Sermon Response Guide
PRIMARY SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 2:19-30
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
Key Points
- Jesus gives us new friendships: friendships that build up and friendships that lay down.
- Jesus is our ultimate Friend who:
1) builds us up to send us out
2) lays down his life for us to lay down our lives for others - Real friendships reveal who we really are and how we really feel.
- Real friendships require honest, emotional vulnerability.
- In the Kingdom of God, we need each other.
- In the Kingdom of God, real friends build one another up into the image of Christ.
- In the Kingdom of God, real friends lay down their lives for one another by seeking the well-being of the other – even when it means forgoing our own privileges.
Memory Verse
Ask God to write this word on your heart this week:
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,” -Philippians 2:5 ESV*
*Note:Through the rest of this sermon series, “All Things New,” we will be working together as a faith family to memorize Philippians 2:3-11. Each week, we will introduce a new verse to memorize while encouraging one another to remember the preceding verse(s) from the previous week(s).
This week, try to recite Philippians 2:3-5 together:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,”
Questions for Reflection
Take time to reflect and respond to these questions on your own in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or with trusted friends or family members:
1: Who is a friend who has built you up into the image of Christ? How have you experienced that to be true?
2: Who is a friend who has laid down their life for you in humility – honestly seeking your well-being above their own? How have you experienced that to be true?
3: Do you often think of Jesus as your Friend (compared to your Lord and Savior)? Why or why not?
4: Why might the friendship we find in Jesus be a message of hope for us these days?
5: How have you experienced Jesus as your ultimate Friend who builds you up to send you out?
6: How have you experienced Jesus as your ultimate Friend who lays down his life for you so you might lay down your life for others?
7: What kind of friend are you? Are you more prone to build others up into the image of Christ, or lay yourself down in humility for others? Why do you think that is?
8: As you seek to build others up and lay yourself down, who is a friend you can demonstrate true friendship in Christ toward this week? How do you hope to do that?
Pray
Lord, when we were still your enemies, you loved us enough to live with us, suffer and die for us so we might become your friends. You truly are the ultimate Friend. Teach us to delight in you over and above our friendships here on earth. As you make us more like you, make us friends like you, too. Help us to build others up and lay ourselves down for others. We cannot be that kind of friend without you. But since you have been, still are, and forever will be that kind of friend for us, Lord, make us friends like you.
