I AM SECOND - Value Others Above Yourselves - March 2, 2025
INTRODUCTION
King Jesus
Everyone else
In 2008, a small group of people in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area met to discuss their mutual calling to share the hope of Jesus to their hometown. The conversation quickly moved to a bigger vision and key question: How to convey that hope to as many people as possible in the region through the use of media?
“I am second” movement was born.
“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:1-11 NIV
I have a here a $20 bill -- how much is it worth?
WHO WANTS IT?
What if I tear it?
What if I crumple it up?
What if I throw it on the floor and stomp on it?
Why?
Because it's still a $20 bill.
It has intrinsic value that makes it worth $20.
But WHY is it worth $20?
Is the paper?
Is the ink?
Are the pictures on it worth $20?
No.
It's worth $20 because somebody made it who had the authority to say it had that value.
You have been made in the image of God.
He has the authority to say you have value and worth.
No matter what's happened to you
No matter what you've done with your life
No matter how many bad decisions you've made
You are STILL created in the image of God.
I. VALUE OTHERS ABOVE YOURSELF
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,”
Philippians 2:3 NIV
A. Value others
David Neeleman, JetBlue Airways CEO, meets 95% of new employees on their first work day. From day one he demonstrates he values them. He also sets aside one day each week to travel on JetBlue flights, where he serves beverages and cleans planes. In '02, JetBlue wanted to hire 2,000 team members and received 130,000 applications!
Michael Stallard, Fired Up or Burned Out, Thomas Nelson, 2007.
“Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
Matthew 20:25-28 NIV
B. Above yourself
Plane/military helicopter crash on January 30, 2025 in Washington D.C. reminded me of the Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac River on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. Five people survived. Arland Williams, Jr., the sixth survivor, helped the other 5 passengers grab life preservers from the paramedic helicopter. When they went back to get Williams, he was gone. He valued others above himself.
C. In humility
Dr. Harry Ironside was once convicted about his lack of humility. A friend recommended as a remedy, that he march through the streets of Chicago wearing a sandwich board, shouting the scripture verses on the board for all to hear. Dr. Ironside agreed to this venture and when he returned to his study and removed the board, he said "I’ll bet there’s not another man in town who would do that."
Donald Campbell, Daniel: Decoder of Dreams, p. 22.
J.O.Y. = Jesus, Others, and You.
II. DO NOTHING OUT OF SELFISH AMBITION OR VAIN CONCEIT
A. Nothing
B. Selfish ambition
“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
James 3:14-16 NIV
C. Vain Conceit
“Conceit is the most incurable disease that is known to the human soul.”
Anonymous
III. BE LIKE-MINDED
“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
Philippians 2:1-2 NIV
A. Therefore
1. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ
2. If any comfort from his love
3. If any common sharing in the Spirit
4. If any tenderness and compassion
“If . . . then”
B. Make my joy complete (Paul’s joy)
1. Be like-minded
President Coolidge delivered the following speech in Philadelphia on July 5, 1926, in celebration of the one-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“The Declaration of Independence is the product of the spiritual insight of the people. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it. We must not sink into a pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things that are holy. We must follow the spiritual and moral leadership which they showed. We must keep replenished, that they may glow with a more compelling flame, the altar fires before which they worshiped.”
a. Have the same love
b. Be one in spirit
c. Be one in purpose
“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
Romans 8:5-7 NIV
CONCLUSION
Value others above yourself.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Be like-minded.
Todd Beamer and the others on Flight 93 had a choice to make. Sit by and watch it happen, or take action. You all know what choice they made. After Todd had recited the 23rd Psalm and asked if the other guys were ready, they headed into action with the words, “Let’s roll!”¨
Jesus had the same choice to make. He saw that the world that He had created had been hijacked by sin and evil. He knew that the world was hurtling toward utter destruction. He could have sat by and watched it happen. But instead, He chose to act. He left heaven behind and was born as a little child.
Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.
Don Hawke, Sermon Central, September 10, 2002.
INVITATION
It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word. You may want to follow Jesus. You may want to proclaim your faith. You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things). Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church. If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now. If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.
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