A Sermon from Hope of God Bangkok, International Fellowship

Date:       27th November 2005
Speaker : Ps. Isaac Alamo
Scripture: Philemon 1:4-7 >>

ASPECTS OF RELATIONSHIPS IN CHRIST...link to HOBIF Sunday sermon outline

Intro:

• God is a god of relationship
• Wronged relationship shown here; Philemon/Onesimus
• Paul intercedes to restore the relationship
• Result is blessing
• Relationships should be godly and we should be able to correct problems.
• Here we see two different aspects of godly relationships in Christ.

A.   Forms of Relationships in Christ
      - Christians represent God here on Earth; our relationships should be healthy.
      - To do so we must relate first to God and then to others in a balanced way. Eph 2:15-16 >>
   
First aspect of relationship in Christ:

1.     Vertical relationship with Christ v1a
            Paul a prisoner of Christ..
            - We have a unique form of love in Christ; slaves to his love. Rom. 6:16 >>
            - Everyone is a slave to something; Christians choose Christ  (perfection by grace)         
              1Cor. 7:22-23 >>
            - We deny ourselves and give it all to Christ; true freedom.  Jn. 8:23 >>
            - He alone can cover our faults and weaknesses; no other way works.
            - Relationship problems start to happen when our relationship with God is not well.
            - Improve your relationship with God and improve relations with people.

2.     Horizontal relationship with the church v1
            - The church is God’s chosen vehicle to present his purpose for all.
              Eph. 3:9-11 >>
            - The church is eternal and important to God.
            - The church referred to as the bride and as the body.  These analogies
              refer to the church’s relationship to Christ, part of him. Thus we must
              relate to both Christ and the church.

Three pictures of the Church:

A. Family (v 1b, 2a and Timothy our brothers to Apphia or sister)
- God’s love sets the example for us to love each other.   1 Jn 2:9-10 >> ,
- We are shown to be godly by our love. 1 Jn. 3:10 >>
- Brotherly love should be strong in church; our biological family will cease to be but our spiritual family is eternal.
- Out of love we should look to help one another; we all belong to God. Eph. 2:19 >>
- As a family we need to express concern for one another; trying to meet each others needs.  Jas. 2:15-16 >>
- Let our love find ways of expressing itself outwardly.

B. Team (v1c to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker),
- Serving together develops strong relationships; opportunity to build each other.
- We shouldn’t be just brothers and sisters by name only.
- Serving together should be done in the spirit of God’s unconditional love.
- We all bring different gifts to the body of Christ.  1 Cor 12 >> , seek harmony.

C. Soldiers (v2b to Archippus our fellow soldier)
- As we are all on the same team we also belong to the same army.
- We fight in the spirit realm; same enemy - the Devil;    Eph 6:12 >>
- Best way to defeat an army is to turn itself against itself.
- Our weapon is God’s word.  2 Cor. 10:3-4 >>
          

Second aspect of relationships in Christ:

B. Attitudes of relationship in Christ

1. Value one another v4
    - See each other as Christ see us.  All
      have godly values
    - We are created in His image.
    - Christ saw the value enough to die for it.
    - As Jesus did put others above ourselves. 
     Rom. 12:10
    - No one is perfect, chose to see the good. 
      1 Peter 2:17

2. Love one another v5
    - If we love Christ we must love
      one another. 1 Jn. 4:7
    - Not the world’s love; love all,
      even the difficult people. 1 Jn. 4:11
    - Love by Jesus example, agape love, sacrificial love. 1 Jn. 3:16-17
    - Give glory to God by your love for others. Jn. 15:12-13
    - We are made complete as we love others with God’s love. 1 Jn 4:12
    - God’s love is eternal and never fails.

3. Mean well towards others v6
    - Express a sincere love and concern for others lives. Share their lives!  1 Cor. 12, 1 Th 2:11-12
    - Give of yourself that others may be blessed.

4. Encourage one another v7
    - Easy way to impact people’s lives for God.
    - Be quick to give a good word or pray for one another.  Eph. 5:19
    - Bible tells us to encourage lest we cause someone to become hard hearted.  Heb 3:13
                      
Conclusion:

God has clearly placed great priority on not just how we relate to him but how we relate to each other as well.  If we are not living up to God's standard than we need to look in our hearts and see what is lacking and ask God for grace to receive it and to change so that we can love and relate with others the way God desires us to. If we do this we will surely have a church of God's love which lights the way to God at all times.

 

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What I learnt:

• Always leave a conversation with a note of encouragement even when we correct or rebuke. Love does not cause confusion but reaffirms that God loves us even though we are weak and we should look to God to ask Him to help us change our weaknesses.
• Always seek to see the good...When Jesus looked at Judas Iscariot, he called him "friend" because He did not merely see Judas who would betray him but he saw the love and will of God in Judas.
• Always show our appreciation for each other - Don't be brothers and sisters by name only. We need to continuously reaffirm each other and remember that we are not just partners in ministry but just as Jesus called us His friends, we are also friends to each other...close enough to sit in each others company and share our joys, fears, doubts, anxiety and life...
• Always seek to express our love outwardly...let us not just speak of love. Remember the friends, family and people we love around us and do something to show them that you really care!
• Always always always LOVE!!!!