Philippians 1. 1-8
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 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. 7 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. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Sermon quotes and references:
Ingrown churches face a crisis of gospel confidence & gospel vision. Some of them have crashed spiritually & never noticed their own fatal ending. The evidence is found in lack of zeal for outreach. Other congregations still give lip service to missions and evangelism, but inwardly they have given up—quit—having lost confidence in being used by the Lord of the harvest to bring people to Him.
Like persons, local churches are sometimes introverted. Following this pattern in human personality, these churches turn their interests & their energies inwardly upon themselves. They are concerned primarily with their own affairs. Sometimes they devote most of their attention to spiritual introspection which results in a neglect of spiritual expression in their communities. The introverted church is not partly out of line with the divine will, but radically disobedient to it.
– C John Miller, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church