People are desperately lonely but have learned to hide it. We live in a time of information isolation where we have more data and “news” than we know what to do with, but we are terribly isolated from personal interaction. There is a reason why solitary confinement is a prison punishment. There is something inside of us that longs for relationship. This morning Pastor Alex “set the table” for us to see the need for community by looking at Philippians 4.

Paul wrote the Philippian letter while under house arrest and at a lonely time in his life. In 4:10-12, we see that Paul has learned to be content in times of abundance and in times of need. So, when he says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me”, he is restating that in Christ he can be content. Verse 14 is powerful in light of this. It reads, “Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.”

To share: To have a deep partnership with two people going in the same direction.

Trouble: afflictions, suffering, the really hard times

Paul had people in his life to walk with him in these hard times. There was deep relationship. When we live in isolation, we give Satan a powerful tool to distract us, and ruin us.

Genesis 1:26 says, “Let US make man in OUR image…” God is speaking about Himself in community. He is Father, Son, and Spirit – the Triune God. We are made in His image. We are body, soul, and spirit. We desire community because that is how God created us. It is what He is all about!