This October and November, as we pray for the Covid-19 pandemic to leave us, I invite you to join Allan Smith and me as we preach through Paul’s happiest letter—his letter to the Philippians!
Other letters like Romans are more famous and influential. 1 Corinthians deals with more scandalous difficulties which tend to capture our attention. But after all we have been through together over the last 18 months–I think that it is time to enjoy Paul’s most joyful letter.
I hope you will read this short letter during your personal Bible study time—it’s only four chapters and will take you perhaps 10-20 minutes total. Then bring your Bible to worship (I really think bringing your own Bible is important) and let’s study this upbeat epistle together. I’ll start with the backstory from the book of Acts—how Paul and his missionary team traveled to Europe for the first time and, after landing in Macedonia, came to the small city of Philippi where they found a group of women worshipping God down at the river. Lydia, a businesswoman who sold purple goods, came to believe in Jesus, as did several other local people. Paul brought together this small group of believers into a house church and grew to love them dearly. A decade later he was stuck in prison and decided to write a letter to these beloved Philippians. That letter is the one we will be studying!
In Christ, Pastor Mark