Joy That Breaks Through! - P2

Great day at a2...

Here's the set list from this morning's worship experience:

Where The Spirit of the Lord Is by Chris Tomlin
Dancing Generation by Matt Redman
I Want The Joy by Rita Springer
Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King by Gateway

This morning's worship experience also included a special time of commissioning for Nick Johnson who will be leaving this week for DTS (Discipleship Training School) with Youth With A Mission in Ensenada, Mexico. You can follow Nick’s journey @ NickIsInMexico.blogspot.com.

On Our Side by Chris Tomlin

At the end of the service we went back into a reprise of "On Our Side."

Here are the extended notes from this morning's message...


Joy That Breaks Through! (Part 2)
Philippians: Finding Joy In A Broken World – Part 3
September 19, 2010 • Chris Goins

“Joy is a deep, abiding sense and the confident expectation that God is with me, that God is for me, and that our sovereign God is working everything together for my ultimate good and His great glory!”

THOUGHT: Joy is a choice… It flows out of a person’s deep and abiding, sometimes even quite confidence in God… That God is at work… That God is in FULL CONTROL… And that God is smack dab in the middle of whatever has happened, is happening and will happen… Regardless of what’s going on in your life, you can CHOOSE JOY…


Joy That Breaks Through:
Philippians 1:1-19

1. Joy begins with an understanding of our identity.

Philippians 1:1-2, This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

Chuck Swindoll says the word it means, “One bound to another…by the bands of constraining love… One in such close relationship to another that only death could break the bond… Someone whose will is swallowed up in the will of God… And someone who serves Christ…with reckless abandon, not regarding his or her own interests…”


Philippians 1:1-2b, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, including the elders and deacons. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Greek word translated saint means "separated," "unique," "different," or "set apart," and could be translated "holy."

Paul wasn’t writing to dead martyrs, canonized saints, or a group recognized as the super spiritual or radically pious. He was writing to everyday, ordinary, normal people like you and me who had experienced the amazing grace of God…


2. Joy thrives when I choose gratitude and thankfulness over preoccupation with self.

Philippians 1:3-5 (NLT), Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.


3. Joy is sustained by firm confidence in God and His extravagant grace.

Philippians 1:6-7 (ESV), 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.


Stuff That Can Steal Our Joy:

• The influence of Satan and spiritual warfare (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8).

John 10:10 (ESV), The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV), Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

• An inadequate understanding of the sovereignty of God.

Example: Genesis 32 (Jacob Wrestling with an Angel)

Genesis 32:31, The sun rose as he left Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Genesis 47:31, …Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Hebrews 11:21, It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.

• The lingering presence of unconfessed sin (Psalm 51).

Psalm 51:7-9 (NLT), Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. 9 Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.

Psalm 51:10-11 (NLT), Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirits from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

• Emotional and physical exhaustion (Elijah – 1 Kings 18-19).

• Giving in to worry, stress, anxiety and fear.

• The tendency to fall back into a “works based righteousness” instead of “betting the entire farm” on the extravagant grace of God (Philippians 1:6-7).

Philippians 1:6-7 (ESV), 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.


4. Joy is strengthened by God-honoring, life-giving, “tried-in-the-trenches, been-through-the-fire” relationships.

Philippians 1:7-8 (ESV), 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.

Philippians 1:7a (NLT), So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart.

Philippians 1:8 (NLT), God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.


5. Joy increases when prayer becomes more than my personal “to do list” for God, but is also focused on seeing God’s activity in the lives of other people.

Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT), I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.


Praying For Other People:

• Pray that their love will overflow (v. 9).

Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT), I pray that your love will overflow more and more…

• Pray that they will make wise decisions (vs. 9-10).

Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT), I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters…

• Pray that they will do the right thing (v. 10).

Philippians 1:10 (NLT), For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return.

• Pray that they will become the right kind of person (v. 11).

Philippians 1:11 (NLT), May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

• Pray that they will live for the glory of God (v. 11)!

Philippians 1:9-11 (NLT), …this will bring much glory and praise to God.


6. Joy resists discouragement and sideline, “not-even-in-the-game” distractions. It stays focused on what ultimately matters.

Philippians 1:12 (ESV), I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel...

Philippians 1:13-14 (NLT), For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's messages without fear.


E. Stanley Jones, missionary to India, made the following statement:

“Don’t bear trouble. Use it. Take whatever happens: justice and injustice, pleasure and pain, compliment and criticism. Take it up into the purpose of your life and make something out of it. Turn it into a testimony.”


Philippians 1:15-19 (NLT), It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.

Philippians 1:18-19 (NLT), But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.