Joy To The World - A Study Of Philippians- Part 3 "Joy In Believing" Series

Joy to the world

A study of Philippians

Part 3

“Joy in Believing”

Today we continue our study of the book of Philippians

Paul’s letter of joy to the Church in the Macedonian in the city of Philippi

Paul had spent time with the people there about 10 years before he wrote this joy filled letter to them

In that time he had led many to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ

He had help the mostly Gentile believers there

Establish a church

He had mentored them

Help them establish Elders to guide them and continue in the work

In the time he had been there he had laughed and cried with them

Shared meals

Times of blessings and hardships

Now ten years later the Apostle Paul

Writes to his Brothers

Sisters and friends

Who he misses dearly

And longs to be with

To encourage them to continue in the good work

And to warn them about problems that will occur

Not if but when

The church in Philippi was just like any church anywhere and any time

It was made up of People

And people

All people are sinners

And make mistakes

And Paul was proactively helping them with future problems

But he also writes to them about Joy

He expresses his joy in spite of his present and past circumstances

Circumstances I am sure he had not counted on

And would change if he could

But in spite of the less than perfect life he lived

He still found joy beyond measure

And he desperately wanted the ones he loved to find it as well

We began this series with the “Joy in others “or” joy in relationships”

Paul showed us a pattern to help us find joy in all of our relationships

We learned that the first step is finding and focusing on Jesus

This will be a common theme through this series

Actually through our Christian lives

Let me quickly recap from Joy in relationships

First Jesus is the key

Trying to find Joy apart from Jesus is an effort in futility

We can’t get it

Happiness comes and goes

But Joy comes from the Lord and is everlasting

First

Know Jesus

Then

Give thanks to God for the people he has placed in your life

Remember the good

Forget the bad

Forgive and move on

Pray for the people in your life

Pray they will be filled with love that overflows

Pray that they will grow in knowledge and understanding

Live a pure and blameless life and set an example for others to follow

Seek him in all you do imitate him and his character

I can assure you

You will find joy in your relationships with others

God and even yourself

Next Paul explains he finds joy though serving God

And gives us another plan for finding the joy he has found

If you want to find Joy in serving God

It really is simple

Like sermon 1

Step 1 is Knowing and focusing on Jesus

We have to know the source of Joy to know joy

Then

Have tender and compassionate hearts- a servants heart we call it

Work to achieve unity in your life and in the church

Work with others with one mind and one purpose- to further and spread the Good news

Put yourself and your pride aside

Get I out of the vocabulary

And be Humble like Jesus

Putting others ahead of your self

Seeking Glory for God instead of self glory

Don’t be selfish

Don’t try and impress others

Work hard to show the fruit of your salvation/ to let your light shine

Don’t gripe and complain but do everything with a good attitude

And rejoice in your ability to serve Christ through serving others

And rejoice in their joy through serving as well

Nothing in Paul’s plans are that hard to understand

You don’t need a degree of any kind

Actually as I said last week

Many of these ideas and principals are things we should have learned in kindergarten

But he moves on to show us how he finds joy in believing

This is a key to the joy in our lives as well

As I said for the last 2 weeks

Knowing Jesus is the key to joy

And believing is the key to knowing

Please open your bibles to Philippians 3

Let me begin with verse 1

“ Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters,[a] rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.”

In real common terms

Paul says

No matter what happens

No matter the storms

No matter the wrecks

No matter the illnesses

Injuries

Losses

Rejoice in the Lord

He goes on to say

He never gets tired of Telling people about the joy he has found through Jesus