Worship Service

Philippians 1:6

3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Introduction – Review Last Week

I. Review of the last 11 years

· Verse 3; 4-5

3 I thank my God every time I remember you.

4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,

II. “A partnership in the gospel”

A. Magnets and Banners

1. Apostles Creed

2. Heidelberg Catechism (Q & A 1)

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death? 

A. That I am not my own,1 but belong— body and soul, in life and in death—2 to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.3 He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,4 and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.5He also watches over me in such a way 6 that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;7 in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.8 Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life 9 and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. 10 1 1 Cor. 6:19-20 2 Rom. 14:7-9 3 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14 4 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2 5 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11 6 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5 7 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18 8 Rom. 8:28 9 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14 10 Rom. 8:1-17 

B. Vision Statement and Hashtags.

1. # Love God, Love People, Love North Iowa  

· Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12)

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

2. Disciples Making Disciples

· Missional

· Chain

3. B.L.E.S.S.

· Phil. 1:3-5

3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,

C. Spiritual Gifts

· “Here I am, Lord…”

Application 

  Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Matthew 22:9-10 (NIV) 

 God invites everyone to His heavenly celebration for His Son, Jesus. Just like a king in Jesus' story, God prepares a grand party, but some people might decline the invitation. Instead, He invites everyone, both good and bad, to join in. Will you accept God's invitation? (Matthew 22:9-10) 

Have any of you have ever given a party? Of course you have! We have all given a party at some time. Perhaps it was a birthday party, or a slumber party. Maybe you had a picnic or a costume party. No matter what kind of party you give, it is a lot of work to get ready for a party, isn't it? First, you have to decide what kind of a party you are going to have. Then you have to go out and buy the decorations or make them yourself. You have to plan what games you are going to play and make sure that you have all of the proper equipment for the games. Next you have to decide what you are going to serve and go to the store to buy refreshments. After you have made all the plans, you make a list of who you are going to invite and send out the invitations.

Have you ever planned a party and sent out the invitations, but no one showed up? Oh, I hope not! If that happened, how do you think it would make you feel? Would you be angry? Would your feelings be hurt? What do you think you might do?

Jesus once told about a king who threw a party, but none of the people he invited showed up for his party. In Jesus' story, the king was going to have a party for his Son who was getting married. Since he was a king, and this was his only son, you can imagine that it was going to be quite a celebration and it was a tremendous honor to be invited!. 

All of the plans had been made, the food was prepared, the invitations had been sent. The day of the celebration came, but no one showed up! The king sent his servants to see where the people were and why they had not come to his celebration. The people all began to make excuses about how busy they were.

The king was very upset, so he told his servants to go out into the streets and invite everyone they saw to come to his son's wedding celebration. They did exactly what the king told them to do and the Bible tells us that the wedding hall was filled with guests.

In this story, the King is God and, of course, Jesus is His Son. God is going to have a great celebration for His Son in Heaven and we have all been invited. I can't imagine why, but some people will turn down God's invitation. You've been invited -- I hope you will accept God's invitation.

Dear Father, thank you for inviting us to join you in your heavenly celebration. If there are any here today who have not accepted your invitation, we pray that today will be the day.  In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.