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Church Wanted

June 26, 2022

The Apostle Paul wrote thirteen books of the New Testament. All of them were letters. Of the thirteen letters, eleven of them were written to seven different churches. Philippians is the only letter that we have in the New Testament where Paul never one time corrects bad teaching, rebukes bad behavior, or handled a bad situation. We see only a completely positive letter to a church he wrote. This was a church that was full of joy. It was a church that gave joy to the pastor that founded it and gave joy to the people who attended it. Nineteen times you will find in this book the words “rejoice, joy, and gladness.” When you read this book you realize this is what a church should look like on the inside to the people who attend it, but it is also what a church ought to look like from the outside to people who don’t attend it. I want to share with you today the three things that are true about that church that I want to be true about the church today, both to insiders and to outsiders. I want to be a church wanted.

Topics: Church

In this series

Joy Ride - A Study of Philippians

Philippi was an ancient city in Northern Greece that, in its day, was a bustling metropolitan city with a strong industrial base and a great economy. Paul visited there around 50 A.D. and founded the first church in Europe there. In the book of Philippians in the New Testament, Paul is writing to this church from prison ten years later. If Paul had a favorite church, this might have been it. And as we study this letter to the church at Philippi, you will find out why. This church was overflowing with joy, and there is a lot we can learn about to live our lives joyfully as we read Paul’s words to the Philippians. In this series, we are going to take a closer look at Paul’s words of encouragement to this church, and in doing so, I believe we will be encouraged as well to find joy, capture joy, and spread joy as we follow Christ.

Bible Reference

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
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.