TITLE
Scripture
Intro Questions
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
Other Resources:
Glorifying God During Times of Adversity - Philippians 1 https://virtualbiblestudy.com/lessons/philippians/1/
You Never Can Tell
What mom hasn’t had to clean Play-Doh® out of clothes, books, carpet, hair, the dog, shoes, and so on? What diabolical mind
conceived the crazy stuff? Not surprisingly, the story is not about a toy. In fact, the Kroger grocery store contacted the Cincinnati-based Kutol Products Company, a soap and cleaning products firm that’s now in its second
century. Kroger wanted a new wallpaper cleaner, and Kutol produced a putty that would efficiently remove coal dust from home and office wallpapers. Yet after World War 2, homeowners replaced dusty coal furnaces with oil and
natural gas heaters. The McVicker family, owners of Kutol, quickly lost business and almost failed.
Then nephew Joe McVicker came into the firm to stave off bankruptcy. His sister-in-law, Kay Zufall, was a nursery school teacher
who had read an article about using wallpaper cleaner for art projects. The company took out the cleanser, added bright colors and fragrance and launched it in 1955, marketing it to schools. By 1958, Kutol was secure, pulling
in $3 million on Play-Doh alone. By 1964, Play-Doh was in Europe. A patent was secured in 1965, just in time to sell the invention for $3 million to General Mills. Minor tweaks to the original recipe have occurred while the
gooey toy has been sold and re-sold, ending up with Hasbro, for now. Wallpaper cleaner putty looked like utter failure—until it became one of the most popular toys in the world.
“Now I want you to know, brother, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become
clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly”
(Philippians 1:12-14 NIV).
After two years languishing in prison in Caesarea, Paul was transported to Rome to stand trial before Nero. It seemed as if being
a Christian would result in a criminal conviction. And yet. Time passed and no charges were brought, no trial ensued and nobody tried to stop Paul from preaching the gospel to the parade of soldiers sent to guard him. And
so more Christians in Rome taught the gospel to more people, who became Christians. And then they taught more people and on and on and on. So, what looked like a disaster for the fledgling church of Christ turned out to be
one of the most successful evangelistic efforts!
God works within our world in the most amazing ways when we put ourselves in His hands. So long as we continue faithful in our service
and obedience, God will extend His will into the world and bring great blessing out of even the most challenging circumstances. In this year of 2020, with incalculable fortunes washed away, thousands dead and millions ruined
by anxious responses to the virus, at first we see no blessing. And yet. Forced to online worship and teaching, more preachers and churches are offering first-rate Bible teaching on the internet than ever before. Souls who
were reluctant ever to enter a church building have, from the privacy of their own homes, been able to hear the good news of Jesus. What seemed like unremitting disaster in our world may turn out to be the single greatest
evangelistic explosion of the age. You can never tell what God will do next!
SITTING ON THE FENCE IS NOT ALWAYS A GOOD THING
November 23 , 2018
Dr. Joe Pettigrew
" I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that
now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." Philippians 1:20
To the Christian, there is one thing that the Lord cannot condone. It is the one thing that would cause Him to, "spew them out of His mouth!" He said He cannot tolerate lukewarm Christians or a lukewarm church.
Today it seems to be a virtue to be called moderate or tolerant. It is good to be moderate in somethings, but not so when we are called to follow Jesus.
The first and greatest commandment according to Jesus is to, "love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, mind, and soul” and there is nothing moderate about that! Jesus made a statement to would be followers, "Why do you call Me, Lord Lord! And then not do what I tell you?" When He calls us to Himself, there is nothing moderate about that. When the Lord spoke of what it would mean to be His disciple, He said we must, "...deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him"...certainly nothing moderate about that!
There is no halfway with Jesus. He gave His all for us, and He calls us to do the same. When we think of the story of the rich young ruler who came to Christ
and asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus told him to keep the commandments, to which he claimed he had. Then Jesus said, "There is just one thing you lack, go and sell all you have and come follow Me." The young man went away very sad, because he was wealthy, and would not do what Jesus commanded.
We may tend to think that Jesus was being a bit unfair to this young man. The truth is, what Jesus required of him, He expects of us. The Lord knows if
there is anything in our lives that is keeping us from following Him completely. He demands that it be removed so that we might be entirely submitted and surrendered to Him. As follower's of Christ, there is no such thing
as moderation...Jesus calls this being lukewarm...and that is unacceptable to Him.
Some things in moderation are good; like eating, rest, recreation, exercise, and having fun. But when it comes to spiritual warfare, moderation is a sin.
When it comes to believing the Bible, moderation is a sin. When it comes to loving Jesus, moderation is a sin!
Thought of the Day: If the world considers you a "moderate" when it comes to your Christianity, you are riding the fence of lukewarmness. That
is a dangerous place to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment