Exhibit A: Timothy; This is what selfless Sacrifice looks like.
- I care about People. (Phil 2:20)
- I am focused solely on Christ. (Phil 2:21)
- I submit to godly Leadership. (Phil 2:22)
Exhibit B: Epaphroditus; This is what selfless Endurance looks like.
- I care about the Church. (Phil 2:26)
- I won’t let Suffering stop me. (Phil 2:27)
- finish the Job. (Phil 2:30)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:02
Now, all in favor of being real?
00:03-00:03
All in favor?
00:04-00:06
Is there anybody here at all that's like, "You know what?
00:07-00:09
"I just wanna be a big phony.
00:10-00:11
"That's really what I'm after.
00:11-00:12
"You know what?
00:13-00:17
"That's how I want people to remember me." Like, you remember that guy?
00:17-00:21
He was a big phony, and he was really good at pretending to be something that he wasn't.
00:21-00:22
Anybody?
00:23-00:28
If that's your passion, you're not gonna be very comfortable here this morning.
00:29-00:31
because I wanna be real.
00:32-00:33
I wanna be real.
00:34-00:35
I wanna be transparent.
00:36-00:37
I wanna be authentic.
00:39-00:40
I wanna be real.
00:40-00:42
And we saw last week what that meant.
00:44-00:45
What does it look like when we're real?
00:46-00:52
And we saw that the apostle Paul told us to work out our salvation.
00:55-01:15
And then he says, "For it's God who works in you." And that's where reality, that's where being authentic, that's where being the real deal, that's where it has to start, at that level of being who God's called you to be and being who God's equipped you to be.
01:16-01:17
I wanna be real.
01:20-01:32
And after last week, you can walk away from that message and you can be like, well, yeah, I kind of hear what you're saying and I've wrestled with this as I have.
01:33-01:35
So I know what you were asking.
01:35-01:39
You're asking yourself, what does it look like when someone's real?
01:40-01:42
What does it look like when somebody's the real deal?
01:43-01:47
That's why the title of this message is, these guys are for real.
01:48-01:50
All right, these guys are for real.
01:51-02:17
you're gonna be driving home from church today, and whether you're with your girlfriend or with your spouse, some of you are gonna be doing it with your children, you're gonna be driving home from church today, and you're gonna turn to the person next to you, and you're gonna say, "Those guys were for real." Or if you came to church by yourself, you're gonna be getting on the phone on your way home and saying, "These guys are for real." All right?
02:18-02:19
These guys are for real.
02:20-02:30
In preparing this message, we're going to be reading the text here in a second, but we're gonna see the Apostle Paul was talking about a couple of real guys.
02:30-02:34
And I got to thinking, how many people remember Chuck Norris jokes?
02:34-02:36
How many people remember Chuck Norris jokes?
02:36-02:37
A few of you?
02:38-02:38
Okay.
02:39-02:42
How many people have never heard of a Chuck Norris joke?
02:43-02:44
Oh, okay, there's a few of you.
02:45-02:46
Well, gosh.
02:47-03:15
Chuck Norris jokes were really popular or four years ago, and during that time I was like leading a youth discipleship program, so I was really hip to the Chuck Norris jokes. But basically these jokes are obvious exaggerated statements of Chuck Norris's manliness because he's often portrayed in movies and his TV show. What's his TV show? Oh you got it!
03:15-03:23
I knew what it was. I was just saying, "Walker, Texas Rage!" I mean, I think that's what it was, I mean, I might've passed it on the dial.
03:25-03:27
Okay, truth is out.
03:31-03:42
But I looked up online, and you might be like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, "those are so like four years ago." Yeah, maybe.
03:42-03:46
But I gotta admit, like I said, I'm going for transparency, right?
03:46-03:51
I gotta admit, I laughed out loud at a couple of these, because in the last four years, A couple of new ones have sprung up.
03:53-03:57
Fear of spiders is arachnophobia.
03:58-04:02
Fear of tight spaces is claustrophobia.
04:03-04:06
Fear of Chuck Norris is logic.
04:10-04:13
Did you know Chuck Norris has a grizzly bear carpet in his living room?
04:14-04:15
It isn't dead.
04:15-04:16
It's just afraid to move.
04:19-04:20
They're still funny.
04:22-04:25
Let's seriously, you don't have to tell anybody that we talked about this.
04:26-04:28
Like, you know, I laughed though.
04:28-04:32
Did you know that ghosts sit around a fire and tell Chuck Norris stories?
04:34-04:39
Did you know that death once had a near Chuck Norris experience?
04:42-04:44
This last one just tickled me.
04:46-05:06
Did you know that one time Chuck Norris and Superman had a fight and they had a little wager going into the fight and they said, "Whoever loses from now on has to wear their underpants "on the outside of their clothes." All right, enough of that.
05:06-05:10
Well, in this section, why are we talking about Chuck Norris?
05:10-05:14
We're going to read about the apostle Paul's versions of Chuck Norris, okay?
05:15-05:16
Paul didn't tell Chuck Norris jokes.
05:17-05:18
Paul told Timothy jokes.
05:19-05:22
Paul told Epaphroditus jokes.
05:23-05:23
Okay?
05:24-05:30
So let's look at Philippians chapter two, picking up in verse 19.
05:32-05:41
Paul says, "I hope in the Lord Jesus "to send Timothy to you soon, "so that I too may be cheered by news of you.
05:44-05:49
For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.
05:51-05:55
For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
05:55-06:03
But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel.
06:04-06:08
I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me.
06:09-06:14
And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
06:18-06:30
I've thought it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier and your messenger and minister to my need.
06:32-06:38
For he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
06:39-06:43
Indeed, he was ill near to death, but God had mercy on him.
06:43-06:48
And not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
06:50-06:52
I am the more eager to send him.
06:53-07:00
Therefore, that you may rejoice in seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.
07:01-07:07
So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men.
07:08-07:23
For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me." I'd like to remind you that the Apostle Paul, when he wrote this, was in a prison in Rome.
07:24-07:27
And he was actually in a private house, chained to a guard.
07:30-07:31
And he would have had some needs.
07:33-07:34
Well, Timothy was with him.
07:35-07:38
We saw in Philippians 1, 1, Timothy was with him.
07:38-07:39
You're like, why?
07:40-07:41
Well, because he always was.
07:43-07:45
Timothy was always right there with Paul and for Paul.
07:45-07:46
We're going to talk about that.
07:48-07:56
And the Philippian church, to whom Paul wrote this letter, they actually sent Epaphroditus to minister to Paul's needs.
07:56-07:58
They heard that he was in prison and he had needs.
07:58-07:59
They're like, we're going to help meet these needs.
08:00-08:00
What are we going to do?
08:01-08:01
You know what?
08:02-08:32
Epaphroditus, and he took an offering and I'm sure some other things to help meet some of Paul's needs. And in this section Paul is just talking about the faithfulness of these two men. Also keep in mind during this day that there were no cell phones. I know it's hard to imagine. What did we do before cell phones? And now they're called smartphones, right? Except for mine. I'm not I'm not gonna tell you what I call mine.
08:34-08:35
They didn't have cell phones.
08:36-08:39
It wasn't like, Paul's like, "Oh, Paphroditus is here.
08:39-08:43
"I'm just gonna call them and say thank you." Couldn't do it.
08:44-08:45
They couldn't Skype.
08:46-08:47
They couldn't FaceTime.
08:47-08:48
They couldn't email.
08:48-08:51
They didn't have CNN to see what was happening in the world.
08:51-08:51
They didn't have the internet.
08:52-08:55
They didn't have NBC, ABC, CBS.
08:56-08:57
They didn't have any of that.
08:59-09:05
To get the news, someone had to come and report it.
09:07-09:11
If news is going to travel, somebody had to take the message and go report it.
09:15-09:23
So Paul's sort of giving an update, not just on his condition, but he's, why is he talking about these two men?
09:23-09:24
Well, look at verse 29 again.
09:26-09:29
I want you to underline or highlight these three words.
09:29-09:41
last three words in the verse where he says, "Honor such men." Honor such men.
09:42-09:58
And sometimes, you know what we do in the church, when we have somebody who is an exemplary example, someone who is such a stellar role model, sometimes in the name of humility, we just sort of, oh, he does it for the Lord.
09:59-10:01
We don't need to recognize him, he does it for the Lord.
10:03-10:04
And I get that.
10:05-10:08
But do you know what else I get is exactly what Paul's doing here.
10:09-10:10
You should honor people.
10:11-10:18
You know, what does Paul say in Romans 13, "Do not withhold honor from him that is due." There's a time to honor people.
10:20-10:22
In the right context, in the right way.
10:22-10:24
And that's exactly what he's calling for here.
10:24-10:26
He's holding these men up as an example.
10:27-10:34
And over and over and over in Philippians, if you've been here at all, we've been talking about three things.
10:35-10:38
That's been humility, selflessness, and joy.
10:39-10:44
Obviously all under the big heading of Jesus, who we talk about every week.
10:44-10:45
But what about Jesus?
10:48-10:53
It's about his humility and selflessness and joy and how that manifests in us and through us.
10:55-10:58
But the question we have on the table is, What does that look like?
10:59-11:06
Well, he already talked about the example of Jesus Christ, and obviously, Jesus is always the ultimate example.
11:09-11:14
And we can certainly look at the Apostle Paul, who would be a great example.
11:15-11:19
But here he gives us two other men, and why does he do that?
11:20-11:21
Well, jot this down.
11:22-11:26
We are much better at following a model than trying to live out a principle.
11:30-11:32
That's why we're going through this passage today.
11:32-11:35
We're much better at following a model than trying to live out a principle.
11:39-11:43
See, principles sort of tell the duty, so to speak.
11:44-11:45
Here's what to do.
11:47-11:50
Models or examples show that it's possible.
11:51-12:02
For example, if I said, you know, one of the virtues that the Bible lifts up is humility, and you're like, okay, well, what's humility?
12:04-12:05
What is humility?
12:06-12:11
Well, it's, some people say, well, it's sort of thinking less of yourself.
12:11-12:15
And, you know, I would say, well, it's more of not thinking of yourself at all.
12:17-12:23
And we can sort of conceptualize this abstract idea of what humility is, but do you know what's even easier than that?
12:24-12:27
It's pointing to someone who models humility.
12:28-12:30
Says right there, you wanna see what humility is?
12:30-12:31
Look at this guy.
12:32-12:33
This guy is humble.
12:34-12:36
He's an example of humility.
12:36-12:38
That's sort of what Paul's doing here.
12:38-12:38
Is everybody with me?
12:41-12:41
Everybody with me?
12:44-12:47
All right, anybody ready for some more Chuck Norris jokes?
12:49-12:50
Look, no, look 'em up yourself.
12:52-12:52
(laughing)
12:55-12:58
Bible's our middle name, that's what we're going after here.
12:58-12:59
I wanna be real.
13:00-13:02
And we read the passage.
13:05-13:08
Let's check out what real disciples say, okay?
13:09-13:11
Here's what real disciples say.
13:11-13:16
And on your outline, Paul says, "Exhibit A, Timothy.
13:18-13:22
This is what selfless service looks like.
13:25-13:27
This is what selfless service looks like.
13:29-13:33
You know, we talked about selflessness, we talked about humility, we talked about the work of the Lord.
13:34-13:35
What does that look like?
13:35-13:36
Paul says, it looks like Timothy.
13:38-13:38
Why?
13:38-13:41
Because here's three things that Timothy says, they're all straight from the text.
13:42-13:44
But the first one is this, I care about people.
13:47-13:48
I care about people.
13:48-13:50
I want you to look at verse 20 again with me.
13:55-13:59
Paul says, what a statement this is.
14:00-14:16
"For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare." I have no one like him.
14:21-14:23
So Taylor Brown, you're in school studying for the ministry.
14:23-14:25
How many people did Paul minister to?
14:25-14:26
Can you ballpark that?
14:27-14:27
It's a lot, isn't it?
14:28-14:30
It's a lot, it's fresher in your mind than it is on mine.
14:30-14:31
But it's a lot, right?
14:31-14:32
Did you say more than 12?
14:33-14:34
More than 100?
14:34-14:35
Yeah, right, keep going.
14:35-14:37
How many people has Paul ministered to?
14:37-14:40
Planted churches, discipled?
14:42-14:43
Thousands, would you say thousands?
14:44-15:03
So would you agree with me that it's sad that Paul's like, "I don't have anybody like Timothy, just him." On one hand, it's great to be as Timothy, I hate to be the pessimist here, but I just think it's sad that here's a man whose whole life was dedicated into pouring into people.
15:05-15:11
And he's like, "Okay, I'm gonna make a list of the people that I really believe have a genuine concern and care for the church.
15:11-15:18
I'm gonna make a list, you ready?" Timothy, true.
15:24-15:24
Right?
15:25-15:26
Is that what he said?
15:26-15:28
He said, "I don't have anybody like him.
15:29-15:37
I don't have anybody like Timothy." Genuine concern for other people.
15:37-15:41
So let me ask you, are you genuinely concerned about others?
15:41-15:43
Here's a quick test for you, all right?
15:46-15:51
'Cause right now we're in church mode, so we're like, yeah, that's a shame that Paul didn't have me.
15:54-15:56
I'm like the John Wayne of caring.
15:58-16:01
I'm like the Michael Jordan of compassion.
16:06-16:08
Well, let's see, let's take a little test.
16:10-16:12
Are you genuinely concerned about other people?
16:12-16:13
Here's just a little test for you.
16:13-16:17
Number one, how much do you pray for other people?
16:19-16:30
Versus how much of your prayer, if you pray, is focused solely on yourself, your needs, me, me, me, God give me, God give me, God give me, God give me, amen.
16:31-16:42
How much of your prayer is, I have this burden for this family and I have this burden for this friend That's an indicator that you genuinely care.
16:44-16:51
When your private prayer life consists of praying for other people, are you genuinely concerned?
16:51-16:52
Here's another question for you, number two.
16:53-17:01
When was the last time you sent an email, or called, or texted, or whatever, just to ask how someone is?
17:03-17:05
You know, that person you know is going through a hard time.
17:05-17:08
When was the last time that you just, "Hey, I just haven't talked to you in a while.
17:08-17:13
"I wanna know how you're doing." Do you do that?
17:16-17:17
Here's a third question.
17:17-17:24
How much money do you give to missions, whether it's through the local church, international, et cetera?
17:25-17:28
Like, well, I don't know if that's a good question to ask.
17:28-17:31
Well, Jesus said that where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.
17:32-17:44
Jesus said, "You find out where you spend your money, "you find out where your heart is." If you really care, if you really care, your checkbook reflects that.
17:46-17:47
It's an objective test.
17:47-17:48
There's nothing to argue about.
17:50-17:52
You show me your checkbook, I'll show you where your heart is.
17:54-17:55
I care about people.
17:56-17:57
That's what selfless service looks like.
17:57-17:58
I care about people.
17:59-18:01
Secondly, I'm focused solely on Christ.
18:01-18:03
This is sort of attached to the first one.
18:05-18:06
Look at verse 21 again.
18:06-18:18
He says, "For they all seek their own interests, "not those of Jesus Christ." Like to remind you that the interest of Jesus Christ is being concerned for others.
18:18-18:20
We're gonna talk about that in a second here.
18:22-18:26
What I wanna focus here, he says, "They all seek after their own interests." What does that look like?
18:29-18:32
Well, it'd be easy for us to kind of gloss over this and villainize those people, right?
18:33-18:39
Like, okay, we're reading here and Paul's like, "For they all seek their own interest." You know who he's talking about, right?
18:39-18:43
Those pagans, those Judaizers, those Pharisees.
18:43-18:44
That's who he's talking about right here.
18:46-18:49
Paul's getting on those, what do you call those?
18:49-18:50
Apostates?
18:51-18:53
That's who Paul's after right here.
18:56-18:59
No, he deals with them in chapter three.
18:59-19:01
Who's he talking about here?
19:02-19:06
He's talking about disciples, right?
19:06-19:14
Look at verse 20, he says, "I have no one like him "who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, "for they all," he's talking about people that he has.
19:18-19:22
He says, okay, so there's Timothy who genuinely cares, and you're like, all right, Paul, I gotta ask.
19:23-19:25
You have one guy that really cares.
19:27-19:29
What would you say about the rest of the guys you have?
19:30-19:39
And here he says, "They all seek after their own interests." We're not talking about pagans here, we're talking about fellow believers.
19:42-19:51
And we have a lot of people sitting in this room right now, and the question is, how many of you fit in verse 21 to say, "I'm really just concerned about my own interests.
19:53-20:00
"My time, my money, my effort, my energy as in pursuit of my interests.
20:00-20:05
Now I said before about, you know, if you let me see your checkbook, I'll tell you where your heart is.
20:05-20:06
Here's another test for you.
20:07-20:08
Keep a checkbook of your time.
20:10-20:11
Keep a checkbook of your time.
20:11-20:12
Have you ever done that?
20:13-20:14
I did that for a season.
20:14-20:15
I learned a lot about myself.
20:17-20:18
Keep a checkbook of your time.
20:18-20:22
How much time have you been spending, you know, on the internet, watching TV?
20:25-20:27
And we're not even talking about evil things, okay?
20:30-20:32
We're talking about things that are just okay.
20:36-20:38
And that's what Paul's talking about here.
20:38-20:39
Do you see that?
20:39-20:40
He says they seek their own interests.
20:40-20:44
They just spend their time on, their energy on, you know, what is it?
20:44-20:50
My new fishing boat or, you know, my hobby, this, or.
20:53-20:57
He says that's what they're concerned, he says, not those of Jesus Christ.
21:01-21:05
So that's why when he's talking about Timothy, what does Timothy say?
21:05-21:07
He says, I'm focused solely on Christ.
21:08-21:17
That's why Timothy was so concerned about people, because you're gonna find that the more you grow in your walk with Jesus Christ, the more you're going to be concerned for people.
21:21-21:24
You know, before I became a Christian, I couldn't have given a rip about any of you.
21:26-21:30
Well, maybe Darren, but the rest of you, I wouldn't have cared about any of you.
21:31-21:34
And that's something that changed when I came to Christ.
21:35-21:39
That was something that God worked in me, was you see people different, right?
21:43-21:46
And that's what Timothy was really experiencing here.
21:46-21:54
He's like, "I care about people because I am so focused on Christ, that being focused on Christ means I'm focused on Christ's mission.
21:54-21:56
And Christ's mission is about people.
21:59-22:00
It's about reaching the lost.
22:02-22:06
It's about equipping and discipling the saved.
22:11-22:15
Third thing Timothy says, I submit to godly leadership.
22:17-22:24
Verse 23, "I submit to godly leadership." I'm sorry, verse 22.
22:25-22:38
"You know, Timothy's proven worth, "how as a son with a father, "he has served with me in the gospel." As a son with a father.
22:41-22:42
What a picture that is.
22:46-22:52
Like a kid sitting down with his dad, learning how to do something together, working on a project together.
22:53-22:54
That's sort of the picture here.
22:59-23:01
I submit to godly leadership.
23:03-23:05
When was Paul sending Timothy?
23:06-23:07
Did you see that?
23:07-23:23
He says, "I hope therefore to send them," verse 23, "just as soon as I see how it will go with me." So when are you sending Timothy? Paul says, "When I'm ready." Does Timothy get a say in that? No, not so much.
23:26-23:32
Like, well, didn't Timothy have a life? Like, did Timothy, like, did he have a family?
23:32-23:36
Did he have, like, anything outside of the ministry? I don't know.
23:36-23:44
Because when I see Timothy in Scripture, what I see is somebody so focused on Christ and so focused on Christ's people.
23:49-23:53
And it all came down to submitting to the leadership that God put over him.
23:54-23:56
Timothy was a pastor's best friend.
23:57-24:01
He was competent himself, but he was completely at your service.
24:02-24:14
And just to tell you, you know, a little insight to the heart of a pastor, nothing means as much to a pastor as the person that says, "I love you, I support you, and I'm here to do whatever you need." That means the world to a pastor.
24:17-24:22
For that person that comes and says, "Look, I'm on board with what the mission of this church is.
24:24-25:04
So let's get to it. Tell me what I need to do and let's get to it, because this is about the kingdom of Christ. This is about making disciples." submit to godly leadership. So that's a little bit about Timothy. Selfless service, selfless service, completely. My life is a result of Christ, it's for Christ, it's dedicated to Christ. Let's move on to Epaphroditus. Exhibit B. Epaphroditus, "This is what selfless endurance looks like." Write down the word endurance.
25:07-25:15
The reason that Paul highlighted Epaphroditus, there's some different things that were going on with him that weren't going on with Timothy that we wanna call your attention to.
25:16-25:20
Well, Paul says, "I'm sending Epaphroditus back to you." Like, why?
25:20-25:29
Like, you know, the Philippian church was like, "We sent him to take care of you, Paul." And Paul's like, "Yeah, I'm sending him back to you." Well, why are you sending him back to us?
25:30-25:31
Well, did you see it in the text?
25:34-25:34
Did you see it?
25:36-25:42
Verse 26, Epaphroditus was distressed because you heard that he was ill.
25:43-25:46
And I'll be honest with you, you're like, how did those messages get relayed?
25:46-25:47
I have no idea.
25:48-26:04
Obviously it was through people traveling in the news, but somehow Epaphroditus heard that the church was all upset because they knew he was ill, but they really weren't sure what happened to him.
26:09-26:10
Sort of like mom, right?
26:11-26:15
Sort of like mom, like if mom calls and you don't answer your phone, what's the conclusion?
26:16-26:17
He's dead.
26:20-26:21
That's happened to me a lot.
26:25-26:35
If my mom calls and I don't answer the phone, you can be sure I'm in a ditch somewhere or I'm being eaten by wolves.
26:37-26:39
The bandit has got me.
26:39-26:41
I was struck by lightning, something.
26:42-26:43
You can be sure.
26:43-26:50
And that's sort of what's happening here is the Philippian church was sort of like mom, like, well, the papyrus is sick, he must be dead.
26:50-26:52
And they were like, so like freaking out.
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Like we love this guy and he might be dead.
26:54-26:57
And Paul's like, "I'm sending him back, okay?
26:58-26:59
"Epaphroditus, you go home, all right?
27:00-27:09
"Go tell them to calm down." So, Epaphroditus, what kind of guy was he?
27:09-27:11
Well, look at verse 25.
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I'm not gonna flesh these all out.
27:15-27:16
You see what he's saying.
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What did Paul think of Epaphroditus?
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He says, "He's my brother, he's my fellow worker, He's my fellow soldier.
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He's your messenger and your minister to my need.
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So what do you think Paul's opinion of Epaphroditus was?
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Thumbs up or thumbs down?
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Yeah, big thumbs up, right?
27:39-27:40
That's quite a list there.
27:44-27:48
So what does selfless endurance look like?
27:48-27:50
Well, here are three things that Epaphroditus says.
27:50-27:52
Number one, I care about the church.
27:52-27:55
Again, he was distressed because the Philippians heard that he was ill.
27:58-28:01
He was distressed because the Philippians heard that he was ill.
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Erin's not here today.
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I told her not to come because coming down 79, there were cars like everywhere, literally on their side, wrong way on 79.
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It was crazy.
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So I said, don't even come.
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So don't tell her what I'm about to tell you.
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(audience laughing)
28:20-28:21
Promise?
28:23-28:25
Mark Bloomingdale says no.
28:25-28:27
Mark, can you cover your ears for a few minutes?
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I will confess that when I am sick, I am a big baby.
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I am a big baby.
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Of course, I never tell my wife that.
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No, I can handle it.
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I'm not a baby when I'm sick.
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I am a baby when I'm sick.
28:44-28:48
When I'm sick, it's like call off everything, right?
28:48-28:50
It's like, but it's just a little cold.
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Like forget it, I'm not doing a thing.
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That happened to me a couple of weeks ago.
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I had the flu and guess what I did for two days?
29:00-29:03
Nothing, I did nothing for two days.
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I had to work like crazy to get caught up because that amount of work remains, right?
29:09-29:10
You know how it goes.
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So Epaphroditus, I don't know what his illness was, but here's what I do know about his illness.
29:17-29:18
Did you see it in the text?
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How serious was it?
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It almost killed him, okay?
29:24-29:26
So it wasn't like he had the sniffles.
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He had something that almost killed him.
29:29-29:30
And it's like, dude, you know what?
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Why don't you just chill out for a while?
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He's like, no, they're concerned, I gotta get back.
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That's care for the church.
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You're like, yeah, you know, Pastor Jeff, this is awfully weak because you said kind of the same thing about Timothy, concern for people, concern for the church.
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Isn't it the same thing?
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And the answer is yes, it is the same thing.
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Like, well, why is it like twice in the same sermon?
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Because nothing else happens without this.
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You see?
30:00-30:09
It's not like, well, Timothy's great because he cares about people, and Epaphroditus is great, well, he doesn't really care about people, but he's got some other really cool things happening.
30:11-30:15
In both cases, it's love for Christ's people, love for the church.
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It has to start there.
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Remember Peter, on the beach with Jesus, Jesus said, "Do you love me?" Peter says, "I love you." What did Jesus say three times?
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What did he say?
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"Feed my sheep." Do you love me?
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and take care of my people.
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And I'd like to remind you, here at Harvest Bible Chapel, we are not selling cookies, okay?
30:46-30:51
We're not in the business of screwing toothpaste caps onto toothpaste.
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We're in the business of caring for people.
30:53-30:54
Do you understand that?
30:56-31:18
We're in the business of, and I say business in quotes, but I'm not doing the annoying air quotes, but we're in the business of Representing Jesus Christ, letting Christ's life be at work through us on the earth, and that always, always, always, always looks like loving and caring for and ministering to people.
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There is no ministry apart from people.
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Believe me, I looked.
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I looked for a long time.
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Can I be involved in ministry but not deal with people?
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Do you know what the answer to that question is?
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The answer is no.
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The answer is no.
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We're in the business of caring for people.
31:44-31:49
But I'd like to remind you of this, disciple makers, disciplers.
31:52-31:55
It can be easy to romanticize church work.
31:58-32:34
It can be easy to romanticize because when you think about ministry, you think of that guy that comes to Christ guy that's just growing and then all of a sudden he's out preaching on the street corner and thousands of people are flocking and we can romanticize church work but the bottom line is church work is about people and their problems. Church work is about people and their good points too. Please hear me church work is also about people and their growth points.
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And that's why sometimes we get frustrated in ministry.
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Yeah, I've done a lot of counseling over the years and sometimes just, oh, don't you get it?
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Don't you see it?
32:47-32:48
Why can't you see it?
32:51-32:55
Because just like me, that person has some growth points.
32:58-32:59
Don't let those discourage you.
33:00-33:03
If you're dealing with people, you're going to have to deal with growth points.
33:03-33:06
And if you're in ministry, that means you're going to have to deal with people.
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Like, well, I don't like dealing with people.
33:14-33:15
Well, then you better check yourself.
33:18-33:19
So I care about the church.
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Two more things.
33:21-33:22
Can you handle it?
33:22-33:24
Number two, I won't let suffering stop me.
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Look at verse 27.
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Indeed, he was ill, near to death, but God had mercy on him.
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I think this is hilarious.
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God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
33:44-33:45
Did you catch the humor there?
33:46-33:50
I don't think Paul was like intentionally trying to be funny, but I think it's kind of funny.
33:50-33:54
But Paul's like, so he was really sick and he almost died.
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And God had mercy on him and he's alive.
33:56-34:06
But you know, as a result, God also had mercy on me 'Cause let's be honest, how bad would I have felt if the guy that was sent to take care of me like croaked on the way?
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You catch it's kind of funny.
34:08-34:09
He's like, "It would have been really sad for me.
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"God had mercy on me because I would have been really sad "if Epaphroditus would have just like face planted "dead as a doornail in the dirt "on the way to take care of me.
34:20-34:23
"I would have felt really, really horrible about that.
34:23-34:32
"So God had mercy on me by letting him live." Well, jot this down, ministry isn't always going to go as you expect.
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That's a lesson that we learned from Epaphroditus.
34:37-34:40
Ministry isn't always going to go as you expect.
34:44-34:50
So many times over the past couple of years, people have asked me, you know, "What's church planning like?
34:50-34:53
"What's church planning like?" And maybe some of you have asked me, do you remember my answer?
34:54-34:55
This has been my like standard answer.
34:56-34:58
Everything I've expected to happen has not.
35:00-35:03
And everything that I never expected would have happened has.
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Every time.
35:06-35:07
Every time.
35:11-35:14
Well, Epaphroditus was certainly testimony to that.
35:15-35:18
Because you're sitting there right now thinking, well, how could God have let him get sick?
35:19-35:19
Right?
35:21-35:25
Didn't God know that Epaphroditus was going to Rome to minister to Paul?
35:25-36:25
God know that? God wasn't cc'd on the email was he? Epaphroditus wasn't taking a vacation, he was going to take care of Paul. So how could God have let him get sick? Well suffering is coming and listen you don't get a pass just because you're serving God. All right? That's the lesson from Epaphroditus. Some people think well I'm serving God therefore I'm not gonna get sick. Nothing bad's gonna to happen to me because I'm serving God and he's got my back." Well, Paphroditus learned that serving God means, "I almost died." Maybe you're sitting here saying things like this right now, "You know, ever since I joined that small group, I've been having money problems. Maybe that's God's way of telling me that I shouldn't be in that small group." That's a lie from the devil. Yeah, God's telling you, "I don't want you involved in making disciples despite what my son said. No! Ridiculous!
36:27-36:50
Well, ever since I started playing with the worship team, I've had health problems. My answer to that is maybe you're playing wrong. But that's not a sign from God that you shouldn't be on the worship team, any more than it was a "It's a sign from God that Epaphroditus "shouldn't have gone to Rome to take care of Paul.
36:51-36:59
"Therefore God hit him with like the ultimate flu whammy." You know, these things must be a sign from God that I'm on the wrong track, right?
36:59-36:59
Wrong.
37:00-37:08
A little reminder for you, just in case we forgot, suffering is normal.
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Suffering is normal.
37:13-37:17
This is a fallen world, which is full of fallen people.
37:17-37:24
The world is under a curse and Jesus promised, in this world you will have trouble.
37:25-37:29
So where in the world did we get the idea that we should all be shocked by hardship or struggling?
37:30-37:31
Where did that come from?
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Oh, it got hard all of a sudden.
37:34-37:34
Yeah.
37:37-37:38
It will.
37:42-37:50
So you're either in hardship now, or you're about 15 minutes away from a trial.
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And maybe there's someone here that's just coming out of one, which just means you're just about to get into another one.
37:58-38:01
Trials are going to come, but this is the question.
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Please hear me, this is the question.
38:06-38:09
Trials are going to come, but are they going to stop you?
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That's the question.
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Whether you're in ministry or preparing to get into ministry, it's going to get a lot harder before it gets a lot easier.
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Is it going to stop you?
38:34-38:36
Is it going to stop you?
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Epaphroditus said no.
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Even though he almost died.
38:47-38:49
And this leads us to our final point.
38:51-39:04
Epaphroditus says, I finished the job, I finished the job, look at verse 30 again, Paul reminds us for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life.
39:08-39:25
"to," circle this word in your Bible, "complete, "to complete what was lacking in your service to me." He's like, "I got a job to do, I'm going to finish it." This is what you need to see about Epaphroditus.
39:25-39:31
Don't leave here going, "Wow, Epaphroditus suffered, wow!" That wasn't his high point, okay?
39:32-39:35
That wasn't what he got marked for because, newsflash, everybody suffers.
39:37-39:42
What Epaphroditus gets points for is that he finished the job.
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That's what he gets points for.
39:45-39:48
He nearly died, but he finished the job.
39:51-39:59
Everybody suffers, but few people endure, and very few people finish.
40:01-40:05
And apparently that's all the concern to Epaphroditus was finishing the job.
40:07-40:08
finishing the job.
40:13-40:17
There are a lot of excuses that we can give to not finish the job that God's put before us.
40:19-40:19
There's a lot of excuses.
40:21-40:34
My wife's really not into me being involved at the church or my kids are at an age where this or the other, or here's an excuse, I almost died.
40:36-40:52
That was Epaphroditus's excuse, but did it stop him? No. So here it is, if you have any excuse which is anything less than "I almost died," then your excuse is lame.
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Okay? Because here we have a guy that wouldn't let that stop him. By faith, by By trusting in God's sustaining grace, you need to learn to say four important words and say them often.
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I'm gonna give you a run at these words, you ready?
41:20-41:22
Here are the four words, I will not quit.
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Can you say that?
41:25-41:26
I'm gonna give you, you ready?
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On the count of three.
41:31-41:32
I want you to close your eyes.
41:32-41:34
You're not saying this to me.
41:35-41:36
You're not saying this to the person beside you.
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I want you to say this unto the Lord.
41:40-41:40
Close your eyes.
41:42-41:45
I want you to say, "I will not quit." You ready?
41:45-41:47
One, two, three.
41:52-41:54
Rest in that for a second.
41:58-41:59
Say it again.
41:59-42:00
You ready?
42:00-42:05
One, two, three, I will not quit.
42:09-42:11
Can you say that and mean it?
42:12-42:15
Can you say that despite what's coming?
42:17-42:18
Knowing that you don't know what's coming?
42:20-42:24
This decision needs made ahead of time.
42:25-42:31
You can't make the decision on whether you're going to endure or not on the spot.
42:32-42:34
You need to make the decision ahead of time.
42:34-42:48
You need to say, "No matter how hard things get, "no matter who abandons me, no matter what it costs me, "no matter the discouragement that surely is going to come, "I will not quit." Do you know how many times I've prayed that prayer?
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And many times I've been praying it in faith, saying, "God, I'm not feeling it right now, but as an act of will, crying out for your sustaining grace that I know that you'll give me, God, I do not want to quit. So God, by your grace, I will not quit. I will not quit." Finish the job.
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So in closing, I'd like to remind you of verse 29. You should have it underlined in your Bible, honor such men, honor such men, people that love the church, that stay focused, that work through hardship, that finish the job. These people should be honored because they're an example, because they are inspiring, and because They are rare.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Philippians 2:19-30
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.