Philippians – Endwell Church of Christ

About God

There is only one true God. He is eternal and is the Creator of all life and the Supreme Ruler of the universe. He has always been and co-exists equally in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. We learn about God through His creation, His Word, His Son. As Christians, we are guided and indwelled by His Holy Spirit. God loves you and me more than we can imagine.

Genesis 1:26-27; Deuteronomy 6:4; Job 38:1-41:34; Matthew 3:13-17; John 3:16; Romans 1:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:6

The Bible

The Bible is God’s written Word. The process that God used to give us His Word is called inspiration, which means God-breathed. As they were moved by the Holy Spirit, inspired writers throughout history to wrote down God’s truths. These truths were recorded from Moses all the way to the last inspired writer, John. The Word of God is without error and is truth. It tells us who God is, why He loves us, and what His plans are for us. The Bible is the authority or standard for living our lives according to God’s will for us. It contains all that we need to know for salvation through Jesus Christ and matters of living a holy and righteous life.

Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:105, 160; John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. He was begotten, not made. Co-equal with God the Father and God the Spirit, He came to earth and became human. He was completely God while at the same time being fully human. God revealed Himself perfectly through Jesus. His miraculous acts, sinless life, and life-changing teachings all confirm the fact that He is God’s Son. He came to this earth to seek and save the lost and redeem all of creation to the Father. He showed God’s love for us by dying on a cross, taking the sins of all mankind upon Himself. Through His death, He paid the penalty that our sins deserve once and for all. His bodily resurrection from the grave and His promise to return someday stand as testimonies to the fact that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus desires us to follow Him and wants us to cultivate a deep and meaningful relationship with Him.

Matthew 1:22-23; John 1:1,14,18; Acts 10:37-43; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 2:48; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-21; Hebrews 1:1-3

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is God and is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. He dwells in each member of God’s family (all those who have accepted Christ) as a Helper and Guide. The Holy Spirit works on our hearts and helps a person see that they need salvation (redemption from their sins). At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our physical bodies as His home and He begins the work of sanctification in us. Though we will never be sinless in this life the Holy Spirit does help us sin less as we conform more to the image of Christ. The works of the flesh begin to fade and the fruit of the Spirit begins to appear as we allow God’s Spirit to lead us on a daily basis.

John 14:16-17; John 16:7-13; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 3:16-20; Ephesians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:19-25; Romans 8:13,14

Eternity

You have never met a “mere mortal.” When God created you and me, He created us with a soul which will never cease to exist. Those who choose to follow Jesus as Lord, and have a growing relationship with Him, will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Those who reject Jesus by refusing to follow Him will spend eternity in Hell. Heaven, like salvation and grace, is a gift of God. Hell is the due consequence for those who have not accepted God’s offer of forgiveness. Heaven and Hell are real places.

Ezekiel 18:20; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; John 14:1-6; Romans 6:23; Philippians 3:17-21; Revelation 20:15

Salvation

We have all done bad stuff in our lives. This bad stuff is called sin. Sin separates us from God who desires relationship with us. We need salvation because we have sinned. It is impossible for any man to restore that broken relationship with God by any amount of personal goodness, religious deeds, or by belonging to a church. We cannot earn, merit or achieve a right relationship with God by any amount of personal goodness, religious deeds, or by belonging to a church. We cannot earn, merit or achieve a right relationship with God by our own efforts. The death of Jesus was not an accident. God sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins—a price we could not pay ourselves. The Bible calls God’s act of love, grace. His grace is His gift to us. The way we receive His gift is by entering into a covenant relationship with Jesus by placing our trust and faith in Him. When we decide that we will follow Jesus for the rest of our lives, we demonstrate our trust in Jesus by obeying His command to be immersed (baptized) in water demonstrating the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. After we enter this relationship, the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to us to guide our steps and conform us into the image of Christ.

Isaiah 59:2; John 3:16; John 14:6; Acts 2:37-39; Romans 3:10, 11, 23; Romans 6:3-4; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-8

The Church

God’s spiritual family is called the ‘church’. It is made up of all those around the world who have chosen to place their trust and faith in Jesus and who are His followers (disciples). The Church is not a building or one particular group of believers. If you belong to Jesus, you belong to the Church. The Bible uses the analogy that Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is His body. God’s will is for the Church to gather regularly to worship its Head, Jesus, to use its various gifts and abilities to serve its Head, to love and encourage those who are in the body, and to work diligently to maintain the unity of the body. As the members of His Church love one another and maintain unity of purpose and relationship, the world around us will recognize that we belong to Jesus. The Church or body is to seek to do the will of God, which includes making and growing followers of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 16:15-18; John 17:20-23; John 13:34-35; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10

Summary

The Basics of our Message:

We Believe that God Is Our Maker and Satan is our Enemy.
We Wage a Spiritual War to Which God Has Already Claimed Victory.
His Judgment is Sure and Final and Eternal Life is the Goal of Our Struggle.
Jesus Christ Is Our Savior and Gave us a Counselor and Comforter that is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is Alive, Active, and convicts the Hearts of Men and Women.
Salvation Is a Gift from God that Cannot Be Earned, Only Received by Grace.
Our Response to This Gift is to Love God, Love Others, and Walk in Faithfulness.
The Bible Is Our Guide as We Diligently Seek a Relationship with God Through Christ Jesus.
The Church Is God’s Battalion to Accomplish His Purposes in This World and Home & Family are God’s Societal Building Blocks.
Our Fellowship is with the Believers and Followers of Jesus.
It is in Him that we find The Resurrection that is Our hope of Eternal Life with God.
The Christian Life is our Walk and Journey through this Temporary World Together!

About Man

All people are created in the spiritual likeness or image of God. God gave us free will; we have the ability to choose to love as God loves, to choose to do right in the likeness of God’s righteousness, and to choose to value what God values. God created us because He wants a family who will love Him because we want to love Him, and not because we have to love Him. Freewill also allows for the rejection of God and His family. Yet, the problem of sin still remains. The first man, Adam, chose to sin, and now every person lives in a broken and fallen creation. This left us with a broken and marred spiritual nature. As a result, every person will eventually choose to sin and subsequently become separated from God. God does not want to be separate from you—that is why Jesus came to heal this separation.

Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3:1-24; Psalm 8:3-6; John 4:24; Ephesians 1:4-6; Romans 3:23

Philippians Devotionals