Joy in all things

Transcript (Auto-generated)

All righty parents adults I hope you are listening cuz the kids have got this they've got the sermon legitimately they they've got the whole sermon I could walk down now but I'm not going to I'm going to flesh it out a little bit okay if you got your Bibles there I'll invite you to open up to Philippians 4 we're going to read verses 10 through to 23 as I mentioned today marks the close of our integrated study in Philippians and so we're going to try and wrap this up nicely we're going to try and get to the heart of what we've been been saying over the course of these weeks Philippians 4:10 reads like this says I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me you were indeed concerned for me but you had no opportunity not that I'm speaking of being in Need for I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and need I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me yet it was kind of you to share my trouble and you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the Gospel when I left Macedonia no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only even in thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again not that I seek the gift but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit I have received full payment and more I am well supplied having received from apodius the gifts you sent a fragrant offering a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God and my God Will Supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus to our God and Father be glory forever and ever amen greet every saint in Christ Jesus the brothers who are with me greet you all the saints greet you especially those of Caesar's household the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit we know that the lord always blesses the reading of his word as we've journeyed through this series in Philippians we've looked at Paul's letter and we've seen some very neat categories of how we can be joyful in certain circumstances we've looked at we I've got it up there we've looked at the topics of Joy filled prayer joy in hardship joy in humility joy in obedience joy in the Lord joy in the journey and joy when faced with conflict and anxiety and I do hope that as we've been going through this as you've been looking in your Bible studies a little bit deeper into each of these topics I do hope that over the course of the seven weeks one or two have stood out as being just that little bit more relevant of maybe it connected with where you are right now maybe it spoke to a circumstance or a situation that you were dealing with but also I wonder if as we went through this series you went something's missing all of these neat and tidy categories where Joy can be it's it's wonderful but my life's messy I want to begin here with a truth Church Life circumstances are far more complicated than the neat and focused headings that we've had over the last seven weeks okay the reality is that our lives are comp they're complex they can't be neatly categorized in fact our lives are filled with the ups and the downs but it's not just like on Monday yeah that was a good day Tuesday kind of sucked Wednesday was sort of in between and it went from there quite often our lives have ups and downs but they're interwoven they overlap right we can have something bad going on some trial some tribulation it's going on for months or years but that doesn't mean that there's not a good day in that time and so it's not clean cut our lives are compli ated and messy circumstances overlap and interweave and yet as we get to the end of Paul's letter here we see that he was aware that there was something missing because he makes a big statement he makes a big statement if you've got your Bibles there open up to Philippians 41 through2 he says this not that I am speaking of being in need he writes these words while he is in prison waiting to hear whether or not he will die and he says not that I'm speaking of being in Need for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and need in essence what Paul is saying in these couple of sentences is he's saying I have learned the secret to joy in all things no matter what circumstance I find myself in no matter what circumstance is thrown at me I have found the secret to Joy but he doesn't just stop there he doesn't say pych I'm not going to tell you he continues in verse 13 he says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me very simply Jesus is the answer the answer for joy in all things is Jesus and if you've been journeying along in this series for a little while you'll know that we've kept referring back to a definition that Tim Macky has put together of joy and it best defines biblical Joy the joy that we're talking about and he's defined joy as an attitude that God's people adopt not because of happy circumstances but because of their hope in God's love and promise our kids have already unpacked that how good that our kids know about God's love and promise that's the foundation that that's what we need to dig into if we want joy in all things in all circumstances and so to summarize very very very quickly because the kids have already done it for us God's love is that he created us he knows us he loves us so much so that even while we rebelled against him he gave us the best opportunity he said this is how I've created you to believe this is how you get the most out of life even while we went now I'm going to do it my own way I don't like that there's too many rules even while we rebelled against him he loved us so much that He sent Jesus to pay the price of our sin and his promise is that those who believe in Jesus who accept him as their lord and savior will have eternal life impact perfect relationship with God as we were designed to be and so church if we understand God's love and promise our children do if we understand God's love and promise then we're faced with a little bit of a question if Joy is found in God's unchanging love his unchanging promise that means God's not changing here so it should be consistent if Joy is found in these things then why are there times in life when I am not joyful it's a reality right there's times in life where Joy just seems to elude us and yet as we say these things it seems so simple God's love God's promise equals Joy why does it not always feel as though I have joy and I want to suggest this morning that there's two answers to this question we're probably in one of two camps if we experience this the first is we're not a Christian yet maybe you're here this morning you're just starting to wrestle with this Jesus person you're just trying to EXP law whether there is a God what does this mean what is church is it important maybe if you are a Christian here you know family or friends or work colleagues who straight up reject the love and the promise of God but church if Joy is found in God's love and promise then if we're not a Christian if we haven't grasped this if our hope isn't in God's love and promise then there is no biblical Joy now as I say this I'm conscious I'm looking around the room there's a lot of Christians in here okay and I haven't been a Christian nearly as long as some of you have but I've been a Christian for a little while okay and I was reflecting on this why is it that there's times in life where I just don't seem joyful and here's the other answer that I came up with see sometimes as Christians we can lose focus we can get distracted we can make we can still know about God's love and promise like I can look at that with my brain and go that makes sense but if I get focused on other things I can make little of God's love and promise it can become a second a third or a last priority in my life I still know it and we draw on it when it's convenient but if I lose focus that becomes problematic because if Joy is found in God's love and promise if I'm not in that space if my thoughts my actions aren't being determined through the lens of God's love and promise then Joy fleets away I don't don't wear glasses so this is a little bit of a precursor I don't wear glasses Z did offer me hers but I wanted to still be able to read and not fall off the stage mom and dad came through and it's fitting that Christmas is coming up these are my spectacles okay going to put those there what's the purpose of glasses to correct vision right glasses are to correct vision and so when it comes to glasses is this prescription doesn't change right you get your eyes tested they go this is what your eyes need to be seeing clearly we're going to put that into these lenses when you wear these you will be able to see clearly I've got that right so as I said I don't wear glasses but my prescription in these glasses okay is God's love and promise okay I want you to imagine that this side of the stage is hardship and not so great times in life and this side of the stage is really good times in life where everything's peachy and going good let me just put on my um corrective lenses okay if I get thrown down this side something really bad happens in my world okay whether it's trial or pain or suffering or whatever it be okay I'm stuck in here and I just don't know where I'm going but what am I seeing I am seeing this whole situation through the lens of God's love and promise and so as I'm in this space it is possible to have joy because rather than going man my leg hurts my back hurts this person's sick this person I've got a funeral coming up for whatever the hardship may be I'm in this space I'm still experiencing the hardship but my view looking around is this world is broken but God loves me how good is God's love how tight will I hold on to God's promise that this is temporary that actually yeah this does suck but it's not God's fault it's a consequence of sin and there's coming a day when Jesus will return where all of this will be made right how good and then all that Fades away and I get shifted over here and I get that promotion at work and things are just going really good whatever it be think of your ideal circumstance and you're here and I'm here just living my best life going wow this is amazing but I'm still seeing it all through God's love and promise so I'm seeing this and I'm going what a blessing it is to be able to do this how good is God that he's given me this to be able to use in this way to contribute to the work that he's doing and even though this is really good even though this is nice and and it's it's going well how much better is it going to be if if this is what I'm experiencing now how much better is it going to be when I get to heaven when Jesus comes again and there's the new Heaven and the new Earth but let's say for a moment I just put these down because this life it's it's so good and so I go I'm just going to take my glasses off so I can take in the blurry beauty of what I'm experiencing here you're probably not going to notice the effect straight away you might go actually I've got this really good opportunity to go jet skiing on Sunday so I'm not going to go to church that's okay God still loves me I'm just going to go and do this thing I'm just going to keep chasing that next mation because things are going really good everyone loves me how amazing and so you're going you're going you're going you're going but all of a sudden we start to look and create idols and start to put things before God I I still know God's love and promise they're right there where I put them down I still know it but I'm not viewing everything through it and then I get a phone call and it changes everything all of a sudden I've gone from that Peak to this LW and instead of viewing all of this through the lens of God's love and promise I begin to view God's love and promise through all the circumstance that I can see in front of it and so from this position it's very easy to go is God's love and promise that good I'm experiencing hardship surely God can't love me because I'm experiencing all this if God truly wanted the best for me then why am I experiencing this the problem doesn't have to do with God the problem has to do with I'm viewing God through my circumstance and not my circumstance through God's love and promise and so if Joy is found in God's love and promise then truly when we keep that in perspective we can say with confidence the words of Paul I can do all things I can endure any circumstance whether it be up here or down there I can endure all circumstances through Christ who gives me strength this side still isn't going to be easy I'm still going to feel that I'm having everything put against me but God is with me he's my comforter he is my guide and he promises that this is temporary and so what does it look like for you and I to be joyful disciples a joyful disciple is one who places their hope in God's love and promise regardless of the circumstance who believes in Jesus Christ as their lord and savior and who commits to following learning and growing in Christ and their relationship with Jesus each and every day before I finish up I've got one word of caution and that is that joyful disciple is a state of being and not a title come with me in this illustration okay let's say I wake up tomorrow and go you know what I'm done with this pastoring thing I'm wiping my hands with that I just really want to be a doctor okay let's say oh I'm not going to but let's say that happened okay the reality is I could enroll in med school I could do six or so years of study providing I passed all my subjects and at the end of that I would gain the title of doctor okay I would be Dr Dylan that wouldn't make a good TV show okay I I could gain the title of doctor and whether or not I had a bad day or a really good day and whether or not I was feeling stressed and anxious and just not sure what to do or whether I was super confident and just like yes I've got this today is going to be brilliant regardless of my circumstances I would still be Dr Dylan because it's a title joyful disciple isn't the same thing joyful disciple isn't a title it's a state of being what does that mean we can't just go okay we've done the integrated study I am now a joyful disciple wouldn't that be easy but the discipleship process means that each of us every day every hour every minute every circumstance we have a decision to make we can choose CH whether or not in this day in this hour in this minute in this circumstance that I'm confronted with whether or not I'm going to put my trust whether I'm going to put my hope in God's love and promise whether or not I'm going to walk with Jesus growing in my relationship with him seeking to follow him and grow in my relationship with him or we can choose to do it ourselves with squinted eyes and blurry vision what is the secret to joy in all things it's not really a secret Jesus told us years ago he tells each of us to tell everyone else if you want joy in all things the answer is Jesus we can choose to put our hope in God's love and promise and when we do that it is possible to say regardless of circumstances I can do all things I can endure every circumstance that life has to throw at me because God's love and promise tells me this is temporary that there is a time where all this will be sorted out where I will be in perfect relationship with God my Creator we can say I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me would you pray with me Heavenly Father we thank you for Jesus Lord we thank you for your love and for your promise Lord God that even though we don't deserve salvation even though very truly we have each rebelled against you even though very truly the penalty of that Rebellion is death we thank you for your love and promise that even while we were Sinners you sent Jesus to pay the price for our sin that graciously you've invited us back into relationship with you father God we know that our journey this side of Eternity will have its ups and downs we know that these ups and downs will interweave and overlap and that life this side of Eternity can be messy Lord we thank you that you know that as well we thank you that your promise to each of us who accepts Jesus is the gift of the Holy Spirit our comforter and guide Lord would you help us if we're sat here in a space wondering whether or not Jesus is real wondering where do I sit with this whole idea would you give us the courage to talk to a Christian friend or family member to come and see me or one of the team afterwards and Lord God for each of us who do have a faith do have Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior would you guide us in our discipleship ship Journey Lord would you help us to view all of life through your love and promise and not fall into the Trap of perceiving your love and promise through all of life Lord would you help us to keep you in Focus as we journey this side of Eternity we thank you for your love and promise in our Liv lives and we ask that you would lead us and guide us as we walk obediently in step with Christ in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.