COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY AND DAILY STUDIES BASED UPON OUR PREACHING SERIES AT COMMUNITY CHURCH PUTNEY)
You can listen to all the messages at
COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY STUDY NOTES
In September 1962 President Kennedy set an
‘impossible’ goal which he was never to see fulfilled,
“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade… not because it is easy, but
because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the
best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are
willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to
win...Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die
on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, "Because
it is there." Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the
Moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are
there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most
hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”
Scaling summits and doing
great exploits is in the nature of mankind. This appetite reflects on part of
our reason for existence and the greatest ‘mountain’ – to know God and grow in
likeness to God.
Growing in holiness
(sanctification) is to become more and more like Jesus in thought and action
(See Romans 8:29) and this requires God's power.
Read Philippians 1:6
- What is Paul confident about?
- What does this verse say about God’s role in salvation and sanctification?
Read Philippians
1:9-11
- What are the various things that Paul prays for them?
- Paul prays that we would be ‘Pure and blameless’. ‘Pure’ speaks of our inner thoughts and motives, which only God can see whilst ‘blameless’ refers to our visible activities, our conduct bringing glory to Jesus.
- ‘Fruit of righteousness’ – this term points of the ultimate source of our change: our sanctification (righteous living) is something we do, but it is ‘fruit’ in that our motivation and transformation are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
- How often do you pray for your own and others’ growth in holiness?
- What does Paul ‘not stop’ praying for this church?
In pairs (or as you would
like to organise things) share and pray about areas in which you would like to
become more holy - ‘pleasing’ and ‘fruitful’. Add your personal growth
challenges to your prayer list also.
GOING DEEPER PERSONAL DAILY STUDIES
Monday: Are we a work in progress?
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Philippians 1:3-5 I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for
all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the
gospel from the first day until now.
Paul often begins his prayers by
looking at existing fruit as the reason for his confidence that God is working
in them (see 1 Thess. 1:4-6) – Salvation and fruit always go together, a church
or a Christian is a work in progress.
To ‘partner in the gospel’ is to believe (together) the truth of the
gospel; but it s also to work with this apostle (we work with Newground) in
order to spread the good news.
Pray for your own partnering in
the gospel. Pray that you would be a cause of thanksgiving as you partner with
your Community Group, CCP and Newground.
Tuesday:
Confidence and compassion lead to prayer
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Philippians 1:6-8
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on
to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way
about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in
chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in
God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the
affection of Christ Jesus.
What is Paul confident about and
what does this text say about God’s love for us?
What do these verses also say
about Paul’s love?
How does knowing God’s love for a
person or church and being filled with the same heart inevitably lead us to
pray passionately and consistently?
Using this text as a guide, Pray,
giving thanks for God’s faithfulness and love, and asking for the Spirit to
fill your heart with ‘the affection of
Christ Jesus’.
Wednesday:
Growth in holiness has to emphasize growing in love
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Philippians 1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and
more in knowledge and depth of insight.
To become
more like Jesus requires that we learn to love like Jesus. Our love (desire for
the good of others) matures as it is shaped by ‘knowledge’. Without knowledge
love becomes weak and shaped by our sinful culture. One must allow scripture to
mature our love. If our affection is to be like Jesus it must be applied with
‘depth of insight’, that is wisdom. It’s not enough to know the truth, one must
also apply it correctly with wisdom.
What is
your current bible reading practice? Pray for yourself, people you know, those
who preach at CCP, that we would ‘abound
more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.’
Thursday: Holiness is
choosing what is best
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Philippians 1:9-10 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and
more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what
is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
Knowing
the bible deeply and prayerfully seeking to apply it will help you to choose ‘what is best’ and become ‘pure and blameless’. Seeking to mature
as a Christian is learning to choose what would be best for our growth and
God’s glory.
Are you
faced with any big decisions at the moment? Would you simply like to choose
what is best on all the small decisions you make each day? Let’s pray using
this text as a model.
Friday: Holiness is
goodness inside and outside
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Philippians 1:9-10 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and
more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what
is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
God wants us to be ‘pure’. This means that our inner thoughts, motives and loves are
devoted to pleasing God alone, our allegiance being unmixed.
Purity of
the inner-person will lead to a life that is ‘blameless’ in its conduct, becoming beyond disrepute. It’s not just doing what is correct; it’s doing what
is exemplary! It is visible conduct that would bring glory to Jesus.
Pray that God would search your heart and conduct:
How is your inner and outer purity in regard to sex, money, ambition, mercy and
joy…? Ask for wisdom, forgiveness and
repent where needed.
Saturday:
Growth is about bearing more fruit by God’s grace
Philippians 1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus
Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Jesus
likens being a Christian to being joined to God - and so bearing fruit - as a
branch joined to a living vine bears grapes (John 15:5).
So to,
Paul knows that no matter how much we are to make an effort to ‘choose what is best’ it is only by
God’s grace at work in us that we are enabled to become more holy/fruitful.
Self-confident
discipline will crush motivation and dishonour God with its self-reliance. Christians
are to make every effort to grow in holiness whilst relying on God for their
development resulting in ‘glory and
praise to God’. This is why Paul prays, and this is why it is vital, if we
want personal growth, or maturity in others, that we also pray.
Read
Galatians 5:22-23 and pray for such fruit in yourself and others.
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