"The why's and how's of living in community with one another"...love and encouragement.

Four ways to learn contentment...

1. Thought control - Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Romans 12:1

2. Prayer - Philippians 4:6

3. Being in community - Philippians 4:10, Hebrews 10:24-25

4. Personal relationships - Philippians 4:13

We find at the beginning of chapter 4 that there is a disagreement between two people within the church which can cause strife, hurt, anxiety and many other things. It's ok to not be ok and trust Jesus at the same time. As a Christian, not everything is about me. We are concerned and focused on our own things, but we need to remember that we are a part of something that is much bigger.

Direction, not intention, determines destination. As we run the race, let us have our eyes fixed on what is ahead and not what is behind us. God has an upward call for each of us through Jesus Christ.

We are brothers, co-workers, and fellowship soldiers, working together for the building of the Kingdom of Christ.

Philippians 2:19-30

What motivates you best?  Guilt, threats, money, freedom, purpose, family, community? Paul is trying to motivate his Philippian friends to be unified in their faith in Christ as well as their relationships with each other. How did he do it?

If you knew how limited your time left on earth was, how would you live differently?  What would you spend your time doing?  What would you give up?  Who would you reconnect with?  That’s where we find Paul this week in his letter to his friends in Philippi. 

If your life had a joy meter, what would it read? Philippians is the book filled with the most joy, written from prison.

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” -John Wesley

Matthew 2:12-23 - Jesus himself was an exile, a stranger living in a strange land, as a child. Much of the OT was written from the perspective of an exile. We, as Christ-followers, are called to be set apart from the world, and in a way, exiles, strangers living in a strange land. But we have hope and we know that there will be a day when all will be made right again.

“……………” One of the scariest sounds to hear: nothing. When a toddler is in another room and you don’t hear them anymore, when a loved one doesn’t respond, when God is silent. Could silence actually be a good thing? Let’s talk about how to move it from awkward and scary to a powerful spiritual weapon.