Title: The Beautiful Greeting
Text: Philippians 1:1-2
Date: January 7, 2024

Introduction: Greetings, why are they so important? Greetings are an essential aspect of how we communicate with other people. Sometimes these greetings are part of quick social exchanges as we pass people in a hallway or walking down the street. At other times, greetings are a way to initiate a longer conversation. We all use a variety of informal and formal greetings in our day-to-day life. Informally, we say, “Hi!”, “Hey!”, “Heya”, or “Hey there.” “Morning!” “How are things?” “What’s new?” “It’s good to see you.” “Howdy!” “What’s up?” “How’s it going?” “What’s happening?” “Yo!” Some of the most common formal greetings are “Hello!” “Hi there.” “Good morning.” “Good afternoon.” “Good evening.” “It’s nice to meet you!” or “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

In Paul’s opening words to the Philippian church in the first two verses, we notice a greeting. This is a beautiful greeting because it sounds the theme of grace. By God’s grace we become Christians, servants of Jesus, and it’s by grace that we live out the Christian life. The phrases “of Christ,” “in Christ,” and “from God” all highlight God’s work in uniting us to Jesus. Let’s notice three evidences of grace in this little greeting.

I. Grace is displayed in the life of the

of the letter.

II. Grace is displayed in the

of the letter.

III. Grace is displayed in a glorious

.

Larry Gipson
First Baptist Church-Oneonta