Notes from Sunday -07/05/09

It was good to be home and back in my own pulpit this morning. I missed being in worship with Shiloh last Lord's Day. And I am thankful that the Lord allowed me and my family to get home safely and be reunited with our church family.

This was my first 4th of July weekend in Jacksonville. I did not know what to expect this morning. I was pleasantly surprised.

We celebrated both Christian ordinances - baptism and the Lord's Supper in worship this morning. What a blessing!

I resumed teaching my new members class today. We discussed one my favorite subjects - the church.

One of the important and difficult parts of verse-by-verse exposition through a book is the selection of preaching portions. This week's text created a great dilemma for me. The paragraph consists Philippians 1:27-30. And until Saturday afternoon, it was my plan to preach the text in one message. But the more I wrote out my thoughts, the more I knew that it would take me two messages to deal with the text. This put me way behind in my preparation. But I still believe I made the right move.

I preached on Philippians 1:27-28. I entitled the message, "A Call to Steadfastness." In these two verses, Paul exhorts the church to steadfastness with threefold instructions:

1. Live for the gospel: "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you......" v. 27

2. Live in unity: "that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel" v. 27

3. Life without fear: "and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign for them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God." - v. 28

It was a hard day in the office today.

Next week, God willing, I will preach verses 29-30 - "The Gift of Suffering."

Praise God for those who were saved and added to the church today.