Philippians
Thanks, 14 September 2025
14 09 25
Thanks
Kirk Schneemann
Joy: Book of Philippians
College First Church of God
September 14, 2025
Philippians 1:1-11
Series Big Idea: Philippians reminds us we can experience joy no matter the circumstances.
Big Idea: Paul expresses his gratitude and love for the church he started years earlier.
Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:1-6
Thank you. Few words are more powerful. Few words are more important. Echoing today’s scripture reading, I want to begin by saying College First Church of God, I thank my God every time I remember you.
Today we’re beginning a new series on the book of Philippians. It’s a letter written by Paul to early Christians in the city of Philippi in modern day Greece. Heather and I were privileged to visit Philippi in 2016. The ruins they have uncovered are amazing, and new discoveries continue to be made.
Before diving in, let me set the scene. Philippi was the first European place to hear about Jesus the Messiah. Acts 16 tells us about Paul’s first visit to Philippi and as we’ll see, the people there brought him great joy, arguably the central theme of the book. This letter was written by Paul while a prisoner in what is probably Ephesus in modern day Turkey. This church has sent him money which was essential since captors rarely provided food to prisoners.
Writing about joy from prison—an ancient prison without cable TV and air conditioning, mind you—seems unbelievable. How can you have joy in the midst of such suffering? It truly is a God-thing. As someone once said, it is well with my soul, but not my circumstances. If you can relate, you’re going to love this short book.
Let’s begin:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: (Philippians 1:1)
Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian church between 56 and 62 AD. His disciple, Timothy, is a co-author and had a relationship with this congregation. Philippi at this time was a Roman colony and most of its citizens were Romans.
This church began during the second missionary journey of Paul. Typically, he begin planting a church by preaching in the synagogue, but there were so few Jews in Philippi that they had no synagogue. There were, however, a group of godly women who would gather on the Sabbath by the banks of the river Gangites to recite prayers. Paul joined them and met Lydia, a successful businesswoman who traded purple cloth.
When Paul performed an exorcism on a fortune-telling slave girl, her owners had Paul and Silas thrown into jail when they realized she could no longer make them money. They have a hymn sing that night, an earthquake opens the jail, the jailer and his family become Christians, and they’re released the next day when it is discovered Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. There’s much more to the story in Acts 16 and beyond, but that’s a bit about the founding of this Philippian church.
Years later now, Paul is in another prison, though the location is up for debate since he was in at least four prisons for boldly preaching the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. His friend, Epaphroditus, visits Paul with a gift, and Paul sends this letter back to the Philippian church.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:2)
This is Paul’s standard greeting in his letters, found in 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and others. Grace is unmerited favor. It’s a gift. It’s amazing!
Peace is…peace, quietness, rest.
Jesus Christ, of course, is the center of this book, of Paul, of College First Church of God, of the universe! There’s a poem in Philippians 2:6-11 which is at the core of Philippians, a passage about Jesus the Messiah which we’ll cover later in our sermon series.
I thank my God every time I remember you. (Philippians 1:3)
I said this last Sunday and I’ll say it again…College First, I thank God for you. Fortunately, I’m not telling you through a letter written in prison! It’s a joy to be in Findlay, to do life together, to be on mission together to love, equip, and send in the name of Jesus.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:4-6)
Paul prays with joy. He always prays with joy when he prays for them. If you know anything about Paul’s other writings, he’s not always pleased with his recipients! This church, though, is special as they have been generous to him and faithful to the LORD.
It’s important to note the day of Christ Jesus is coming. It seemed like it would happen any day, and 2000 years later we’re about 750,000 days closer!
Don’t miss this: God will finish what He starts…but it usually takes time…and He’s got all the time in the world! I’ve been impatient so many times in my life, wondering if God will answer prayer, come through, fulfill His promises. He always does. God can be trusted…completely. He sees you. He loves you. He wants to do life with you.
I know some of you have experience church hurt. I’ve heard stories about abuse, neglect, injustice, and suffering. Your story is not over. Seek help. Get connected in a small group. You’re not the only one. But be encouraged, the best is yet to come.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:7-8)
We often downplay emotions in our western society, but Paul not only has deep feelings for his readers, he defends his feelings. God gave us emotions. Jesus wept. He sweated drops of blood. He knows pain and suffering. He also knows deep love.
Likewise, Paul is following in the footsteps of Jesus. We can’t always trust our emotions, especially if we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT). Make a note of that. That’s when you’re most likely to be tempted to sin.
But Paul’s expressing his love and longing for them.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)
Paul prays three things. First, that their love will overflow in knowledge and wisdom. Love should always be the first characteristic of a Jesus follower. If we’re known more for anything other than love, we have some work to do. Rather, we have some surrender to do to receive and experience God’s love and then share it. I alluded to this last week.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NLT)
Paul prays for discernment. When people ask how they can pray for me, when there’s nothing urgent, I ask for wisdom and discernment. I don’t know what I’m doing as a lead pastor! I don’t know what I’m doing as a husband or dad or even friend! I need discernment…for myself and those I lead. When our Elders and other leaders gather, I often say, “We’re not here to decide anything, but rather to discern what God is saying and how He is directing.”
Our Elders have our monthly meeting this week and I would be grateful for your prayers.
Finally, Paul prays that they would be filled with righteousness…right living. That’s a great prayer. Imagine if all Christians were known for their love, discernment, and right living.
So What?
It’s possible to have joy…even in prison.
It is good to offer thanks to God for others.
Christ is coming soon and we need to be ready…and help others get ready.
In closing, let me personalize these final verses from the New Living Translation.
College First, I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. (NLT)
Kirk Schneemann
Joy: Book of Philippians
College First Church of God
September 14, 2025
Philippians 1:1-11
Series Big Idea: Philippians reminds us we can experience joy no matter the circumstances.
Big Idea: Paul expresses his gratitude and love for the church he started years earlier.
Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:1-6
Thank you. Few words are more powerful. Few words are more important. Echoing today’s scripture reading, I want to begin by saying College First Church of God, I thank my God every time I remember you.
Today we’re beginning a new series on the book of Philippians. It’s a letter written by Paul to early Christians in the city of Philippi in modern day Greece. Heather and I were privileged to visit Philippi in 2016. The ruins they have uncovered are amazing, and new discoveries continue to be made.
Before diving in, let me set the scene. Philippi was the first European place to hear about Jesus the Messiah. Acts 16 tells us about Paul’s first visit to Philippi and as we’ll see, the people there brought him great joy, arguably the central theme of the book. This letter was written by Paul while a prisoner in what is probably Ephesus in modern day Turkey. This church has sent him money which was essential since captors rarely provided food to prisoners.
Writing about joy from prison—an ancient prison without cable TV and air conditioning, mind you—seems unbelievable. How can you have joy in the midst of such suffering? It truly is a God-thing. As someone once said, it is well with my soul, but not my circumstances. If you can relate, you’re going to love this short book.
Let’s begin:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: (Philippians 1:1)
Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian church between 56 and 62 AD. His disciple, Timothy, is a co-author and had a relationship with this congregation. Philippi at this time was a Roman colony and most of its citizens were Romans.
This church began during the second missionary journey of Paul. Typically, he begin planting a church by preaching in the synagogue, but there were so few Jews in Philippi that they had no synagogue. There were, however, a group of godly women who would gather on the Sabbath by the banks of the river Gangites to recite prayers. Paul joined them and met Lydia, a successful businesswoman who traded purple cloth.
When Paul performed an exorcism on a fortune-telling slave girl, her owners had Paul and Silas thrown into jail when they realized she could no longer make them money. They have a hymn sing that night, an earthquake opens the jail, the jailer and his family become Christians, and they’re released the next day when it is discovered Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. There’s much more to the story in Acts 16 and beyond, but that’s a bit about the founding of this Philippian church.
Years later now, Paul is in another prison, though the location is up for debate since he was in at least four prisons for boldly preaching the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. His friend, Epaphroditus, visits Paul with a gift, and Paul sends this letter back to the Philippian church.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:2)
This is Paul’s standard greeting in his letters, found in 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and others. Grace is unmerited favor. It’s a gift. It’s amazing!
Peace is…peace, quietness, rest.
Jesus Christ, of course, is the center of this book, of Paul, of College First Church of God, of the universe! There’s a poem in Philippians 2:6-11 which is at the core of Philippians, a passage about Jesus the Messiah which we’ll cover later in our sermon series.
I thank my God every time I remember you. (Philippians 1:3)
I said this last Sunday and I’ll say it again…College First, I thank God for you. Fortunately, I’m not telling you through a letter written in prison! It’s a joy to be in Findlay, to do life together, to be on mission together to love, equip, and send in the name of Jesus.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:4-6)
Paul prays with joy. He always prays with joy when he prays for them. If you know anything about Paul’s other writings, he’s not always pleased with his recipients! This church, though, is special as they have been generous to him and faithful to the LORD.
It’s important to note the day of Christ Jesus is coming. It seemed like it would happen any day, and 2000 years later we’re about 750,000 days closer!
Don’t miss this: God will finish what He starts…but it usually takes time…and He’s got all the time in the world! I’ve been impatient so many times in my life, wondering if God will answer prayer, come through, fulfill His promises. He always does. God can be trusted…completely. He sees you. He loves you. He wants to do life with you.
I know some of you have experience church hurt. I’ve heard stories about abuse, neglect, injustice, and suffering. Your story is not over. Seek help. Get connected in a small group. You’re not the only one. But be encouraged, the best is yet to come.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:7-8)
We often downplay emotions in our western society, but Paul not only has deep feelings for his readers, he defends his feelings. God gave us emotions. Jesus wept. He sweated drops of blood. He knows pain and suffering. He also knows deep love.
Likewise, Paul is following in the footsteps of Jesus. We can’t always trust our emotions, especially if we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT). Make a note of that. That’s when you’re most likely to be tempted to sin.
But Paul’s expressing his love and longing for them.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)
Paul prays three things. First, that their love will overflow in knowledge and wisdom. Love should always be the first characteristic of a Jesus follower. If we’re known more for anything other than love, we have some work to do. Rather, we have some surrender to do to receive and experience God’s love and then share it. I alluded to this last week.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NLT)
Paul prays for discernment. When people ask how they can pray for me, when there’s nothing urgent, I ask for wisdom and discernment. I don’t know what I’m doing as a lead pastor! I don’t know what I’m doing as a husband or dad or even friend! I need discernment…for myself and those I lead. When our Elders and other leaders gather, I often say, “We’re not here to decide anything, but rather to discern what God is saying and how He is directing.”
Our Elders have our monthly meeting this week and I would be grateful for your prayers.
Finally, Paul prays that they would be filled with righteousness…right living. That’s a great prayer. Imagine if all Christians were known for their love, discernment, and right living.
So What?
It’s possible to have joy…even in prison.
It is good to offer thanks to God for others.
Christ is coming soon and we need to be ready…and help others get ready.
In closing, let me personalize these final verses from the New Living Translation.
College First, I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. (NLT)