Life At The Ridge

Some of the most difficult circumstances Paul faced in life he met them with joy and looked at them as an opportunity for the advancement of the Gospel. How could imprisonment, beatings, hunger, peril, danger etc be used for the Gospel? Paul say's in his letter to the Philippians that what has happened to him was for the "advancement of the Gospel" How so? Furthermore how can we use our circumstances for the advancement of the Gospel? Could we say that God permits us to be in the circumstances so that the Gospel would be advanced? How do we know?

How have you been running the race so far? Tired? Full of energy? About to collapse? Steadily? The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we need to run the race and not loose heart. What will enable us to continue with patience and not get discouraged? How can we practically apply Hebrews 12:1-3 to our lives?

In Paul's letter to the Philippians in 1:12-18 he gives them a testimony of what the Lord has and is doing in his life. It’s interesting that when we read about the life of Paul as it is revealed through Scripture we see that Pauls life was a life that was marked with hardships, difficulties, let downs, depression, being abased, threatenings, danger, and discouragement. To say that Paul’s life was easy would be an understatement. Yet Pauls life was filled with joy even in the midst of his most unpleasant circumstances. Unfortunately there are many who believe that a life without difficulty or disappointment is the mark of a Christian life that is blessed by God or that if they have difficulties or disappointments in their life then God’s love must not be towards them. So the question must be asked where do we find real joy? Where is the happiness? How can we find joy in the circumstances that we find ourselves in? How can we know that the circumstances that I am placed in are of God’s doing and what is th

We’ve been spending some time here in this prominent prayer that Paul prays for this church at Phillipi. Sometimes we think prayers need to be long and formal, yet Paul prays this prayer in about 50 words and only one sentence. The depth, the weight, the doctrine and the truth that drips from this prayer is just absolutely outstanding. The way the prayer is structured is just fantastic as well. There is a progression that begins with a challenge to love more and more with a knowledge of the Gospel, using discernment, then it flows into the reason behind that challenge it’s to help us be ready for the day of Christ and then the prayer reminds us of the result of the challenge “To be filled with the righteousness of Christ” and then it triumphantly ends with these words “to the glory and praise of God.”

As we have been looking at this letter to the Philippian church Paul has just expressed his joy and his love for all the believers at this church in Philippi. On the heels of his greetings, we find his prayer for this church 1:9-11. The prayer only covers three verses but yet it is a tremendous and spirit filled prayer for this church. I believe that the words Paul prays for this church comes from an intense desire for them to grow in their love and fellowship towards each other. What’s awesome though is this prayer is not just for this church at Philippi, this prayer is Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and therefore it is for every church and every believer. In this second part Paul tells us that we are to be abounding in love with discernment.

As we have been looking at this letter to the Philippian church Paul has just expressed his joy and his love for all the believers at this church in Philippi. On the heels of his greetings, we find his prayer for this church 1:9-11. The prayer only covers three verses but yet it is a tremendous and spirit filled prayer for this church. I believe that the words Paul prays for this church comes from an intense desire for them to grow in their love and fellowship towards each other. What’s awesome though is this prayer is not just for this church at Philippi, this prayer is Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and therefore it is for every church and every believer. What makes this prayer so powerful? What is in this prayer that will help us as believers to foster unity and fellowship?

As we approach this letter to the church at Phillipi, Paul addresses the whole church “to all the saints” and the overseers and deacons. Many of the churches Paul planted were house churches and consisted of about 30 people. Each church was unique and different because of all the different make-ups of the people that were in each church. No doubt with all the differences, how did these early churches maintain unity and fellowship? Likewise how can we as a diverse church body achieve joyful fellowship?

Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." The letter that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi just overflows with joy. Even when Paul penned these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he is convinced and sure of the completion of the salvation process that will take place at the day of Christ. Remember where Paul was. He was in a prison. He had seen what God had done in the believers lives at Philippi and he himself with assurance knows that the work that God began in their life would also be the same God who would bring it to completion it on the day of Christ. What exactly though is this good work that God is doing in the lives of those who know Christ? Is it something that we do or only Christ? What will the finished work look like?

Paul’s letter overflows of Joy towards the believers here in Philippi and in his prayer for the believers here in Philippi Paul says that he prays with Joy. That phrase "praying with joy" is most interesting because not only of his circumstances, but regardless of his circumstances Pauls outlook in his prayer life is that of joy towards his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Today’s message is not so much of how to pray but more in why Paul could pray with Joy and I think it will give us a pattern to follow as well as we keep our focus on Christ.

Today we begin journeying our way through another book of God’s Word. In light of the most recent events that have erupted in our country I think it’s a good reminder to bring our focus back to the Word of God and renew our mind with the truths of Scripture. If we’re not careful we can be sucked dry by feeding on all the things that are going on and forget to renew our inner man. The book of Philippians speaks to our life and reminds us of joy, unity and fulfillment that we can find in Jesus Christ.

Over the past couple months we haven't been able to participate as a church in coming and remembering together. Why is this ordinance important for the believer? What do we learn from it by participating in it together?

In the world we live in we are very self-centered, very self-focused it's all about me. What can I get? How fast can I get it? If it hurts somebody else, it doesn't matter. It's all about what can we get for ourselves. Basically it comes down to I want it when I want it how I want it the way I want it, and nobody better get in the way of that. All of us struggle with selfish ambition and pride. What is the answer for the Christian to live a life without pride?

We’ve spent the past 8 weeks talking about fear and we have looked at several reasons why we shouldn’t fear and last week we talked about about to overcome fear. In this message we will explore some things to think about in terms of how as believers we should respond to this coronavirus pandemic. What should we be focusing on? What types of things should we be thinking about?

Over the past few weeks we have been talking about why we shouldn't fear, but how exactly do we change our habit of not fearing? Is there any hope for the fearful? God's Word gives us the how to and life and hope for our parched dry lives that have been made barren by fear.

We’ve been spending the last couple months on this topic about fear, and I hope these messages have not only resonated with you but also have pointed you to Christ as the only means by which we can deal with our fear. Romans 8 shows us that God's love far surpasses anything we can encounter in our lives.

Our Text here today is found in Psalm 24. This is the last Psalm what has become to be known as the Shepherd Psalm Trilogy. We get these glimpses of Jesus as our Shepherd in different roles as they are described for us in Psalm 22,23,24. In Psalm 22 we saw Jesus as the suffering savior and we need not fear because Jesus already suffered the curse of sin for us. He is the shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. In Psalm 23 we saw Jesus as the guiding shepherd and we need not fear because it is Christ who gives us everything we need and it is Hi who guides His sheep. Psalm 24 is the last of the trilogy of these three Psalms. We see Jesus here as the Chief shepherd He is the king of glory who rules and reigns with all authority and power. It is only when we get an accurate view of who Christ is that fear, doubt, and faithlessness succumb to His ruling presence in our hearts.

Psalm 22,23,24 are known as the Shepherd Psalm Trilogy, as it covers Christ not only as the shepherd who gives his life for the sheep in Psalm 22, we see Him as the shepherd that guides us in Psalm 23, but then in Psalm 24 we see Him as the ruler and keeper of His flock. We all love the soothing words of Psalm 23 but what does it mean for Jesus to be our guiding Shepherd? In this message we explore how Jesus guides us in all circumstances.

There has been suffering in our world. Lives lost, weakened health, job loss, economy recession, and peoples hope and well being shattered. Is there any hope and healing for the believer in Christ? What about the unbeliever? Psalm 22 outlines for us a beautiful but rugged picture of the Suffering Savior Jesus Christ. In this message we will look at another reason why we shouldn't fear and particularly fear suffering. Jesus is our suffering Savior who bore in His body God's wrath. Let's praise God for His provision in our life and worship Jesus who became the suffering Savior on our behalf.

Today we celebrate what is known as the day Christ resurrected from the grave. In Scripture we are told that Christ rose from the grave on the first day of the week which is a Sunday. In reality when we gather together on Sunday we are celebrating Christs resurrection every Sunday. The death of Jesus is a glorious truth, foundational to our Christian faith.