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Sep 06, 2020

We Labor Unto Glory

We Labor Unto Glory

Passage: Philippians 3:3-14

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: We Labor Unto Glory

Keywords: faith, righteousness, work, law

It’s Labor Day weekend--so we're going to take a look at Paul's briefest summary of what the Gospel is (Philippians 3:3-14), and then ask how the work God does for us through His Son is meant to help us think about the meaning and manner of our work--whatever that work may be.

Order of Worship

PRE SERVICE: Philippians 3:8c-9
CALL TO WORSHIP: Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-10
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 1:26-31
MESSAGE TITLE: We Labor Unto Glory
CENTRAL TEXT: Philippians 3:3-14
BENEDICTION: Colossians 3:17
POST SERVICE: Philippians 3:13c-14

Children's LessonsChildren's Activity Packet

Readings & Scripture

PRE SERVICE: Philippians 3:8c-9
...in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith

CALL TO WORSHIP: Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-10
LEADER: 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

ALL: 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 1:26-31
LEADER: 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

CENTRAL TEXT: Philippians 3:3-14
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

BENEDICTION: Colossians 3:17
LEADER: 17 whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

ALL: giving thanks to God the Father through him.

POST SERVICE: Philippians 3:13c-14
...But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

ILLUSTRATIONS & Media:

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. What was your first job? How did you get it? What was it like? What’s been your most satisfying line of work--whether as an employee or a parent? Why so?
  2. Quick--what is the gospel in simplest terms? Imagine someone without the slightest familiarity with Christianity is asking.
  3. How does the Gospel help you think about the meaning or importance of your work?
  4. What might be clues of making too much of your work? What might be clues of not taking it seriously enough? Can you point to any times when you were tempted in either direction?
  5. So what the does the Gospel “say” to those who are unemployed? Or “underemployed”? Or in preparation for someday being employed? Or retired from their main employment?

 QUOTES:

  • In nothing has the Church so lost her hold on reality as in Her failure to understand and respect the secular vocation. She has allowed work and religion to become separate departments, and is astonished to find that, as a result, the secular work of the world is turned to purely selfish and destructive ends, and that the greater part of the world’s intelligent workers have become irreligious, or at least, uninterested in religion… How can anyone remain interested in a religion which seems to have no concern with nine-tenths of his life? - Dorothy Sayers
  • We neither expect nor even want a gift to be given, so [accustomed] are we to accomplishing and achieving and possessing. . . . The reality of restlessness in our contemporary society is obvious and epidemic. The identification of that restlessness perhaps goes back to the categories of Martin Luther concerning “faith and works,” with the accent on “works” indicating a need to produce, perform, and qualify for the goodness of God. - Stanley Hauerwas
  • The worker’s first duty is to serve the work. . . .If your heart is not wholly in the work, the work will not be good – and work that is not good serves neither God nor the community; it only serves mammon. . . . . If work is to find its right place in the world, it is the duty of the Church to see to it that the work serves God, and that the worker serves the work. - Dorothy Sayers
  • Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you. God says in Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Graduating class, hear me well on this day. This day, when you have reached the hilltop and you are deciding on next jobs, next steps, careers, further education, you would rather find purpose than a job or career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfill. Whatever you choose for a career path, remember, the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose. - Chadwick Boseman’s 2018 commencement speech at Howard University (you can watch an excerpt of it here)
  • whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.- Colossians 3:17

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