Our first class was this past Thursday and was well attended with over 14 people with an expectation of 5 more … so we should have a good crowd next week.

With this class, we spent time introducing ourselves to each other and I laid what I consider to be important groundwork for a small group discussion: mutual respect and graceful appreciation of differences. If people do not feel free to say what they really think, particularly if what they have to say may be controversial, our discussions will remain “on the surface.” In my mind, we must willing to ask ourselves the hard questions.

I then gave an very short overview of Philippi of that period, its connection with Rome, historically, and the circumstances that brought Paul to Philippi orginally (Acts 16). The letter to the Philippians is generally accepted as from Paul but the timing and location is disputed, some scholars saying he was in a prison in nearby Ephesus or Corinth while others maintaining that he was in Rome. There is evidence for both but neither affects the overall intent or message of the letter. In any case, it was probably written in the late 50’s or early 60’s A.D.

There are some theories that the Philippian letter may actually be 2 or even 3 separate letters that were pieced together (easily done since the letters of that time period were written on narrow strips of papyrus), but again whether this is true or not does not alter the meaning or thrust of the document as a whole.

General themes of the letter that we’ll be investigating in the study are joy, contentment, fellowship (koinonia), unity and being “in Christ.”

I distributed study questions which we will use as the foundation of our discussion next week on verses 1-11.

Then we did a small exercise that helped each person see their own life balance which often drives our ability to experience true contentment.

We ended our time with small group prayer. If anyone was unable to come to the first class but would like the study questions, please email me at browngood[at sign]gmail.com.