Lesson One

OVERVIEW

This overview will probably take you more time than any other lesson of the study. If necessary, allow one week to read the "How to Use This Study" section on pages 5–8, the historical background on pages 9–13, and the whole letter to the Philippians. Then take a second week to answer the overview questions.

First impressions

The Philippians had not seen Paul for years. Then they heard he was under house arrest, and poorly supplied with food and other necessities. So, they sent Epaphroditus to take Paul some money and care for him during his ordeal. But now Epaphroditus is back unexpectedly. Surprised to see their emissary, but glad for news after months without word, the Philippians (if they treated letters as most people do) probably read through Paul's epistle quickly at first, searching for the main points and their friend's state of mind. They probably went back to study the profound words in detail later, but their first reading was likely to have been swift and general.

In the same way, read through the whole of Paul's letter at one sitting. Get a general impression of his themes and state of mind.

1. How would you describe the mood (emotion, state of mind) Paul conveys in this letter? What appear to be his attitudes toward his circumstances, the Philippians, other people, himself?

________________________________________ ________________________________________

2. Repetition is a clue to the ideas that are most important in a book. What words and ideas are repeated in each of the following sets of verses?

1:27; 2:2-4; 4:2-3______________________ ________________________________________

1:5,7; 2:25; 4:14-15____________________ ________________________________________

1:4,18,25; 2:2,17-18; 3:1; 4:4,10_______ ________________________________________

other___________________________________ ________________________________________

Broad outline

If your impression of Philippians is vague after one reading, a broad outline can help sharpen it.

3. Reread Philippians, preferably in a different translation. (A different version can help you notice new things and can make a confusing passage clearer.)

This time, think of a short phrase or sentence that can serve as a title for each paragraph. You may want to include key words from the paragraph. Write your titles on the next page.

(Be creative. There is no one right answer; the first title is given as an example. Your Bible's paragraph divisions may differ, so feel free to alter those given here.)

1:1-2 Servants to Saints ________

1:3-11___________________________________ _________________________________________

1:12-26__________________________________ _________________________________________

1:27-30__________________________________ _________________________________________

2:1-11___________________________________ _________________________________________

2:12-18__________________________________ _________________________________________

2:19-30__________________________________ _________________________________________

3:1-11___________________________________ _________________________________________

3:12-4:1_________________________________ _________________________________________

4:2-9____________________________________ _________________________________________

4:10-20__________________________________ _________________________________________

4:21-23__________________________________ _________________________________________

Theme/purpose

People usually write letters in response to a particular situation in their own or their readers' lives. They normally have reasons for choosing the topics they cover in their letters. It is often not possible to reconstruct exactly what circumstances moved a person to write, but the more we can reconstruct, the better we will understand the writer's message.

Our own purpose for studying the letter will often differ from its original purpose, but how we understand and apply a writer's words should be influenced by how the Holy Spirit meant them to be understood and applied in the first century.

4. From your first readings of Philippians, what seem to be Paul's chief aims in writing this letter? ________________________________________ _______________________________________

5. If you have not already done so, read the historical background on pages 9–13. If you feel that additional background would help you to better interpret Paul's letter, you might write down your questions here. Some of your questions may be answered later in this study guide. The sources in Study Aids on pages 111–115 may help you to answer others. ________________________________________ _______________________________________

6. In your first readings of Philippians, you may have come across questions you'd like answered as you go deeper into this study. While your thoughts are still fresh, you may want to jot down your questions here to serve as personal objectives for your investigation of the letter. ________________________________________ ________________________________________

7. You have been reading Philippians as just an ordinary ancient letter, but it is also God's Word to us today. Does your first reading of Philippians suggest any areas in which it might apply to you? If so, what are some of those areas? ________________________________________ ________________________________________

For the group

This "For the group" section and the ones in later lessons are intended to suggest ways of structuring your discussions. Feel free to select and adapt what suits your group. The main goals of this lesson are to get to know the book of Philippians as a whole and the people with whom you are going to study it.

Worship. Some groups like to begin with prayer and/or singing. Some share requests for prayer at the beginning, but leave the actual prayer until after the study. Others prefer just to chat and have refreshments for a while and then move to the study, leaving worship until the end.

Warm-up. The beginning of a new study is a good time to lay a foundation for honest sharing of ideas, to get comfortable with each other, and to encourage a sense of common purpose. One way to establish common ground is to talk about what each group member hopes to get out of your group — out of your study of Philippians, and out of any prayer, singing, sharing, outreach, or anything else you might do together. Why do you want to study the Bible? If you have someone write...