The last time we were together we basically studied two words from Philippians 1:1, bondservants and saints. Paul begins the letter by setting himself and Timothy in position as the servants of Christ and then addresses the entire church, every single person within the community as saints in Christ. The focus of the entire letter is Jesus as Christ. It’s not of Jesus the person, it is Jesus the king, the Lord, the Messiah, it is understanding the world we live in through the perspective of Jesus being the king of the world, it is learning to live in a manner that is a right reflection of Jesus as King and it is learning to view, love and serve each other in relationships that glorify Jesus the King’s heart and character. Tonight we move a few more verses into the letter and we begin to see Paul’s heart toward his friends through his prayers, his attitude and his confidence in God. Christian friendship must be based on what all of us have been given by God through Christ, it must be established through prayer and it can only be enduring through thanksgiving. As we look closely at the next few verses my hope is that we will see God’s grace, our peace and Paul’s confidence and I hope we will learn that each one of these things are joined together by joy. It is joy that causes God to extend grace, that allows us to receive peace and that caused Paul to pray with confidence. Tonight we will see friendship in Christ through the lens of grace, peace and joy.