We all now what a “couch potato” is, “a person who spends little or no time exercising and a great deal of time watching television.”

Are you aware there are “pew potatoes” too? If you follow the analogy of the couch potato then you understand a pew potato is someone who attends church and watches everyone else without becoming actively involved.

Christianity is a participant sport you might say. It takes work to get into spiritual shape the same way it takes hard work to get our bodies into shape too.

Paul addresses the subject here in Philippians 2. Paul might have titled this message, “Working out what God is working in you…”

Speaking of working out… Here is some interesting statistics for you.

This morning in Philippians 2 we come to what some consider to be the most profound and theologically important words of all of the New Testament writers. In verses 5-11 the apostle Paul points out that Jesus is the ultimate example of what service is like. In just a few verses the apostle Paul makes clear that it was God Himself clothed in human flesh who came from heaven to earth not to be served but to serve, and not just serve but to sacrificially serve by giving His life on Calvary’s Cross. Paul points to Jesus as the ultimate example of both faith and practice and is why I titled this mornings message a “Race To The Bottom” because unlike the ladder of success the world promotes which is always upward, Jesus made it clear in both His teachings and in His modeling that the greatest among us is the servant and when you study the life of Jesus Christ you see the greatest service and the greatest sacrifice of all.

Picking back up in our series “Joy Filled Living” in the book of Philippians the apostle Paul is writing to a church that he started and that is doing really well. Its a good church, a growing church and obviously a pretty mature church based on the unity we find there. I have read this book, all four chapters, all 104 verses countless times now in my life and I am always amazed at the apostle Pauls joy. To think he is writing this book from a roman prison cell and the major theme of his writing is joy. 19 times Paul mentions joy.

Have you discovered in your own life that people more than circumstances have a tendency to rob us of our joy. I remember Pastor Chuck Smith sharing at a Senior Pastors Conference years ago (half kiddingly) he said, “the ministry would be great if it went for the people.”

The Cross is the most powerful display of God’s love for me and you because it’s a Cross that offers FORGIVENESS.

The significance of this day is lost on a great many people, just as it was in the day Jesus entered the city ridding on a donkey... We call it “the triumphant entry” or “Palm Sunday” but both of these names can easily be misunderstood. As people we often put our expectations on God and find ourselves disappointed when He isn't what we imagined or wanted Him to be... This was true of Jesus as well on the 10th day of Nissan as He entered the city.

The book of Philippians is a book about joy. 19 times in just four chapters the apostle Paul talks about joy, unshakeable joy even in the midst of the most trying of circumstances. Remember that the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Philiipi from a Roman prison cell. Uncertain of his fate he takes time to write to a little church he planted and wanted to encourage.

When you think about joy are you aware Jesus wants us to have joy? You recall that in John 15:11 Jesus said to His disciples, “These things have I spoken unto you, . . . that your joy might be full”. If the disciples had never seen Jesus laugh or smile they would not have understood what He meant by joy. Yes, Jesus was a man of sorrows but He also was overflowing with joy too.

I titled this mornings message “It’s Not About Me” for the simple fact that I believe that much of the apostle Pau’s success in this life was his awareness of the tension all believers must deal with in experiencing JOY this side of heaven.

Paul he understood what Casey Kasem, the American radio personality would say as he closed his radio program “American Top 40” each week, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars”

Perspective…

Have you ever met someone that a first you didn’t like them but the more you got to know them, the more you understood their story, something changed in you and you began to like them.


Paul, the prisoner of joy writes the book of Philippians from a Roman cell about JOY. The main these of this book is about JOY. In four chapters, 104 verses in all, the words joy, rejoicing, and gladness appear some 19 times.

I shared with you last week there is a difference between happiness and joy.

Paul is writing this letter to the church at Philippi, which was actually the first church that he started in Europe. You can read about the days that Paul spent in Philippi in Acts chapter 16, where you can read about one of the first converts in Philippi, a woman named Lydia, and also hear some of the specifics of Paul’s hard times in Philippi.

Phillipi was a heavily gentile city. There was no synagogue there. No Jewish presence.

In any city where there were 10 adult males they were required to build a synagogue.

With no synagogue the Jews would go down to the River side to worship. A beautiful place in nature.