The Basics Of Community

Philippians chapter 2, beginning reading here in verse 19.

"'I hope in the Lord Jesus Christ to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you, for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.'" But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served me in the gospel.

I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me.

And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

I've thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my needs.

For he has been longing for all of you and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.

Indeed, he was ill, near to death.

But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also on me, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." I am all the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again and that I might be less anxious.

So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Thanks be to the Lord for the reading of his word.

So here we have a bunch of historical details, travel arrangements that must have been very helpful to the first century audience.

I mean, they knew these people personally, and all these details helped them sort of orchestrate the details of their calendars and make preparations for hosting these individuals, right? But there's nothing much here for you and me, right? We should just skip to chapter 3, right? I think that would be a mistake.

There's more here than actually meets the eye.

And what I want to do this morning, I want us to dig in and see what's really here.

Timothy and Epaphroditus are being sent by Paul to Philippi to serve at three different levels.

And I want to show them to you this morning.

They are emissaries, they are encouragers, and they are exemplaries.

They are emissaries, encouragers, and exemplaries.

And by the time we're through today, I hope and trust you'll be glad that we didn't skip this section and move on.

So let's open our Bibles.