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Advent Season · Second Sunday of Advent · Year C

Philippians 1:3-11

Thanksgiving and Prayer

December 5, 2027

The Apostle Paul in Prison, Rembrandt van Rijn
The Apostle Paul in Prison, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1627Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
An old man sitting on the floor of a cell with the books open across his knees and the sword behind him, stopped mid-sentence with the pen still in his hand.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.Rembrandt van RijnRembrandt at twenty-one, painting the thinking rather than the writing.Staatsgalerie StuttgartThe Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelLuke 3:1-6Lk 3:1-6
EpistlePhil. 1:3-11Phil 1:3-11
Old TestamentBar. 5:1-9Bar 5:1-9 orMal. 3:1-4Mal 3:1-4
PsalterLuke 1:68-79Lk 1:68-79

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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Commentary

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

The Lutheran home commentary on Paul's confidence that God will finish the good work he began.

Philippians 1:3-11 CommentaryPhil 1:3-11 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed preaching commentary on Paul's prayer for a love that grows in insight.

Philippians 1 - Paul's Confidence and PrayerPhil 1 - Paul's Confidence and Prayer Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse-by-verse evangelical study of Paul's thanksgiving and prayer for the church.

Philippians Commentaries and SermonsPhil Commentaries and Sermons Precept Austin

A gateway to inductive word studies and cross references across Philippians.

Philippians 1:3 CommentariesPhil 1:3 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on Paul's opening thanksgiving.

Philippians 1:3 Verse-by-Verse CommentaryPhil 1:3 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight

A large library of expositors stacked verse by verse for a further voice on the passage.

Background & Word Study

Philippians 1:3 InterlinearPhil 1:3 Interlinear BibleHub

The Greek of the passage word by word with parsing and lexical helps.

Book of Philippians OverviewBook of Phil Overview BibleProject

An animated overview of Philippians and the joy running through Paul's letter.

The Church Fathers

Philippians 1 (Catena)Phil 1 (Catena) Catena

Patristic comments verse by verse on Paul's thanksgiving and prayer for the church.

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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