Philippians - God Provides
We are concluding the sermon series from Philippians. We will look at his closing thoughts, and I hope you will see Paul’s mutual love for the Philippian believers. Now, remember. Paul wrote this letter to thank the Philippians for a financial gift they sent him while he was under house arrest. And they sent a man named Epaphroditus with the offering to give it to Paul. While Epaphroditus was there, he cared for Paul, got sick, almost died, got better, and now Paul is about to send this letter back with Epaphroditus to read this letter to the church.
Let’s read:
Philippians 4:15-23 (NLT2)
15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. 18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20 Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen. 21 Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. 22 And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
If you are a skeptic, I know what you are thinking. Paul was not buttering the church to get them to send more money. He is actually being warm and sincere and grateful for the way they blessed him. I encourage you to read through Acts 16 and 17 and discover how Paul met the Philippians and how the church was launched. In short, Paul and the Philippian church had a very warm and special friendship. From the very first, their hearts were joined together through generosity.
They generously bandaged his wounds when he had been beaten and thrown into prison. They generously gave him a place to stay, food, and encouragement. Even after he left town, they kept sending him help to partner with him in telling others about Jesus.
That’s why Paul said…
Philippians 4:15-16 (NLT2)
15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.
The Philippian believers were generous from the moment they surrendered their lives to Jesus. And now Paul wanted them to know that…
LIVING GENEROUSLY GENERATES REWARD
Philippians 4:17 (NLT2)
17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.
Paul was reminding them of this very simple principle. In life, the more generous you and I are to others, the more others will be generous to us. Before you tighten your grip on your wallet, I don’t think Paul is only referring to financial generosity. The Philippians believers had seen the generosity of time, love, and encouragement Paul gave them.
Paul was generous with his worship after he had been beaten in the prison. After being locked up in the inner dungeon, Paul was generous with his love. Paul was generous in sharing the good news of Jesus with the prisoners. Paul modeled the generosity of God’s love for others. And the Philippian believers were pouring out the same generosity they had received from Paul.
When Kristy goes out of her way to be generous toward me with her love and tenderness, I want to go out of my way for her. When others are generous and kind to us, we want to show kindness to them. Paul spoke about this simple principle in his letter to the Galatians. He writes:
Galatians 6:7-9 (NLT2)
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
So, if you sow “doing what is good” to others, you will reap a “harvest of blessing” if you keep it up. I love sharing this example of people who practice generosity in our church. Twice a month, around 40 people show up and distribute food. Over 1700 people in our community receive food from our partnership with a local food bank each month. It's hot. It's humid. The lines are long. But the people serving smile, love, and the sow generosity to bless other people.
If you are a follower of Jesus, by that I mean you believe that God created the world, but the world chose to sin. You believe you lived in disobedience to God, and the punishment for disobedience was eternal separation from God. And, you believe Jesus was God in the Flesh who paid the price for our disobedience on the cross. You believe that Jesus generously suffered, died, was buried, rose from the dead, went to heaven, and will one day return. And because you believe these things, you surrendered your life to God, trusted and received Jesus as your Savior. If you had a moment like that, you are a follower of Jesus.
And now that you are a follower of Jesus, there is a promise that you can claim, as found in Philippians 4:19.
GOD WILL MEET EVERY NEED, SO PERSEVERE WHILE WAITING
Philippians 4:19 (NLT2)
19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Every single person in this room has needs in their lives. We make some of our needs known to everybody, but we keep other needs private. You may make it known that you need more coffee on Sunday morning, but you may not make it known that you are overwhelmed with credit card debt. You may make it known that you are hangry, but you may not share that you are lonely. You may make it known that you and your spouse argued this morning, but you may keep it hidden that you have been quietly thinking about divorce. But God wants to meet your needs. God wants to work miracles in your life. God wants to restore your marriage, restore your relationships, and restore your life.
You may be walking through a difficult season in your life right now, but I invite you to persevere. For the next few minutes, I will highlight the perseverance many people showed during a difficult season at Beach Church.
In 2019, Beach Church was recognized as the 83rd fastest-growing church in America. The parking lot was filling up. By the spring of 2020, the church was averaging over 1,500 in worship, and because of the growth, the staff was preparing to launch a third worship service. But by 2022, because of internal strife and division, worship attendance had dipped into the three-and-four hundreds, leadership left, and people wondered if God was finished working in Beach Church. Morale among staff and members was at an all-time low. The 1,900-seat worship center felt emptier each week, and visitors stopped attending. Many feared that Beach Church would soon close its doors for good.
It wasn’t easy. It was hard. For many, that season felt heavy, confusing, and uncertain. Yet you continued to serve at Guest Central when there weren’t many guests. You continued to serve in the parking lot when there weren’t any cars to help park. You continued to serve on our First Impressions team and maybe over-greeted the few guests who visited. Your friends tried to convince you to go to church with them. People said to “give up” and “sometimes churches die.”
But you continued to give, you continued to serve, and you continued to keep moving forward when church life got hard. And today, people are walking through the doors at Beach Church like never before. Our lobby is filled with joy, laughter, tears, and prayers each week. Entire families are surrendering their lives to Jesus, getting baptized, and experiencing hope! Since the beginning of 2024, we have welcomed 1400 guests in worship, gave away over 500 bibles, baptized over 174 people, and have had over 65 professions of faith. To keep up with the movement of God, we have added a Family Pastor, a Student Pastor, and today, a Director of Children’s Ministry.
And…
Two weeks ago, Outreach Magazine contacted me to inform me that in 2024, Beach Church was ranked as the 58th fastest-growing church in America. Thank you for trusting God when things weren’t clear. Thank you for trusting God when you were discouraged. Thank you for wedging your foot into the door and keeping it propped open for people to come and experience the life-changing love of Jesus.
We are a church where the broken overcome. We are a church where marriages can be restored. We are a church where those who have been at the end of their rope can offer a ladder to those who are now at the end of theirs. And friends, because a group persevered in the waiting…
YOU HAVE A PLACE AT BEACH CHURCH
Philippians 4:20-23 (NLT2)
20 Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen. 21 Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. 22 And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
As Paul closes his letter, we see the incredible sense of love he has for this church. If you haven’t yet felt that sense of belonging here at Beach Church, it may be because you have not yet begun to live transparently. I remember the initial weeks after I surrendered my life to Jesus. From the time I surrendered my life to Jesus at 18, I stepped up to serve in any area that would take me.
I got involved in leading the student ministry. I got involved in teaching Sunday School. I got involved with ministries that met on my college campus. I took the first step and initiated relationships. I believed that I would be loved and accepted, and I was.
For the first three years after I gave my life to Jesus, I was a dirty, hard-working construction worker. I had a beat-up car, worn-out clothes, a mullet, and didn’t quite fit in with the little Baptist church I attended. Still, I believed everybody loved and cared for me because they were part of God’s family, so I kept initiating relationships and getting involved. Not everybody understood me, but I loved them anyway.
And you get to be you here at Beach Church. You can have a mullet and be stuck in the 1980’s, and it’s okay. You can have a flattop and be stuck in the 1950s and it’s okay. You can listen to emo and be stuck in the 2000s, and it's okay. You can have a lifted four-wheel-drive truck or drive a Tesla; it's okay. You belong here at Beach Church. You have a place, whether you are a young married couple, single, divorced, or parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents. If you continue to persevere and trust that God will meet your needs, you will find a place to belong. But you must be willing to take the first steps.
Jesus didn't do life alone. He invited the disciples to join him. Don't sit back and wait and just randomly bump into people. Be intentional. Begin to experience that sense of belonging by downloading the Beach Church app. If you can play an instrument or like to sing songs of worship in the shower, you may be a good fit for our worship team. Take the initiative, complete the app's digital connect card, and let us know.