Crosspoint Notes

Here is your Sunday message follow up to help you get in the Groove.

Philippians 1:1-11
Author: Paul
Audience: Christians in Philippi
Purpose: To strengthen the believers by reminding them that true joy and purpose comes from Jesus Christ.
Date: A.D. 61, while Paul was imprisoned in Rome.

1:1 Paul is doing time in Rome and refers to himself and Timothy as 'slaves' of Jesus. What do you think he meant by this? What are you a slave to? I know, you think I'm a slave to coffee! What changes do you need to make in your life for others to see that you are 100% sold out to Christ? If he is your Master, are you willing to follow him anywhere at any cost?

1:2 Paul reminds us that God is generous. He is a giving God and two of the greatest things he wants to give us are grace and peace. Are you thankful for grace? Are you living in peace. Write those words down and then make a list beside or underneath them of all the ways you see grace and peace at work in your life. Take a moment of quiet prayer to simply thank God for grace and peace and allow him to speak to you. Very groovy.

1:5 Paul reminds the people in Philippi that they are partners with him in sharing the gospel. All of you need to know that you are partnering with us, the staff @ Crosspoint, in sharing the gospel. We there is a crowd, we can all rejoice. When someone gives their life to Jesus, we can all know that we had a part in it. This is a team effort. We're making Jesus famous in Fredericton and beyond. Think about that for a moment. How are you specifically partnering with us? I can think of a few ways, but I'll leave it between you and the Holy Spirit.

1:9 We talked about this quite a bit on Sunday. Remember the comment, "Holy Hippies"?? If we ain't got love, we ain't got a thing! So, is there anyone in your world that you are finding hard to love? Do you need to take steps to fix this? Have you prayed about it/them? As we love one another more we will also grow in knowledge and understanding. How are you growing in knowledge? Are you studying God's Word? In a group? Home group? Class? What about understanding? Remember, understanding means that you won't always understand everything or everyone so you need to be more understanding! You don't have to like everything or even agree with everything, but you do need to be understanding.

1:10 "...pure" Read Romans 12. You have to daily, or hourly, turn everything over to Christ. Make good decisions. "...blameless" The only way that you and I can ever be blameless is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We're sharing communion together this Sunday and we'll talk more about this. Take some time right now to confess anything that isn't right in your life. What steps do you need to take in order to live a more pure life?

1:11 The produce that God wants to produce in your life is character! Not just any character, but righteous character that can only come from Jesus. How's your character? Who are you when no one is looking? What are your inner thoughts about others? This is the crux of the matter. This is the groove that we are talking about. We have to be a people that are being transformed into all the God has created us to be. We have to be more like Jesus everyday. As you wrap up today's study, ask God to work on your character. Ask Him to show you anything that needs to change. Start today. Get serious. Go deeper with Christ!