Jeff Phillips' Messages
(click on the month to view the messages for that month)
The Carpenter's Apprentice
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July 27, 2025
Day Camp is in full swing and although it is pretty warm, sunscreen, water and plenty of fun keep our attention off the heat. Furthermore, no one has had to spend any time in the whiney circle! You may be aware, rule #3 in the youth group is “No Whining.” I have conceded one exception to this rule, at Day Camp only. There is a four-foot circle that was inadvertently painted in the parking lot and has been designated and decorated, “The Whiney Circle.” If you are unfamiliar with Day Camp, campers are in K-5 th grade and the counselors are the middle and high schoolers, so nearly the whole youth group is there! We play lots of games, mostly as teams and they are usually modified from the classics like kick ball. Often the games are silly but always, they have a point. Sometimes, like today, the point is awesome and totally unexpected. Today we played a relay game. It involved rolling a lemon, without lifting it, down one of the parking space lines and back using only a tongue depressor (aka, fat popsicle stick). Because of the difficulty, we quickly evolved into two tongue depressors. If the lemon came off the line, you had to start over. There were many different strategies attempted and I was impressed with the creativity and persistence under pressure. Then Noah C. stepped to the line for his turn. He’d made a V with his depressors and slid them down and behind the lemon. He then proceeded to walk very quickly from one end of the line to the other. When he finished, pretty much everyone had stopped to watch the ease with which he accomplished the task. The silence that had overcome us ceased as everyone tried their best to remember and emulate his method. His team came from last to win the relay by following his example. As we debriefed in the shade, I called Noah up and gave honor where honor was due. I asked everyone if any of them had thought of his method. Several, and then most, claimed they had thought of doing what he did and the lesson hit me. I asked them, “So most of you thought about doing the right thing, but you didn’t do it because you didn’t think it would work?” The older kids got it. The younger ones needed more, but a seed was planted. I then asked how many copied Noah’s technique after they saw it in action. They unanimously admitted following his lead. I told them, “Now I hope you see the importance of doing the right thing. There may be others that need to see it successfully done in order to follow.” I want our children to be the ones who know the right things to do and then do them! It will only happen if we both tell them and show them. “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin."
-jeff
July 20, 2025
Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Some still struggle with the application of this definition to real life. Simply stated faith is this, you can’t see ‘it’ but you know ‘it’ is there. The key word here is ‘know’. If you don’t ‘know’ then you don’t have faith. Without knowing you are left with something you think might be true; therefore, you go with it. You go along with it because going along is easier than not going along. Faith however demands more than going with the flow. In fact, true faith means you will likely go against the flow. Jesus said, “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” (Matthew 7:13). Faith not only determines the direction of our life it dictates our actions during our travels through life. True faith answers the “why” of life but also gives us the “how” of life dictating our response to life’s curves and Satan’s deceptions. Certainly, the level of our faith can be seen in the fruit of our lives. Faith is not and can never be a game of chance. We aren’t hopeful of a winner; we are certain of a winner. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field Matthew 13:44. This man is certain, convicted and refuses to be denied. In this one-line parable it is easy to overlook the giving up of everything for one thing. He sold all he had; all he’d acquired and worked for in life to gain one thing he knew without a doubt he could hang his hat on. Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you, in my father’s house are many mansions and when your room is ready, I will come and get you (John 14:2-3). Do you believe that? Do you believe it enough to live it? I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Mark 9:7). I believe he left glory to come and walk as a man (Philippians 2:6-8). I believe He will come again and gather those whose lives demonstrated their faith (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12) in Him through their unselfish love (John 13:34) and obedience to His Word (John 14:15). I believe it is my duty as one who has faith in God and His promise to share the good news of Christ with all who will listen (Matthew 28:19) because I believe there is a judgement day coming (Hebrews 9:27). I also believe Jesus came to save the world (John 3:17). I am fairly positive most people who read this will agree and believe almost exactly. So let me pose one question for thought; Is the refusal to share God’s word and the love of Christ, for any reason, anything more than a demonstration of true faith?
-jeff
July 13, 2025
In 1946, to raise awareness and morale, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Chief of Naval Operations, formed the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, known originally as the Blue Lancers. The “Blues” flew their first show in Jacksonville, Florida in June of 1946. A month later, however, one of the pilots saw an ad in the New Yorker magazine for the Blue Angel night club and at a show in Omaha, Nebraska, in July of 1946, they were first called the Blue Angels. This morning, I was privileged for the umpteenth time to watch the Angels fly one of their pre-show practices. Their shows bring back many memories for me and always - always make me cry. As I watch them fly incredibly close together, I am reminded of many things from Beau’s first sighting of the Angels at the age of two to taking Sophia, Olivia and Levi to their first air show. I also think of the sound they make. I think the “sneak pass” is my favorite part of the show because when you hear the jet engine, the plane is already passed you by. I can only imagine a platoon of pinned down troops who are anxiously awaiting the called for air support that will give them life, and how glorious that sound must be when it finally arrives. On the flip side, the same sound is not one of hope and salvation but the dawning of realization, finality and doom. I cannot help but think of the day Jesus comes back. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). What a day that will be for those who have obeyed the Gospel, endured to the end and anxiously awaited the crown of righteousness promised and the words of our Lord, “Enter in my good and faithful servant.” As amazing as the Blues are to me, I also cannot help but notice, nearly every time I see them fly, the number of people who just do not seem to care. I am sure if you mentioned the planes to them you would get an array of responses from, “Yes, they are incredible,” to “they are too loud and annoying.” This too reminds me of judgement day. While many know it is coming, they are just too caught up in daily living and life to care enough to stop and marvel at God’s power, love and righteousness. “When the trumpet of the Lord shall come and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair; when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore and the role is called up yonder;” will the sound of the trumpet be one of salvation or one of condemnation for you?
-jeff
July 6, 2025
It is always interesting to me how many will recite Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” They will insist there is nothing we can do to deserve or earn salvation and the mere suggestion something like baptism is required has them crying, “FOUL! Works will not get you into heaven!” While I agree works will not get us into heaven, I can’t help but wonder if obedience counts as a work. Surely no one would think all we have to do is, well – nothing. Ephesians 2:10, obviously the very next verse following “saved by grace,” even says we are created for good works and we are to walk in them. Somehow though, verse ten seems casually overlooked. It is not just verse ten though. Chapter 4 starts with Paul imploring or strongly encouraging the church at Ephesus to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). The implication here is very plainly, take action on your belief. The message is made clearer in verse 2, we are to walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3). There is a way in which we, those who believe in God and that He sent His only son who willingly came and died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, was raised on the third day, ascended later into heaven and will one day return to gather all of those who in Christ to himself, there is a way in which we are to “walk,” or live life, and it involves doing something. Furthermore, doing anything is actually doing a “work.” Strangely, hearing is something you do. Believing is something you do. Repenting and confessing are things you do, but baptism is the only “step” in what we commonly call or refer to as the “Five Steps to Salvation,” baptism is the only step that we cannot DO, rather it must be DONE to us. We must be willing to submit to death, that is dying to self, to be buried by someone else, raised from that burial by someone else and cleansed from all sin by only God. After our “resurrection,” we must go back to the “work” of “walking in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). The “free gift of God” (Romans 6:23) is actually free, undeserved and unearned, but acceptance of the gift – well, that changes everything. If nothing changes; if no one can see the difference in the way I live and the way the world lives; if I fail to live in such a way that brings honor to the God who offered the gift of His son, then guess it would be pretty clear, I did not accept God’s offer. Oh wait, is acceptance a work too?
-jeff