Establishing the boundaries and structure of the text
1:1-2
1:3-8
8 as a transition
1:9-11
1:12-18
You can break this part of the letter into two larger sections though, 1-11 and 12-18.
Excursus
We can see that the very beginning of the letter is establishing themes and issues that will be addressed throughout the letter. It might even be helpful to note that a lot of the things established (i.e. 1:6) give us a metric to read the text. In other words, Paul is calling us to “read Philippians this way!” (with the themes seen in 1:1-18) .
Verse by Verse Exposition
Walk through the text slowly
Ask if there are any questions
Overview
Give an overview of the passage so that the details all get synthesized for the student.
