Dear friends,
In the main these weekly blogs/newsletters have focused on what I have been up to and what activities are planned for the coming days. In this sense I hope they provide material to cause you to praise God as prayers are answered and to pray as new tasks are tackled. On this occasion I thought that it might be interesting to move the focus slightly and look instead more closely at one aspect of activities.
You will know that towards the end of last year we began running two Bible Discussion Groups in the village of Yelvertoft. I have been greatly encouraged to see good numbers attending these consistently. We have started to pick these up again as we get into 2012. The two groups are looking at the same Bible passages. One group meets on a Thursday mornings and the other on Wednesday evenings, and they alternate weekly. We have been studying Paul's letter to the Philippians but started by setting the context looking at Acts 16. We have just completed chapter two of the letter.
For many Christians Paul's letter to this young church contains some memorable passages, and for this reason alone it is popular. Others have noted the cheerful nature of the letter, with Paul's encouragement to rejoice and then rejoice again. I have been interested in exploring whether there is a discernible underlying theme. I suggest that both overtly and subtly Paul is presenting a blueprint for Christian living.
Written from prison (either in Rome or Ephesus) Paul's first chapter addresses the Christian's attitude towards life, death and suffering. Nero is Emperor of Rome and there is some unrest within the Empire. Christianity is an illegal religious sect and the Christians in Philippi are apparently experiencing persecution. Paul reminds them that this church was born in adversity and oppression, but he tells them that they are not to worry about him in prison at this time. In fact he goes on to explain that some of his guards have been converted and the gospel is being proclaimed. Even though some are preaching with a view to making life more difficult for Paul, he rejoices that the gospel is being proclaimed whatever the motives. All that matters to him is living for Jesus. Even the prospect of death holds no terror for him to live is Christ and to die is gain. So much so that he feels himself caught between two possibilities that have equal appeal: to live and see his friends at Philippi or to die! Given such a choice would we have a problem making up our minds? I think not.
Having addressed the issue of attitude to life, death and suffering, Paul moves on to address the attitude to self and others. We are now in chapter two. This falls neatly into two parts. In the first, having made the argument that we should consider others as better than ourselves, and be considerate of others before ourselves, he illustrates this through what many believe to be an early Christian hymn. Verses 5 to 11 set out the amazing condescension of Jesus and his consequential exaltation. Paul sets out Jesus Christ's divine nature but his willingness to let go the rights of his status. Indeed Jesus strips himself of these much like a person removing glorious clothes in order to don the clothes of a lowly servant. He takes on our nature (absolutely). He does not role-play as a servant; it is his real nature. He further humbles himself, submitting to the shameful death of crucifixion. This, Paul argues, should be our attitude.
At this point it is worth pausing to reflect on the issue of 'servant-hood'. At the start of this letter Paul brings a greeting from himself and Timothy as 'servants' of Jesus. The deliberate avoidance of any authority terms and the choice of description in the very beginning of this letter is part of the core issue he is addressing. Christians must be willing not only to suffer for Christ (chapter one) but to serve (chapter two). I think that it is important that we do not read into verses 10 and 11 any sense of enforcement. Knees will bow and tongues will confess with sincerity and wonder, not because they are obliged to do so.
Readers of this chapter might notice the progressive nature of Paul's argument. He uses the term 'therefore' (some versions have 'wherefore' or 'because of this') several times. It is because of our experience of God's love and mercy that we should abandon selfishness and consider others to be better than ourselves. It is because Jesus was willing to humble himself that he is exalted. It is because of all of that we should live it out with new motivation (God working in us to make us willing and able), with a new manner (willingly; not murmuring and grumbling), and with a new ministry (holding out the word of life).
The second half of chapter two shifts attention to two people: Timothy and Epaphroditus. But Paul has not finished with his task. He writes at length about their characters. He mentions five characteristics of Timothy and six characteristics of Epaphroditus. Is Paul being subtle? Is he taking the opportunity to describe two of God's servants who have the right attitude? I think he is. You might like to read the passage and see if you can make a list of characteristics that matches my numbers. I'll list them in next week's blog/newsletter.
Points for prayer
1. That in my ministry I might be an appropriate example to others.
2. Work in Gartree Prison on Tuesday afternoon
3. Work on various matters including planning a church leaders conference on Wednesday morning in Nottingham.
4. Bible Discussion Group on Wednesday evening (Philippians 3)
5. Ministry preparation for upcoming activities
6. Finalising material on rural evangelism for colleagues in Germany
7. Time management to do essential reading for university.
Barry
In the main these weekly blogs/newsletters have focused on what I have been up to and what activities are planned for the coming days. In this sense I hope they provide material to cause you to praise God as prayers are answered and to pray as new tasks are tackled. On this occasion I thought that it might be interesting to move the focus slightly and look instead more closely at one aspect of activities.
You will know that towards the end of last year we began running two Bible Discussion Groups in the village of Yelvertoft. I have been greatly encouraged to see good numbers attending these consistently. We have started to pick these up again as we get into 2012. The two groups are looking at the same Bible passages. One group meets on a Thursday mornings and the other on Wednesday evenings, and they alternate weekly. We have been studying Paul's letter to the Philippians but started by setting the context looking at Acts 16. We have just completed chapter two of the letter.
For many Christians Paul's letter to this young church contains some memorable passages, and for this reason alone it is popular. Others have noted the cheerful nature of the letter, with Paul's encouragement to rejoice and then rejoice again. I have been interested in exploring whether there is a discernible underlying theme. I suggest that both overtly and subtly Paul is presenting a blueprint for Christian living.
Written from prison (either in Rome or Ephesus) Paul's first chapter addresses the Christian's attitude towards life, death and suffering. Nero is Emperor of Rome and there is some unrest within the Empire. Christianity is an illegal religious sect and the Christians in Philippi are apparently experiencing persecution. Paul reminds them that this church was born in adversity and oppression, but he tells them that they are not to worry about him in prison at this time. In fact he goes on to explain that some of his guards have been converted and the gospel is being proclaimed. Even though some are preaching with a view to making life more difficult for Paul, he rejoices that the gospel is being proclaimed whatever the motives. All that matters to him is living for Jesus. Even the prospect of death holds no terror for him to live is Christ and to die is gain. So much so that he feels himself caught between two possibilities that have equal appeal: to live and see his friends at Philippi or to die! Given such a choice would we have a problem making up our minds? I think not.
Having addressed the issue of attitude to life, death and suffering, Paul moves on to address the attitude to self and others. We are now in chapter two. This falls neatly into two parts. In the first, having made the argument that we should consider others as better than ourselves, and be considerate of others before ourselves, he illustrates this through what many believe to be an early Christian hymn. Verses 5 to 11 set out the amazing condescension of Jesus and his consequential exaltation. Paul sets out Jesus Christ's divine nature but his willingness to let go the rights of his status. Indeed Jesus strips himself of these much like a person removing glorious clothes in order to don the clothes of a lowly servant. He takes on our nature (absolutely). He does not role-play as a servant; it is his real nature. He further humbles himself, submitting to the shameful death of crucifixion. This, Paul argues, should be our attitude.
At this point it is worth pausing to reflect on the issue of 'servant-hood'. At the start of this letter Paul brings a greeting from himself and Timothy as 'servants' of Jesus. The deliberate avoidance of any authority terms and the choice of description in the very beginning of this letter is part of the core issue he is addressing. Christians must be willing not only to suffer for Christ (chapter one) but to serve (chapter two). I think that it is important that we do not read into verses 10 and 11 any sense of enforcement. Knees will bow and tongues will confess with sincerity and wonder, not because they are obliged to do so.
Readers of this chapter might notice the progressive nature of Paul's argument. He uses the term 'therefore' (some versions have 'wherefore' or 'because of this') several times. It is because of our experience of God's love and mercy that we should abandon selfishness and consider others to be better than ourselves. It is because Jesus was willing to humble himself that he is exalted. It is because of all of that we should live it out with new motivation (God working in us to make us willing and able), with a new manner (willingly; not murmuring and grumbling), and with a new ministry (holding out the word of life).
The second half of chapter two shifts attention to two people: Timothy and Epaphroditus. But Paul has not finished with his task. He writes at length about their characters. He mentions five characteristics of Timothy and six characteristics of Epaphroditus. Is Paul being subtle? Is he taking the opportunity to describe two of God's servants who have the right attitude? I think he is. You might like to read the passage and see if you can make a list of characteristics that matches my numbers. I'll list them in next week's blog/newsletter.
Points for prayer
1. That in my ministry I might be an appropriate example to others.
2. Work in Gartree Prison on Tuesday afternoon
3. Work on various matters including planning a church leaders conference on Wednesday morning in Nottingham.
4. Bible Discussion Group on Wednesday evening (Philippians 3)
5. Ministry preparation for upcoming activities
6. Finalising material on rural evangelism for colleagues in Germany
7. Time management to do essential reading for university.
Barry
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