The Book of Philippians - Guest Speaker John Hamon

In one paragraph

John Hammond brought a message from Philippians 2:5-11, a passage scholars call the Christ hymn, tracing the arc of Jesus moving from eternal glory down to the cross and back up to exaltation. The central question was what it means to have the mind of Christ, and why that matters for people who, whether in Manhattan or Jackson, are always reaching for more. The answer the text offers is that the...

Read together

1. Philippians 2:5-11 the main text of the sermon, read aloud in N. T. Wright's rendering
2. John 1:1 quoted to establish that Jesus is eternally God, the Word was with God and was God
3. John 1:18 New King James rendering describing Jesus as the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father
4. Hebrews 1:3 cited to show Jesus as the radiance of God's glory, the exact imprint of his nature, upholding the universe by the word of his power
5. John 1:3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made
6. John 1:10 he was in the world, and the world was made through him, but the world did not know him
7. Philippians 3 Paul recounts his credentials as a Pharisee and counts them all as loss, calling them dung
8. Galatians 4 through faith we are adopted as sons and daughters and heirs who can cry out Abba, daddy
9. Ephesians 1 we were chosen in love before the world began and predestined for his glorious grace
10. Isaiah 53 the servant song describing Jesus as having no beauty or majesty to attract us
11. 2 Corinthians 8:9 though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor so that by his poverty he could make you rich
12. John 13 Jesus washing the disciples' feet at the last supper, a task done only by slaves

Talk about it

1. John talked about the pull toward 'more' that he saw in Manhattan and recognizes here in Jackson too. Where do you notice that pull showing up most in your own life, and what do you think you are actually longing for underneath it?
2. John described two wrong ways of relating to God: the younger son who grabs for glory and runs, and the older son who grinds away trying to earn it. Which of those two patterns do you find yourself falling into more often, and why?
3. John said that Jesus could freely let go of his equality with God because he already had the Father's love and knew who he was. What would it look like practically if you lived from that same security rather than reaching for it?
4. John used the phrase 'he lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died' to describe what Jesus accomplished on the cross. What difference does it make to you personally that Jesus knows your grief and struggles from the inside, not from a distance?
5. John drew a contrast between happiness, which rises and falls with circumstances, and joy, which Paul found even in prison. Where in your life right now is it hardest to hold on to that kind of joy, and what from this passage speaks to that?