Phil 1:27-28
A few weeks ago (9th Sept) Paul was giving the
sermons and he shared a picture that a number of the staff had felt the Holy
Spirit give them as a way of encouraging Paul and Jackie. We saw Jackie and
Paul on the front line of a battle, the other staff were right behind our leaders,
ready to support them and step forward to join them when necessary. Other staff
members had a very similar picture of a Rugby
scrum with Paul taking the worst of the attack. Many of the staff were also
reminded of Ephesians 6:10-20 and Paul’s call to ‘Stand firm against the
devil’s schemes….stand your ground….stand firm’. In our reading
for today from Philippians we hear this phrase again ‘Stand firm in one
spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel…’
In my experience of moving cattle, every person must stand
firm, because if anyone blocking the road moves for fear of the cows
heading towards us, there will be a gap in the human barrier, and the cows will
run through it creating the problem of finding them and getting them back into
the right field.
Every Christian needs to stand firm, not because of a
confused cow or because we want to win a Rugby
match but because we are in a battle against the devil’s schemes. We need to
stand with our leaders and fellow members of Christ Church
(part time member of staff)