Six challenges for today

Today I want to talk to you about some challenges and virtues that we Christians have to demonstrate or show to the world, and why not among ourselves. The church faces continuous challenges for which we must use the virtues that the church or that we have received from God. Philippians chapter 1 verses 27 to 30. I want to invite you to review and consider some of these challenges that are mentioned by the apostle Paul.

Philippians chapter 1 verses 27 to 30, says: "Only behave as is worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or be absent, I may hear from you that you are firm in one spirit fighting with one accord for the faith of the gospel, and in no way intimidated by those who oppose it, which for them certainly is an indication of perdition, but for you of salvation and this of God, because it is granted to you not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him. Having the same conflict that you have seen in me and now you hear that there is in me."

We are going to close our eyes, and we are going to pray to the Lord: Lord God Almighty, we thank you for the opportunity that you give us to be able to be receiving Lord of Your word. I ask that You prepare our hearts, prepare our understanding, prepare our spirit, and that we can connect with this will of the Holy Spirit so that we can receive what You have prepared for us. Lord Jesus, amen, and amen.

Within some of the things that the world today is probably demanding of the church, there are these challenges that will allow us in some way to see that our faith, the faith that we have in Christ is a powerful faith. The church, sorry, the world demands a lot from the church, and when the church begins to show those virtues through the characteristics or challenges that the Lord is giving us, the Lord begins to move in a powerful way, transforming lives, healing to the sick, freeing the captive, giving joy to those who are sad, how many here have been transformed by the power of the Lord, how many here have been transformed by the forgiveness of the Lord, how many here have understood that the love of Jesus Christ was incomparable, had We accept it, we are part of what the Lord collected there through the sacrifice of the cross shedding his blood.

One of the first challenges that I want to mention to you is the challenge of perseverance. It is implied here in one of the verses, verses 27 to 30 of chapter 1, it is a quality that the church today must have, and must maintain. For some reason Christians, some modern Christians are short-sighted, they are not marathon runners in faith, they are ten meter flat, five, some are one, but there are others that the Lord has taught us to be marathon runners, and we must learn to persevere in this process of the obstacle course that we have to do in the Christian life. Perseverance is a quality that each one of us must begin to cultivate in order to maintain ourselves in the faith of the Lord over time. And one of the ways to cultivate this perseverance is to keep ourselves in the Lord, being at service, having the need as a people to be ministered by the Holy Spirit. These things are good, it is good to be alone at home, but it is also good to be in church. Perseverance is a quality that very few Christians somehow manage to consolidate, and do you know why? Because there are some who are very good Christians while things are good, but when things are bad, even God is to blame, and we look for others to blame. including the Lord, we don't, but it's the rest. The Lord is looking for these faithful men, the portion of the word says if you persevere to the end, it says you will have a crown, that is the evangelical concept. How many believe in the coming of the Lord?, fu, half scared.

We believe in the coming of the Lord, maybe someone has some nuances, the only thing I know is that the Lord is coming and if we are not prepared, if we have not persevered in the word of the Lord, in sound doctrine, in the word of the Lord , as the Pentecostals say?, it is better that he not dress, because he does not go. Perseverance has some concepts such as tenacity, how many are persevering, you have to be persevering, a persevering person is a constant person, who has firmness, who has integrity, who has permanence, I didn't like this anymore?, I'm leaving. Well, it's not like that, no, this brother is much better than this one, I'd better go with this one here, this one goes for walks, this other one doesn't go for walks.

The second challenge is unity. There is an interesting verse, I read it and read it many times and I said Lord, well but I have to read it anyway. The second challenge that the Lord requires of the church is unity, and unity is this sense of team, this sense of block, this sense of module, this sense of appearing to be a single body, even though the Bible says that we must be one body only. When we are one, look there is no giant that dares to challenge it. When we are one there is no wall high and wide that cannot be knocked down. When we are united there is no dead end place where the Lord does not make a miraculous exit even through the middle of the sea. Unity is a challenge that the church must also learn to cultivate.

Proverbs chapter 6, verses 16 to 19 says something interesting, and I am going to summarize it in this, it says: "The Lord hates six things, and his soul hates seven more" and there is a list, it says in verse 7: "He who sows discord between brothers is he whom the Lord abominates." Discord is opposition, it is contrariety, it is disagreement, it is division, it is hatred. Verse 19 says, "He who sows strife the Lord rejects." The Lord does not hold him in esteem, with him the Lord has problems. So it would be good for us to review our behavior and our actions, you know why? To find the grace of the Lord, to find the favor of the Lord, if this going around trying to fix the lives of others belongs to everyone, who doesn't want to go to fix someone else's life, he has sat down in the living room, I'm not just doing it to make things go well for him, I'm not just doing it to help, the person who was going to help never knew that they wanted to help him. Unity is reflected in these simple steps of respect, love, and tolerance. You know each of us must strive to maintain unity in the body of Christ, we must strive, it is a rule for us.

The third challenge is the challenge of humility. Philippian chapter 2 verse 3 says the following: "Do nothing out of contention or vainglory, but rather with pride." With what does it say? how many are humble here? wow, humbly I am humble. Humility is the process in which we must learn in this concept to submit, to respect, to be faithful. Humility in the people of the Lord, is a challenge in which if we manage to take that step, God glorifies himself through us, the Bible says that the Lord rejects the proud and gives grace to whom?, to the humble, and to me I like that expression, it's funny because it's not just that the rest of the world likes it, but that the Lord does great things through those who are humble. He does great things through those who, even though they have abilities, that even if they have resources, that even if they have knowledge, everything belongs to the Lord, nothing belongs to them. So if you thought you had something, tell him Lord, I want to be humble, take it away from me, if you think you know more than others, look, the Bible says that no one has a higher opinion of himself than he should have, rather look at another as superiors, look at the one next to you as superior to yourself, even if the one next to you hasn't reached the second grade, even if the one next to you hasn't set foot in the university, hasn't even gone through the university on the bus, look at him as superior .

The fourth challenge is, I like this, I have a bigger sermon about this but it is obedience. Philippians chapter 2 verses 12 to 18, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but even more so in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who produces in you both wanting and doing according to his good will. Do everything without murmuring and contention. How many have complained because the pastor orders them to do something? Today is the day to recognize many things. We have already boiled oil to put on your head. No one will raise his hand?. "So that you may be blameless in the Lord, blameless, in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation, in the midst of which you shine like lights in the world. Grasping the word of life so that on the day of Christ I can boast that I have not run in vain, nor have I labored in vain, and even though a libation is poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and rejoice with all you, and likewise rejoice and you also rejoice with me". Obedience is a challenge for the people of the Lord, obey the Lord, obey the Lord. Obedience is more than sacrifices, more than that religious attitude sometimes that we believe that is going to save us, let us obey the Lord, for surely obedience is going to save us. Let us obey the Lord as a term of submission, subordination, subjection, dependence, when our obedience is linked to dependence on God, look, all the things are possible in the Lord.

The fifth challenge is something that we suddenly forget, especially when we have to pay some bills. Look at your brother if he is joyful and see if he at least has a joyful face. If your brother has a happy face, and if not, nudge him in the love of the Lord and make him laugh. The fifth challenge that the church must cultivate is joy. A joyous church transcends the walls of its church, of its building. A joyful church transcends the community, the workplace, your family. Many Christians are not welcome at family parties, because they have nothing for joy, not the party but the Christian, the joy of the Lord must be transmitted in different places, to different people, the joy of the Lord brings that character through us of a loving Christ, of a tender Christ, of a Christ who did not mind stripping himself of the greatest thing he had in heaven to come to earth turned into a man, and suffer as a man, and die on the cross of Calvary, that it is the symbol of joy. The joy of Christ, or the vision of Christ as Cume scholars say, here is one who studied at a Cume out there. The vision is Christ looking at the world and the world looking at Christ through us. The joy of the Lord, joy is satisfaction, joy is joy, it is rejoicing, the joy of the Lord is our strength, how many have experienced that, the joy of the Lord is our strength, or has no one here gone through difficult times? How many have gone through difficult times, the joy of the Lord has been their strength?

Philippians chapter 1 verse 21 says Paul: "To me, living is Christ." He says that in his presence there is fullness of joy. The most difficult moments, when you no longer feel like laughing, when the only thing that comes out of your eyes are tears, get into the presence of the Lord, because there the Lord will give you joy, no matter the circumstance, no matter the troubles, in Him is full of joy. And an important promise in chapter 22, "You also now have sadness, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." How many say amen? How many give at least one applause to the Lord.

Are you joyful? If someone lost joy, today is the day to recover it, because the Lord is here, his presence is here, his anointing, if someone believes that joy was a lie, here he realizes that joy is true, if he gives it Lord that's true.

The sixth challenge that the Lord poses to us is contentment. Philippians chapter 4 verses 11 to 13, "I don't say it because I have a shortage, because I have learned to be content whatever my situation is." Wow, how many can say this like that, say it, I can say it like that because the Lord allows us to be content in any situation in our lives. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to have in abundance. How many do you prefer to have in abundance? "In everything and for everything I am taught as well to be satisfied as to be hungry, as well as to have abundance as to have need." And the last verse who knows verse 13? "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." How not to rejoice, how not to be content, how not to say Lord You are my joy, You are enough for me, you know what? You are enough, whether I have it or not, You are enough. So I want to invite you to be able to put these challenges into practice, and I am sure that the blessing of the Lord will be on your life, but in addition to these challenges, Philippians chapter 4 verse 8, shows us the virtues we have, the apostle Paul tells us about that the church has a position, a position in Christ, Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 says: "Brothers for more psalms of mine, brothers all that is true" everything? I preached this in my church but I don't know if I can say it here, how many taste the grape when they go to the supermarket? I only ask, there you draw your conclusion, "everything that is just, everything that is pure, everything that is kind, everything that is of good name, if there is any virtue, if there is something Praiseworthy, think about this."

Here are virtues that the church must begin to expose to the world. This is the Lord's church, you are the Lord's church. Close your eyes for a moment. I want to invite you to reflect on this for a moment, reflect on what the Lord has been speaking to our lives, reflect on what the Lord is demanding of his people, of his children, it is not just a religious attitude, it is not just a change from one religion to another, it is a model of life that transcends limits, it is a model of life that transcends systems, it is a model of life that invites us and challenges us to tell the world, for me living it is Christ, and dying is gain. "If then you have risen with Christ, seek things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your sights on things above, not on things on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 to 3. Wherever he is, raise his arms to heaven, tell him Lord, teach me to be a faithful witness of your word, tell him Lord, teach me to be the ambassador that You want of your kingdom, Lord, teach me to carry your word believing that You will flow in power, Lord teach me to accept and adopt these challenges in my life, so that many around me can come to the knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ, thank you Jesus, thank you Lord, in the name of Jesus, may the Lord bless.