Stephen Dawson - Begin with Prayer // Colossians 1:9-14 by We Are Emmanuel

The Advent Series 3 // Knowing God - Tobi Ford-Western // John 1:14-18 by We Are Emmanuel

The Advent Series 2 // Receiving God - Stephen Dawson // John 1:10-13 by We Are Emmanuel

The Advent Series 1 // Seeing God - George Benson // John 1:1-18 by We Are Emmanuel

Paul instructs the Philippians ‘rejoice in the Lord always’. This is one of his greatest concerns - that they would experience the joy of the Lord. This can be hard to hear when we walk through difficult seasons.

Paul wants all christians to grow in our understanding and application of grace. We are often taught that grace means that our sins are forgiven and we don’t have to work for our salvation. But, Paul says ‘I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’ He is showing us that perseverance does not mean working FOR our salvation, it means working OUT our salvation.

Joy Has A Name // 9 Riches In Christ - Stephen Dawson // Philippians 4:10-20 by We Are Emmanuel

As alien as the context and content of this passage may seem to contemporary hearers - even Christians - Paul is referring to a very familiar universal trait: the human proneness to self-reliance. Explain it in any which way you will (sin, instinct, evolutionary behaviour, etc.) but human beings seem inherently self-focused and will do anything they need to do to survive and work for their own self-interest.

We must come empty-handed to Christ, and the more we have in life the more we might be tempted to trust in it instead of trusting in Christ.

The way that God works in our hearts to grow and mature us often involves pain and suffering. It is not often that progress comes from a context of comfort. Paul describes Timothy and Epaphroditus as a slave and a soldier, implying that they have experienced pain. Here Paul is wanting to encourage the Philippians to look at mature Christians who display Christ-likeness in order to learn from them.

‘Work out your own salvation’ can be a confusing sentiment for the grace-filled Christian. ‘Fear and trembling’ don’t sound too fun either! What does Paul mean? Isn’t he leading us on the path of joy?