Dear Church Family,
Good day! I hope that today’s update finds you well and enjoying the beautiful sunshine.
The session met last night and began discussing our post-COVID shut down future and we will be having some announcements for you in the days ahead. Meanwhile, we seek to serve the Lord in whatever ways we can, and enjoy one another’s fellowship virtually, if not actually.
Yesterday we began looking at Philippians 1:9-11, thinking about praying for one another. Today, I want to expand on it further as we continue to think about what it means to be praying for one another and the work of the Kingdom, not only now, but always.
Philippians 1:9-11 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
You may recall that yesterday I mentioned the trick of placing a Mento in a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke and the reaction it produces. That reaction is a visible illustration of what it means to abound more and more. It is a prayer that our love for the things of Christ might be an unending fountain that bubbles up, as it were, in affection for Christ, His people and His work.
But it is more than that because it is not just a prayer for giddy enthusiasm. It is a prayer for a love which is full and abounding with accurate knowledge and the power of discerning perception. That is, a love that is apprehending what it means to love the Savior and His Kingdom, and is constantly practicing discernment based on that knowledge.
This knowledge has some very practical aims. The first of these aims is, that you may approve the things that are excellent.
Without the help of knowledge and discernment we quickly become passionate about the wrong things. Knowledge and discernment serve as safeguards against what Eadie calls unworthy attachments.
This is particularly dangerous in times like these, when tensions are running high and opinions are entrenched. We need to be praying for the sort of discernment that will enable us to serve, first and foremost, the Kingdom of God—whether in our homes, in the community, or in the church.
To thee, O God, we lift our eyes,
To thee our grateful voices raise,
And, kneeling at thy gracious throne,
Devoutly join in hymns of praise.
Our fathers’ God, incline thine ear,
And listen to our heartfelt prayer;
Surround us with thy heavenly grace,
And guard us with thy constant care.
—W. DAVIS
