February 6, 2010

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ." Philippians 2:5

In real estate they say it is "location, location, location". For believers it is "attitude, attitude, attitude." And, I guess you could say that your attitude has a lot to do with your spiritual location!

This verse is the hinge point of this portion of Scripture. After exhorting us about our attitudes, Paul points to the example of Jesus and says in essence, "Here's your attitude!"

That begs the question, "What IS the attitude of Christ?"

Obviously, there was obedience and there was humility but the BIG attitude here is GRACE.

It was grace that THOUGHT the plan of salvation. When Adam selfishly chose to rebel against God and wreck paradise, God could have been justified in vaporing them and starting over. But His response was not vindictive or vengeful - it was gracious. He launched a plan to send a Second Adam to redeem the damage of the first Adam.

It was grace that WROUGHT it. God began to unfold His marvelous plan as history became the record of HIS story! Through Abraham, God raised up a nation through whom a Savior would arise. His grace orchestrated all the people and all the events that set the stage for a teen-age Jewish girl to give birth to Jesus in a manger in the stable of Bethlehem.

It was grace that BOUGHT it. Grace is free but it wasn't cheap! It cost God all that He had. Jesus demonstrated the divine attitudes of surrender, sacrifice, selflessness and servanthood. The Sinless One resisted all the temptations of the human experience, especially that which brought down the first Adam - selfish desire. Ultimately, the reward for His perfection was death on a cruel cross. In His sinlessness He was able to assume our sin, our shame, our guilt and our sickness and defeat them on the cross. As the words of the song express, "We'll never know how much it cost to see our sins upon His cross".

And, perhaps most amzing is His grace that SOUGHT us! He pursues you and me with His Spirit. He proclaims His love and grace through His Word. He presents His grace through people who have been touched and transformed by His grace. And that IS the challenge that comes to you and me. Will we surrender to His grace? Will we be saved and sanctified by His grace? Will we become living examples of His grace through our attitudes and actions? Can He use us to seek others? Will others be amazed by the grace they see in us?

If your attitude is like that of Jesus you will grace your world. If not you will dis-grace it.

February 5, 2010

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:8

What a crazy way to save the world! Crazy amazing that is!

It looked hopelessly impossible. Here is a Holy God separated from His beloved creatures by their sins. They would always be sinful and He would always be holy. Man could no more change his nature than God could His!

God longed for fellowship with man. Man needed fellowship with God. Man had tried to become like God - that didn't work too well! In fact, that is what created the problem! So, what was to be done?

If the guilty cannot become innocent, could the innocent become guilty? And if He could, would He? And if He would, why would He?

Jesus answered that question. He stepped up to resolve the dilemma. And Paul writes about here in Philippians 2. It is an idea only God could conceive and only Christ could execute. Perhaps Paul is the only one who could explain it.

Man couldn't reach up to God so God "morphed" down to man and Jesus was the result. Through the mystery of the "hypostasis" God was poured into man and a Savior was born! The perfect solution to a perplexing problem - a Being born Who was 100% God and 100% man. Just what God needed! The only hope for men!

How ironic that man became spiritually lost in the attempt to become God and the solution was found in God becoming a man! Mankind fell in his attempt to be God. Man was redeemed by One who surrendered His Godly privilege and humbly put on flesh. The One Who is life, the One Who breathed life into the nostrils of Adam, came in the flesh to suffer and to obedienlty lay down His life.

God did what He did because only He could do it! He did it in a way that only He could imagine. And He did for a reason that only He can comprehend.

So what are we to do with this amazing news? How are we to respond to this incredible offer? Why did He make sure Paul explained this spiritual truth in such detail? What does He expect or require of us?

He asks us to respond in kind - to humble ourselves as He did. To receive His righteousness we must confess our sinfulness. We must receive His holiness and repent of our selfishness.

Christ became like us to provide a way for us to become like Him! What we longed for and lost, He gave up to gain!

February 4, 2010

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:8

When Jesus emptied Himself into the flesh of a man, how did that impact His divinity?

There are two theological concepts that come into play here. The first being "kenosis". This implies that His emptying did not diminish the essential glory that was His as the Second Person of the Trinity but rather it was veiled by the humanity He assumed.

For example, when a cloud temporarily obscures the sun, it doesn't diminish the power or brightness of the sun but it hides it for awhile. So, too, Jesus' glory was obscured by His earthly dwelling.

That is the "Kenosis".

But Jesus was also fully God. That is the term "hypostasis". That affirms that while Jesus was 100 % man, He was simultaneously 100% God. Through this "hypostasis" Jesus was uniquely prepared and qualified to satisfy the holy demands of God while atoning for the sins of man. Jesus was the God/man - sent from God to redeem and deliver man. Jesus was the bridge to span the moral separation between God and man.

So, there you have a couple of sound theological concepts upon which to build your doctrine of the incarnation. He became like you to provide a way whereby you can become more like Him in your nature and purpose.

"The Kenosis" and the "hypostasis" - two blessed truths AND - two terrific Scrabble words! Both help us understand the great work of grace and mercy our Father extended to us in the Person of His Son, Jesus, the Christ!

Now Jesus through the Holy Spirit greatly desires to take residence in your heart to transform your heart and mind. He wants to be born into you by faith to give you His life. He wants to unleash the glory of His Son through you - a form of the "kenosis" and the "hypostasis" revealed in you.

Jesus was the incredibly perfect Savior! Jesus is the humble yet victorious Lord! How amazing is that !

February 3, 2010

"but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." Philippians 2: 7

We have pulled back the curtain and peaked at the great mystery of the Incarnation. The Second Person of the Trinity came and "morphed" into the flesh of a man becoming fully God and yet fully human ("isos" = exactly the same, fully equal).

In verse seven we see evidence of the God-side of Christ's nature and it sets Him apart in a significant way. Here's what I mean. The root of sin came from Lucifier, who in the very presence of God, desired to usurp God's authority. His lust "to be like God" is what brought him down and caused Him to be cast out of Heaven and eternally condemned. Sin entered the human realm when Adam gave into the desire to "be like God" in his knowledge and authority. That is the same rebellious nature we struggle with continually.

Contrast that to Jesus - WHO WAS GOD - and He surrendered it! He did not "grasp it" or "clutch it" desparately as Lucifer would have, or Adam would have or as you or I would have. We aspire to be in control, He was and surrendered it. We want absolute authority, He had it and surrendered it. We want to be free from accountability, He was and did not "grasp" the privilege.

This demonstrates that God is the Only One Who deserves absolute power because He is the Only One pure and holy enough to not be corrupted by it. His attitude displayed through Christ should give us complete confidence in the nature and character of God.

But more than just surrender these privileges, He made Himself nothing! Jesus, Who had everything gave it ALL UP and became NOTHING. That is one of the things you and I fear the most. We live under the terror of meaninglessness and powerlessness and strive to grasp for those things that give us meaning and power. Jesus didn't.

Why did He do this? Why would He give all this up?

One reason, to be able to redeem you and me - thus pleasing God!

What could God do in your life if you were to totally trust Him, His power, His goodness, His love, His Lordship to be your sufficiency and stop striving for power and significance?

Want to find out?

February 2, 2010

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped," Philippians 2:6

Something significant is happening in this portion of Scripture. The great Apostle is appealing to unity in the Philippian church by focusing on the unity of the Godhead. In so doing he gives us a revealing insight into the nature of the Incarnation.

In my last post we learned that Jesus had "morphed" into a man. That signifies that He was in the flesh and form of a man but was in nature fully God.

Today's discussion builds on that fact. This same verse reminds us that Jesus was "equal" with God since He was God in His very nature. That truth strengthens both claims.

The word used to explain Christ's relationship to God is the word "isos". This word means "exactly the same, in size, quality, quantity, character and number". We use the word in English, for example, an "isosceles" triangle is a triangle with two equal sides. An "isomer" is a chemical molecule having a slightly different structure from another molecule but having identical elements and weight. In other words, it means that something is EXACTLY THE SAME - COMPLETELY THE SAME in every way. Jesus was exactly equal to God even though He had "morphed" into a man!

Jesus was equal to God because He WAS God in every way except He had "morphed" from a spirit into flesh.

That is good news! That means that every promise or claim made by or about Jesus is true! Everything we know to be true about God is also true about Jesus!

What does that say to us about unity?

It shows us that to be united with one another we need to be united with Christ like Christ is united with God! I proves that if we will - He can!

Will you?

February 1, 2010

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:5-11

This Sunday I will conclude my series on attitudes by focusing on the ultimate attitude, that of Jesus.

So far I have talked about three attitudes that the Apostle Paul urges upon this struggling Philippian church. Those three attitudes are unity and humility and community.

I guess this could beg the question, "Does developing these three attitudes lead to achieving the Christ-like attitude or does having the Christ-like attitude result in these?"

I think the answer would have to be, "Yes!"

This week in my posts I will do a detailed examination of the attitude of Christ. Not only is this crucial for the development of Christians and churches and His Kingdom, but it gives us the clearest look at understanding the mystery of the incarnation.

As we investigate the attitude of Christ we discover not just how to live but how to think.

Verse 5 lays out the mandate to choose the Christlike attitude. Obviously, if you don't desire it and pursue it and repent of lesser attitudes - you will never attain it. Surely you know that you won't just wake up one morning to discover that you think and act like Christ.

Here's how Jesus' thought and how He wants us to think. Verse 6 states, "being in very nature God".....

This is the first peek we get into the nature of the incarnation. Paul chose the word "morphe" to express this thought. Nowadays you might hear someone talk about "morphing" from one thing into another. Actually, that is an accurate portrayal. You are also familiar with the word "metamorphosis" in reference to a caterpillar spinning a cocoon and emerging as a butterfly. It has changed outward form but is essentially the same inward being.

Jesus was God "morphed" into human form. Outwardly He was a man - first a baby, then an infant, a toddler, a child, an adolescent and then an adult man. But in each stage of human development He was God wrapped up in human form! Wow!

Why would God do that? Why would an Infinite, Almighty, Spiritual Being put on the limitations of flesh? What sort of attitude would inspire that "metamorphosis"?

LOVE! COMPASSION! MERCY! KINDNESS! All of these are part of an incredible redemptive plan that wants to transform us into His likeness but first required Him to become conformed to ours!

And you think you can't change your attitude.....???

January 31, 2010

"MAKING GOD'S 'A' TEAM"


Week Three – “Pass The Ball”

“Each of you should not look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2BlOTeoZVE

The Michael Jordan led Bulls won six consecutive NBA championships. He was the "go to" guy in every clutch situation. Perhaps no one has hit as many game-winning baskets as he did. But in the 1997 Championship final he won the game - with a pass!

Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers is a solid NBA player, but nobody would consider him a superstar by any stretch of the imagination. After all, the fifth-year small forward has never averaged more than the 11.4 points he scored per game last season.

Yet Walton may do more to help his team win than any other single player in the NBA, if you are to believe recent statistical analysis done by Brigham Young University statisticians. BYU statistics professors Gil Fellingham and Shane Reese and master's student Garritt Page compared the value of 13 box score statistics from an entire NBA season across the five player positions to see how much each contributed to winning games.

Their findings? Small forwards who assist teammates and don't turn the ball over are golden. Of all the combinations of stats and positions, the study found that assists by small forwards contribute the most to a team's likelihood of winning. Meanwhile, turnovers by small forwards do more harm than turnovers by players at other positions.

That's where Walton comes in. His combination of averaging more than six assists with fewer than three turnovers per 48 minutes played last season at the small forward position makes him incredibly valuable, according to the BYU statistics.

The statisticians actually used the 1997-98 season for their study, which was recently published in a scientific journal. That season was the second year the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. A follow up with a later season or season, which has yet to be done, could show how things have changed in the NBA in the past decade, but Reese suspects assists would still be the biggest indicator at each position of a player's success toward helping his team win.That's because they found passing the basketball to set up a score is more important than actually making a field goal when it comes to winning, according to the analysis.

Every kid wants to be Carmelo Anthony or LaBron James or Kobe Bryant or Dewayne Wade - no kid wants to be Luke Walton. Carmelo, LaBron, Kobe or D-Wade, are winning commercials and big contracts – but Luke is winning games.

I guess it comes down to this. Are you looking to be a super star or are you looking to be on a winning team?

What makes a winning team is players who are willing to pass the ball to team mates.

So, why am I sharing this? What does this have to do with us this morning?

EVERYTHING!

This month I have been leading us in a study of Philippians 2:1-11 and we have been talking about attitudes that honor God and are consistent with Christ. I have been using the analogy of an athletic team, so I entitled the series, “MAKING GOD’S A TEAM”.

The two attitudes we have talked about thus far are UNITY and HUMILITY.

Unity comes from a commitment to "being like-minded", joining with those in your fellowship to think like Jesus. It results from aiming your thoughts at God's Word and your emotions at God's will.

Humility means that you focus your thoughts and emotions at serving God by serving others.

In this message I want us to focus on verse four of chapter two:

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

THE ATTITUDE WE ARE CONSIDERING TODAY IS “COMMUNITY”.

What Is “Community”?

COMMUNITY is living “with unity” or “in unity”.

Community is God’s design for the CHURCH. It is best illustrated in the early days of the church demonstrated in ACTS 2.

THE KEY IN “UNITY” AND “HUMILITY” AND “COMMUNITY” IS “U" - how will you relate to God and relate to others? Will you think and behave in a way that honors God and builds others in their faith?

Community will create a church that is:

A SAFE PLACE

Community is a place where I know everyone has my back and they know I have theirs because they are totally committed to God and totally committed to your best interest. You will feel safe with your secrets, your scars, and your dreams.

A SPIRITUAL PLACE

“The difference between spiritual and unspiritual community is not whether conflict exists, but is rather in our attitude toward it and our approach to handling it. When conflict is seen as an opportunity to draw more fully on spiritual resources, we have the makings of spiritual community.” - LARRY CRABB – “The Safest Place On Earth”

A SOUL-WINNING PLACE

Bill Hybels, the pastor of Willow Creek Community Church just outside of Chicago makes this statement. “If you create a loving community, first time seekers will sniff it and say “I want in.”

A SENDING PLACE

One of the sure signs that community has developed in a church is that the young people who come up in that community, when they leave it have a passion to go and reproduce it wherever they go.

SO, HOW DO WE CREATE SUCH A COMMUNITY?

We do what all championship teams do – we focus on assists not on scoring. We learn to pass the ball and commit to making our teammates the best players they can be!

The fact is, if there were no assist leaders there would be no scoring leaders because you can’t score if you don’t have the ball! And if the ball isn’t passed to you, you won’t have it.

WHAT IS “THE BALL”?

The ball is everything you desire for yourself – the attention, the praise, the control, the affirmation, the prestige, the power, the ambition, the ego boost – basically- self-centeredness.

HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO PASS THE BALL?

I guess I’ll let you decide!

You Have To Be Willing To Give Up The Ball– CONQUER SELFISHNESS

When I played basketball – whether it was junior high, high school, or the one year I played in college – my position was point guard. That meant it was my job to pass the ball and set up the offense.

I have to admit that I didn’t always FEEL like passing the ball. I would have been happy to shoot the ball every time I had it. I would have loved to put on a Curly Neal Globetrotter dribbling exhibition. That is human nature. BUT – if I wanted to be on the team and if I wanted to get playing time and if I wanted to help the team win, I needed to get beyond my selfish desires and pass the ball.

When I passed the ball 20 times a game we would usually win. If I would have shot the ball 20 times a game we would not have won. And when I pass the ball I want to help them get the best shot they can get.

Paul says in verse 4 – “Each of you should not look only to your own interest….”

In other words – the game is not about you! It is about Him and His Church. That means you must do what helps the Church win. That means you can’t shoot the ball every time you feel like it. You must be willing to give up the ball to help others be successful. It means that you can’t be guided by your human FEELINGS, you must be guided by His FAITH.

SIGNS OF SELFISHNESS:

HOGGING THE BALL - I am going to take the shot, I am going to make the play, I am the best player so why should I pass the ball?

DROPPING THE BALL - I missed the pass but it was your fault, you threw a bad pass! If you'd have thrown it better I wouldn't have dropped it!

TAKING MY BALL AND GOING HOME - I don't like the way the game is being played. I don't like the coaching. I don't like the officiating. I am not getting enough playing time or enough shots so I am going to take the ball and go home!

SELFISHNESS or SELF-CENTEREDNESS KILLS A CHURCH – GIVING UP THE BALL HELPS CONQUER SELFISHNESS.

Look For The Open Man – CONCENTRATE ON OTHERS

Again, that is what Paul is saying to the Philippians – “concentrate on others…..”

HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD OF MICHAEL JORDAN? HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD OF JOHN PAXSON OR STEVE KERR? THEY WERE THE GUYS WHO GOT JORDAN THE BALL.

In game 7 of the NBA Championship in 1993, with 14 seconds left and the Phoenix Suns with a 2 point lead, here’s what happened:

Jordan, double-teamed in the backcourt, fed the ball to Scottie Pippen, who drove the lane. Suns center Mark West moved over to block his path, so Pippen dished the ball to Grant in the low post. Grant, who had scored just one point in each of the previous two games but more than made up for it with tireless defense and hustle under the boards, eschewed a forced shot and instead passed the ball back out to Paxson, who was lurking in three-point land. Phoenix's Danny Ainge, who had dropped back to harass Grant, could do nothing but watch as Paxson nailed the three for the win!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnAr4I3-Z48

IF THE GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME LOOKED FOR THE OPEN MAN HOW ABOUT YOU?

WHO CAN I HELP TO LOOK GOOD? WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE THEM LOOK GOOD?CAN I HELP SOMEONE ELSE GET A WIN? CAN I SHARE THAT GOOD IDEA AND GIVE SOMEONE ELSE THE CREDIT? CAN IT SET UP A SITUATION THAT ENABLES SOMEONE ELSE TO LOOK GOOD? WILL I DO IT?

Celebrate When He Scores – COMPLETE DON’T COMPETE

Perhaps this is the ultimate test of community – can you be as excited when your brother or sister gets the score as you would if you had gotten it?

I got to tell you, it is a thrill to take a shot and watch it SWISH through the net and to hear the crowd yell! That is fun! That feels good!

It doesn’t feel quite as good when I pass up the shot, pass the ball to the open man and he gets the score. He gets the thrill and he gets the cheers and I have to feel equally good about that!

Yes, that’s right! That’s unity! That’s humility! That is what creates community.

We need to be committed to completing each other and completing the mission – not on competing with each other. That’s what makes a team a team. They agree to complete each other so they can compete against the opponent.

We also need to be committed to completing each other because sometimes we give up the ball and the teammate fumbles the ball, or misses the easy shot, or the ball gets stolen – you give up and they goof it up……….You need to stay committed to that person and the next time their open - pass it again!

Here’s what can happen in a community where there is unity and humility and people pass the ball:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fw1CcxCUgg

That's what COMMUNITY looks like! That is what COMMUNITY can feel like. It's what God desires for His Church - for our church!

WHEN YOU PASS ARE UNITED AND HUMBLE AND WILLING TO PASS THE BALL EVERYONE GETS THEIR CHANGE TO SHINE, EVERYONE CHEERS, AND THE TEAM WINS!

What are you doing to contribute to the community of FredWes?

Have You Conquered Selfishness By Passing The Ball To Teammates?

Do you hog the ball? Do you crave all the attention and demand all the praise?

Do you drop the ball? Do you want the attention but not the responsibilities that go with it?

Do you take your ball and go home? Do you quit the game or disrupt the game when it doesn't go your way?

Are You Concentrating On Others By Looking For The Open Man?

Do you consciously look for ways to help others succeed?

Are you making as much effort to assist others as you do to make yourself look good?

Are You Celebrating When Others Score?

Do you find as much joy when others succeed as you do in your own success?

These are the keys to creating community - a winning team that creates an environment for every player to get better and make non-players want to join the team. This is what God has in mind for Fredericksburg Wesleyan Church? Is this what you have in mind?