November 6, 2026

  • Mark Bainbridge

    Executive Director

    Mark joined the LCF staff team in January 2019 after studying at Union School of Theology, but having been a member of the LCF since 2006. He qualified as a solicitor 1997 and then specialised in Employment and Equality Law. Mark currently works part-time as a partner with Edward Connor Solicitors advising churches and Christian charities. He lives by the coast in South Wales near Cardiff and attends Freeschool Court church in Bridgend.

... he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant

Philippians 2:7 (NIV)

Pressures within. Pressures without. Paul, the servant of Christ Jesus (1:1), writes to these dear Christians in Philippi serving God’s grace and peace with practical advice, to address the problems which they are facing in life. How like a good lawyer!

If you get the chance today, read Philippians and read it aloud. Notice what happens when you get to chapter 2:6-11. Suddenly Paul’s letter sings! It’s poetic (the NIV captures this well). Why so?

Paul turns poetic as he directs our attention to the Jesus story. It’s a stunning story, and it’s the gravitational centre of Paul’s letter. Be pulled into this story then, as you read about the humiliation of Christ, how he made himself nothing, taking the essential characteristics of a servant (lit. “slave” a person with no legal rights), and then stooped further still for our salvation, by becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross.

Worthy is our servant king, now exalted by God to the highest place (2:9-11), for revealing the divine vocation of service!

Dear lawyer, servant of the servant king. Facing pressures within and without. Seeking to serve God’s grace and peace with practical advice, to address the problems your clients face in life. Paul wants you to experience this poem, that you may resonate with and retell the Jesus story in every syllable and sentence of your life!

  • Give thanks to God for His beloved Son who for our sakes and our salvation humbled himself, even to death on the cross!
  • Take a moment to commit the year ahead to Jesus, and ask that he will give you the grace, wisdom, and strength to retell His story faithfully and fruitfully in the legal world.