It was during Paul's second missionary journey in AD 49
that the church at Philippi was founded.
Acts 16 tells us that Paul shared the gospel of Jesus
Christ with several women of which Lydia was converted. It seems she was
the first convert at Philippi.
Paul's second convert was a demon-possessed girl. This
young girl heard the gospel, believed and became a Christian.
However, Paul was thrown into jail for preaching the
gospel. This led to his third convert - the Philippian jailer. Of
course, Acts informs us that his whole family was converted to
Christianity.
Out of this emerged the church at Philippi.
It was twelve or so years later that Paul found himself
under house arest in Rome. The church at Philippi sent their pastor,
Epaphroditus, to minister to Paul and bring a gift.
During this visit by Epaphroditus, Paul received word
that there was disunity in the church at Philippi.
Rivalry and tension between people in the church
inspired Paul to write a letter (The Book of Philippians) to urge them
to live the Christian life in harmony.
The theme of the Book of Philippians is Living the
Christian Life to the Glory of God.
Of course, disunity does not bring glory to God.
Therefore, Paul encouraged the believers at Philippi to work out their
tensions in order to glorify God.
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