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 Philippians 1:1-6 - Good Work

        Philippians is a thank you note.  A letter of love and encouragement to family and friends.  It is sent by Paul and Timothy (just like five other books of the New Testament). It is interesting and odd how little we know of God’s servant, Timothy.  Here’s to all the unsung heroes!  Be like Paul, and send thank you notes.

        And here’s to all of God’s holy people who belong to Jesus Christ.  I don’t feel very holy this morning.  But my desire is to be holy, to be one of God’s servants who resists the devil and is ready, willing, and able to be useful for God as He builds His Kingdom.

        Don’t plan for retirement.  Even better, plan for effectiveness for God’s Kingdom.

        You belong to Christ Jesus.  So do I.  Our kids and our grandkids, nay, our community, need us to be men who do not take, but rather, men who serve and give.  Let’s be those selfless servants today.  Protect someone today.  Help someone to be more like God by how you look at them and how you speak to them.  Protect the young and the needy.  Help the poor.

        What the world needs today is what the world needed 2,000 years ago.  Reconciliation with God.  Forgiveness of sins and new life through Jesus Christ.  

        Mighty God, please forgive us our sins and make us new.  New with Your grace and goodness and peace so that we may serve others well today.

        Pray for someone today.  Pray God will start a new work in them.  We are all tough projects; sure, some soil is better than others, but it is still soil - subject to the weather and depletion.  But God uses difficult materials.  The Master Architect, the Holy One, turns sinners into saints.  Even farmboys from Saskatchewan can be born again.

        And God’s way of reconciliation is through a person’s faith in His Son.  Jesus Christ.  It's the only way to reconciliation with the Father (John 14:6).

        Don’t believe the scoffers.  God will return to the earth, but He first wants more and more people to reconcile with Him, to repent of their sins so that they will not be destroyed on the day of judgment (2 Peter 3:7).  

        The only thing we can truly preserve for eternity is our character and the record of our lives lived in these earthly bodies.  Let us therefore live holy and godly lives today.  So you screwed up yesterday.  Fine.  Today's a new day.  Serve God well.  Put some effort into it.

        You and I will be known as Christians by our love.  Even the world knows that you can’t buy love, and it scorns anyone who even tries (Song of Songs 8:7).  God is love.  And God freely gives us His love.  He loved us so much that He showed us His character as a loving and forgiving Father.  And we, the prodigals, God’s children through faith, must grow in our love by growing in our knowledge and understanding of our God and our King.

        What matters is that we are filled with the righteous character produced in our lives by Jesus Christ.

        That is the reason for our lives and our freedom.  God started this good work in us and He will finish it.  The reason for your life and mine is so that we may be filled with the fruit of our salvation - for this will bring much glory and praise to God.  

        Amen.

Arch, Colt, and Jack (our grandsons)


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