Discovering Joy Session 2
Studies on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians for SGSG Small Groups
Partners in the Gospel Philippians 1:1-11 15 Sept 24
For this series we suggest that you may like to create a group journal If you would like to do this, bring with you a large roll of wallpaper or large paper that you can use. Each week as you close the evening, capture together on your journal key insights / thoughts / words / images that you have from that evening. Use words, pictures, symbols, colours; be creative! Write on here prayer requests as well, as a record that you can look back on at the end of the series. This way you can build a memory journal of the Philippians series as it unfolds.
Welcome
What was the most important piece of post that you can remember receiving – was it a letter, a postcard, a package? Share the story and your memory of the emotions you experienced when you opened it.
Worship
Start by writing the word JOY somewhere on the paper. As you worship, invite people to speak out and write on the paper what they pray with joy about (v3).
Listen to a worship song as you do this together.
Word
This term we are working through Philippians. The Church in Philippi was established by Paul, and the letter shows how much he loved it. The community of the church was significant because it marked the entrance of the gospel into Europe. Read Acts 16:12-40 for a background description. Philippi contained a small Jewish community, but the church grew quickly there, mainly from Gentile converts. Acts records 2 notable Gentile conversions. Joy is a theme of the letter and is mentioned 16 times in the letter as a whole; it’s worth keeping an eye out for this. Philippi was an unusual city because, although it was in Greece, it had the status of Ius Italicum, the legal fiction that it was on Italian soil. This meant that it was governed under Roman rather than local or Hellenistic law; had a greater degree of autonomy in its relations with provincial governors; all those born in the city automatically gained Roman citizenship, and the city's land was exempt from certain taxes.
1: 1-7: Paul’s relationship with the Philippians
· v1-2 What do we learn here about Paul’s partners in the gospel and the different roles they might have in church life? What is the meaning of the description of Christians as ‘saints’?
· v3-5 In Paul’s letters we often see the key themes of the letter identified in the way he prays for the church at the start. Pick out the key things Paul focuses on in his prayer here. Consider writing these somewhere on your group journal.
· v4-5 Part of the reason for Paul’s letter is to thank the church for their gift of money to him while he is in prison (see 4:14-18). This was a very practical partnership, and was precious to him. How do we partner practically with others in the gospel in our lives? Share some examples.
· v6 What is Paul so confident about on behalf of the Philippians? Why would the confidence in God completing His work be so important to Paul and the early church? How can this confidence encourage us?
· v7 What binds Paul together with the Philippians? What does it mean for us that we together share God’s grace? How do we relate to this ourselves?
· Describe the strength of feeling that you sense Paul has for the Philippians. What encouragement / challenge can we draw about our own partnership with others in Christ from this?
1: 9-11 Continuing prayer
· What a wonderful prayer to pray for others! Once again, pick out each element of this prayer, and note them on your group journal.
· v9 What do you understand the characteristics of ‘wise love’ to be from these verses?
· v10-11 What are the consequences of this type of love (for us and for God)? How does this differ from the emotion of feeling love? Where do we see examples of this type of love in our lives today?
· Notice how Paul is drawing attention in these few verses both to the theology of God’s salvation, and to how this works out practically in the lives of those who are ‘partnering in the gospel’ with him. What inspires you most from this introduction to the letter?
Witness, Care and Prayer
Use the examples of Paul’s prayers as a basis for your prayers this evening. In small groups, pray some of the elements of Paul’s prayer:
For one another in Small Group
For the wider SGSG family
For people who are our partners in the work of the gospel
For those we long to share God’s grace with, but aren’t Christians yet.