main passage read and expounded through the message
12 Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News;
13 so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ;
14 and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will.
16 The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains;
17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News.
18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice.
19 For I know that this will turn out to my salvation, through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit from my work; yet I don’t know what I will choose.
23 But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
24 Yet, to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
25 Having this confidence, I know that I will remain, yes, and remain with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
26 that your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again.
27 Only let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News;
28 and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
29 Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf,
30 having the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear is in me.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from the second week in a study of Philippians, working through chapter one, verses 12 through 30. The preacher traced the theme of joy running through the letter, defining it not as a feeling but as "the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives no matter what." The passage was read against the backdrop of Paul writing from prison, and the congregation was invited to hear it as something alive and relevant right now, not as ancient history.
What was said
The preacher opened by establishing what joy means in Philippians. Three definitions were offered, each pointing in the same direction: joy is the recognition of God's grace and favor, it is a confident assurance of His love and work no matter the circumstances, and where happiness depends on happenings, joy depends on Jesus. The point was that this kind of joy is deeper than feeling good, and that the rest of the chapter is simply the evidence of it spilling out of Paul's life.
Paul was in prison, people around him were preaching with selfish motives, and his own life was uncertain. The preacher noted that what should look like a disaster, Paul reads as an opportunity. The whole palace guard heard the gospel because Paul was there. The believers around him grew bolder, not in spite of his imprisonment but because of it. The line drawn was that God does not waste any of it, hard or easy, and a song by Jason Gray, "Nothing Is Wasted," was referenced to put that in plain terms.
On the question of preachers with bad motives, the preacher paused. Paul's response was simply that Christ is being preached, and that is enough to rejoice over. The preacher was honest that this is a hard posture to hold, but held it up as evidence of how full Paul was. A joy that deep does not have room to be offended by someone else's impure motives. The question it raises for the church is whether Jesus is being preached, and if so, to receive that.
Verse 21, "to live is Christ, to die is gain," was handled plainly. The preacher did not soften it or turn it into a slogan. Paul was torn between living, which meant more fruitful work for the church, and dying, which meant being with the Lord. What made that statement possible was not a personality trait but the tight-knit relationship Paul had with Jesus. The preacher was direct that this does not always describe him personally, and that Philippians reads as a real challenge, not just a comfort.
The closing section of the chapter, the call to live as citizens of heaven, was read as a call to unity. Standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, was held up as what it actually looks like to be a citizen of heaven. The preacher named the pressure pulling against that, saying the enemy has been working overtime to divide, and that the unity of the church body is itself a sign to those who oppose it.
After the sermon, three members of the congregation shared. One spoke about the parable of the man who sold everything to buy the field, connecting it to what it means to be all in with Christ rather than dipping a toe in. Another offered a firsthand account of walking through a spouse's stage four cancer diagnosis, describing how joy and peace were visible enough in the oncology unit that other patients asked how they did it. A third reflected on the privilege of suffering mentioned in verses 29 and 30, and what it means to share even a small part of what Christ endured.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The message offered this definition of joy: 'the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives that he will be there no matter what.' How does that definition land with you, and where does it differ from what you usually think of as happiness?
Paul says in Philippians 1 that his imprisonment actually helped spread the good news, and the preacher connected that to the idea that 'nothing is wasted' in God's hands. Can you think of a hard season in your own life where you later saw God using it in a way you did not expect?
Next next learning to play the guitar. Oh, really? Yeah.
Yep. Go to worship.
Yep. Worship team. It'll come up in just a second.
Check. Check. Check. There it is.
So far so good. How
about multiplied? Okay. Multiply to Stand Amazed, Graves and Gardens?
I already know this.
Yes. It's all. Really? Yeah. I'm funny too.
They're all in e. Yes. Well,
good evening, everybody. How are you? Good to see you on a Monday. I I really am. I'm thankful for this little worship gathering, and I'm glad to see each and every one of you here.
I really am. And, in fact, I wanna just start by giving thanks. God, we are grateful. I'm thankful for each person here. And as we get into the scripture tonight, and, you say to be unified in spirit and purpose, to live as citizens of heaven, I I just pray that that that would make a big impression on us, that, it would it would cause us to to continue to meet together as the body of Christ and recognize one another's gifts, how to to love one another, to build one another up, to glorify you, and and see your kingdom advance.
That's the goal. In Jesus' name. Amen. Welcome to another Monday night. And and a big thank you to Scotty back there for helping serve.
And Nick had some great peach... Pizza choices this evening and ordered some pizza. And, we're now in the book of Philippians, and it's it's my favorite book right now too. It's really good. And it's also conversation style.
So, you know, I'll share the scripture a little bit to share a few thoughts, but at the end, I've I've opened it up to to where if there's a a a little word of encouragement or something from the scripture that grabbed ahold of you that, could encourage the rest of the church, to be able to share that. So, before we get there, though, how about we worship in song together? That sound alright? So by singing, multiplied from Psalm 63, it's because your love is better than life itself, my lips will glorify you. That's a deep love that God has for us.
God, as we sang to surrender to your design, but I think of your design as your love and your brand of love, your self giving others focused love. God, may we experience more of that. We see a lot of times love displayed in the wrong way, but God, you display it in just the right way. So God, may we experience that and show it.
Amen. Amen.
But we need you and we need your Holy Spirit through us and in us to have that kind of love, that sacrificial self giving kind of love that you show us. Thank you for it. Thank you for mercy. Thank you for grace. Amen.
Ages. Sing of his love for me. How marvelous. How wonderful. And my song shall ever be.
How marvelous. How wonderful is my savior's love. Oh, my savior's love.
Amen. Here's another song that I wanna sing with you, Graves to Gardens, but I want you to listen to this psalm because this is something that only God can do in its fullness. That he says in the psalm, you've turned my morning into joyful dancing. Imagine that. But that is what God can do.
That's what God does. You've taken away my clothes of mourning, and you've clothed me with joy. And so when we sing, you you turn mourning to dancing. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame in the...
Glory. You're the only one who can. It it really... Really is the only one who can do that.
It couldn't fill me. Man's empty praise, treasures that fail, they're not enough. Then you came along and put me back together. Every desire is now satisfied here in your love. There's nothing better.
Oh, there's nothing better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. Oh, there's nothing. Nothing is better than you. Well, I'm not afraid to show you my weakness.
But failures have caused, Lord, you've seen them all. You still call me friends. Who's the God of the mountain? Who's the God of valley? There's not a place your mercy and grace won't find me again.
Oh, there's nothing better than you, Lord. There's nothing better than you, Lord. There's nothing. Nothing is better than you, and you turn. You turn moaning to dancing.
Him. You give beauty for our shaves. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one who can. You turn graves into guardians.
You turn bones into armies. And you turn season to highways. You're the only one you're the only one you're can. Oh, there's nothing. Let's sing.
Better than you, though there's nothing. Better than you, though there's nothing. Nothing is better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you.
There's nothing. Nothing is better than you.
Hey, Ben. You can have a seat here for a moment. I love that song. I really do. Because what it...
What we're singing about is how God can make us whole, like complete whole. I really appreciate that. So Nick, I don't have a clicker, but it would be okay if I just... Oh, you? It's like a little Christmas present just for me.
Alright. So here we go. Week two in Philippians. Tonight, we're in chapter one verses 12 through 30. Here are the headings in my Bible.
Paul's joy that Christ is preached, Paul's life for Christ, and then a call as citizens of heaven. So those are the heading, those those three little topics. But I wanna show you this. The theme of joy comes up over and over and over again in Philippians, and I just love it. Here's how joy is defined in in Philippians.
The awareness of God's grace, his favor, or it's grace recognized, that we recognize the grace of God. Okay? That makes sense? Definition for joy. Here's another definition.
Okay? Joy is the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives that he will be there no matter what. Isn't that a good definition of joy? I love that definition. Here's even another one.
Okay? Another way to say it. Whereas happiness depends on happenings, joy depends on Jesus. And I think that's what I'm seeing over and over and over again in Philippians that joy, number one, it's possible. And it's not just all about happiness and feeling so yay inside, but it's rather...
It could... It goes so much deeper than that. It's recognizing God's favor. It's that quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work no matter what, even in the hard stuff. That's joy.
And what I see in the rest of chapter one here, it's just the evidence of it. It's just spilling out onto the page. So Paul's in prison. People are preaching with bad motives. Paul's life is hanging in the balance.
And you go, woah, that sounds awful. And yet Paul goes, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. And I need to hear that church. I really do because there are sometimes I think, it's not gonna be okay.
It's not gonna be okay. And I'm and I'm hearing Paul and hearing he's going, it's gonna be okay, guys. If you know Jesus and you have a real relationship with him, it's gonna be alright. It's gonna be alright. He's speaking with a quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work no matter what.
God is doing this right here. This was what we studied the last in the first chapter, first part of the chapter. I am certain that God who began the good work is gonna continue the good work until it's finished. He began it. It's continuing.
It's gonna be finished. When? When Jesus comes again. And the rest of chapter one, it's just an affirmation of truth. We're gonna see, oh, yeah, I see what he's talking about here in his own life.
So... And as we read through Philippians, my hope is always, always, always, always, when we open up the word, that it will translate to our lives. I'm not just sharing this as ancient history. I'm sharing this as something that is real and valuable right now. Right now.
Where we can say, yeah, I know that this might be going wrong or that's going wrong. This isn't an ideal situation. But God has begun the good work. He's going to continue that good work. And he is gonna finish that good work.
I am sure and certain of it. That's my hope. When we read Philippians, that we go, oh, we're not just reading about some church way back when. We're reading about how this means something to us right now. You're with me?
So here it is, the rest of chapter one, Philippians one twelve to 30. Here's here's what it says. And I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, everything that's happened to me right here has helped spread the good news For everyone here, what's he talking about? Including the whole Pavsgar, where? Knows that I'm in chains because of Christ.
He's in prison. 14. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear. Woah. It's true.
Some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry, but others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me, for they know that I've been appointed to defend the good news. Verse 17. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.
Now, catch this. Catch what he says. Verse 18. But that doesn't matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way.
And so I do what? I rejoice. And I'll continue to rejoice for I know that as you pray for me, the spirit of Jesus helps me, and this will lead to my deliverance. Verse 20. For I fully expect and hope that I'll never be ashamed, but that I'll continue to be bold for Jesus as I have in the past, and I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ whether I live or die.
Now catch this. For me, Paul says, living means living for Christ. Dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for the church... For...
Excuse me, for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between the two desires. I long to be with Jesus. That'd be far better for me.
But for your sake, it's better that I continue to live. Verse 25. Knowing this, I'm convinced I'll remain alive so that I can continue to help you grow and experience the joy of your faith, church. And when I come to you again, you'll have even more reason to take pride in Christ because of what he's doing through me. Here's verse 27.
Above all, live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the good news about Jesus. Then, whether I come and see you again or I only hear about you, I'll know that you're standing together. Think this is what it means to be a citizen of of heaven, is that as a church body, we're standing together with one spirit and purpose fighting together for the faith, which is the good news. Verse 28. Don't be intimidated by your enemies.
It'll be a sign to them that they're gonna be destroyed, but that you're going to be saved even by God himself. For you've been given not only the privilege of trusting Jesus, listen to this, but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together. You've seen me struggle in the past. You know I'm still in the midst of it.
I'm gonna stop there for right now. Pray first, share a few thoughts, and then open it up. God, that we would have this firsthand experiential knowledge like like Paul did of you, of joy, that recognition of your grace, your favor, no matter what the circumstances. How does that come? It comes through a life giving relationship with you.
And God, that we would live as citizens of heaven, standing together, one spirit and purpose, fighting together for the faith, the good news of your love and forgiveness. Jesus' name. Amen. So here's here's what grabbed ahold of me in the rest of this chapter. It's just the evidence, the evidence of Paul's joy.
No matter what, when he's in prison, when people are preaching with bad motives, when his life is just hanging in the balance, he he could live or die. He he doesn't know. And still, he speaks with this quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work no matter what. Why is that? How is that?
Because he knows Jesus. He knows Jesus so personally. So tight knit in his relationship with the Lord that it gives him joy, a confident, quiet assurance no matter what. Isn't that amazing? Guys, I'm a work in progress because this this doesn't always describe me.
And I I don't know where you're at, but this doesn't always describe me. I think sometimes panic, fear, you know, whatever it is. And and yet, God, I know this is possible because I'm seeing. I'm reading it right here. And it's absolutely true and evident as as he's pouring out these words.
Let's start with verse 12 here. I want you to know everything that's happened to me here, it's helped spread the good news. Now think about that for a second. Everything that's happened to me here. What's everything?
He's in prison. Including him being in a bad place, help spread the good news of Jesus' love and forgiveness. God used all of it. Can I just? You know, real world, real life example.
God uses all of it. There's a song that I like from Jason Gray. It's called nothing is wasted. And part of the chorus is in the hands of our redeemer, nothing is wasted. God does not waste our experiences, good or bad.
And he uses everything, I'll say, especially the hard stuff. Not just when things are going really good, but when things are going not good at all. And you can't see out of it. He's using that. He began the good work.
He's continuing the good work. And he will finish the good work. He's at work. Eric Watt. Do you know Eric Watt?
One of our our missionary guys. I love hearing from him. And, his his story comes to mind when I think of this. He was, in The Middle East. He's sharing the gospel.
There are those who are opposed against the gospel. And one of them was like, I'm gonna poison that dude. And he did. He poisoned Eric. Eric, he he almost didn't make it.
He got so violently sick, so ill because because he was just saying what it says, doing this right here. And he survived. And later, do you know, he met this guy. He met him. And you know what happened to that dude?
He became a Jesus follower. Ain't that incredible? He became a believer. Eric told me yesterday, he goes, yeah, that guy's planting churches now. Everything, guys, including being poisoned.
It helps spread the good news. Now, I know that Eric wouldn't have chosen that. None of us would. Do you want bad things to happen to you? No.
Do I want bad things to happen to me? No. I don't. But I'm telling you, God uses absolutely everything. In Paul's case, the whole palace guard, they heard about the gospel because he was stuck in prison.
And he was like, well, I guess I'll share here then. And they came to know Jesus or at least heard about him. The believers there, the church, they gained even more confidence. They're like, hey. If Paul's doing this from prison, I'll share.
And so they start sharing boldly. You know what I mean? Guys, we don't go through a lot of this stuff. We don't go through a lot of that stuff right here. There's not a lot of opposition.
But I could guarantee you that if there were, and I'm not asking for it. I'm not asking for it. But if there were, I know that we would band together. I know that it would become even more bold. Because we have some worth sharing.
Point here, nothing is wasted. God can and does use trials for a purpose. Every single one of them. In the hands of our redeemer, nothing's wasted. And so I would encourage us in light of this, when we hear this, that it would cause us to look at our trials in a different way.
Can I pray on that for a moment? God, I want to ask that you would give us a new perspective. Maybe one that we don't even have right now. And nothing is wasted. That you use all things as a means.
You began, you'll continue, you'll finish the good work. The good news has still got to go out there. God, use those trials that we would grow closer to you, that they would not demolish us, smush us to the ground, but that we can keep going in you and even have joy. And that we would use those trials as an opportunity to, number one, grow closer to you, but also, God, to point others to you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Verse 15 through 19. Here, there they are. I won't dissect every one of them. We don't need to. The idea is some are preaching with bad motives.
Some are preaching with good motives. But, again, because Paul was so filled up with joy, he says, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter whether their motives, they're false or genuine, Jesus is being preached. I looked at that and I had to go, but they're... No.
He's like, doesn't matter. Whether it was false or genuine, they're hearing Jesus. Maybe that should should kind of kinda get us thinking a little bit too. You know what I mean? Because sometimes there's the church wars and why don't...
And they're this and... Is Jesus being preached? Is Jesus being preached? His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, is it being preached that forgiveness is through him and him alone, that we can have new life through him? I'm good with that.
I'm good with that. But I'm seeing this this theme over and over again, joy, the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work no matter what. Here's verse 20. I fully expect and hope I'll never be ashamed, but that I'll continue to be bold as I have in the past. What does bold mean?
Confident. Bold resolve. Here... Here's more of a definition. Leaving a witness that something deserves to be remembered.
That got me. Ain't that good? So in my own words, he's going, I'm not ashamed of the good news of the gospel because it's something that deserves to be remembered. So I'm gonna boldly share it because it deserves to be remembered. In verse 21, it shows us just how deep that conviction is.
For me, living means living for Christ and dying is even better. Or another translation, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Isn't that wild? We read that and go, oh, wow. That...
That's intense. Are you serious? You better believe he is serious. For Paul, it came from a deep down conviction of God's love and work no matter what. If he lived, he could do some more fruitful work.
If he died, he'd be with the Lord. He was torn between the two. This... The the... It really shouldn't come as a surprise that he said this.
In such a tight knit relationship with Jesus, he's like, hey, Lord, my my faith's in your hands. But verse 25, he was convinced that he'd remain alive so the church would grow and experience the joy of their faith. All I see Paul is just going, here, I wanna pass this on to you. Here you go. Here you go, church.
I'm filled up, and I'm spilling out. Here you go. Here you go. Here you go. God so filled them with joy, that recognition of his grace.
He wanted to keep pouring out on the Philippians, and he did. He got to. That's that's what the Lord said. Yep. Not yet, Paul.
And so he writes a letter, and here we're reading it today. Verse 27. Above all, live as citizens of heaven. Conduct yourselves in a matter worthy of the good news about Jesus. So in other words, live in a matter that matches the value of the gospel.
And how do we do that? Well, I think it's it's shown right in here what it means to live as a citizen of heaven, that we stand together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the good news. Church, this is where it can be really, really hard because we're living in a time and place where we're, right, rather than to be like this. And he's saying, guys, I want you to be unified. I want you to be unified.
I know that you have differences in opinion here. But what's really important is that you stand together with one spirit and purpose fighting together for the faith. For what? For faith. It can be kind of sad some of the other things that we fight for, isn't it?
Fighting for faith, for belief, for trust. It's a call for unity, especially under persecution. That's why in verse 28, he says, don't be intimidated by your enemies. Because the unity of your church, the closer you are together, it's gonna be a sign that your enemies, that opposition is gonna lead to destruction for them. It's gonna be no good for them.
But if you stay unified, you'll be saved. Wow. God, that you would bring us closer together. Lord, we all have differences even in the... In this room.
We all differences opinion and how things should go and how things should work and this and that. But Lord, would you bring us together closer? Would you give us grace for one another? When we enter this room, we we we lay down those those differences and put them aside and really work toward this common purpose in this goal, which is to make you known, to make the gospel known, your good news of love and forgiveness. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Ending with, twenty nine and thirty. You've been given not only the privilege of trusting Jesus, but the privilege of suffering for him too. And we're in this struggle together. He's saying, this is a privilege.
To be a believer and follower of Jesus is a privilege. To trust in him is a privilege. To suffer for him. Now, that's a hard one, isn't it? To suffer for him is a privilege.
And we're in this together. He goes, you're not alone. We're in this together. And that's just the first chapter. Isn't this good so far?
So a few key takeaways. I'm wrapping it up here. God uses all things. He uses all things, good and bad both to advance the gospel. He'll do it.
Being in prison had to be awful. Yet, God used that to bring the the gospel the gospel to the palace guard. Who knows whether they would have heard it otherwise? You know, just think about that for a second at your work. When you think, they'll figure it out.
Will they? Will they know the gospel? If you don't say anything about it, will they know? Something to consider. But it also empowered those believers even more...
To be even more bold. So God used all things. Another takeaway I see is the importance of unity in the in the body, in the church to stay unified. I feel like the enemy has really been working overtime to to tear us apart. And and what I see here is to be a citizen of heaven is to live in community with one another.
One spirit, one purpose, fighting together for the faith. Because in chapters two and three, we're gonna see that when Jesus returns, we'll know that doing all this right here was never in vain. The work was not useless because we've gained Jesus, and we've experienced the mighty power that raised him from the dead. More on that later. More on that later.
But for tonight, know that God does indeed use all things, all of our experiences, good and bad, both, to advance the gospel. God, that we would be paying attention. That our unity in Christ is important. God, that you would bring us closer together to give grace for one another. And then there's one more, that joy, the recognition of God's grace, his favor, it is possible.
I think that's one of my biggest takeaways in Philippians is I'm going, oh, it's actually possible to have joy. This is attainable. Church, how is it attainable? It's attainable when we know Jesus And not just know about him, but we have a relationship. We are talking with him.
We're praying to him. We're enjoying his company all day, every day. He's with us. He's closer than a brother. Because of that, we can have a quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work no matter what.
So that's what I got from Philippians. I'd like to pray. Open it up. If there's if there's a little word of encouragement, a verse that just just hits you, I'd I'd love for you to be able to share it, or even a little testimony of how this relates to your life. So let...
Let's pray first. Lord, I I do thank you for a new perspective in Philippians that we can have joy, this quiet, confident assurance no matter what that you're working. You began the good work. You'll continue good work. You'll finish the good work.
God, would you help us? We need you to be able to walk worthy, to live as citizens of heaven. We do. We we really need you to stand together in one spirit and purpose and fighting together for the faith. So that when you return, not if, but when you return, we'll know this race that we're running right now is not in vain.
In Jesus' name, amen. So what do you think? Would anybody be willing to share thought verse that's related to Philippians tonight? Nick, would you? Yeah.
Check.
Check. There we go. So what struck me on this is like, how can somebody be optimistic in the midst of all this this calamity he goes through. And it struck me, you have to be all in with Christ. You know?
You have to, like, really put all your faith, and you can't be on the outskirts and... Because you wouldn't trust God to do these things and be like, well, all of this was for good if you were just, like, dipping your toe in. You know? The the the parable of, you know, the kingdom of God being like a man, finding treasure on a land, selling everything he has to buy that land and get that treasure. And that's what we're called to do, is to sell everything we have to to give it all up for the Lord and to hold on to that treasure because then we know that we'll we'll see that, his faithfulness from then on.
That even though it may cost us a little arm and a leg or, like, imprisonment or whatever the case may be, we gain that we gain that, assurance of his love and that conviction because we know he's got the control. That he's... Things are better off in his in his in his court, you know. It's it's better off with him. So I think that's that's what was striking me is that like so much of Christianity is it's about letting go.
And as we get closer to Christ...
Isn't it?
It's so hard.
Yeah. Yeah. Rather than just living like this to kinda... To go, maybe not that one yet quite yet, you know? But but we see in here the reward is when we really do let go.
Yeah. And that's when we get closer to him too. It's when we when we start really living is for Christ. It's when we start letting go and opening back up. And that's a daily practice too.
Help Yes. Lord help us. None of us are there Yep.
Any others?
Bear with me. Few of you know some of my story.
Yeah. But
Monique and Mary Beth knew my late wife. And the testimony that she had to be born again and four years later to be diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. They say you don't find an atheist in a foxhole. They're pretty rare in an oncology unit too. And thirty seven days of treatment spread over a year and a half there.
We had joy by that definition. We had peace in Christ. We had his comfort, his love. And it was evident. I don't know if any of you are familiar with the oncology unit here, but you have eight patients being treated at the same time this far away.
And it's hard to have hope there. And they could hear us playing Farkle or cribbage, laughing, giggling, teasing each other. And they'd be like, how do you do it? How do you do it? And she would bear her testimony.
And through that, it built my faith. Seeing her faith knowing that she was gonna be okay helped me know that I was gonna be okay. And the... All these verses speak totally to that. You can have joy.
You can have you can have it all life through Jesus right there every day. Just for the taking.
Thank you for sharing that, Tom. And and that right there, I mean, that is... That's a that's a testimony right there. That is a a very, very real testimony of this. That's the real life right here.
It's hard and as difficult going through that. Wouldn't ask it. Wouldn't wish it on anybody. And yet and yet having joy. Only God.
Only. Yep. Yeah. Anybody else? Anybody else on Philippians?
I feel like I've been to church today, guys. Joni, do you have one? Yeah. Please.
Yeah.
Well, I'm just I'm just on that suffering thing. I think it's just... We're... It is. Like, he says in the...
In this book or... Yeah. That chapter. The suffering for Christ is really what we we need to do because, you know, if we don't and do it at all, it's just we don't know... Wouldn't know Christ at all because that's what his life really was.
He he just suffered so much when he does... Was being crucified and everything, it was for us. But then... So then, you know, when when we have even just some little thing, our finger got cut or something. You know, that's a big...
Can be a big deal for really... I don't know. But anyhow, just that Mhmm. Is just a little bit
Mhmm.
Of what he's done, and it just goes on and on. Yep. If the... Yeah. If suffering doesn't happen, which I know it does to everybody in some way It's...
You know, if we don't know anything at all, then it's... We don't... We're not at all close to Christ. We don't know anything of what he has done or, yeah, what he's doing for us just today. I mean, let let us...
Yeah.
So
Thank you for sharing that, Joni. And as you say that, I think, yeah. Would we ask for it? Absolutely not. And is this absolutely backwards?
You know, like when we read this, go, are you serious? No, they are. It is. And we're hearing real life testimony of it.
That's right.
Have you got another thought there?
Just a simple one.
First of
all, I wanna say thank you for preaching. So beautiful. I felt you on fire. Thank you. But I love this statement right here.
Joy, the recognition of God's grace. His favor is possible in all things. I really like that.
Thank you.
And indeed, God is with us no matter where we are. Amen.
No matter what. No matter what. We're going see it over and over again in Philippians. Love it. Yep.
Thank you for sharing, everybody. I just appreciate it. Should we sing again? Let's let's end with a let's end with a a joyful song. I mean, it is too.
It's let the redeemed. The verse is... Do I have it on there? Well, it's it's from a Psalm. It says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
But in other words, what it's saying is, if God has made a difference in your... Let it be known. Let it be known. Let the redeemed say so.
Brought me into streams river of living water. Turned my bitter into sweet, not my burden to lift it. It took the shackles off my feet. There's the sound alive there, a captive set free. Let the redeemed of those say so.
Sing up his promises evermore. Or I'm thankfulness that he don't overflow. Let the redeemed old Lord say so. And there is joy in the morning. It's bringing up in my soul.
There is not where to live. Because he calls me his own days of hallelujah after sweet victory. And there's no sound out there that the captives set free. Evermore. For I'm thankfulness, let it overflow, let the redeemed of the Lord say soul.
He's our deliver. Let's sing.
You are my deliverer, the freedom I'm living in. You are my deliverer, you are my promise there. Oh, you are my deliver. The freedom I'm living there. You are my deliver.
Why my promise there? No. The redeemed of the Lord say so. Sing of his promises, remember more. Pour out your thankfulness.
Oh, that he'd overflow. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. One more.
Amen. Amen. Lord, that we would, knowing... To be known by you and loved by you isn't isn't enough. And that's what I see in the scriptures that it it really isn't enough that in word, indeed, would you help us to be gospel bearers, gospel carriers where we're at so that others would know the freedom and life that you give to us, that life is better with you, that we can be made whole, and we can have real joy in you.
Above all, live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the good news about Jesus. Amen.
