We are starting a new chapter in our “Separate but Connected” series. Paul begins chapter two by pointing out the example that Christ left us. Our motivations affect our sacrifice, our service, our selflessness, and it ultimately affects the unity we either share or don’t share with fellow Christians. It’s time we took a good look at ourselves to see if we are Living for Christ or ourselves.
I was watching highlights from Saturday’s football games, I saw a member of a Top 25 ranked, Division 1 team squirt water on one of his opponents as he was tackled out of bounds. After the game, the coach was asked about the incident. His response was priceless. He said, “What are we 7 years old!?!” Yesterday, that young man’s actions were unworthy of the team and the name that he wore on his chest and back. His behavior was ill-timed and immature—and he forgot that the whole world was watching. As we consider this game of life that we make our way through each day, we must not forget whose name we represent as we try to walk in the Spirit day-by-day. Paul challenges the Philippian believers to live a life that was worthy of the gospel. As we study this passage in Philippians 1, we will learn exactly what that looks like and be challenged to altar our lifestyle to be one that always brings glory to the One who has saved us and made us a part of His family and His kingdom.
Today, we’re going to take a few minutes to think about a time later in Paul’s life—the time when he wrote this letter to the church in Philippi. We find more information about this time in Acts 28. If you were to read that passage, you would discover that Paul is writing this letter almost certainly from the city of Rome where he is imprisoned. But as we will soon see, the ministry of preaching the gospel could not be contained with his incarceration. No! God used his imprisonment to advance the gospel even further than before because the gospel is unstoppable!
Today, we’re going to take a few minutes to think about a time later in Paul’s life—the time when he wrote this letter to the church in Philippi. We find more information about this time in Acts 28. If you were to read that passage, you would discover that Paul is writing this letter almost certainly from the city of Rome where he is imprisoned. But as we will soon see, the ministry of preaching the gospel could not be contained with his incarceration. No! God used his imprisonment to advance the gospel even further than before because the gospel is unstoppable!
We are excited to start our new sermon series called “Separate but Connected”. We will be reading through the book of Philippians, observing how Paul and the Church of Philippi interacted with one another while not being able to be in each others presence. As we go read through the first 11 verses, Paul brings to light what it is to have True Fellowship with one another.
We are excited to welcome to our services today the new Ministry Team Leader at the UA Association of Baptist Students—Stuart Estes.
Many of you may already know Stuart from church camp or other local association activities. He and his wife (Hanna) have been leading the student ministry at Round Mountain Baptist Church in Fayetteville for several years now. They are both recent graduates of the University of Arkansas. Stuart is currently working for Walmart in their corporate headquarters, and Hanna serves as a professor at the university. Stuart’s goal is to be able to serve full-time in the ministry; but he needs our help in order to make that happen!
Stuart will be speaking in both services today. He’ll be sharing more about his vision and ministry plans for the ABS ministry.
He will also be challenging us to consider supporting this ministry both with our prayers and our finances. I hope that you will prayerfully consider becoming a partner in this ministry to help reach the 27,000 students on campus that are from all over the world.
We have come to the end of our study through the Book of Ruth. This story is part of a much larger story of how God brings redemption to the whole world. Just as Ruth and Boaz’s obedience and faithfulness to the Lord impacted future generations in their family, our choice to obey God today will also impact generations to come. Are we leaving a legacy of faith in our homes and communities?
When we left off last week, Ruth had just gone home to Naomi with the six measures of barley in tow. When Ruth conveyed everything that happened at the threshing floor, Naomi said, “Just wait, child. He will not rest until this matter is settled. You can be assured that he’ll do it today!” This is where our story picks up—the morning after their encounter at the threshing floor. Boaz knew what he had to do—he had to give the other man (the closer relative to Elimelech) the opportunity to redeem Elimelech’s widow and widow daughter-in-law. The issue would need to be settled once and for all. As he made his way back into Bethlehem that morning, I’m sure that his mind was racing trying to consider every possible outcome of this delicate arbitration that was about to take place.
As we’ve been walking through the story of Ruth, we have seen tragedy, desperation and deliverance. But up to this point, the deliverance that Ruth and Naomi have experienced has been temporary. As we continue in this story today, we will see how a brave act of courage changes their lives forever.
In our message last week, we considered all the tragedy that Naomi and Ruth experienced in the land of Moab. We talked about Naomi’s desperate condition—questioning God and struggling to see the purpose of her pain. It seemed to her that her life had no purpose—only pain. We need to discover the purpose in our pain, because nothing in our lives is wasted. God uses both good and bad to bring about His purposes in our lives. We must look for and trust in His providence at work in us. There is no such thing as coincidence. Look for God’s purposes in every situation. He was certainly working in Ruth’s life!