3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. (Philippians 1:3 - NLT)
Some years ago Gary Chapman, a Christian author and counsellor, wrote about called the Five Love Languages (http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/) which outlined the five key ways people give and receive love. When I went through I realised that my main love language (by quite a long way) is 'words of affirmation.' It matters less to me what you do for me than what you say to me (or don't say). For this reason, I love this verse. Every time he thinks of the church at Philippi, Paul is filled with a sense of gratitude to God for their existence and all that they are and do. He thanks God for them AND he expresses this to the church themselves. I think this is really important. So often I realise that I am grateful for a particular person or for something someone has done for me and yet the busyness of life means that I often forget to speak to the person and thank them, or drop them a note, email or text just to say ... thanks. More than that they don't need to have done something for me, sometimes simply thinking of a person (or church) will make me feel grateful and I will express that gratitude to God, but I need to get much better at expressing that gratitude to the person themselves. Ah, you may say, but it will go to their head and they will get proud. Well, surely that is between them and God but one of the primary aims of the church is that we should build one another up in our faith and support one another. 2 Corinthians 13:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Hebrews 3:13 all speak of encouraging one another and when we encourage we "put strength into" the person which is what the word actually means.
And what about our church. Paul is thankful for the church at Philippi. Now, whilst the letter to the Philippians is probably the most joyful and positive of Paul's letters, let's not be mislead into thinking they were perfect. They weren't - they had their faults and failings and problems and yet the first thing Paul says when he writes to them is that he thanks God for them. Is that how I react, pray and speak of my church or is my first tendency to jump into complaints and finding faults. What is the core emotion at the centre of my being when I think of my church, my local expression of God's family. Is it resentment, is it boredom or is it thankfulness? Do I first and foremost thank God for the church and its life past and present? Our church in Cardiff, City Temple, is celebrating 80 years of existence this month and it has been really humbling and inspiring to hear of the faith of those men and women of God who have served Him for decades, who saw amazing miracles when the church was birthed, who have reached out to their families and seen many saved and generations raised loving God, who have been through tough times and struggles and pain in the church and yet have not given up on God or the church. When I hear that, I thank God for my church and I feel humbled and priviliged to be a part of it. It is the responsibility of my generation of leaders to take the batton handed on to us from previous generations and make the church relevant to today but keep it faithful to the legacy. I think of what God is doing now amongst the children, youth and men of the church and am thankful for the vision and ministry of those who have worked hard (in both prayer and practical terms) to see amazing things start to happen. I am thankful for the leaders of my church and our Senior Pastor for having the heart and courage to go for God and his Kingdom no matter what, and to see His Kingdom established in Cardiff and Wales. I am thankful and grateful for bringing us to this body, this army, this Temple, this family so that we can be a part of this amazing journey.
Lord, everytime I think of your people, both individually and corporately, help me to be thankful ... to lay aside the problems I know are there and to pray a prayer of thanks for the individuals, the ministry and the leaders of the church. I pray that in all I do, I will be an encourager of people and never a critic. Let me operate in the opposite spirit to the world and let me encourage those who are weak or struggling and never let me become a back row critic, who always has something negative to say and never an answer to the problems. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.
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