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Transcript

Gospel Partnership · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Good morning. About five miles northeast from where we are, near Federal and 120th Ave, is the Ranch Country Club. On the homepage of its website, you can read this advertisement. Looking for a place to unwind and enjoy friends, family, and relaxation? Look no further. The Ranch Country Club is a member-owned dynamic retreat.
• 0:32
  with first-class sports and fitness facilities, diverse dining opportunities, exquisite cuisine, a year-round social activities calendar, and lifelong friendships. On another page, it claims, Joining the club is perfect for the families that want to get their children more involved. There is something for kids of all ages and experience levels. The Ranch Country Club youth...
• 1:02
  also enjoy summer enrichment, holiday camps, and monthly craft nights for fun all year long. At the Ranch Country Club, members can fully immerse themselves into the community through our dining and social events. Two and a half miles west of here, you will find the Westminster Army Career Center. On the Go Army website,
• 1:34
  The Army claims that being a soldier gives you the opportunity to complete the mission and make a difference in the world. You will be part of a global family, and you will be provided all of the community amenities you need to raise your family and enjoy life. Soldiers pledge to embody the seven core Army values of loyalty, duty, respect,
• 2:04
  Selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. According to the website, the Army's warrior ethos is expressed in four statements. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. Now, the leading question of this sermon...
• 2:35
  which I want to challenge you with this morning, is this. Should our vision for the relationships and ethos here at Highland Baptist Church be closer to a country club or to the U.S. Army? Both the Ranch Country Club and the Army Recruiting Center offer community, as you can hear in the way they promote themselves. Now obviously neither model...
• 3:07
  corresponds exactly to God's design for community within the church, but which vision is closer? A church operating on the country club model might advertise itself like this. Please join us. We are a warm and inviting community. We have a full range of activities for you and programming for your children. We offer counseling, theology courses, and plenty of fun social events.
• 3:40
  whereas a church operating on the military model might recruit members in this way. Please join us. God has given you a mission that you cannot fulfill on your own. Link arms with like-minded believers and get involved in something much bigger than yourself. So, here at Highland, should we strive towards something more like country club membership?
• 4:14
  Or something more like military partnership? In order to answer this question, the biblical text that we will consider this morning is Philippians 1, verses 3-5. And I want to concentrate especially on one word. Let's have a look at that text. You can look at it in your Bibles or here on the screen. Paul writes, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.
• 4:46
  always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy because of your koinonia in the gospel from the first day until now. Now, I'm assuming that many of you have heard of this Greek term before, koinonia. Do you know how this term is commonly translated into English? Fellowship. In fact...
• 5:19
  Every occurrence of the English word fellowship in the English Standard Version translates this Greek term. But what do most American evangelical Christians mean when they talk about Christian fellowship? What do they mean when they say, my church has really strong fellowship? My sense would be that most Christians use this word to claim that the people in their church are friendly.
• 5:53
  and welcoming, that the people know each other well and feel free to share emotional burdens with one another. Likewise, what are some of the most common strategies churches employ for increasing the fellowship between their members? I can imagine the call for more church potlucks, more coffee and chat time before the service, and more informal gatherings in which people can just hang out
• 6:26
  and have fun. That is commonly thought to be the way to foster fellowship, right? Now, please don't misunderstand me. I do think that friendly people, personal sharing, and even coffee and chat time are important. However, my concern is that churches can so easily adopt a country club mentality.
• 6:57
  that caters to the emotional, social, and spiritual needs of their members, that the church begins to lose sight of its mission and the true nature of Christian fellowship. This morning, I'm going to argue that when we encounter the term koinonia or think about Christian fellowship, we should not think primarily in the sense of a country club membership.
• 7:29
  even in a spiritualized way, but of something much more like the collaboration and camaraderie of a military unit. We should think of partnership. And I wonder if that shift in thinking will explode the typical understanding of the term fellowship. So before we examine this term and the concept within the book of Philippians,
• 8:01
  Would you please pray again with me? Let's pray. Father, you know that the first time I walked into this sanctuary, I saw these three banners hanging here. Worship, connect, and thrive. And Father, what we want to know this morning is what does it mean to connect? How is that done? For what purpose? Father, I pray that you would instruct us.
• 8:43
  and encourage us and challenge us and inspire us from your word. Where else do we have to go, Lord, to seek the answers of life? But to you who have the words of eternal life. So we come to you this morning, God, and we pray that you would teach us by your Holy Spirit. And I ask this boldly in Jesus' name. Amen.
• 9:17
  As I read through the book of Philippians, I observe at least four aspects of the relationship between Paul and the Philippian believers. Four aspects to their gospel partnership that should inform the way in which we think about fellowship today. First, the partnership between Paul and the Philippians is based on grace.
• 9:48
  In Philippians 1, 6-7, the verse is immediately following what we just read. Paul asserts, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace.
• 10:18
  So when Paul thanks God for his partnership in the gospel with the Philippian believers, I think he is asserting that both he and the Philippians are partakers of the grace of the gospel. They both benefit from Christ's death on a cross. Both know the power of his resurrection. And both have been granted a citizenship that is in heaven.
• 10:49
  from which they await a Savior. Now this should be an obvious point, friends, but it is a crucial one. When we consider the nature of partnership in the Gospel today, we must likewise remember that our fellowship, our community here at Highland is not based on anything other than God's free and sovereign grace. Membership in a country club?
• 11:21
  may bring together people of a similar socioeconomic status, people of similar interests and hobbies, maybe even people of a similar race and cultural background. But not so the army, and not so the church. Fellowship within the church is not based on personality profiles, political views, career paths, skin color, or net worth.
• 11:52
  We are here by grace and grace alone. And our partnership is based on grace. And if the grace of God is not among us, brothers and sisters, we're just here playing games. Just playing games. We are just another social club, however spiritual we may claim to be.
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  Without the grace of God, we will never know what true fellowship is. And we will never fulfill the mission that God has given to us. So, true Christian fellowship is a gospel partnership that is based on grace. Secondly, the partnership between Paul and the Philippians is knit in prayer.
• 12:53
  You may have noticed that Paul mentions his partnership with the Philippians in the context of his prayer for them. Then, a little later in chapter 1, verses 9-11, Paul writes out a prayer of his for the Philippians. Then, a little later in verse 19, he says, For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance.
• 13:25
  So in other words, God will work for the deliverance of Paul through the prayers of his ministry partners. So their partnership in the gospel was a two-way street of prayer and supplication and thanksgiving. This aspect of gospel partnership, I think, is even more clear in other letters that Paul wrote.
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  Paul's letters are frequently punctuated with his prayers for believers and requests that believers pray for him. Notice the latter, for example, as Paul writes to the believers in Corinth. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
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  Or in Romans 15, Paul uses these strong words. I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. Or one more example.
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  describes the prayers of Epaphras in this way for his fellow members in that congregation. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. So ask yourself this morning.
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  Is your fellowship with other believers in this church characterized by a mutual struggling in prayer? Are you knit together in that way? Do you, in the language of Romans, strive together with others in your prayers to God on their behalf? Throughout my life, I've been a part of about eight churches. And you know what makes me sad?
• 15:56
  Not all of these churches had regular prayer meetings. And even the ones that did were only attended by a small handful of believers. And even then, I would say that often, most of the prayer meeting was taken up with the devotional and the sharing of prayer requests. It is amazing how little Christians actually pray together or for each other.
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  Sure, we say to each other all the time, oh yeah, I'll pray for that request. But how often do we really do that? How much time do you spend interceding and struggling in prayer for other believers here at Highland? I have no doubt that there are prayer warriors among us, friends. But we are all called to pray for each other frequently.
• 17:00
  and fervently. Perhaps the reason that we don't enjoy a deeper and more intimate fellowship is that we have not yet fully realized that gospel partnership is knit in prayer. Thirdly, the partnership between Paul and the Philippians is a partnership that is engaged in gospel ministry. Returning to Philippians 1-7,
• 17:36
  we read that Paul declares, you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. The Philippians are partners with Paul in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. This verse may refer primarily to their support of Paul's apostolic ministry, but other verses in the book
• 18:06
  indicate that the Philippians are also engaged in proclaiming the gospel. In Philippians 4, 2-3, Paul writes, I entreat Iodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
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  So it is clear that these two women, Clement and others, were fellow workers of Paul who labored in the gospel together. Furthermore, in Philippians 1.27, he writes this, and this is to the entire congregation, right? Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent,
• 19:07
  I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. So what is this verse describing? Gospel partnership, right? Fellowship in the gospel is a standing firm in one spirit and a striving side by side.
• 19:39
  for the faith of the gospel. Therefore, in verse 5, when Paul thanks God for his fellowship in the gospel with the Philippians, we are meant to understand that Paul is not primarily talking about quality chat time with the Philippians or fun memories of hanging out together. These things are important, but they are a means to an end.
• 20:08
  Because we must rather recognize that Paul and the Philippians are bound by a common mission. I was talking to Pastor Sam outside the sanctuary after the first service, and I know that he's a fan of Lord of the Rings. So I said, Sam, I think when we say fellowship, what we mean is like the fellowship of the ring, right? What do you have? You have four hobbits.
• 20:41
  A dwarf, an elf, two men, and a wizard? What kind of fellowship can they have? Right? But they are bound by a common mission. Right? So that's the kind of fellowship that I'm talking about. A fellowship where there is a common task on which believers are collaborating. You could say Paul and the Philippians had a working relationship.
• 21:12
  They were business partners of a sort. That emphatically does not mean that their relationship was merely formal or coldly professional. The letter to the Philippians contains some of the most intense expressions of Paul's love for his fellow believers that we find anywhere in Paul's letters. For example, Paul declares in Philippians 1.7,
• 21:43
  I hold you in my heart. And two verse later, he says, for God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. Then notice in Philippians 4, 1, how Paul is piling up words and phrases to communicate his love for the Philippians. He writes, therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love.
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  and long for. My joy and crown stand firm thus in the Lord. My beloved, though a working or business relationship, the bond between apostle and church was affectionate, tender, and passionate. They share a warm and personal relationship. Now obviously this letter was...
• 22:46
  written by Paul, and so we cannot read any written expression of the Philippians' affection for him. But by reading about the gift that they sent to him and other things that are said, there is little doubt that they too loved their apostle and partner in the gospel, Paul. Yet their fellowship was not for their edification or enjoyment alone.
• 23:17
  Rather, they were engaged in ministry together. Fourthly, the partnership between Paul and the Philippians was strengthened through suffering. Evidently, the Philippians were discouraged by news of Paul's imprisonment. So he writes this letter to assure them that what has really happened to him has happened to advance the gospel.
• 23:51
  And Paul is ready and even eager to die if it will mean that Christ is magnified in his body. Paul writes, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
• 24:20
  So not only does Paul want the Philippians to embrace his suffering, he wants them to rejoice in what God is accomplishing or can accomplish through it. The letter also makes it clear that the Philippians themselves were suffering for their labors in the gospel. In Philippians 1, Paul writes, For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ,
• 24:51
  you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for His sake. That's God granting suffering to His people. Engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. So their partnership is one in which both parties are embracing suffering for Christ.
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  Suffering is the expected result of preaching the gospel in this fallen and hostile world. And true Christian fellowship is a gospel partnership that is strengthened through suffering. Now pause here for a minute and consider again the difference in relationship between friends at a country club and soldiers.
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  especially during the time of war. Which relationships are stronger and deeper and even more emotionally close? It's the soldiers, right? But why is that? Soldiers in a military unit can be thrown together from all walks of life, all backgrounds and ethnicities. They may have little in common, and they may never become friends in ordinary...
• 26:30
  civilian life. So how can they form such intensely committed relationships? Well obviously it's because they sweat and cry and bleed together. They train together for war and then they are asked to put their lives into each other's hands. To borrow a phrase I heard from Brian Bowen, they are
• 27:05
  foxhole friends that has a way of creating strong personal bonds and if this is true then what's the application for us only this if you want to form deep personal bonded relationships with other people in this church if you want to connect with other believers here the strategy for doing so is not merely
• 27:41
  scheduling more playdates for your kids, or more coffee dates, or more times of fellowship watching sports on the TV. If you want a partnership in the gospel like Paul and the Philippians that is genuine and affectionate, then try serving in VBS together. Volunteer for City Kids together.
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  Come to the meeting after church from 12 to 1.30 today, right? Try starting an evangelistic Bible study in your neighborhood. I try some tough gospel ministry that beats you down and throws you into a relationship of desperate prayer and reliance on another person and on God. That's a strategy for deepened fellowship, right?
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  Suffering for Christ. So, this is Paul's vision and God's for fellowship. It's a gospel partnership that is based on grace, knit in prayer, engaged in ministry, and strengthened through suffering. And oh, that evangelical churches worldwide would have a fellowship like this.
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  Amen? Amen. In what time remains, I want to share with you some of what I have learned about partnership during our first four years in Indonesia. And I want to express some of Betsy's and my appreciation for the growing partnership that we have with this church. I'm pulling a Bob Jones up here. Okay. When I first conceived of being a missionary to a foreign land,
• 29:57
  I was operating by default, I guess, from a model in which I would be the teacher and the foreigners would be the students. I have something that they need, so I'm going to go and share it with them. As my thinking about missions matured, I began to realize that our brothers and sisters in foreign lands have a lot of strengths and insights that we don't have.
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  So I realized that I would need to be a teacher and a student. I thought that we could learn from each other. However, in my first four years in Indonesia, I've come to realize that the best model for missions might not be a teacher-student model at all, but rather a partner-partner model.
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  Missionaries and indigenous leaders need to learn from each other. Yes, they do. But they need to work together as well. They need to become partners in ministry. And our team in Central Java is privileged to work with some amazing Indonesian gospel workers, men and women of God, the names of whom you will never read in a book or hear.
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  at a conference. And yet these Indonesian partners are true brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow partakers with us in God's grace. In Indonesia, a major part of our work is to ask for prayer requests from these national church planters and to uphold them in prayer. And we view these men and women not as ministry projects,
• 31:59
  but as genuine fellow laborers in the gospel. And even though we Westerners suffer relatively little, we try to enter into their suffering. Our national partners have been threatened, poisoned, run out of town, surrounded by an angry mob, mocked, beaten, imprisoned, and even martyred.
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  Although we missionaries experience little of this suffering, together with them we try to embrace hardship for the sake of Christ. Betsy and I are still in the early stages of forming relationships with these national partners of our team and with the faculty and students at the seminary where I teach. But I have witnessed...
• 32:58
  some of the most deep and passionate relationships between these Indonesian partners and members of our team that I have ever seen in Christian ministry. One teammate of ours, who is especially immersed in this work, speaks often of brotherhood bonds that have formed through church planting among the unreached in Indonesia.
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  Friends, we have seen true gospel partnership, and it is a beautiful thing. Betsy and I want to thank this church for your partnership in the gospel with us. I realize after the first service, some of you haven't heard, but my wife suffered a stroke in November, and that's why we're here.
• 33:55
  We came back to seek medical treatment in the United States, and we've been here at Highland for about four months now. And I cannot tell you how blessed and encouraged we were when on our very first Sunday at Highland in November, several people came up to us and told us that they had already been praying for us. I mean, when we heard that, that just blew us away. So we thought,
• 34:25
  We're strangers here. Why should they be concerned about us? But in the four months that we have been here, we have been so thankful for the way in which you have welcomed our family and our children. And we have felt very much folded into the life and ministry of this church. And in such a short amount of time, it's just remarkable. So, thank you.
• 34:57
  And Betsy and I would like to extend the right hand of fellowship to you and ask that you would consider becoming ministry partners with us. Pastor Danny and the leadership of this church has graciously allowed us to put sign-up sheets in the lobby. So if you would like to receive monthly updates from us about our ministry in Indonesia so that you can better pray,
• 35:28
  please put your name and email address on that sign up out there. And we would be thrilled to have you join our team of ministry partners and to invest in what God is doing in Indonesia. And although it will be sad to say goodbye to you, this is our last Sunday, we're going to be here on Wednesday as well, but then we're leaving on Friday. But we do plan to return here.
• 35:58
  Lord willing, probably in about two years. And we'll look forward to enjoying some face-to-face fellowship with you again. There's one more aspect of gospel partnership that I want to mention at the close of this sermon, which may be the most amazing aspect of all. You remember the word koinonia, which appears in Philippians 1.5?
• 36:30
  Well, it appears again in Philippians 3.10. And let me read to you the context for that. Paul writes, Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.
• 36:58
  not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share His sufferings. So you may be wondering, where is that word? Well, the last verse could be more literally translated this way.
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  that I may know Him, Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the koinonia of His sufferings. The fellowship or partnership of the sufferings of Christ. Brothers and sisters, if you imagine that the pinnacle of fellowship with Jesus is sitting in a Starbucks drinking coffee and reading your Bible quietly, then please listen.
• 38:00
  There are depths of intimacy possible in your relationship with Jesus that you never dreamed of when you partner with Him in the Gospel and begin to know the fellowship of His sufferings. When you suffer for the sake of love and in service to others as He did. God has made us sons and daughters.
• 38:33
  We are His friends. And we have the privilege of being God's co-workers. He graciously offers us the opportunity to become His partners in His worldwide mission. So, let's link arms with each other and with our God. And let's get to work. Amen? Amen. Let me pray.
• 39:11
  Father, what a privilege that through the death and resurrection of your son, we could be called your children, that we could be loved by you, that we are no longer your enemies, but are now your friends. And also, Father, that you have made us your partners, your fellow laborers, your co-workers here in this world.
• 39:39
  My prayer is that Highland Baptist Church would know to a deeper and deeper extent the fellowship that You have intended. Fellowship with Your Son. Fellowship with each other. May You please bless this church for the sake of Your name in Westminster and in Colorado and even to the ends of the earth. We pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.