scroll to 29:32 for beginning of sermon
Philippians 1:1-8
All right, thank you for your singing. Remain standing, we’re going to read some Scripture. Here’s a loaded question.
How many of you like to read other people’s mail? Don’t answer that. But that’s what we’re doing this morning. This is a letter from Paul written 2,000 years ago to a group of believers in Philippi.
And I’m just going to read four or five verses here from the first chapter, and then we’re going to jump into it. Here’s what Paul writes. I thank my God every time I remember you.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart.
Whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
All right, you may be seated. So, last Sunday we gave a little bit of an introductory message. It was entitled, Pure Joy.
And we talked about the fact that God has given us all things to enjoy. That’s 1st Timothy chapter 6. Paul writes that to Timothy, that God’s given us everything for our enjoyment. Solomon writes about that in Ecclesiastes.
So, we can find joy and pleasure in this life. We can find joy and pleasure in a good meal. We can find joy and pleasure in friends, in sports, in many areas of life.
We said for true joy, for pure joy, for a joy that is lasting and sustainable, it’s only experienced in a relationship with God through Jesus. He has made us and created us to know Him, to have fellowship with Him. And the psalmist writes in Psalm 16:11, that at your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore.
So, we experience true joy in knowing Him. And I really believe that the only people that can really experience true joy are believers. Who know that their sins are forgiven.
Who know that they’re headed toward heaven. And God wants us to have this joy in our life. In fact, Jesus said in John 10:10, I’m come that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly or overflowing life.
And so, last week we looked at some pathways to pure joy. What are some steps to pure joy? We looked at four of them. They all start with the letter S. First one is salvation.
That the feeling and the joy of knowing that your sins are forgiven. Jesus took our place on the cross, that He paid our sin debt. He paid our penalty, and we are forgiven.
Romans 8 verse 1, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. We can find joy in the fact that our sins are forgiven. Secondly, we said we find joy in this pathway of joy in sanctification.
That is our fellowship with God. 2nd Peter 3:18, grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. And we can find joy in this intimate relationship with God.
In fact, Jesus defines eternal life in John 17:3. This is eternal life that you might know God. So, sometimes we think of everlasting life as quantitative. We’re going to live forever in God’s presence.
Yes, we will. But it’s also qualitative. Eternal life begins at the moment of salvation.
And this relationship that we can have with God as we know Him and the more, we study His Word and read His Word, the more we know Him. God speaks to us through His Word. We speak to Him through prayer.
Thirdly, we said we can find pure joy in salvation, sanctification, and serving. Acts 20:35, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I think as we mature individually and spiritually, we discover that pure joy is found in giving.
And as we give, as we serve, we find joy. Lastly, we said the pathway to pure joy, and this is the graduate level class, pure joy is found in suffering. Paul wrote about that in Philippians chapter 3. I want to know Christ.
He uses the word epignosis. I want to really know who Jesus is, and I want to experience what? The fellowship of His sufferings. Jesus says, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I’ve overcome the world.
We looked at the apostles in Acts chapter 5 who were brought before the Sanhedrin, who were flogged and beaten, and then finally released and said, don’t speak any more about Jesus. And Acts 5:41 says, they left the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they could experience what? Suffering for Jesus. So, the joy isn’t in suffering, but the joy is knowing what God wants to do through our suffering, that there’s pain with a purpose in our life.
God wants to conform us more to the image of His Son, Jesus, and we can find joy in suffering. Now, is joy an emotion or is joy a decision that we make? I’m going to say yes to both. Sometimes joy is this emotional feeling, but there are other times where joy is simply a choice that we make.
It’s a choice that Jesus made when He faced the cross. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Jesus didn’t enjoy crucifixion.
What He enjoyed and was looking forward to was what? Purchasing our salvation, dying for the sins of the world, and that brought Him great joy. Well, all that was kind of an introduction to the book of Philippians. We’re going to study the book of Philippians.
It’s one of the great books of the New Testament, and it’s called the Joy Epistle. In these four chapters, the word joy or rejoicing is found 16 times. Here’s the apostle Paul who had some physical problems.
Don’t know what they were. Many people think it was eye difficulties, and Paul asked God three times to take his infirmity, his physical affliction away, and God said, no, no, no, but what I’m going to do is I’m going to give you grace to endure. So, here’s Paul dealing with physical problems.
We know that wherever Paul went on his missionary journeys, he ran into some conflict. He had some enemies against him. He ends up in jail frequently, and in the context of the book of Philippians, he’s in a Roman prison under house arrest, and he’s in jail.
And with all that, Paul does what? He’s rejoicing. He’s rejoicing. He’s experiencing pure joy.
1.
So, this morning, we’re going to look at a brief outline and then just think about some application truths. So, Philippians chapter 1, let me read the salutation, the greeting. Verses 1 and 2, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, this is Paul and Timothy. Timothy was Paul’s son in the faith. He eventually was a pastor in Ephesus.
Paul writes two letters to him. In fact, his very last letter that he wrote from a mamertine prison in Rome was to Timothy, 2nd Timothy. And Timothy was Paul’s right-hand man.
They took missionary journeys together. And notice how he describes both himself and Timothy. We are servants of Christ Jesus.
Now, there are a lot of ways we could self-describe who we are. I could say I’m a husband. I’m a brother.
I’m a father. I’m a father-in-law. I’m a grandfather.
I’m a pastor. All those would be true. The Apostle Paul could have said, I’m a missionary.
I’m a Hebrew. I’m from the tribe of Benjamin. I’m a Pharisee.
I’m a tent maker. That would all have been true. Paul says, you know who I am? I’m a servant of Christ Jesus.
And he uses a particular word for servant there that is the word Doulos, that means one who is subservient to and entirely at the disposal of his master. In fact, when Paul was writing this, there were millions of slaves in the Roman Empire. Under Roman law, a Doulos slave or servant was considered the owner’s personal property.
They had no rights at all except what their master told them to do. And Paul says, Timothy and I, are Doulos, we’re servants of Jesus. We live in a culture where everybody likes to demand their rights.
Paul and Timothy said, we’ve given our lives to Christ Jesus. He is our servant, or he is our master. We are his servant.
A.
And so, Paul and Timothy wrote, are the authors here of this letter, Paul specifically, notice who they’re writing to, the recipients to all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi together with the overseers and the deacons. So, here Paul identifies who he’s writing to. First of all, he talks about their spiritual location.
B.
You’re in Christ. Then he talks about their physical or geographical location to God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi. So, he’s writing to this group of believers.
And if you go to Acts 16, you can read the background of the church at Philippi. And he’s writing to these group of believers who on Paul’s second missionary journey came to faith in Christ. It was Lydia, a businesswoman.
It was the Philippian jailer and his household. And apparently out of those conversions, a church developed because now he says, you have overseers and deacons. By the way, what’s the difference between just a Bible study and a church? Well, a church is organized.
A church has elected officers. A church practices the ordinances of communion and baptism. And so, there was actually a church that developed at Philippi.
And now Paul’s writing years later to this church and he’s sending them greetings. What are the greetings, the salutation? Well, Paul’s familiar greetings. Grace, that’s the Greek greeting.
Peace, that’s the Jewish greeting. That’s the word shalom. So, Paul says, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2.
Well, now we move into the next section here. And I call this the sentimental relationship because you’re going to see as we read this letter that there is a deep love between the apostle Paul and these believers at Philippi. Paul was their founding pastor, and Paul had a deep love for these people.
Paul’s writing from prison. He’s under house arrest in Rome. And quite frankly, Paul doesn’t know if he’s going to live or die.
But he writes to encourage these believers in Christ. And we’re going to see this personal relationship that he had in these next three or four verses here, verses 3 through 8. So, here’s the first thing that Paul says.
A.
I have you in my thoughts. I have you in my thoughts. So, Paul’s writing to these people, and he says, hey, I’m thinking about you. I thank my God every time I remember you. Who’s he remembering? He’s remembering Lydia.
Remember when Paul got to Philippi, his normal pattern was to go to the synagogue. He said, I’m taking the gospel to the Jews first and then the Gentiles. In order to have a synagogue in a city, you had to have 10 Jewish households.
When he got to Philippi, apparently there were not a great Jewish population. So, on the Sabbath, he goes down to a river and he finds a woman’s prayer meeting. And there’s a businesswoman, her name’s Lydia.
She was a seller of purple and she comes to faith in Christ. And so, Paul says, I’m thinking of Lydia and her family that came to faith in Christ at that Riverside prayer meeting. Paul says, I’m also thinking of that Philippian jailer because Paul ends up in jail in Philippi.
And you know the story. There was an earthquake, and the chains were loosed on all the prisoners. And Paul and Silas say to the jailer who was about to take his life because if he lost a prisoner, he was going to die.
And he said, hey, don’t kill yourself. We’re all here. Paul leads that Philippian jailer to faith in Christ, his entire household.
And so, Paul says, I thank my God for Lydia and her family. And I thank my God for the Philippian jailer. It’s nice to be thought about, isn’t it? Nice to know that other people are thinking about you.
And in the church, God wants us to have these relationships where we’re thinking about each other. I got a call on Tuesday mid-afternoon and there’s someone from the previous church I pastored. I’ve told Carl’s story here many, many times, but had the privilege of leading Carl to the Lord many, many years ago.
Long, long story of how that happened. But Carl, even though I’ve not been his pastor for 25 years, Carl was driving through Manchester, calls me up and he says, hey, are you free later this afternoon? Driving through Manchester, maybe we can grab a bite to eat at Frank’s. And I said, well, I’ve got a time window between four and five, I’ll meet you there.
Drive down to Frank’s and Carl and I spent about an hour just catching up with each other and encouraging one another and so, encouraged that Carl is still walking with Jesus and is making an impact in his church for the kingdom of God. Paul says, I’m thinking of you, and I thank my God every time I think about you.
B.
But then Paul says this, I not only have you in my thoughts, but I also have you in my prayers. Notice the next section here. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray for joy. So, there’s that first time joy is used, first of 16 times in the book of Philippians.
And Paul says, when I pray for you, I have joy in my heart. And now he tells us why. I always pray with joy, verse five, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
So, Paul says, I’m thankful for you Philippian believers because we’ve partnered in the gospel. We’ve partnered in the good news, the advancement of the kingdom of God. And so, when I pray for you, I’m filled with joy.
Paul prays with joy, not only because of their partnership with the gospel, but because of the confidence that he has. That’s in verse six, being confident of this. So, I’m thankful for the partnership that you’ve shared in the gospel.
And really this is a thank you note because the church at Philippi sent Paul some gifts while he was in prison. They’d been a faithful financial partner of his ministry. But now Paul says, I’m confident of something.
What’s he confident in? That he who began a good work in you, that’s God, that’s Jesus, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. So, that brings joy to Paul. I have a confession to make.
Maybe some of you can identify with this. But I have a habit of starting things, not finishing them. I’ll start to read a book, and I’ll get, you know, through about half of it or two thirds, then life gets busy.
I never finish it. I’ve got a few projects that I’ve started, and I get halfway and then I get distracted, and I don’t finish. Paul’s saying, God’s not like that.
When it comes to salvation, what God started, He’s going to complete. And so, there’s three tenses of our salvation. You know Jesus as your Savior.
You can say, I have been saved. For me, it was November 1963 as an eight-year-old boy. I have been saved.
Sins are forgiven. That’s justification. But we could also say, I am being saved.
And that means that those t-shirts that used to say, be patient with me, God’s not finished with me yet. That means God is still in the business of what? Conforming us to become more and more like Jesus, like the image of His Son, Jesus. And so, there’s this process of growing in Christ.
And we could say, God’s still working on me, and I am being saved. But then there’s a third part of our salvation that has yet to come. It is called our glorification.
And that means there’s a day coming when our salvation will be complete. When God calls us home and we’re in heaven and we get a new body and our salvation is complete and there’s going to be no more sin, no more sorrow, no more suffering. And Paul says, I pray with joy because you’re partners in the gospel, but also because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the God who began a good work in you is going to carry you all the way to the completion.
What does Paul write in Romans chapter 8. What shall separate us from the love of God? And then he goes through down this long, long list of things. And let me read it rather than trying to quote it here from Romans chapter 8. He writes these words, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, there are some doctrines, denominations that believe you can lose your salvation.
We believe that the scriptures teach eternal security, that our salvation is secure. And John talks about the picture that we’re safe in Jesus’ hands and God the Father’s hands are around His hand and nothing can separate us from God’s love. And so, Paul says, I have you in my thoughts and I have you in my prayers.
C.
And then thirdly, he says, I have you in my heart. Look at it in verse 7. It’s right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart. And whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, those are legal terms.
So, Paul’s been arrested, and he’s been in Jerusalem on trial and they’ve sent him to, he appealed to Caesar and now he’s under house arrest in Caesar and he’s going to have to go through a trial. And he’s talking about defending himself in a legal court. Whether I’m in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you sharing God’s grace with me.
God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. The New Living Translation puts verse 8 this way, God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus. So, Paul is literally heart sick, longing to see these Philippian believers again.
And he has this deep personal relationship with, you’re in my thoughts, you’re in my prayers, you’re in my heart. Well, next Sunday we’ll look at the next section here because then Paul goes ahead and prays for those Philippian believers. And we’ll study that prayer next Sunday.
And it’s interesting what Paul prayed for. And we can take some great instruction in our prayer life by studying the prayers of the Bible. And I’ll just give you a hint.
And nothing wrong with praying for physical needs and people that are sick, we need to do that. But most of the prayers in the New Testament and Old Testament didn’t have to do with that, all had to do with our relationship with God and growing in Christ and growing in love and growing in our spiritual walk. So, we’ll look at that next Sunday.
Application Questions
This morning, our last 10 minutes, just think about a couple of application questions from Philippians 1, 1 through 8. And I simply have two of them. And let’s take a look at them. Here’s the first one, it’s crucial.
1.
Application question number one, am I in Christ? Am I in Christ? So, notice when Paul wrote this, he writes to all God’s people who are in Christ. And so, there’s a doctrine in the New Testament, and it’s called the baptism of the Spirit. And quite frankly, that’s caused a lot of confusion, maybe in some circles, well what is the baptism of the Spirit? And so, let’s look at that, because what it really means is, it means to be in Christ.
So Acts chapter 1, before Jesus ascends up to heaven after His earthly ministry, He’s meeting with the disciples. They’re on the mountaintop, He’s about to ascend to heaven. But what does He say in verse 5 of Acts 1? John baptized with water, but in a few days, you’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Ah, you’re going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. That took place on Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, the beginning of the church. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? It’s the act that at the moment of salvation, the Spirit of God places us in Christ, in the body of Christ.
It speaks of unity, it speaks of oneness, it speaks of knowing that our sins are forgiven. And so, Paul, writing to the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians 12:13, he writes these words, for we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, we were all given the one Spirit to drink. We’ve all been baptized by one Spirit.
In other words, we’re all in the body of Christ when we put our faith in Jesus. Galatians chapter 3, verses 27 and 28, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. Then he talks about unity.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all what? One in Christ. And so, in Christ simply means we’ve put our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and the Spirit of God has put us into what? The body of Christ, the church. We have unity within that.
So, this morning there are only two positions you can be in. You can be in Christ, it means you’re saved. Your sins have been forgiven.
You’re a child of God. You know where your future is. You’re going to heaven to spend eternity with Him.
The other category is you’re outside of Christ. It means you’re still lost. You’re dead in your transgressions and sins, Ephesians says. You’re not forgiven, and you’re destined for a Christless eternity separated from God forever. So, we need to ask ourselves, am I in Christ?
I hope everybody can say yes. If anybody has any question about that at all, I would urge you not to leave here this morning before you know for sure your sins are forgiven and you’re in Christ. That’s the good news of the gospel 2nd Corinthians 5:21, he who knew no sin became sin for us so that in him we might become what? The righteousness of God that declares us forgiven.
2.
The second question I want to think about this morning is this, not only am I in Christ, but secondly, am I a servant of Christ? That’s how Paul and Timothy described themselves.
We’re bond slaves. We’re servants of Jesus. He’s, our master.
He’s, our Lord. Really the question, who’s on the throne of your life? We’re either living a self-directed life and doing what we want when we want, or we bow the knee to Christ. And He’s on the throne of our hearts.
Many people that have their entrance ticket to heaven, they’ve put their faith in Jesus, but they’re living for themselves. Paul and Timothy said, we’re servants of Jesus. And so, Luke chapter 6, Jesus asks a very interesting question.
As part of the Sermon on the Mount, before he told the story of the wise man and the foolish man, Jesus says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don’t do what I say? Why do you call me master or Lord, but you’re not doing what I say? And so, the question is, am I a servant of Christ? Paul reminds us in 1st Corinthians 6:19 and 20, that we don’t belong to ourselves once we come to faith in Jesus. Paul says, don’t you know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you’ve received from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a price, therefore honor God with your bodies.
Checklist…
Honor God in everything that you do. You belong to me now, God says. So, am I a servant? Now, let’s think about a couple of questions that can kind of be a little bit of a checklist to see, well, what does that mean and am I a servant? And so, here’s a couple of questions that we can look at and ask ourselves as we conclude this morning.
A.
Here’s the first one, am I involved in the partnership of the gospel? So, here’s Paul praying with joy to these Philippian believers and what’s he thankful for? Because you partnered with me in the advancement of the gospel. How did they partner with Paul? We don’t have time to study Acts 16, but I’ll just tell you how. Number one, hospitality.
And when Paul was in Philippi and Lydia and her family came to know Christ as their Savior, guess where Paul and Timothy stayed? Lydia says, I’ll tell you what, Paul, you’re not from here. Why don’t you stay in my house? And that became home base for Paul while they were ministering in Philippi. So, Lydia opened up her home to the missionary team and so we can partner with the gospel by offering hospitality to others, to having people in our home, to housing missionaries that might be coming through town or guest speaker and just being hospitable.
And hospitality is partnering with the gospel. You can also partner with the gospel through acts of kindness. Back in Acts chapter 16, after the Philippian jailer came to faith in Christ, now Paul ends up in his home and his whole household comes to faith in Christ and they’re all baptized.
What does the Philippian jailer do to his former prisoner? This is Acts 16:33. At that hour of the night, and it was very, very late, it was probably early morning, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. So, he’s helping heal the wounds of Paul and Silas who had been flogged.
The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them. And he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, he and his whole household. And so, acts of kindness partners with the gospel.
I mentioned earlier that the whole reason for the book of Philippians to be written is because the church at Philippi sent one of their members, Epaphroditus, to Rome with a financial gift for Paul. And so, Paul is writing this note, this letter, partially, perhaps mainly as a thank-you note to the church at Philippi and to what Paul has received as a gift from the church. And so, we can partner with the gospel in a financial way.
That means supporting local church ministries, that means supporting missionaries and partnering with them in the gospel. So, how can we partner? We can partner in the same way. We can partner through hospitality.
We can partner through food. The Philippian jailer gave a meal to Paul and Timothy. I’m so thankful we have a sign-up sheet for our Awana Meals and Beyond Awana Meals, and we’re doing that every Wednesday night, and so many of you have graciously signed up to prepare a meal, and it’s no easy undertaking.
Ann and Ken Walton provided a meal last Wednesday, and afterwards, Ann said, I think we had 70 people go through the line. But that’s a ministry, and it’s been a vital part of our ministry to kids and to families. And when you do that, you are partnering with the gospel.
And so, we can partner through hospitality. We can partner through meals. We can partner through our financial giving.
We just mailed out financial giving statements for 2024, and many of you that give so faithfully to this church that enabled us on December 1st to have what we’ve done for three out of the last four years, and Lord willing, we’ll do it as long as we are able, the Acts 1:8 Project. For last December, we had all these organizations, and God had blessed us through your giving, to be able to give $5,000 to Samaritan’s Purse, $2,500 to the Manchester Community Resource Center, $5,000 to Youth Haven Ranch, $5,000 to the Life Builders Ministry in Detroit, $5,000 to the Great Lakes Justice Center, $10,000 to Lasting Smiles Uganda, a school in Uganda that has 600 kids that they’re sharing God’s love and truth with, $2,500 to Bridge to Life Michigan. I wish you could read all the thank you notes that we got from all seven of them thanking you for what? Your partnership in the gospel.
When Paul thanks the Philippian believers, he thanks them for the gift. He says, not that I want a gift, but I want fruit that is credited to your account. What does Paul mean by that? He means that when you invest in a ministry through prayer and through finances, whatever happens in that ministry, God says, you did it as well.
God’s keeping track of that. There’s going to be reward or loss of reward someday. And so, am I involved in the partnership of the gospel? That’s how we determine whether we’re a servant of Christ.
B.
Secondly, we can ask the question, am I participating in the ministry of prayer? Paul says, I’m praying for you all the time. I’m praying for you with joy for what you’ve done. And we read all through the Scripture.
Ephesians 6 says, praying always with all prayers and supplication, pray for the saints. 1st Thessalonians 5:17, pray without ceasing. James 5:16, pray for one another.
And so, my servant of Christ, my praying, one practical way, and we just kind of closed the window on this, but we can certainly add people to it. So, we have about 35, 40 emails on our community Bible prayer chain. For when needs come up, we can just send out an email and we can rally prayer support very quickly.
And so, if you’d like to be a part of that, just make sure you give us your email. We’ll be glad to add you to that list. So, am I participating in the ministry of prayer? Am I a servant of Christ? Am I involved in partnership of the gospel? Am I participating in the ministry of prayer?
C.
Thirdly, am I growing in my passion for God’s people? Paul says, it’s right for me to feel this way about all of you. I have you in my heart. He’s basically saying, I love you. By the way, that’s the defining mark of Christians.
What did Jesus say in John 13? How will people know that we’re followers of God? By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another. Then Jesus adds, I want you to love one another as I have loved you. And so, God wants us to grow in our passion for each other, our love for each other.
In fact, that’s Paul’s first prayer request. We’ll look at it next Sunday, verse 9. I’m praying that your love may abound, what, more and more. How can we practically love one another? Well, lots of ways.
Starts with, I would say, a priority to be together in corporate worship, making that commitment. Already talked about praying for one another. Practical acts of kindness.
Paul says, I’m thinking of you. I’m praying for you. You’re in my heart.
We all have these smartphones here. Easy to send a text to somebody. Just encourage somebody.
How are you doing? I’m Praying for you. Let them know you’re thinking of them.
There are so many avenues that we can do this. And so, am I growing in passion for God’s people? What is love? Love is self-sacrifice. Love is described in 1st Corinthians 13:4 through 8. I’ll basically put it like this.
Love is putting the needs of others before you. Love is putting the needs of another person before you. And so, we’re all naturally selfish.
Even when we come to faith in Christ, that selfishness doesn’t go away. I’ve told this story many, many times, but Diane and I got married. We were 21 years old, and I was a big sports fan.
And so, part of our honeymoon was in Chicago. And I thought, oh, what can we do in Chicago? I know, I like baseball. Let’s go to a Chicago White Sox baseball game.
Wouldn’t that be exciting? And Diane was reading a book by the third inning, you know. She doesn’t care about baseball. But what does the marriage relationship do as you grow in that relationship? You learn to hopefully put the needs of your spouse ahead of your own needs.
And then God blesses you with children, and guess what? Then you get put further down the list because then you’ve got these kids and their needs and self-sacrifice. But that’s what love is. And so, two quick questions.
I trust that everybody here this morning is in Christ. I trust that you’re growing in your relationship with Christ, that you might describe yourself as a servant of Christ because I’m partnering with the gospel. I’m praying for others.
I’m growing in love for people in the body of Christ.