The Letter to the Philippians

Introduction to the Sermon

Good morning! What an honor and a privilege it is to preach again. This morning I want to begin a small journey through the book of Philippians. God willing, If you all or Wilson do not fire me after this sermon, I hope to preach and walk through the book of Philippians with you as preaching opportunities come available. I had been spending quiet a bit of time in the book of Philippians before I knew I would even stand in a pulpit. When I expressed my aspirations to the ministry and office of Elder to Wilson along with a desire to preach, one thing he encouraged me to do was to begin writing sermons. When I asked Wilson where a good starting place would be, he told me Galatians or Philippians. Without hesitation, I knew which book I would pick. Voddie Baucham said in one of his sermons no one is supposed to have a favorite book of the bible. He compared it to having a favorite child. He paused and then looked up and said “But deep down inside you know every parents has a favorite child”. With that being said, I truly do cherish and love Paul's letter to the Philippians. It seems like every time I start spending a lot of time studying and reading a book of the bible, that book I am studying and reading, somehow becomes my favorite book. Interesting how that happens isn't it? Would I would like to do this morning is walk through an introduction to the book its self with a 30,000 foot view, walk through a historical background of the book, and look at the greeting, which is the first two verses of chapter 1. I remember watching Pastor Todd preach on another greeting, and it amazed me at how often I just kind of glanced over the greeting when I’m reading a book of the bible. I remember looking at his sermon title and text and seeing it was only the first two verses of the book. I was thinking to myself, How can this man preach a full sermon on the greeting of a book. He showed me exactly how. Since that day, I make sure to take my time with the greeting. Although they are a greeting, They are still the inspired word of God, and as you will see this morning, rich if you take the time to read and meditate on them.

Introduction to Philippians

So lets go ahead and get started on the introduction to the book. We know the book was written by Paul, an apostle, to the church at Philippi.