| Are you prepared? |
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| Written by David Charlton |
Scripture: Philippians 1:9-11Philippians 1:9-11 is a beautiful prayer. The Apostle Paul is praying for the Christians in Philippi to be ready for when they meet Christ face to face. As the Philippians become more loving and grow in their faith and knowledge of the Lord, they will become more ready to meet Jesus face to face. We should follow Paul’s example and pray this prayer for each other. At some point, we will meet Jesus face to face. This will happen either when we die and go to heaven or when Jesus returns. In the meantime, Jesus remains present with us through the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms us into more loving people and prepares us to meet Jesus face to face. So, let’s cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that we can look forward to the day we meet Jesus face to face with confidence. SERMON OUTLINE SCRIPTURE Philippians 1:9-11 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (RSV)
I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation-- those good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ-- for this will bring much glory and praise to God. (NLT)
FOCUS and FUNCTION Focus: The Apostle Paul is praying for the Christians in Philippi to be ready for when they meet Christ face to face. They become ready by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform them into the loving people God created them to be. Function: To encourage the congregation to pray this same prayer for each other and to encourage the congregation to cooperate with the Holy Spirit so they can be ready to meet Jesus face to face. The Sermon I. Introduction: The importance of preparation A. In order to do well at something, we must prepare B. Army: 5Ps stands for ‘Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance’ C. Story of taking history mid-term with no preparation. D. As Christians, we must prepare for the greatest event ever…the day we meet Christ face to face II. We will meet Jesus face to face A. Jesus is with us right now through the presence of the Holy Spirit but… B. One day we’ll meet Him face to face. This will happen in one of two ways: - When we die and go to heaven we will see our Lord face to face: 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. - When Jesus returns to judge the world we will see our Lord and Savior face to face: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; 17 then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. C. Don’t know when we will meet Jesus face to face but when we do, we want to be ready. We must be prepared. D. This was Paul’s prayer for the Philippians III. Philippians 1:9-11 A. Verse 9: ‘And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,’ can be re-written as ‘I pray that your love, knowledge and discernment increases’ B. 1st half of verse 10: ‘so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless’ can be re-written as ‘because I want you to make the right choices and become pure, blameless & righteous people’ C. 2nd half of verse 10: ‘for the day of Christ’ can be re-written as ‘ready for the day when we see Christ face to face’ D. The entire passage could be re-written as ‘I pray that your love, knowledge and discernment increases because I want you to make the right choices and become pure, blameless & righteous people who are ready for the day when we meet Jesus face to face’ IV. We need to pray this beautiful prayer for ourselves and each other. A. In order to meet Jesus face to face, we must be pure, blameless and righteous - Being pure, blameless and righteous means having a heart that is solely motivated by an unselfish love for God and neighbor. It’s becoming Christ-like. - We should all earnestly desire this but… B. We can’t make ourselves pure, blameless and righteous. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. So… C. We pray for the Holy Spirit to change our hearts and make us pure, blameless and righteous V. Conclusion A. It’s appropriate for us to pray this prayer for each other as we partake of Holy Communion B. For Communion, you will kneel at the communion rail. As you kneel and partake of the elements the people behind you will lay their hands on you and pray this prayer (Philippians 1:9-11) for you. C. During communion, God’s grace will touch your heart and make you more pure, blameless and righteous.
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