Stephen spoke this morning from Phil 1:3-11, reflecting on mistakes he had made during the week which turned out to be sermon illustrations today! New light bulbs fitted in his lounge were ‘daylight’ mode and turned out to be extremely bright – indicative, perhaps, of how we are called to shine brightly for God, reflecting His light to others. Paul’s prayer for the Philippians highlights two key factors needed if we are to continue growing and progressing in our Christian journey instead of stagnating and remaining static. We need both passion and infection!
We are called to be passionate people, passionate for God’s honour and glory and passionate in our prayers for other Christians. We are also called to be infectious people, spreading God’s love wherever we go. Far from being seen negatively, God wants His love to so infect us that we cannot keep it to ourselves. Paul prays for the Philippians’ knowledge of God’s love to ‘abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight‘. All knowledge, insight, strength, growth and fruitfulness ultimately come from the extent to which we receive and nurture God’s love within us. The power of love is indeed a force from above, but it is a force that needs to burn within us so that we can make forward progress, moving forwards within God’s love, and spreading the word of this love to the whole world.
