\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Audio\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Philippians 2:17-18<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Paul often discussed the topic of unity in his letters to the various churches.<\/p>\n A. Unity based having the same goals and the same standards – Romans 15:5; I\nCorinthians 1:10; II Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:1-3; I Thessalonians 5:11-15\n
B. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is no different – Philippians 1:27; 2:1-2<\/p>\n C. To gain that unity, Paul emphasizes to the brethren in Philippi that they needed to\nbe willing to give personal sacrifice and service to others\n
II. The example of Paul – Philippians 1:21-26<\/p>\n A. Paul is awaiting trial, though he is certain at this point that he will be released –\nPhilippians 2:24\n B. He is willing to die for Christ because of the great advantage of joining God in\nheaven – Philippians 2:17-18\n C. Yet, he is willing to delay that joy in order to help the Philippians – Philippians\n1:24-26\n
III. The example of Christ – Philippians 2:3-11<\/p>\n A. Even though Jesus had everything in heaven, he willingly gave them up for\nmankind\n
B. He died on the cross, not for his benefit, but for ours – Romans 5:6-8<\/p>\n
C. He left us an example – I Peter 2:21-25<\/p>\n
IV. The example of Timothy – Philippians 2:19-23<\/p>\n
A. Paul had no one better to send because of his genuine concern for the brethren<\/p>\n B. Most seek their own benefit and not what is needful for Christ, but Timothy is\ndifferent in this regard\n
C. He has proven himself to be willing to serve<\/p>\n
V. The example of Epaphroditus – Philippians 2:25-30<\/p>\n A. He had become ill and nearly died trying to serve Paul on behalf of his brethren in\nPhilippi\n B. And what was his concern? That the brethren in Philippi were distressed about his\nillness!\n
VI. Their own example – Philippians 4:15-19<\/p>\n A. More than once the brethren had sent funds to Paul so that he might continue\npreaching the gospel\n B. Philippi is in Macedonia. The area where Paul mentions the brethren’s poverty – II\nCorinthians 8:1-5\n 1. Though time has elapsed between II Corinthians and the Philippian letters,\nit shows the willing attitude to give of themselves to others so prevalent in\nthis region.\n
VII. All was not well in Philippi – Philippians 4:1-3<\/p>\n
A. Two women, Euodia and Syntyche, were at odds with one another. <\/p>\n B. Their disagreement threatens to eventually destroy what Paul had so carefully\nbuilt up\n 1. The impact of their disagreement must have been affecting the mood in the\nchurch, which was why Paul so frequently told them to rejoice and be\nglad.\n
2. Tension keeps everyone from doing their best.<\/p>\n
C. The solution is hinted at throughout the letter<\/p>\n
1. Personal sacrifice to benefit another. <\/p>\n
a. Too many people hold grudges<\/p>\n
b. “He owes me an apology,” and thus it remains in a stalemate<\/p>\n
c. I Corinthians 6:7-8<\/p>\n
2. Personal service to benefit another<\/p>\n a. If we focus outward, we stop seeing the petty slights as major\nproblems.\n
b. Romans 12:18-21<\/p>\n D. The next time you find yourself in a meeting where emotions are escalating, or in\nthe parking lot arguing over something that is really not all that important, or you\nrealize you feel jealous of a brother or resent a sister in Christ, think about Paul’s\nletter to Philippi.\n
1. Sacrifice your own personal interests for the sake of others<\/p>\n
2. Serve your brethren to the best of your abilities<\/p>\n
E. If we all made this our goal, I doubt we would find time or inclinations to argue.<\/p>\n
\n
[Based on an article by Bob Hutto]<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:17-18 I. Paul often discussed the topic of unity in his letters to the various churches. A. Unity based having the same goals and the same standards – Romans 15:5; I Corinthians 1:10; II Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:1-3; I Thessalonians 5:11-15 B. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[926,272,574,456],"class_list":["post-63260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-philippians","tag-sacrifices","tag-service","tag-unity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-unity-in-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":63260,"position":0},"title":"Is There Unity in Diversity?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Romans 12:3-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You find the motto of the United States in many places, \u201ce pluribus unum,\u201d \u201cfrom many, one\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It describes the sentiment that people from all over the world can come, settle here, make a life for themselves, and be united\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52330,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/perfected-in-unity\/","url_meta":{"origin":63260,"position":1},"title":"Perfected in Unity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 17:13-26 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 final prayer to the Father before his arrest, Jesus expressed his desire that his followers be united, just as he and the Father were one - John 17:22-23 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That \u201cone\u201d is not numerical, but a unity in purpose and action.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24264,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unity\/","url_meta":{"origin":63260,"position":2},"title":"Unity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24258,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-unity\/","url_meta":{"origin":63260,"position":3},"title":"The Unity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 4:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our Lord\u2019s desire was that his followers would be united - John 17:20-23 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the intervening years, the world has accepted lies. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They believe that as long as we agree on something, then there is unity II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The attitude of unity - Ephesians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52405,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unity-fulfilled\/","url_meta":{"origin":63260,"position":4},"title":"Unity Fulfilled","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90438,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/united-in-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":63260,"position":5},"title":"United in Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Acts 10:34-43 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our Lord and Savior prayed before his death - John 17:13-26 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was his desire that we would share the same oneness that he and the Father shared. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a oneness based in love \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If we are committed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}