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The Sunday of The Passion

April 17, 2011
Good Shepherd Lutheran
Denver, CO
Pastor Dena Williams

Philippians 1:5-11 and 2:5-11

Life for All

A letter arrives in the town of Phillippi.

It is sent from the Apostle Paul and his helper Timothy.
They are servants of Christ Jesus.
The letter is addressed to all the saints in Christ Jesus who
live in Philippi,
including the bishops and deacons.

The believers gather together

and one of them reads the letter aloud for the people:

The letter begins:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.

So Paul writes to the people of the church in Philippi:

I thank my God every time I remember you.
I constantly pray with joy in every one of my prayers for all
of you,
because you faithfully share in the gospel.
You were faithful when you first heard about Jesus.
You are faithful still.

I am confident for you in a very important matter.

I am confident that God, the one who began a good work
among you
will bring your good work to completion by the day of Jesus
Christ.

It is right for me to think this way about all of you,

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because you hold me in your heart,

and all of you share in God’s grace with me.

You held me in your heart when I was imprisoned.

both in my imprisonment and in the defense and
confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness,
how I long to be with all of you with the compassion of Christ
Jesus.
And this is my prayer,
that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge
and full insight
to help you to determine what is best,
so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,
having produced the harvest of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of
God.

A letter has come from the Reverend Dena Williams,

a servant of Christ Jesus.
The letter is addressed to all the saints in Christ Jesus who
are gathered
at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Denver, Colorado.

The letter begins:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.

So Pastor Dena writes to the people of the church in Denver:

I thank God every time I remember you.
My constant prayer is one of joy and thanksgiving for all of
you
because of the ways you have shared and continue to share
the Gospel.

I am confident that the one who began a good work among

you
will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ,
when God’s kingdom will come to earth.
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It is right for me to think this way about all of you,

because I hold you in my heart,
for all of you share God’s grace with me,
even during the hard times,
you defend and affirm the Gospel.

As God is my witness,
I feel deep compassion,
the compassion of Christ Jesus for all of you.

This is my prayer,
that your love may overflow more and more,
that you will learn more about the Gospel
and that your insight will help you determine what is best
when there are decisions to make.

In the day of Christ you will be pure and blameless.

You will have produced a great harvest of righteousness
that comes through your redemption by Jesus Christ.
All glory and praise be to God.

Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi continues:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be
exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness,

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the
name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
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in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Pastor Dena’s letter continues:

Let us be of the same mind,
the mind of Christ Jesus.
Even though he was God,
he did not demand control and power.
He emptied himself,
he came humbly,
taking the form of a slave.
He who is fully divine,
comes to us fully human.
It was in his human form that he gave himself for us
in his death on the cross.
God raised him and gave him a name that is above every
name.
God gave to Jesus all power and authority
so that all people in heaven and on earth,
all people everywhere
might kneel at Jesus’ feet
and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Let us pray:
O God, the people gathered here in this place,
give all thanks and honor,
glory and praise to you,
to you alone,
in thanksgiving for your gift of Christ Jesus to us.

O God, the people gathered here in this place,

confess that we have not always put your name above every
name,
that sometimes we have sought power and authority for
ourselves instead.
We ask your forgiveness.
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O God, the people gathered here in this place,

ask that your will be done in each of our lives,
and in our community of faith.

Grant that we may witness to the love of the Gospel

for all people:
to all who are a part of this community and beyond,
that we may continue in loving relationship with one
another,
to the elderly, the young, the vulnerable among us,
to women and men,
all who worship with us,
all those we encounter in our daily lives,
so that your good news of life for all may be made known.
Amen