Open Source: January 2008

Philippians 4:4-7 Notes for leading a Small Group Discussion

Welcome
Where were you and what were you doing when you first discovered that 9/11 had happened? How did you feel about it?

Works
Take prayer requests . . . pray for each other.

Word – Philippians 4:4-7
1. What picture comes to mind when you think of the word “peace”?
2. Observation–What kinds of things did Paul experience when he was in Philippi for the first time? (see Acts 16:13-15, 18-23, 25-32)
3. Observation–What kinds of things is Paul going through when he writes the letter to the Philippians? (see Phil. 1:12-14, 4:22)
4. Interpretation--What are the four commands in Philippians 4:4-7? Explain one.
5. Interpretation –What is the promise that comes with obeying these commands?
6. Application – What kinds of things or situations are difficult to rejoice during?
7. Application–Some would say that worrying is normal. What do you think about that statement?
8. Application–Which of the four commands is most difficult for you to put into practice?

Final Word
If we release our worries in prayer to God, He will release His peace in prayer to us.

LEADERSHIP GUIDE (FOR ABOVE QUESTIONS--MODIFY AND CHANGE)

1. What picture comes to mind when you think of the word “peace”?
a. How I feel when a semester is over!
b. After I paid off most of my credit card debt.
c. When I am on vacation.
2. Observation–What kinds of things did Paul experience when he was in Philippi for the first time? (see Acts 16:13-15, 18-23, 25-32)
a. Acts 16:13-15—“On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.”
i. Welcoming. . . responsive . . . fruitful. . . accepted his teaching and ministry. . . people got saved.
ii. In Jewish law, a congregation was made up of ten men. Wherever there were ten male heads of households who could be in regular attendance, a synagogue was to be formed. Failing this, a place of prayer under the open sky and near a river or the sea was to be arranged.
iii. Philippi did not meet the requirements, so was without a synagogue.
b. Acts 16:18-23—“She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. 19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.”
i. Not famous. . . Confused . . . torn . . . persecuted . . . hurt. . .dead. . .un-welcomed.
ii. Paul and Silas were not persecuted because they casted out demons. . . They were flogged and beaten because they shut down a very successful fortune telling business. . . The girl they casted the demon out of earned her masters lots of money, so Paul and Silas went from hero’s at the place of prayer to zero’s in the marketplace.
c. Acts 16: 25-32—“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.”
i. Prison time. . Experienced the power of God. . .prevented a father from committing suicide. . Then led the dad and his whole family to the Lord . . . Paul was a hero.
ii. You would think that after such a brutal beating, Paul and Silas would be moaning and complaining about their pain, but we see them praying and singing. They had joy despite their circumstances. Instead of focusing on the problem, they were focusing on God, the solution to their problem.

3. Observation–What kinds of things is Paul going through when he writes the letter to the Philippians? (see Phil. 1:12-14, 4:22)
a. Phil. 1:12-14—“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”
i. Paul says, “What has happened to me. . .” Acts 16 Prison Story
ii. Paul is in prison, but his imprisonment has helped, not hindered the advancement of the Gospel.
iii. There is something about people like Paul who stand up for the Gospel and suffer the consequences.
iv. The martyr’s of the faith are great examples. Many of them could have gone free and lived, if only they would fudge just a little bit.
v. I just heard the story of Perpectua who was a young Christian in her early twenties who was not even in the faith for a year and she was asked to deny her faith in Christ. All the Roman government wanted her to do was fudge a little bit. She would not do it. One day her father came to her prison cell and asked her to fudge. She told her dad to look at that jar on the table. She asked him, what is it? He said, “a jar.” She said, could you call a jar anything else than a jar, just as you can’t call me anything other than a Christian. She was soon thrown in the arena with the beasts who ate her alive. Since I heard that story, I have asked myself, what would I go to the mat for? What matters most to me?
b. Phil 4:22—“All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household.”
i. Despite his imprisonment, Paul has found favor and made some positive connections with those who are in Caesar’s household.
ii. Paul was a true evangelist. He was one of those guys who could weave the gospel into any conversation. He was not afraid to be biblically correct even if it meant he was not politically correct. I admire him for that.
4. Interpretation--What are the four commands in Philippians 4:4-7?
a. Rejoice in the Lord (2x):
i. Christians are called to a life of joy. . . Joy is not an attitude, but an existence. . . .if Paul found joy in his circumstances, do you think we would have been praying and singing in jail after he was almost beaten to death. . . Joyful people rejoice in the Lord, not because of how they feel, but because of whose they are. . . since we are God’s children. . . He called us to a life of joy. . . there is nothing greater than to be a child of God. . . you can’t do anything that would place you in a better position than a His child. . . He does not show favoritism. . .but loves us no matter what. . . He loved us so much He was willing to die for us before we every said yes to Him. . .if that doesn’t give you joy. . .then nothing will.
ii. If we base our joy on circumstances then it will be fleeting and inconsistent, but if we base our joy on the fact that God loves us and treasures us regardless what we do, what happens to us, and how we respond to life.
iii. We can always, find joy in God’s unshakable, unconditional faithfulness to us.
b. Be gentle to everyone:
i. Always be courteous but do not ever compromise. . . Gentle people are the most lovable people. . .
ii. Gentleness does not mean, be politically correct because you might offend somebody. . . gentleness means to be respectful but truthful. .. Paul worked hard to become gentle. . . but never would be compromise the truth of the Gospel to be gentle.

c. Do not be anxious about anything:
i. Anxious: (to be apprehensive, have anxiety, be anxious, be (unduly) concerned)
ii. Christians are called not to worry. . . God did not design our bodies to handle worry, anxiety or stress. . . That is why stress causes many physical problems people go to the doctor everyday for . . Prayer is one of the greatest stress reducers. . .
iii. Jesus said it best in Mat. 6:25-- “Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. . . . then in verse 31 he says again-- "Do not worry. . . “—and in verse 32 he says, "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 Here’s Jesus’ prescription for worry: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
iv. Worry is unhealthy concern for something that most times is out of our control.
v. Worry is misdirected energy.
vi. Worry generates negative energy whereas prayer generates positive energy. . . When we worry about something, we are in essence underestimating what God can and wants to do on our behalf.
vii. Healthy concern for something results in prayer and seeking God.
viii. The Bible tells us to cast our cares upon the Lord for He cares for us.
d. Talk to God about everything:
i. God is our go to guy when the chips are down and when things are going well.
ii. I believed all of life should be filtered through our prayer time with God.
iii. I like to think of prayer as a sixth sense. Prayer opens the door for God to work on our behalf. Prayer invites God into the equation. It commissions God to do His part as we do ours and ask Him for help. I don’t think there is someone more reliable and competent than God. When we ask God to do something according to His will, you can bet that he will come through for you.
iv. When we pray we are releasing part of our responsibility God designed us to release to Him.
v. Prayer release’s and relieves the pressure.
vi. Relying on the power of God is a pain reliever.
5. Interpretation –What is the promise that comes with obeying these commands?
a. 4:7, God’s peace will guard your heart and mind.
b. We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control what happens in us. . . If we rejoice, are gentle, are not anxious and pray about everything, God will protect our hearts and minds from worry.
c. Peace is inner well being.
6. Application – What kinds of things or situations are difficult to rejoice during?
a. Traffic tickets, bad grades, bills, break ups, deaths, car accidents, persecution, etc.
b. Unmet expectations: Story of Luke leaving TC prematurely. I have learned a great lesson from that. I am not in control of my brother’s Luke’s life, only he is, so what he does should not impact my joy. The only thing I have control over is how much I pray or how little I pray for Luke and his future.
7. Application–Some would say that worrying is normal. What do you think about that statement?
a. Worry is unhealthy concern. I don’t worry about present things as much as I do future stuff. I have found that people who worry a lot tend not to pray a lot because if they did they would find the peace God promises those who seek him.
b. Worry is also not trusting God at His word.
c. If we release our worries in prayer to God, He will release His peace in prayer to us.
d. Peace is assurance that is unexplainable. God is the source of our peace.
8. Application–Which of the four commands is most difficult for you to put into practice?
a. Be Gentle to everyone.—As many of you know, I am a guy, so I lean towards not being gentle . . . I can be rough around the edges. . .but I am working on it. . .

Philippian Contextual Notes

The book of Philippians was written to one of Paul’s most successful churches. . . The teachings of Philippians all revolve around on question, what do you do when things are going well? This church was not plagued by problem after problem like the Corinthian church. . . Easier to fix problems, then to take a church to the next level. . . Don’t get me wrong, the Philippians had their share of stuff. There was disunity within the church from outside opposition who were causing problems. . . All churches have stuff, but this church was doing well. They were healthy. Their people were growing.

That’s probably why it is Paul’s favorite church. . . They have been extremely generous and supportive to Paul. . . You know how you know if a church likes you? They give you money! Paul actually took a good portion of this letter in Chapter 4 to thank them from their generosity.
Paul’s in prison at the time of writing (one of the Prison Epistles). . . Paul does not seem to be bothered by his imprisonment, nor has his ministry been hindered. . . Actually the exact opposite took place. He ministry thrived and grew. You would think that an imprisonment would shut Paul’s voice up, but he was able to use his experience in prison as a springboard for his ministry.

The theme of the letter is Joy (Epistle of Joy). Paul uses the word joy more times in Philippians than any of his other letters (Second to the Gospel of Luke).
The book of Philippians focuses on how a joyful person is suppose to respond to life.

Chapter 1: Paul describes the ministry he is carry on despite his imprisonment. Paul preached to the palace guards and Roman officials. Paul’s boldness despite his present circumstances inspired other Christians, even those who did not like Paul to preach the Gospel.

SMALL GROUP HANDOUT

Welcome
If money were no object, what would you do for the rest of your life?

Worship

Works
Take prayer requests. . . Pray for each other.

Word – Philippians 2:1-11
1. Observation—What are the characteristics of a Christian in vv. 1? Explain.
2. Observation—What are the Christian duties in vv. 2-4? Explain.
3. Observation – How does Paul describe the attitude of Christ in vv. 5-11? Explain.
4. Interpretation – What is the main point of Philippians 2:1-11?
5. Application – Describe a time when the Lord encouraged you, comforted you, brought you fellowship, showed you tenderness or compassion.
6. Application - What impact does that have on your relationship with God?
7. Application – What are some challenges for you with being like-minded with others?
8. Application – How does the humility of Jesus affect you?
9. Application – What one thing is the Lord challenging you to do as a result of this passage?

Final Word:
You haven’t loved somebody until you served them.
Don’t lord your position over anyone, but lower yourself to their position.
Serving is humility in action.
The humblest people make the best servants.

Open Source

Sunday, January 27, 2008

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Philippians 2:1-11 Small Group Discussion Questions/Context Info

Thursday, January 3, 2008

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