April 21 - Intro to Philippians
I have ten days left in the month of April, so I chose to fill them with a short study in the letter Paul wrote to the Philippians. Before I start digging into the text, I thought I would spend a little time introducing this letter.
Paul wrote this while he was in prison (Philippians 1:7, 13-14). It also seems from reading through more passages in the letter that he was in serious trouble. Philippians 1:16 says that he is there 'for the defense of the gospel.' Many believe that he was in Rome, but he could have been anywhere - Ephesus, Caesarea, Corinth.
Timothy was there with him (Philippians 1:1, 2:19-23) and Epaphroditus was on his way to visit Paul (Philippians 2:25).
We know from the book of Acts that Paul was imprisoned at least three time - his first time with the Philippians (Acts 16:23-40), arrested in Jerusalem and detained in Caesarea (Acts 24:27), and then his time in the Roman prison (Acts 26:1-28:30).
As we read this letter, we find that there are some people he needs to deal with. False teachers are moving in on the Christians. These are Jewish Christians who are trying to force them back into the Jewish fold, denying God's grace. We'll see in Philippians 3 how strongly Paul speaks about them.
Paul had a great relationship with the church in Philippi. They were worried about him while he was in prison, they sent things to assist him. They had been supportive of him in his travels. He loved these people. However, Paul was worried about them as well. We find him encouraging them to move past internal problems and to stand fast and to be united.
The Philippian church had been growing and there were bound to be power struggles. Paul didn't want to see this for a church that he loved. His reminder to them in Philippians 2:5-11 is to be like Christ Jesus.
This is a good reminder to all of us!
I have ten days left in the month of April, so I chose to fill them with a short study in the letter Paul wrote to the Philippians. Before I start digging into the text, I thought I would spend a little time introducing this letter.
Paul wrote this while he was in prison (Philippians 1:7, 13-14). It also seems from reading through more passages in the letter that he was in serious trouble. Philippians 1:16 says that he is there 'for the defense of the gospel.' Many believe that he was in Rome, but he could have been anywhere - Ephesus, Caesarea, Corinth.
Timothy was there with him (Philippians 1:1, 2:19-23) and Epaphroditus was on his way to visit Paul (Philippians 2:25).
We know from the book of Acts that Paul was imprisoned at least three time - his first time with the Philippians (Acts 16:23-40), arrested in Jerusalem and detained in Caesarea (Acts 24:27), and then his time in the Roman prison (Acts 26:1-28:30).
As we read this letter, we find that there are some people he needs to deal with. False teachers are moving in on the Christians. These are Jewish Christians who are trying to force them back into the Jewish fold, denying God's grace. We'll see in Philippians 3 how strongly Paul speaks about them.
Paul had a great relationship with the church in Philippi. They were worried about him while he was in prison, they sent things to assist him. They had been supportive of him in his travels. He loved these people. However, Paul was worried about them as well. We find him encouraging them to move past internal problems and to stand fast and to be united.
The Philippian church had been growing and there were bound to be power struggles. Paul didn't want to see this for a church that he loved. His reminder to them in Philippians 2:5-11 is to be like Christ Jesus.
This is a good reminder to all of us!
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