The Bond We Share

We will study Paul's letter to the Philippians throughout the summer of 2011. I've been reading Philippians over and over throughout the past several weeks. I've never preached through this letter, even though I've taught it in seminary classes. I previously thought that Philippians' theme was something like Joy in the Midst of Adversity. After all, Paul mentions joy 16 times in this short letter. And he talks about joy while sitting in a prison, probably in Rome. However, Philippians is dealing with something much more basic than that. It really is about life together in the family of God. If Ephesians is the Bible's manifesto about what the church of Jesus Christ is, Philippians is all about what life is supposed to be like in the church. It's very personal, practical, and often hard-hitting. We'll discover that "ten dollars of gospel" is not what following Jesus together is about..

It soon will become clear from Paul's writing to the Philippians that what ties us together in the church is our thoroughgoing commitment to the gospel. So, our recent studies in the Statement of Faith centered on the gospel will be foundational. Moreover, this gospel is centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So, as always, we will be forced to think about Jesus again and again and... And what we will discover is that this Jesus-centered gospel always calls for us to change our lives—both individually and corporately. When we do, we will discover that we can have joy in any situation and contentment whatever the circumstances. Indeed, we will discover the thrill that we "can do all things through him who gives us strength" (Phil. 4:13). All of this flows from life together (yes, I know of a famous book with that title written by another Jesus-follower imprisoned because of his faith) as those committed to the person and mission of Jesus Christ.

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor