WEBVTT

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Where we look this morning at the text that God

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wants to draw our attention to as we begin a

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month of emphasis regarding our management of

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life Philippians 1 21 a familiar verse and by

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God's providence. It also happens to have been

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the life verse of Donna Magnus For to me to live

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as Christ writes Paul and to die is gain Complete

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this sentence in your own mind. Life is, and

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then fill in the blanks, life is what to you?

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There would be some who would say life is doing

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the best you can with what you've got. Others

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would say life is realizing your self potential.

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Someone else might say life is finding and loving

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that special person who is your spouse. Others

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would say, Life is raising my family and finally

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getting to an empty nest. Others would say, no,

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life is retiring and finally enjoying what you've

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accumulated through your working years. How would

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you complete that? Life is. The author of the

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hymn, This Is My Father's World, Maltby Babcock,

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said this. Life is what you are alive to. Life

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is what you are alive to. In other words, life

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is what excites you. Life to you is what motivates

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you. Life is what turns you on. To the Apostle

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Paul, life was Christ. The essence of being alive

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to Paul was knowing Christ and then making him

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known. In chapter 3, verse 10, he says, oh, that

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I may know Him, that I may know Christ. In chapter

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1 of Philippians, he says, Christ is proclaimed,

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and in this I rejoice. What really turned the

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apostle Paul on was knowing Jesus Christ and

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then making Him known. Or as he summarizes it

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in this verse, to live is Christ. Although he

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faced the prospect of death by execution, death

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which he personally desired, by the way, so that

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he could go to be with Christ, which he saw as

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far better, he nonetheless saw life, whatever

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it brought, and however long it might last, as

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an opportunity to serve Christ and His purpose

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in the world. It seems to me that's a great perspective

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for all of us to start the new year. And to start

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this month, January, as we think about the management

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of our lives. What I want to talk about this

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morning is this, that life is Christ, as Paul

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says, life is Christ knowing and serving him.

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It seems to me that that's the biblical perspective,

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however foreign it may sound, to our ears in

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a world like ours. More commonly, we hear ideas

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like this, life is a beach. or something that

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sounds similar to that. Life is fun. Life is

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pleasure. Life is entertainment. There are others

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that say, no, life is self -actualization. Life

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is about fulfilling my dreams. Then there are

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those that say life is really about finding the

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God within you and drawing upon your human potential

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to achieve your goals. Well, thank God He has

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delivered us from these deceptions. Yet, how

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easily we lose sight ourselves of what life is

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all about. Life is Christ. Knowing Him, serving

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Him. Now, I make that claim based upon the suppositions

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that seem to arise right out of Philippians.

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These suppositions are what Paul based his life

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upon, and we as well need to base our lives upon

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these ideas. First of all, that God arranges

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our lives by providence. Paul had been led to

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Philippi in the first place by a vision. A man

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from Macedonia said, come over and help us. And

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Paul took that as God's direction, God's providential

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direction, to go to Macedonia and to Philippi

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and the other cities there. The Philippians then

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had been saved. And God was at work in their

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circumstances and in Paul's circumstances. You

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see, life is a gift from God. God is the giver

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of it. It is not an accident. Therefore, it is

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not to be viewed or used carelessly. Life is

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a gift. It is sacred. It is not merely a biological

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product. Life is a gift from God. And the circumstances

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of life are sovereignly provided for us. I think

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of several respects in which life is providentially

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provided. First of all, in respect to our ancestry.

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Paul had been born a Jew in a family where he

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was trained in the law. He grew up as a Pharisee.

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And all of that was by God's providence to prepare

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him to be the unique person that he was in God's

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plan. Every one of us is the same. We are born

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of the parents that we had. by God's design.

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Some of you may not even have known your parents,

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your biological parents. But the fact is that

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God brought you into the world with the parents

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that He designed for you. And following from

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that, God designs for you by providence your

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appearance. Yes, I'm sorry, He did. No, I'm not

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sorry at all. Nor should you be. God made you

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look just the way you look. He tinkered with

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the genetics. So that at a certain age, if you're

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like me, you begin to lose your hair, and you

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begin to get wrinkles, and you look differently.

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And all of us would change something, I suppose,

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because we tend to compare ourselves with others.

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The fact is that God has providentially given

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us our appearance. And flowing from it as well

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is the fact that God has providentially given

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to us our abilities, those talents that we have

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in life. And finally, our adversities. God providentially

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arranges our adversities. Paul said from prison

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here, as a matter of fact, that the things that

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had happened to him had actually advanced the

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gospel. And he was glad for that. He saw his

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imprisonment as being an opportunity for the

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gospel to even get into Caesar's household. Paul

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was excited about the fact that God arranged

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his life by providence. And you and I need to

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be excited about that too. That what happens

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to us is not an accident. What happens to us

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is by God's design. We live under the care and

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the oversight of a God who is committed to see

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His purpose in us brought to completion. There's

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a second idea that comes out of Philippians that

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caused Paul to be able to say, life is Christ.

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And it's this, that God saves us that we might

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glorify and find delight in Him. Paul sees salvation

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as a gift in verse 29. He says to you it has

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been granted for Christ's sake to believe in

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him Now he goes on to make another point, but

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that's part of his point We have been given the

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gift of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ Salvation

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is a gift and God's ultimate purpose in that

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is his own glory Through our acknowledgement

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of Christ our bowing of the knee to him and declaring

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with our tongue that he is Lord God's work in

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us is His delight. It is His good pleasure to

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work His will in our lives. Paul, in this book,

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tells us how highly he values Christ. He says,

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everything else is but dung compared to the knowledge

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of Jesus Christ, my Lord. And he found great

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delight in knowing Christ. And therefore, he

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tells the Philippians who are suffering to rejoice

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in the Lord. In fact, joy. may well be the theme

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of Philippians, although it's a book about suffering.

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Rejoice in the Lord. God saves us that we might

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glorify Him and find delight in Him. When you

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and I allow that idea to get down in our souls

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where it belongs, then we're going to be able

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to say, as Paul did, what really life is Christ.

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To live is to know Him, to make Him known. There's

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a third idea that Paul talks about in this book,

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and that is that God entrusts us with the privilege

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of managing life. God entrusts us with the privilege

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of managing life. Now, life includes a lot of

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things. It includes time. It includes talents.

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It includes treasures. It includes influence.

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It includes problems and disappointments. It

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includes possibilities and opportunities, and

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all of these Paul mentions in this book. I don't

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have time to go into them this morning. But on

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all the milieu of life, God entrusts us with

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the privilege of being managers or stewards.

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Everything about our lives is properly viewed

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as a management issue. Christ gives us what He

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knows that we can manage by His grace. if we

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choose to do that. Now we can choose to do other

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than that also. But God's plan for us is that

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we learn to manage life under the Lordship of

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Christ. And when we see our lives this way, then

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we can say, as Paul did, life is Christ. And

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the final idea I want to point to from Philippians

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as the supposition that caused Paul to be able

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to make this claim is that God rewards us for

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being faithful. Paul looked forward to his future

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reward from Christ. He says, I press on toward

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the mark of the upward calling of Christ, of

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God in Christ Jesus. That upward calling may

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well refer to Paul being called forward to receive

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his reward at the judgment seat of Christ. Paul

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says, to me to live is Christ. But he says, to

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die is gain. A gain is one's advantage. It is

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one's profit. You invest a certain amount of

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money, you sell the stock, and what you gain

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is your profit. Paul says, I am seeing my life

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as a stewardship. I am investing it. And one

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day when I die, that's going to be my profit.

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To die and to be with him is gain. He focused

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his life so that he would receive the crown for

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which he ran the race. God rewards us for being

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faithful. And when we understand that, that it

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makes a difference that we're faithful, we will

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say with Paul, life is Christ. When we look through

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the lens of Revelation, and we view life as Paul

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did, then we're going to say with Paul that life

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is knowing Jesus Christ and making Him known

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to others. All the stuff that tends to absorb

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our attention, all the stuff that happens to

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us or that is incidental, just surrounds this

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core purpose. The purpose of knowing Christ and

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making Him known. The question I have for all

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of us this morning is this, what is your life

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about? What is your life about? Is it about Christ

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or self? In his commentary on Philippians, Warren

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Wiersbie says, life to some is money, and to

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die for them is to leave it behind. For others,

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life is fame. To die for them is to be forgotten.

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For yet others, life is power, and to die for

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them is to lose it all. But if we want to know

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joy in every circumstance, and we want to see

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the gospel advance, then we must say with conviction,

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as did the apostle Paul, to me to live is Christ,

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and to die is gain. What is life about for you,

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friend? As we come to the Lord's table, what

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we're saying by our actions is that life is Christ

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and we're remembering Him in this cup and bread.

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But is that the truth? Is that what life really

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is to us? You know, that's an important thing

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to reflect on. Because as we partake of this

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bread and this cup, we don't want to be lying.

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So let's open our hearts and be transparent before

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God for just this moment, at least. And ask God

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to show us what we're living for. And what it

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is that really excites us. What it is that motivates

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us and to recognize that that is what life really

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is to us And let's confess where we need to confess

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our sins Or Jesus All of us are caught up short

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by what the apostle says in Philippians 1. We

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live in a world that easily distracts us from

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what life really ought to be about. And so we

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humble ourselves before we partake of these elements.

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And we confess our sins. We confess the wrong

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motivations in our lives But at the same time

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we purpose by your grace to live In such a way

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that for us to live as Christ We partake of this

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bread remembering that he gave himself for us

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Gratefully we eat of it giving ourselves to you

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We go wrong. Jesus said this is my body which

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is for you eat it in remembrance of me We remember

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you Lord Jesus and partake of this cup likewise

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with gratitude Recognizing that it represents

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the price that was paid for us Thank you, but

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that by this blood we are reconciled and charged

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with the management of life for the glory of

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God. you Change my heart Jesus said, this cup

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is the new covenant in my blood. Drink it as

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often as you do in remembrance of me. For Christ's

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sake, you have been forgiven. In Jesus Christ,

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your sins are washed away, and you're as white

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as snow. Isn't that something we can rejoice

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in as we begin a new year? to know that we're

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right with God. Everything else, God will provide

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us, providentially, overseeing our circumstances

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and caring for us. So let's trust Him for every

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day. Let's allow Him to really change our hearts

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deeply and to see life for what it needs to be,

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what God calls it to be, Christ. Knowing Him,

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Knowing Him more deeply, more intimately, more

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personally, and making Him known to others. Thank

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you for being in worship today. If you're visiting

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with us, I want to invite you to come to the

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reception area in the back. I'd like to greet

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you personally. As soon as we're dismissed, find

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your way there, and I'll look forward to a handshake

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and finding out who you are. We've received the

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Elder's Offering on Communion Sundays, and if

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you wish to... Put something in the elders fund

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for those who have needs in our church You may

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do so by placing it in the box at the rear of

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the church Now we have a right hand of fellowship

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that we want to extend this morning to four people

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who are present in our service And I think we

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have an addition And that is Janet England and

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her new daughter who has just arrived I don't

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think that was her. And Cheryl, you come on up.

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Cheryl, Huckle, Jan Dean, and Kim Friesen, the

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four of you. But I just want to stop you a second

00:26:46.119 --> 00:26:48.700
here and introduce to us your daughter. This

00:26:48.700 --> 00:26:51.720
is Eliana Root, and she's from Guatemala. We

00:26:51.720 --> 00:26:54.400
just came home New Year's Eve. Yeah. Isn't that

00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:56.660
wonderful? We praise the Lord. That's an answer

00:26:56.660 --> 00:26:59.339
to prayer, isn't it? Months and months in waiting.

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God bless you. Why don't you stand right by the

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Christmas tree where there's probably a little

00:27:02.740 --> 00:27:05.890
more room? We welcome you into our church this

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morning. God bless you, each one. Let's stand

00:27:10.190 --> 00:27:18.890
together now. Let's pray. Father, we stand in

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recognition of the Lordship of Jesus Christ as

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we go from here. And we stand before you, declaring

00:27:27.410 --> 00:27:31.170
that we desire our lives to be faithful stewardship.

00:27:32.109 --> 00:27:34.849
That we want to manage our lives in such a way

00:27:34.849 --> 00:27:37.750
that is consistent with your will for us and

00:27:37.750 --> 00:27:41.509
your calling and it reflects faithfulness and

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So may the Holy Spirit fill us this week and

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use us for the glory of God So that our lives

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will be Christ and If this is the week that we

00:27:54.609 --> 00:28:01.150
should die that would be gained In Jesus name

00:28:01.150 --> 00:28:01.769
Amen