9th July 2025

9th July 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Philippians 2:25-30 focus v26-27)


Message (Alan Burke)


I’m not a big reader of the Sunday World but I have a mate who is along with many other news agencies and the only one that he won’t touch is the BBC. Anyway what I got sent an article about a Kilkenny hurler called DJ Carey. According to wikipedia Carey has been described as "GAA's first superstar" and a "hurling legend”. During his playing days he won nine All-Star awards, as well as being named Texaco Hurler of the Year on two occasions. Bet you didn’t expect to be reading this from me but what makes this stick out is that Carey had pretended to have cancer to defraud people out of money. 


The sad thing is that this isn’t a unique case, there have been many who have done similar things and have been before the courts because of what they have done. Today we hear more of Epaphroditus who had been ill, who had almost died and was more concerned for the church in Philippi than he was for himself. He was concerned for them because he had the affection of Christ Jesus. Paul himself had already spoke of how he longed for the church in Philippi with the affection of Christ Jesus (1:8). When we come to saving faith by the work of God within us, not because of anything that we have done in ourselves causes us to have a deep affection and concern in Christ for our spiritual family. 


How do we feel when we learn when a brother or sister, part of the family here are going through trials, temptations, when they are ill, struggling emotionally, financially, are we those who are distressed for them? Are we those who are in a position to do something about it doing something about it because there is many ways that we can practically help? Epaphroditus was a man who was living the reality of what Paul had taught the church in v3, where he said; 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves (Phil 2:3), but often we are those who focus on ourselves. Instead we should be those who are praying that God would work within us, that he would enable us to have such concern for others, that he would work by the Holy Spirit within us, cultivating a spirit of concern and affection within us as believers in this place, who love one another (1 Jn 3:11), who care for one another selflessly. 


The church in Philippi were distressed at what happened to Epaphroditus. When someone is ill and dies the reality of the misery of this life comes to the forefront. Remember the response of Jesus our Lord when he came to the tomb of Lazarus, the shortest verse in scripture it may be but it conveys so much to us, for when Jesus came ‘he wept’ groaned in the spirit being troubled (John 11:34-35). Death is not a natural thing, we should not make light of it, death is caused by sin and is part of mans misery. 


Brothers and Sister, let us not be so caught up in ourselves that we act like DJ Carey but instead let us have a concern for our brothers and sisters, knowing the reality of how we live in a fallen sinful world, in fallen sinful bodies that face illness and death, caring for one another, being concerned for one another, praying for one another, let us look to Christ who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Php 2:6–8). May the love of Christ be seen in our concern for one another. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.
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