Have you ever asked your kids (or any kids), “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  And most kids will answer by telling you what they want to do when they grow up.  Of course, very few kids actually end up doing what they said when they were four.  Otherwise, our country would be full of cowboys and princesses.

We still confuse this question, though.  We often mix up who we are with what we do.  And so it’s interesting that when the Apostle Paul describes his friends, he mentions both aspects – the great character they exhibit (who they are) and the wonderful service they provide (what they do). 

Paul does just that in our text this week, Philippians 2:19-30 when he writes to the Philippians about “Cheerful Receiving.”  However, Paul’s not talking about receiving gifts (spiritual or material), but he’s sending two of his friends to the church and he’s asking them to receive his friends cheerfully.  And to get them to do that, he describes them.

Which got me to thinking … How would I describe my friends?  How would my friends describe me?  Would they talk about what I do … without mentioning who I am?  And that led me to wonder … How would I want them to describe me?  And how does knowing Jesus change all that?

Those are the kinds of questions we’ll be looking at this Sunday.  I hope to see you there, Dr. Dave