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:
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment