“Joy comes when we join Jesus in giving away our life without expecting anything in return.” (Wisdom Hunters)

Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, ²then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. ³In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. ⁴Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. ⁵In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.
⁶He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit.
⁷Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God.
    He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form.
During his life as a man, ⁸ he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God,
    even when that caused his death—death on a cross. ⁹So God raised him up to the most important place
    and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
¹⁰God did this so that every person will bow down to honor the name of Jesus.
    Everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow.
¹¹They will all confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and this will bring glory to God the Father.

¹²My dear friends, you always obeyed what you were taught. Just as you obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important for you to obey now that I am not there. So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God. ¹³Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it.

¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing ¹⁵so that you will be blameless and pure, children of God without any fault. But you are living with evil people all around you, who have lost their sense of what is right. Among those people you shine like lights in a dark world, ¹⁶and you offer them the teaching that gives life. So I can be proud of you when Christ comes again. You will show that my work was not wasted—that I ran in the race and won.

¹⁷Your faith makes you give your lives as a sacrifice in serving God. Maybe I will have to offer my own life with your sacrifice. But if that happens, I will be glad, and I will share my joy with all of you. ¹⁸You also should be glad and share your joy with me. (Philippians 2:1-18)

Serve God with passion, and be around those who do the same. There is joy in serving God in any circumstance. Do you see a need in the body of Christ, and jump into taking care of it?

Jesus humbled himself to become our spiritual “janitor” so He could willingly clean up all our messes. Unlimited, meaningful joy only comes through Jesus.

How to have meaningful, unlimited joy:

1. Serve in sync with each other. (See verses 1 through 2 above)-All patience and encouragement come from God. And I pray that God will help you all agree with each other, as Christ Jesus wants. (Romans 15:5)

2. Serve selflessly in humility. (See verses 3 through 4 above)-Live together in peace with each other. Don’t be proud, but be willing to be friends with people who are not important to others. Don’t think of yourself as smarter than everyone else. (Romans 12:16)

3. Serve in submission to Jesus. (See verses 5 through 11 above)- In the same way, my brothers and sisters, your old selves died and you became free from the law through the body of Christ. Now you belong to someone else. You belong to the one who was raised from death. We belong to Christ so that we can be used in service to God. (Romans 7:4)

4. Serve out your salvation. (See verses 12 through 13 above)-⁶Tell this to the brothers and sisters there. This will show that you are a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will show that you are made strong by the words of faith and good teaching you have followed. ⁷People tell silly stories that don’t agree with God’s truth. Don’t follow what these stories teach. But teach yourself to be devoted to God. (1 Timothy 4:6-7)

5. Serve and suppress your dissatisfaction. (See verses 14 through 18 above)- Brothers and sisters don’t complain against each other. If you don’t stop complaining, you will be judged guilty. And the Judge is ready to come. (James 5:9)

Christians need to outdo each other in humility in their service to others.

Use your God-given talents to build the body of Christ in unity with the ultimate goal of making known the love of Jesus.

“At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what you've done with those accomplishments. It’s about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It about what you've given back." (Denzel Washington)[i]

[i]Inspired by the sermon “Joy in Consideration: Unchained Joy” (installment three) Sunday May 31, 2020, Interim Pastor Josh Boyer, CenterPoint Church Lewis Center (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.

All verses are taken from the Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) of the Bible.