Six Themes in Philippians Everyone Should Know

Book excerpt: The Six Themes Everyone Should Know series introduces biblical books and their main themes. Each volume consists of six chapters that present major biblical themes; each chapter contains an introduction and three major sections: An explanation of the theme The significance of the biblical theme for the life of faith An exploration of implications this biblical theme offers the church for its ministry Philippi is Paul's first destination outside Asia Minor, his first city to visit in Europe, and his first mission in a place where there was no Jewish community from which to begin preaching. Cynthia Campbell writes that in Paul's letter to the Philippians, we get a unique glimpse of our beginnings as Christians. Some themes explored include the importance of community for followers of Christ, Christian joy in spite of persecution, the nature of Christian unity, what it means to be "in Christ", and mutual hospitality.