April 20: Philippians 1:1-2

Key Verse: Philippians 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

Devotion:
When was the last time you were able to walk into your place of worship / church building / gathering place? Are you involved in some way with the running of your church? To me it seems like it has been months since I have been able to go up to our community centre and set up the sound system. Just as I am getting better and able to do such things without having to worry about whether my heart can take it or whether my body can take it, along comes the pandemic which puts a stop to it all again…

Paul always seemed to reach out to the people who were in need at the time of writing, something which is missed out of lessons when we have them at church. Today, I would like to reach out to all those people who were used to giving up their weekends to make sure church gatherings went ahead and we were all able to worship God as a community, as a church gathering!

I’m sure all those overseers and deacons and the like are finding new ways of doing things and getting on with doing them rather than just shutting off because the church building has been closed down. But give a thought to just how much goes into a church service, how many people have to come together in order for things to ‘just happen...’ Today I salute you for all your hard work you have been doing over the years behind the scenes and are, I’m sure, continuing to do so church can be envisioned in new ways.

Paul wanted to reach out to those people behind the scenes because they continue to work so we can all worship together. I love the way we are all getting out there on Thursday nights to ring out our appreciation for all the people in the NHS here in the UK who continue to get things done despite the lock-down. Today I would like you to spend some time praying for people you know who have continued to work behind the scenes, both in church and out of church.

Points to Ponder:
How many people do you know who have continue to work because we need them?

Will you spend some time praying for them today, please?