Reading Through the Bible - PHILIPPIANS

Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.

PHILIPPIANS  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLE

11th book of the NT 

50th book of the Bible

It starts with a lovely greeting of Grace & Peace in verse 2

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Then in verses 3 & 4 it continues into thanksgiving for the Philippians and assures them of Paul's Prayers for them. 

This makes the letter feel so personal and loving.

Verse 6 brings the Philippians encouragement by reminding them of the way God is working in their lives.

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"Considered to be one of the most encouraging epistles for those under trial"

What is it?

The Book of Philippians is one of the Epistles in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.

How Long is it?

It has 4 chapters.

When was it Written?

It was written between 60 & 62 AD

Who Wrote it?

The Apostle Paul

The first verse of the book tells us that Timothy was included with Paul in the sending of this letter.

"Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:"

Who was it Written to?

It was written to the church at Philippi which was a Greek city in the region of Macedonia.

CREDIT:User:Alecmconroy, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Why was it Written? 

It was written as encouragement to the people of the church in Philippi which was the church that had been started in the house of Lydia and we read about Paul's ministry there in Acts ch. 16.

Timothy and Silas had also been in Philippi with Paul and of course that is where Paul & Silas were in prison when there was the earthquake at midnight and their jailer got saved.

Paul talked about their Saviour and His death and what His focus was

Paul also encouraged them as to what they shoud think about

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"An encouraging letter to the church of Philippi from Paul, telling them how to have joy in Christ."

which is seen the whole way through this book

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"The Apostle Paul did not write Philippians to address a crisis, like he did with other letters. Instead, he wrote to express his appreciation and affection for the believers in the church at Philippi."

What is unique to this book?

It is considered to be the happiest book in the Bible even though it was written from a prison.

The words "joy" or "rejoice" in some form or another are found 16 times in this book.

chapter 1

   v4(joy), v18(rejoice)twice, v25(joy), v26(rejoicing)

chapter 2 

   v2(joy), v16(rejoice), v17(rejoice), v18(rejoice), v28(rejoice)

chapter 3  

   v1(rejoice), v3(rejoice) 

chapter 4  

   v1(joy), v4(rejoice)twice, v10(rejoiced)

How does it end?

With a blessing in the last verse of chapter 4

 "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

The Overview Bible  gives us the following

Quick outline of Philippians

1. Rejoice! Christ is our life (Phil 1)
2. Rejoice! Christ is our example (Phil 2)
3. Rejoice! Christ is our glory (Phil 3)
4. Rejoice! Christ is our strength (Phil 4)

Easter Kids Dice Game for Families - Plus FREE PRINTABLE

This is a simple dice game for all ages in the family.

OBJECTIVE of the Game:   

To help the children understand more about Easter and to be able to practice talking about it with the aid of the pictures.

EQUIPPMENT required:    

2 special dice (templates of the 2 different cubes to make the dice are in the FREE PRINTABLE)

Instructions (included with the templates of the dice)

White or coloured card

Scissors

Glue or sticky tape.

INSTRUCTIONS for Preparation:

1.   Print out the templates of the dice

2.   Cut out the templates of the dice 

3.   Fold up & stick together to make into 2 dice

INSTRUCTIONS for Playing 2 Dice Game:

1.   Each player takes a turn at throwing the 2 dice

2.   The player has to tell something about Easter which links the 2 pictures together 

(eg. First die shows the donkey, second die shows the tomb  -  The donkey was essential for the start of the Easter story and the empty tomb was essential for the end of the Easter story) 

INSTRUCTIONS for Playing a Simpler version:

1.   Each player takes a turn at throwing one of the dice

2.   That person must then tell a short bit of the Easter Story which includes whichever picture shows

(eg. for the church below - we go to church to celebrate that Jesus is alive forever) 

INSTRUCTIONS for Playing with very young children:

1.   Each player takes a turn at throwing one of the dice

2.   That person simply tells what the picture represents and the parents can teach them a small fact about the object.

(eg. for the donkey above - it was a donkey that Jesus rode to come into the city) 

If you want to you can enjoy playing the game while you enjoy your chocolate Easter Eggs.

What's Included in the FREE PRINTABLE?

1.   The 2 templates A4 size or Letter size as shown above

2.   A page with the instructions similar to above.

3.   A smaller version of the 2 templates on one page A4 size or Letter size as shown below

Don't forget to download your

 FREE PRINTABLE

More Kids Resources

More EASTER Posts

Reading Through The Bible - MALACHI

Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.

MALACHI  -  OLD TESTAMENT  -  PROPHECY

39th book of the OT 

39th book of the Bible

What is it?

The Book of Malachi is one of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament which means it is Prophecy.

How Long is it?

It has 4 chapters with the last one being very short (only 6 verses).

When was it Written?

It is generally thought to have been written between 433 & 424 BC 

Who Wrote it?

Malachi

Neither the book of Malachi nor the Bible tell us who Malachi was.

All we know is Malachi is a Hebrew term that means “my messenger”

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

The prophet Malachi isn’t mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, but he deals with some of the same issues that Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah the governor deal with when the Jews disregard God’s law in their times:

• Corrupt priests 
• Intermarriage with pagans 
• Lapses in tithes and offerings 

But we do know that Jesus quotes Malachi within the passage Matthew 11:7-15

Who was it Written to?

It was written to the people of Israel as we see in the very first verse.

 "The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi."

Why was it Written? 

It was written because God wanted the people to know that they were falling into sin again and they could hurt themselves and others. 

They were not treating God or His sacraments properly and the Priests were also held to account by God as we can see in chapter 2

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"God has been faithful to Israel, but they continue to live disconnected from him—so God sends Malachi to call them out."

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"By the time of Malachi, the people had been back after the Babylonian exile for over 100 years.  They were looking for blessings.  The temple had been rebuilt.  However there was corruption in the priesthood and the people were becoming spiritually disinterested."

What distinctive thing did God tell them about himself?

 

That He never changes - chapter 3 verse 6

How does it end?

Chapter 4 starts by giving great encouragement in v. 2

but this verse also has a condition to it - the people must fear God.

Then

it draws the people back to God's Law in v 4

 "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,

Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments."

OUTLINE of MALACHI

The Overview Bible  gives us the following

1. God loves His children (Mal 1:1–5)
2. God disciplines His children (Mal 1:6–2:17)
   • For the priests’ dishonesty (Mal 1:6–2:9)
   • For intermarriage with foreigners (Mal 2:10–12)
   • For husbands’ infidelity (Mal 2:13–17)
3. God will purify His children (Mal 3:1–15)
4. Some people again revere The Lord (Mal 3:16–18)
5. God will bless those who fear Him (Mal 4)

OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement about EASTER - plus Free Printable

We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage us all around the topic of Easter.

I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.

So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to in times when we need to be encouraged about Easter 

1.   Matthew 28 v 6

He wasn't there,  He had risen from the dead just as He had said He would.

It is still the same today

He has risen as He said He would but although He is not physically here on earth He is still with us.

When we think of Easter many first think of the empty tomb but we also need to remember the cross had to come before the empty tomb could be celebrated.

2.   Galatians 6 v 14

Let's go back to before the empty tomb to the cross which paved the way to make such a difference in our lives.

3.   Philippians 2 v 8

The humility and obedience of our Saviour is life to us.

4.   1 Peter 2 v 24 

Jesus although He was the sinless one the Son of God took on our sins 

 

The righteousness we have as children of God is not our own it is the righteousness of Jesus.

5.   John 19 v 28-30

The death on the cross

28  After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”  

29  Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.  

30  So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

He did all that was needed for us.

6.   Romans 6 v 8-11

Death and life are so different for us when we are in Christ because through the cross He has the power over death and not the other way round.

7.   Romans 5 v 8

Easter - the cross and resurrection are the signs for us that God loves us

and did so before we had come to Him through Salvation.

8.   John 11 v 25-26

Yes before the crucifixion Jesus even told Martha in Bethany that He was the resurrection and the life - it was in the plan for us all along

and a great promise to us to know we will have life because of Christ.

9.   Romans 10 v 9 -13

What a Bible passage this is to encourage us about salvation

 9  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  

11  For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 

12  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  

13  For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

and to remind us that the cross and the resurrection are at the centre of our faith.

To finish after that great reminder we now have a great question:

10.   1 Corinthians 1 v 18     

Two views of the cross  -  which do you take?

The cross truly shows the power of God.

You can download this FREE copy of the Bible Verse Graphics I made for this blog post 

from my

 

RESOURCE LIBRARY HERE AT Sandra's Ark