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Bible Chapter: Philippians 1

A woman leaning against a fence looking sad

It is Far Better to Go Be With The Lord (Part 2)

It is far better to go. That is not only biblically accurate, it just makes good sense. Streets of gold versus potholes; better to go. Christ as the light in a city or rising gas and electrical bills; better to go. No more tears versus tear ducts and allergies; better to go. There are plenty of reasons to contemplate longing and planning for a renewed heaven and a renewed earth. Death would yield something better. But then again, there is a reason to stay.

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The feet of a runner jogging down a path

It is Far Better to Go Be With The Lord (Part 1)

We often forget how frail and fragmented everything is. Inside the tension and fragmentation we do not only find doom, but rather we find Christ himself and his bidding us to follow—never asking us to atone but instead teaching us that he has atoned for all of it. Christ is really all in all, isn’t He?

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A man sitting in a train station by empty tracks

What Good is Any Of It? (Part 2)

Whether there was a letter sent to Paul with questions, or Paul was simply thinking about how his situation affected those in Philippi, it is clear what Paul wanted them to know. It is what we need to become intimately clear about also: dire circumstances can actually bring about redemptive hope.

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A girl standing sadly in a hallway on Alcatraz Island

What Good is Any Of It? (Part 1)

Whether there is despair, uncertainty, success, or setback, Paul’s first clause affirms a strong reminder: there is always some good to come in every circumstance.

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People standing in a doorway of a room; the room is lit in dark blue, but the space beyond the door looks like a beautiful sunrise

What is to Come is Real (Part 2)

It may be unclear how our present work is actually turning out to advance the Gospel. But we can learn to live a good life with the same confidence that Paul had.

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A moving sidewalk at an airport stretching off into the distance

What is to Come is Real (Part 1)

Paul was keenly aware of his circumstances as well as the circumstances in Philippi. But he was also aware of another foreign country where it’s always light and where weeping and cursing will be gone. That place informed how he looked at his current circumstances in at least two ways.

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A signpost with arrows pointing in different directions against the background of a sunset

Discernment and Knowledge

Life is full of difficult decisions for which there are often no easy or obvious choices. We all need discernment.

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A set of German road signs including one for a U-turn

Discernment and Love

Love requires difficult decisions. Followers of Christ seek discernment to make those decisions.

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