Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

AsI have been thinking about this, I want us to finish with the thought todaythat our confidence is not in ourselves. Paul’s confidence was not in himselfor even in the Philippians. His confidence was in God. That is so important. Ifyour confidence is in yourself, you will always struggle with doubt, becauseyou know your weaknesses and you know your failures. But when your confidenceis in God, it...

Welcometo Pastor’s Chat. Today we are continuing to look at Philippians 1: 6, wherethe Apostle Paul writes, “Being confident of this very thing, that He, God,who has begun a good work in you, He will perform it until the day of JesusChrist.” So far w e have talked about “being confident” . We also talked yesterday about a “good work” — the good workof salvation, the good work of transformation, th...

Today, we are talkingabout the good work that God is doing. We areconfident, and we can have full assurance that God, who began the work in us,will complete it until Jesus Christ comes. We can live a confident, joyful lifedespite our circumstances because it is God who began that good work. We areconfident of that very thing.   Iwant us to think about that phrase, “a good work”. What is that work?...

We are back in the book of Philippians, chapter 1. Aswe study through these verses, we are trusting that God will encourage you andhelp you learn how to have that joy that never goes away—that joy that Jesussaid, “I give unto you.” His very joy that we can enjoy every day.   Butthere are some things we need to know and some things we need to practicebefore we can say Philippians 4:13, “I can do al...

Letus look at Philippians 1:3–5. The reason we are looking at these versestogether is that they form one continuous sentence from verse 3 all the waythrough verse 7. Today, we are just going to read through verse 5. Paul writesin verse 3, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in everyprayer of mine making requests for you with joy.” Then in verse 5—and thisis what we are focusing o...

Todaywe are continuing to look at Philippians 1:3- 4. In verse 3, Paul made thestatement, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Then hecontinues in verse 4, “always in every prayer of mine, making requests foryou all with joy.” The apostle Paul makes it very clear that he prayed forpeople, and he prayed with joy. This is a very important detail. Sometimes whenwe pray, we can feel heavy....

First,let me say to my Facebook and media friends, thank you. Thank you for yoursupport over these past five years as we have been in a state of retirementfrom more than 50 years as a senior pastor. I just wanted to give you a specialshout-out. You have been such a blessing and such an encouragement. Yourprayers and your support have helped me through difficult times and inspired meto keep on keep...

WhenPaul thought about the believers in Philippi, his heart was filled withgratitude. Think about that for a moment. How often do we think about peopleand immediately feel grateful and thankful? Too often, our thoughts go in theopposite direction. We remember disagreements, frustrations, disappointment,hurt, and pain—people stabbing us in the back, if we are not careful. But whenPaul remembered th...

“Grace to you and peace from God ourFather and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul uses this same greeting in all 13of his epistles in some form or another, mentioning both God’s grace and God’speace that we can experience when we come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.   Itis interesting that all of Paul’s epistles also end with at least the mentionof grace, because everything in the Christian life begins w...

Welcometo Pastor’s Chat today. I’m very excited about today’s chat because we’re goingto be talking about what I believe to be the real key to joy in the Christianlife—the true joy in life itself. I believe we find the clue in the very firstverse, where the apostle Paul, in his introduction to the letter he wrote tothe Philippians, said, “Paul and Timothy.” He is referring to bothhimself and his s...

Today,we’re beginning our journey through the book of Philippians. It’s amazing thatthe Apostle Paul wrote one of the most joyful books in the Bible from a prisoncell, encouraging believers—through difficult and terrible circumstances in theworld at that time—to be joyful and to have a joyful mind. As a matter of fact,I believe we’ve already mentioned this, but some 19 times the word joy appearsin...

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those thingswhich are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling ofGod in Christ Jesus.”   Today,we conclude our introduction to the book of Philippians by looking at one ofthe most powerful statements that Paul makes in this letter. In...

Aswe continue to look at the message in the book of Epistle to the Philippians, Iwant to talk about something that affects every believer. Even though God wantsus to live with joy, there are many things that can rob us of that joy if weare not careful. In John 10:10, Jesus reminds us: “The thief comes only tosteal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and thatthey may have...

Thefirst theme that stands out in this book, of course, is joy. This theme ofjoy is closely connected to our minds—what our minds are set upon. That’swhy, over the years as I’ve taught through this book, I’ve often used a verysimple outline based on the focus of the believer’s mind in each chapter.   In chapter one , we see what it means to have the single mind . Thisis the mind that is set on Jes...

Today we are asking the question: Why did Paul write this letter? First, it isvery obvious that Paul wrote this letter because the Holy Spirit of the livingGod inspired him to write it. God wanted this letter to become part of thecanon of Scripture—the Word of God that we have for us today.   God’splan was that this book—written to encourage believers during a difficult timein history—would also b...

Today,as we continue to look at the introduction to the letter of Epistle to thePhilippians from the Apostle Paul while he was in prison, we discover somethingvery beautiful about the church at Philippi. Among all the churches that Paulhelped establish, the Philippian believers seemed to have a particularly closerelationship with him. There was a deep bond of love between Paul and thiscongregation...

There is someone somewhere waiting for someone to tell them aboutJesus. That is exactly what we see happening in Acts of the Apostleschapters 15 and 16.   Herein Acts chapter 16, when the Apostle Paul arrives at Philippi with hiscompanions—Silas, Timothy and Luke—they begin looking for a place where peoplemight be praying. Remember we said earlier that there was probably no synagoguein the city. S...

“And a vision appearedto Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over toMacedonia and help us." (Acts 16:9)   Todaywe want to talk about the vision that changed the world . As we look atone of the most fascinating moments in the book of Acts of the Apostles, wefind a moment that literally led to the founding of the church at Philippi andbrought the...

Understanding the background of Philippi will help us appreciatethe message that Paul writes to this church in this letter.   Philippiwas located in the region of Macedonia, which today would be in northernGreece. The city was set on a fertile plain near the Aegean Sea and waspositioned along one of the most important highways in the ancient world—thefamous Roman road called the Via Egnatia. This...

Today,as we continue our introduction to the book of Epistle to the Philippians, Iwant us to think about the amazing circumstances in which this letter waswritten. When you look at the book of Philippians, you find that it is one ofthe most joyful books in the New Testament. In fact, it overflows withencouragement, gratitude, and rejoicing. Yet the Apostle Paul wrote this letterwhile he was a pris...

Ifelt led to go through this book with you because we live in a world todayfilled with chaos, confusion, and division. It is a world filled withtremendous hurt, pain, and suffering—filled with wars and rumors of wars. OnlyGod knows what’s going to come next. But my friend, in the midst of all that,the believer in Jesus Christ is promised the joy of Jesus Christ. In Gospel ofJohn 15:11, Jesus Himse...

Remember, as we were studying the book of Ephesians, we talked about how firstwe need to know that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We arein Christ. We are blessed with all the spiritual blessings of heaven right nowin Christ. Then we learned that we need to walk in purity—walk in love—walk ina way that identifies us as true followers of Christ. Third, we need to be ableto stand a...

Todaywe come to Ephesians 6:23, where the Apostle Paul finishes this letter with abeautiful blessing: “Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from Godthe Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” First,Paul speaks about “peace to the brethren”. Earlier in the letter,remember in Ephesians 2:13-17, the Apostle Paul wrote about this: “But nowin Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought n...

Manybelieve that Tychicus was the one who carried this letter, which we callEphesians, from Paul’s prison in Rome to the believers in Ephesus. Paul waswriting while he was in chains, yet his concern was still for the believersthere. He knew that the Christians in Ephesus loved him deeply and were prayingfor him. But Paul also understood something very important about prayer: themore we know about...

“And for me, that utterance may be given to me,that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains;that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” As we look at thesetwo verses, Paul is now asking for prayer for himself. What’s striking is whathe does not ask for. He does not ask for release from prison. He does not askfor comfort,...