What Life Is About - Philippians 1:18-24

Why did God make us? Why did he save us? What is our life about? The answer to all three questions is the same. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks the question this way: "What is the chief end of man?" And it answers it thus: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever." But how is that lived out specifically? Paul gives a more specific answer in Philippians 1:21:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

For the Christian life is Christ. And for Paul, Christ is the gospel, Christ is God's glory, and the redemption wrought by Christ's cross is the purpose for which the world was created. This is the subject of Paul's discourse early in his letter to the Philippians.

I invite you to take a listen to the Bible study from this past Wednesday night where we covered this portion of the letter. It is my prayer that it will be a blessing to you.

Click here:  What Life Is About - Philippians 1:18-24

Psalm 19:11-14 - The Blessing of God's Word

Finishing up my sermons from Psalm 19, this message covers the last four verses. How does God's speech in special revelation affect my speech in everyday life? More specifically, how does God use the Bible in our lives to make us more like Christ?

In this sermon I contrast the covenants of law with the covenant of grace and point out how in Christ we have great reward. There's lots of gospel here and I hope it will be a blessing to you.

To listen to the sermon click here: Psalm 19:11-14 - The Blessing of God's Word

Philippians 1:9-11 - Paul's Prayer for the Philippians

When Paul prayed for the saints at Philippi, how did he do so? What was his prayer about? Upon what did it focus? And how does Paul's prayer here help us to know how to pray for each other?

And if God is sovereign why should we pray anyway?

This is the fifth study in our verse by verse exposition of the Epistle to the Philippians. Paul is still laying a foundation for what is going to be expounded upon throughout the rest of the letter. I hope that you will take the time to listen, and think, and grow in grace with us as we study this book. Just click the link below.

Philippians 1:9-11 - Paul's Prayer for the Philippians

Psalm 19:7-10 - Special Revelation

The word of God, to David, is more precious than gold, sweeter than honey. He praises it for four verses in the middle of this 19th Psalm.

This is my third sermon from Psalm 19. In the first I gave an overview of the entire psalm. In the second I focused on the first six verses, or general revelation. Now in this sermon I focus on verses seven through ten in which David praises the written revelation of God. In the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles hold to a very high view of Scripture. From where do they get this? Could it be that it comes from what David himself said about God's word?

What is more valuable than gold? What is sweeter than honey?

Click here: Psalm 19:7-10 - Special Revelation

Philippians 1:6-8 - All of Grace

What does perseverance mean? Does the Bible teach "once saved always saved"? In Philippians 1:6 Paul has made a bold statement and given us what has been described as the very definition of what it means to be a Christian. Here it is:

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. 

Does this mean that everyone who professes faith in Christ will be saved? What does it mean when we say that our salvation is all of grace? We cover this and more in the fourth in our series on the book of Philippians. Take a listen and grow in your understanding of this great work of salvation that God is working in us through Christ. Our prayers are that you will grow in grace and be blessed.

Click here: Philippians 1:6-8

Psalm 18 - David's Victory Psalm

Psalm 18 is fifty verses long. Most of the psalms are shorter than this, but David, in his exuberance over God having given him victory over his enemies, just keeps going and going and going giving God the glory. We could take a lesson from that to speak little about ourselves and much about Christ.

Rather than try to cover every verse of this psalm one verse at a time, I tried to give an overview of it and deal with its main themes. What does David's worship say about our worship? How do we in the New Testament look at some of David's themes like vengeance and war? How is Christ winning the victory for us? The MP3 audio file is at the link below. Clicking will open up a new window and take you to the page at Soundcloud where you can stream the sermon or download it for later listening.

Click here: Psalm 18 - David's Victory Psalm

Philippians 1:3-6 - The Fellowship of the Gospel

As Christians, we belong to something grand, something larger than ourselves. Our lives have purpose. We are a part of God's great redemptive work in the world.

Paul writes to the Philippians and tells them that he thinks about them often, thanking God for them, and praying for them. Then he mentions that his prayers are always joyful because of their partnership, or fellowship with him in the gospel. In this study we talk about what this means, what it meant for them and what it means for us. Already in this letter Paul has given us a motif, not only for this letter, but for all of life. Check out the link below and stream the audio for yourself. Or you can download it to listen later. May God wonderfully bless.

Click here: The Fellowship of the Gospel