05/30/2026
From Pastor Steve's Friday email about the passage we will study tomorrow:
"This Sunday promises to be an exciting one. We turn the page to Philippians chapter 2 where Paul utters some of the most practical, challenging, and precious words of this letter. Recalling the joy of the Philippian Christians’ conversion, Paul asks that they respond to God’s great grace by simply preferring one another.
“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” (2:3-4).
The imperatives here are counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. There is nothing in the fallen human nature that is consistently this selfless. There is nothing in our culture that truly values the promotion of others. Everything in our nature is self-seeking, and everything in our culture rewards the hard-working, ruthless self-promoter. This is true in the church almost as often as outside it.
In context, Paul has just finished reminding the church that if we hope to persevere in the fight to be courageous in the Christian life, we will need each other. “Stand firm… side by side…” And now Paul gives the recipe for success in this unified front against the forces of evil: prefer, serve, and seek the welfare of others over yourself. In other words, you’ll never be able to be unified and labor side by side if you are self-serving and self-seeking.
These instructions are simple to understand and hard to apply. I look forward to exploring the wonder and ramifications of them with you, praying with you, and reciting scripture and creeds with you. Then, we have the joy of welcoming several new families into covenant membership at Hillcrest. I genuinely cannot wait. May the Lord be gracious to us and bring us together in good health with great joy this Lord’s Day."
