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12 friends have opened a study shared with them.
We lived in an apartment complex next to one of Atlanta's largest churches. Every Sunday, we walked across the parking lot into the giant sanctuary and participated in everything we could. But after a year of trying to make friends, we didn't know anyone better than when we started.
Read Philippians 1:3-6
No matter how nice a Roman prison might be, Paul is likely chained to a guard at all times, awaiting trial on charges that could lead to execution. Yet he remains full of joy as he remembers that God has knitted him together with the Philippian Christians in a shared mission. The Greek word for partnership is koinonia. You might hear at church, "Come fellowship with us in the lobby." The lobby might be filled with handshakes and laughter, but it isn't strong enough to sustain joy. Paul risked his life to share the gospel with his friends. They sent Epaphroditus to care for him in jail, and he nearly died on the journey. Their relationships are bound together by prayer and shared sacrifice for Jesus. At the end of a summer missions trip to Tajikistan, our team sat on cushions in a meeting room in Dushanbe. We'd lived in Tajik homes, cooked meals together, told them about Jesus, and read our Bibles with some of them. People were crying as we prepared to say goodbye. In one month of working together for the gospel, our friendships became closer than with people I'd known for decades. Raising money to spend a summer in the sweltering heat of Dushanbe taught me that Christian friendships don't grow from sitting in the same room, but from sharing together in God's mission. Paul's friendships are also stronger than the camaraderie of a winning sports team. His joy is rooted in the recognition that God brought them together. So whether Paul is freed or executed, he trusts that God will complete his good work in his friends, and that they will be united forever. When God is the glue, nothing can tear us apart.What God starts, God finishes. Because of his grace, we get to be part of what he is doing, together.
What does Paul's joy tell you about his faith?
When have you experienced deeper friendships because of a shared mission?
Where do you sense God prompting you to partner with someone for the gospel?
Ask one Christian friend: "What could we do for God together that we can't do on our own?"
I recently contributed to two Meal Trains. One person had a baby, another is fighting cancer. I didn't know ho...
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