Today, we have a guest preacher speaking at Redemption Church, whose name is Jeff Durbin.  Jeff Durbin is Pastor/Elder of Apologia Church in Tempe, USA, and has worked for many years as a hospital-chaplain. Jeff is a popular speaker for camps, conferences, churches & schools across the USA. He has participated in outreach to various different religions across the nation and has even engaged in public debate against Atheism. Jeff was featured on a series for the History Channel called, “The Stoned Ages” about the Christian approach to drugs and alcohol. Jeff hosts a weekly radio program heard on KPXQ called “Apologia Radio” and is heard internationally via podcast at apologiaradio.com. Jeff is a World Champion martial artist with 5 Black-Belts. More importantly, Jeff has been married to his bride, Candi, for over 14-years. Candi and Jeff have 4-children: Sage, Immagin, Saylor, and Stellar. Two more children are in heaven with Jesus, because they went to be with the Lord during pregnancy.

Throughout church history and even within our present day, one of the unfortunate struggles within the local church is the inability & unwillingness for believers to get along with one another. Whenever there’s more than one person in a local church, there’s going to be the potential for sparks to fly, for people to be offended, hurt or misunderstood - not that much different than a family. The difference, however, is how we deal with these types of situations as/when they arise. In this week’s passage (Philippians 2:1-11), the Apostle Paul lays out principles of how we must be thinking in order for a church fellowship to journey together for the long-haul. In the verses leading up to the passage (Philippians 1:27-30), the apostle Paul explained how believers could stand strong for God against external conflicts. In this week’s passage, Paul tells us how to get through internal conflicts - conflicts within the body of Christ. As we’re going to see, unity through humility is the key, with Jesus being our example. Read through the passage and discuss with your family what difference humility makes in a local church in terms of enabling people to get along with one another.

Today we will be looking at Philippians 1:19-30. This passage reveals how confident Paul was about what awaited him, should he face death. The threat was real, but Paul was assured that his life was in God's hands, and he demonstrates an unwavering commitment to glorify God whether by his life, or by his death (Philippians 1:19-26). Using the opportunity of his circumstances, Paul exhorts the believers in Philippi to live wholehearted lives, dedicated to Christ and His gospel, regardless of the consequences. Theses verses will help us to understand and hopefully embrace a willingness to not only share the gospel, but to suffer for the gospel also, if God allows this (Philippians 1:27-30).

Last Sunday, we began a study in the book of Philippians, a letter that the Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Philippi which he had helped establish (Acts 16), and a church that he was now writing to from prison. Following his words of thanksgiving (Philippians 1:1-11), in this week’s passage, Paul seeks to give the Philippians a spiritual perspective on his present circumstances within prison. Due to the close relationship between Paul and the Philippians, they were understandable troubled about what was happening to Paul. But Paul explains how he could still maintain joy in serving the Lord, despite the hardship that he was facing by 1- Putting the Gospel first (Philippians 1:12-14) 2- Loving Christ’s glory more than his own (Philippians 1:15-18) 3- Rejoicing when Christ was proclaimed (Philippians 1:18). Read the passage with your family and discuss what kinds of things cause you to lose joy while serving the Lord, along with ways you are able to overcome that.

Last Sunday, we came to the end of our study through the book of Ruth, which means that this coming Sunday, we are beginning a new series of studies, this time, in the book of Philippians. Acts chapter 16 gives the context of how the church in Philippi was started, along with Paul’s relationship with the Philippians. Although Paul covers many subject matters in this letter, one of the primary themes has to do with “joy”. Not merely a joy that comes from one’s circumstances, after all, Paul was penning this letter from a Roman prison. But it’s a joy that is primarily experienced “in the Lord”, rooted and grounded in Christ. In the passage today, Paul expresses joy in fact that God is continuing to spiritually grow the church in Philippi (Philippians 1:3-6), that He’s growing his own affections for the Philippians (Philippians 1:7-8), and that He’s able to answer his prayers for the on-going good of the Philippians (Philippians 1:9-11).

This Sunday, we come to the final chapter in the book of Ruth along with our final study in this series of studies through Ruth. In chapter 4, we are given the account leading up to the marriage between Boaz & Ruth, along with the blessing that followed. Boaz did not have first right to buy back Elimelech’s estate, which included Ruth’s hand in marriage, until the nearer kinsman had a chance to accept/reject the opportunity. However, the nearer kinsman did not view this opportunity as a good business deal, fearing that it would somehow ruin his inheritance. Boaz on the other hand, takes Ruth’s hand in marriage and makes her part of his inheritance, which leads to her becoming part of the direct family line to King David, and eventually Jesus Himself. In this chapter, we see so many parallels between Boaz and Christ. Christ came as a man in order to become our close kinsman. Then similar to Boaz, Christ was willing to pay the required price in order to make us part of His inheritance, claiming us (the church) as His bride. The price paid to redeem us could be viewed as a “bad business deal” from Christ’s point of view, given that we had nothing of worth to bring to the table - but Christ paid it anyhow being motivated by love for us. The book began with a funeral and it ends with a wedding! So too is the Christian life.

As we come to chapter 3 in our study of the book of Ruth, we see this beautiful story of redemption unfolding even further, as Boaz consents to being Ruth's "Kinsman Redeemer". Ruth is vulnerable, but as she places her trust in God, and in the godly counsel of her mother-in-law, God directs her paths into peace and safety. Boaz is not only able, but also willing to redeem Ruth, and grant her provision and protection. In this chapter we learn much about what it means to trust God and submit to God, even in our vulnerability. We see in the life of Ruth, a great example of how we can respond to our Redeemer, and how He is not just able, but willing to bless us in so many ways when we do. Discuss with your family this week ways in which God has provided and protected you in the past, and encourage one another knowing that as we trust Him, He will continue to do so in the future.

Having come to the end of our series of studies through 2 Timothy, we are starting a new book study today, which happens to be the book of Ruth.  The events of Ruth took place in a time called “The Judges” - a very dark time in Israel’s history, where “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25), & were reaping the consequences of their continued disobedience to God. Yet in the midst of a time period where Israel was a divided & defeated nation, we are given a very beautiful love story of redemption.  In these 4 short chapters of Ruth, we are given a story of a Gentile woman who was seen as being outside of the fold of God’s blessing, who was spiritually impoverished & who was despised by God’s people. Yet, following the death of her husband, she chose to place her trust in the true & the living God - as God sovereignty guided each one of her steps, to be married to another who was far greater. The book of Ruth is significant in a redemptive sense, because it gives us a picture of Christ’s relationship to the church - showing us that no person is so far outside the reach of God’s grace that they cannot be saved. As we’ll see in this 1st chapter, Ruth had everything going against her, but the Lord reached out and saved her.

As we come to our last message in 2 Timothy, we see the climax of Paul's personal and heart-felt instruction to Timothy to persevere in the things of the Lord. Paul at this point was at the end of his earthly life, and these verses are the last recorded words we have of this great servant of God.  Our theme through the book of 2 Timothy has been perseverance. In these final words from Paul, Timothy is encouraged by Paul's example of persevering until the end. That is possible for the believer because God is always with us, and promises to help us finish well if we trust in Him. This inspiring text presents us with 4 difficult truths that we need to accept, and 5 glorious truths that we need to embrace. In doing so, by God's grace, we too can persevere until the end.