Redeemer family,

The apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi is one of the most encouraging, joyful, and best-loved of all the New Testament epistles, and indeed, in the whole of scripture. Differing from the rigorous theological precision of Romans or the pastoral rebuke of 1 Corinthians, the letter to the Philippians is marked by affection, gratitude, exhortation, and encouragement.

WHAT MADE THE PHILIPPIAN CHURCH DIFFERENT?

The reason for the warm tone of the letter was that Paul experienced true partnership (koinonia) with the Philippian church. He loved them and they loved him back. He labored for their good, and they labored for his good. Together, they were co-laborers in the work of establishing not only a new church in the city of Philippi, but in Paul’s larger missionary work of church planting around the Mediterranean.

The apostle Paul understood that every local church congregation exists as a little colony of heaven - an outpost of the Kingdom of God living and working in the midst of the kingdom of the world. The Philippian church was doing this well. They weren’t perfect (as we shall see, Paul did have a few mild corrections to offer them), but on the whole, they were a faithful church.

CONTEXT

The city of Philippi in Macedonia was conquered and colonized by Rome in 42 BC, shortly before the birth of Christ. The Roman soldiers who occupied Philippi were there to bring the culture, society, and ethos of Rome first to the city, then to the surrounding region.

This posture and method of cultural colonization is in the backdrop of Paul’s imagination when he conceives of church planting. In Acts 16 we learn how Paul and his apprentice, Timothy, first came to Philippi and there proclaimed the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. While he was later required to move on to other cities, the church that he established and left behind him in Philippi was to continue to grow both numerically and also in learning to live the Jesus-way in the world. The church was to live as a communal counter-culture, embodying the ethos of the Kingdom of God in the midst of the Macedonian-now-Roman-colonized city of Philippi.

THIS FALL AT REDEEMER

I’ve chosen the Letter to the Philippians for us to read, study, and meditate on together this fall, and I have more than one reason!

I wanted to choose a single book of the Bible for the sermon series in order to help all of our Small Groups move more deeply and intentionally towards the reading, study, and discussion of scripture.
We are seeking to be a healthy, Jesus-following church in the midst of a profoundly unhealthy culture and society that has rejected the wisdom of God. How can we do this well? The church in Philippi can be a role model for us.
At the risk of sounding trite and a bit cheesy, I feel very much towards Redeemer what Paul felt towards the Philippian church (truly!) These were his friends. I love you all dearly and I have felt the Holy Spirit draw me towards Philippians as a letter that is timely for our parish.

PREACHING + SMALL GROUP SCHEDULE

8/24 - Philippians 1:1-11
8/31 - Philippians 1:12-18a
9/7 - Philippians 1:18b-30
9/14 - Philippians 2:1-5
9/21 - Philippians 2:3-11
9/28 - Philippians 2:12-18
10/5 - Philippians 2:19-30
10/12 - Philippians 3:1-11
10/19 - Philippians 3:12-16
10/26 - Philippians 3:17-21
11/2 - Philippians 4:2-7
11/9 - Philippians 4:8-9
11/16 - Philippians 4:10-13
11/23 - Philippians 4:14-23

Saints of Redeemer, we are to be a little colony of heaven here in the city of Richmond. To say this is not boastful or prideful. We are not this in or of ourselves. Rather, by the grace of the Lord Jesus and the good news of his Gospel, we are what he is making us to be as his Spirit lives within us and as we cooperate with him.

This fall, let’s give our attention to this beautiful letter and let’s allow it to give us a vision for the kind of church we, through the love of Jesus, can be.

In the Father’s love,