Update - January 11, 2007

Happy New Year!

We had a fantastic meeting last night with Amy leading us in the first installment of a 4 part Bible study on Philippians. I, for one, enjoyed it and look forward to the rest of the series.

If you will be able to join us in the next three weeks, please take a moment when you can to read through Philippians - it is a very short book with 4 chapters. We almost covered the full first chapter last night. Amy gave us a flier of information before we began. Here it is...

What was going on when Paul wrote this letter?
-It was near 61 CE (current era)
-Nero was in power
-Paul was in prison (probably in Rome)

Some Themes found in Philippians:
-Joy/Happiness
-Harmony
-Perils to and enemies of the faith
-Dangers of Pride
-Humility/Jesus' incarnation

Characters found in Philippians:
Paul - Apostle of Jesus Christ, missionary, author of the letter
Epaphroditus - Messenger from Philippian church, recovering from serious illness
Timothy - Ministry partner of Paul, also associated with Philippian church, loyal
Euodia - Leader in church encouraged to resolve conflict with Syntyche
Syntyche - Leader in church encouraged to resolve conflict with Euodia
Syzygus - Partner with Paul encouraged to help Euodia and Syntyche
Clement - Leader in the church who also knows Euodia and Syntyche as leaders

About Philippi:
-Part of Macedonia (northern Greece)
-Possibly Paul's first place to visit in Europe
-Associated with Paul for more than 10 years
-A Roman Colony

Where do we find information about Philippi in the New Testament aside from this letter?
-Acts 16:6-40
-Acts 18:5
-Acts 20:6
-1 Thessalonians 2:2
-2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (Macedonia)

Amy gave us some questions to ponder after reading the first chapter, in preparation for next week. Here they are...

Philippians 1

Where do you find hope in this chapter?
What worries you about this chapter?
Where do you find yourself in this chapter?
How does this part of this leatter relate to life today?
How can we apply what we learn here to our daily lives?
How are we like the believers in Philippi?
How are we like Paul?
Do you disagree with Paul at this point? If so, why?
What is confusing about these verses, if anything?

To carry beyond these walls:
-May my love abound more and more...
-Is their fruit in my life resulting from the righteousness of Jesus?
-The motivation of others may not actually be my concern...
-How can I live in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
-How can I stand firm in my faith?
-Does faith relate to suffering in my life?
-Who do we thank God for when we remember them?

Huge thanks goes out to Amy for all of her work on this!

I hope to see many of you next week - same time, same place.

Yours in Christ,

Rachel