PAULSGROVE BAPTIST  CHURCH

Joy - Paul's message to the Philippians

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I wonder what gives you joy in life? The family relationships you love deeply? The money and possessions you’ve been blessed with? Your work and achievements you’re proud of?

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Are you finding joy in Jesus right now? Maybe some tough circumstances have squashed your faith in him. Perhaps you’ve been distracted by things that seem more pressing than growing in Christ. Or possibly you’ve been drifting in life, forgetting or never knowing where true joy is found.

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Paul was a man with an abundant joy from knowing Jesus. Before you think it was because his life was easy, Paul wrote this letter from prison in Rome. And he was writing to a church he’d founded a few years earlier, that was being threatened by attack from without and disunity from within. But Paul was confident because he knew that Jesus as Lord is what our hearts need above any circumstance – that he could emphatically state: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!” (4:4)

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And so, we will spend this term immersing ourselves in this letter Paul wrote to a church he loved dearly. We’ll see how our joy in Christ grows: as we are true partners in the gospel (1:5); as we are humble in living out our salvation (2:12); as we value Jesus above all things (3:8) and fix our eyes on our eternal prize (3:14); and as we fight for unity when conflict threatens to tear us apart (4:2-3).

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Let’s find joy in Christ – and work together for the cause of Christ that is the most fulfilling calling in the world!

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