This is the second sermon in our study on the Letter Paul wrote the Philippians church while he was in prison in Rome, about ten years after the church in Philippi was birthed while he was in there. Pauls' love and joy for his spiritual children bubbled over in his letter and he encourages them to never stop growing in love.
Our goal for ourselves should be the same as Paul’s for the Philippians, that our love would grow more and more so we would focus on the right things and grow in the fruit of the Spirit, so God would be glorified and his kingdom extended through us.
God wants our love to grow so much that we would see people around us through his eyes, so we would be moved to action, sharing that love in very practical ways with the people we work with, those we go to school with, the waiters and waitresses who serve us, the neighbours who live near us, our family who lives with us, and our brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we minister together with at CRBC. And, he wants us to do it all for the glory of God.
Focus on the mission of Jesus and life takes on new meaning. Maybe you think it’s too hard. Maybe you’ve been trying, but the pull is too strong. There are so many things distracting you. Well, here is Paul’s encouragement to us in verse 6.
Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
6And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
God has not finished with us. I don’t know about you, but that is extremely encouraging to me.