Sermon (11/13/22) - "Living as Christians in a Hostile World"

The world in which we live is a world hostile to the Gospel of Christ. This has always been true, though we here in America may not have felt it for some time. From age to age, this world is bound in spiritual darkness and we Christians live here as exiles, set free by Christ and waiting for our return home. Therefore, we must always ask, how do we live as Christians in a hostile world? In this sermon, we explore the opening of Paul's letter to the Philippians, where the apostle, imprisoned in Rome, gives us the answer. Sermon preached by Pastor Aaron Vergin at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in West Bloomfield, MI (stmarkwb.org). Preached on the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity (November 13, 2022). Based on the Epistle Reading appointed for the day (Philippians 1:3-11, see below). ----- Philippians 1:3-11 (ESV) "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."