SPEAKER_00: Good morning, First Baptist Wemberly.
SPEAKER_00: This is Mike Gibbons.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Friday.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, this Sunday we begin a new series in Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: This is a very short letter that Paul wrote to the church in Philippi.
SPEAKER_00: It would take you probably 10 to 15 minutes to read through the entire letter.
SPEAKER_00: It could easily be read in one sitting.
SPEAKER_00: And I would encourage you to do that before Sunday, just to have a familiarity with it that will deepen the preaching that you will hear from Pastor Aaron.
SPEAKER_00: Now we're only going to get through the first two verses on Sunday, so let me read those.
SPEAKER_00: Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons.
SPEAKER_00: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul wrote this letter from prison, almost certainly from Rome.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the first thing that stood out to me.
SPEAKER_00: The effects of the gospel so often reverse what we may expect.
SPEAKER_00: Here we see the prisoner writing to his friends outside the prison to encourage and help them.
SPEAKER_00: Usually, at least in my mind, the help and encouragement goes the other way, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: From outside the prison to the prisoner.
SPEAKER_00: But the gospel has so changed Paul that he is encouraging others in his captivity.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is in jail, but Timothy, his son in the faith, is also named.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy is probably not in jail with Paul.
SPEAKER_00: No doubt Timothy was a regular visitor to his imprisoned older brother in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul includes him in the letter to the church.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy was a faithful friend.
SPEAKER_00: This is the second thing that stands out to me.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy is standing by Paul no matter the circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: I get the sense that wherever Paul is, Timothy is going to be there to support and encourage him.
SPEAKER_00: One other thing in this short introduction, he identifies them as servants of Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In some translations, slaves to Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In the adverse circumstances he finds himself in, Paul reminds himself and the church of this totally liberating fact.
SPEAKER_00: His ties to the service of Christ are closer and more permanent than any human chains or bars or prison can ever be.
SPEAKER_00: In his captivity to the Lord, he is free wherever he may be.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what I'm asking myself today, based on these observations.
SPEAKER_00: Am I encouraging others in the hard circumstances that I may find myself in?
SPEAKER_00: Also, am I standing by others in the hard circumstances that they may be in?
SPEAKER_00: And in all of that, am I acknowledging the fact that whatever those hard situations may be, I am first and foremost free in Christ, despite my situation.
SPEAKER_00: This is Mike Gibbons, and I love being your pastor.