Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Friends and Associates”
Our Bible verse for today: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Take care of each other.”
If you’ve ever been part of a church family where the members of the church genuinely love each other, and go over and above in their efforts to take care of each other, then you know what a special experience that is. It’s a little piece of heaven on earth. Ideally that is how church life should be.
I am personally blessed beyond words to have the privilege to be the Pastor of a church that is exactly like that. Not only are the members my brothers and sisters, but they’re my friends. The love and support they show to me and my family, and to each other, is very special indeed. These folks embrace and practice what Paul wrote about in Philippians 2:3-4.
But to fully appreciate what Paul was getting at in those verses, we have to back-up a bit and read the two verses preceding them. Philippians 2:1-2 reads, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”
What Paul was saying there was essentially, “What Jesus has done for you, you now do for others.” “The encouragement, comfort, love, tenderness, compassion, and fellowship you experience in your relationship with Jesus, should also describe your relationship with fellow Christians. And when it does, when you have a group of people who are intentional about treating each other the way Jesus treats them, you end up with what Paul wrote about in verses 3 and 4 – everyone putting the interests and well being of others over themselves.
Christian fellowship, practiced the way it was intended to be, is special. It begins with Jesus caring for us in all the ways that Paul described, and it then continues when we treat others the way that Jesus treats us.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 