Philippians 4:10-23

Challenge Review:
Share with your group how meditating and memorizing Philippians 4:6-8 has impacted your prayer life and stress.

Key Points: 
1.  Our Resources are a gift from God.
2.  When we obey God and use our resources for His Kingdom we will experience His provision.
3.  The experience of God's sovereignty and provision through obedience grows our confidence in God.

Key Themes:
I.  Paul relates his thankfulness for the Philippians care for him (10-14)
II.  Paul shares the secret of being content in every type of circumstance(11-13)
III.  Paul thanks the Philippians for their generous support. (15-18)
IV.  Paul affirms God's sovereignty and provision. (19-20)

Reflective Discussion Questions:
1.  What reason does Paul give for his joy in vs 10?
a.  How did the Philippians demonstrate their support of Paul?
b.  How do you support people in ministry?
2.  What does Paul say is the key to being content in every circumstance of life?
a.  How does faith and trust in God's sovereignty affect your ability to be content?
b.  What are some disciplines or habits you can cultivate to have confidence in God's sovereignty and ability to provide?
3.  What does Paul commend the Philippians for doing while he has served as a missionary?
a.  What does Paul say is the effect of the Philippians generosity? (17)
b.  How does the example of the Philippians generosity affect the way you view giving to people that serve in ministry?
4.  How does Paul's statement in vs 17 and 18 magnify God's sovereignty and provision in vs 19?
a.  What decisions and life circumstances made it possible for Paul to learn to both be content and have confidence in God's provision?
b.  What does the letter to the Philippians and Paul's example tell us about how we learn contentment?
c.  What does it tell us about growing in our confidence/trust with God?

Individual Challenge:
Pray each day this week that God would reveal one area of your life you can be more obedient so that you can obey and grow in your confidence of God and in contentment.  (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

Philippians 4:1-9

Challenge Review:
Share with your group how reflecting on the kingdom of God and submitting your desires to God have affected your life this past week. 

Key Points:
1. Be one in the Lord and stay focused on the gospel.
2. Trust the Lord, submit everything to to Him and live in His joy.
3. We show trust in God by obeying His commands.

Key Themes:
I. Paul reaffirms his love for the Philippians. (1)
II. Paul exhorts the Philippians to seek total unity in the Lord(2-3)
III. Paul commands the Philippians to be joyful and to let their witness to others reflect the truth that the Lord is near. (4-5)
IV. Paul commands Christians to surrender their anxieties to Christ and to dwell on the things of God. (6-8)
V. Paul exhorts the Philippians to put into practice what they have learned from him. (9)

Reflective Discussion Questions:
1. Why does Paul encourage the Christians at Philippi to stand firm in the Lord?
a. Have you ever invested your life into another person so that you could echo what Paul says and prays for the Philippians?
b. How would your life change if you were to have close relationships with other believers? To have people pray for you regularly and you to pray for them as well?
2. How does Paul describe Euodia and Syntyche?
a. How does the conflict between Euodia and Syntyche serve as a reminder for us to be "one"?
B. How do our personalities and relational differences threaten to make the gospel ineffective in our lives?
C. What are some habits we can develop to prevent our personalities and pride from getting in the way of the gospel being effective in our lives?
3. Why would Paul command the Christians at Philippi to rejoice?
A. What encouragement does Paul give to the Philippians at the end of his exhortations in vs 4-5?
B. What makes it difficult to live in the joy of the Lord? Why should graciousness be a trait used to describe us?
4. What Paul tell Christians to do when they worry?
A. Why would Paul tell Christians not to worry?
B. What do we communicate to God by thanking Him after we submit our worries, anxieties, and concerns to Him?
C. According to vs 6-8 when does the peace of God come on us? How does Paul describe the purpose of the peace of God?
D. What does Paul tell Christians to do after they have submitted their concerns to the Lord?
E. How does dwelling on the things mentioned in vs 8 affect our attitude? How does it affect the way we deal with anxiety and worry? What makes it difficult to move on from doing the things in vs 6-7 to what's mentioned in vs 8?
5. Why does Paul instruct the Philippians to do what they learned from him in what they have heard and seen?
A. What are some principles from vs 9 that we can take into our relationships with other believers and the lost?
B. How does vs 9 fit into the context of everything Paul's instructed the Philippians in?

Individual Challenge:

Memorize Philippians 4:6-8 and pray that God would help you to live it out every time you encounter anxiety and worry.