Union Church

Philippians 2:1-11 - This is Yours

Listen along as we continue our time in the letter of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 2:1-11

When salvation has taken place in the life of someone under the sovereign hand of God, they are set free from the penalty of sin and its power. In a body without the Spirit, sin is an unshakable king under whose dominion no man can flee. The entire body, with its members, affections, and mind all willfully submit themselves to sin’s rule. But when the Spirit of God takes back the body that He created for Himself, He sets it free from the pathetic master that once held it captive and releases it into the marvelous light of its Savior. It is then able to not only want God, but it is actually able to obey God. And isn’t that what freedom is supposed to be? The ability to not do as I please, but the power to do what is pleasing. Jackie Hill Perry

Romans 12:9-10 -

Gospel doctrine - gospel culture = Hypocrisy 
Gospel culture - gospel doctrine = fragility
Gospel doctrine + gospel culture = power 
Ray Ortlund

Romans 8:31-32, 

2 Peter 1:3-4

“It follows, then, that we cannot start with a definition of God and try to fit Jesus into it. We must look first to Jesus himself, who reveals to us the identity of God. If we want to know what God is like … God is like Jesus" Dean Flemming

What greater mercy is there than this, which caused to descend from heaven the maker of heaven; which reclothed with an earthly body the one who formed the earth; which made equal to us the one who, from eternity, is the equal of the Father; which imposed “the form of a servant” on the Master of the world—such that the Bread itself was hungry, Fullness itself was thirsty, Power itself was made weak, Health itself was wounded, and Life itself was mortal? And that so that our hunger would be satisfied, so that our dryness would be watered, our weakness supported, our love ignited. What greater mercy than that which presents to us the Creator created; the Master made a slave; the Redeemer sold; the One who exalts, humbled; the One who raises the dead, killed? - Augustine

The present passage uniquely unfolds the cross as seen through the eyes of the Crucified, and allows us to enter into the mind of Christ. We tread, therefore, on very holy ground indeed. We do well to remember that this privilege is given to us not to satisfy our curiosity but to reform our lives - Alec Motyer

Philippians 1:19-30 - Everything Jesus

Listen along as we continue through Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 1:19-30

An important clue is that Paul’s words, "this will turn out for my salvation," are an exact quotation of Job 13:16 in the Greek Bible. Here Paul’s unmarked quotation evokes clear analogies between the apostle’s present situation and the former plight of Job. In Job 13, Job defends himself against the accusatory arrows of his pious “comforters.” The charge is that his suffering is the direct result of harboring some secret sin. In response, Job pleads his innocence, declaring that ultimately he will be vindicated by God (Job 13:16, 18). Similarly, Paul, in the face of afflictions and the attacks of rival preachers, looks forward to vindication before God in the end. - Dean Flemming

James 4:13-15

“If the biblical story is true, the kind of certainty proper to a human being will be one which rests on the fidelity of God, not upon the competence of the human knower. It will be a kind of certainty which is inseparable from gratitude and trust.” - Lesslie Newbigin

If you are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world. - Vance Havner

Philippians 1:12-18 - The Sweet Sovereignty of God

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 1:12-18 - Kim

 

The Sweet Sovereignty of God

 

“Rather than detail the hardships he faced, Paul took a divine perspective.” — Richard Malick

 

“Paul has a definition of life that enables him to face anything. In this passage he is teaching that its not the circumstances of your life, its not whether things go well for you or go ill for you. It’s not the circumstances of your life but the way you define life that will determine whether you stand or fall in this world.” 

— Timothy Keller

 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

 

Because Romans 8:28 exists, those who love God and are loved by him can have confidence that he is working through all of life’s circumstances to bring good out of bad, light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow. It’s not that God is especially agile, a kind of cosmic PR man adept at manipulating circumstances, but rather that he is the Planner, the Engineer, the Designer who has ordained the means just as much as the end. He ordains the calm and the storm, the darkness and the dawn, the famine and the feast. This being the case, no event is meaningless, no situation purposeless, no condition ultimately hopeless. God is working out his good will not despite dark days, difficult trials, and broken hearts, but through them. Such circumstances are the raw material he uses to form and shape his good plans, his perfect purposes.

 

God’s specialty is not bringing good from good, but good from bad and Romans 8:28 gently tells me that if I trust him through my tears, he will give me reason to laugh; if I trust him through my pain, he will teach me to praise; if I trust him through my grief, he will afterwards show me all the good that came with it and through it. He will show me the precious flowers in the dry desert, the beautiful blooms against the sharp thorns, the gentle petals beneath the vicious skies. For behind every black cloud is a yellow sun, behind every dark night a bright day, behind every frowning providence a smiling face—the smiling face of the God who works all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. 

—Tim Challies

 

“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” 

— Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Philippians 1:3-11 - Becoming Who We Are

Listen along as we continue our series through Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 1:3-11 - Karen

Every other ethical system calls us to the costly effort of becoming what we are not. But in the full salvation already bequeathed to us in Christ, the new nature is already ours, waiting for expression, poised for growth, until its potential is triggered by our obedience to the word of God - Alec Motyer

“A striking feature of this verse is the way that Paul stacks up the words for all and always. The rhetorical impact is strengthened by Paul’s use of alliteration (each word begins with the letter p) and by a play on words with similar sounds (pasē … pantote … pasē … pantōn). This serves to spotlight “the all-inclusiveness of his prayer … None of the Philippians Christians for any reasons whatever was excluded from the apostles’ love and concern” - Dean Flemming

“I coined the word 'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears which I argued it is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce.The Resurrection is the greatest 'eucatastrophe' possible in the greatest Fairy Story – and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled.” JRR Tolkien

“Paul’s confidence is not in the Christianity of the Christians, but in the God-ness of God, who is supremely trustworthy, able, and committed to finish the work he has begun” Markus Bockmuel

“God is always good and I am always loved. Everything is eucharisteo.” Ann Voskamp 

Acts 16:11-15

“We are not to reflect on the wickedness of men but to look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, an image which, by its beauty and dignity, should allure us to love and embrace them.” - John Calvin

 

“We must understand that God does not "love" us without liking us - through gritted teeth - as "Christian" love is sometimes thought to do. Rather, out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it. The fondness, the endearment, the unstintingly affectionate regard of God toward all his creatures is the natural outflow of what he is to the core - which we vainly try to capture with our tired but indispensable old word “love” - Dallas Willard

 

“The word affection (splanchna) originally referred to the inner organs (heart, liver, lungs), which were seen as the seat of human emotions. In the Gospels, it expresses Jesus’ heartfelt compassion toward others. Here Paul says that he loves his dear friends in Philippi with the same affection that Christ has for them. At the same time, Christ loves the Philippians through Paul. This testifies to a “three-way bond” of love between Paul, the Philippians, and Christ” - Dean Flemming

What God desires from us, he graciously forms in us as we grow in our love for him. Ruth Chou Simmons

 

Philippians 1:1-2 - A Bright Book

Listen along as we begin our time in the book of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Linda - Philippians 1:1-2

 

“How is leadership to be exercised? What is the relationship between leaders and led? The one word with provides the answer: ‘… the saints’, writes Paul, ‘… with the bishops and deacons.’ The strong natural leader chooses the easy path of being out front, taking it for granted that all will follow; the low-profile leader ‘plays it cool’, submerges his own identity and takes the risk that the tail will soon wag the dog. The more demanding exercise, the sterner discipline and the more rewarding way are found in companionate leadership, the saints with the overseers and deacons.

This kind of leadership has many facets. It involves realizing that leader and led share the same Christian experience: both are sinners saved by the same precious blood, always and without distinction wholly dependent on the same patient mercy of God. It involves putting first whatever creates and maintains the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It means that leaders see themselves first as members of the body, and only then as ministers. In this way they face every situation from within the local body of Christ and not as people dropped in from outside (or even from above!). It involves patiently waiting for the Holy Spirit to grant unanimity to the church in making and executing plans. It involves open relationships in which the leaders do not scheme to get their own way or play off one against another, but act with transparent integrity. It involves willingness to be overruled, to jettison role-playing and status-seeking, to be ready to cast a single vote with everyone else. It involves putting the welfare of the body of Christ before all personal advantage, success or reputation and it involves co-equal sacrifice for the Lord and his gospel. It is the leadership of those who are content to stand among the saints as those who serve.”

- Alec Motyer

 

Philippians 2:5–11 “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 emptied himself, by 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.”

 

Hebrews 13:20-25 - Landing the Plane

Listen in as we wrap up our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 13:20-25

“The author wants believers to live out God’s will in light of the work of Christ.” - George Guthrie

Here is the sea, great and wide,
 which teems with creatures innumerable,
 living things both small and great. There go the ships,
 and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you,
 to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up;
 when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
 when you take away their breath, they die
 and return to their dust. (Ps. 104:25-29)

Food comes at proper seasons (verse 27) and is gathered (verse 28) yet through all it is God who is giving us food (verse 27). The great sea creatures “frolic” and leap in the air (verse 26) and the swallows perform Ariel acrobatics. While those activities may also have practical purposes, in some deeper sense, these creatures know the joy and freedom of doing what they were “formed" to do by God. We too, can know joy and fulfillment only as we live, according to God's design. At this point, nature has us beat. As Elizabeth Elliot has said, "a clam glorifies God better than we do, because the clam is being everything it was created to be, whereas we are not.”
Prayer: Lord, disobeying you is easy in the short run but hard in the long run because I'm violating my own nature. And so obedience to you can be excruciating to start, but it's wonderful in time, because I become my true self. Oh, help me to remember this when things get hard! Amen. —Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller, The Songs of Jesus

Hebrews 13:1-19 - Life and Leadership

Listen along as we near the close of the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 13:1-19

In friendship, we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others. - CS Lewis

“Radically ordinary hospitality is this: using your Christian home in a daily way that seeks to make strangers neighbors, and neighbors family of God.” - Rosaria Butterfield

”In any relationship, there will be frightening spells in which your feelings of love dry up. And when that happens you must remember that the essence of marriage is that it is a covenant, a commitment, a promise of future love. So what do you do? You do the acts of love, despite your lack of feeling. You may not feel tender, sympathetic, and eager to please, but in your actions you must BE tender, understanding, forgiving and helpful. And, if you do that, as time goes on you will not only get through the dry spells, but they will become less frequent and deep, and you will become more constant in your feelings. This is what can happen if you decide to love." Tim Keller

“Church membership, in other words, is not about “additional requirements.” It’s about a church taking specific responsibility for a Christian, and a Christian for a church. It’s about “putting on,” “embodying,” “living out,” and “making concrete” our membership in Christ’s universal body.” - Jonathan Leeman
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” - GK Chesterton 

Hebrews 12:18-29 - A Tale of Two Mountains

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

“Although the author of Hebrews never mentions Sinai by name, he clearly has that mountain in view in his poetic comments in these verses. He draws his depiction of the desert wanderers’ encounter of God at Mount Sinai from the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy (e.g., Ex. 19:16–22; 20:18–21; Deut. 4:11–12; 5:23–27). In the Sinai encounter they came near to God in a solemn assembly to covenant with him (Deut. 4:10–14). But the experience was terrifying.”
- George Guthrie

Exodus 19:12: “And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.”

Exodus 19:23: “Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

“"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for thou only art holy" (Rev. 15:4). He only is independently, infinitely, immutably holy. In Scripture, He is frequently styled "The Holy One." He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him. He is absolute purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Holiness is the very excellency of the divine nature; the great God is "glorious in holiness" (Ex. 15:11). Therefore we read, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13). As God’s power is the opposite of the native weakness of the creature, as His wisdom is in complete contrast from the least defect of understanding or folly, so His holiness is the very antithesis of all moral blemish or defilement.”
- A.W. Pink

“Every aspect of the vision provides encouragement for coming boldly into the presence of God (cf. 4:16). The atmosphere at Mount Zion is festive. The frightening visual imagery of blazing fire, darkness, and gloom fades before the reality of the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem. The cacophony of whirlwind, trumpet blast, and a sound of words is muted and replaced by the joyful praise of angels in a festal gathering. The trembling congregation of Israel, gathered solemnly at the base of the mountain, is superseded by the assembly of those whose names are permanently inscribed in the heavenly archives. An overwhelming impression of the unapproachability of God is eclipsed in the experience of full access to the presence of God and of Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.”
- William Lane

 

 

Hebrews 12:1-17 - Endure

Listen along as we continue our series through Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 12:1-17

“It is not so much they who look at us as we who look to them—for encouragement.” - FF Bruce

“In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?” - The Message

“When God wants to drill a man, and thrill a man, and skill a man, 
When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part; 
When He yearns with all His heart to create so great and bold a man 
That all the world shall be amazed, 
Watch His methods, watch His ways! 
How He ruthlessly perfects whom He royally elects! 
How He hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him 
Into trial shapes of clay which Only God understands; 
While his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands! 
How He bends but never breaks when his good He undertakes; 
How He uses whom He chooses, and with very purpose fuses him; 
By every act induces him To try His splendor out— 
God knows what He’s about.”

The theme of endurance works as the thread binding 12:1–17 together. In each use of figurative or illustrative material—a race, parental discipline, the foolish Esau—difficult experiences and the struggle of Christian perseverance form the backdrop. The image of the race and that of loving, parental discipline also reveal God as a great redeemer of pain and, therefore, as the God of hope for believers who find themselves in painful circumstances. - George Guthrie

“surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days — the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.” - Winston Churchill 

Hebrews 11:32-40 - Roll Call (Part 4)

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 11:32-40 -Faith reading

 

 Roll Call Part 4

 

Slides Roll Call Part 4

 

Slide 1

 

Big Idea

Whether we clearly win or appear to lose, we’re all called to a life of faith.

 

1) The obvious winners

 

2) The apparent losers

 

3) The surprising inclusion

 

 

Slide 2

 

“Notably, most of the individuals mentioned fell into significant sin. Gideon led the people into idolatry at the end of his life (Judges 8:22-28). Barak doubted that the Lord would give him victory over the Canaanite king Jabin (Judges 4:1–9). Samson visited prostitutes and gave the secret of his strength to Delilah (Judges 16:1–22). David committed adultery and had Uriah killed (2 Sam. 11). This sin brought suffering and made the lives of these individuals and their families harder than they needed to be. Nevertheless, Hebrews 11 remembers them for their faith, reminding us that true faith can be exercised by sinners. This encourages us as well. We dare not take the Lord’s grace for granted, but we also should not despair that God overlooks true faith in His sinful people. John Calvin comments, “In all the saints, something reprehensible is ever to be found; yet faith, though halting and imperfect, is still approved by God.

Ligonier.org

 

 

Slide 3

 

Defeatory – A defeat that leads to a victory

 

 

Slide 4

 

“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—  of whom the world was not worthy —wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

 

Hebrews 11:35-38

 

 

Slide 5

 

“Those on the second half of the list were just as much people of faith as those on the first half! In fact, you could argue that they had greater faith, because it’s not as easy to trust God when you’re being scourged, stoned, or sawn in two as it is when you’re seeing foreign armies put to flight and the dead raised to life. While all of us, if we could, would sign up to be in the first group, we need to recognize that sometimes God is pleased to withhold spectacular results and bless us instead with His grace as our sufficiency in overwhelming trials.”

 

Steven J Cole

 

Slide 6

 

 See JPEG sent separately under Files and by email to Jon

 

 

Slide 7

 

You don't answer all my questions

But You hear me when I speak

You don't keep my heart from breakin'

But when it does, You weep with me

You're so close that I can feel You

When I've lost the words to pray

And though my eyes have never seen You

I've seen enough to say

 

I know that You are good

I know that You are kind

I know that You are so much more

Than what I leave behind

I know that I am loved

I know that I am safe

'Cause even in the fire to live is Christ, to die is gain

I know that You are good

 

Big Daddy Weave

 

Slide 8

 

 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:39-40

 

Slide 9

 

“Here, however, it ("made perfect") is used in the corporate sense with the idea of completeness. No part of the true Christian community can be complete without the rest. There is a strong element of solidarity behind this idea … which is also evident in some of the New Testament metaphors for the church, like body or building.”

 

Donald Guthrie

 

Slide 10

 

““’Us’ means us Christians; we who are Christ’s have our place in God’s plan. And that plan provides that the heroes of the faith throughout the ages should not ‘be made perfect’ apart from Christians… Only the work of Christ brings those of OT times and those of the new and living way alike into the presence of God.”

 

Leon Morris

 

Slide 11

 

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

 

1 Peter 1:10-12

 

Slide 12

 

Big Idea

Whether we clearly win or appear to lose, we’re all called to a life of faith.