Sermons By Ed

Study Notes Ed Underwood Philippians: Outrageous Joy “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain” (Philippians 1:21) The thirteen Pauline Epistles develop the foundational truths of Christianity introduced in the Gospels. Paul wrote nine letters to churches and four to individuals. He writes from the perspective of the Apostle to the Gentiles, church-planter, pastor, and friend. His letters contain instructions, exhortations, and corrections that were real-time—messages to real people, gathered in real churches, with real problems as they endeavored to follow Christ and make a difference in their world. One consistent theme undergirds all of Paul’s teaching—the reality of every believer’s position in Christ. Philippi was a Roman military colony in the province of Macedonia. The Spirit called Paul to Macedonia on his second missionary journey (Acts 16). The church met in Lydia’s home at first and Paul left Dr. Luke there to help establish the assembly. The Apostle visited the church again on his