Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
We had an opportunity yesterday to go on a short mission trip to Butte, Montana—really far, international mission trip. Kidding. Now, one of our sister churches, Set Free Butte, is having their first church service this evening at 5 p.m. So we were excited to go in. We went and did a block party for them to help get the word out about them starting up. It was awesome. We had 10 people from our church out there serving popcorn and, especially, and most importantly, serving snow cones. It was really important yesterday—ninety-something degrees outside. Lainey got syrup all over her hands. It was wonderful. And I think we gave away a little bit of cotton candy. Izzy didn't get too busy. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, and we had a bounce house. It was a really good time. I think the only people that used the bounce house was the pastor of the church. But it's all right. No, it was a really good, really sweet time.
And they were able to make some connections in the community. And we were able to make some connections. And we were able to serve them well. They took all the leftover hamburgers and hot dogs, and they were taking them out to homeless people in the parks after we left. So again, it was a really great way to serve that community. And again, so if you can be praying for them, in fact, our prayer time this morning, we're going to focus on praying for their church. They have their launch service today at 5 p.m. So if you think about it this afternoon, please pray for Set Free Butte and all that God is going to do there. Chris Gould is the pastor there, and Bill King is another one of the leadership there. So be praying for Bill and Chris and, yeah, and Set Free Butte.
Let's go ahead and lift them up to the Lord this morning.
Father, you are good. You are glorious. You are merciful, kind, gracious to us, Lord. I thank you. Thank you for who you are and all that you've done for us in your son, Jesus Christ.
Lord, this morning we lift up Set Free Butte. We're excited. We're excited to see them planting a brand new church in Butte. And Lord, I pray for the service that if it be your will, that they pack out the house. But Lord, whoever is there, whoever you have planned and purposed to be there, that your word would sink deep in their hearts, that people would be saved, that people would grow in you, and that, Lord, you would establish there a vibrant and healthy church for years to come. I pray, Lord, that we would continue to be able to lift them up in prayer and continue to serve them in ways that we were able. And Lord, may you be honored and glorified by our partnership with them and by their ministry in the city, Lord.
And Lord, this morning I pray as we sing your word, read your word, hear your word preached, Lord, you would be honored and glorified by every part of our service. Holy Spirit, may you begin now even working in our hearts. Lord, encourage us where we need encouragement. Convict us where we need conviction. And draw us closer to you. If there's someone here who does not know you as Savior, Lord, may today be the day that they surrender to you.
Praise in your name. Amen.
The church in your house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith you have toward the Lord Jesus for all the saints. And I pray the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
Let's pray.
Father, as we jump into this text this morning, as we look at this book of Philemon, with this letter that was written thousands of years ago to a slave owner in Colossae, where it seems like this would be a distant lesson, yet, Lord, its message is so strong for today. I pray, Lord, as we walk through this book, we'll see what your Holy Spirit has for us, why this is a part of your word, and how we should respond because of it. I pray this in your name. Amen.
So often in our lives, we want to keep Scripture at arm's length. Right? We want the Bible to be more like a reference, kind of like we treat a dictionary. When I need something, I pick it up, find what I'm looking for, especially if it already agrees with me. Look for it, find it, and say, okay, good. And then put it away, and then don't look at it again for a while. Do I need to have encouragement? Do I need to know what the Bible says about something that I'm curious about? Well, then just find a verse or two to satisfy the itch, and then put it back on the shelf until next time.
However, this is not only one of the worst possible ways to use the Bible, except for just not reading it at all, but the Bible, if approached properly, will be like a surgeon's scalpel in our lives. It will find that area in your life where you have yet to surrender to the Lord, and it will seek to cut away our pride and our tight hold on that sin. And then, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we'll be called to repent and surrender that area to the Lord.
Now, we can just as easily look into the mirror of the Word of God, see our disheveled hair, our mismatched and misbuttoned clothes, the mud smears on our face, the infected wounds, the beams sticking out of our eye, and then walk away as if we noticed nothing wrong. That would be choosing to wallow in the filth of our sin, loving our sin more than we love our King.
Sometimes the Scripture calls us to do very hard things—things that go against every fiber of our being, every fiber of our upbringing and our culture. Those things are very difficult to obey. But it also reveals to us just how deeply God expects the Gospel to change us. The Gospel is not just an addition to our lives, like we just go about our lives to add a little Jesus. Rather, the Gospel is a demolition and rebuilding project, where the goal is to gut the inside of our houses so it's no longer recognizable as it was in the beginning. To build a brand new inside. Instead of looking like our old rebellious life, God wants to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ.
We sometimes underestimate how far off we are from the level of the holiness of King Jesus. The book of Philemon is a book that cuts deep into the recesses of our heart. It pokes and prods and cuts deeply.
Get a little background to this book. Philemon was a wealthy man from Colossae who came to Christ from the preaching of Paul, likely while Paul was on his missionary journey in Ephesus. Sometime later, Epaphras started a church in Colossae, and they met in Philemon's house. The book of Colossians, which is written to this church, refers to Epaphras as a beloved fellow servant. He's a minister, a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 7.
Paul at this time is in prison in about 60 to 62 AD. He's in prison and he's writing this letter along with the letter of Colossians and is sending them to this church. This book will refer to a man named Onesimus. We don't know a whole lot about Onesimus except for what is mentioned here in Philemon. He's also listed as the person who delivered the letter of the Colossians to the church in Colossae.
But what seems to have happened is Onesimus was one of Philemon's slaves. And something happened between the two of them, and Onesimus ran away, which would have been illegal to do at the time. He had run away and possibly even stole some things in the process of his running away. Onesimus eventually came to Paul while Paul was in prison, maybe to get help from him. Maybe he knew that Paul knew Philemon and said, can you help me out with this situation?
Whatever takes place during the time when Onesimus is meeting with Paul, Onesimus comes to Christ. He becomes a Christian. And now Paul is writing to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, encouraging the two of them to make things right with one another.
Now, an important issue to discuss as we come to a book like this is the issue of slavery. Slavery was an important thing as it was part of the class system of ancient Rome. When we think of slavery, we almost exclusively think of the African slave trade of the early days of the United States. But in Rome, slavery took many forms. Slaves were working-class citizens. They didn't own land and they therefore worked for others.
Slaves vastly outnumbered masters. Paul tells them in Ephesians, "Stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him." So in Ephesians, he's telling both believers who are slaves and masters who are believers. He's telling both of them, if you are a slave and that is the position you're in, do this to the honor and glory of King Jesus. And if you are a master, treat your slaves well as you would Christ.
In the book of Colossians, which is delivered to this church in Colossae at the same time as the book of Philemon, he says this: "Bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters." Not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord, not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bond servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
No politician was asking for this. The Roman world never called for this kind of radical servants and slaves being this obedient to their masters or masters treating people this fairly—treating their slaves this fairly. In fact, what Paul will say in Philemon is some of the most shocking statements that he makes in regards to the master-slave relationship.
While Paul never explicitly calls for slavery's abolition, Scripture never once justifies slavery. Never says this is a good thing, and this is why it's important, and we should have this happening. In fact, it is the very teaching of the New Testament that led to the abolition of slavery in the West.
Coming back to Philemon, as far as this book is concerned, one of the key terms in this book is the Greek word "koinonia." We're going to use it a lot today, so I'm going to use the Greek word. Simply the word "koinonia" means sharing or fellowship or participation. The word is used twice in this book of Philemon at two very key moments in the book.
In other places in the New Testament, koinonia is used in relation to the fellowship or the sharing that we do in the Lord's Supper, where we unite together to mutually express our gratitude for the death and resurrection of Christ, as well as identify ourselves with the crucified and risen Savior. We take equal portions of the supper because before Christ we are all equals. No one is more important than another in the Lord's Supper. No one is more or less redeemed than another. No matter our background, no matter our social status, no matter our roles in the church, the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
This is not only a truth for the Lord's Supper, as we'll see in Philemon, but it's a truth that sinks deep into the fiber of our beings and must be lived out at the deepest levels of our Christian walk. As we unpack this small book, we'll see just how deep this koinonia or sharing or participation or partnership goes in our lives. Koinonia is not just something we think about as if it's just another good idea, but it's something that you must do in your relationships with one another.
Jumping into the text then, we see number one, if you have an outline with you, we see number one that we must pray for koinonia. These first seven verses, Paul is introducing the book and introducing who he's writing to, and he begins to describe a prayer that he has for Philemon.
We see first of all in this opening section that koinonia involves people. I know it seems like a weird thing to say, but look at how he begins the verse here: "To Philemon our beloved fellow worker, to Aphia our sister, Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church that is in your house." He names people because these are people that are connected to one another. They're participating with one another. They are one in Christ together.
Deep fellowship with other believers requires us to be around other believers. Right? You can't participate with the body of Christ without being around the body of Christ. You can't do this by yourself. We cannot fulfill the command for koinonia alone. There's no such thing as lone ranger Christians. God commands his people to be together.
But notice also as Paul begins this prayer that koinonia involves action. In verse 4, Paul says he thanks God always when I remember you in my prayers because I hear of your love and the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus Christ and all the saints. He says, I see that you're doing something, Philemon. He continues to hear. It's a present tense verb here, which means it has a beginning and it's a continued action. It's not just I heard that you did this once, Philemon. He's like, I continue to hear over and over and over again how well you're treating your congregation, how well you treat the other believers, how well you serve them, and how well you express your faith toward them.
He continues to be faithful toward Christ. He's not wavering. Christ would never question his loyalty. And he continues to show love toward the saints. And in verse 6, he uses the word koinonia for the first time. "I pray that the sharing of your faith"—that's koinonia—"that this koinonia of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ."
When Paul is speaking of this word for sharing here, this fellowship that he is praying for Philemon, he uses this word in the deepest possible meaning of sharing your fellowship. One scholar said Christians not only belong to one another but actually become mutually identified with one another, truly rejoicing with the happy and genuinely weeping with the sad. Koinonia is not just a show. It is true identification with one another.
Paul prays that his koinonia would become effective to the body of Christ. And it does become effective because it refreshes them and points them to Jesus. That's all Paul prays. May this fellowship you have, this sharing that you do with other believers, may it be effective because it refreshes them and it points them to Jesus. His deep participation with the body promoted a Christ-centered joy among the people.
And Paul says in verse 7, "For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you." Fellowship and participation with God's people is not just an idea to think about. It's something you do in your relationships.
I saw one video that was describing this book, and the picture they drew as they were talking about this idea, it's something not just to think about but to do. They drew a guy sitting in an armchair with a pipe in his mouth saying, "That's not it." And Paul is saying, no, it's not something you sit in the armchair and smoke a pipe and say, "Well, that's a really good idea, Lord. I'm glad you thought of that one." No, it's something you put action to. It has feet to it. True koinonia involves action within the body and toward the body. And it brings joy because saints will be refreshed.
Let me ask you, do you pray for this kind of deep fellowship in your church? Is this what you desire and long for? When you gather on Sunday morning with believers, do we pray that our faith and our fellowship would be more than a mere mental exercise and instead become something, instead be something that becomes feet exercise?
Let me ask you, are you a joy and a refresher to the believers that you encounter on Sunday morning or throughout the week? Or when you walk up, do people go, "Oh, here they come again"? We ought to seek this koinonia fellowship to bring joy to one another and refreshing to one another.
Not only must we pray for koinonia, but we must strive for koinonia. Number two in your outline is we must strive for koinonia. Verses eight through 20 form the meat of this book. The main ideas of this book are found herein verses eight through 20. It shows the heart of Paul and the radical depth of true biblical fellowship with one another.
First, we see that koinonia requires a new way to be loving. Look at verses eight through 12. Look how Paul describes it. He says, "Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you, to beg you, to entreat you. I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment," referring to how Onesimus came to Christ under Paul's teaching.
"Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, sending you my very heart." Paul begins this section telling Philemon as he's breaking down the wall that might be around Philemon's heart toward Onesimus. He begins and he says, "I could with authority tell you as an apostle, Philemon, this is what you must do." But he says, "Philemon, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to appeal to you, beg you, entreat you in love to respond this particular way to Onesimus," as we'll get to here in a second.
He chooses to appeal to him, not as an apostle, but as a brother in Christ. He tells him that formerly Onesimus was useless, but now he's useful. As we've already seen, Paul taught that Christians should be the best of servants, the best slaves. God has radically transformed Onesimus, and now Paul wants Onesimus to see, he wants to see Onesimus take this next important step in his walk with Christ by making things right with Philemon.
As a side note, if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, let me tell you the past, or nothing stops you from becoming a Christian. But also to you who are believers, the past does not go away just because you become a Christian. See, Onesimus had done this thing before he became a Christian. He had run away. Paul doesn't say, "Well, that happened before you were a Christian, don't worry about it. You ran away from Philemon, don't worry about it. You stole something, ah, water under the bridge, don't worry about that." No, he says, "Onesimus, this is something that you, an action you did, you sinned against your brother, now your brother in Christ. You sinned against your master. You need to make it right."
Paul's deep love for Onesimus is evident. He tells him, "I am sending my very heart." In sending Onesimus back to Philemon, he says, "I'm sending my very heart." Even though Onesimus had become very important to Paul, he knew that it was more important that he make things right with his former master.
See, koinonia, this type of fellowship and sharing and participation in the body of Christ was a high priority for Paul, meaning that he could not selfishly hang on to Onesimus, but rather he must encourage him to submit to his master. He also must encourage Philemon to embrace Onesimus, as we'll see. Love is not a self-centered expression of emotions, but rather pressing people toward godliness. It's a choice, not a feeling.
Koinonia also requires a new way to be in relationship. It's a new way to love, but it's also a new way to be in relationship. Verse 13 and forward, Paul begins asking a very, very big ask of Philemon. He tells him why he wants to lovingly appeal to him rather than command him to do one thing or another. It's because he wants to maintain his relationship with Philemon.
Look at verse 13. "I would have been glad to keep him with me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own accord." He says, "I would love Onesimus to stay here with me while I'm in prison and help me and serve me in any way I can. I need help. He's behind bars. He can't really go do things for himself. Onesimus can run errands for him, help him deliver letters. He says, 'I would love to keep Onesimus here, but I know that he's your servant. And I can't do that without your blessing, without your approval. So that's why I can't force you to do this. I would much rather this be something you're willing to do.'"
He wants to maintain his relationship with Philemon. And so he's asking him to do—to mend this relationship. Interestingly enough, here in verse 15, he recognizes God's sovereignty. He says, "For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever." Yes, this circumstance is not great. He ran away. He sinned against you. But maybe God was working this all together for your good and for his glory.
Then Paul makes an incredibly countercultural appeal. In the second half of verse 15, he says that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. He tells Philemon, "Here's what I want you to do. This is what I'm asking. I want you to receive him back, but not just as a slave. I want you to receive him back as a brother."
This is incredibly countercultural. You could imagine Philemon reading this after having had to grit his teeth to even grab the letter from his former slave. And then reading this and thinking, "You want me to do what? With this piece of trash that stole this from me and ran away? I have gotten so little work done because I've been having to do all this extra stuff myself. And this nut head, you want me to do what?"
No one was doing this in the Roman world. This was unheard of. This would have shocked Philemon to his very core. But Paul asked Philemon to accept Onesimus the way that Christ accepted both him and Onesimus. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 19, Paul says this: "That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation."
Jesus Christ had taken us, the enemies of God, and reconciled or restored our relationship with the Father through his death and resurrection. At the cross, our sin no longer is counted against us. Our status as enemies is no longer held against us. Jesus makes us children of God rather than his enemies. He takes on our sin on our behalf upon himself and washes it away with his blood. This kind of radical reconciliation is only found in the cross.
And now because of Christ, Paul is asking Philemon to no longer count him as just a returned slave, but now only as a brother in Christ. He's asking Philemon to remove Onesimus' status as a slave, to give him his freedom and restore him not just as a free man, but as a brother in Christ. Onesimus has already been freed from his slavery to sin, and now Paul asks that Philemon free him from slavery.
In Colossians chapter 3 and verse 1, Paul teaches this. Maybe Philemon read this letter a little later, maybe he read this first, but he would find these words: "Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all." Koinonia changes our relationships. The ground is level at the cross.
Believers in Jesus Christ have this deep bond in Christ that supersedes any previous relationship. Cheating spouses can be reconciled because Christ has died for them and for their cheating. Bitter friendships can be restored because Christ died for the cause of that bitterness and the bitterness itself. Hurt feelings can be overcome because Christ died for every one of those hurts. In Christ, Christians ought to be able to reconcile beyond what we ever thought possible.
Koinonia also requires a new reason to reconcile. Koinonia requires a new reason to reconcile. In verse 17, Paul uses this sentence in the second use of this word koinonia. He says, "So if you consider me your partner, your koinonia, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hands. I will repay it to say nothing if you're owing me even yourself, even your own self."
Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Paul takes things a step further. He offers himself as a cross-shaped intermediary between Onesimus and Philemon. Just as Christ put himself in our place for our sin, so now Paul puts himself in Onesimus' place for his sin against Philemon.
Paul tells Philemon to accept Onesimus as he would receive Paul. Please think about if Paul had delivered the letter himself. Philemon would have been like, "What's up, buddy? Oh, dude, it's so good to see you. How are things going? Oh, man, I'm so glad you're out of prison. I heard that you were there."
Oh, and he says, "I want you to treat Onesimus the same way you would be treating me if I showed up today." He says, "Whatever has happened between the two of you, charge it to my account." It's interesting, in the book of Philemon, Paul does not explicitly mention the gospel in this letter, but he doesn't have to, because instead of talking about the gospel, he is living it out.
This participation in Christ's life together is so vital to Paul that he will put himself in Onesimus' place and take the punishment that Onesimus deserves to pay back any debt owed to see their relationship restored and even expanded. And he asks him in verse 20, "To refresh my heart in Christ." Philemon, I want you to refresh my heart. And just as he said in verse 7, how he's such a refreshing refresher to the saints, Philemon is continually refreshing the saints.
He says, "So now, continue that refreshing ministry and refresh my heart by doing this for Onesimus." Do we really want this type of deep relationship with one another? Some of you may look at this and say, "But that person hurt me, and there's no way I can forgive them. There's no way I can cross that boundary. There's no way we can be reconciled, and I won't do it."
Really? Do we really want this type of deep relationship with one another? Are we willing to put our selfish desires for vindication and revenge, put them aside and embrace our fellow believers, even if they have wronged us? If koinonia fellowship involves this deep participation and sharing in the crucified life, this deep participation in the crucified life, cross-centered life together, then we must strive for koinonia.
This is why at the Lord's Supper, we ask that we examine ourselves and reconcile with each other before we take the supper. If we are living unreconciled lives with each other, we are not living the crucified life. We're not truly living in koinonia with one another. We cannot put this on the back burner and let things fester. We must. We must strive to be in right relationship with each other.
Third, this morning in your outline, we must expect koinonia. I love the confidence Paul has as he begins wrapping up this letter. He's shared his heart. He's asked Philemon to do something that no Roman slave owner has ever been asked to do. And look what Paul says in verse 21, "Confident of your obedience."
Philemon, I know that you want to love me. I know that you want to love me. I know that you want to walk with Christ. I know that you want to walk close with him. I know you want to live this crucified life. I know you want to live this participation life. I know you're going to do this because I trust your heart. I trust your obedience to Christ.
"Confident of your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say." I know this is a big ask, and I know you well enough to know you're going to do this and so much more. Koinonia brings confidence. Paul confidently expects that we're going to do this. I know you're going to do this. I know you're going to do this. And so much more.
You see, the cross radically changes us. To expect anything less is to put God in a box and make very little of the cross of Christ.
And last in our outlines today, we see that koinonia brings greeting. Now, I understand it was a little bit of a cheat because I didn't know how to make it all match. This is the way Paul is finishing the letter, but I thought it was fitting. Look at how this, how Paul then ends the letter.
In verse 22, he's saying at the same time, "For me, from hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you." I'm hoping to get out of prison, and I'm going to come visit you guys. Their pastor is in prison with him, we find out here in these last verses. Epaphras, who is mentioned in the book of Colossians as their pastor, "my fellow prisoner," right? He's there with him. He's like, "Epaphras says hi," right? Your pastor wants to say hi, just so you know.
"Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus sends greetings to you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."
Now, what's interesting here is how in this book that is themed on this participation with one another, how many people are named in this short book? Right in the beginning, he says, "Here's a bunch of you I want to say hi to," and Philemon, this is especially directed at you. And at the end of it, we all want to say hi too, because this is fellow participation. They are united with one another. They are following the same Lord. They were eager to send their greetings because this is people with whom they have koinonia fellowship.
See, all this to be said, as we look at this idea of koinonia, one of the things we come away with in Philemon, really throughout the whole New Testament, is what God is doing when he saves us, is not just providing us for a ticket to heaven. But he is creating with his people a brand new humanity. He's making us brand new humans.
In Colossians chapter 3 and verse 10, Paul says it this way to the Colossian church: "Having put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." You see, for Paul, as one scholar put it, the new life in Christ made a radical difference. And when he saw it in someone, he knew it would produce a continuing change.
The gospel changes us from the inside out. If you've truly trusted in Christ as your Savior, this is what Jesus is trying to do in your life every single day. Show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Show you just how deep Christ wants to change you. Are we praying for koinonia, striving for koinonia, and expecting koinonia, as Paul did, as Christ expects of his people?
Let me finish on this note. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments.
If you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, you're here today, you have no idea what we're talking about for most of this, right? You've never become a new person in Christ. You've never trusted in Christ as your Savior. I want you to consider Onesimus here. Onesimus' background did not matter at the cross. Paul didn't say, "Onesimus, you really messed up. You've got to fix this thing with Philemon. Then we can talk about whether or not you could become a Christian."
He says, "No, let's take care of the Jesus part, this relationship between Christ and Christ." He says, "No, let's take care of the Jesus part, this relationship with Christ. It's far more important than your relationship with Philemon. But now that we've taken care of that, now you must restore your relationship."
It does not matter that Onesimus was a thieving runaway slave. Jesus still accepted him. God still saved him. Nothing in your life can prevent you from receiving new life in Christ. I don't care if you've spent the last 30 years of your life as an alcoholic. The ground is leveled. The gospel is offered to you just as it was offered to me at the age of 12.
Nothing in your life can prevent you from receiving new life in Christ except one thing, and that's your refusal to surrender to Jesus Christ. The Son of God came down from heaven, took on the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of man. He took on full humanity, lived a perfect life, suffered and died on the cross. Three days later, he rose again for your sin and for mine—every single one of them, past, present, and future—so that we might, our relationship with God might be made right.
You can be reconciled to God today by placing your trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Will you surrender your pride and place your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation?
Let's pray.
Father, I thank you for this book that pokes and prods and cuts deeply because, Lord, we are so far from your presence. We are so far from your presence. We are so far from your perfection that we need to be reminded just how deep you expect the gospel to transform our lives.
Lord, we know these are hard truths to live out. I pray, God, that you would give us grace to be obedient, to surrender to you. Lord, if there are broken relationships in this room between one another, you can restore them. You can reconcile those relationships because Jesus reconciled our relationship with you.
Lord, God, I pray that we would pray for this kind of participation with one another, that we would strive for this type of koinonia relationships with one another, and, Lord, that we would expect that we would pursue this koinonia with one another and so much more. May you be glorified in our church. May you be glorified in our relationships.
Lord, if there's someone here who does not know you as Savior, who has never yet been reconciled to you, I pray that today would be the day they surrender to you. Lord, I pray that today would be the day they surrender to their wives.
In your name, I pray. Amen.
Let's stand and sing together.
We have one more chance to worship this morning through the giving of our tithes and offerings. If we can get some guys to help us out with that. We use this offering to serve our community, to be a light for God's kingdom.
So let's pray and ask God's blessing on this offering.
Father, we do thank you for your goodness and grace. Lord, we thank you for this time we have to worship one final way this morning, giving sacrificially for your kingdom. Lord, may you use these gifts for your kingdom to expand your kingdom. We may glorify you through it. Amen.
Let's pray.
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on Aug 05, 2024
