We are now going to take a look at the book of Mark. Mark is one of the disciples of Jesus, so this book is an eyewitness account of the things Jesus says and does. Mark begins by telling us that he is writing about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of

Paul began his letter giving thanks to God for the Philippians (see chapter 1:3). He does the same thing as he brings his letter to a close. Paul speaks with great admiration and thankfulness for the generosity of the Philippian church. Acts 16 tells us about Paul’s time in Philippi, and you can read on to see where he went next. As he travelled through

Apparently, people in the UK are becoming happier: earlier this year we rose four place to the rank of 15th happiest country in the world, out of 156. But happiness isn’t the same as contentment. True contentment is not about holidays or money or possessions; in fact, if you speak to those who have the most, by the world’s standards, they’ll often say they just want

Some people are fond of saying, “You are what you eat”, emphasising the importance of a healthy diet. Today, Paul tells us that “You are what you think about”. Our thoughts  determine our actions and our priorities in life. So we need to think about what’s going on in our minds. Paul emphasises the importance of guarding our hearts and minds (see end of verse 7).

One of Paul’s favourite descriptions of the Christian life is that we are “in the Lord”. The description reminds us that once we are in God’s family of faith, we can never be removed from it again: we are in Christ, and he is in us, an unbreakable bond. Paul says that we are to stand firm in the Lord (chapter 4:1). This is a repeated

We’ve seen Paul refer to the Philippians as “citizens” once already (chapter 1:27). He does so again in chapter 4:20. The people of Philippi (not just the church members) were very proud to be Roman citizens. They had privileges and an “identity” that others would like to have had. But Paul wants the Philippian church to be most thankful for their identity as “heavenly citizens”.

Healthy beings grow and mature. Parents will look for markers, every few weeks or months, that young children are growing; farmers look for it in their livestock; entrepreneurs look for it in their profit margins. The Christian life is no different: it is not about standing still, but about pressing forward, seeing growth. Paul is eager to see the Philippian believers mature, grow, press forward in their

There are some things that Christians should be joyful to live without; others that we can be joyful to live with. Paul describes his own experience of joyful loss in verses 3-7. Before he became a Christian, Paul (Saul) was someone who thought he had it all: a top-flight religious education, a perfect record of obeying man-made religious laws, a pure, “good” person. This is what he

So far in chapter 2, Paul has laid out the need for humble believers who love the gospel. He’s already given his readers the supreme example of Jesus; now he gives two other great examples: Timothy and Epaphroditus. Paul had first met Timothy during his second missionary journey (see Acts 16:1ff.). After Paul left Philippi, Timothy probably stayed for a while as a temporary preacher and pastor,

We have spent this week looking at a deeply important passage, which sets out crucial truths to know about the Lord Jesus. Now, in verse 12 onwards, Paul shows us what knowing this humble and exalted Jesus should change our lives. Paul says here that we have a spiritual workout to go through, verse 12: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”. He immediately