honor Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And I know that he's working something out for his glory and for my good.
SPEAKER_00: The prayers is that first sense of confidence that's twofold.
SPEAKER_00: One, prayers of the saints, and two, the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: See, it's the Holy Spirit that fuels Paul's confidence.
SPEAKER_00: He says, prayers and the help of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ that will turn out for my deliverance.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's confident that he has a final deliverance coming.
SPEAKER_00: I've already made a connection between Paul and Philippians and Job in the book of Job, but listen again, Job 13, this is interesting.
SPEAKER_00: All of his friends are critical and accusing.
SPEAKER_00: All of his friends say, You should curse God, or what did you do to deserve this punishment?
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, guys, I don't think y'all have it right.
SPEAKER_00: But let me just tell you, no matter what happens, no matter what happens, my salvation comes from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This is Job 13, verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: Though he slay me, I will hope in him.
SPEAKER_00: Yet I will argue my ways to his face.
SPEAKER_00: This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.
SPEAKER_00: God, even if you slay me, my hope is in you, my salvation comes from you.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, whether I live or whether I die, Christ is my hope.
SPEAKER_00: And I am longing and looking for a final deliverance.
SPEAKER_00: The question for us as Christians is where do we put our trust these days?
SPEAKER_00: Are we putting our trust in the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Are we putting our trust in man?
SPEAKER_00: Is our confidence in Jesus such that we know with a confidence at the end of this life, Jesus, I'm seeing you face to face.
SPEAKER_00: For me to live is Christ, and I will live faithfully for you, but to die, that's gain, and I'll see you face to face.
SPEAKER_00: No matter how much suffering you've endured, we have a hope in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That hope is fueled by the prayers of others and the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: We can say, like Paul, I am looking forward to and longing for final deliverance.
SPEAKER_00: And so, God, moment by moment, day by day, hour by hour, sustain me to persevere through this suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Make your life count for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, make your life count for Christ by hoping in the future.
SPEAKER_00: And I love this idea that we look for and long for the future.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: He says, He has a full courage now as always that Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
SPEAKER_00: For to me, to live is Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And to die is gain.
SPEAKER_00: As we fix our eyes on the future, that's what it says in Hebrews 12.
SPEAKER_00: We fix our eyes on Christ, the author and perfector of our faith.
SPEAKER_00: We are running a race, trying with everything we have to make it to that finish line.
SPEAKER_00: I praise God that even when I'm weak, he is strong.
SPEAKER_00: And Jude chapter 1 says, He will keep me all the way to the line.
SPEAKER_00: And I run my race, and I'm hoping for the future, and I'm longing for the end of days for me to die is gained.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm longing for and looking for that future city.
SPEAKER_00: It says this in Hebrews 12 of Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: If they had been thinking of the land to which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
SPEAKER_00: But as it is, they desired a better country, that is a heavenly one.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
SPEAKER_00: Later in Hebrews 13, it says that there is a lasting city that we hope for, to be in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: In Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, it talks about our citizenship not being here in this life, our citizenship being a heavenly one.
SPEAKER_00: That we have a heavenly citizenship, and so we look for and long for the future.
SPEAKER_00: I'll never forget in New Mexico, I was pastoring, and there's a man named Tom Lancaster.
SPEAKER_00: He checked in on me once or twice a month, and he would just call and say, I won't take much time, 20 minutes, tops.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to come in, I want to sit at your table, I want to pray for you, I want to hear about your family, I want to hear about your sister and your brother and how are they doing.
SPEAKER_00: He shared his life with me.
SPEAKER_00: He had two sons, and one of them died as a teenager.
SPEAKER_00: It's very tragic.
SPEAKER_00: Interestingly enough, that teenager's name was the same name as my brother, and so we just had this connection, this bond.
SPEAKER_00: And Tom was checking in on me.
SPEAKER_00: And I love Tom Lancaster checking on me and praying for me and mentoring me in life.
SPEAKER_00: And as we were there at my table one of these days, our ministry assistant popped in and said, Betty Whirley just died.
SPEAKER_00: Betty Worley was a matriarch of our church in Roswell.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, her and her husband had been members for like 60 years when he died.
SPEAKER_00: He was a principal at the local high school.
SPEAKER_00: They built a lot of the church with their bare hands.
SPEAKER_00: They had purchased some property outside of town and built a house with their bare hands.
SPEAKER_00: Man, Betty Whirley was one tough lady.
SPEAKER_00: I never got to meet Tom Whirley.
SPEAKER_00: But I'll never forget what Tom Lancaster said.
SPEAKER_00: And we're talking, and it was just hard, crushing news.
SPEAKER_00: Not Betty Whirley.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she's there every time the doors are open.
SPEAKER_00: She's a faithful saint.
SPEAKER_00: She's a longtime matriarch of our church.
SPEAKER_00: And right as I was trying to be sad about Betty Worley, Tom looked at me and said, You know what?
SPEAKER_00: Good for her.
SPEAKER_00: She's face to face with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And I needed Tom Lancaster to mentor me, not to be sad about Betty Whirley, but to actually celebrate.
SPEAKER_00: For her to live was Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I will make my life count for Jesus, but for her to die was gain face to face with him.
SPEAKER_00: Man, what a lesson I learned.
SPEAKER_00: Day.
SPEAKER_00: She had a hope in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: She had a hope for the future.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't need to grieve those that have a hope in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We celebrate.
SPEAKER_00: She was face to face with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians 13 says it like this for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know in parts, but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
SPEAKER_00: This morning, if you had to give yourself a little checkup, rate it one to ten.
SPEAKER_00: How is your hope in Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: How are you looking for and longing for the future?
SPEAKER_00: And what ways can you improve hoping in Jesus to get through your day-to-day?
SPEAKER_00: I want my life to count for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So I think there are two more quick considerations as we walk through this text.
SPEAKER_00: Three ways to make your life count for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Two more considerations.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the first.
SPEAKER_00: Consider Paul is in a win-win situation.
SPEAKER_00: Did you catch that?
SPEAKER_00: What he says in verse 21.
SPEAKER_00: For me to live is Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's a win.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I have no greater joy than living sold out for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Letting my life be a blazing fire set for the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: I want to share the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pray for saints.
SPEAKER_00: I want to serve the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I'm living for you, and there's no greater joy there.
SPEAKER_00: That's a win.
SPEAKER_00: Yet to die is gain.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a win.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul here is in a win-win situation.
SPEAKER_00: If he lives, he lives for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Winning.
SPEAKER_00: If he dies, he is face to face with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Winning.
SPEAKER_00: It's a win-win situation.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 5 says it like this, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: So we are of good courage.
SPEAKER_00: We know that while we're at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: For we walk by faith, not by sight.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we are of good courage.
SPEAKER_00: And we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
SPEAKER_00: Now I think we can all relate to being in a losing situation.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you can take stock of your life and say, Man, when were these times when I was in a losing situation?
SPEAKER_00: And I felt like the world was just crashing in on every side, and it's a losing situation.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was in the grief of the loss of a loved one.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe very personally, you know, the battle of depression.
SPEAKER_00: It just feels like a losing situation.
SPEAKER_00: Losing situation.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've lost a job, it wasn't your plan, and all of a sudden you're in transition and you feel like you're in a losing situation.
SPEAKER_00: Or you might struggle with the daily grind of raising your kids, and it's like I constantly correcting them.
SPEAKER_00: I'm constantly in discipline.
SPEAKER_00: And when is it ever gonna change?
SPEAKER_00: And when am I ever gonna have the fruit of these things that I'm trying to pour into my kids?
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to point them to Jesus, but it just feels like I'm losing.
SPEAKER_00: Or you've experienced a seemingly hopeless medical diagnosis, and you say, I don't know the answer.
SPEAKER_00: God's got to do a miracle, or I'm gonna die.
SPEAKER_00: Those are all losing situations.
SPEAKER_00: But if you are adopted into the kingdom family, washed by the blood of Jesus and sealed by the Spirit, can I tell you something?
SPEAKER_00: Even though it seems like you're in a losing situation, you're in a win-win situation.
SPEAKER_00: If I live, winning.
SPEAKER_00: If I die, winning.
SPEAKER_00: I'm face to face with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in Christ, you're in a win-win situation.
SPEAKER_00: And that is something that should give us hope.
SPEAKER_00: And we persevere and we're sustained to keep living for him and for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a second consideration.
SPEAKER_00: One, consider Paul's win-win situation.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in Christ, you have the same win-win situation.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, consider this.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not dead, God's not done.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you're here today and you have breath in your lungs and you woke up this morning, Brother Jake prayed for that with our staff.
SPEAKER_00: He said, God, thank you that you just woke us up this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you woke up this morning, that means you are given every opportunity to live for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You are given every opportunity to see God do miraculous things in and through you.
SPEAKER_00: If if you're not dead, God's not done.
SPEAKER_00: And let me just tell you this: a gospel that's worth dying for is also a gospel worth living for.
SPEAKER_00: God, let my life count for you.
SPEAKER_00: Let my life count for your glory.
SPEAKER_00: We look especially at the at this verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, If I'm here and I think I'm gonna be here and I think I'm gonna visit you, and I'm gonna do that.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: For your progress and joy in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're here, that means God's not done, and there's great work that He has for your hands, for your mind, for your heart, and say, God, I want to serve you.
SPEAKER_00: And help me to identify those in my life, family or neighbors, in my small group, in my church family, my coworkers or people at school, that I might live to serve them for their progress and joy in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: What can my life do to help them make progress in the faith?
SPEAKER_00: Do they need to meet Jesus for the first time?
SPEAKER_00: Share the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Do they need to be sanctified and matured in the faith?
SPEAKER_00: Pray for them, meet with them, share a scripture that you learn in your quiet time.
SPEAKER_00: Say, my life needs to count for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: There's people in my life that I can live for their progress and joy in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: That looks like all kinds of relationships.
SPEAKER_00: In your marriage, are you living for your spouse's progress and joy in the faith?
SPEAKER_00: Parenting, I already mentioned that.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about legacy grandparenting a lot in this church.
SPEAKER_00: Because there are a lot of church members that have grandkids that are coming up.
SPEAKER_00: And we want to equip Christ-centered homes.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you did really well at that.
SPEAKER_00: You want to see that multiplied in the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel like you could have done better, but if you're not dead, God's not done.
SPEAKER_00: And so some of the mistakes you made as parents, you can maybe pour into your adult children and say, don't make those same mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be a legacy grandparent that just points these grandkids to Jesus, mom and dad.
SPEAKER_00: How can you be intentional to pray over your kids when you tuck them in or do Bible stories or spend some time praising the Lord in your home because I believe you're the primary faith trainer?
SPEAKER_00: It's legacy grandparenting or parenting.
SPEAKER_00: How can you live for the progress and joy of your children's faith in Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: You can't save them, but you can certainly build a foundation by which they can say, I need to trust Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can introduce them to the truths of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: What about discipleship?
SPEAKER_00: We make a big deal about discipleship in our church.
SPEAKER_00: And over a hundred people have been discipled and trained to mentor and disciple others.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're in a situation where you've been trained up and you're not reproducing, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: If you're not dead, God's not done.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe the living for someone's progress and joy in the faith is you stepping out in faith and jumping off that cliff and saying, I'm just gonna ask this person.
SPEAKER_00: They might reject me, but I want to be intentional to pour into them and develop a time where we meet together regularly, two or three times a month, and study the Bible, go over these tools about how Jesus has taught me to obey him, and I want to help someone else learn how to obey Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's Matthew 28.
SPEAKER_00: Friendships, co-workers, schoolmates, teammates.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not dead, God's not done, and how can you live for someone else's progress and joy in the faith?
SPEAKER_00: Are you pushing others towards Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Are you pushing them to find their full and final joy in Jesus, the way you have found full and final joy?
SPEAKER_00: And then look at verse 26.
SPEAKER_00: So that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is saying, You Philippians who I serve and I'm pouring out my life as a drink offering, my ultimate goal is not that you would glory in me or make me look good.
SPEAKER_00: My ultimate goal is you would glory in him.
SPEAKER_00: And you would give him the glory, you would give him the praise.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's motive here is the glory of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is worthy, amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is worth dying for.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is certainly worth living for.
SPEAKER_00: We're going into a new season.
SPEAKER_00: We're going into school year.
SPEAKER_00: We're going into all the athletic things in the fall.
SPEAKER_00: We're going into an opportunity of one service.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you say, All right, my goal is over these next five weeks, I'm going to get to know somebody from the other worship gathering that I've never met before.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to start praying for them.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to live for their progress and joy in the faith because they're part of my church family.
SPEAKER_00: Even though I'm not in a small group with them, I don't typically worship with them.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to get to know them.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to make it my aim to live for their progress and joy in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: Who are you serving?
SPEAKER_00: And how might your life be described, especially when I open by saying, What will be said at your funeral?
SPEAKER_00: How will you live in such a way that at your funeral people will say, Man, I know one thing.
SPEAKER_00: They live for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And they they went out in a blazing flame living for Jesus with everything they had.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, We have a gospel we're dying for, and I'm adding to that that we also have a gospel worth living for.
SPEAKER_00: So are you rejoicing?
SPEAKER_00: Are you trusting?
SPEAKER_00: Are you hoping?
SPEAKER_00: One pastor says it like this everyone wants to live, and everyone will die.
SPEAKER_00: But there's only one way to have a life worth living and a death worth dying.
SPEAKER_00: And that is to look to the one who conquered death.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I want my life to count for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You may have walked into this place and you're like, I don't know that my life can count for Jesus because he's not my king.
SPEAKER_00: One, it takes a lot of honesty to admit that, so thank you.
SPEAKER_00: And two, it would take a lot more courage to reach out to someone you're sitting with, come talk to a pastor and say, I don't know how to make Jesus my king.
SPEAKER_00: And we will walk alongside of you.
SPEAKER_00: Someone that came to church with you will walk alongside of you and open the scriptures and read the good news of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: My sin is heavy and worthy of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: But God, in his grace and kindness and mercy, has made a way that my sin is paid for.
SPEAKER_00: That's Jesus on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And we would love to just walk with you and show you some of those things.
SPEAKER_00: And then you could say, I have repented, I have believed, Jesus is my king, and I'm living a life, rejoicing in him, with a growing sense of confidence and trust and longing for the hope that I have.
SPEAKER_00: Because for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: God, I just praise you for the hope that we see in Philippians 1.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, God, that we don't live alone.
SPEAKER_00: We don't live without help.
SPEAKER_00: We don't live without hope.
SPEAKER_00: You put other believers in our lives and you give us opportunity to be encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: You've given us the Holy Spirit as a wonderful counselor, as a helper.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just pray, Lord, knowing that a sermon like this might stir all kinds of questions about what is my life about and how am I living for Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And I just ask that in this response time, you deal with us.
SPEAKER_00: You deal with us in such a way that we walk forward differently.
SPEAKER_00: And you clearly show how we can obey you.
SPEAKER_00: And you clearly lead.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, it's a sweet gift when you convict us of something in our lives that's not bringing honor to you.
SPEAKER_00: It's a sweet gift when you lead us, because you're our wonderful counselor, to say this is the way, walk in it, and so show us that in this time.
SPEAKER_00: Show us that in this season.
SPEAKER_00: Help us, we pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.