Study Questions - Series in Philippians [2]

Date: June 5, 2005
Passage: Philippians 1:12-26
Message: When Things Don't Work Out
Series: Philippians [2]

Things don't always work out the way we planned or the way we think they should.
Give an example from your own life or from something you have seen.

Read Philippians 1:12-26
What stands out to you from this passage?
What is one thing you can take from it into your own life?

Paul learned
1. Suffering may mean an end of all we had planned
Read Romans 15:23-25
What were Paul's plans?
Why is it so hard to give up our plans?

......there are some real problems being a Christian. One of them is,
How do we reconcile what we know of God with what we see happening around us?

If you're not a Christian, if you don't believe in God then Philosopher Marquis de Sade is right when he said, "Whatever is, must be right."

If there is no God then evil is just a matter of opinion; this world is all there is. What is wrong with the strong destroying the weak? That is just the way things are. But if we believe that God has established objective moral values, if we believe that God is at work in lives of every human being..then we are saddled with haunting dilemma...

How do I understand God in confusing circumstances?
How do I see God when blinded by chaos?
How do I trust God when nothing makes sense??

Discuss the implications of the .problems' created by being a Christian.

2. Suffering may mean being mis-treated or mis-understood.
Read v15-18
These people causing grief to Paul are other Christians not just a random group of heretics.
Cf. Galatians 1:6-9

What causes such envy and rivalry even in Christian ministry?
What does it look like or sound like?

.Now there is one thing we need to make clear.
Being a Christian will not automatically make you an optimist.
Being a Christian will not automatically give you a good attitude to suffering.
Being a Christian, nothing is automatic!!!?
Discuss

3. Suffering reveals our heart
Read 19-26
What stands out most to you about Paul in these verses?
What did Paul mean by ...for me to live is Christ and to die is gain??

We long for most what we invest most in?
Discuss

.Paul could not be disappointed in way things worked out because he held everything more loosely than he held Christ!
..eagerly expect and hope that I will not be ashamed?
Discuss

How can we properly and honestly assess where our heart is?

Read Romans 1:16-17, 2 Timothy 1:12 and Philippians 1:20
Ashamed = disappointed
Paul was optimistic because he knew in Christ he would never be disappointed.
Share how you might cultivate that same spirit in your life.