Julie and I are very thankful for you, and for the important roles you’ve chosen to play in our ministry.
So I was tempted to quote Philippians 1:3-6: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
OK, so apparently I gave in to temptation, but I think this time it’s OK.
Anyway, as I looked at that passage, I became intrigued by verse 6: “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
So I had to read the whole book.
Paul was thankful for the role the church at Philippi played in his ministry. Philippians 2:25 makes grateful reference to what was apparently a gift from the church. But as Paul works his way through the letter, their participation in Paul’s ministry doesn’t appear to be what Paul is talking about in Philippians 1:3-6.
Instead, Paul is thankful for the way the Philippians received his ministry and became fellow-laborers with him. Acts 16 relates the founding of the church at Philippi by Paul and his co-workers. Paul would return years later (Acts 20; it’s likely Luke remained to minister in Philippi that whole time), and the letter we know as Philippians follows up still later.
So you see, you have far more to be thankful for than you may think. Through our ministry, you have had roles in making disciples among tribal people around the world. And just like Paul, you can be thankful to God for them and for their role as co-laborers in planting churches among tribal people around the world.
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