With so many of us doing church online or hosting study groups in our homes, I wanted to put together a little resource for your study of a powerful little New Testament letter: Paul’s letter to Philemon.
Check out the intro to the series below:
A few thousand pounds of car sit on just 147 square inches of rubber, the patch of tire where the rubber meets the road. That contact patch might be the most important place on your car. No matter how powerful the motor is, its ability to move the car (and steer and stop it) comes down to these 147 square inches.
We like that expression: “where the rubber meets the road.” It’s the spot where the idea meets reality. That recipe looks good on paper, but when you cook it – is it any good? Have you ever seen (or created) a “Pinterest fail”?
Where does the rubber meet the road for Christianity?
In real, boring, every day life.
Specifically, your life, and my life. That’s where we get God’s word out of the book and into practice.
I’d like to invite you to join me for a study of the book of Philemon. Philemon is a “rubber meets the road” book of the Bible.
It’s a tiny letter—only 355 words. It fits on a single page. You can read it in 3 minutes. It’s shorter than this post! So if Bible study is intimidating to you, trust me, you can make it through Philemon.
Here’s the gist of it: it’s a letter from Paul to a Christian named Philemon. Philemon was a slaveowner—like most of the rich people were in his day.
His slave, Onesimus, ran away.
Here’s where it gets interesting: Onesimus meets Paul and becomes a Christian while living as a fugitive. So now the fugitive slave who was considered his master’s property becomes his master’s brother.
Legally, Philemon could beat or kill Onesimus. So here’s where the rubber meets the road. What does Christianity look like on Philemon? What does it look like on Onesimus? How do Christians handle a situation like this?
Sound interesting? I think so.
Choose a time and a place to get together with a few friends or family members for the next three weeks (at home, virtually, whatever works for you), pick up your Bibles, and head here or facebook to watch the 3 lessons and study.
Let’s see what Christianity looks like in real life – where the rubber meets the road!
Sesson 1: Thru Philemon’s Eyes
Read Pliny’s letter to Sabinianus here
Check back next week for Part 2: How Onesimus Saw It!
2 replies on “Where the Rubber Meets the Road: A Study of Philemon (Part 1 of 3)”
Thank you Matthew! We enjoy each lesson you share.
We may be a little behind, but we finally made it through the first video. And, yes, we watched all the way through and discussed the suggested questions!!