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Romans 8:9 (NASB): However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you

When we receive Jesus, he deposits the Holy Spirit in us. But there come times when we can be a battlefield between what the Holy Spirit has planted within us and the pull of our old flesh. “The flesh” is a shorthand term for a range of things from outright sin, to bad motives, to various forms of self-righteousness. There are times when it can really accuse us. The good news is that Jesus has paid in full for us. His blood speaks louder to God for grace than any accusation can speak to God for judgement. And our true identity in Christ is not of the old flesh. We take our true identity from Jesus now: as adopted children of God, secure in a place at the family table, accepted in full, with purpose in life as we do what God sets before us to do. As we stay the course with Jesus, Philippians 2:13 (NASB): “…it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Therefore, we can daily lift our heads to our Father in heaven. We can walk with a light touch and not a heavy heart. And we can make our daily choices from this daily prayer: “Father, I commit my way to you this day. I choose to look up to Jesus more than down on to my failings. Set before me this day that which you want me to do. Cause me to want what you want me to want. Because whatever my failings, I’m still in your family.”

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“Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.” (1 John 2:15 MSG)

From birth we are each developing a view of the world that is shaped by our birthplace, culture, family, schooling, friendship, influence and media. This worldview may not necessarily be wrong or bad but it can develop a false or distorted view of reality that leads us to believe that our deepest need from creation (to be accepted, have significance and security) can be found in the world rather than in a relationship with the One who created us. 1 John 2:15-17 warns against this, listing worldly activity such as the cravings of this world, the lust of our eyes and the boasting about what we have and do, which are opposed to God and hugely damaging to ourselves and others. We need to “take off” this distorted worldview and instead see things as they really are through the lens who is Christ Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (NIV) When we do this, we will find that in Jesus we are accepted, we are significant and we are secure – no other opinion really matters. 1 John 2:17 says, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives for ever.” (NIV) Therefore, let us fix our eyes on Jesus and the truth of His Word, reading, believing and applying these truths to our life for His glory.

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“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
(1 Kings 18:21b)

We have begun a new teaching series based on the discipleship course, ‘Freedom in Christ’. We may have been Christians for years but do we truly know what it means to have freedom in Christ? And do we live in that freedom today? It is our hope this series will reveal God’s truth and unlock freedom of God in us. The Bible is full of truth but we fail to believe it. Why? 1 Kings 18:17-39 reminds us that everyone believes in something or someone, there are so many claims for truth and we struggle to decipher which one to believe or align ourselves with. The people of God were wavering between two opinions (21) and “abandoned the Lord’s commands” to follow Baal (18). So with audacious confidence, Elijah invited the prophets of Baal to build a sacrifice and call upon their god to prove himself. There was no response and so Elijah did the same, this time drenching the sacrifice with water and calling upon Yahweh to respond and prove himself. He did not disappoint, even licking up water from the trench (38). The people fell prostrate in worship recognising the Lord as God (39). We face different truths today. We have temptation to sway. But we must choose to believe our One True God and His Word, which is truth. As you live each day, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

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“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-19)

The Freedom in Christ Series was started by looking at the Question: Who Am I? Tracing back our origins to Adam and Eve, we learned that we are made in the image of God and then because of Jesus we are accepted, secure and significant in Him.

Adam and Eve’s punishment for sin was Spiritual death within Physical life and that is the world we are born into. By choosing to accept the Freedom that Christ offers us, we are then able to be as we are intended – spiritually alive, a new creation, holy and wonderful, accepted, secure, significant and people who God delights in. The Prodigal Son shows us the example of humanity at its lowest, lost and hopeless but the Father shows the Grace that is offered by the Father. Who we are in Christ Jesus is how we were intended to be at the very outset of creation: accepted, secure, significant and forgiven and by choosing to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we have that security and freedom which only comes in Christ who saved us.

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“How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7)

In the remote villages of Afghanistan, something important is happening, with your support. Engaged in mission together, the church and BMS are helping to save the lives of mothers and babies who are dying from preventable illnesses and birthing complications.

On Sunday, through our video Life’s First Cry, we met Andisha, who gave birth to 11 babies, each of which died within a few months. For more than a decade, Andisha was a mum without any children. Your support for BMS made it possible for a group of local women and men to go to her village to teach the community a BMS-supported safe-birthing course. Andisha now has two beautiful children, and says: “The workshop you made possible has made all the difference in the world.”

Your gifts to BMS enable mission in remote, difficult places where you can’t go – but they save the lives of babies in Afghanistan, and help families who have been through unimaginable pain and suffering. As good disciples, we are partnering to labour together, in the here and now, to bring the new creation Jesus announced fully to life. And to try to make sure that ‘babies don’t die here anymore’. Thank you from everyone in BMS, but especially our Afghanistan team, for your support.

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“The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5b-7)

Last week Tom completed our series on Philippians by sharing about how to live a Christian life which reduces anxiety, stress and worry. Paul set out three ways of doing this:
1) Right Praying
2) Right Thinking
3) Right Living
Paul sets an example of all of these things by his faithfulness in prison, his joy and his positivity in the face of adversity. In life we can sometimes fail to pray, think or live in the right way due to our circumstances – Paul encourages rejoicing in the Lord, not to focus on our circumstances. This is a challenge to the church, especially a united church as amongst worries and anxieties we can sometimes fail to come back to God in rejoicing.
Paul also shared his gratefulness for the church supporting him, it is true that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us but it is still good to help, love and support others too. We need to live in the right way; we need to put ourselves in difficult places for each other to help each other out of anxiety.
The Lord is near; we do not need to fear anything, we do not need to be anxious about anything because He is in control. This doesn’t mean our situation will necessarily go away, (Paul was still in prison) but we can put our faith and trust in someone so powerful that He gives us strength to get through when the lies of our anxiety present themselves.

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“Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14)

Let us consider the Who, the Why and the What of this passage in Philippians 3:8-14. The Who is pretty clear, Paul writes passionately about Christ Jesus. His love for Jesus is such that despite any confidence he once had, any impressive credentials and pedigree in the past, Paul considers everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness or worth of knowing Christ Jesus. And not just a loss, but rubbish (8)! The Why is also pretty clear. Paul loves Jesus because it is only through faith in Him that all people are made righteous (9). Jesus humbled Himself, became a servant and died on the cross so that through faith in Him we can be right with God. And the What concerns Paul’s response. He wants to know the power of Christ’s resurrection in his own life, he wants to share in the sufferings of Christ and attain to the resurrection from the dead (10-11). But he will strain and press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called him and us heavenwards in Christ Jesus (12 and 14). What stops you from loving Jesus as Paul does? What stops you from considering all else a loss in comparison to knowing Him? And what stops you from pressing on for Christ? We must bring these things to God in prayer.

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“Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
(Philippians 2:2)

With Philippians 1:3-5 in mind, sadly there are some who do not share joy in partnering in the gospel. Yet we read in the New Testament about a God whose heart’s desire, and very action in Christ (as the temple curtain was turn in two), is for unity. In Philippians 2, the first major point made by Paul is that the church should be one – in love, spirit and mind. No easy task but agreeing to love Jesus, follow Him and live according to the gospel. His second major theme in this chapter is that we should be servants, exampled by the attitude of Jesus; “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7). This servant-hearted and sacrificial lifestyle was worth it, for “God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). Whilst we’re not Jesus, the same promise is made to those who are faithful to Christ – we will be raised and seated with Him in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:9). Praise God!

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‘I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 1:3-4)

Last Week, Tom began our series on Philippians and invited the congregation to join him in being partners in the Gospel. 3 key areas were drawn up to encourage this Christian unity in our church:
Intense Prayer: Paul prayed gratefully and for big things for Philippi. We as a church need to pray for everything to God in prayer. The key prayer Paul used was for ‘God’s abounding love’ for the people of Philippi and we can still pray that prayer for each other now.
Courageous Witness: Paul was in prison but shared the truth of Christ. We may not feel comfortable where we work, with our friends or in our social time sharing the truth of the gospel but we must be courageous and see God work in that. Bonhoeffer said: ‘being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God’s will.’ Are you doing God’s will where you are? Is it time for you to step out courageously for Christ?
Exemplary behaviour: How we conduct ourselves is pivotal to our Christian task. Paul stated that he would see that Christ was still moving in Philippi from how they conduct themselves and the same is true of us as Christians.
Paul and the church of Philippi set an example of how to live according to the Christian task in unity and in partnership in the gospel. We as a church need to follow this example and be united with each other and other Christians in our city to fulfil our Christian task.