Paul, along with Timothy, wrote this letter to Philemon during one of his imprisonments. It\u2019s his shortest letter (335 words in the original Greek). He wrote it to address a delicate issue.\n\nPhilemon appears to have been a wealthy Roman citizen who lived in Colossae. One of his slaves, Onesimus, wronged Philemon, ran away, and had evidently crossed paths with Paul. He had become a believer, helping Paul in his ministry (Col. 4:9).\n\nSlavery was accepted in the Greco-Roman world. It took many forms, all of them different from more recent forms of slavery. Anyone, regardless of ethnicity, could be a slave, and many slaves were educated and held important positions. Many of them had the opportunity to work toward freedom, although they would always be recognized as ex-slaves. Although slavery then was better in some ways than more recent forms of slavery, Roman slaves were treated as property. Many of them faced harsh conditions, and some of them faced sexual exploitation.\n\nPaul wanted to send Onesimus back to Philemon as required by Roman law. But by the same law, slaveowners had the right to punish or execute runaway slaves. So Paul wrote to Philemon with a delicate request: welcome Onesimus back as he would welcome Paul, not as a runaway slave but as a brother (v. 17).\n\nAlthough Paul writes this letter to Philemon, he makes it clear that this is also a letter for the wider church (v. 2). In writing this letter, Paul resolves a crisis between two believers, a master and a slave, showing how the gospel impacts our relationships and social structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We know the weekly grind of sermon prep is hard, whether you are in the midst of series or planning a new series. Trying to find key verses you need to highlight in your sermon, finding the historical background to the book, discovering the flow\/structure of book, and even figuring out what is the theme of each section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why we created this chart! This chart is designed to\u00a0save you time<\/strong>\u00a0as you prepare to preach a new sermon series from the Book of Philemon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of Philemon. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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