"Philippians" Bible Study Guide (Sue Edwards)

TITLE: Philippians: Discovering Joy Through Relationship (Discover Together Bible Study Series)
AUTHOR: Sue Edwards
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2015, (80 pages).

The New Testament letter to the Philippians has often been called the letter of joy.  What makes it more intriguing is that it was written by someone who was persecuted, tortured, and imprisoned. Modern readers will tend to wonder how that can all be possible in the first place. What consumes Paul? How can he continue to be so passionate even when persecuted? What drives him to do what he did? Many believers have studied Philippians either individually or together in groups. There is no lack of materials. So, readers may ask: What's with this newest Bible study resource? Here are some of the features:

• It offers in-depth study at a "minimum time commitment"
• There is a "digging deeper" section that challenges readers and students on where and what to probe.
• It can be used together with web resources provided to supplement the study.
• It is packed with contextual information on the sidebars
• There are 8 lessons in all, not too long, not too short.

Each week, readers follow a familiar framework. First, there is a brief introduction to the study, something that groups with or without leaders can easily benefit. When group members read something together, they can best appreciate the contexts together. Second, there is the important task of reading the passage of study.This is followed by questions to guide the discussion. Here, I would suggest the group decide together as a group which questions to focus or study in depth, given the limited time. Well and clean, the Bible study booklet contains generous space for personal notes to be written directly into the book. The sidebars contain interesting notes, quotes, challenge prompts, and occasional commentary by Edwards herself.

The Discover Together series of Bible studies have been put together by Sue Edwards as an "Inductive Bible Study" resource to promote in-depth Bible study.  Edwards is Associate Professor of educational ministries and leadership at Dallas Theological Studies and has thirty years of experience in the classroom as a Bible teacher, curriculum writer, and overseer of several women's ministries. This resource is written primarily for women's studies but I think the study is useful enough to be used by both genders. The subtitle "Discovering Joy through Relationship" should entice groups to seriously consider studying Philippians.

This is a great resource and I warmly recommend it for all groups!

Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book is provided to me courtesy of Kregel Publications in exchange for an honest review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.