Sermons on Philippians (Page 2)
Discipleship 101: Counter-Cultural Disciples | Philippians 1:27-30 (Tim Tebow vs. Colin Kaepernick)
What word would you use to describe our world right now? Chaotic? Angry? A mess? It seems like every week there’s a new story covering the strife in Washington and filling our globe. North Korea. Russia. Healthcare. The President. NFL. It seems like no matter the topic, our world is bitterly divided. But the great news is that Christians are in agreement! We are unified. We are at peace. We offer a safe-haven to those who want to get away…
Discipleship 101: The Difficulties of Discipleship | Philippians 1:12-26
As I was preparing this sermon on the difficulties of following Jesus this, I began to think about places we face hardship, and I thought of boot camp. I have not gone through boot camp, but my brother went to the Marine Corps boot camp. Boot camp is known for being really hard. You constantly drill, study, workout (sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, running), and this all culminates at the end in the crucible. The crucible is a 54-hour test where you’re…
Discipleship 101: The Praying Disciple | Philippians 1:3-11
Have you ever thought about how you might act if you were to meet someone really important? What you would say? How you would talk to them? If I were to meet Prince William and Kate (formerly Middleton), the Duchess of Cambridge, I’m not sure how I would act. Should I bow or shake their hands? Should I do both at the same time? What should I say to them? How long should I talk to them? This is William…
Discipleship 101: The Servant Disciple | Philippians 1:1-2
What is a disciple? That’s not a word we hear very often. When you think of a disciple, you may think of a religious person who adheres to the teachings of Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Plato, or some other religious teacher or philosopher. Disciple means “learner” or “student,” but the idea of being a disciple seems to be less and less popular, at least among my generation, the millennials. According to a Pew Research Center study, more than one-third of Millennials…
What We Believe: Heaven | Revelation 21:1-4
When you think of heaven, what do you think about? Our popular conceptions of heaven are usually a bit weird, and a bit boring, and are more influenced by film, television, and culture than the Bible. Did you ever watch the 1969 movie The Littlest Angel? An eight-year old shepherd boy from Biblical times dies and goes to heaven, only to discover, heaven is really boring and serious. Everyone wears robes, which are a light shade of pink, and spend…
What We Believe: The Son | Philippians 2:6-11
Paul Little, in Know What You Believe, starts his chapter on Jesus Christ by pointing out how important Christ is to Christianity. You can lose Buddha, and still have Buddhism. You can lose Muhammad and still have Islam. You can lose Confucius and still have Confucianism. You can lose millions of Hinduism’s 330 million gods, and still have Hinduism. But you can’t lose Christ, and still have Christianity. Jesus is: the hero of the Bible’s story (John 3:16) the founder…
No Fear November | Philippians 4:6-8
It seems like everyone is afraid this election year. In Philippians 4:6-8, an early Christian named Paul tells us we don’t have to be afraid of anything. The ruler in his time was an emperor named Nero who over the course of his reign murdered lots of people, but Paul was not afraid. Fear leads to two responses: 1) flight or 2) fight, neither of which is loving our neighbor as God intends. If you have a relationship with God,…
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