“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” (Philippians 1:3)

The entire creation narrative begins with this message – We Are Better Together. From the design of creating male and female, that message continues throughout the entirety of scripture through motifs of “being a family, being a people, being a nation”. Other descriptions and encouragements center on us gathering together regularly, being connected as one body, and one day arriving to heaven’s full house of every tribe and nation. It’s pretty clear…We Are Better Together!

Yet in our sinfulness, we sabotage what is better and often make it miserable. We see it every day in domestic disputes, angry and divisive community town halls, and sadly even families of faith continue to be stuck in “better without you” kinds of behavior.

But the Lord’s design for us is truly BETTER TOGETHER. And for such a design, as flawed with sin at times as it might be, we are called to be grateful for partnerships…especially for the sake of sharing the Good News of Jesus.

Philippians 1:3-5 sets the example, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.”

Let’s exercise a prayer of gratitude that we are better together in Christ.

Prayer
Lord God, since the very beginning of time, You said that it was not good for us to be alone, but instead, You created community. You started that with the gift of creating husbands and wives, upbringing children and families, neighbors. You talk about what it means to be a part of Your community of faith. Lord, what a blessing it is to have others.

And yet we do know that so often we ruin that. We ruin that with our words, with our actions. And yet You come to us and You redeem that community. You do that by reaching each and every one of us and giving us an opportunity to lean in again and to realize that we are truly better together. And so it is with great gratitude that we give You thanks for our community, for our families, for our families of faith, for all the communities that we recognize.

We give You thanks and glory that we’re not alone. We thank You, most importantly that we are in Your greater community, the “Una Sancta”, the incredible Church that You have given to us to continue to be a part of until that day when You will bring us with every tribe, every nation of all those who have trusted in you until that day.

Help us to keep walking because We Are Better Together. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

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