PHILIPPIANS 2 : 1-11
The church in Philippians was started by Paul. He was given a dream in the night by God that told him to help the people in their region. Paul's new church plant loved him and helped him as he continued to spread God's word. Jailed for preaching the Gospel, He wrote a letter to the Philippian church to encourage them, challenge them, and urge them to lay down their lives for the cause of Christ.
Questions:
Connecting words like “if…then” are clues to the logic in a passage. How would you summarize the “if… then” message of 2:1-4?
Paul says, “if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ” (2:1, emphasis added). On a scale of 0 to 5, how much encouragement do you have from being united with Christ?
Bottom line, kingdom citizens look at life he way Jesus did. How did Jesus think and act (2:5-8)?
What rights did Jesus put aside when He became human? What rights did He put aside when He let people kill him?
Why was Jesus willing to do this?
What part of the mind-set of a kingdom citizen would you most like to grow in (for instance, unity, unselfishness, humility, getting over yourself not being afraid to be open about your faith…)?
Pray and ask God to help us grow in that area. Is there a practical step we can take to build that muscle and mind-set?
Connection (within a House Church):
In your group, discuss how you can courageously work together to show people who Jesus is? What opposition are others in your group facing, and how can you support each other in dealing with that? How can you love each other better?
Go Deeper:
Philippians 2:7 says Jesus “emptied himself” or “made himself nothing”. Explore what that means. Jesus remained fully God while He was on the earth (see Col 1:19, 2:9; Heb 1:3). So what did He give up in becoming fully human, too?
Memory Verse of the Week:
Did a particular verse make you think? Write it down and memorize it!
More Resources: https://thebibleproject.com/explore/philippians/