Tag: The Church

Group of diverse people holding hands in a prayer circle inside a church with a cross in the background

Morning Musing: Philippians 4:1-3

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“So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A message without application is just information, and people tend to forget information. Paul’s letters are filled with information. But at the end of them, he turns to application. He switches gears to giving his readers some very practical things they can do with all of the information he has been imparting at the Spirit’s direction. For the last three chapters Paul has been encouraging the Philippian believers to stand firm in the Lord in the face of various trials and tribulations. Here, as he begins to draw things to a close, he gives them some examples of what that actually looks like. Let’s take a look.

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Morning Musing: Philippians 3:15-16

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“Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The hardest chemistry class I took in college was Physical Chemistry. The professor was great, but the concepts were difficult. Making things even more challenging was the fact that on every exam he included one question that we hadn’t covered in class. It was a chance for us to apply the concepts we had learned so far to something entirely new. I don’t think anyone ever did well on that question. The whole purpose of a test—a fair test anyway—is to hold you accountable for what you have learned to make sure you have really learned it. God operates in much the same way with truth. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: John 17:22

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“I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’ve argued before that all of our best stories are always ultimately rooted in the Gospel. The connections aren’t always obvious, but if you look and think a bit, you’ll find them. They’re all over the place. I recently watched the latest offering from the Predator Universe, Predator: Badlands, and was pretty impressed with just how many Gospel touch points there were. Let’s talk about what made this a much better film than I expected it to be. And just to be fair, I’ll go ahead and issue a spoiler alert.

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Morning Musing: Philippians 2:5-8

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“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Jesus was God. Like, the God who created everything. Paul spells out some of that in the opening verses of his letter to the Colossian believers. He was and is worthy of all the honor and glory simply by virtue of being God. When He came, He could have come in glory and luxury. He could have demanded comfort and ease. He didn’t have to experience any inconvenience or discomfort. Yet that’s not what He did. That’s not how He came. Today and tomorrow, let’s examine the most important presentation of the humility of Jesus ever written.

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Morning Musing: Philippians 2:1-4

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“If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one  purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Everybody needs community. We hunger for it. Even if we only find it online, we’ll search for it until we have it. Online, of course, is a pale imitation of the real thing, but if our choice is between that and nothing, we’ll take it. All communities, though, are not created equal. If you want to be a part of a healthy community, that’s going to take some work. It’s going to take a particular type of culture. What kind of culture, you ask? Paul gives us an important clue here in the prelude to one of the more important passages on the subject in all of the Scriptures. Let’s check it out.

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