For the Nascar fans who may have missed it....

How God Makes us His Friends- 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Thrēskeia Upocrites

Luke 20:41-47- Religious Hypocrisy from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

He Made Himself Nothing

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

[5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

COMMENT:

If you remember from yesterday's post, Paul is pleading with the Church to be united. First he motivates them with what they have RECEIVED from Christ. Then he moves on to the actions one does to reach the goal of unity: "consider others more significant than themselves." But for Paul everything begins and ends in Christ. And so he continues today with one of the most extraordinary passages describing just what Christ has done for us, His Church, using His sacrifice as an example for us all to follow:

Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we have been given a new mind. It has been transformed and is being transformed, renewed after the mind of Christ. In Christ, we are given a new power, a new ability to die to ourselves, to pick up our cross and follow Him. What does this look like?

"Though he was in the form of God..." Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Period. The word "form" here is to be understood as "the outward display of the inward reality." (Rogers & Rogers, pg. 451). The idea is that though Jesus has existed for eternity, He at one point came in flesh (was fully human) and was the exact representation of God in His being.

"did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men...." The idea that's being conveyed is that though Jesus, being God, had every right to claim equality with God the Father (indeed He did receive praise), He willingly emptied himself of the use of His divinity (though not all) while here on earth. Instead of the Son of Man laying on the bed of a King, "he had nowhere to lay his head." Instead of the Lord of Lords stomping on His enemies, He loved them, and wooed them to His Father. Everything He did was done in humble obedience to God the Father.

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Not only did Jesus, God the Son, limit His power and live humbly, the Son of God would submit Himself to death and death of the worst, most cursed kind: "even death on a cross." Why? Because that was ultimately the purpose of His coming. Through this death, He would set the captives free. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." His death was for you.

But as you know that's not the end of the story...

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Jesus rose on the third day from the grave, proclaiming His victory over sin, death, and the devil. God has vindicated Him through this action. Indeed if Christ truly has risen from the dead than He must be listened to, respected, revered, worshiped. He must be the name that is above every name, for His name is the only One we can say has truly shown His rule over this world. He has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. His is the ultimate place of authority, and all power and glory belong to Him!

Now go back to what Paul's original subject was: The Church working united! This passage of amazing theology about Christ is sort of given as a side-note to explain Paul's main thought! Christ's attitude, His mindset is to be our model. We are to humble ourselves, make ourselves nothing, give of ourselves for the benefit of others (even if at the time, it doesn't seem like there's a bit of benefit to us for doing so). In the end, God will exalt us as well. As Jesus said, "In the kingdom of God, the first will be last and the last will be first."

That all being said, let me re-emphasize and extremely important point about Christ's life, death and resurrection: Though all this is an example to us, that is NOT THE PRIMARY REASON FOR HIS LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION." The primary reason was for Him to pay the price for your sins. Only after you grasp that, hold firmly to it and make it THE thing, can you then look to Him as example.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING...GROWING...GOING....

The Key to a Healthy Church

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

COMMENT:

I so love digging into Paul's writing and preaching. And the reason that is is because Paul saturates everything he writes in the Gospel. There is no command given to a Church without it first being based on and fueled by the Gospel. This passage is no exception. Paul is going to give commands for how we ought to live, but first and foremost he writes, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit..."

Don't pass over that first part too quickly. "If you have any encouragement in CHRIST.... any comfort from LOVE....any participation in the SPIRIT...." These are things first and foremost that are first received by you the Body of Christ! As I always harp on, everything starts with what we receive from Christ in the Gospel. Only after we are saturated in being dependent receivers, can we move on to the next part....

"Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." Here's the goal: Unity in the Gospel. That's the action Paul commands us to carry out. Now how do we go about doing that?

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." This instruction is THE surefire way to unity in the gospel. Can you imagine what would happen if this was said of the individuals of our Church body? "There's a church where people consider others more significant than themselves." How counter-cultural! How magnetic! Oh, that God would make me a person that wants to consider others interests before my own! Let's pray that this would be the case VCC...

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING....GROWING....GOING....

A Life Worthy of the Gospel

PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

COMMENT:

What does it mean to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ"? The first thing I think we tend to do with statements like these is pour our own meanings into them: "Oh it must mean not eating really delicious food." "It means driving poor quality cars." "It means not enjoying anything in this world too much...." and on and on it goes with what we think is "good, religious behavior." But folks, we don't have to go there because the text actually goes on to tell us what living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ looks like:

1. Standing firm in one spirit/one mind- The Bible emphasizes the importance of unity throughout it's pages. Jesus asked the Father before He died on the cross that His Church would be "One as we are One." Paul over and over refers to us as the Family of God, the Temple of God, the Body of Christ, all singular units, but with many parts. A life worthy of the gospel stands firm together for the gospel. That said, biblically speaking, unity must be united around the essentials of our faith. We can disagree about worship style, dress, politics, etc, etc, but we must be united about the Gospel. Augustine put it this way: In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, IN ALL THINGS CHARITY."

2. Striving side by side for the faith of the gospel- A life worthy of the gospel is passionate about that Gospel. The good news is worth debating about and defending to those around us. Too often the things we find ourselves united around are various political causes (which can be good), but the Bible explicitly teaches that first and foremost, the Gospel is our cause worth fighting for (of course when I say fighting I do not mean physically speaking).

3. Not frightened by your opponents- Living a life worthy of the Gospel is living without fear of what anyone on the outside of the Church will do in response to your faith in Jesus. Luther said it this way,“Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake." So Paul writes, ""For it has been granted to you that for the sake fo Chrityou should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake..." Why suffering? Romans 5:2-5 answers that question:

[2] Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [3] More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

(Romans 5:2-5 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING...GROWING...GOING....

The Heart of Christian Living

PHILIPPIANS 1:19-26

Yes, and I will rejoice, [19] for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, [20] as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. [21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. [22] If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. [23] I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. [24] But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. [25] Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, [26] so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

COMMENT:

Ultimately, as Bob Dylan pointed out, "you gotta serve somebody." Most of the time in this fallen world, we end up serving in some way or another our own selfish motives. But there are all sorts of ways this "service" can be expressed; even the things that look selfless, can ultimately be ways of serving ourselves. Take for example the parent who without ceasing worries about their child (Now I'm not talking here about healthy concern for your child's well being, but I'm talking about making yourself sick, unable to sleep anxiety over your child). From the outside of things it may look as though that worry for the child actually comes from pure unadulterated love. But scratch a little further beneath the surface and you find that the main reason the parent is really worried is because of how the child's issues will reflect on them. "If they end up being a drug addict, then people will think I'm a bad parent." "If they end up marrying someone who isn't good for them, people will think I raised them poorly." "My child needs to be a success, or I'm a failure in life..." All these sorts of statements, though understandable, ultimately show who the parent is really serving.

For Paul, as much as he would have to battle against his own fleshly desires and sins (Romans 7), his goal in life was to serve his Lord. He writes,

Yes, and I will rejoice, [19] for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, [20] as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. [21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Do you see that? Paul is aware that death is looming while forcibly held in a Roman prison. Yet he writes to the Philippians that no matter what he rejoices, because his life's goal hasn't changed and can't be changed: "No matter what the circumstance, I want to honor Christ in my body. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." He is ready to meet his Master, no matter when that day comes. This is indeed a wonderful, fearless, bold way to live. No fear in death, and overwhelming purpose in life.

In light of that fact (that Paul still has much work to do in this life), he tells the Philippians that he is confident that God's not done with him here yet. Yes, he actually wants to go home to the Lord in heaven, but he's still got work to do for the Church. His love of the Church compels him to stay put and work for the benefit and glory of the Church in Philippi. This is Godly service....

Let's pray that in our service, which will inevitably happen, we will ultimately be concerned about God's will for our lives, and benefiting our neighbor. After all that's what Jesus said was at the heart of Christian living:

[37] And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

(Matthew 22:37-39 ESV)

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING....GROWING....GOING....

A PRAYER OF LOVE FOR THE CHURCH

PHILIPPIANS 1:1-11

[1:1] Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

[2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[3] I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, [4] always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, [5] because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. [6] And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. [7] It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. [8] For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. [9] 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 so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, [11] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

COMMENT:

Upon reading over the text for this morning, I was struck by one overarching theme: the emotive love Paul displays towards his readers at the Church in Philippi. This is a man who loves the Church, and that love pours out into words of great hope and joy. He tells them that he "thanks God in all his remembrance of them", "holds them in his heart", and gushes, "For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus." Why does he love the Philippian Church so much?

1. They are fellow Believers- This may seem like an oversimplification, but the truth is the bond Paul feels for the Philippians is first of all based on their common bond in Christ. That's really true for all Christians. Our first and foremost connection and love for one another should not be based on the fact that we have certain peripheral things in common, but the overarching fact that we all stand as sinners saved by our gracious God in Christ Jesus. Because of this, Paul can write, "I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Why is He sure of this? Because they have borne fruit in that....

2. They are partners in the Gospel with him (vs. 3-5 & 7) - Or in other words, the Philippians have pledged their financial and spiritual support to Paul, and he knows it. We have to remember that Paul essentially traveled the world preaching the Gospel and planting Churches at the cost of others throughout the Christian world. Philippi was one of these places that gave what they could, and Paul is appreciative. (As a side-note, it is always a good thing to show our appreciation and gratitude towards those who support us.)

Based on this love Paul has for the Philippians, he prays thus:

"It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment..." Jesus said, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” And yet, love is not just emotion or zeal, but it is grounded in knowledge and discernment. Oh may we as a Church have this same balance of love and knowledge...

Why does Paul want their love to abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment?

Answer: So that they may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING....GROWING....GOING....

Devotions in Philippians

PHILIPPIANS

The astute observer will notice two things: 1. The title and theme of our devotions are different today than they have been for the last three months. 2. The regularity of these "daily" (lol) devotions has not been very "daily" lately.

These two observations are related because, to tell you the truth, after researching and writing about various Christian world-view issues for the last 5 months, I was starting to get a little tired of the topic. Not that the topic of world-view isn't important; it is very important and will be probed more in future devotions (as we still have more issues to cover), but I found myself wanting to just dig into a book of the Bible more and more, rather than just dealing with specific topics.

Therefore, for a little while, we shall take a short excursion through the letter to the Philippian Church. We'll begin that process today by giving the letter a proper introduction, and tomorrow we'll begin unearthing it's treasures by reviewing the text.

Who? The letter to the Philippian Churches was written by the Apostle Paul (with some help from Timothy it appears) to the "Saints in Philippi" (1:1).

What? The letter is written to thank the Philippians for their support of his missionary work. Apparently, the congregation (s) spent money, resources, time and prayer on Paul's ministry, and Paul wants to acknowledge this (1:3-11). Because of this connection to his ministry, Paul also wants to exhort them to live worthy of the Gospel to which they have been called (1:27). How do they live worthy of the Gospel that they have been called into? They exude joy! That is the word that dominates this letter and is really what this letter is all about.

When? Of course, as with any question of dating the epistles, there is not always agreement among scholars, but the most likely scenario seems to place this letter of Paul sometime around 60 a.d. Why? Because we know he was imprisoned by Rome at that time, and we also see him reference this imprisonment (1:7 & 12-15). Interesting that a man can write about having so much joy in Christ while wasting away in a Roman prison eh?

Where? Philippi was an important historical city (located in modern day Greece), and quite different than many of the other places where the gospel took root. The city was named after the father of Alexander the Great, Philip II of Macedonia. It was primarily Gentile (as it seems there weren't even enough Jewish men living there to start a synagogue; you needed 10 men according to the rules, and they just weren't there (Acts 16:13). Also, the city was part of a major trading route between East and West and therefore was full of culture, people and different religious views.

Tomorrow, we'll dig into Philippians 1:1-11....

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING....GROWING....GOING.....

Receiving...Growing...Going...

What God Wants For His Church: The Mission of V.C.C. from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Mission

A direct and sobering message from the author of Church Planter, Darrin Patrick. I haven't read, nor am I endorsing, his book. I did, however, appreciate this video.

From Glory to Glory

Luke 20:27-40- What's Heaven Like? from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

God's Politics

Luke 20:19-26- God's Politics from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Baptism

Baptism from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Luke 20:9-19

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.