Today’s passage: Philippians 4:1-3

Helpful thoughts:

• Euodia and Syntyche were two women in the church at Philippi.
• The word translated as “labored” in the ESV means, “to struggle alongside of” or “to contend”.
  • These women as struggled alongside each other for the cause of Christ.  But they could not do that if they continued to struggle against each other.
• Church unity matters.  Our task is so important.  The love of Christ compels us.  May we be a people who right our wrongs and seek reconciliation.

Questions to consider:

1. What positive words and terms of endearment are found (And how many can you find) in verses 1 and 3?  How do they make the reality of the division in verse 2 look so out of place?  Does it make any sense that brothers and sisters in Christ would be at odds with each other for very long?
2. Was the feud between Euodia and Syntyche only affecting them?  How does the selfishness of sin often result in us only thinking about how things prevent ourselves from getting what we want?  What had been Paul’s command in chapter 2 (2:3)?
3. How does Romans 12:18 help us to move forward when we have tried to make things right with others but they choose not to reconcile?  Not everyone will respond in faith and love, but how can we move forward with a clear conscience and hope?

Today’s passage: Philippians 3:17-4:1

Helpful thoughts:

• Discipleship is both taught and caught.  Christians, other believers are watching you, whether they are trying to or not, and everything we say and do teaches.
  • Verse 17 also gives us great encouragement to read good biographies of brothers and sisters in Christ who went before us!
• The enemies of Christ follow after their own selfish passions (“Their god is their belly” is the same thing as the modern encouragement to “follow your heart”).  Their end is destruction.
• We stand firm in the Lord by (Working backwards from 4:1):
  • Looking forward to the resurrection.
  • Eagerly awaiting the return of Christ.
  • Remembering where our citizenship lies.
    • In contrast to those who are enemies of Christ, we are to focus our attention on heavenly things.
      • We are to be so heavenly minded that we become of heavenly good in this world.

Questions to consider:

1. Who are you discipling right now?  Not, who are you purposefully spending time with for discipleship…but who are you discipling right now in the normal course of your every day life?  How can this thinking help us to grow and become more proactive in our thinking about how we can encourage others?
2. As our hearts become more conformed to the image of Christ, how can following your heart become a good thing?  We all follow our hearts (“We do what we do because we want what we want”).  What must therefore be the delight of our hearts?  How does that improve our understanding of the nature of repentance?
3. Can you be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good?  How do heavenly minded Christians make this world a better place?  How does being heavenly minded change the order of our goals and priorities in this world?  How can being heavenly minded help us not get discouraged when the world’s activities look hopeless?

Today’s passage: Philippians 3:12-16

Helpful thoughts:

• We were saved by God’s grace.  Christ grabbed a hold of us.  He will see us through to our final sanctification and eternal reward.
• None of us have arrived yet.  We were dead in our sins and trespasses and are on our way to glory. But for now, we are in the process of progressive sanctification.
  • This gives us reason for humility.
  • This gives us reason for hope.
  • This gives us reason for hospitality.
    • Christ is holding us firmly in His grip, may we strive forward to what’s ahead.
• We are to long for God’s heavenly call because our prize is there, Jesus Christ.

Questions to consider:

1. There’s a lot of holding, or obtaining, or possessing going on in this passage.  What are all the forms (Synonyms) of possessing or holding that you can find?  What do they teach us?
2. What does verse 15 teach us about maturity?  What does a knowledge of the truth have to do with maturity?  What does a valuing and delighting in truth have to do with maturity (Responding in obedience)?  Who ultimately ensures the maturity of the Christian?
3. What kinds of things do you strain and press for?  Why is Jesus worth straining toward?  What does that straining and pressing look like on this side of Heaven?

Today’s passage: Philippians 3:1-11

Helpful thoughts:

• The Children of God are a people saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  To regard my own actions or physical heritage as grounds for my worthiness of the inheritance is to strip away the gospel itself.
• We are to be on guard and watch out for those who preach anything different.
• Having Jesus is far better than having everything this world can offer.

Questions to consider:

1. What is true circumcision for the Christian (Romans 2:25-29)?  Instead of physical circumcision being a sign or seal of who we are, what has God given to us as a seal (Ephesians 1:13-14)?
2. Why do you think it becomes so easy to identify visible markers like clothing styles, hair styles, Bible types, musical styles, etc. as evidence of “godliness?”  What are we doing as a church if those visible items become the measure of whether a person is a Christian or not?  And, if we fall into that practice, why will people be motivated to wear the “right” clothes or fit in in any other way?
3. Why is Jesus better than this world?  How many reasons can you come up with?  How does thinking about the reasons (Meditating on God’s Word!) help you to rightly evaluate how you live and what decisions you should make each day?

Today’s passage: Philippians 2:19-30

Helpful thoughts:

• Verse 21 is a stark contrast from verse 3.  May God give us hearts that are increasingly sincerely concerned for the well-being of others.
• There are some windows into the heart of Paul in this passage.  He is a human being.
  • He saw Epaphroditus’ physical recovery as the mercy of God to Epaphroditus and to him.  To live is Christ and to die is gain…and yet it still hurts to lose our loved ones (Verse 27).
  • Paul also admits to needing to be less anxious (Verse 28).
• Spiritual maturity (Exemplified in humility and love) and a willingness to sacrifice self for the cause of Christ are cause for respect in the household of God.

Questions to consider:

1. This passage is very down to earth and practical.  Which aspect of the passage stuck out the most to you?  Were Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus or the Philippians believers a higher level of human existence than any of us?  How can the apparent humanity of this portion of the letter encourage you to grow in ministry?
2. How does Paul’s acknowledgement that very few people were actually counting others as more significant than themselves and that he had struggled with anxiety, etc. remind us of the grounds of our salvation?  Why were these people saved?  Why was it right to call on them to grow even though Paul had room to grow himself?  Was he being a hypocrite or an honest example?
3. How should honoring or respecting a mature, self-sacrificing Christian look like in the church?  In lieu of the trophy presentations and fan-fare we might see in the world, how do the people of God show one another respect?

Today’s passage: Philippians 2:12-18

Helpful thoughts:

• Just as a potter works out a piece of clay into it’s final form, Christians are to pursue the outworking of our salvation toward Christ-likeness (Verse 12).  God being the potter (Verse 13).
  • We are not working out our salvation to get saved.
  • We are working out the salvation we have toward sanctification.
• Verse 15 depicts what we want to be in this world.  Light shining in a dark, crooked and twisted world.
  • Verse 14 describes what it will look like.  If we do all things without grumbling or disputing, we will definitely stick out.
  • Verse 16a is the means to our goal.  Holding fast to the truth found in the Word of God gives us the knowledge we need to live confidently in the midst of a dark world.
• God has saved us and made us ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).  Seeing other people come to faith and growing in Christ-likeness is one of the greatest joys we can have.  Not even persecution could take away that joy.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways are you growing right now? (Praise God for it!)  Who has God used to minister to you and help you become more like Christ?
2. To whom could you be reaching out with the gospel and/or discipleship?  Who are you serving in this way?  If you don’t feel like you are equipped or ready, who could you go to for help?
3. What lesser joys (With lower risks) tend to capture our hearts?  What pleasures in this life might we “miss out” on if we give more of ourselves to kingdom work?  Would it be worth it?

Today’s passage: Philippians 2:1-11

Helpful thoughts:

• The idea of verse 1 is that there obviously IS encouragement, comfort, participation, affection and sympathy.
• This passage is an argument from the greater to the lesser.  If the almighty, righteous, holy God can do all He has done for us in love, surely we can set aside our own personal preferences and ambition to love one another in unity.
  • We will never empty ourselves of more or condescend further than Jesus did to serve the needs of others.
• No knees need to bow to me.  All knees will bow to Jesus.
  • We can serve and love others as Christ has served and loved us (John 13:14, 34)
  • All will bow the knee in the end.  Christians get to bow the knee and confess Christ as Lord to the glory of God now by living in a manner worthy of the gospel (1:27)

Questions to consider:

1. How does a right view of God and the gospel inform a humble spirit and willingness to serve?
2. What challenges can prevent us from counting others as more important/significant than ourselves?  How do you rightly balance the truth that all are created in the image of God and of equal value with the command to count/consider others to be more significant than yourself?
3. How was your salvation purchased?  How were you purchased (1 Corinthians 6:20)?  How can you respond in praise and joy for God’s great love for you today?

Today’s passage: Philippians 1:27-30

Helpful thoughts:

• The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed our eternity future and it must change our present.  We can not live worthy of the gospel in a way that we earn it, then it ceases to be grace.  However, as the gospel is worked into us, we increasingly will live in a way that is consistent with it.
• It’s easy to be frightened by your opponents when you are fighting alone.  But that’s not how we have been called to fight.  We are to stand firm in one spirit and strive side by side.
• We are in this world but not of it.  It should not surprise us when the world and the church are not on the same page.  Our mission is the Great Commission.

Questions to consider:

1. How does a Christian live in a manner worthy of the gospel?  How would you describe this life?
2. What are some practical ways that we can strive together side by side, both in proactive evangelism and discipleship…and in the face of opposition and persecution?
3. Who are some people from your church that you have fought shoulder to shoulder with?  Who might you see in the church who you could include so that we all are standing firm in one spirit?

Today’s passage: Philippians 1:19-26

Helpful thoughts:

• In the ESV, the end of verse 18 is really the beginning of the first sentence in verse 19.
• Paul’s number one objective in his earthly body was to glorify Christ.  To live is Christ.
  • And, because every other Christian has been given the same objective, Paul loved the church by leading others to live for Christ as well.
• To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).
  • To die is our gain.  To live is Christ.  In the end, both life and death are full of purpose and victory for all those who are in Christ!

Questions to consider:

1. How is Paul practicing discipleship here?  When he did go to be with the Lord, what do his words indicate the church would be prepared to do in his absence?
2. Who shared the gospel with you?  What is your spiritual heritage in this world?  To whom are you ministering and discipling in the next generation?
3. How could remembering the eternality of heaven, the reward of being with Christ, and the reward for our service here on earth encourage us to stay focused and active in kingdom work?  In our weakness we do need to rest up, but what is our rest for?  What should it be equipping us to accomplish?