Living a gospel-centered life (Pt.4)

Part 4

 “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.”-Philippians 2:1-2

The most effective way for the church to impact the world is for it to operate in unity; not just in what we believe, but in how we conduct ourselves while pursuing a common purpose. 

The idea of being in “one accord” is consistent with Jesus’ prayer for the church, the early church’s experience, and the Apostles’ writings (John 17:20-23, Acts 2:42-47, & 1 Peter 3:8). 

Jesus and the Apostles knew that a unified body of believers would be much more impactful than a few fractured individuals trying to carry a movement. However, a unified body means that we each must be willing to lay aside our own pursuits, promotions, and desires to attain the common purpose-winning souls for Christ. 

Paul’s instruction begins with addressing the root of virtually all of our issues and that is selfishness:

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”-Philippians 2:3-4

It is easy to fall into the trap of only being concerned with our own welfare. To combat this, Paul points us toward four keys to living a selfless life. 

         1. A selfless life is one that is no longer lived to impress others. 

         2. A selfless life is one marked by humility. 

         3. A selfless life is one that values others.  

         4. A selfless life is one that looks out for the interests of others. 

As we begin to live out these keys to selfless living we will soon find ourselves gravitating toward a more gospel-centered life. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Living a gospel-centered life (Pt.3)

“For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

The Apostle Paul recognized that he could not always control his surroundings, but he could always remain focused on one thing and that is regardless of where he ended up, his life would bring honor to Christ. 

Honoring Christ means not living for ourselves. Paul declared that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Although Paul understood that dying would usher him immediately into God’s presence, he also recognized that living was much more fruitful, especially for those he was helping to grow in their faith. Because of this, Paul took his role as an ambassador of the gospel very seriously. 

The gospel of Jesus is a sacred trust. Paul, being fully convinced of this, admonishes believers to conduct themselves worthy of it:

“Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.”-Philippians 1:27

Above all, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. You are citizens of the Kingdom of God, so act like it! Live your life as if you are the only representation of the Gospel of Jesus, to which people will ever be exposed. That is a weighty concept, but if we truly believe Romans 1:16:

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.”

Then our conduct should reflect the seriousness of the gospel we live and proclaim. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Living a gospel-centered life (Pt.2)

“I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”-Philippians 1:9-11

What is God hoping to accomplish in your life? If we live gospel-centered lives, what is the end game? I think that Paul’s prayer for the church in Philippi really underscores God’s heart for every believer:

1.      Overflow with love.

2.      Grow in knowledge and understanding.

3.      Live pure and blameless lives.

4.      Be filled with the righteous character produced from knowing Christ.

All fo this is happening on the inside of us. When we are centered on the inside we are not caught off balance by our circumstances. Listen to Paul speak about his current situation in Philippians 1:12-19:

“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.”

Anyone pick up on the fact that Paul is writing this from prison? Isn’t it amazing how he is able to find the good in his situation proclaiming that most of the believers around him have gained confidence and boldness to speak God’s message without fear because of his imprisonment. Anyone notice the there were people (in the church) trying to undermine Paul and make his life more difficult? Yet, he stayed focused on the gospel being preached and the people’s lives being changed by it. 

Living a gospel-centered life means keeping our hearts and minds fixed on accomplishing God’s work within our sphere of influence; whether that’s as a stay at home mom, on the line at work or at the grocery check out counter. Paul’s circumstances shifted dramatically  taking him from a nice little synagogue in Antioch to a dingy prison cell in Rome, but his mission remained the same. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Living a gospel-centered life (Pt.1)

(Part 1)

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”-Philippians 1:3-6

A couple of months ago we were battling some sinus & flue like symptoms at our house, which left my wife feeling disoriented. For two or three days she felt off balance and out of sorts. It took a couple of days for her to het her equilibrium back and find her footing. Anyone ever experience that? 

This experience cannot only happen to us physically, but it can happen to us spiritually as well. We can become disoriented, off balance and out of sorts trying to live for Christ. This often occurs because we are not focused on what will keep us centered on Christ. 

If we are being honest with ourselves, we would admit that most of us do not live gospel-centered lives. Rather we live our lives centered around our jobs, kids, health or even church. At times, we narrow that focus even more and become fixated on things like sports, sex, drugs, alcohol, or music. 

However, according to Hebrews 12:2 we are to “Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

God’s desire is for us to find our footing and to live our lives worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That begins with understanding Philippians 1:6:

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

First, we must understand that the good work that God started is within you. He is working from the inside out. When we stop to consider Jesus’ mission, we conclude that He didn’t die on the cross to fix our circumstances, but rather to shape your disposition. He is always going to address the quality of your character before He focuses on your quality of life. 

Secondly, God always finishes what He starts. This more than an observation, but a promise. Have you ever started a project that you didn’t finish? How many projects do you have sitting at home that still need completed? 

We all have good intentions, but often suffer from poor follow through. However, unlike some of those projects sitting in your garage, God has promised to finish the work He started in us. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church