Welcome to Pathway and welcome to part two of our new series. I'm doing a series of talks based on an ancient book in the Bible. The book is called Philippians.
The title of the whole series is: Quit Telling Yourself I Can't!
The book was written by a man named Paul. He is the supergiant of the earliest days of the church. When it comes to sharing the good news of Jesus around the world, nobody matched him. Paul was number one. Nothing stopped him.
In fact, this little booklet called Philippians is a letter from him to a church in the city of Philippi. Philippi was a bustling Roman colony, and that means something... which we're going to see.
When Paul wrote this book, he was a prisoner, so this is called a Prison Epistle of Paul—he wrote 4 books of the NT this way.
Let's get into the Word...
And as we dive into Paul's words, especially his prayer, I want us to hear it through the lens of our series theme. Because if there's one area where those 'I can't' messages bombard us, it's in our ability to truly love and to fully receive love.
So today, my message is: Quit Telling Yourself I Can't Love or Be Loved.
Paul's prayer shows us how God makes that possible.
"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:6-11)
Before we even unpack what Paul prays for these Philippian believers, notice the incredible love he expresses to them.
He tells them, 'I hold you in my heart.'
They are his 'partners in grace.'
He longs for them intensely, with a heartfelt tenderness.
In a Roman world that could often be harsh and impersonal, Paul opens his letter with a flood of love, showing them just how much they mattered to him and to God.
One of the coolest things I've ever seen happens at the football team practice for Shasta College. They have what's called "I Love You Thursdays." It blows me away. When practice is over on Thursday night, the head coach tells everybody something like, Now go tell your team you love them. And then this happens: every player and every coach gives a quick hug to every player and every coach and says, I love you.
And I know you might think that's weird. But you've gotta understand that these are men aged 18 through 22, and a lot of them have never had anybody in their lives tell them I love you. They didn't grow up that way. They've never had that affection expressed to them.
And on the other side of that, a lot of these men have never said I love you to anybody in a way that was healthy and not manipulative.
So you got 100+ men in full football gear coming together as a team and making sure that every guy feels loved, every guy feels part of the team.
In his own way, that's what Paul just did. I love you, he says. And I pray for love to grow in you. Essentially, Paul is praying for them to be incredibly healthy and thriving in the love department.
The essence of God's work in your life is to bring you to a place where LOVE is an ever-expanding, ever-deepening reality that defines who you are becoming in Him.
This plays out in marriage. This plays out in family. This plays out in friendships. This plays out in healthy relationships. And this plays out in you overcoming the dysfunctions you've been handed in your life.
When Paul enshrined his prayer for new believers in the city, it was a prayer above everything else for love.
To understand the power of Paul's prayer for these Philippians, and for us, we need to first get a glimpse of the world that shaped them – a world that was often incredibly damaging to the human heart's ability to love and be loved.
Let's step back into ancient Philippi for a moment... warning, this is going to be rough.
