Theme: Christians should be like Christ.

Outline:

1. Praying like Christ (1:1-11).
   1. Pray for God’s people (1:1-8).
   2. Excursus: How good is God’s good work in us? (1:6).
   3. What to pray for God’s people (1:9-11).
2. Evangelizing like Christ (1:12-30).
   1. Surprising gospel progress (1:12-26).
   2. Public gospel lives (1:27-30).
3. Serving like Christ (2:1-18).
   1. Serving in Christlike unity (2:1-11).
      1. The joy of Christian unity (2:1-4).
      2. The example of Christian unity (2:5-8).
      3. The future of Christian unity (2:9-11).
   2. Serving local-church gospel victory (2:12-18).
4. Selflessness like Christ (2:19-30).
   1. Timothy’s selflessness (2:19-24).
   2. Epaphroditus’s selflessness (2:25-30).
5. Dying and living like Christ (3:1-21).
   1. Becoming like Christ’s death – suffering (3:1-10).
   2. Becoming like Christ’s life – resurrection power (3:11-21).
6. Church-care like Christ (4:1-19).
   1. Care for the church’s joyful unity (4:1-5).
   2. Care for the church’s carefree peace (4:6-9).
   3. Care for the church’s flourishing fruit (4:10-19).
7. Christlike goodbyes (4:20-23).