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Advent · Second Sunday in Advent · Year C

Philippians 1:2-11

Thanksgiving and Prayer

December 5, 2027

St Paul and Silas in Prison, Michael Václav Halbax
St Paul and Silas in Prison, Michael Václav Halbax, c. 1700National Gallery, Prague
A Bohemian Baroque painting of the Philippi jail at midnight, lit by the earthquake rather than by any lamp.I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence of the gospel.National Gallery, Prague
LSB Three-Year Lectionary
GospelLuke 3:1-14Lk 3:1-14
EpistlePhil. 1:2-11Phil 1:2-11
Old TestamentMal. 3:1-7bMal 3:1-7b
PsalterPs. 66:1-12Ps 66:1-12

Overview & Insights

“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Prescript The prescript, or introductory salutation, of an ancient letter regularly contained three elements: (a) the name of the sender or senders; (b) the name of the recipient or recipients, and (c) a word of greeting or good wishes. Examples abound from letters of the New Testament period, in Greek and in Latin, both literary and nonliterary; earlier examples are the extracts from the official correspondence of the Persian court quoted in the book of Ezra; compare Ezra 7:12, “Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, a teacher of the Law of the God of Heaven: Greetings.” This pattern is followed here, as in all the NT letters: Paul and Timothy are named as the senders and “all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi” as the recipients, and the word of good wishes is “grace and peace.”

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Take it further: Philippians 1:2-11

Commentary

Philippians 1:3-11Phil 1:3-11 Working Preacher

The Lutheran home voice on Paul's joyful thanksgiving and prayer for the young church.

Philippians 1:3-11Phil 1:3-11 Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed preaching commentary on Paul's confidence that God will complete the good work he began.

Philippians 1Phil 1 Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse by verse evangelical commentary on Paul's prayer and his joy in the gospel's advance.

Classic commentaries on Philippians 1:2Classic commentaries on Phil 1:2 BibleHub

A classic aggregator stacking Barnes, Gill, and other historic commentators on this verse.

Philippians 1, Barnes' NotesPhil 1, Barnes' Notes StudyLight

Albert Barnes' notes on Paul's greeting, thanksgiving, and prayer.

Background & Word Study

Philippians 1 interlinearPhil 1 interlinear BibleHub

The Greek text of Philippians 1 word by word with parsing and Strong's numbers.

PhilippiansPhil BibleProject

An animated overview of Paul's letter of joy and partnership in the gospel.

The Church Fathers

Philippians 1, patristic commentaryPhil 1, patristic commentary Catena

A verse linked catena gathering patristic comment on Philippians 1.

Questions preachers ask

How does Paul open Philippians?

With joyful thanksgiving for the church’s partnership in the gospel, confident that God will complete his work in them, and praying their love may abound more and more in knowledge (Philippians 1:3–11).

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