NCC Daily

Discipleship is relational. Building and cultivating relationships is at the heart of discipleship. The ultimate relationship starts and ends with Jesus and the love He has poured into us is also poured into our relationships. Jesus’ love is the glue when it comes to building relationships with others. The Church is stronger when relationships are cultivated in love.

Go make disciples. In the last command recorded in the book of Matthew, Jesus looks at his followers and invites them on a journey. A lifelong pursuit of learning to live their lives from him and inviting others to do the same. Becoming people who are students of the words of Jesus, imitators of the ways of Jesus and partners in the mission of Jesus. In the original language, the word “follow” means “to share the same road.”

Jesus told his followers, "Go make disciples of all nations." Against all odds, this small sect of Judaism attracted Gentile followers and began to spread throughout the entire Roman Empire. As those early followers studied the words of Jesus, imitated the ways of Jesus, and partnered in the mission of Jesus, the early church offered a way of life that stood in stark contrast to the power of the empire.

Two thousand years later, Jesus still invites us on a journey, empowered by the Holy Spirit within the context of community, to learn to live our lives from Jesus and invite others to do the same.

Today wraps up the last day deep-diving as a community in the book of Philippians, in our series called Joy. Where have you experienced joy in this season? What have you learned or been challenged by in the sermons or in NCC Daily? I want to challenge and encourage you to create space at some point in your day to go back and reflect on this season and how God has moved in your life through this series.

Paul doesn’t extend any greetings by name. In other letters, we see Paul extend personal greetings, 2 Timothy for instance, “Eubulus greets you.” But in this letter in particular, it is just a greeting from “God’s people.” There is an awareness to the importance of anonymity in this present moment for Paul. He has counted the cost of following Christ as he sits in jail writing this letter, and he takes care to not mention other believers by name.

To be honest, I often read over these greetings in Paul’s letters without giving it much of a thought. Okay Paul, thanks for saying hello! But I am glad I was asked to share on this particular verse because it led me to ask God what I should be focusing on, and He brought a couple of experiences in my life to mind. These two experiences relate mostly to the second half of the verse where Paul or possibly the people with him specifically wanted the Philippians to know that they had family that they might not even know in that other part of the world.

This verse is Paul concluding the body of his letter to the church of Philippi with a doxology. This word comes from the Greek term “doxa,” meaning “opinion” or “glory,” and the suffix “-logia,” which refers to oral or written expressions. The online dictionary defines doxology as, “a liturgical formula of praise to God.”

The phrase “Upstream reciprocity” has to do with the effect that happens on those in your path, as a result of your actions. Do you know there is a physical effect—a release of endorphins and serotonin—in an act of kindness? The person receiving, experiences gratitude, and the person giving, experiences “helper’s high.”

This passage feels like one of those standards that can't be met, but Paul is responding to the fact that it had been a minute since they had last supported him, and he's saying, "Don't worry about it. It’s not the money. I've been riding this roller coaster for a long time—up and down, plenty and in want—I'm good." He's more concerned about the relationship and the connection.

After removing my own filters and gathering more context, I think what we are actually seeing in Paul’s letter is an example of putting into practice his teaching from verses prior. He just told them to rejoice always and think about things that are worthy of praise. Throughout this series, I’ve been reminded in prayer that I actually need to intentionally practice rejoicing and mindfulness in the Lord.