Paul and
Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who
are at Philippi, with the elders and deacons:
2 Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God with every remembrance of you,
4 (always, in all my prayers for all you, praying with joy),
5 because of the fellowship which you have in the Gospel, from
the first day until now.
6 And I am persuaded of this same thing: that He who has begun
this good work in you will perfect it until the Day of Jesus Christ;
7 just as it is right for me to think this way of you all,
because I have you in my heart, since both in my chains and in the defense and
confirmation of the Gospel you all were fellow partakers of grace with me.
8 For God is my witness how I long after you all with the
affection of Jesus Christ.
9 And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more
in knowledge and in all judgment;
10 so that you may test those things which are better; that you
may be pure and without offense until the Day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness which is by Jesus
Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:1-11, Revised Geneva Translation, RGT)
Joy is not an emotion like
happiness, but a life attitude given to you by God.
Joy is shared not taught.
Once you are a Christian you can
have confidence you belong to God.
Our
job is to share our joy with our community.
Joy is a by-product of genuine fellowship.
You will have joy…
1.
Knowing Who owns you. (See verses 1 through
2 above)
2.
Knowing Who partners with you. (See
verses 3 through 5 above)
3.
Knowing Who perfects you. (See verse
6 above)
4.
Knowing Who loves you. (See verses 7
through 8 above)
5.
Knowing who cannot blame you. (See
verses 9 through 11 above)
Jesus made you blameless. “ In other words, God was using
Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s
faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships
to tell others.” (2 Corinthians 5:19, GOD’S WORD Translation, (GW)
Christians must not allow Satan to steal
their joy, and replace it with spitefulness. “Control yourselves and be
careful! The devil is your enemy, and he goes around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to attack and eat.” (1 Peter 5:8, Easy-to-Read Version ERV)
“Joy
is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life,
the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and
the determined choice to praise God in all things.” (Kay Warren) [i]
[i] The church of Philippi was established in 51AD. Paul
was 700 miles from Philippi when he wrote this letter from a prison in Rome.
Also used: “Letter of Paul to the Philippians” by Encyclopaedia Britannica
Inspired by the sermon “Joy
in Community: Unchained Joy” (installment one) Sunday May 17, 2020,
Pastor Jon Fulton, CenterPoint Church Westerville (All CenterPoint churches are
closed due to the Coronavirus, and are meeting online.) Join us every Sunday
morning at 10am at the CenterPoint Church Main Page on Facebook.
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