WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:05.280 Thank you for joining us on the CCW podcast. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:11.119 Make sure you connect with us on social media to stay up to date on ministries and events happening at CCW. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:15.039 We hope you're encouraged, inspired, and motivated by today's message. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:19.199 To find out how to connect with us, keep listening after the message ends. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:28.879 Well, good morning to all of you. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:30.640 Thank you all for being here today. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:35.520 Like Pastor Rick said, my name is Eli Alexander, and I'm the family pastor here at CCW. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.640 I want to thank all you for being here on uh the Sunday after Christmas. 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:50.399 Uh I know many of our people are out of town, and so to those of you who are traveling and still tuning in, uh I just want to wish you a merry post-Christmas and hope you have a happy new year coming up. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:57.280 Um it is really a pleasure to be in this house together and to worship with the family of God. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:02.240 It really is a treasure to look around and to see all of you singing. 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:07.519 I and I encourage you, uh, you know, the old song, Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.799 Um, I changed that to open the eyes on my face, Lord. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:15.439 I want to encourage you to look around when you're when you're worshiping with your church family. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:25.040 I mean, it there's nothing sweeter than looking over and seeing Miss Christie just, I mean, triumphant in her singing, or to look on stage and to hear Tessa belting. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:26.799 It was wonderful of sitting right in front of her. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.879 And then to look around and see my family back here worshiping and my wife next to me. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:42.799 And so to those of you who have kids, to those of you who have family and worship together, I want to encourage you to look around, look at your church family as well, and enjoy the treasure that it is to worship as a church family. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:51.599 If you have had a good year, or if you have had a down year, like Pastor Rick said, this is the place to be. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:53.359 This is the place to be. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:02:00.079 That song that we just sang, that song that we just sang, I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.799 That is a truth that we get to celebrate here together today. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.680 Just this morning, Miss Dana and I with Mr. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:10.159 Don Ferris were praying upstairs before service. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.520 We prayed for one of our friends, a little boy named Brooks Cobb. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:14.719 He had appendicitis. 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:24.400 And last I had heard, he might have needed an appendectomy and getting his appendix removed and got ambulance from um silicauga to children's for that surgery. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:37.680 And so we were praying for him this morning, and uh little did we know that last night uh Brooks had a no-toxins in his blood, and antibiotics would cover it, and he got to go home, and he's doing much better. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:48.800 And so we were late this morning in our prayers, but God is always on time, and so he hears our prayers, and he does indeed answer those prayers. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:54.560 Well, I have the fun task this morning of having a what we call in the biz a one-off sermon. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:03:01.120 So we have uh a sermon series coming up, and then we have the sermon today that is just standalone. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:08.479 We're not talking about the Christmas story, we are not talking about what Pastor Rick is going to dive us into for Vision Sunday. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:11.599 We get a one-off sermon. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:21.199 And so, for our one-off, for our charge into the new year, I want to go ahead and give you permission, if you're waiting for it, to turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter two. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.479 Philippians chapter two. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:34.879 Every new year, I like to choose a biblical theme or a biblical word to really be my word or theme for the whole year. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:38.479 So 2023's word was rejoice. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:44.639 I wanted to dive into the word, into worship music about what does it mean to rejoice in the Lord? 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:45.840 That was 2023. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.400 2024's was sustained. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:55.039 What does it mean when the Bible says and when worship songs say that God will sustain you? 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:01.759 It was a really special year, 2024, getting to experience all that it means for God to sustain you. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:04.879 We've seen that come to fruition in Kirby's graduation. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:06.800 Thank you for mentioning that. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:08.319 And then 2025's word. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:11.840 2025's word is what's being tied in to today's sermon. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:17.120 And today's word, 2025's word, is humility. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:22.560 Humility, which is going to come from our passage today. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:27.920 Kirby and I love to watch TV, maybe me more so than her. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.560 I kind of brought her into my TV habit. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:35.759 And we were watching this show, and I want to describe a scene for you. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.160 In this scene, it's a family Christmas, and it's a Catholic family, a Roman Catholic family. 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:43.600 And if you don't know, Roman Catholic families celebrate a feast. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:45.600 It's called the Feast of the Seven Fishes. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:49.040 And if you're like me, that sounds like heaven. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:53.040 To have just a bunch of seafood and a big celebratory meal. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:56.000 I would love to have a feast of the seven fishes. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:03.600 But in this scene, there is a feast of the seven fishes taking place, and there's a big, massive family there, and everything looks beautiful. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:09.360 The trees picturesque, the decorations are wonderful, the food looks absolutely to die for. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.800 But under the surface, something is brewing. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:15.519 Under the surface, something is brewing. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:21.920 Mom is an alcoholic, and no one in the family likes her new husband. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:28.560 One of the brothers is suffering from depression and is struggling in his work. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:37.600 The younger brother has left home, traveled afar to chase his ambitious dreams, and everyone in the family judges him about it. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:40.959 Sister seems great from what I remember in the show. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:50.319 She seemed like the most normal person in the show, but for some reason, mom hates her, and nobody, by all means, likes her husband. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:06:05.680 So all of this is bubbling under the surface with the beautiful backdrop of Christmas, but this scene ultimately ends with plates being hurled, silverware being thrown, and insults being traded across the table. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:11.360 This episode went viral on social media, and everyone's response was consistent. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:13.199 No one was laughing. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:18.800 This show that is considered to be a dramatic comedy, but no one on social media was laughing. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.199 Everyone was cringing. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:23.040 They were left uncomfortable. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:25.199 You're probably a little uncomfortable hearing it right now. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:28.639 Everyone was cringing about how awful this episode was. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.680 And I wanted to ask why. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:39.759 Why do you think everybody universally saw this episode and thought, that's just awful? 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:51.439 I think my answer is that because it's realistic, maybe your family Christmas was not too dissimilar from the one that I described. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:07:00.079 Maybe you were spared of this being your Christmas experience, but you certainly know of friends who had a Christmas experience just like the one from that TV show. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:13.759 We have to think if that is possible in maybe our own homes or in the homes of those that we love and know best, then certainly it's possible in our workplace. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.920 Or certainly it's possible when someone cuts you off on 280 when you're on your way here this morning. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:26.639 We can also think outside of just ourselves as well, to all the off-limits topics of conversation. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:34.399 Politics, religion, vaccines and COVID, race relations and immigration reform. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:40.959 I can feel you tinsing right now, wondering, oh my gosh, is Eli about to talk about all these things? 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:43.439 I'm not. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.600 Not in specificity. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:59.839 But we are going to look to Scripture to deliver us a charge and an exhortation for Christian humility, which leads to Christian unity. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:10.399 See that picture of a beautiful family over a beautiful meal looks good, but under the surface, there is disunity. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:13.439 That family is fractured. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:20.720 And if we aren't careful, our sinful nature will lead us to selfishness and not to humility. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:27.360 Our Christian unity will look no more united than how the rest of the world looks united. 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:33.600 And I think we can all agree when we look around that the world around us does not look united. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:37.519 And this ultimately harms our witness. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:44.320 So, that introduction out of the way, would you please join me in reading the Word of God? 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.080 Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:09:11.200 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, I complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:19.919 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:26.639 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:28.320 This is the word of the Lord. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:29.919 Would you pray with me? 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:40.320 Heavenly Father, we praise you because you are a God who loves us. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:44.000 You are a God who hears us. 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:47.919 You are a God who heals us. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:54.399 Both in our temporal, physical bodies and in our very soul. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:56.639 You transform us from death into life. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:00.240 And God, it is you who we praise together today. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:05.679 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart bring honor and glory to you. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:13.200 And God, let your church here at Chelsea Westover walk in Christian humility and unity. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.639 We pray these things all in the name of Jesus. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:17.600 Amen. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:24.000 So you might look at your notes today and say, ooh, three points. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:24.720 Nice. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.000 It'll be a short one. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:27.759 I'm not trying to make it a short one. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:29.200 My friends at school challenged me. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.240 They said, uh, they said, Eli, try doing just three points. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:33.519 And I said, you know what, I'll do it. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:34.799 I'll try just doing three points. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:42.000 So we've got three points today, so you won't have to work on um making sure you get all the blanks because there's just three of them. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:43.600 Surely, surely we can get that. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:48.159 But if you'd like to, you can use all the other space to fill in any other notes that you would like. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.679 Point one is God the source. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:54.960 God is the source. 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:56.960 Look at verses one and two. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:58.240 I'll read them again. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:12.080 So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, and any affection of sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being of full accord, and of one mind. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:17.759 In that first verse, there are four of these kind of if statements that Paul is making. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:23.919 If there's any encouragement in Christ, if there's any comfort, you know, you can see it even though the if isn't in every single one. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:29.759 But he's posing a sort of hypothetical, a sort of if-then statement. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.200 Paul's ifs aren't doubtful ifs. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:47.679 Paul isn't saying, well, if Christ is encouraging this time as opposed to another time, or if the Spirit is participating right now as opposed to not participating later, these aren't doubtful ifs. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.240 Paul's ifs are rhetorical in nature. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:55.600 He's essentially asking the Philippians questions. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:57.919 Swap the if for an is. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.639 Is there any encouragement in Christ? 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.960 And the Philippians are reminded that the answer is, of course, yes. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.279 Yes, there is encouragement in Christ. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.600 He asks again, is there any participation in the Spirit? 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:17.200 And the Philippians are once again reminded that they must say, yes, yes, there is. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:24.080 I've started seminary recently and it's been a lot of fun being surrounded by a lot of people who are a whole lot smarter than me. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:42.720 And my Greek professor, who is just wonderful and very intimidating, she posed in her commentary on this, on this chapter, on these specific verses, she said, if you put all of Paul's four ifs together, it's like he's asking the Philippians one simple question. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:47.039 Are you saved? 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.679 Are you guys saved? 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.360 Is kind of the question that sums up all that Paul is saying here. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:54.559 Are you guys saved? 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.440 What a profound question to ask of your most loyal supporters. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:04.399 Remember, the Philippians were Paul's darling baby, right? 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.039 They were the first church that he planted in Europe. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:10.480 They were the ones who supported Paul's missions while he was imprisoned. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:11.919 They stuck by his side. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:19.919 Certainly, contrary to Galatia and Corinth, Philippi seems like they're shaping up to be quite a decent, young, healthy little church. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:25.440 Yet he essentially asks them, Are you saved? 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:33.679 To put this into full context, let's look at the then part of Paul's if-then statement. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:43.360 He says, Then make my joy complete by living in unity. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:57.679 Paul's if-then isn't him doubting the Philippians' faith, instead, he's really nailing down his big point, his big finish, what he really wants to get across with his if-then statement. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:08.000 He's saying, if God has saved you through Christ and the Spirit lives within you, then you will live in unity with one another. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:17.600 If God has saved you through Christ and the Spirit lives within you, then you will live in unity with one another. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:22.240 Even the healthy church at Philippi has its struggles. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:26.399 We know there's no perfect people, so that means there's no perfect Philippi. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:31.759 And we also know, based on Paul's letters, that Philippi did have some degree of problems. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:36.960 Paul notes one of their problems as being a struggle with unity. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:43.840 We can look specifically between two ladies, one named Euodia, one named Syntich. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.480 That'll be in chapter 4, verse 2. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.279 Chapter 4, verse 2. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:51.360 I'll read it for us. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:57.679 Paul says, I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Synches to agree in the Lord. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:11.200 Yes, I also ask you, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.480 We don't know their exact disagreement. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:16.559 We can draw two assertions. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:32.240 We can probably know that this is not a matter of sin, or that this is probably not a matter of one of them holding to a false doctrine, because those are two things in which Paul would rightly encourage Philippi to correct either Euodia or Syntait on one of these two things. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:43.360 But we do know it must have been serious enough for it to be worth Paul, big guy Apostle Paul, to address it directly in a letter. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.799 And how does Paul instruct them to agree? 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.039 He tells them to agree in the Lord. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:58.879 Agree in the Lord, as ones whose names are in the book of life. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:01.440 He says, look, look, look. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.440 We can assume this isn't a matter of sin. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:06.480 We can assume this isn't a matter of false doctrine. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:14.639 Y'all need to agree in the core of what we believe, in the core of what we do here as a church. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:25.120 Believe in the Lord and agree that your name and my name, your name and her name are both in the Lamb's Book of Life together. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:33.039 Isn't it encouraging to know that Paul is reminding them that the source of their Christian unity is the Lord? 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.159 And that also that same encouragement is for us. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:42.080 That our penultimate source of unity comes from God in heaven. 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:57.519 There is not a racial division or a geographical division or a what you've done in your past division that can break up the unity found within the family that God has made. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:58.879 There's nothing. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:16:59.840 There's nothing. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:04.480 What God has united, let no man tear asunder, right? 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:06.960 We say that's a common wedding vow that we make, right? 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:16.000 And that goes not just for a husband and a wife, that goes for me and Miguel Torres, as brothers in Christ within the church. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.480 We are united in one thing. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:23.039 If we have nothing else in common, we are united in the Lord. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:26.079 Our names are in the Lamb's Book of Life. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.279 That makes everything else seem pretty small. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.799 That makes everything else seem pretty small. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:43.279 If you are a brother or sister in Christ and you have unity from God, excuse me, you have unity from God with any other brother or sister in Christ. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:44.480 Full stop. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:46.319 No qualifications. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:55.279 Point two, if God is the source, then unity is the fruit. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:01.279 If God is the source, then unity is the fruit. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:11.359 See the specific details that Paul goes into in describing unity in verse 2. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:26.079 He says here, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and one more time for a good measure, being of one mind. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:30.799 Same love, same mind, one accord, one mind. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:38.160 When we read these words, there's no doubt that Paul doesn't just want the Philippians to be in the same library. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:40.960 He doesn't just want them in the same genre section. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:42.559 He doesn't just want them in the same book. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.039 He wants them all on the same page. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:48.480 He wants them on the same page, reading the same thing. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.119 One accord, one mind. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.200 Some of you guys may be familiar with a game called charades. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.480 Us young kids have a version called catchphrase. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:00.319 And it's this little device. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:06.240 And this device is essentially charades, and you hit the button and it gives you a category. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:11.680 Say you choose sports, it'll be, you know, I'm looking at the Edwards there, it'll be the Cincinnati Bengals. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:23.359 And I have got to make the person across from me understand that I'm trying to let them know that the category is Cincinnati Bengals without saying the words Cincinnati or Bangles. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.119 So you can use your words, but you can't use those words. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:28.799 You can use your motions like charades. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:31.519 Well, all that to say, that's how the game works. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:33.279 It's basically charades if you don't understand. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:39.920 But moving forward, I must tell you that Kirby and I are quite good at catchphrase. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:43.200 Kirby and I are quite good at catchphrase. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.799 I don't think we've ever lost. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.240 So that's a challenge. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:46.880 Yes, it is. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.039 Come to us if you'd like to challenge us to catchphrase. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:57.359 But the reason Kirby and I are so good at catchphrase is because I have to admit that Kirby's brain works a little different than the average bear. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:03.519 If you've ever proofread one of Kirby's papers that she used to write in school, she's gotten a lot better. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:04.400 I'll let you guys know. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.119 But she used to write kind of like Yoda talks. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.160 Everything, it's called a misplaced modifier. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.319 She just, everything's just kind of backwards. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:22.720 And so Kirby's brain operates on a different wavelength than mine, but because I know her and I love her, when we play catchphrase, I know exactly what Kirby's trying to say. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:31.920 And I look and she'll say something, and I go, My brain would say she's trying to say this, but I know that her brain is trying to say something else. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:35.839 And because of that, we are the catchphrase champions. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:40.240 In order to succeed, Kirby and I have to be on the same page. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:49.119 If I'm giving her hints, she has to come to my level and figure me out because I'm sure I'm a total dummy to her when she's trying to figure out what I'm trying to do on catchphrase, and vice versa. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:51.599 Except she's never a dummy because I love you, honey. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:21:14.000 So it's important to recognize, though, that the one-mindedness that Paul is describing is not some sort of opinion cloning where he wants all of these Philippians to think and do exactly the same thing. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:25.119 Rather, the Philippians are to use their diverse gifts in an agreeable, cooperative spirit with a focus on the glory of God. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:28.960 For more on this, you can look at what Paul had to write to the Corinthians. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:31.200 I won't make you flip there, but I will. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:40.400 It's Philip, or excuse me, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, starting in verse 12, when he's describing that they are one body, but as many members. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.720 Paul isn't encouraging the Corinthians, nor is he encouraging the Philippians. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:48.960 Hey, remember that little analogy I did about the body and everybody being members? 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:52.000 I want all of you to be the hands of the body. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:53.920 That would be foolish. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:55.839 This is what Paul tells to the Corinthians. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.599 He said, For just as a body is one and has many members. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.559 And all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:10.880 For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:16.000 Jews are Greeks, slaves are free, and all were made to drink one spirit. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.839 For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:26.720 If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong in the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:33.519 And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:39.519 If the whole body were an eye, were would be the sense of hearing? 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.039 If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:48.880 But as it is, God arranged all the members in the body, each one of them as He chose. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.960 And if all were a single member, where would the body be? 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.680 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:05.119 This unity that Paul is prescribing here, remember all those off-limit topics. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:11.119 Isn't it incredible that we could all agree on one thing? 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:15.680 We are united as believers in Christ alone. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:21.279 We might all disagree on every other possible thing. 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:33.200 And yet, we can look at one another as brothers and sisters in Christ and say, you belong, and I belong because we are one in the Lord. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:35.359 That's special and that is big. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:52.000 If the value of unity in a game, like catchphrase, is that you get to win the game, then the value of unity within the church is to achieve the goal of bringing glory to God via his body made up of many members. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:59.359 It's for this reason that we can know that Christian unity is not merely a matter of, wouldn't it be nice if we all just got along? 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:02.640 Let's just all hold hands and skip around a circle and sing kumbaya. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:06.799 It's not just a wouldn't it be nice that Paul is talking about. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:13.519 Paul insists that unity is of the utmost dire importance. 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:22.880 Remember what I uh alluded to with Philippians chapter 4, where we were talking about the disagreement between Euodia and Syntait. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:30.559 I said it was likely not a matter of sin and likely not a matter of false doctrine, because those things would rightly need corrected. 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:37.279 But what I didn't say is that their disagreement was not a gospel issue. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:42.880 Because their disagreement very much is a gospel issue. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:46.240 What makes this a gospel issue? 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:57.359 Paul explains that the reputation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is at stake when the church does not live in unity. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:04.160 The very gospel that we believe in for our salvation is at stake. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:10.079 Its reputation is at stake when we don't live in unity. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:12.720 That's pretty high stakes. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:19.359 That makes it a whole lot more than let's just get along, get along with your brother and sister, go hug in the corner for two minutes, and then you'll be back to normal. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:21.440 No, unity is a must. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:25.119 It is a must for the body of Christ. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:33.039 In Philippians chapter 1, verse 27, Paul makes this plain. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:37.599 Many of you memorize this verse when you were in Iwana or Wednesday night church. 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:52.960 It says here Philippians 1 27, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:03.119 Paul's saying, whether I am here and I can look and see it with my own two eyeballs, that you are getting along, that you have unity in Christ, or whether I am afar. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:04.480 I shouldn't be wondering. 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:11.039 What you are doing should be so bizarre to the rest of the world that I should hear about it. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:17.039 I should hear in my absence that you are living in Christian unity. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:20.799 I should hear that you are living in Christian unity. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:26.480 It is this unity that Paul says will make Christians stand out among a crooked generation. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:29.680 He says that later in chapter 2, verse 15. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:45.680 He says here, I'll start in 14, do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you all 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. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:51.200 I want to I want CCW to be a light in the world. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:57.599 I want us to go out into our workplaces, into our communities, into our neighborhoods and be lights in the world. 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:09.759 Because I want them to look at our church and I want them to see such a melting pot of different people, of different ages, of different ideas, and I want them to say, How on earth do they all get along? 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:10.720 What's the thing? 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:12.480 What's the thing y'all all have in common? 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:21.119 You don't just, you aren't just an old people church, you aren't just a young people church, you don't just sing hymns, you don't just sing contemporary, you don't just sit in pews, you don't just sit in chairs. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:25.279 We do sit just in chairs, but I believe everybody would kind of like pews, a few of you. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:25.680 I would. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:53.279 Pews are cool, they're heavy, but anyway, anyways, wouldn't it be nice if we could look at them and say the best thing that we've got going, the very best thing amidst all our bumps, bruises, and rough edges, the things that we've got wrong, the things that Jesus Christ will tell us that I was wrong about or that you were wrong about while we were here. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:28:00.640 But the thing that we have in common for right now is that we are one in the Lord. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:03.359 That we are one in the Lord. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:14.240 Let that be, let that be what people think of CCW because I praise God that in many ways we as a church are like the Philippians that Paul is writing to. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:23.920 We're a relatively young church, we're growing, and I look around, I see a lot of healthy people with very little disunity. 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:31.279 I'm grateful to be a part of a body where our business meetings, like a couple of weeks ago, go quickly and smoothly without bickering or infighting. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:32.559 Can I get an amen? 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:47.920 But our biggest takeaway from Paul's letter to the Philippians, and by extension to us, must not be to brush off this exhortation, feeling proud as if we've done a good job and that we can move on. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:57.200 We must be ever vigilant in keeping selfishness at bay and disunity away from our church. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:00.799 The church is not just CCW. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:04.960 God's church is all Christians everywhere. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:14.720 And I don't think we need to think very long to remember examples, some probably in recent memory, of God's church not acting very united. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:27.680 We've all heard a story of a town that has a first Baptist church and a second Baptist church across the street from one another because they decided to split over the color of the carpet or because of what time service was going to be. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:37.440 And we laugh because it is kind of joking, because we can all have fun at a business meeting, but the truth is this reality should break our hearts. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:52.880 We are all one to another, Christ's bride, and her reputation must be protected because it reflects upon the nature of her bridegroom, Jesus Christ. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:30:03.039 How we are united with one another reflects on our Savior, Jesus Christ, reflects on our God, our Father in heaven. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:14.319 When we bicker, when we infight over things that are not of the Lord, of things that are not of single most primacy. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:19.440 A watching world looks and says, oh, they're no different than I am. 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:24.400 Their God has them bickering, quarreling. 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:26.880 I don't want a piece of that. 00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:28.880 They're just like I thought they were. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:39.839 We have to protect the unity of Christ's church for the preservation of the witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:45.839 Point three. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:47.680 Point three for you. 00:30:47.839 --> 00:31:00.400 If God is the source and unity is the fruit, then my word for the year, humility, is the way the church must act in order to achieve this end. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:07.920 The application of this sermon was the hardest for me when I was writing it. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:24.079 Because we look at Philippians chapter 2, and we read verses 3 and 4, and it says this do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count one another, or excuse me, count others more significant than yourselves. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:28.720 Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:31.440 There's your application. 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:32.880 You're all dismissed. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:33.359 Right? 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:40.480 I love it when Scripture gives us a clear and straightforward exhortation of do this. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:48.000 But then you slow down a little more and you read it once again and you pay attention to what it's actually saying. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:53.279 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:56.720 But in humility, here's the catch. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:01.839 Count others more significant than yourselves. 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:10.720 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, here's the catch, but also to the interests of others. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:18.160 The application is clear because it's right there, but that does not make it easy to do. 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:21.759 Count others as more significant than yourself. 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:38.160 We walk outside and look left and look right, and we can do that all day long, and we will hardly ever see a world outside thinking of others as more significant than themselves. 00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:48.640 So much self-interest in our workplaces, in our schools, in everything we do in life. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:57.519 So, counting others more significant than yourself, uh caring to others' interests, no big deal, right? 00:32:58.160 --> 00:32:59.119 We can just do that. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:00.240 I don't think so. 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:03.599 I don't think it's no big deal something super easy to do. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:10.640 But that doesn't negate the fact that Paul said, if you are saved, you will live in unity. 00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:12.559 How can you live in unity? 00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:14.880 By living in humility. 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:16.880 What is humility? 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:20.880 By counting others more significant than yourself. 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:25.440 And also considering the interests of others. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:30.319 This kind of lowly behavior is shocking to us. 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:34.160 We've thought about what it might look like in our own life, but we can look even to scripture. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:39.119 Think of all the biblical examples of self-seeking ambition and self-interestedness. 00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:42.319 Eve eating the fruit in the garden. 00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:44.000 Page one, right? 00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:46.079 She looks after her own interest. 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:48.720 It's attractive to the eyes, looks like it's good for food. 00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:50.319 God told me not to. 00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:52.799 Out of my own self-interest, I eat. 00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:54.480 Page two of your Bible. 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:59.519 Adam watching Eve sin and yet blames her when God comes walking in the garden, right? 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:01.759 Self-preservation, self-interest. 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:04.960 Cain killing Abel. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:07.119 Jealousy. 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:09.119 Selfish ambition. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:14.480 Abraham, Sarai, or excuse me, Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, right? 00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:18.159 I can't have this baby, I'm too old. 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:22.800 Out of my self-seeking ambition, have my servant. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:24.320 She can give you a child. 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:26.000 That wasn't God's plan. 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:28.880 David and Bathsheba. 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:35.360 David looked upon another woman with lust, had her husband killed on the front line in battle. 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:37.280 Selfish ambition. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:46.320 Peter denying Jesus three times after the crucifixion in order to protect himself. 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:51.199 Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 00:34:51.840 --> 00:35:09.679 We don't need to look far out there or at the flawed people in here to see that there is self-seeking, self-centeredness, conceit, and selfish ambition embedded in our sinful sin nature. 00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:18.000 Maybe we consider these stories and we're angered, we're outraged about the betrayal, about the murder, about the scandal. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:20.639 But we certainly can't be surprised. 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:28.079 Because the sin that we are all born with is the seed of our selfishness. 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:30.960 Let's remember Paul's if-then statement. 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:32.400 Are you saved? 00:35:32.639 --> 00:35:39.440 Then consider others more significant than yourself and look after the interests of others. 00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:42.239 This is countercultural Christianity. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:49.360 This is what a lost-in-watching world sees that makes them scratch their head and say, What is going on over there with the Christians? 00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:58.719 One of my favorite things to do at Christmas, it's a new thing because everyone in the family is now old enough. 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:02.400 But it's to watch, it's a wonderful life. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:04.079 Particularly with my dad. 00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:05.519 I like to watch it with my dad. 00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:09.519 I did this year because mom and my sister and Kirby fell asleep. 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:11.039 Because it was late at night. 00:36:11.199 --> 00:36:17.280 But spoiler alert, I'm going to talk about this movie, but it came out like a hundred years ago, so you've had plenty of time. 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:23.679 This entire movie is following a guy named George Bailey, right? 00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:30.800 And George lives like others are more significant than himself. 00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:43.440 He gives and he gives and he gives of himself, of his business, of his resources, until the audience watching the movie, we're all left saying, you can't sustain this for much longer. 00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:47.840 He runs a bank, for goodness sakes, and he's giving mortgages out to people who got nothing. 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:50.079 And he's saying, You just, you know, it's I'm good for it. 00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:50.800 You know, it's a loan. 00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:52.000 You can pay it back whenever. 00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:56.159 And I'm not a banker, but I imagine that's not good banking business. 00:36:56.320 --> 00:37:01.679 But George does it, and everyone's left wondering, how can he sustain this much longer? 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:06.639 Until eventually he can sustain it no longer. 00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:09.679