Grace to You and Peace

In one paragraph

This message walked through the chronological bridge between Romans and Philemon, placing Paul's imprisonment in Rome in its historical and narrative context, then worked verse by verse through the entire 25-verse book of Philemon. At the center of it all was a single question: what would Philemon do with Onesimus, his runaway slave, now that both men were brothers in Christ? The pastor opened...

Read together

1. Acts 20:4 Paul accompanied by Sopiter of Berea and others on his journey
2. Acts 18 riot at Corinth where Sosthenes the synagogue leader was beaten before Gallio the proconsul
3. Acts 21 Agabus the prophet bound his own hands and feet with Paul's belt to foretell Paul's arrest in Jerusalem
4. Philemon 1-25 the entire book read and expounded through the sermon
5. Jude 24-25 benediction closing the service, unto him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before his glory

Talk about it

1. The pastor retracted something he said the previous week rather than letting it stand. What does that kind of honesty from the pulpit mean to you, and how does it shape the way you handle your own mistakes?
2. Paul describes being under house arrest in Rome yet continuing his ministry 'unhindered.' Where in your own life have constraints or limitations opened up unexpected opportunities to serve or share the gospel?
3. Paul opens his letter to Philemon with 'grace and peace' even though he has a difficult request to make. The person who challenged the pastor on this thought you should 'nail them to the wall' with sin first. Which approach do you find more persuasive, and why?
4. Paul never directly commands Philemon to free Onesimus, but the letter makes the expectation clear. Why do you think Paul chose to appeal through love and relationship rather than simply ordering Philemon as an apostle?
5. Martin Luther compared Paul's intercession for Onesimus before Philemon to Christ's intercession for us before God the Father. What does it look like practically for us to extend that same unearned grace to someone who has genuinely wronged us?