Sunday Worship Service January 12, 2025

Prelude
Call to Worship Exodus 20:3
Hymn JBC # 59 Great is Thy faithfulness
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 261 Dear Spirit, lead me to the Saviour’s side
Offering
Scripture Philippians 1:12～21
Prayer
Sermon “To live is Christ”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 491 Have faith in God
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction
Postlude

　Paul encountered the resurrected Christ, and Paul was changed from someone who severely persecuted Christians to someone who passionately preached the Gospel of Christ.
In last week’s message, we read together about Paul’s conversion in the book of Acts.
However because Paul became a missionary for Christ, his life from then on became one of suffering
He was imprisoned many times for preaching Christ, and (although it is not written clearly in the Bible) it can be assumed that in the end, Paul was likely executed.
Even this letter to the believers in Philippi is believed to have been written from Paul’s prison cell while he was imprisoned in Rome.
However, even though Paul was in prison, he never lost his hope and strength.
In Philippians Chapter 1 verses 3~4, just before today’s passage, it says the following:

I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
What kept Paul going in prison was above all else his faith, the belief that Jesus Christ, the resurrected Jesus Christ, was always with him.
Also, we see what a great source of joy prayer was to Paul. The joy of being able to pray for everything, especially for his friends in the faith, helped sustain Paul.
For Paul, thinking about the believers in Philippi and thanking God for them while praying was a source of joy.
The church in Philippi was established through Paul’s missionary work. It seems that the believers in the Philippian church were still supporting Paul both physically and spiritually even after he had left Philippi.

Philippians chapter 4 verses 15~16 says this:
Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need.

　Other letters written by Paul tell us that he was a tentmaker by trade, and that he worked to support himself as he preached.
However, the passage we just read tells us that Paul accepted physical support (goods and perhaps money also) from the believers in the Philippian church.
Because of this, we can assume that there was a special trust and warmth in the relationship between Paul and the believers of the Philippian church. (from the fact that Paul did not receive aid from other churches, but he did from the Philippian church)
And for Paul, it was the greatest joy for him to be able to think of the believers in Philippi supporting him and to pray for them.
Being able to pray for our friends or family in the faith brings great joy to those who believe in God.
We also think about and pray for other people, perhaps our family, especially our church brothers and sisters, friends and acquaintances.
I hope that we know that just like Paul thought of and prayed for the believers in Philippi with joy, we too can pray in faith for others and that this in itself brings great joy.

Why does praying bring us joy? This is because God who hears our prayers is certainly with us.
When we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, God is surely listening to our prayers because of the name of Christ.
I hope that we believe in this promise from the Bible, and that we are believers who pray with joy.
Let’s look at verse 12 from today’s passage.

　12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
“What has happened to me” is talking about the Paul experiences of severe hardship and persecution due to preaching the gospel of Christ, even to the point of being put in prison.
If we think about it, even though he was working for God and to tell people of God’s salvation, being arrested and put in prison for this is tough.
When Paul was arrested, he might have first thought that he would no longer be able to preach the gospel of Christ.
But then Paul was able to see what happened to him since then not from his own point of view, but from the point of view of God and of spreading the Gospel of Christ.

Even though he was put in prison, Paul says that being put in that kind of situation actually served to advance the gospel.
Acts chapter 16 describes the time when Paul was imprisoned in Philippi.

Accusations arose from people that Paul and his friend Silas, who were preaching in Philippi, were “stirring up confusion in the city". Because of this, both of them were whipped again and again, and then were thrown in prison.
Around midnight, Paul and Silas were singing songs of praise and praying. Then suddenly a big earthquake occurred, shaking even the foundations of the prison, and all the doors keeping the prisoners in their cells opened and their chains came loose.
Then the jailer who was guarding the prison feared that the prisoners had escaped and his duty would be called into question, and was about to commit suicide (Acts Chapter 16 Verse 27).

But Paul shouted out “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (Acts 16:28)
The jailer asked Paul and Silas “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”
It is written that the jailer and his family were baptized, that they came to be believers in God, and that he and his whole household were filled with joy.
Paul experienced that even his (Paul's) unreasonable (unjust) experience of imprisonment could be greatly used by the Lord God in such a way, leading to the Gospel being shared.
Rather than thinking of himself, Paul had his eyes fixed on advancing the gospel, and he was able to look back on what had happened to him from the point of view of how the gospel would keep spreading.
This shows us the necessity of being able to see what happens to us not through the lens of our own thoughts and hopes, of our own feelings and contentment (although these are also important, and we can’t do away with our own feelings and hopes), but from the point of view of advancing the gospel of Christ.

Christ is with us, and works through what happens to us to advance the Gospel.
As we hold on to that belief and are made alive in the gospel, I hope that we also live for the advancement of the Gospel.
In verse 15 onwards in today’s passage, it talks about the different motivations people have for proclaiming Christ.

15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
And in verses 16~17, it says that there are those who preach Christ who are motivated by love for Paul, but also others who are motivated by causing Paul suffering.

In verse 18, it says:

18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

What an amazing thing to say. Wouldn’t it be true to say that we think that motivations are important when preaching the loving Christ?
Don’t we think that having the pure intention of simply wanting to share about Christ is important, and that if there is any envy or conflict involved, that would not be preaching the gospel?
What Paul means to say here is that even when we as humans have impure motivations, the Gospel of Christ is stronger still than the impure motivations and hearts of man and transcends them.
Even Christians, and also Christian churches, are made up of sinful people, and is a gathering of sinners, so unfortunately even amongst ourselves there is envy and conflict.

Even so, the Gospel of Christ covers even us with our sinful natures.
More to the point, when we who cause envy and conflict repent of our selfish and sinful human natures and submit these things honestly to God, isn’t the Gospel also spread through us in this way?
While we hope for the grace of Christ to work in us sinners and make us more like Him, let us also hope that through our sinful selves, Christ (and only Christ) is spread amongst us and glorified.

Let us look at the last verse of today’s passage, verse 21.

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

For Paul, to live was Christ. As an evangelist, Paul went through many difficult experiences, and must have suffered in a great many ways.
Since Paul was just a man, it seems he had many failings and a had a fairly volatile character, and the Bible tells us of cases where Paul had disagreements and clashes even within the church.
But, for Paul, when it came to knowing that “to live is Christ”, Paul did not have any hesitations.
Paul would have been thinking “I have life because Christ lives”, “Because Christ lives, I am also alive today”, “Because I am called to preach Christ, I have been permitted to live this day.”
For us, the Lord Jesus Christ being alive is not a vague concept with no concrete reality, is not a mere thought, wish or ideal.
It is the reality that the One who died on the cross for us and rose again now continues to give us the hope of living in God’s power through the Holy Spirit.
In this way, Christ is indeed alive. Since Christ is alive in us, we can also say “to live is Christ” for us.
If we are ever in doubt questioning “What am I living for?” or “Is there any meaning in my life?”, in these times let us raise our eyes to Christ.

Let us continue listening to the words of Christ as told through the Word in the Bible, and let us rejoice in knowing the truth that we are alive in Christ.
For us, to live is Christ, that is because Christ lives, we also live.
Because our imperfect, limited, sinful selves are redeemed by the perfect, sinless Jesus Christ, forgiven of our sins and freed from sin, we can live in a life of joy.
Let us hold on to this promise from the Bible and go forth living with the Lord and living every day for the sake of Christ.