Paul began this letter to his friends in Philippi by telling them that every time he remembers them he does two things, he thanks God for them and he prays for them joyfully. Tonight we are going to begin to see why Paul feels so strongly for this group of people, what it is about...
Author: City of Refuge
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I Chronicles 13:1-14 “Uzzah’s Life Mattered”
What does it mean to be a shepherd? In the literal it’s to tend sheep. A shepherd leads, protects and provides for the flock that is left in his care. He fights off enemies, he leads to safety, he sets boundaries that keep each sheep and all the sheep within his sight and he teaches...
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Philippians 1:2-5 “Grace, Peace and Fellowship”
The last time we were together we basically studied two words from Philippians 1:1, bondservants and saints. Paul begins the letter by setting himself and Timothy in position as the servants of Christ and then addresses the entire church, every single person within the community as saints in Christ. The focus of the entire letter...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “For Our Sake, Again”
Three and a half months ago we started studying this passage with the same verse that we will end with today, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Everything that has ever been done for mankind, from our...
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Hannah’s Story: The Power of Toil
We’ve all been told that we appreciate and enjoy things more when we have had to work for them rather than just having them handed to us. We are also familiar with the saying “Good things come to those who wait”. My question today is that, if working and waiting produce good things then why...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “The Compassion of Reconciliation”
In the last weeks we have talked about God’s pursuit, we have talked about God’s pleading, we have talked about the ministry of reconciliation and we have talked about the heart that is required to rightly deliver the message of reconciliation, today we will talk about the message itself. In Luke 6:45 Jesus said “The...
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Philippians Bible Study: 1:1 “Servants and Saints”
This week we moved into the first chapter of Philippians concentrating on Paul’s introduction. In a few simple words Paul reveals intimacy in friendship, equality in relationship and humility in community. My hope and prayer is that we will find, in these few words that the church is in need of leadership but has no...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “The Heart Behind the Message”
In verses 18 and 19 of our text Paul said that God has given “us” the ministry of reconciliation and that He has “committed” to “us” the message of reconciliation. As those who have been reconciled to God through the work of Jesus we have not just had our sin removed and the Holy Spirit...
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Philippians Bible Study: Introduction: “A Postcard from Prison”
Tonight we begin our study of the book of Philippians by way of Acts 16. In Acts 16 Paul begins his first missionary journey without Barnabas as his partner. His first two steps are “blocked” by the Holy Spirit and then, in a vision, Paul and his team are directed to go to Macedonia, their...
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II Corinthians 5:14-21 “Are We Living as if God is Pleading?”
Two weeks ago we started this verse and discussed being ambassadors. An ambassador for Christ must be compelled by the love of Jesus, must follow the example of Jesus and must be fully committed to the message of Jesus. For me personally, the most compelling statement made in this entire passage is “as though God...