Series “Living worthily of the Gospel”
Session 7
 
“Whose example is worth imitating?”
(Philippians 3:15-21)
(Video) (PDF)
 
1. Let us have this mind
2. Telling with tears
3. Paul’s three examples
   1) being a friend of Jesus.
   2) being a friend of fellow friends of Jesus.
   3) being a friend of enemies of Jesus.
Read more…
 
For Lifenet groups and self-reflection
1. What can make those who used to run the race of faith stop the race and start running toward different direction?
2. What can make you keep away from Christ? How the world can confuse/deceive you? How do you cope with it?
3. How do you spend time with your friends? What do you talk about with friends?
- How do you spend time with Jesus usually? Do you spend time with him as your friend? What do you do to deepen your friendship with him?
4. How important is it for a Christian to fellowship with other Christians?
- What can we do in order to make fellowship meaningful as we continue the race of faith?
5. When you hear “Jesus is a friend of sinners”, what comes to your mind? What does it mean to you?
 
NLIF is an international church in Yangon. Come and join our English Sunday worship service.

Philippians 3:1-14

“To write the same things to you is…for you…it is a safeguard” (3:1b). Against the spiritual attacks and influences.
 
What or who are your spiritual “safeguards”? Whose presence in your life makes you safer? Who or what puts your spiritual life more at risk?
 
 “So, watch out!” (3:2-3)

• Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil doers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! (Those who try to impose the Jewish laws and circumcision on the new non-Jewish church, boast in the flesh and try to turn them away from grace in Christ.)
• For it is we who are the [true] circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have have no confidence in the flesh --

 
 “… even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more…” (3:4-6).
“… I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (3:7-9). (Because those he used to boast about led him astray, now he counts them as garbage in order to gain Christ.)
 "To gain Christ and be found in Him" - letting go of self and taking hold of Christ more and more.
 
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death…” (3:10-11).
“Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal (NASV: “or have already been perfected”); but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead (3:12-14).
The spiritual movement from life to death to life again.

Conclusion
Paul’s personal testimony speaks directly to Christians who may be confused, intimidated, or destabilized by pressures to conform to some false idea of who they should be. What was once gain to him, he now considers loss on account of Christ, even rubbish. Why? Because now he sees all his former achievements, ambitions, attachments, and other self-glorifying preoccupations as distractions from what matters most—knowing Christ more and more and experiencing his power at work in his life.
The sky may be the limit for your personal, social or professional life, but, if you want to grow in your identity in Christ, your so-called glory days are over. You need to put them in the past. They’re of no lasting value to you anymore. For Paul, being in Christ defined who he was, and he spent the rest of his life trying to live into his identity. In his own words, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (3:12).

Welcome to our English service of this International congregation in Yangon.

Philippians 2:12-30

Our faith is not just a philosophy but relationship at its heart. 
Even when no one is looking at us, we must live true to who we really are in Christ. 
Authority is responsibility to care well for those under us, which requires obedience. 
We can never be good enough to earn our salvation, but we are called to "work out our salvation" by aligning our way of life with our new identity in Christ. 

Why should we work out our salvation "with fear and trembling"?
1. It is God who is at work in you. His presence in you is the Holy Spirit that helps you to obey and cooperate with God's work in your life.
2. The end result is ultimately beyond your ability to perform; you are dependent on God to work in you to will and to work for what pleases God.

Practical spirituality: “How can you better notice and humbly submit to what God is already doing in your life?”
 Our tendency is to ignore the guidance of the Holy Spirit (God's work in us) but go our own way. So we need such a fear, sense of seriousness about our ultimate obedience and submission to God's will and work. 
 
Philippians 2:14-18
Do everything without grumbling and disputing (2:14).  
 
Q.  What is it about murmuring (grumbling) and disputing that is so antithetical to humble obedience and servanthood? 
1. It comes from our flesh (negativity) and lack of faith (to find faults only but God at work).
'2. It focusses on ourselves, instead of on the interests of Christ and others.
3. It undermines our ability to shine as lights/stars in the universe for Christ. 

Three Examples (Role Models) to Consider (2:16-30)
           These are more than Paul's travel report about them but his presentation of the models that embody what he is teaching the church at Philippi. 
Example 1: Paul (2:16-18)
Example 2: Timothy (2:19-24)
Example 3: Epaphroditus (2:25-30)

Conclusion
What does it mean to live for Jesus? Just listen to Paul and look at the role models he gives us. Jesus was killed on a cross because of his commitment to do the will of God and show God to the world. Paul is in prison on account of the Gospel. He shared the Gospel with many hostile, unbelieving forces, and suffered because of it, but maintains a positive attitude nonetheless. Timothy organized his whole life around service of Jesus by supporting Paul and his own church. Epaphroditus was separated from his beloved community and almost died, sacrificing himself to support Paul and the Gospel ministry. 
 
So, what are you being called to “step into” more fully, more courageously, more humbly, more sacrificially to serve Christ and the Gospel here in Myanmar?

Join our English service of this International church in Yangon.

Series of “Living Worthily of the Gospel”
Session 4
“What does it mean to serve like Jesus?”
(Philippians 2:1-11)
(Video) (PDF)
 
1. One God
2. One Mind
3. One Team
4. One Lord
Read more…
 
For Lifenet groups and self-reflection
1. Have you ever had someone tell you something which shook your faith?
2. Have you ever experienced encouragement from Jesus, fellowship with the Spirit, and comfort, tenderness and compassion of the Father?
3. List up things Christians can do together with one mind. What are the reasons why it is difficult to do them together? What is the key(s) to maintain the unity in church?
4. What do you learn from the attitude of Jesus in Phil 2:6-11? How would you apply it to your life? How would you practice it in church?
 
NLIF is an international church in Yangon. Come and join our English Sunday worship service.