Jubilee Church Hull

Cleopas & Friend - Luke 24

Levi - Luke 5

Nicodemus - John 3

Peter & John - Luke 22

Every word of “Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”, and these last few verses of Paul’s letter to the Philippians are no exception. We, as saints, have an honorable and wonderful calling, to live for the glory of God forever and ever. And we do it full of the grace of Jesus Christ within us. We have every reason to rejoice!

Philippians 3:17-21 There is great worth in imitating others, if those others are spiritually mature. Are you encouraged to live out your faith by the example of others around you? Or are you to easily drawn to following those whose minds are set on worldly things? Let us ensure we are looking to Godly examples and seeking to imitate them, just as we might imitate Christ. Let us live as citizens of heaven, not this fallen earth, and in so doing we will share in Christ’s vindication and glory at the resurrection of our earthly bodies into heavenly ones.

Key Verses: Philippians 3:12-16 - Here is one of the most challenging passages in this letter, as Paul presents to us one of the seeming paradoxes of our faith, that having just said we must rely fully on Christ for our ongoing growth and confidence, he then challenges us also to push on for the prize. God works in us but also wants to work with us in our path to the rewards of our eternal home.

Paul himself demonstrates great humility here is honoring two men of God who he values highly. Timothy is a great example for us. He loved the Philippians, Jesus, the gospel and also loved Paul and wanted to serve and encourage him. He was willing to put all these things before himself and serve sacrificially for the advance of the gospel. Epaphroditus was a man who loved God, loved his leaders and loved the church. He was will to suffer for the gospel, mirroring Christ’s own ministry on earth and was used to bless the church. How do we serve sacrificially to bless those around us?

While God’s justice is a cause for us to work out our salvation in “fear and trembling”, Paul’s intention is not for us to anxiously worry about whether or not we are good enough to merit God’s favour. Rather, it is God’s love and enabling grace that will enable us to live as lights in the world. We can rejoice that it is “God who works in us”.

By humbling himself on the cross out of love, Jesus demonstrated that he truly shared the divine nature of God, who is love. Due to his obedience Jesus is given dominion over all creation and one day everyone will rightly give him praise as their Lord. Do our lives exalt Jesus into his rightly place now?

Paul’s beautiful poem, reflecting on the humility of Christ, is an encouragement and challenge to us. There is such theological richness here as we meditate on the nature of Christ, God come to the earth as a man, self-limiting and willing to die. Jesus is the perfect example of a life lived in love and service of God and others. Paul’s encouragement to the church in this passage is to make sure that they remain united, that affection, love, encouragement and sympathy would be hallmarks of their community and that they continue to serve one another in humility.

Paul’s encouragement to “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel” could also be translated as “only behave as citizens worthy of the gospel”. In this, Paul is reminding the Philippians, who were proud to be citizens of Rome and of all the advantages that came with that citizenship, that in fact their citizenship is now found in Christ. It is to Christ that we pledge allegiance and for whom we live, and our commitment to Him, even when facing opposition and persecution, will be a sign of our salvation.

So, how does our growth in God manifest itself? For Paul, the key is love. As our love for God and others grows we will become wiser, more able to discern what is the right or wrong things to do, and how to produce fruit in our lives that glorifies God and reveals him to others.

Steve shares on how we are investing in relationships during this time and partnering with believers both locally and through our Regions Beyond family in seeing the gospel advance.

As we begin our new series looking at the Letter to The Philippians, Josh explains why Paul wrote it and why we can learn so much from this letter today.

Hannah continues our 'Habits of Grace' series looking at how we find Jesus through spiritual disciplines. In this message we focus on what it means to be family together.

gift day

Mark continues our 'Habits of Grace' series looking at how we find Jesus through spiritual disciplines. Today we focus on living a disciplined life with our money and what it looks like to steward our finances well.

Steve continues our 'Habits of Grace' series as he looks at how we spend our time and make the most of the opportunities God has given us.

Josh continues our series looking at spiritual disciplines as we focus on study of scripture.