What Matters Most - Bible Study Book: A Study of Philippians

by Karen Ehman

The world has always been full of trials, disappointments, temptations, fractured friendships, and financial hardships. Yet Paul’s letter to the Philippians claims we can discover contentment and joy in the midst of it all by prioritizing what matters most—Christ.
 
Over 7 sessions, study the ever-relevant Letter of Philippians to deepen your relationship with Jesus, turn your worries into worship, and develop gospel-centered tools for navigating relational conflict and thriving in Christian love.

 

Genres: Christian Living, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2018

About the author

Karen Ehman is a speaker, a New York Times bestselling author, a contributing writer for Proverbs 31 Ministries Encouragement for Today online devotions and a teacher in the First 5 Bible study app. She has written 21 books and Bible studies including Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All and the 2020 ECPA devotional book of the year Settle My Soul. She is a graduate of Spring Arbor University and serves as President-Elect of their Alumni Board of Directors. She has been featured on TODAY Parenting, Redbook.com, Foxnews.com, Crosswalk.com, YouVersion.com, and is a monthly columnist for HomeLife Magazine. Her passion is to help women live their priorities as they reflect the gospel to a watching world. Karen is married to her college sweetheart, Todd, and is the mother of six children: three biological and three in-laws by marriage—although she forgets which ones are which. She enjoys collecting vintage Pyrex kitchenware, cheering for the Detroit Tigers, and spending her days feeding the many people who gather around her mid-century dining table to process life and enjoy her county fair blue-ribbon winning cooking.

Reviews

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great study. Thought the book material was better than the videos. One would not need the videos to do the study.

[Kelly Hodgkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, fun and habit-changing, this book has it all! Karen pulled me into my bible to discover new insights into familiar texts and then gave me bite-sized challenges so I could live out what I learnt!

Much of this book is dedicated to changing habits today. Each week starts with breaking down a verse to apply it to the reader’s life. The challenges are structured so the reader can live it out for example “Think of a close Christian friend. Got them in your mind? Good. Now, using verse 8-11 of Philippians 1 as your template, craft a prayer for them in the space provided.”

Karen inspires with lines like “Paul is confident that they can experience joy in the Lord due to the certainty of their salvation and their ability through the Holy Spirit to be in God’s presence. What unspeakable joy indeed.” YES PLEASE, I want that! And supports it with tasks like “Name five things in specific that you are grateful for. Stop letting you mind migrate to a place of worry. Instead, purpose to be a person of thankfulness, turning your worry into worship.” and “What does God want me to learn about Him that I might never discover if He were to suddenly pluck me out of this situation?”

Karen is a great writer, she keeps the pace up and the book full of humor. She shares anecdotes and creates context for verses that make them stick. I particularly enjoyed this one: “I have a relative who is a turf grass specialist and he would tell you that the grass is greener where you habitually hydrated, constantly fertilize it and where you are careful to pull the weeds the moment they pop up! And the grass is greenest only in the pasture that God has made for us to lie down in.”

I thoroughly enjoyed it, five out of five, and I highly recommend it!

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved and enjoyed this study on Philippians. In a season where I struggled with discontentment, being reminded of the physical, emotional and spiritual battles Paul went through was both greatly convicting and also encouraging. Karen Ehman did a great job of breaking down the book of Philippians by dissecting each verse to truly understand the context and the book as a whole. Keeping this one on my bookshelf to read again!

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bible study is the first that I have done by this author. I really enjoyed it. I liked how the weekly work was divided up. It is not your typical day 1 - day 5 set up. It was different in a refreshing way!

[Kristie Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a Bible Study I did with my church group. It is great! I learned a lot about contentment and how God has His hand in everything. Great challenges Karen has at the end of every week. Thoroughly enjoyed this one!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this study to be very relatable and interesting. While I did not watch the videos, I did complete everything else. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I seldom rate books at a 5, but I think Karen deserves it. Well done!

[Gelene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great study to do by yourself or with a group. I did it with a group of ladies that I work with. It’s good hearing other’s perspective on different situations and how they navigate using God as their compass. Definitely recommend.

[Tenille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this study! The videos were great as well. She helped me to see things in a different way and fall in love with every part of Philippians.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great Bible Study on the Book of Philippians.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars - some good practical applications within the study but too many overly simple questions and too much fill in the blank

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great bible study about the book of Philippians. There are accompanying videos which I highly suggest.

[Celesta Tiner Bainbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good way for me to remain in a daily quiet time. I always learn something in my morning study time.