“Not Only In My Presence,” Philippians 2:1-13

Open:  Goodbye

I.        The Benefits of Christ:

          A.     “Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the spirit, any affection or mercy…”

          B.     Those are words of friendship and mine is a family that feels well loved.

                  1.      Angie’s prayer before we came to Highview.

                  2.      Demonstrated in the cards, calls, meals, A-Team, Jean M, prayer chain, baby showers

                  3.      Demonstrated by those who gathered in prayer for Kerri, for Jeff W, for Michelle B

II.       Our Responsibility to Each Other as the Church

          A.     Unity: “complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose.”

                  1.      Jeff’s laser light and white-out dots as chair guides.  What kept us aligned?

                           --Shared sacrifice, desire to proclaim Jesus, knowledge that church is more than a building.

                  2.      What destroys unity?  Self-interest (it’s someone else’s job), lost vision, apathy

          B.     Humility: “Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.”

                  1.      “Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.”

                  2.      “You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had.”

                  3.      John 13 foot washing

III.      The Christ Attitude

          A.     “he existed in the form of God but did not regard equality with God as something to be…”

                  1.      but emptied himself by taking on the form of a salve, and by sharing in human nature.

                  2.      “He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on…”

          B.     As a result God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,

                  1.      so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow-in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

                  2.      It is not my church.  It is not your church.  We are caretakers.  It is God’s church.

                  3.      Light the white Advent candle, explain the burned downed ones.

Conclusion:  The dangerous tendency of a legacy to grow.  It gets so big nothing else can grow.