Philippians 1:1-11; 4:21-23
December 9, 2o18
preached by Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“‘Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people; for there is born to you this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ In these words you clearly see that he is born for us. He does not simply say, Christ is born, but to you is born; neither does he say, I bring glad tidings, but to you I bring glad tidings of great joy. Furthermore, this joy was not to remain in Christ, but it shall be to all people.”

~ Martin Luther (1483-1546), German theologian, writer and key figure in the Protestant Reformation

“But what about the ordinary man – supposing, for a moment, that such an abstraction existed: what attracted him to Christianity? Undoubtedly the love of Christians had a lot to do with it…the warmth of their fellowship, their manifest enthusiasm, the universal applicability of their message…”

“They made the grace of God credible by a society of love and mutual care which astonished the pagans and was recognized as something entirely new. It lent persuasiveness to their claim that the New Age had dawned in Christ.”

~ Michael Green (1930-present), British Anglican priest, from Evangelism in the Early Church

“The religion of the Greeks does not yet prosper…. Why do we not observe how the charity of Christians to strangers…has done the most to advance their cause? For it is disgraceful that…the impious Galileans [aka Christians] support our poor in addition to their own, while everyone is able to see that our coreligionists lack aid from us!”

~ Roman Emperor Julian (332-363), “Letter to Arsacius”, 360 AD

“We who formerly treasured money and possessions more than anything else now hand over everything we have to a treasury for all and share it with everyone who needs it. We who formerly hated and murdered one another now live together and share the same table. We pray for our enemies and try to win those who hate us.”

~ Justin the Martyr (100 AD-165 AD), early Christian theologian and apologist

“In Christ there is no East or West
In him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of Love!
Throughout the whole, wide earth.”

~ William Arthur Dunkerley (1852-1941), English writer, teacher, mayor and deacon

Sermon Passage

Philippians 1:1-11; 4:21-23 (ESV)

Philippians 1

¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ 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. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 4

²¹ Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. ²² All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.