partakers of grace (Phil 1:7)

Philippians 1:7

It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Paul loves these people. This is not a job for him, it is the definition of personal ministry. It is his love and joy that motivate his constant prayers for them.

He feels this strongly about them because they all share in God's grace - in suffering (he is in prison), and in proclaiming the gospel. Being on mission together (gospel partnership) and being "forced" to rely on God's grace develops these strong bonds between people as our dependance on God becomes more obvious to us.

good work (Phil 1:6)

Philippians 1:6

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God BEGAN a good work in us - this is not conversion then killing time until you go to heaven but ongoing progressive sanctification, being made into his likeness. This is a GOOD work, although often it wont seem like it to us! Again, God is more committed to our good than we are. Who is doing it? Jesus. If you include this reference to "he" that makes 5 times Paul has mentioned Jesus in the opening 6 verses, including twice in the first verse alone. We are left in no doubt about who the focus of this letter is. Not Paul, not the Philippians, not us, but Jesus. It's all about Him.

gospel partnership (phil 1:4b-5)

Philippians 1:4b-5

making my prayer with joy beecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

What brings Paul joy is not their material prosperity, or the enthusiasic nature of their worship services etc. It is their partnership in the gospel. This partnership is a gorup of people united around a goal and pursuing it with everything that is within them, not the fellowship that we think takes place over a cup tea after a sunday morning service but more like a rugby team at training camp before the world cup or a group of soldiers during basic training - singlemindedly working together to acheive a goal. But this is not partnership around any cause, not unity based on similar interests or backgrounds, or even being united around the goal of unity! This is partnership in the gospel. Working as a body to proclaim the gospel to each other and those who haven't heard it. There's no individualistic, lone ranger type of christianity here - the gospel leads to partnership (in the gospel!)

remembering with thanks (Phil 1:3-4a)

Phil 1:3-4a 

I thank my God in all my rememberance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all

Paul is thanking God for the Philippians every time he remembers them. Do I tend to remember and reflect mainly on the things that I'm NOT thankful for concerning people? Or should I be thanking God for what he's doing/done whether it's good or bad things I remember? Eg. that person insulted me but I can thank God that enables me to understand the gospel more clearly as it breaks down pride in me, highlights my desire for man's approval and reminds me that the cross is the biggest insult I will ever recieve, and the greatest affirmation I will ever get.

Also, he's obviously praying for them regularly. Paul is crying out to God all the time for loads of different people. The "world" of my prayer life seems narrow in comparison!

grace and peace (Phil 1:2)

Phillipians 1:2

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Grace and peace might sound like just a polite greeting to us, but this is no throwaway statement from Paul. Grace is the Christian life. we are saved by grace and we are sanctified by grace. 

Peace is not just the absence of conflict, but shalom, a wholeness, everything being how its supposed to be. We misunderstand this if we think it refers to peaceful circumstances, our lives will have many situations that aren't "peaceful", Jesus promises as much. But throughout all of that, we have peace with God, a peace that He initiated while we were His enemies.That peace allows us to face any external situations.

God is described as our Father. God chooses to identify himself this way. Whether our earthly Father was good or bad, God is the perfect Father. Totally loving, always acting in our best interests and more commited to our good than even we are

Jesus is described as Lord, a position of authority over us. He is not our genie in a bottle, there to make us feel better and give us things as if we were in authority over Him. If He is our Lord, we serve Him and obey Him, not expecting Him to serve us.

in vs at (Phil 1:1)

Philippians 1:1

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons

The saints are IN Jesus, they are just AT Phillipi. Their identity is found in Jesus, not in their town/city, nationality, race, class etc. We are in the world but not of it. Our identity is in Him.

saints and servants (Phil 1:1)

Phillipians 1:1

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Phillipi, with the overseers and deacons.

We are saints. Saints are not a special brand of Christian, people who impressed God because of the "exemplary way they lived their lives". All Christians are saints. How can I be considered a saint when I now what's going on inside me? Because I am a saint IN Christ Jesus. Jesus took my sin and gave me His righteousness. I can enter God's presensce freely because I am clothed in Jesus righteousness.

We are also servants. Paul was a senior leader but he considered himself to be a servant of Jesus, and that involves serving the church in Phillipi. Leadership is not lording it over people, it is lovingly serving them as part of our service of Jesus. Loving them enough to bring hard words if necessary, as Paul often does, but also words of encouragement, as Paul also does. Jesus deserves to serve but said that he came to serve, we don't deserve it but often think others should be serving us!