Joy-filled prayer

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We're going to have a Bible reading now so if you guys could open to Philippians chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 starting at verse 1 Paul and Timothy Servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ I thank my God God in all my remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now and I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ it is right for me to feel this way about about you all because I hold you in my heart for you are all partakers with me of Grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel for God is my witness how I how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with the knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God thanks very much Kel keep your Bibles open there you'll need that as we go through we do put it up on the screen but it's so good for you have the Bible with you whether you got a paper copy or an electronic one uh to be able to dig into the text for yourself and be familiar with it and to follow along and make sure that what we're saying is legit uh as has been mentioned this morning we're in our integrated study which is our practice in term three and uh yeah this time we're looking at this letter uh from Paul and Timothy to the church in Philippi uh Pastor Dylan mentioned last week in our introduction to the to the series to to this letter that uh this was uh a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Believers in Philippi to a a church that he had planted some nine or 10 years earlier during his second missionary journey and uh Paul's writing to encourage these Believers to to thank them for the the generous gift that they've sent to him uh for the support of his ministry for the particularly for this care package that they've sent to him while he's writing this letter uh while he's imprisoned under house arrest in Rome Dylan mentioned last week that the surprising thing about this letter is that it's so filled with joy Paul uses the Greek words for joy and rejoicing at least 16 times in these four small chapters and yet we know that he's writing this letter from prison awaiting the news of whether he would be killed his circumstances were not joyful and yet his letter is overflowing with joy we looked last a week briefly at how Paul could say in Philippians 4 and verse4 to Rejoice always how was that possible in light of his circumstances and what we discovered last week was that it's only possible when we come to see joy as an attitude and that we adopt as opposed to a emotion that we feel Dylan introduced us to this idea that Joy is something that we as God's people adopt not because of our happy circumstances but because of our hope in God's love and in God's promise so that was the the overview if you missed it last week you can check out the messages on our website they're all up there uh and the the message PowerPoints the slides that sort of thing are up there if you're a notetaker if the slides go too fast if I talk too fast this morning don't fret it'll be up on the website you can get that uh and go through it at a slower Pace uh this morning we are going to dig into these first 11 verses of Philippians chapter 1 and we're going to try and unpack this idea of Joy a little bit more we're going to focus in on Paul's Joy filled prayer for the Believers in Philipi and we're going to look at that in two parts this morning first we're going to look at the foundation for this joyfill prayer that he prays for them and that's uh going to be through verses 1 to8 and uh then we're going to look at the focus of the prayer itself what is it that he actually prayed for the church we're probably going to spend a little bit more time on the foundation this morning and we'll go a little bit quicker when we get to the focus to the prayer itself because I want to leave room uh for those of you during the week to to dig into this a little bit more with your extended family group with your small group uh or with your own personal Bible study in the booklet that we've provided there uh so we might go a little bit slower towards the back end of that this morning but uh that's where we're going to go let's just quickly bow in prayer as we come to God's word father we just thank you that you are a God who speaks and Lord what a a privilege it is that we can read this letter that Paul and Timothy wrote to the church all those years ago and be encouraged ourselves in the reading of it that we can learn something of what it means to to adopt an attitude of Joy despite our circumstances because we have our hope and our faith and our trust firmly in you the Living God and in Christ Our Savior and all that he's promised to us Lord help us this morning to hear your voice Lord help me to not get in the way of what you want to say to us your people this morning we pray this in Jesus name amen um the first thing we see by way of a basis or foundation for Paul's joy in this letter is outlined in those first two verses that Kelly read have a look at the introduction there how Paul and Timothy uh greet uh the folk that they're sending this letter to they say to the all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and the deacons grace to you and peace from our God and Father the Lord Jesus Christ in these first two verses we see that Paul is especially thankful he's filled with joy uh as he reminds these Believers in Philippi of their gospel identity we'd said earlier that Paul mentions joy and rejoicing 16 times in this letter and what we'll discover as we go through these series as we unpack these four chapters is that Paul continues to to help them to see that they can Rejoice despite their circumstances the circumstances or the situation that they found themselves in was not the source of Joy remember Paul's writing from jail awaiting a sentence things are really hard for him so that's not his source of Joy Paul's Foundation or basis for Joy is found in who they are in in Christ who he understands that he and Timothy are in Christ and who he understands these Believers in Philippi are he he has joy and he rejoices because it's grounded in this shared gospel identity Paul says that we can Rejoice not in our present circumstances but in who we belong to as followers of Jesus notice Paul reminds them of their gospel identity be by calling them what they are in verse one he calls them saints now that's a bit of a curious term you might think well what's a saint what comes to mind when you think of that term um depending on your uh Church background depending on your upbringing your tradition you might have uh different ways of understanding what that means perhaps you grew up in a church tradition that had this view of sainthood that is largely unattainable you know it's a picture of a dead guy or a dead girl on a stained glass window in a church somewhere maybe you hear the term Saint and you think of somebody that you know personally a a friend a a relative a family member somebody that you hold in high esteem someone who was virtuous or kind or patient someone who was simply an amazing human being you're a saint those of you may have come up in the Roman Catholic tradition you would have an understanding that sainthood is a rather big deal in the in the Catholic church that's quite a process to go through uh for the Catholics to become sa there's all sorts of steps it's very very complicated I'll just give you a quick rundown real quick for stus you going to be Catholic second you've got to be dead uh you need to have some sort of devotion that Springs up around your memory and your ministry enough that the the Vatican gets involved and they investigate to see if if they think that you qualify for saood you need to have performed a miracle now again that can be a little bit tricky if you did um you need to have done one at some stage and again the Vatican gets involved they investigate and see if it was legit and if they think the miracle was a miracle then then maybe they'll call you blessed but you're not a saint yet because you need a second Miracle you got to do another one and uh maybe the first one was a fluke I don't know the system uh not a Roman Catholic uh but when you go through all of that if you take off all of those boxes then they can pronounce you to be a saint that's not the biblical definition of a saint the biblical definition is actually a lot clearer and simpler the Bible tells us that a saint is not not something that we end up at because of how amazing or incredible that we are because our our life or the works of our life are amazing rather it's something that we begin at because of how incredible the work of Jesus was on our behalf so when we see in this introduction who are the Saints in Philippi well they're the Believers it's the church Paul and Timothy write to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi the answer to this question of who or what is a saint the biblical definition is that it's anyone who is in Christ Jesus it's not a dead person who's performed a miracle or lived an amazing life but rather Anyone who puts their Faith and Hope and trust in Jesus to all who believe in his death and Resurrection on the cross for their sins when Paul wrote to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:17 he said that when we come to Faith In Jesus when we when we become a saint it's because we begin a new life we're born again as New Creations we're given this new gospel identity as Saints we're marked out as being found in Jesus and this is what Paul is rejoicing in and reminding the Believers of in his opening to this letter notice too that there's a layering of this identity in the first verse he says to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi Paul's writing to the Christians those who are in Christ to the Saints who are at the same time living in this Roman Colony this city of Philippi he addresses who they are and where they're living I think first and foremost this is helpful for us because we need to understand and they needed to understand to be reminded that they are first and foremost in Christ Jesus and that won't change it's not dependent on their location or on their present circumstances their gospel identity as a saint as a Believer as a follower of Jesus as a new creation doesn't depend on the city in which they live in they might be in Philippi for work or for study or maybe they had family ties to the city who knows why they were there but that wasn't the true core of their identity thir first and foremost they are Saints they are in Christ Jesus secondary to that they just happen to be residing in that Roman colony of Philippi friends this is a real reason why Paul could pray with such Joy filled prayer while he was imprisoned and awaiting a sentence because Paul really gets this gospel identity he understands that it means that someone who is in Christ and it doesn't depend on on where they are right now we can be in Christ anywhere because he's promised to always be with us I think it's helpful for us to remember that the Christian life is always kind of lived out in these two levels on the one hand it's kind of lived out on this varying levels of our circumstances as ever changing as they are we we do live lives that change at EB and flow highs and lows good and bad and we are in Christ through all of that but then the Christian life has also lived out at this unwavering level of being in Christ Jesus who is the same yesterday today and forever it's important for us to remember that Paul's key to Joy is learning not to ground his joy in the level of his circumstances at the surface level but in the Deep deep unchanging gospel identity he has in Christ maybe we need to meditate on that this week you our primary identify identity as followers of Jesus is not to be found in who we are as as Aussies as queenslanders or as residents of Morton Bay even that that can all change our true and Lasting identity is to be found in right relationship to the God who made us when we come to understand and experience the gospel identity that we have in Christ we find the key as Paul did to Joy and Thanksgiving amidst the everchanging and often difficult circumstances of Our Lives we to remember friends that we're Saints we need to let this gospel identity give shape to the constantly changing circumstances that we face not the other way around don't let your circumstances that are changing shape your identity hold true to the gospel identity you have in Jesus the second uh foundation for Paul's joyfill prayer is in their shared gospel partnership and we see that in verses 3 to5 he he says he thanks his God in all his remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy why verse 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now this shared gospel identity led to gospel actions or or partnership some other translations might have the word Fellowship in there in verse 5 Paul says he's making his prayers with joy because of the fellowship in the gospel and he's talking about this shared sense of belongingness to Christ this shared sense of belonging to God to his people and to to the work of God there's a shared privilege and a a shared responsibility of our being in Fellowship together of being united together on mission for God this is what it means by gospel partnership or Fellowship there I think for those of us who have been around in church for some time there can be a a danger of misunder understanding when we talk about Fellowship sometimes we can think it's just what we do after the service out under the patio and we have tea and coffee together you know that's fellowship and this is worship and preaching and and we have small group time Bible study and that's Fellowship maybe it's when we meet in a a home for a meal together that's that's Fellowship that's true it's just fellowshipping together but there's a deeper sense of what Paul is on about here as he mentions gospel partnership da Carson in his commentary on Philippians he tells us that in the first century this this word that they had for partnership Fellowship had a business connotation to it Carson gives an example in his commentary of two men who who buy a boat together because they're going to start a a fishing business and Carson points out that these guys have entered into a fellowship into a partnership elsewhere in the New Testament the same word for for fellowship and partnership is is used uh in in a financial sense in Romans 15:26 when the the Macedonian churches send money to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem the word that they that Paul uses to describe their contribution their physical gift is fellowship partnership in the gospel so it's a a deeper idea that we are unpacking Carson says the the heart of True Fellowship is a self-sacrificing Conformity to a shared Vision it's a good way to think about about our church as a fellowship of Believers I was thinking about that a little bit more how do you how do you kind of lock that away in your head my mind went to the Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring um you read the book or seen the movie or whatever it was a diverse mix in this Fellowship you know they had four Hobbits two guys an elf a dwarf and a wizard there range of different backgrounds couldn't have been more diverse and yet they were a fellowship they were United together because they had a common goal a common Mission and it's a bit like that with the church we need to think about that for us you think about the diversity in our community what do we have in common as you look around the room I mean we're from all different nations from different backgrounds from different experiences from the outside looking in we don't have much in common at all but yet we're a fellowship because in Christ we have a common mission in Christ we have a common savior we have a common gospel we have a common good news to tell what Paul's saying in verses 3 to 5 here what he gives thanks to God for what what is a foundation of his Joy filled prayer is not just their profession of belief it's not just that they gathered in the in the House Church uh to sing some songs or have morning tea together no he he's rejoicing and has Joy because they're Partners in the mission of God there's this shared Ministry to which God had placed them as a people in that City to Bear witness for Christ to make the name of Jesus known to to build up one another to be an outpost of the kingdom of God breaking into the world that's our calling as well to to part be partners in the mission of God this is one of the ways that we grow as Disciples of Jesus by sharing together in that mission by seeking to to serve together and love together as we seek to make disciples of all the nations and teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded us to do that's the Journey of discipleship and we do it together on Mission there's a real joy to be found in gospel partnership as we together bring the good news of the kingdom of God the love of Christ Our Savior to the world there's a joy to be found in Ste in the gifts that God has given to each of us as we offer up our time our talents and our treasure back to God as we encourage one another and spur one another on to Good Deeds if you've been attending uh Kucha Baptist Church for some time if you consider this your church home if you're not yet serving on a Ministry team I challenge you in light of this idea to prayerfully consider where the Lord might be leading you to serve to partner with us in the gospel one of the challenges as a church grows as it gets bigger in size it can be easy to come into a church like ours and and see all the ministry activity happening see everything the wheels of of the the gospel work happening across the week and and we can think it's all taken care of there's nowhere that I can plug in and serve but that's not the case there's heaps of opportunities for you to get involved maybe you need to prayerfully consider that and have a chat with one of us if you want to explore that more there's a couple of key areas where we've got some uh opportunities right now uh in in key areas for us as a church where we're looking for some more volunteers to partner with us in the gospel we need some more male volunteers to help us with our you Friday night youth program Dylan would love to have a couple more guys just to help him out in that uh ree mentioned last week as he brought the announcement from the church Council there's a there's a few Ministries that have teams that are that are serving the lord together that are on mission for for the Lord and just need a a coordinator to step in and and help out because we've had some coordinators change and and and step down if you consider yourself a regular if this is your church home could I encourage you to pray about that if you're not sure where to serve because you don't know what your spiritual gifts are then come along to our discipleship weekend well David Lo is going to run a session for us on the Saturday that's going to help us to unpack and discover what our spiritual uh type might be that could be really helpful for you in getting as start and partnering with us in the gospel if you're coming out of a season where life has been really hectic there's a a lot of stuff going on for you and your family right now things are just crazy maybe you're sitting here and you're just catching your breath I don't want to put any pressure on you this morning I think it's okay for you just to take the time to do that guilt-free but do consider that there is a joy to be found in serving the lord together if you're not in a position to do it right now then maybe your prayer should be that when your circumstances change the Lord would make you ready to dive in if you're new to our church if you're still getting to know us um no rush for you take your time get to know us um usually we we'd recommend people come along for about 6 months or so and and get to know us and and until you feel ready to dive in and connect with us in that way and uh yeah when you're ready you have a chat to us talk to one of the pastors one of the uh the church Council and uh we'd love to get you plugged in into an opportunity to partner with us in gospel Ministry because there's a joy here there's a great gospel joy to be found in that our uh walk as Christians well personal it's never just individual it's participation we we're called into community disciples together because we've got this shared Mission and this shared Ministry that God calls us to walk together the uh third Foundation that we see in Paul's joyfill prayer is the reality of God's grace in Christ Jesus look in that verses 7 to8 as he pours out his affection for the Believers in Philippi there it's right for me to feel this way I hold you all in my heart for you're partakers with me of Grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus get a sense that Paul cared really deeply about these brothers and sisters in Philippi he holds them in his heart why verse 7 because they're partakers with him of Grace his joyfill prayer for these Believers is grounded in this deep reality of God's grace to everyone who believes Paul's joy in prayer his affections towards them flow out of his own understanding and experience of Christ's love and affection towards him there's a spiritual principle here transformation spiritual transformation flows from a growing understanding of and experience with God's unconditional love for us in Christ Jesus spiritual transformation always flows from the inside out as we come to understand and experience God's unconditional love for us in Christ it it comes from the inside out not the outside in Paul prays with joy for the Believers in Philippi because they share this common love of the Lord Jesus Christ they understood it and experienced it together in such a deep way that it bonded them as a fellowship and friends the same can be true for us it's only when we understand and experience this love for ourselves that our lives really change and it comes from the inside out when we taste and see that the Lord is good when we understand that every sin we've ever committed past present and future has been forgiven it changes us it's good news when we hear that the almighty God the holy and the righteous judge says to us I accept you precious son or precious daughter come and draw near to me me not because of who you are not because of what you've done but because of what Jesus has done for you it's amazing grace we we sang about that this morning and understanding that Grace and experiencing that love and that Grace for ourselves it it it transforms Our Lives it changes us from the inside out when we believe in and receive this love and forgiveness and we see that in the lives of the Phil Philippian Believers as they have come to Faith In Jesus as they've experienced this unconditional love of God in Christ we hear the reports as Paul Praises them for their generosity for their love for the way in which they're making a difference in their Community for the Lord their understanding and experience of God's love marked them out as a loving and generous church because Christ's love flowed out of them John explains this spiritual principle in 1 John 4:19 when he says we love because he first loved us friends our love for others is simply a response to the work that God has done in us it's an overflow of the reality of God's grace to us in Jesus and it's a source of Joy it's the only way that we can grow to fulfill the purpose God has for us it's by soaking in and drinking deep from this well of God's grace we don't grow in the the Christian Life primarily by emphasizing the dudy or the responsibility it's we don't find our our greatest growth in all of the things that we should be doing for God that just makes us weary and feel burdened and and and we get worried about all that we see the real and Powerful growth in the Christian Life when it comes from the inside out as we allow the Holy Spirit to deepen our understanding and our experience of God's grace to us in Jesus growth comes when we know and feel his love for us when we drink deeply from the will of Grace I was thinking about that during the week and I was reminded of uh a sponge and I found this gnarly old looking sponge in my garage um it's flat it's dry and brittle um you'd be tempted to write it off H maybe um but because the sponge is what it is you put it in the water and let it soak and it'll grow it'll get some of that shape back it it it will reform it will recharge and and it'll take in water again so that it can be squeezed out again it it returns to health and vitality as it drinks deep in the water I was thinking about that as I was processing all of this as we desire to grow in our relationship with the Lord we we need to soak in to God into his love for us into the truth of his word into what he is saying to us and we need to drink that in so that we can be filled up and and and soak that in so that we'll be filled and able to be poured out for God in his mission what happens to a lot of us in Christian in our Christian Life is we can neglect to take it in we can for whatever reason we can get busy maybe we focus on the things we should be doing for God and so we're doing and doing and doing and doing and we we put all this pressure on ourselves and it becomes a work and so we're giving out we're squeezing out we're squeezing out and eventually we run dry and we end up like that gnarly sponge and and we can think about that and then the the kind of the bad thoughts come in and then we can start thinking well maybe I'm just not a good sponge because I look around the church I I look around my brothers and sisters and I see other people that seem to be doing it better than me and and so maybe I've just got to go a little bit harder maybe I've just got to squeeze a little bit more and and see what I can get out and and that's not not the answer the the way to to revive our our spiritual life the the way to revive our our prayers when we feel like God's not answering them anymore or he just seems so far away because we're dry and we're we're squeezed out with nothing left the way to revive that and turn that around is is not to squeeze out more but to soak it in to to dig deep into God to dig deep into his grace to get rid of dryness in your spiritual life to rekindle Joy it's never going to be from the outside in it's never going to be by doing better the way we get rid of dryness is by drinking deep and soaking in taking in his unconditional love drinking from that well of the gospel of grace Paul prays that way for the Philippians doesn't he and not just for them in Ephesians um real quick have a look at Ephesians 3 uh: 1 1-19 might like to turn that up in your Bible Ephesians 3:17-19 Paul prays like this for the Ephesians verse 17 that your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong because Paul knows that's where our spiritual uh strength comes from when we're rooted deep in God's love in verse 18 he prays that they may have power to understand as all God's people should how wide and how long and how wide high and how deep his love is we need to understand that the message of the Gospel tells us that despite our being more flawed and sinful than we ever dead believe we're more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we could ever dare hope verse 19 of Ephesians 3 Paul prays may you experience there's that word experience the love of Christ though it's too great to understand fully then you'll be made complete when you've understood the love of God when you've experienced for yourself then you'll have maturity with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God we need to understand and experience his love so that it transforms us from the inside out so that it fills us up so that we're ready to be used by God as we squeeze out his love we can only get to This Joy filled prayers when we experience these Heart level feelings for ourselves by spending time with the Lord and meditating on his love we don't do that we neglect to drink it in when we hear a message on prayer what do we hear you should pray more you're not praying long enough or about the right things all of those exterior things but that's not the message we need to hear the message is that if our hearts are not being filled if we haven't experienced this love then all of our prayers are going to be a duty they're all going to be a responsibility something that we should do better or more if we're being filled by the love of God if we're filling ourselves daily in his word then all of our prayers are going to be a joy-filled opportunity to speak with our loving heavenly father because we need his help and he invites us to pray Richard Foster uh said that in his uh one of his books when he's talking about prayer it's a real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love when our hearts fall in love with the father who gave His only begotten son when we soak that in then we can pray joyfill prayers like Paul so real quick let's look at the focus of his prayer in verses 9 to 11 he prays four things uh first that their love would increase in verse 9 that it would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight abounding is just overflowing Paul's prayer is not that they'd failed to love but they were loving and he's just praying that they would continue to love more and more that they'd be drinking in God's love and continuing to pour out his love and being a difference in their Community bearing witness to the love of Christ he prays that it would overflow more and more he uh would encourage the Believers in thessalonica in a similar vein when he wrote to them in 1 Thessalonians 4:10 he saidou already showing love we urge you to love them even more this is a great joyfill prayer to pray for yourself or for each other this week maybe you find yourself already reaching out in love pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you is there another step that you might need to take is there another step that maybe you could take is there someone that you could reach out in love to is there something that we could do to bring the love of Christ to bear on someone's situation or circumstances at they find themselves in right now it's a great prayer to pray it's a joyfill prayer but it's one that we can only pray as if we're taking in the love of Christ ourselves if we're soaking in it so that it's able to flow out of us notice too in verse 9 that Paul's not suggesting we rush out with random and indiscriminate acts of love that are absent any care or thought he prays that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight and in the Bible we find that love and truth are always connected which is why Paul prays that we might be able to to to discern and know as we seek to act in love real expressions of Love Are Always wise and Discerning they're they're not blind or foolish it's wise and Discerning it's why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that love doesn't Delight in evil but it rejoices with the truth or in Ephesians 4:15 where to speak the truth in love they go hand inand together Paul's joyfill prayer for the Believers in Philippi is this Lord help them overflow with the Discerning love but again that can only happen if we drink it in we got to soak in it before we can squeeze out Paul uh prays secondly for wisdom to make the best choices in verse 10 he prays uh that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and and discernment so that they may approve what is excellent so that they be pure and blameless for the day of Christ this approving of what is excellent this is a a discernment to understand it's the wisdom to see not just the difference between right or wrong but between the good and the best the excellent in our Bibles wisdom is always presented in three ways wisdom is built on this basis of humility and teachability in order to be wise you've got to be humble we've got to have this teachable uh posture of I don't know everything Lord would you teach me you know more than I do for you created me you created the world would you show me and give me wisdom so I can make wise choices and God says if we ask for wisdom he'll give it freely to all who ask in faith and believe foolishness in the Bible is also presented in three ways it's built on a base of pride and arrogance and it shows itself out in Rebellion the prideful heart is one that says you can't teach me anything you don't know anything why should I listen to you that direction you're going I'm going to go in the opposite direction that's the foolish part and the Bible calls that being stiff necked Paul prays this joyfill prayer for wisdom for the Believers in Philippi because he knows that it's important for them to know and discern what is excellent wisdom doesn't come from outside it it comes from within from a heart that is hungry for the Lord's wisdom hungry and teachable looks to the Lord to show us the best choices in life it's a great joy filled prayer to pray the third one that uh Paul prays for the Church there as he continues this uh Cascade of of of Joy filled prayer is that so they'd be pure and blameless for the day of Christ This is a prayer for perseverance in Holiness in their daily walk so that they'd be pure they'd be sincere our English word for sincere comes from this Latin phrase that's sinera it means without wax according to the oral tradition in ancient times they were UNSC scrupulous Potters who would make vessels jugs and cups and bowls and things and occasionally You' get cracks in that as you'd fire them in the Kil or whatever and so they would put wax in the crack and paint it up and sell it as good and uh soon as the buyer took the new Potter jar home and got it hot or put water hot water in it the waxed melt and you've got a cracked pot you've been ripped off and so Potters with Integrity uh the tradition goes they started stamping their products with this phrase sin sah without wax was sincere it was pure it was legit and this was Paul's joyfill prayer for the church in Philippi and it can be our prayer today as we seek to persevere in Holiness in our daily Walk With Jesus we have that posture Lord in my heart would you take out the wax so I can live with Integrity I don't want to be a hypocrite help me to be sincere to be pure and blameless for the day of Christ we need to note that this is not a command in this prayer to be perfect in our pursuit of Holiness we can't be we're freed from the power of sin but not the presence of sin it still exists we still fall and fail we're not to be perfect in our Pursuit but we're be to persist in it trust the Lord to do his work as we soak in his word as we get close to Jesus as we drink him in we walk daily in humility and wisdom and seek to live a life of Holiness in obedience to him what this might look like is before we head to bed each night we spend some time with the Lord and we just pray we ask him how did I do today Lord you if there's been a success you praise the Lord and you you go to sleep maybe the Lord reveals that something happened in your day and you made a mess of things well what do we do we don't despair do we we know that we run to him for forgiveness we confess our sin he's faithful and just to forgive us we soak it in again the Forgiveness of Christ and we pray and ask him to help us to do better tomorrow don't get discouraged or allow yourself to be tempted to give up in those times remember Paul's confidence in verse six that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ the answer to the Persistence of the pursuit of Holiness is not to do better it's to drink deeper verse 11 we see the final piece of the joyfill prayer that Paul prays and that is that they would be fruitful to the glory and praise of God Paul's prayer with joy for these Believers is because he knows from that first moment they said Yes to Jesus they've been made right in God's eyes we need that Assurance we need to drink that in we need to soak in that truth that when God looks at us he doesn't see our sin but rather he sees us in Christ's perfect righteousness we need to understand that we need to drink it in we need to experience the reality of that in our hearts because that becomes the internal motivation that we live a life of thankfulness and gratitude to all that God has done for us and thankfulness and gratitude is a great antidote when we find ourselves in the difficult and tricky circumstances of life it helps us to not get discouraged and not get dry a joyful response to the righteousness that God has given to us in Jesus Ephesians 2 uh: 10 says that we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do friends we see in these verses this morning that Paul's foundation for Joy is built on this deep understanding and experience with the unconditional love of God to us in Jesus it's a joy that's aneded in a shared gospel identity a shared gospel partnership as Paul and his fellow Christians served the Lord together on Mission with God Paul's prayer for them is that they would grow in love that they'd have wisdom to know what is best that they'd persevere in Holiness as they wait for Jesus and that bear much fruit of righteousness to the glory and praise of God we're going to close our service a little bit differently this morning we've been looking at Paul's foundation and his Focus for joyfill prayer and so we're going to give you an opportunity to do that to pray to God to pray your own joyfill prayer you don't need to do that out loud or with anyone else just in the quietness of your own heart I'd invite you to pause and ask the Lord what he might be saying to you today ask him to help you to take that next step of obedience not just listening to his word but putting into PR practice obeying what he's commanded you to do maybe you've come here today and you're feeling a little bit like that gnarly sponge dried out and lacking in Joy perhaps it's been a while since you've prayed a prayer filled with joy to the Lord the answer is not to do more to do better but to drink deeper from The Well of God's unconditional love for you perhaps if you're feeling like that narly sponge you could spend a few moments reflecting on the gospel identity that we have in Jesus and your simple prayer could just be to give thanks to God for the love that he's shown us at the cross ask him to fill you again with the knowledge of that love a deep knowledge of that love that it would revive you and and soak into you so that once again he would pour out in love for God and for his people I invite you just to close your eyes and sit quietly spend a few moments in prayer to God.