Like a Child Serving His Father
June 21, 2026 · Daniel Coughlin · Philippians 2:19-22 · Father's Day
Sermon Notes / Transcript
Scripture: Philippians 2:19-22
Speaker: Daniel Coughlin
Sermon: Like a Child Serving His Father
This is God's word and it is eternally true. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts will be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, you might have noticed that our scripture reading was not from the book of Mark.
It is Philippians today. We're taking a break because it's Father's Day, and it is a good opportunity to remember the importance of fatherhood in our own lives, but also in Scripture. And so the text from Philippians came up in our men's study this week. It's a snapshot of the father-son relationship between Paul and Timothy.
And because we're parachuting into this letter of Scripture and you don’t have much context, I want to give you a little background. Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while in jail. Randy mentioned earlier this morning that Paul wrote much of the New Testament.
Most of the letters are written by Paul. The Philippians had recently sent Paul a gift to help him in his imprisonment. And Paul writes back to tell them that he's thankful for their kindness and to give them instructions on Christian living. In doing this, he sets out three examples of men who serve the Lord well without grumbling.
And one of the examples he gives them is Timothy, who Paul hopes will go and visit the Philippians since Paul can’t because he's in jail.
Spiritual Sonship
Now, it's important to note that Timothy is not Paul's biological son. You understand what I mean when I say biological son. He’s not his issue, his heir, his natural son.
We see throughout Scripture, though, that Timothy is Paul's spiritual son. He's his true spiritual son. And this is interesting. I think we neglect this truth to our detriment—that there are more ways to have a son than just by having a son.
We see this in Philippians 2:22 when Paul says that Timothy served him like a child serving his father. Paul also makes similar references in his letters directly to Timothy.
- “To Timothy, my true child in the faith.”
- “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son… that by them you fight the good fight.”
- “To Timothy, my beloved son.”
He treats Timothy like a son. He does the same thing in his second letter to Timothy. He opens it, “To Timothy, my beloved son.”
Paul makes it clear that he views Timothy as his son.
Affections Passed Down
And like any true son, that means Paul as father has passed down his affections—not just lessons, not just head knowledge.
This is the way affections are commonly passed down. And what we see is this chain of faithful men with a chain of shared loves.
First, we can go back all the way to the Trinity. Before creation, we see the love of the Father for the Son that preceded all time. Then here, we see that Jesus loved Paul and formed Paul. This is part of Paul’s conversion.
And then Paul loved and formed Timothy. Those affections passed along as part of the inheritance.
These true sons down from the father share their affections in a way that comes all the way to us and our sons today.
Who formed you, you form others.
This is part of the growing and maturing process—passing down our interests, our loves, our affections, who we are. These renewed affections take root in the regenerated hearts of the sons in the faith.
And this was essentially what the prayer was for Lauren earlier—that we would pass on those affections, that love, that care.
True Sons Share the Father’s Heart
And so what we're going to do is look at this passage to see what Paul says about his son, Timothy.
First, Paul mentions that there is no one like him in verse 20. Timothy is a kindred spirit with Paul.
Kindred spirit reminds me of Anne of Green Gables. Anne speaking of her friend—“kindred spirits.” There is alignment at the soul level.
It’s not just people walking around wearing Kansas City Royals shirts. That doesn’t make you a kindred spirit.
A kindred spirit is someone who is motivated on the same levels you are, who has a love and interest in the same kinds of things you do.
Early in our marriage, I would lose my wife to conversations. They would inevitably be about childbirth or cloth diapers. I realized—she had met a kindred spirit.
This kind of alignment of loves you see with fathers and sons.
You can probably think of several things unique to your family that your children, biological or spiritual, replicate because that’s what they see.
That’s what they know.
True Sons Share the Father’s Concerns
Paul and Timothy share their kindred spirit in being genuinely concerned for the welfare of the Philippians.
“I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”
What a man truly loves will be shown by what he naturally cares for.
If you genuinely care for something:
- it drives you
- you want to read about it
- hear about it
- talk about it
It overflows from your heart.
Timothy didn’t make the churches his concern just to impress Paul. He didn’t do it for commendation. It mattered to him. He caught that love himself.
He is a son.
And because he's a son, the real fatherly love Paul shows him isn’t performance-based. He loves him and cares for him—not just because he’s doing the thing, but because he sees himself in him. The same concerns drive Timothy.
Children inherit:
- anxieties
- priorities
- burdens
For good and for bad.
We see our children display our strengths—and that’s encouraging. And we see our children display our weaknesses—and that’s disheartening.
Paul sees the other men around Timothy concerned with their own interests—filling their own bank accounts, securing their own farmland, finding the next opportunity. Timothy stands apart.
True Sons Share the Father’s Way of Life
Timothy is a man of proven worth.
Look at verse 21 for comparison: others seek their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know Timothy’s proven worth.
Timothy had been tested over time. Together with Paul, he endured beatings, rejection, danger.
Paul recounts:
- imprisonments
- beatings beyond number
- lashes
- stonings
- shipwrecks
- dangers everywhere
- daily pressure for the churches
And Timothy stayed by his side through all of it.
In this life, there will be hardships. These are tests.
Sons learn whether the gospel is worth suffering for by watching their fathers.
Sons need to see us suffer to see what we truly love.
Men suffer for what they love:
- hunting in the cold
- waiting overnight for a game system
- working long hours in farming
- sitting in freezing stadiums
Suffering reveals love.
True Sons Share the Father’s Work
Timothy was a front row participant in Paul’s gospel work.
“He served with me in the furtherance of the gospel.”
He:
- worked alongside Paul
- suffered alongside Paul
- learned alongside Paul
Paul put Timothy to work. “Come alongside me—we have work to do.”
The churches had problems. Every church had problems. Paul and Timothy addressed them together.
Sonship and discipleship are not primarily instructional—they are imitative.
You don’t lecture someone into loving something. They observe you loving it.
This is how we see the transference from Paul to Timothy:
- shared mission
- shared burden
- shared suffering
- shared priorities
- shared Christ-centeredness
That is what made them kindred spirits.
When We Don’t Like What We See
This is a great example. But we can’t ignore that our sons reflect more than we want to see.
We see in ourselves—and in our sons and fathers—things we don’t want imitated.
There are two ditches:
- abuse
- abandonment
Abuse is misusing authority.
Abandonment is neglecting responsibility.
Abandonment is more common.
But there is hope—for fathers and for sons.
Because of the church.
Timothy didn’t receive everything from his biological father. He received it from Paul.
You can have more than one father.
This is spiritual fatherhood.
The church is where men step in and step up when fatherhood has failed—passing along redeemed affections, inviting others into work and suffering.
The Source of Fatherhood: The Trinity
We can’t understand this without understanding God.
From before creation, God has existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Father loves and delights in the Son.
“You loved me before the foundation of the world.”
The true Son reflects the Father:
- loves what the Father loves
- does what the Father does
This is how Jesus taught us to pray:
“Our Father… Your will be done…”
We are praying to do the Father’s will.
Final Exhortation
God gives us families so that:
- we shape
- guide
- correct
- love
We fail—but we continue in faith.
We need other men:
- to challenge us
- to expose blind spots
- to strengthen our fatherhood
This is how we form true sons.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, I pray that we would learn to trust you with our sons…
that we would bring along these young men and young women into the work…
that they would see the gospel is worth suffering for—even our lives.In Jesus’ name, Amen.