I thank my God every time I remember you.
Summary: Paul’s thankfulness for the church at Philippi is a sign of his love for them and his memories of his time with the Philippians.
Do you know anybody you’d do that for?
Do you know someone, whom every time you think of them, you literally thank God for that person?
Paul does!
The church at Philippi has a special place in Paul’s heart. Luke records their first meeting (Acts 16: 13-15).
It was a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. Paul and his companions had heard that there was a “place of prayer” down by the river, not far outside the city gates of Philippi. Some women had gathered there, and so, just as Jesus took time to speak with the woman at the well (John 4:1-26), they sat down by the river to talk with the women.
Paul, being Paul, shared the gospel message he had been given from the Lord. At least one of the women there “opened her heart” to that message. She and those who belonged to her household were baptized, and then she invited Paul, Luke, and the others with them to stay at her house.
Paul and his companions agreed.
We don’t know how long Paul stayed in Philippi, but it was long enough to start the church there. Not having formal church organizations and church buildings, churches in Paul’s day met in houses. Lydia’s house might have been the first church there.
As Paul’s presence in the city became known, he attracted attention. One of the people who noticed him was a fortune-teller of sorts who obsessed over Paul. Like the demons who shouted “You are the Son of God!” to Jesus (Luke 4:41), she shouted, “These men are servants of the Most High God…” (Acts 16:17). Like Jesus, who rebuked the demons and wouldn’t let them speak, Paul rebuked the woman and commanded the spirit to come out of her.
It left, leaving her owners without their fortune-teller and the fortune she had made for them. In their anger, they stirred up a riot of sorts, had Paul beaten, and then threw him in jail. That night, the jail was rocked by an earthquake, and “the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:26).
In a dramatic turn of events, the jailer and his household were baptized and became part of the church there. Shortly after, Paul left the city to continue his mission work.
Even though he left, he kept the memories of Philippi close to his heart (Philippians 1:7).
Application: Be thankful for the believers God brings into your path.
Food for Thought: How does God use our personal relationships to further his work?
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