We consider Paul’s heart to Philemon and his home church. This book takes a look into the cultural window of 1st Century slavery, but also gives a Christian response to someone who has wronged us. We also begin the book of James.
Philemon 1: Greeting
1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker
2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon's Love and Faith
4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,
5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,
6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
Paul's Plea for Onesimus
8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required,
9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you---I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus---
10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.
11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)
12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel,
14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.
15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,
16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother---especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.
18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it---to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.
20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.
Final Greetings
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you,
24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
James 1: Greeting
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
Testing of Your Faith
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,
10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Things to think about…
1. Philemon had a church that met in his house, Phil 1:2. This is how many churches started out in the 1st century, either in a house or other venue. We know Paul started a bible college in Ephesus in a place called the Hall of Tyrannus, Acts 19:9. The desire for a new band is to move out of the garage. In the same way the desire for a new church often times is to move out of the house. Our desire is that as we reach out into the community and see the blessing of the Lord that our present facility will be too small and we can build a bigger facility on our property. Growth should be part of every church’s desire as they faithfully reach out into their community.
2. Now we know Paul is speaking by the Spirit here to Philemon. But is he in danger of using flattery, Phil 1:4-7, to butter Philemon up for a request, vs 8. What do you think? Clearly he is speaking truth, so what is the application for us as Christians as we read Paul’s greeting to Philemon? I believe Paul is appealing to Philemon’s conscience. He knows he is a reasonable man. Onesimus was Philemon’s slave who had ran away. But Paul has come in contact with Onesimus in prison and the Lord saved this runaway slave. Paul is returning him to Philemon. Perhaps Philemon needs to be reminded that we were all on the run once from Christ. Paul acknowledges that Philemon also owes Paul. Just as we owe those who preached the gospel to us, so we should be prepared to give for those who come after us, so they in turn can do the same.
3. Some of you may already know of the word-play Paul is using regarding this runaway slave – Onesimus. Onesimus means ‘useful’. Previously while with Philemon, rather than live up to his name, Onesimus was useless, Phil 1:11. But now he is a Christian and is useful, both to Paul and Philemon, vs 11. Onesimus ran away, but Paul is now asking that Philemon receive him back without retribution, knowing that Philemon also owes Paul himself, vs 19. We all have opportunities to show grace and mercy and to forgive without holding any lasting grudges. What opportunities do you have to forgive someone who has wronged you?
4. Have a look at the names in Phil 1:23 & 24 then go back to 2Tim 4:9-12. Have a look at Paul’s focus and change regarding some of them, including Demas and Titus. What do you make of this? Did these men fall away, or is the issue with Paul? Some like Mark had returned into Paul’s favour. Demas may also have returned. Mark is mentioned as being here with Paul (Phil 1:24) after Paul asked for him to be present when writing to Timothy, 2Tim 4:11. Remember Paul has a division with Barnabas over Mark in Acts 15, but here there is a restored relationship. This happens within Christian circles today. It may surprise you as to who supports you and who doesn’t in the greatest trials of your life. Paul received a great amount of support from Luke who remained with him at his first trial, 2 Tim 4:11. Jesus said He is with us to the end of the age, Mt 28:20 and that He would never leave us nor forsake us, Heb 13:5. As we follow Christ we should never give up on a brother or sister in the Lord even when they have bitterly disappointed us in the past. As our Lord says, we must forgive 77 times, Mt 18:22.
5. Initially James was not a believer in his brother Yeshua (Jesus). But after the resurrection he was with his mother Mary with the 120 in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit to fall, Acts 1:14, 15. James became the chief elder at Jerusalem within the early church. He was the one who led and spoke in favour of the letter at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 which was to be sent to all the Gentile churches. James very much remained a minister to the Jews and here we see he is writing to the 12 tribes of the Dispersion 1:1. This is referring to the Jews who lived outside of Israel who were living in other parts of 1st Cent Roman and Greek culture. James wants to strengthen these Jewish Christians especially as they were suffering for their faith. The Jews were persecuted anyway, but these folk were both Jews and Christians. Either way they were a marked group in 1st Century Roman culture.
6. Joy in suffering is a mark of grace and James says that suffering makes us perfect whereby we lack no good thing, Jam1:2-4. James also says that we are not to lack wisdom and as such should pray to the Lord to receive wisdom. Working for the Lord is a great blessing, but working without wisdom is futile. All our endeavours should be open to receive counsel from others in Christ so that we may move forward with the Lord’s guidance and blessing. As the Proverbs say, “get wisdom, get insight”, Prov 4:5.
7. There would be very few disagreements in church and the community if we all took James’ advice in Jam 1:19, 20 and be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Pray that we all have this disposition in our communication.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sunday’s message – “A sign of the times” – 1Tim 4:1-4, 2Tim 4:1-8
a. Are we nearing the end times as described in the bible in your opinion, what do you think? What is your evidence of belief?
b. Are 2 major signs that point to the timing of Christ’s return 1. Lawless will abound and there will be a great falling away from the faith and 2. The gospel will be preached to every nation, Mt 24:10-14. Discuss these 2 things.
c. People in general are happy to talk about spiritual things in this generation, why do you think this is the case? How should this aid our witnessing?
d. How do you know if you are part of the group that will fall away or not? Discuss what a bible based church looks like. In your answer discuss the sheep and the goats.
Prayer Points
1. Pray the CBC reaches our into our community and we see many coming to Christ and added to the church. Please come along and invite others to the Palm Sunday outreach.
2. That our Kids@Church and Chuwar Youth group grow beyond anyone’s expectations.
3. Pray for Chuwar Youth and Jarrod for Friday’s. Pray as he meets with youth at Westside, Ipswich and Bundamba high schools.
4. How you can serve in ministry this year.
5. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Had almost 60 people there on Sunday. Pray this increases over time.
2. Kids@Church and Youth ministries are a great blessing. Keep praying for Rosie and Jarrod.
3. Turf laid in the café area – pray we can continue to finish off this area.
4. Thankyou Paul and worship team. Thanks Bec, Tim and Iman. Thankyou to all those who serve – you are appreciated and essential for Christ’s work at CBC.
5. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Chuwar Youth Friday nights – 6:30-8:30pm. Grades 7 to 12. Chat to the Youth Pastor Jarrod for more details 0478 845 123.
2. Palm Sunday outreach on the 2nd April. Potjie and food, rises and fun for the kids.
3. Sign up for a cell group or welcoming team.
4. Remember to check your duty rosters.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
6. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for March...
Q. 7. In how many persons does this one God exist? A. In three persons.
