Rejoice In Your Chains

So I'm excited about studying Phillipians with you guys. I really think that if we stick with it, we'll all be blessed with something we can take with us out of this study. Last night, in case you missed it, we started diving into the first chapter of Phillipians in which we find a good case of Paul turning the worst for the best.
We can be inspired by Paul's example of servanthood through suffering and learn to turn the not-so-good parts of life into an example of Christ's love in us by the reaction we show to these aspects in life. From his jail cell, in one of the worst times in his life, Paul is able to be cheerful in his service to God and calls on the Phillipians to do the same. Paul also shows us that while he is a respected theologian and Biblical author, he has his struggles as well. He recognizes that it would be far better to die and be with Christ but that he is here on Earth for a purpose. He recognizes a lost world's need for Christ and stresses that "to live is Christ, but to die is gain." Paul concludes that in order to reach people here on Earth, we are called to be "children of heaven here on Earth." In order to reach people for Christ we need to strive to be like Christ, even as we are sinners in a sinful world. I encourage you to come out next week as we explore more in Phillipians and more about ourselves.

Until then,
God Bless.

Geoff