Biblical Literacy Podcast

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10-31-21 

 Mark taught today’s Biblical-Literacy class - The Key and the Secret - from Philippians 4:10-13 

 Faith demands more than tunnel vision.  

1. Practice what you preach. Rejoice in the Lord always.  

2. The blessing of relationship.

    Paul shows a 3-way bond: Christ, Paul, and the Philippians. 

    Paul encourages us to be a giver and a good recipient.  

3. The secret to joyful living.

    The secret of having plenty and hunger is joy in the Lord. 

Listen to Mark explain how Paul can say: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, and in that I’m content.

Philippians, 4:7-8 Watch Me!:

Speaker: Dr. David Capes

Dr. Capes begins the lesson with a detailed discussion of what Paul tells us to think about in Philippians, 4:8. A summary of what Paul tells us to think about is, whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise

Dr. Capes focuses on what kind of things do you think about, what occupies your mind, what do you think about most, in order to dissect what actually influences your actions and thoughts in todays life. He provides correlations to the Greek translation to emphasize the meaning of the verses in today’s words.

Continuing with his analysis of our language/communications, he breaks down the sequence of our phraseology through a discussion of Discourse Analysis.

In conclusion he made several final points which included;

Act, Think, Read, Write and live theologically

Don’t Believe Everything you Think

Referencing Philippians, 4:9 Paul set himself up as an example,” Watch Me”

Points to ponder

Fix your Mind on truth, goodness and beauty

Find someone to Watch and do what they do (realize someone is watching you)

Rejoice that God of Piece is with You

Mark continued his teachings from the book of Philippians

by focusing on Chapter 4:4-6 titled Catch the Task . . .

Catch the Theology.

Paul was a “task theologian.” He wrote in a way that made

the lessons of God memorable. He used assonance

(related in sound) and chiasmus (a memorable structure).

Mark shared three points in today’s lesson:

1. Rejoice: Philippians 4:4. Joy is the distinctive mark of

the Christian

2. Be kind: Philippians 4:5. Paul tells us to let our

reasonableness (sound judgement, fairness) be known by

all.

3. Don't be anxious: Philippians 4:6. Take our worries and

concerns to the Lord in faith and thanksgiving.

Listen to Mark show through Scripture that the Lord is

near, and we are to reflect Him as He transforms our lives.

Find joy in the journey.

Biblical Literacy 10-3-21

Pastor Jarrett Stephens taught from Philippians 3:17 - An Example to Follow. The Apostle Paul warns the Philippians out of love to keep their joy in Christ. Paul urges the Philippians to follow him because Paul imitates Jesus. Pastor Jarret shares key things to look for during bible study: Promises to Claim, Blessings to Enjoy, teachings to Learn, Commands to Obey, Sins to Forsake & Examples to Follow. In application, he closes with these questions to ponder: What is or greatest spiritual achievement? What kind of a spiritual example are we? Where is our focus and attention?

09/26/2021,  Paul on Target

Mark’s class today focused on Paul’s message to the Gentiles, as described in Philippians 3:1- 14.

Mark began by developing the necessity for Paul to identify and speak directly to his “target” audience, who were Gentiles hearing the call of the Judaizers.

The Judaizers, with great zeal wanted Gentiles to accept and practice Jewish Law and practice Key Jewish rituals, having them believe that this would bring them more in tune with the covenant of Abraham.

Todays lesson will address:  The Challenge

The Goal

The process

The Challenge: Phil. 3:1-8a

Paul’s challenge was to convince the Gentiles that, after a life of persecution of them and a message of relying on the Law and Jewish rituals to the extreme, that he could let go of things of the flesh and focus on knowing Christ Jesus. This transformation began to unfold on the experience Paul had on the Damascus road.

The Goal: Phil. 3: 8b-11

After Paul’s conversion, all that he had “gained” he counted as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus. Paul indicated, that for Christ sake, he had suffered the loss of all things and he counts them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having righteousness on my own.

The Process: Phil. 3: 12

Paul admits that he has not already obtained his goal set forth in Phil 3: 8b-11 or that he is already perfect, but he emphatically emphasizes that he will press on in his pursuit to make Christ his own as Christ has done for him.

The question is then, WHO ARE YOU CHASING AFTER?

Points to Ponder:        Paul had it all, and saw it as garbage

Where am I finding value?

Profits and Losses

I want to re-examine my priorities

I haven’t arrived yet … but I know what I am chasing

But I’m pressing on to the higher calling of my Lord

Ironic Paul

Philippians 3: 1-3

In order to understand and appreciate “Ironic Paul” one must first have a very good understanding of what Irony is and what Ironic actually means. In the chapter and verses which are the subject of this lesson, Paul uses irony to communicate his teachings.

What is the definition of irony?

Irony (Websters)

The use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning

Mark opens the lesson using the lyrics from a song by Alanis Morrisette’s Song “Ironic” to illustrate what is not ironic;

“An old man turned ninety-eight

He won the Lottery, and died the next day”

This is not ironic for one might expect a man of 98 to die. This simply means what it says.

“It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late”

Once again this is not ironic it’s tragedy.

Paul correctly uses irony in his writings which will be reflected in today’s lesson focusing

On three points:

Some things are worth repeating

Beware of the dogs!

Paul gets ironic

Phil 3:1

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing to you is no trouble to

Me and is safe for you.

To clearly understand the context and use of words and their meaning, Mark goes through an overview of two bible translation, ESV and the NIV. He reflects on the variations in the wording differences between the two in these verses. While the variation doesn’t really change the meaning of the passage and the target audience would likely understand the context in which the phrasing is used, both translations would carry basically the same meaning.

Bible translators would likely agree that the best Bible translation is the one you will read.

A major rule of translation is that you can’t take one word used in one place in the Bible and assume that the meaning of that word is the same throughout the Bible.

Paul’s message:

Paul in several verses, Mathew 5:12, 2: Cor 13-11, Phil 2:18, Phil 4:4, referenced the need to Rejoice and comfort one another regardless of the circumstances. Peter Thomas O’ Brien summarized it this way:

“This was not an admonition to some kind of superficial cheerfulness that closes its eyes to the surrounding circumstances…

It recognizes God’s mighty working in and through those circumstances to fulfill his own gracious purposes in Christ.”

Pauls message to all, Life is not all Roses, there are great days and bad days, live through these circumstances and be joyful and trust in the Lord and REJOICE in the Lord

Points to Ponder – Rejoice in the Lord

Phil 3:2

Beware of the Dogs

Phil 3:2, Look out for the dogs, lookout for the evildoers and look for those mutilators of the flesh.

Dogs were scavengers detested by the Romans and gentiles were dogs to them.

Paul warned the followers to beware of dogs, evildoers and those who mutilate the flesh.

Irony of Paul

the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning

The Judaizers were trying to circumcise the Gentiles (dogs), but in the process the Jews were merely mutilating the flesh and becoming dogs themselves.

Phil 3:3

Lookout

For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship by the spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.

Point to Ponder: Rejoice, Lookout, Glory in Christ Alone

In this week’s in-depth look into passages of Philippians, Paul’s writing gives a glimpse into everyday life. Mark explains that some people put life into 3 buckets: sin, spiritual, and normal. Paul doesn’t divide life into 3 buckets. Only two. We live either a sinful or spiritual life.

Mark expands on 3 focus areas in today’s lesson extracting insights into living a spiritual life according to Philippians 2:19-30.

1. Friendship - Paul challenges us to walk in Christ with hope, a confident expectation of a future event.

2. Identity - Our identity in Christ is a brother/sister, fellow worker, and fellow solider in sharing the Gospel of Christ Jesus.

3. Sensitivity - The knowledge of Christ changes everything about our eternal life.

Listen to Mark teach about the kindred spirit Paul had with Timothy and Epaphroditus, and how we can apply those characteristics to our lives.

Living by the Cross

Mark continued his teaching on Philippians first with a contextual review of Chapter 1:27 thru Chapter 2:12-18.

Paul’s theme statement throughout these verses is: Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27).

Conduct your life like a citizen of the gospel.

Mark focused on three points in these verses:

1. Paul’s Affection - He loved the Philippians. Love is faith experienced in action.

2. A Difficult Passage - Mark shares context for "work out our salvation with fear and trembling". God empowers us to grow in our faith through actions that demonstrate our love for Christ and others.

3. Final Thoughts - Do all things without grumbling - Avoid the grumbling, fussing, and fighting.

Listen to Mark teach how Paul saw all of life through the prism of the Good News - the death burial and resurrection of Christ.