Citygate Church

About this series:

What makes a follower of Jesus? How do we learn to be like Him? We want to imitate Jesus, and obey what He commanded, but how does that actually happen? That’s where Paul’s letter to the Philippians can help us. Philippians is a wonderful letter from which to learn about discipleship. It isn’t written to correct behaviour or doctrine (like many of Paul’s letters), but simply to express friendship, thank the church in Philippi for a gift, and talk about how Jesus shapes the ordinary Christian life. This makes it a happy letter, and a very practical one. It also includes a wide range of experiences – success and failure, hardship and victory, past and future, abundance and poverty – and considers how to find joy in Jesus in each of them.

About this talk:

As Paul closes his letter to the Philippians, he has some very clear lessons that he wants them to learn, particularly in the challenging circumstances in which they find themselves. Despite their difficulties, he calls them to stand, unite and rejoice.

About this series:

What makes a follower of Jesus? How do we learn to be like Him? We want to imitate Jesus, and obey what He commanded, but how does that actually happen? That’s where Paul’s letter to the Philippians can help us. Philippians is a wonderful letter from which to learn about discipleship. It isn’t written to correct behaviour or doctrine (like many of Paul’s letters), but simply to express friendship, thank the church in Philippi for a gift, and talk about how Jesus shapes the ordinary Christian life. This makes it a happy letter, and a very practical one. It also includes a wide range of experiences – success and failure, hardship and victory, past and future, abundance and poverty – and considers how to find joy in Jesus in each of them.

About this talk:

In this section of the book, Paul urges the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord amidst the challenges. The knowledge that our righteousness comes through faith in Christ, for Paul, far outweighs any attempt to hold onto human privileges or achievements. It calls for a rejection of false doctrine, and a joyful response to God.

We explore Paul's letter to the Philippians and how it helps us to become better disciples of Christ. This section comes after Paul’s wonderful description of Christ Jesus’ servant attitude and the call to live out your salvation as God works in you. The relationships between Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus illustrate the way they lived sacrificially so that others might hear the good news. We see Paul’s vulnerable side here, as he shares his feelings about his friends, but he also calls the Philippians to rejoice, even alongside sorrow and anxiety.

About this series:

What makes a follower of Jesus? How do we learn to be like Him? We want to imitate Jesus, and obey what He commanded, but how does that actually happen? That’s where Paul’s letter to the Philippians can help us. Philippians is a wonderful letter from which to learn about discipleship. It isn’t written to correct behaviour or doctrine (like many of Paul’s letters), but simply to express friendship, thank the church in Philippi for a gift, and talk about how Jesus shapes the ordinary Christian life. This makes it a happy letter, and a very practical one. It also includes a wide range of experiences – success and failure, hardship and victory, past and future, abundance and poverty – and considers how to find joy in Jesus in each of them.

About this talk:

We’ve looked at our partnership together in the Gospel, and suffering for the sake of the Gospel. This week we’ll be exploring the Lordship of Christ. In the light of who Jesus is and all he has done for us, how then should we live?

About this series:

What makes a follower of Jesus? How do we learn to be like Him? We want to imitate Jesus, and obey what He commanded, but how does that actually happen? That’s where Paul’s letter to the Philippians can help us. Philippians is a wonderful letter from which to learn about discipleship. It isn’t written to correct behaviour or doctrine (like many of Paul’s letters), but simply to express friendship, thank the church in Philippi for a gift, and talk about how Jesus shapes the ordinary Christian life. This makes it a happy letter, and a very practical one. It also includes a wide range of experiences – success and failure, hardship and victory, past and future, abundance and poverty – and considers how to find joy in Jesus in each of them.

About this talk:

This week’s section of the letter focuses on suffering and hardship, as Paul reflects on the possibility of his own death, as well as on the opposition that the Philippians face, and the most powerful response to it.

About this series:

What makes a follower of Jesus? How do we learn to be like Him? We want to imitate Jesus, and obey what He commanded, but how does that actually happen? That’s where Paul’s letter to the Philippians can help us. Philippians is a wonderful letter from which to learn about discipleship. It isn’t written to correct behaviour or doctrine (like many of Paul’s letters), but simply to express friendship, thank the church in Philippi for a gift, and talk about how Jesus shapes the ordinary Christian life. This makes it a happy letter, and a very practical one. It also includes a wide range of experiences – success and failure, hardship and victory, past and future, abundance and poverty – and considers how to find joy in Jesus in each of them. 

About this talk:

As Paul opens the letter to the Philippians, he greets them all, thanks God for them, encourages them, and begins to tell them how his imprisonment has actually – despite appearances! – been a good thing for the gospel.