Aid Again And Again

Philippians 4:15-16 - Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 - Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.

2 Corinthians 8:1,5 - And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches…And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.

Conclusions:

• Greeks despised manual labor and viewed it as fit only for slaves, but Paul was not ashamed of doing any sort of work that would help further the gospel
• Paul did not want to be unduly dependent on others
• The grace of giving on the part of believers is more than matched by the self-giving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
• “They gave themselves first to the Lord” is the true principle of all Christian giving
• These Macedonian Christians are an amazing example to the Corinthian believers and to the church in every age of the dynamic difference that God’s grace makes in the lives and attitudes of His people—a central theme of 2 Corinthians

Application:

• Are you unduly dependent on others?
• Have you exercised the grace of giving?
• Do you give yourself first to the Lord?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible