Philippians
You ‘ll probably find this book easier to understand than some of the others. Paul is real down to earth with a congregation that has been some of his best friends throughout much of his ministry. Even though Paul writes this from prison (as he did Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon), he is particularly joyful because he knows that God is in charge. One special thing to pay attention to is the song (hymn) about Jesus in 2:5-11; this tells us some very important things about him.
Colossians
Like Galatians, this letter was written because of some false teaching. But the teaching here was different. People are telling them to keep some rules, but it’s not pure Judaism but a mixture of other religions. One of the things they are attacking is the nature of Jesus, and so Paul hits that hard (ch. 1). He also tells them how they must live, and you ‘ll notice here a lot of similarity with Ephesians. Many years ago I memorized this book with one of the guys we ‘ll see on our trip – Mr. Lander near Cleveland, Ohio. Pastor Jeff is memorizing this book right now—in Greek.
For details on what this “Bible Reading Guide” series is about, see the first post.