The book of Philippians

The book of Philippians is a book about outrageous and contagious joy. It’s really unusual, because the apostle Paul wrote the book while he was in prison. He penned this book as basically a thank you letter to the church in Philippi, because Paul had just received this cool gift from a guy named Epaphroditus, who was a part of the Philippian church. And Paul, while he’s in prison, is talking about outrageous and contagious joy. Fourteen times he says, “Be joyful; be full of joy” in this book. So it’s a great book.

This book is also about relationships. It’s about Paul’s friendships. It’s about the people he was connected with in the deep water way.

And furthermore, it’s about the local church. It’s about the beauty of the church, about the fact that the church is a social place. It’s all about relationships.

Did you know that I could talk to your best friends without even meeting you and find out what kind of person that you are? You could meet my best friends and you could find out what kind of person I am without ever meeting me our talking to me. Just by my friends.

Have you ever worked in a place where you’ve done inventory before? I’ve done inventory before. I did it when I worked at a formal wear shop years ago. Ed Young did it also when I worked at a summer intern situation at this corporation. I just basically spent the entire summer in a warehouse taking inventory. When you take inventory, it’s basically getting a detailed, itemized record of things in your possession.

Well today, as we go through this book of Philippians, as we move from the shallows to the deep, we’re going to do a friend-entory. You to think about the friends in your life. I want you to think about who you run with, who you hang with. How do you spell relational relief? How do you do it?

As you know, we have been in a series called Animal Planet.  During the opening session we learned from the dog how to break the cycle of sin.