Study Questions - Series in Philippians [4]

Date: June 19, 2005
Passage: Philippians 2:1-4
Message: A Church with Attitude
Series: Philippians [4]

What is it about ‘attitude’ that makes such a great difference to our lives?
Why can two people face the same crisis and it makes one a ‘better’ person and the other a ‘bitter’ person?
Share a time when you were encouraged, inspired or challenged by someone’s attitude?

Read v1
If = If this is true….and I know it is…
Put into your own words how these things in v1 can change our attitude to others and to life itself.

…..like-minded = not thinking the same things, but having our thinking under the control of the same Spirit.
Why doesn’t the Holy Spirit guide us to all think the same?
What kind of thinking/behaviour among Christians ‘grieves’ the Holy Spirit?
Can we be ‘like-minded’ but still have serious differences? [You will need to define ‘serious’]

….selfish ambition = political term used to describe the self-seeking pursuit of political office by unscrupulous means.
How does self-seeking impact the Church?
How much of the ‘Me’ culture has found its way into the Church? Explain.

I heard someone say recently,
“We promise someone the time of their life if they become a Christian and then when they do, they discover it is just the opposite, it is going to cost them their life.”
Has our presentation of the gospel become too much about what God can give us, rather than our desperate need of God?

….vain conceit = keno-doxian
doxa = glory; keno = empty
kenodoxian = empty of glory
Doing something out of vain glory means we are seeking to fill up our emptiness with any kind of glory. We become ‘glory chasers’. We seek to be noticed, recognised, acclaimed.

How does this sort of thing affect relationships?
How does it impact on ministry?

Read v4
“Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, it is thinking of ourselves less.” Discuss

The answer to our needs being met is to seek to meet the needs of others. Discuss

Discuss some practical applications of v4