<p>1:5<i> Giving thanks for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now</i>-&ldquo;Your participation in the preaching of the gospel&rdquo; is paralleled with &ldquo;your faith&rdquo; (Phil. 1:5). If we really believe, we will be involved in the preaching of what we believe.</p><p>Paul felt the Philippians were still assisting him in the furthering of the Gospel even whilst he was in prison, and he was likewise assisting them. They were hugely separated by distance and situation. Yet they still fellowshipped with each other in the Gospel's work through the connection in the Spirit which is actualized by prayer for each other. And similar bonds can easily be created today too thanks to the communication revolution.</p><p>&quot;The first day&quot; presumably refers to when Paul first preached in Philippi, and Lydia and her household responded. He was imprisoned and beaten at Philippi, but Paul remembers the positive, the glass half full rather than half empty; when many others would have been so traumatized by the experience that the post traumatic stress displaced any memory of the good. This is a great example to us all.</p>