Category Archives: Guests

Time to Study Philippians -Week Two

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Dear Ladies of the Philippians study,
Greetings to Week Two of our study! (week one is found here)
This study and the following lessons, for the next seven weeks, will be a condensed version of Mining God’s Word – How To Study the Bible; Foundation Series by Bethlehem College and Seminary Press. I highly recommend that you purchase your own workbook at www(dot)bethlehemcollegeandseminary(dot)org – it would be a great tool for you to have!
Please pray for our study habits, for God’s wisdom to be upon us, and that we would be known as women who love our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
To begin our time today, we will start with going over our ‘homework’. I realize that some of you will have different answers from me and from each other. What I want you to notice, or to observe, are clearly in the text. At this point, record what has been written and use that. Don’t go too deep, and assume things that aren’t written.
Here are a few examples of mine taken from each chapter:

Observations of author 

Paul and Timothy are servants of Christ Jesus (1:1)
Paul thanks God for them (the Philippians) (1:3)
Remembers them in his prayers (1:4)
Paul holds the Philippians in his heart (1:7)
He is imprisoned for Christ (1:13)
He rejoices that Christ is proclaimed regardless of motive (1:18)
He has joy (2:2)
He hopes in the Lord (2:19,23)
He trusts in the Lord (2:24)
He thinks it is necessary to send Epaphroditus back to the Philippians (2:25,28)
He has already written to them about similar things (3:1)
They (Paul and the Philippians) are of the real circumcision (3:3)
Paul says he of all people should have confidence in his Jewishness, if that is all that is needed to belong to God (3:4-6)
He considers his Jewish lineage “a loss” in light of who Christ is. (3:7-11)
He loves, and longs for the Philippians (4:1)
He entreats the women Euodia and Syntyche to stop arguing with each other (4:2)
He rejoices in the Lord greatly now that the Philippians are able to help him again (4:10)
Through the hardship and persecutions he has endured, he has learned to be content in all his circumstances (4:11-14)
He is well supplied from all of the things they sent to him with Epaphroditus (4:18)
He sends greetings from the other saints to the Philippians (4:22)

Observations of those receiving the letter

 

They are considered saints (believers in Christ Jesus) (1:1)
They are partners with Paul in the gospel from the first day they were converted (1:5)
They are partakers with Paul of grace, whether or not he is in prison (1:7)
They pray for Paul (1:19)
They have always obeyed Paul whether he is with them or away from them (2:12)
They know of Timothy’s devotion to Paul and the gospel (2:22)
They are part of the real circumcision with Paul and put no confidence in the flesh (3:3)
They, like Paul have a citizenship in heaven (3:20)
Euodia and Syntyche, women who previously had worked with Paul, now bicker and quarrel (4:2)
They have observed/witnessed first hand the life of Paul (4:9)
They share in Paul’s troubles (4:14)
The Philippians were the only ones who sent supplies/aid to Paul (4:15)
They repeated sent help to Paul when he was in Thessalonica (4:16)

Relationship between Paul and the Philippians

This letter sounds like the saints in Philippi are very dear to Paul’s heart (1:7,8), and uses terms of endearment often: brothers (1:12, 3:10, 4:1), beloved (2:12), whom Paul loves and longs for (4:1), his joy and crown (4:1).
Paul is torn between wanting to die and be with Christ and wanting to live so that he may continue to encourage, teach and pray for them (1:21 – 25).
They both encourage one another by sending news through the saints to reach Paul. (Timothy and Epaphroditus)

What is the Occasion(s) for writing this letter to the Philippians?

He is in prison which they have heard of; they sent Epaproditus to Paul and then heard Epaphroditus was very sick, they sent gifts to help supply Paul’s needs.

Summary of the Purpose of Paul’s letter

 

One of the first issues Paul discusses is their concern for him since he is in prison. He tells them that being in prison is a good thing because it has further enhanced the gospel (1:12, 1:18), and that his imprisonment has made the other saints more bold (1:15). There are even believers within Caesar’s household! (4:22)     (Emphasis is mine J)
He exhorts them that their manner of life should be worthy of the gospel, standing firm in one spirit, and to not be frightened by those who oppose them. They should expect to suffer since Christ suffered (1:27-30).
He also conveys the idea of joy because of Christ, to be humble, to have unity with one another, to model their lives after his, to care for one another.
He does warn them about ‘those dogs, the evildoers, the mutilators of the flesh’ who want to lead the saints at Philippi back into the works of circumcision. He reminds them that the Sprit has circumcised their hearts, and that they worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus.
He also warns them against false teachers who ‘walk as the enemies of the cross of Christ’ and then exhorts them to stand firm in the Lord.
He asks his ‘true companion’ to work with Euodia and Syntyche and restore their fellowship.
He does let them know that he is hoping to send Timothy to them, so Timothy can return to Paul with the news of the Philippians (2:19-24). Paul does want to thank the Philippians for the gifts they sent along with Epaphroditus (4:17-18) and let them know how much their partnership with him is a joy (1:3-9).
It is a letter filled with hope, love, the joy of Christ, and encouragement.
Again, you may have some, or parts of all of these. These are just to guide your answers.

This Week’s Lesson:

When we study any book within our Bibles, we must always remember that the author was writing in a certain period of time in history, and that that history flavors their words and actions. Just as you would write a letter now, what is happening in your town, your city, your nation would influence what you wrote about. Therefore, it is always helpful to remember the historical context while we read our Bibles.
To help us with this, here is a quick historical timeline to think about the world in which Paul was living, and to remember what had happened in the recent past, and what would occur in the near future of this letter to the Philippians.
63 BC – Roman general Pompey invades Jerusalem
44 BC – Julius Caesar is assassinated
40 BC – Herod is crowned King of the Jews
27 BC – Augustus becomes Emperor of Rome
20 BC – Herod begins to rebuild the Temple
6-4 BC – the Birth of Jesus
4 BC – King Herod dies
14 AD – Emperor Augustus dies and Tiberius assumes power
26 AD – Pontius Pilate is appointed procurator of Judea
30/33 AD – Jesus dies and is resurrected (Amen!)
37 AD – Emperor Tiberius dies
47 AD – the start of Paul’s first missionary journey
50 AD – approximate time the New Testament books are written
64 AD – approximate time of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul
70 AD – the destruction of the Temple and the Fall of Jerusalem
Some of these dates may not agree with all historians – see H. Wayne House, Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981)
To give us an idea of what I would like you to do this week in Philippians, let us go back to our copy of Philemon. As you read through Philemon, I want you to notice areas within the letter that Paul switches  from one subject to another. The easiest way to find these divisions is to repeatedly ask your self, “What is Paul saying now?” If he has changed course or changed the direction of what he is speaking about, then mark that area of division with a diagonal line (/).  I’ll help you with one of them.
The first three verses in Philemon are one division. When you arrive at the 4th verse, Paul changes what he was previously saying and now begins with, “I thank my God….”
So put a forward slash between the end of verse 3 and the beginning of verse 4. Out in the left-hand margin of verses 1-3, write down a brief summary of those verses.  We call that part of his letter The Greeting, so in my margin I would make a note that says ‘Greeting’. You should be able to find 3-5 divisions within Philemon depending on where you think Paul has changed what he is saying. Do that now, and include your notes in the margin and then come back to class.
Great! I’ll tell you what I have, and you tell me what you have (just kidding J).
I found a division between vs. 7/8, a division between vs. 17/18 and a division between vs. 22/23. My margins say ‘Greeting’, the next one indicates ‘Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving’, the next says ‘appealing to Philemon to receive Onesimus as a brother’. The following margin note says ‘further instructions’ and lastly ‘closing’. This is a quick summary of the parts of the letter.

Homework:

Day 1 – To gain an historical perspective on Paul’s letter to the Philippians please read Acts 16:6- 17:1 and 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2. Keep Philippi in mind while you read. Next read Acts 28:16-31. What is this describing? Also, it might be interesting to you to find these geographic regions/cities on your maps in the back of your Bibles.
Day 2 – Use the “What is the author saying now?” as you read through the book of Philippians and find the divisions within this book. Put your forward slash where you think a division ends and begins.
Day 3 – Review your divisions and see if you still agree with what you first thought. Change them if you need to. Then make your notes in the margins for each division.
Day 4 – Write on a separate piece of paper each division by labeling them with your margin notes. Under each division, write a few items addressed within that division.
ie: Phil.1:1-11 is The Opening
1)    Senders, blessing, encouragement
2)    Paul speaks of his affections
3)    Prays that their love would abound.
That is all for your homework.
This was a bit of a long post, but I thank you, ladies, for keeping up and working through it! May your hearts be encouraged as you continually read of Paul’s love of the brethren, and remember that you will get to meet these people when you see Jesus face to face!
Becky, my dear sister, as always THANK YOU!
Blessings upon your homes,
Eileen
Becky’s note: I found this website with neat on line maps, in case you would like to study more about the geography  on Day 1

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Time to Study Philippians -Week One-

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Greetings Ladies,

This study and the following lessons, for the next eight weeks, will be a condensed version of Mining God’s Word – How To Study the Bible; Foundation Series by Bethlehem College and Seminary Press. I highly recommend that you purchase your own workbook at www(dot)bethlehemcollegeandseminary(dot)org – it would be a great tool for you to have!
I taught this lesson this past Wednesday evening and it was a delightful time. May God bless all of you with the same joy that the Wednesday Women experienced.
During this time together we will use the book of Philippians to teach us how to study our Bibles in such a manner that we can apply the methods learned here to all other books in the Bible. Of course, the longer the book, the more time required. Philippians won’t take us the same amount of time, as say, Matthew or 1 Corinthians. But the methods you learn here, will enable you to study there.
I would also like to point out that reading our Bibles and studying our Bibles are not the same thing. Reading is a more casual a pick-it-up, put-it-down kind of a thing. Studying asks us to pray, to labor, to be diligent, to be serious. And so, let us study God’s Word together. Amen!
Week one: Who is Writing to Whom?
A good practice for any inductive Bible study is to read through the book in one sitting, (if possible). Notice what you can about the author, and those he is writing to. Some books might contain more information about the author than others do, but that is OK. To help us understand what to look for in Philippians, we are going to look at Philemon first. It is short, clear and concise. So, please turn to Philemon in your Bibles and read it through. Once you have finished reading Philemon, continue with our study.
Now that you have read through Philemon, take a piece of paper, fold it in half length-wise, and then open it back up. You should have two columns lengthwise. At the head of column one, label it Observations on Author. At the head of column two, label it Observations on Recipient. Go back through Philemon, and underline all the things that talk about the author, Paul, and then write those same things you just underlined in your column Observations on Author, including the verse where you found it. (It will help you keep track of what you’re underlining if you use one colored pencil to underline for Author and a different colored pencil to underline Recipients.) When you have completed that, do the same thing for what  you observe about those he is writing to, the Recipients. Then come back to the study and we’ll give some examples of each.
Now that you have written your observations down, I will give some examples of my observations.

Observations on Author

His name is Paul (vs.1)
Prisoner for Christ Jesus (vs.1)
He has the authority to command (vs.8)
He is an old man (vs.9)
He has recently become a “father” to Onesimus (vs.10)
Paul loves Onesimus – refers to him as his ‘very heart’ (vs. 12)
He is not alone in prison (vs.23)

Observations on Recipient

Addressed to Philemon, others and the house church (vs.1, 2)
Philemon’s house is large enough for the saints to meet for church (vs.2)
Philemon used to own a useless slave named Onesimus (vs.11, 15)
Philemon was a former convert of Paul (vs.19)
Philemon might be wealthy because he has a guest room (vs.22)
Ladies,
You might have more or less than the ones I have listed and that’s OK. This is to help train you what to look for.
Next, we should notice the relationship between the author and the recipients. Are they friends? Are they in disagreement over something? Is their relationship strained or taxed due to sin? What is the occasion of the book? In other words, what has happened to make Paul feel he should write to Philemon? What is the purpose of the letter?
We should note that there is a distinction between occasion and purpose. This letter is like listening to one side of a phone conversation. You cannot hear what the other person is saying, but you can make a guess as to what they are saying by how the person on your end is responding. We can deduce from the statement, “Yes, my mother is fine, thank you.” that the person on the other end of the phone had asked “How is your mother?”. So, the occasion is what happened previously, that Paul alludes to in his letter. The purpose is what does he want to accomplish with his letter?
Now, flip your paper over to the back and make two new headings for these back columns. Label column one Observations on Relationships and label the second column Observations on Occasion. Again, go back through Philemon, and using different colored pencils, underline words or ideas that talk to you about their relationship. Look for words like, ‘beloved fellow worker’. When you have finished that, move to the next column and underline your text words that show what might have happened in the past. Record your findings.
At the bottom of your paper write Interpretation of Purpose. After you have written your observations on relationships and occasion, now you can write down what you think the purpose of this letter is. Just a few sentences will suffice. (Sometimes purpose and occasion will sometimes overlap so don’t be concerned if something fits into both categories.) Then, come back to the study and we’ll go over this last part together.
Observations on Relationships
Paul and Philemon have a very close relationship “beloved fellow worker’ (vs.1)
Paul derives joy and comfort from the love of Philemon, ‘his brother’ (vs.7)
Makes his appeal based on their partnership (vs.17)
Paul is confident in how Philemon will respond to his letter (vs.21)

Observations on Occasion

Paul is writing this letter on behalf of Onesimus who was recently converted by Paul (vs.10, 16)
Onesimus appeared to have been a slave (vs. 16) who ran away from Philemon (vs.15)
Did Onesimus steel something from Philemon? (vs.18)

Interpretation of Purpose

Paul is writing this letter on behalf of Onesimus his ‘true heart’, urging Philemon to treat him as a brother, just as he would Paul, now that Onesimus has been converted, which Paul can attest to. Paul is sending Onesimus back because he is still the rightful slave of Philemon, and Paul wants Philemon to respond with love. Also, to let Philemon know that Paul is hoping to come to his house, and therefore, prepare a room for him.
Again, you might have more or less than what I have written here. But the point is the training of what you’re looking for.

For this coming week, at your homes, I would like you to do this same thing with the book of Philippians. (I would recommend that you make a copy of the Philippians text for this study. Your thin Bible pages might not stand up to the next eight weeks of study.)

Homework
Day 1) Read Philippians, underlining, and then recording, your observations on the author and the recipients, in your new Philippians columns.
Day 2) Re-read what you wrote on Day 1, and write a brief summary of what you notice.
Day 3) Read Philippians observing the details about the relationships between the author and the recipients, and the occasion, underlining as you go. Then write in your Relationships column and your Occasion column what you have observed.
Day 4) Re-read what you wrote on Day 3, and write a brief summary of what you notice.
Day 5) Read the complete book of Philippians for a third time, playing close attention to the purpose of the book. What was the author attempting to accomplish? Is there more than one purpose? Write a summary of your view on the purpose of the book.
And that is the end of our first lesson!
We will go over all these homework answers briefly next week when we meet. 
Thank you, Becky, for allowing me the space on your blog. You are a sweet sister!
Thank you, ladies, for coming to ‘class’ and for working through your Bible with me.
May our Lord grant us wisdom as we read and study. May we bring honor to our God and to our husbands through our actions. May our words be filled with sweetness and grace as we raise up our children.

Blessings to you all, Eileen

 

 

More On Our Philippians Study -Introduction by Eileen-

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My name is Eileen Lawyer – I am a wife to Mike (pastor) and mother to Rachel (junior in high school). We live in a small town in northern Idaho, USA. I will be teaching a Bible study on Philippians to some ladies in our town, and thought that perhaps I could teach the same study online. I want to reach women who love our God as I do, and yet may not have the opportunity to attend Bible studies. The purpose of this study will be to encourage all of us to be women who know our Bibles and, therefore, know and love our Savior. This study will, with the Lord’s blessing, equip us to study other books in the Bible using the same method we apply to Philippians. God has the power to change our lives as we grow in knowledge and grace of Him.

I plan on teaching this as an eight-week course. If you are interested in joining this study, please come to “class” (Becky’s blog) with your Bible, colored pencils (or highlighters) if you have any. If you do not have any available to use, that’s OK. Just have your Bible, some paper to write on and a pencil. I will ask you to do a little ‘homework’ throughout the week before the next class. It is up to you if you want to do it. However, remember that the more you put into the study, the more you will get out of it.

Since I am writing the ‘class’, I will also be shortening the study from its original workbook (Mining God’s Word – How to study the Bible; Foundation Series, Bethlehem College and Seminary Press) I will, however, attempt to reach and discuss what I feel are the highlights. If you would like to purchase the workbook, please feel free to use it during class. I will have mine with me. It is a wonderful tool – not to replace our Bibles, but to enhance our understanding of our Bibles.

With all of that said, I look forward to trying this new avenue of teaching a Bible study online. I welcome your comments, questions and even suggestions. Becky’s blog usually has a place where comments can be made. If you need to reach me about a question that you would feel uncomfortable asking online, you may reach me: eileenlawyer(at)gmail(dot)com

To God be the Glory!
your sister in Christ,
Eileen~

 

 

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Time to Study Philippians (in Eight Weeks)

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Do you remember my friend Eileen? She wrote a series of posts on Homeschooling One Child earlier this year. It was a blessing to learn from her and now I am grateful to have her back again.

Eileen will be guiding us through an in-depth inductive study of  The Epistle to the Philippians. She will be here every Saturday (for 8 weeks), so I encourage you to come and join us. Bring your markers, your notebook and a copy of the book of Philippians, she says it will be helpful to have it handy because we will be highlighting and marking the text.

This Saturday, October 9, will be our first study session, please pass the voice and invite your friends to join us.

Isn’t this a great opportunity to go through a Bible study with your teenage daughter besides you? I am planning on doing this. Mom and daughter studying the Bible together is a gift from above.

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

 

 

















You may also like (from the archives):

Daniel’s Prayer
Desires and Prosperity
The Secret of the Believer’s Boldness

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Teaching Our Children God’s Word and When Light Meets Daily Life -IV-

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Friday is here, and so is my sister. This is the second part of this series; part I is here.
So grab your cup of tea and enjoy while you read.

The images on this post are also from Claire B.
 
Light meets our Daily Life...
His perfect light meets us even in the kitchen, over some muffins,
and a godly conversation with our children.
 
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Teaching our kids God’s Word, is a great privilege which we often take for granted; many often figure that our children’s spiritual growth will come out from Sunday School and that as long as they are familiar with Bible stories (Noah’s Ark, Daniel in the lion’s den, Jonah, Adam and Eve, David and Goliath…) and have a favourite one, we are doing well. Oh! How little we value God’s Word! How little we treasure His law! And how little we fear His teachings!
 
If we could focus in teaching our kids God’s Word, read it reverently, and when we pray, pray focusing on what we are saying, studying faithfully, and asking Him to open our eyes and the eyes of our kids to understand what we read, to change our hearts, and to see Jesus Christ throughout the Bible as the only hope for us. Many read as a habit, routine or even as a hope that if I do all that I need to do, I’ll be good with God. Do we read to our kids, not just the story of Daniel as a cool story with lions in it with angels and a great miracle? But a story where we see God’s sovereign hand throughout the whole book, teaching us that God does as He pleases, and He bends the heart of whomever He wants to bend. We can see God’s character, God’s mercy, God’s providence, God’s wrath, God’s forgiveness… Much about God’s character is shown to us through each of these stories.
We see Jesus Christ, the promise the hope.

Why not teach our kids ALL about God? We are often afraid that they are too young and that they may not understand. But they understand! They need those truths now that they are young; they need to understand them now and anchor them in their hearts. We are obliged to do so if we profess to be Christian parents. They need to fear God and be wise.  We need to teach them stories written in the Bible like the one in 2 Kings 2:23-25 to understand the dangers of mocking others. We need to teach them that Jonah, was not a fantasy story, but was real, the people he was asked by God to preach to, were sinners; and we can see God’s sovereignty, God’s judgement, God’s faithfulness, His patience, His love, His wrath! God does as He pleases! We can trust this God in the Bible and teach our kids, that they too can trust Him.

We need to show them who God is in everything we do and say. We need to be a witness of Christ inside our doors, before we are a witness to the world. We need to live Christianity in the secret of our house if we want our kids to follow Christ. If the world is more persuasive than their religion, they will follow. But when they know Christ, love His laws, know the doctrine to defend their faith; then Christ, His love and His forgiveness will be far more persuasive for them than any treasure the world may offer.

That is why, for as long as we are parents, we need to bring our kids to the cross, bring them to the knowledge of Him who died for them, explaining their need and dependence in Him. Forget for once about self-esteem and teach them to find their value in God alone, in that sovereign Lord who does as He pleases. They will know who you are talking about. They will know that Lord is in control of all and their souls can rest in Him. If they are good at something is because God made them good, therefore that must use that for God’s glory. If they lack abilities, also the Sovereign God gave them that so that they will not boast in themselves, but go to Him and ask.

We need to bring them to Christ, to the cross and to their need and absolute dependence on Him every day, every hour, every minute of the day.

May God give us grace to live our lives showing all that Christ is to our family.
 
Norma. 

 This is a repost from the archives.

When Light Meets Daily Life -II-

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The journey continues,
and Claire B.'s pictures from her 365 light project,
are  my inspiration this week.
Remember, that Claire will be with us this coming Saturday.
Thank you, Claire!
 
 
 

Light comes in through the window and lights up our home.

The night has gone, and God has opened our eyes to a new day.

The coffee is ready and the routine is awaiting.

This is my life, our life, a routine, a circle of tasks and chores, a to do list; and night and day.

We can not evade it, there is a cycle, and we are in it.

But if I am a Christian, there is more to do this, there is Light coming into my daily life.

When I sit and open my Bible, and pray and see His light coming into my heart, I know there is a purpose in what I am doing today.

I am not only living for the moment, I am living for Him, because of Him.

I am where He wants me to be today.

When I see light coming through my window, I remember.

His light is with me, in my home, in the dining room, in my daily life.

I believe His words, He has called me, I do not walk in darkness.

His light has shone on me!

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

 




 


 


A repost from the archives.