Beyond Suffering Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 10
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, includ
ing the elders* and deacons.
2
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ give you grace and peace.
1
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my
God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests
for all of you with joy, 5for 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. 8 God knows how much I love
you and long for you with the tender com
passion of Christ Jesus.
9
I pray that your love will overflow more
and more, and that you will keep on grow
ing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I
want you to understand what really matters,
so that you may live pure and blameless lives
3
CONNECTION POIN TS
1:47 Partnership The apostle Paul relied on
fellow believers to help him communicate the
gospel and accomplish his mission. Ministry to
and with people with disabilities is no different.
For our service to be effective, it must be relational. There are no lone rangers in disability
ministry, and we can learn a lot from community organizations who love and serve families
affected by disabilities.
1:2125 Living with Suffering Prolonged suffering has the power to bring us face-to-face
with Paul’s dilemma here. Is being with Christ
now better than living a life of pain? It’s a familiar question for people with severe disabilities.
While Paul repeatedly faced death, he sought
to preserve his life with the goal of using every
breath to glorify God and an understanding
that once his time on earth was done, he would
be with Christ. In light of that hope, God preserved Paul’s life time and again so that he
could continue to serve and bless others.
2
until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you
always be filled with the fruit of your salva
tion—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
And I want you to know, my dear brothers
and sisters,* that everything that has hap
pened to me here has helped to spread the
Good News. 13 For everyone here, including
the whole palace guard,* knows that I am
in chains because of Christ. 14 And because
of my imprisonment, most of the believ
ers* 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. 16 They preach be
cause they love me, for they know I have
been appointed to defend the Good News.
17
Those 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. 18 But
that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives
are false or genuine, the message about
Christ is being preached either way, so I re
joice. 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.
12
Paul’s Life for Christ
20
For I fully expect and hope that I will never
be ashamed, but that I will continue to be
bold for Christ, as I have been in the past.
And I trust that my life will bring honor to
Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, liv
ing means living for Christ, and dying is even
better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful
work for Christ. So I really don’t know which
is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I
long to go and be with Christ, which would
be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is
better that I continue to live.
25
Knowing this, I am convinced that I will
remain alive so I can continue to help all
of you grow and experience the joy of your
faith. 26 And when I come to you again, you
will have even more reason to take pride
in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing
through me.
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.
