Paul
Do You See What I See?
To The One (Praise God from whom all blessings)
Jon
Celebrating the arrival of advent
Normally we have Katie talk about children’s ministry, were going to mix it up and have the kids talk to you
Allison likes ice cream,
Elaynea likes watermelon, Orion,
Caden likes peppermint bark, the games,
We need move volunteers to share the love of God with these kids
These kids are a major priority for us
Feel free to ask the 5th graders about it
Men’s fraternity starting up on Sat 5th Jan
To be a man after God’s own heart
If you want to be a part of it, talk to Mike and Cas
Next week after the service, Erin is leading a caroling expedition around the neighborhood
2nd Sunday of Advent, going to have Mark read for us
Mark
Isaiah ???
Paul
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Love Came Down (When my heart is overwhelmed) / Emmanuel coda
Here I Am To Worship (Light of the world You stepped down into darkness)
Jon
Philippians
Next week Paul will preach and then the week after that we’ll be having our children’s program
As he’s writing Philippians, Paul is under house arrest, under trial as an enemy of the state
He’s talking about life and death and core things that matter to him
He’s also not sure if he’s going to see these people ever again
If you’re writing a letter like that, what do you say?
What if it happened to me? What if I couldn’t speak to you ever again, what core things would I speak to you?
So let’s read this with that tone, that context in mind
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and 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, 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. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 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. (Philippians 1:18-26 ESV)
Paul is expressing this feeling that he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies because both options are so sweet
Aligning himself with the way things are in life
Phroneo christo – mind and attitude of Jesus
When we say yes to Jesus, we say yes to the Christ pattern
There’s a visible pattern of life, death, and resurrection
That’s how Paul can say I no longer live but a grist lives in me
Second thing I see Paul doing here is putting his hope into something greater
It’s not hard to imagine Paul sinking into dark and defeated places
But he instead puts his hope in God’s dream, in God’s story
I want to redeem the universe, I want to redeem the earth, I want to redeem humankind
V 20 – Christ is going to be magnified
When life doesn’t go my way or I don’t get what I want / what I deserve
All I can see is my circumstance
Gets very myopic
My emotions get out of whack
If Christ is magnified in my body
I’m a trader joes frozen foods kind of guy, it’s a South bay thing
There’s fine print bout how to cook it to its absolute best
But things are kind of heading down hill now, so we keep a magnifying glass in the kitchen so that I can read the fine print
I’m a bit of a watch nerd, I can identify watches by sight
There’s this tiny date field that I always pretend to ad, but sometimes I pull out the magnifying glass
Should start carrying it in my back pocket
Paul is saying when things are dark, you have to magnify Christ
There’s this character in some of the gospels called John the Baptist
He was born with the task of preparing the way for the messiah
Then Jesus shows up and takes the ball and runs with it, gathers up disciples
John speaks out and the empire imprisons him
John’s disciples ask Jesus if He is Messiah and he quotes part of Isaiah
There’s one line left
And the day of the prisoner will be released
Remez – where Jews leave half the story off specifically to communicate something other than
John realizes that he will not be released
For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians 1:8-11 ESV)
But Paul said in 1 Corinthians that The Lord won’t put you in circumstances that you cannot bear
No rejoicing in 2 Corinthians, but Paul doesn’t let that shape his reality
Even Paul gets caught up in feelings
Go deeper, set your hope into something even greater than your circumstance
Where do I lodge my hope when I’m despairing?
Is that what’s going to give me the perspective I need?
Peter has a big mouth
But he’s passionate
And he makes grand statements to Jesus like I will never betray you
Peter doesn’t let his betrayal define who he is
It’s some point in history that you participated in in the moment
Peter lies and betrays
Jesus comes to that liar and invites him back into ministry
How does Matthew know what Peter did? The disciples were scattered in the moment…
Peter must have told Matthew, told his friends
I betrayed Him and he moves through the guilt and the shame…is that grace?
That must be grace….
It’s one of the most challenging things in life to not let yourself be defined by your failures
Paul and Peter had plenty of moments were they struggled
I’d rather go into self pity because its easier
In the heat of the moment, you’re going to make some big mistakes
Welcome to humanity
When somebody repents, Christians like to take their shovels and Riesling the dirt own them
There’s a particular song that has gotten me through a lot in my life
Psalm 42
David is speaking to his soul in this
Why are you downcast? Have hope!
Get this image of taking our soul and pounding hope into his soul, like salt into meat
In moments of darkness, here’s Paul saying I will continue to rejoice.
Think about the handout questions this week