Philippians 3:12-4:1, after he offers himself as an example for following the Gospel, Paul makes it clear that he hasn’t achieved perfection, but he is striving to reach it through following Christ. Only when we get to heaven can we be perfect, so it imperative that we stay focused on staying true to the Lord with our faith.

In Philippians 3:1-11, Paul warns the Philippian church about false teachers adding requirements to the gospel and tells them that even his righteous deeds and strict obedience to Jewish law were worthless compared to Christ’s sacrifice. True followers worship by the Spirit, glory in Christ, and put no confidence in the flesh. We must also be careful not to assign extra requirements for being a follower of Christ.

Breaking from Philippians, Pastor Kevin turns to address the struggles many people are going through and ways to persevere. Jesus will not let sadness be the end of your story, so if you are going through difficulties, reach out to your church family for help. If you know someone struggling, reach out! Let them know they are loved.

In Philippians 2:12-30, Paul continues by calling on the church to be a shining example of unity through finding joy in obedience to God. Paul then lifts up the examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus, who both served with him through the difficulties. Have we allowed obstacles to stop us from fulfilling the calling God placed on our lives?

In Philippians 2:5-11, Paul offers Christ’s example of the attitude we need to have through a hymn. The hymn outlines Christ’s humiliation by His own acts and His exaltation by the acts of God. Our challenge is to respond by emulating that attitude.

In Philippians 2:1-4, Paul turns his attention to the internal church, which lacked the unity it needed. When a Christian community is united, we receive many blessings. To boost the unity within our community, we must share the same outlook, and show humility and consideration for others.

In Philippians 1:27-30, Paul reminds the citizens of Philippi that their true citizenship resides in heaven and calls on them to remain united for the Gospel, having the privilege to suffer for Christ's sake. When we suffer for the same cause, we can find joy in the unity of our community of fellow Christians.

Pastor Kevin revisits an old sermon derived from 1 Peter 2:18-25 to remind us that when we patiently endure unjust suffering in our lives, God is pleased with us. Because Jesus Christ suffered in his crucifixion and death for our sins, we can have hope that our earthly suffering will give way to eternal peace in heaven. 

In his first sermon of the new year, Pastor Kevin asks us to think about what we learned and have to be thankful for from 2020. This year, let us focus on what's important: following God's intended plan for our lives. Our challenge for 2021 is to find a verse of scripture to memorize and focus on.

There are so many evils that we are confronted with on a daily basis that we can forget that we are in a war against Satan, but as Christians, we don't come empty-handed! As Jennifer Urban mentions from Ephesians 6:10-19, we have the Armor of God to protect us and help us take a stand.