Courage for Life for Men - Flipbook - Page 12
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PhiliPPians 1
Greetings from Paul
This letter is from Paul and Timothy,
slaves of Christ Jesus.
I am writing to all of God’s holy people
in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders* and deacons.
2
May God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
1
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer
3
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to
my God. 4Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have
been my partners in spreading the Good
News about Christ from the time you first
heard it until now. 6And I am certain that
God, who began the good work within you,
will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
7
So it is right that I should feel as I do
about all of you, for you have a special
place in my heart. You share with me the
special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming
the truth of the Good News. 8God knows
how much I love you and long for you with
the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.
9
I pray that your love will overflow
more and more, and that you will keep on
growing in knowledge and understanding.
10
For I want you to understand what really
matters, so that you may live pure and
blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11May you always be filled with the
fruit of your salvation—the righteous
character produced in your life by Jesus
Christ*—for this will bring much glory
and praise to God.
Paul’s Joy That Christ Is Preached
12
And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters,* that everything that has
happened to me here has helped to
spread the Good News. 13For everyone
here, including the whole palace guard,*
knows that I am in chains because of
Christ. 14And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers* here have
gained confidence and boldly speak God’s
message* without fear.
15
It’s true that some are preaching out
of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach
about Christ with pure motives. 16They
preach because they love me, for they
know I have been appointed to defend
the Good News. 17Those others do not
have pure motives as they preach about
Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my
chains more painful to me. 18But that
doesn’t matter. Whether their motives
are false or genuine, the message about
Christ is being preached either way, so
I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.
19
For I know that as you pray for me and
the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this
will lead to my deliverance.
Paul’s Life for Christ
20
For I fully expect and hope that I will
never be ashamed, but that I will continue
1:1 Or overseers, or bishops. 1:11 Greek with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ. 1:12 Greek brothers.
1:13 Greek including all the Praetorium. 1:14a Greek brothers in the Lord. 1:14b Some manuscripts read speak
the message.
P H I L I P P I A N S — A V I S UA L T I M E L I N E
Jesus’ death and
resurrection;
Pentecost
ad 30 or 33
Paul’s
conversion
ad 34~35
God will finish his work
Paul writes Philippians
ad 60~62?
The council in Jerusalem
ad 49~50
Paul’s first
missionary
journey
ad 47~48
Paul’s second
missionary
journey
ad 50–52
Paul’s third
missionary
journey
ad 53–57
Paul’s
journey
to Rome
ad 59–60
1:3-6
P R A Y • Father, thank you for never giving up on me and for continuing to work in my life. Help
me surrender to your work of making me more like Jesus every day.
O B S E R V E • Epaphroditus had brought a monetary gift to Paul from the church in Philippi
(4:15-18). This letter was Paul’s response to that gift. He began by thanking God and expressing
to the church in Philippi that he continued to remember them in prayer with much joy. Paul was
confident that God would continue to do good things through their ministry together.
I N T E R P R E T • God always finishes what he starts, and he often works through the gifts of
others (Gen 2:2; 1 Sam 3:12; John 4:34; 19:30). He is faithful to complete his salvation in people
(Rom 9:16; Eph 1:3-11; 2:4-10). God doesn’t desire that we continue to live the same way we
did before we were saved; he continues his good work in us to make us more like Jesus (Rom
8:29; Eph 4:13-15).
Paul’s
death
ad 64~65
Rome
destroys
Jerusalem
ad 70
A P P LY • Embrace a life of
grace: The work God does in
our lives isn’t something we
can do on our own. How will
you embrace God’s work to
make you more like Jesus (Phil
1:6)? • Overcome obstacles:
List the obstacles preventing you
from allowing God to work in
your life.
What other COURAGE steps can
you identify in the opening of
Paul’s letter? How can you apply
them to your life?
