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DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 2:19-24

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:19-24

Philippians 2:19-24

v19: Receiving news of how the Lord Jesus is building His church in other places should encourage us and something we should desire to hear of. Though our primary concern is the local church we are part of, it should not be restricted to this.

v20-21: It is good to have pastors and elders who are “genuinely concerned for the state and welfare of their people.”

v22-24: Any “hope and confidence” we have concerning the plans we make for our future, needs to be balanced “with a humble dependence and submission to God’s will,” for we cannot be absolutely certain about how events will turn out.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

WORLD MISSION AFTER COVID WEBINAR

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Notes from FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on ‘World Mission after COVID’ with John Stevens, Eddie Arthur and Michael Prest.

1. A key foundation for gospel ministry is that we love our people.  This means caring for them, sharing our lives with them (not ministering from a distance), and not being an unnecessary burden on them.  Faithful ministry is not just doctrinal faithfulness from the pulpit but sharing lives with people.

2. COVID Update:
– We will be entering into Step 4 on 19 July.
– Personal responsibility seems to focus no on freedom but being cautious.
– With regards to face coverings and vaccine passports we will likely see inconsistency across society.
– It might be that churches which use rented premises will have restrictions put on them by the building owners.
– Specific guidance for places of worship has not yet been produced so we do not know what it will say on the key issues of social distancing, face coverings, and singing.
– Church leaders still have health and safety responsibilities and are to do what is reasonable to provide a safe environment, plus we don’t know what view insurance companies will take.
– Next week we will be in a much clearer position.
– It is difficult for church leaders to plan.
– Four groups of people to recognise in congregations: 1) Those who have not come back; 2) Those who are cautious but happy to come; 3) Those who are keen to move forward; 4) Those who want to get back to normal as quick as possible.
– This is a moment when church unity might be in danger of fracturing, and there will be a need for members to consider the interests of others above their own.

3. The centre of gravity of the church has shifted.  It is now found in the southern continents rather than the West.  Though we are not at the centre of the action, we are still in the body.

4. The pandemic is not over and much of the developing world has been hit hard.  Medical staff have been disproportionately affected with health systems devastated by the number of doctors and nurses who have died.  The economic problem when communities are shut down because if people don’t work they don’t get paid.  Pastors don’t receive a salary if people don’t go to church and give to the collection and so are leaving the ministry to go back to farming so their family can be fed.  Pastors, like medical staff, have been disproportionately affected as they visit and seek to help those in need – churches are losing experienced leaders.  Church members not able to gather physically, but also not online because they can’t afford the data.

5. Lament the vaccine injustice.  If I refuse a vaccine it doesn’t help anybody.  But those who have contact with people who are in a position to make a difference should be engaging – not all of us can get involved, but those who can should.

6. World mission is not the same as it was.  A movement away from Christendom mission (mission from the West through established agencies, primarily based on cross-cultural sending); from industrial to indigenous mission (missionaries have returned home during pandemic yet Christ has been building His church), and churches rather than agencies need to be the centre of our thinking (both as sending and receiving).

7. Lots of pastoral and practical implications of pandemic affecting missionaries – emotional toil, family issues, health issues, financial concerns (especially those seeking to raise support), devotional life, ministry questions, visas delays, waiting to return for home assignment.

8. Two things for churches to consider: 1) Are you supporting too many missionaries? Is it time to make a transition from supporting many to focusing and investing in a meaningful way with a few.  2) Who might you send?  The privilege and responsibility to send people to cross cultural mission still remains.

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:12-18

Philippians 2:12-18

v12-13: This is a call to “live the Christian life conscientiously and seriously” by using all the means God gives us to follow Christ and persevere in following Him to the end.  However, we are only able to do this, because of God’s working in us.  “It is the grace of God that inclines the will to do what is good” and “it is the grace of God that then enables us to perform it.”

v14-15: “The children of God should be different from the children of the world.” 

v16-18: The gospel is the word of life “because it reveals and offers to us eternal life through Jesus Christ.” As well as holding firmly to it “for our own benefit,” we are “to hold it out for the benefit of others.” 

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5-11

v5: “We must walk in the same spirit and in the same steps as the Lord Jesus, who humbled himself to suffer and die for us, not only to satisfy God’s justice and pay the price of our redemption, but also to set us an example, so that we could follow in his steps.”

v6-7: Christ has two natures, His divine nature, and His human nature.  As the only begotten Son of God, He shares in the divine nature.  He was also “really and truly human,” as He clothed “himself with the rags of human nature” in order to be like us and be a substitute for us.

v8-9: As well as two natures, Christ has two states, the state of humiliation and the state of exaltation.  “His whole life was a life of humiliation, lowliness, poverty and disgrace,” but the lowest moment “was when he died on the cross… a cursed, painful and shameful death.”  Because He willingly humbled Himself, “God exalted him… Christ’s whole person,” both the human and divine nature.

v10-11: The exaltation of His divine nature “was not any new acquisition of glory,” but “the recognising of his rights, or the display and appearance of his glory.”  The exaltation of His human nature consisted of “honour and power.”  The honour of having a name above every name, and power as “the whole of creation is put in submission to him” and publicly acknowledges that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him.

Devotional notes adapted from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 2:1-4

Philippians 2:1-4

v1-2: It brings great to delight to the elders of a local church when they see its members living together in harmony and love. This harmony and love comes when they are in agreement “on the great things of God” (those truths found in God’s Word which are essential to our salvation), and when they are committed to maintaining the unity that the Spirit has brought about between them.

v3-4: The enemy of harmony and love within a local church is pride. “Let there not be a spirit of pride among us.” Instead, we should be “quick to notice our own defects and weaknesses but ready to overlook and make favourable allowances for the defects of others.” It is good also to take an interest in the concerns of others, “not out of curiosity or a desire to criticise,” nor to interfere in their lives, but out of concern for their comfort, security, and prosperity.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

LATEST LINKS

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10 links to check out over the weekend…

(Photo: Ryan McGuire)

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 1:27-30

Philippians 1:27-30

v27: Those who follow Christ are to live lives that are worthy of the gospel.  Our conduct is to show that we “believe Gospel truths, submit to Gospel laws, and depend on Gospel promises.” Living lives worthy of the gospel will include standing firm in the faith, being united with other believers, and together with them striving to make the gospel known in the face of opposition.

v28-30: Belief in the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is a gift from God as the ability to do this comes from God alone. Like belief is a gift, so is suffering for the gospel. Recognising this helps us “to be courageous and faithful” in the face of persecution and “if we suffer shame and loss for Christ.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 1:21-26

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 1:21-26

Philippians 1:21-26

v21-22: Death is a great gain for all who live for Christ, with His glory as the goal of their life, His grace the motivating force of their life, and His Word their rule. It is a great gain “because it is the end of all their weakness and misery and the perfection of their comforts and accomplishment of their hopes.”

v23-24: If we “know the value of Christ and heaven” we “will readily acknowledge that it is far better to be in heaven than to be in this world,” because “if we go to be with Christ, we say farewell to sin and temptation, sorrow and death, forever.”

v25-26: “God will do whatever is best for the church” and this will include providing pastors who are committed to a local church, “not only for the conviction and conversion of sinners but also for the building up of saints and their progress in spiritual advancement.” When this happens, it “should be a matter of joy” for those “who wish the church and its interests well.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

BEING THE BAD GUYS WEBINAR

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Notes from FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on ‘Being the Bad Guys’ with John Stevens and Stephen McAlpine.

1. As church leaders we have authority, but we need to exercise care in how we use it.  We don’t shape our leadership by giving people what they want but what they need.  There are times we need to exercise authority, other times we need to set it aside, but this will be determined by what best serves the cause of the gospel.

2. COVID Update (England)
– Known knowns: A final decision on Step 4 to be made on 12 July with it likely to implemented on 19 July.  All legal restrictions to be removed meaning there will be no legal requirements to wear face coverings in church; no legal restrictions on gathering, mixing, or mingling; no restrictions on singing or communal worship.  This removal of legal restrictions is causing division.  Not universally welcome.  Some venues/businesses will continue to require face coverings and social distancing, and they have the legal right to insist on this.
– Known unknowns: The revised government guidance for places of worship regarding face coverings, social distancing, baptism, communion, and safe singing is not known.  We also do not know what health and safety responsibilities will mean for churches or how insurance companies will treat any government guidance.
– Unknown unknowns: Likely that some things might take us by surprise.  We don’t know how members of our congregations will react to the new approach; how individuals will view the meaning of ‘personal responsibility’ (is about self or towards others); whether new more dangerous variants of the virus will emerge; or whether restrictions will be reimposed in the autumn.

3. How to prepare with this uncertainty.
– Don’t ‘think it’s all over’ on 19 July.
– Don’t rush to decisions when key information is not available.
– Recognise that it will take time for many people to return to normality with confidence.
– Expect divisions and disagreements about the best way forwards.
– Teach the difference between ‘personal responsibility’ and ‘individualism’.
– Navigate between the enthusiasm of the ‘libertarians’ and the veto of the ‘fearful’.  Both positions are an exercise of power.  Make reasonable accommodations that make for unity and allow as many as possible to gather together.
– Shepherd the sheep gently as we regather as a scattered flock.  There will be sheep with different experiences (fearful, stubborn, wounded).  So be careful what we say to the flock collectively.

4. We don’t need more culturally relevant churches but gospel resilient congregations.  We need to help equip people for Babylon.

5. In society, Christians have moved from being seen as part of the solution to a hostile part of the problem.  A Christian framework has gone from being centre in the culture to not worthy of a place in democracy.

6. Our age is a sexular age.  The defining feature of our secular culture is around sexuality.

7. The gospel is seen not just as being redundant but hostile, stopping people be the most authentic person we are.

8. Today, Christians are not being asked about dinosaurs or the rapture, but what they think about gay, trans people.

9. There is a chink in the secular and sexular armour at the moment.  It is not delivering even though it has a lot of resources being thrown at it.

10. The gospel of our secular age is ultimately found in your expressing yourself authentically through your sex.  The ambition is to replicate the kingdom vision of the good life (a future world of human rights, dignity, freedom, love and equality) but all without Jesus at the centre.  It’s the kingdom without the King – they don’t want the Jesus bit of it.  Can the church engage with the culture and say you don’t have those things without Jesus at the centre?  When we say the church is those things, we better show this.

11. If churches were to become affirming of LGBTQ, all the tension in the world will go away.  For churches that stand against that, it is going to get harder in the coming decades.

12. We need to ask how we may have unwittingly bought into the framework that self-fulfilment leads to flourishing, even while we reject its more startling conclusion.

13. There is a danger of that we adopt the life of self-fulfilment with a Christian veneer.  How do you deal with sex, money, forgiveness, community?  Is it different from the culture.

14. Double down on deep discipleship of our people.  They are experiencing a glitzy secular discipleship 6 days a week.

15. A cohesive group without the Holy Spirit looks non-cohesive eventually.

16. Check out Chapters 6 and 7 of Being the Bad Guys.

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 1:12-20

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 1:12-20

Philippians 1:12-20

v12-14: Paul’s suffering and imprisonment had led to the advance of the gospel. “A strange outworking of Providence is seen here, that such a great good as the advancement of the Gospel could be drawn out of such a great evil as the confinement of the apostle.” It’s a reminder that though God’s people can be chained, His Word cannot be.

v15-17: Not every preacher of the gospel does so for the right motives. “Let us not think it strange if… there are such people.”

v18-20: We can rejoice, even when the gospel is preached by those who do so out of selfish ambition, because when Christ is preached, “it may lead to the good of many people.” It is possible that by the grace of God, the preaching of the gospel by them “be made to lead to the salvation of the people” even if those preaching to them are not saved themselves.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 1:3-11

Philippians 1:3-11

v3-5: “The best way we can remember our friends is to remember them in prayer at the throne of grace.” We must thank God for their faith, but we must also thank God when we benefit from their “gifts and usefulness.”

v6: If a good work (salvation) has begun in us, it is God who started it, because “we are by nature dead in trespasses and sins, and what can dead people do towards raising themselves to life?”  If God has begun this good work, we can be sure He will finish it.  Though it begins in this life, “it is not finished here.  As long as we are in this imperfect state, there is something more to be done.”  It won’t be fully and finally completed until the day Jesus returns.

v7-8: Let us learn from the example of the Philippians who remained “faithful to the message [Paul] preached,”  who “readily suffered for it along with him,” and who “according to their abilities” were ready to defend the gospel.

v9-11: “Paul often let his friends know what he begged of God for them”  By doing this, “they would know what to ask for themselves,” and would “be guided in their own prayers.” We learn from Paul to pray that we would be “a loving people,” “a knowing and wisely judging people,” “a discerning people,” “a pure, honest, and upright people,” “a blameless people,” and “a fruitful, useful people.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

DAILY READ – PHILIPPIANS 1:1-2

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Philippians 1:1-2

Introduction

Paul wrote this letter while a prisoner in Rome.  He “looked on the believers of Philippi as his children, and, having begotten them through the Gospel, he wanted to nurture and build them up through the same Gospel” using “all means to continue the good work that was begun among them and build on the foundation that had been laid.”  These believers at Philippi had shown kindness to Paul, sending him “a gift given when no other church shared with him in giving and receiving.”

Philippians 1:1-2

v1: Paul writes this letter to all the saints.  No distinction is made between them.  It for the weakest believer as well as for the strongest.  It is for the poorest believer as well as for the richest.  It is for those with the smallest gifts as well as for those with the greater ones.  “Christ makes no distinction; rich and poor meet together in him,” and “we must not show favouritism as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

v2: “There is no peace without grace,” and both this peace and grace that we need comes from God our Father, “the fountain and origin of all blessings,” and through our Lord Jesus Christ, who “as Mediator is the channel that brings all spiritual blessings to the church.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)