Finding Joy In The Dark Series

I hope that since we gathered together last time that your week has been filled with perfect people, perfect circumstances, a stream of positivity coming from your favorite news source. But just in case that is not reality for some of you, you are in luck. Here’s why. We are beginning a new series today and we’re actually going to revisit a book that we preached through eight years ago – the book of Philippians.

And the reason is not because we’re out of new ideas or that there’s a shortage of things to teach in the Bible. The reason is very simple…Philippians is known as the “Epistle of Joy” and I think joy is in incredibly short supply in the world that we live in. I think there is an abundance of fear, worry, anxiety, unrest, anger, depression and hopelessness. And if you look around, that is understandable. But what Philippians reminds us of is that joy was never meant to be discovered in the circumstances of a fallen world. And I think for many of us, me included, this current cultural season has been so difficult that we are living out of what FEELS to be true, as opposed to what IS true…and the end result of living through our feelings is the resulting lack of joy.

And throughout this series, I am going to ask you to do something that I normally do not do because it feels like self-promotion and following Jesus should be a lifestyle of self-denial. But I think joy is so elusive right now in our world, that I want you to work hard at sharing this series of message by all means possible on social media – not so that we can become better known, but so that Jesus, the source of our joy, can become better known. So turn with me this morning to Philippians chapter 1. Right at the start, please know that in this series, we are going to teach in more of an overview format as opposed to preaching through every verse. We could easily spend 13-14 Sundays in this small book, but we’re going to try to fly at a higher level than normal and so we’re only going to spend 7-8 weeks studying Philippians. This morning I want us to walk through the first eight verses together.

Philippians 1:1-11

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 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. 7 It is right for me to feel this way 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. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

We have only read the first part of chapter 1 and I am already encouraged by the truths contained in it. The reason that Philippians is called the “Epistle of Joy" is because the word “joy” or “rejoice” is used 16 times in just four chapters. But if you are new to the book of Philippians, you may not have an appreciation for just how incredible this book is at it relates to the subject of joy. And what I mean by that, is the words are not as powerful if you are unaware of the context of the book of Philippians. Let me give you the cliff notes. Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul. The reason that I know that is because I have an undergrad and graduate degree in Bible…but really because I read verse 1. Timothy is referenced in verse 1 because he also had a part in the organization of this church.

Philippi was a Roman colony. After the Battle of Philippi, some Roman soldiers were ordered to live there by the government so the residents of Philippi enjoyed the full benefits of Roman citizenship which will help us in understanding some of the terminology in later chapters. The apostle Paul, the human author of Philippians was living on house arrest because the gospel that he was preaching was causing some disruption to the authority of the Roman government. But instead of an ankle monitor for house arrest, Paul was chained to a Roman soldier that changed guard with other soldiers three times per day and Paul was never allowed to be more than a chain’s length away from the soldier on duty.