We want grace to be at work in our lives; the first sign of this according to Philemon is our love for other believers.

Some people are very loveable, others not so much.

What do we need to know to ensure we love the saints like Jesus did?

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Martin Luther was right when he said about believers ‘we are all Onesimuses!’

Today, we are going to see what exactly makes us 'Onesimuses'. We'll see that his life story is a picture of our life story, which will give us the big fat reminder we need about God's grace: it worked.

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There are some great books in our New Testament:

Acts is the first book of church history; Romans the backbone of Christianity, full of the power of the gospel & loaded with doctrine. We then have x8 church epistles, which instruct believers on how to deal with sin, how to respond to religion, how to walk in the Holy Spirit, how to fix problems in the church, teaches us about family relationships, about the deity of Christ, about our identify in Christ, about the return of Christ…

Then 3 pastoral epistles, which prepare and instruct ministers in how to do the job the Lord has called them too…

Then there’s Philemon. A short memo of a letter that doesn't serve to correct a church problem, nor expound a new doctrine, nor correct a false teaching…
What is it for then?

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Believers are not called to a pleasure cruise but to a prize fight. Not only are we to go, but we are to fight, and we are to win.

Where does the power come from for this fight? How can I make sure I pack a punch?

Let's find out...

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There are team sports and there are individual sports. Some individual sports include: boxing, swimming, running. Some team ones include: football, hockey, rugby, netball.

What are the differences between the two?

With individual sports, you’re out there on your own. Though there are a few people involved behind the scenes, when the competitor is actually on the field or in the ring, they’re on their own.

With team sports, the opposite is true: the sportspeople involved are never on their own. They always have the comfort and support of the team and, most significantly, their success is completely caught up in the success of the team.

In a team sport, someone is only successful if the team is successful.

Finishing our (obstacle) course is a team sport.

What position are you going to play?

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As we reach (almost) the end of our series, we’ll see something extraordinary play out in Paul’s life. He's pretty old, alone, imprisoned, and he has to stand before an absolute tyrant of a ruler - a lion according to verse 17…
But at the same time, he couldn’t have been safer.
As counter intuitive as that sounds, I believe that at that moment (his first answer before Nero) he was the strongest and safest he had ever been.

How is that possible?

And what does it have to do with us?

Let's find out...

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It’s important to be ready. If I want to get the bus to school, I have to be ready in time. If I want to succeed in that job interview, I need to be ready for it.

There are many incidences in life where it is important to be ready, but none that compare to being ready to stand before Christ.

Two huge questions this week:

1. Are you ready to stand before Christ?

2. How do you know?

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One thing we did a lot in my family growing up was huddle round the TV on a Saturday night for a TV show called Gladiators. An entertaining show, where contestants faced off against 'gladiators' in a range of events designed to test speed, agility and strength. One of the most difficult, dramatic and important moments in the show is The Travellator.

At the end of the show, after several events, a final obstacle course has to be run by each contestant. This includes rope climbing, a zip wire, monkey bars, balance beams… and then finally the dreaded Travellator.

After numerous events, hours of work, when their knees are going and they have almost nothing left, they are presented with the final obstacle: a sprint finish, uphill, whilst the ground moves electronically backwards against them.

It is almost the end, but it is hard, and it takes an extra special push to get over the line.

Glory awaits on the other side, but they are required to dig very deep to get there...

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