PrayerTipping Points: “Our Greatest Enemy and Our Greatest Friend” (8)

James 4:6

comments:
1. church picnic baptisms

2. building –
à 9/30 is our target date for 1st service
à $80,000 of $250,000 in hand!
à sign-up for helping:
- 9/8 landscaping work day
- 9/9 afternoon – 6-8 people; shampooing carpets
- 9/17-22 work week & day for cleaning
- 9/23 afternoon – 6-8 people; chair crew

3. call for your patience & understanding

4. fall schedule – stay in 1 service, 9/16 beginning of fall schedule (9am worship 10:30am classes), why? a) unity health strengthening of the Body b) until growth forces us to return to 2 services -

5. small groups – interested in leading, forming a group, let me know

6. First Friday – sign up today! Want to bathe this time in the life of our church in prayer!

7. thanks to Kyle & Mike for preaching – heard great things about Kyle’s sermon & the communion service he led, same for Mike’s message on ‘whole life worship’

tipping points
1. this summer I’ve been talking about tipping points in our relationship with God – actions, behaviors, attitudes that if we get them God-right, they will tip us in the direction of his presence, power & kingdom. Last week & today – the challenge of pride & the necessity of humility. 3 good books to read:
à Humility – C Peter Wagner
à Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness – Andrew Murray
à Humility: True Greatness – C. J. Mahaney

2. I read an article on preaching this week written by John Ortberg. He wrote that the goal of all preaching is to build Christ in people. Good job description for me.

3. 1 way that I can build Christ in you is to teach you about humility. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Pride is our greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend.

His humiliation & exaltation – Philippians 2:5-11
1. the greatest example of humility that we have in the Bible is Jesus himself. His incarnation. God becoming man. The Word became flesh. Paul lays this out for us in Philippians 2:5-11.

2. Paul is teaching the Philippians about relationships in the community of faith – how we are to treat each other. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves (2:3).

3. and then he makes this point – your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (2:5) and describes the greatest leap of humility the world has ever known.

4. God humbled himself to become a human being. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood (The Message).

5. its’s like – Jepeto carving himself into Pinocchio. The painter painting himself into her water colors. The poet converting himself into his poem. The composer writing herself into the greatest piece of music ever created.

6. the Word became flesh…

7. Paul fans out Jesus’ steps of humiliation.

Jesus Humility
1. 1st Jesus is God (6). This is the starting point of humility. God himself.

2. 2nd God was willing to be something else (6). He didn’t hold on to his God-self. He was willing to leave the immediate presence of the Trinity – Father Son Spirit – to become human. He didn’t hold on to his rights & position.

3. 3rd God made himself nothing (7). When you are God & you become a human being, a new squalling infant nursing at your mother’s breast, you have made yourself nothing.

4. God gave up some of his attributes to enter our world as Jesus – no longer all-knowing, or omnipresent, or without needs. In the gospels Jesus refers to things his Father knows that he doesn’t. He can’t be everywhere at once. He gets tired, hungry & thirsty.

5. 4th God became a man (7-8). A human being. Joseph his father & Mary his mother were common people. He was born in the little obscure town of Bethlehem, the Yamhill of his day. His birthing room was a stable & his crib was a manager. Even though he originated the Law he was born under the Law.

6. 5th Jesus became a servant (7). He served the world & people he created. People like us. He washed his disciple’s feet. He fed them. Called them. Healed them. Taught them. Warned them.

7. 6th Jesus became obedient (8). God incarnated as Christ became obedient to himself. God sent himself in the person of his Son for a missional purpose – to seek & to save the lost. Jesus the God-man was obedient. He submitted to his Father’s authority.

8. 7th Jesus died on a cross (8). The Romans reserved the cross for the worst of their criminals. To make matters worse – Jesus was betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, deserted by the rest of his followers. He was unjustly tried by the Jews & the Romans. He was flogged, spit up, mocked & utterly despised. The God of the universe! Humility in action.

9. Paul writes to the Philippians and to the church which meets at the corner of 9th & Juniper in Canby – your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

10. humility means giving up our rights & position to serve others & consider them better than ourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil 2:4).

11. this is so hard…and here’s why – It’s all about me video clip!

12. Jesus himself said, for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12). He taught this & demonstrated it by his own life. His humiliation was followed by his exaltation.

Jesus’ Exaltation
1. notice how the rest of the passage starts, therefore God exalted! We do the humbling, God does the exalting! As with Jesus, so with us.

2. 1st God exalted him (9). This takes in the resurrection & the ascension. God raised Jesus from the dead. And God took Jesus back to heaven. Jesus lives now in his resurrected body in heaven.

3. the highest place is the seat at the right hand of the Father – Acts 5:32; 7:55-56.

4. and from here Jesus prays for us – Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25.

5. the incarnation – the Word became flesh – continues on in heaven. Jesus mediates between us & God. His perfected humanity, representative of ours to come, sits next to God & prays for us.

6. 2nd Jesus is given a name above every name (9). God exalts him from death on a Roman cross to the highest place in the universe & the name above all names. In heaven and on earth and under the earth.

7. every knee will bow to Jesus. Every tongue will confess that he is Lord. Every knee & every tongue. Both those that are his followers & those who have chosen not to follow him. Ultimately, everyone, no exceptions will fall on their faces before his Lordship!
8. Jesus humbled himself – became a human being, a servant, submitted to death for the sins of the world. And God exalted him above all there is. We do the humbling – God does the exalting.

9. last week we saw how Satan in Isaiah 14:12-15 exalted himself & was humbled. Notice the five 1st person pronouns:
à I will ascend to heaven
à I will raise my thrown
à I will sit enthroned
à I will ascend
à I will make myself like the Most High

10. pride is summed up in one word – “I.” Humility is summed up in one word – “servant.” Satan is all about himself – Jesus is all about pleasing his Father & serving others.

11. we do the humbling; God does the exalting. If we do the exalting, God will do the humbling.

12. this truth is woven into the very DNA of our universe, especially in the kingdom of God. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Good to Great
1. a few years ago Jim Collins wrote a business bestseller entitled Good to Great. Collins examined companies that went from being good to great. He studied companies that for 15 straight years experienced stock returns at or below the general stock market rate of return – and after a transition point – experienced 15 straight years of returns of at least 3xs the market rate.

2. one thing that distinguished these companies is that they all had a Level 5 leader. He defined a Level 5 leader as someone who was humble. They directed their ego away from themselves to the larger goal of leading their company to greatness. Level 5 leaders are a paradoxical mix of intense professional will & extreme personal humility.

3. David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, defined himself as a HP man 1st & a CEO 2nd. He was a man of the people. He shunned all manner of publicity. Packard didn’t have a corner office with a spectacular view of the campus to hold up in. He worked from a simple office on the same floor as his workers.

4. Packard is the exact opposite of the Michael Scott of The Office that I briefly mentioned last week.

5. rather than ending with a list of steps to humility I want to say this – we know in our heart of hearts when we are being humble. We need to follow our hearts as we seek to follow Jesus in his humility. It’s not about us; it’s about Jesus & others.