February 11 // Secrets to Joy

Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest

questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search

and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead

pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth

for the life we're searching for. We are so glad that you're with us this morning.

I hope that you have your Bible with you. And please take them and turn to the book

of Philippians this morning, Philippians chapter four, verse four today. And by the way, we

have Bibles at the doorways. If someone comes in, doesn't have a Bible with you, you forgot

it or you don't have one, please take one of those and we'll be using those Bibles to

be in the same translation as what I use, which is the New American Standard 1995. So

we encourage you to use that if you want. If you don't have a Bible, take that home

with you and we'd love for you to have it at your home too.

Alright, Philippians chapter four, verse four today. I'm going to give you an overview of

the book of Philippians in anticipation of starting next week, walking through the book

of Philippians over the next number of months. There'll be at least four series in the book

of Philippians. There are four chapters in the book of Philippians. And really the overarching

theme of this entire book is what we'll focus on today. And I call this the secrets of joy,

the secrets of joy. We're going to look at one verse in chapter four for just a few moments

as a focus point to look at the whole book and the whole letter and we'll tell you more

about that this week and next week as well. We're in for a journey, a journey for joy,

a journey to understand what it means to live a life filled with joy. How many of you could

use a little bit more joy? Would you say amen? Most of us could use a little bit more joy.

Well what if I told you that the Bible promises, Jesus promises that your life can be full

of joy. Not a little bit more, but full of joy. And what the secrets of joy are are found

in Philippians and we'll begin in chapter four. Please stand with me as we read this

one verse, Philippians chapter four, beginning in verse four. Philippians chapter four, verse

four. This is a command from Paul to the church at Philippi. It's an unusual, unusual phrase,

unusual phrase because it's the command to do something that is not simply done. You

have to have the message of the whole book to be able to obey this command from the apostles

of Paul. Something else you might know is that when Paul wrote this letter to the church

at Philippi, he's writing from a prison cell. And he's writing a book about joy. Isn't that

amazing? I mean most people don't write books about joy from a prison cell. This guy was

doing something different. He had a different kind of definition and a different way of

getting joy. And here's what he says in chapter four, verse four. He says, rejoice in the

Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. I'm going to say that again. I know it's a complicated

verse, but I'm going to read it one more time. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I will

say rejoice. If you can walk away knowing what that means today, that's a great day.

Father, in Jesus' name, help us to understand this command and why it's possible and how

Paul could say it. Help us, Father, to see how this applies to our lives today. We ask

this in Jesus' name. And everyone said amen. Please be seated if you would.

A lot of people on the quest for joy today. A hundred million people will turn the television

on at 5.30 this afternoon to try to find football joy. A hundred million people. And about half

of them will not find the joy that they want. If you're a Chiefs fan and you don't win,

you're not going to have football joy. If you're a 49ers fan and your team doesn't

win, you're not going to have football joy. There are 8.5 million Dallas Cowboys fans

and they're not going to have any football joy at all today. People are looking for joy

and they'll look for it just about anywhere, but even in this game. $23 billion worth of

bets are going to be placed today on this football game. And most of the people that

put their money down have no idea what it takes to win a football game. They'll bet

on the color of the uniforms or something, but they won't likely win a lot of money.

Madden's NFL 24 football simulator has the Chiefs winning the game 30-24. And if you're

a Madden NFL fan on the computer simulator game, then maybe you go that way. And before

the game takes place, if you're watching, you'll notice that there will be three or

four former football players or coaches that give the keys to winning for the Chiefs and

then the keys to winning for the 49ers. And then the game will be played and we'll find

out what really happens. Also today, there are billions of people looking for joy in

their life as he proceeds anything from a football game. They just want to know how

to have joy in their life internally, personally, or with their family or those around them.

So they're going to bet careers, relationships. They're going to bet actions and decisions

in such a way where they hope that they can end up with joy. But it's going to be elusive

to them because most people on this planet do not know how to find joy. Even though they're

on a quest for joy, a journey for joy, people just want joy. And they make a mistake of

thinking, well, if I can be happy, then that's the same thing as having joy. In America today,

we get happy by season, sometimes by events or by purchases. We're happy for a little

while with the latest purchase and then we have to get another one to keep that happiness

going and another one to keep that happiness going. Very surface level happiness has nothing

to do with real joy in the heart that transcends everything else that Paul is talking about.

Not the kind of thing that you'll write about from a prison cell and say, hey, here's how

to be happy in a prison cell. Pretty sure Paul wasn't happy about the food choices in

the prison. Pretty sure he wasn't happy with how people were treating him in the prison.

But in spite of all that, Paul, in spite of those circumstances, unhappy circumstances,

wrote a book on joy that stands at the hallmark for Christians today. We can know what it

means to have joy in spite of all kinds of different circumstances. So what is joy? Joy

is a God-given gladness of heart, a God-given gladness of heart. The ability to find joy

even in the most difficult times of life is the fruit of the Spirit, the product of the

Holy Spirit working in our life. It should be the hallmark of the Christian life. We

should have joy in our life even when things don't seem to be going well. John Piper made

this statement. He said, joy is a good feeling in the soul produced by the Spirit. I'd often

like to use the word feeling because feelings are so transient. They're here one moment,

they're gone the next. We could change feelings just in the spark of a moment or a change

of a circumstance. But the good feeling in the soul produced by the Spirit of God that

says in your mind, will and emotions, you're moving in the right way. And that kind of

joy that he speaks of, John Piper speaks of, it's the same kind of thing that Paul is talking

about. If you read all four chapters of the book of Philippians, which I'm sure most of

you will do this next week, right? You read all four chapters of the book of Philippians,

you're going to find the word joy mentioned 14 different times. And in those 14 different

times, he points to various aspects of joy that are going to be at work in our lives.

This last year, we stood over the excavated prison area in Caesarea by the Sea over in

Israel. And we don't know exactly which prison Paul wrote from when he wrote this letter

to Philippi, but it could have been a Roman prison in Rome or it could have been there

at Caesarea by the Sea. And I just look at that excavated prison and heard that guy say,

it's possible that Paul wrote this letter from this little cave in the ground, so to

speak. And I was just thinking, I know the message of Philippians. I know what joy he's

talking about here, but it's hard for me to fathom as a 21st century Western-ized American

to see joy in that hole in the ground, in that primitive place of punishment. It's hard

for me to fathom how he can so confidently write about joy. And then I take a step back

and realize, oh, I know why, because the author of joy, Jesus, is what was dominating his

life and we'll eventually get to that as well.

So here's amazing, an amazing letter, a letter that also includes Paul's weeping at the reality

of his enemies. He's talking about being hungry and suffering need. He's talking about having

physical affliction. He's been lonely. He's been misunderstood, but he writes a letter

about joy. And maybe Paul does this because he remembered the Lord's words in John chapter

John 15 · chapter mention

15. John 15 is the abide chapter where Jesus is teaching his disciples what it means to

remain in him or abide in him, abide in me and I in you. And you are the brunch, I'm

the vine, you're the brunches apart from me. You can do nothing, you can bear no fruit

without me. And then in chapter 15 verse 11, he says, these things I've spoken to you,

these abiding things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may

be made for. This is none other than Jesus Christ. This is not a secondary level teacher.

This is the primary teacher that we look to, God in the flesh. I say all these things about

this relationship I have with you so that your joy can be made for. You can have my

joy and your joy is going to be made for. So today I want you to take a little journey

with me as we kind of take a jet flight over the book of Philippians. We'll come back and

we'll look chapter by chapter and verse by verse at all the many details, but let's take

this jet flight over, let's take a few moments and look at the secrets of joy. And you'll

find them as the book of Philippians unfolds. So first of all, what are the secrets of joy

that you're going to have to have according to Paul is, it's going to be determined by

who you surround yourself with. Who you surround yourself with is going to be a key component

of joy. Relationships are a key component of joy. Paul opens up in chapter one, beginning

in verse three and says, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering

prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all in view of your participation in the gospel

from this first day until now. So Paul is looking at them as people who are following

Christ as those who have responded to the gospel, his spiritual family and says to them,

I'm finding my joy in you. I'm finding all kinds of joy, even as I pray for you, I pray

for you with joy because I see God at work in your life. Who you surround yourself with

is a component. Of the 14 times Paul mentions joy in the book of Philippians, one of them

was related directly and only to prayer. Three of them were related to the next phrase, which

says in the Lord, obviously connected to Jesus, 10 of them were directly connected to people.

In other words, his joy, as he expressed it in the book of Philippians, was joy because

of the lives of others around him. Joy in his spiritual family, joy in the church of

Jesus Christ. I'm very well aware of when I preach and I use the word church, it's a

trigger word for a lot of people. Sometimes the word church is a great word and people

have all kinds of connotations that are positive and optimistic and exciting about the word

church. So I'm kind of in that camp because I've had great experiences in churches over

the years and I've had phenomenal people in the churches that have raised up, challenged

me, loved me, encouraged me and all those other things. But I also know that there are

people in this place today that the word church doesn't exactly mean just that. Sometimes

it's connected to some negative things. People have hurt you in church. People have disappointed

you in church. You've been disillusioned by church things. And sometimes that's because

of the church as an organization. Now this is early in the church history. This is as

genuine and as authentic as you can get and Paul is writing to the church saying, because

of the common relationship and the common faith we have in Jesus Christ, my joy in you

and because of you is overwhelming. He was talking about them as spiritual family, not

formal, organized church membership, even though those two things are sometimes, sometimes

synonymous. But it was the number one mention. Some of you in this room are people persons,

right? Some of you in this room are not people persons. But people are important to your

life. God has placed you among a people. He did that in the Old Testament, the tribes

of Israel, the people of God. And in the New Testament, he's raised up a new group of people

called the Church of Jesus Christ. And they're your tribe. They're the people that you need

to surround yourself with. And according to Paul, the people from which joy will come

from. You know, the truth is you may find more in common with your spiritual family

than you do your biological family or your physical family or your marital family. And

by design, God has given us a spiritual family that helps us have a joy in life when maybe

nothing else has given us joy. Somebody's clapping back there. Everybody ought to be

clapping back there. God has given us provision for that. And when we're disappointed and

hurt and heartbroken because of the ongoing personal relationships that we have, there's

a place called the church which is designed to give you joy. According to Paul, he was

often disappointed, often neglected, often stabbed in the back. Joy was there. You know,

in Paul's writings, we find no evidence of a spouse or his mother or his father or biological

children. But all through his letters, he mentions being a spiritual father. He mentioned

acting like a spiritual mother, nurturing like a mother. He talks about his brothers

and sisters in Christ. Your gospel family is so important to you and to the level of

joy in your life. The Bible calls us the family of God. It calls us the army of God, the body

of Christ, the living stones. We are the royal priesthood. We are the temple of God, all

those things. But none of those is any more important than being members of the body of

Christ as a family of God. I like the word tribe because the tribe says basically we

have something in common. We walk in a common direction and it's those things right there

that help us see the power of the church to bring us joy. And you know, I probably am

supposed to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway, even though I'm supposed to, I'm

going to say it. We have a group of guys in our church. They're called deacons. And sometimes

pastors don't talk favorably about deacons meetings, but we've got the best deacons on

the planet. I'm pretty sure we do. And we met yesterday and yes, clap hands. I mean,

those are deacons clapping right now. Those are all those deacons are clapping. They're

amazing. 60, 70 of them met yesterday morning. We talked about the Lord's Supper and other

things, but much of their conversation has to do with how do we take care of our body?

How do we care for widows? How do we make sure their needs are taken care of? How do

we make sure that our staff is supportive? How do we make sure that the gospel is advanced?

How do we do that? And we'll do whatever it takes to do that. Now we meet at seven o'clock

on Saturday mornings. I just say this, if you're going to meet with somebody at seven

o'clock on Saturday morning, they ought to be your favorite people or just don't meet

with them at all. Those guys get up at seven o'clock or earlier than that, be there at

seven o'clock on Saturday morning. And I watched all this meeting stuff unfold, all this conversation

take place. And I just took a step back and say, Lord, thank you for letting me be among

a group of brothers that want to see you glorified in the church and that the gospel would go

to the ends of the earth from this place right here. Thank you that you let me see that.

I'm not saying that because I'm supposed to, I'm saying that as an illustration of this

band of brothers that we have in the body of Christ, deacons or anyone else that walks

with you through life in ways that maybe nobody else will. Look down in chapter one, verse

six of Philippians. Paul writes a verse that most of us are very, very familiar with. He

says, for I'm confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you, that

word you is plural by the way, will perfect it into the day of Christ Jesus. Now I can

pronounce that in Greek, but I'd rather pronounce it in Texan here. For I'm confident of this

very thing that he that began a good work in you all will perfect it until the day of

Christ Jesus. Why is that important? Why is that plural noun important? It's important

because it says God is going to complete his work through everybody around you as well

as in you. He that began a good work in you all will complete it until the day of Christ

Jesus. Others are important to my spiritual growth. Others are important to challenge

me. Others are important to help me be selfless instead of selfish. Part of your joy level

is going to come about because of the people that you surround yourself with. Your greatest

allies, your greatest accountability partners, your greatest friends, your greatest prayer

warriors will be in the church. They're not perfect. Somebody say amen. Church isn't perfect.

Amen? You're not perfect. I'm not perfect. We're not perfect. Jesus is perfect, but we

are family. We are family. Be the family to others. Let me just tell you today, you'll

find more agreement, more common conviction, more common hope, more common ways to live

in your spiritual family than you probably will in any other group of people on the planet.

People are looking for a place to belong. Well, the believers in Jesus Christ belong

in the church of Jesus Christ. That's where they belong. That's what God has raised up

the church to do. So number one, you're going to find joy based on who you surround yourself

with. Secondly, Paul talks about this. Joy comes from what you find to do. What you find

to do. Look in chapter two, verse three. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,

but with humility of mind. Regard one another as more important than yourselves. I've highlighted

those words, very important words there. Regard one another as more important than yourself.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

If you're taking notes, here's the line you want to write down. Joy is found in selfless

serving. Selfless serving. Now Paul is a spiritual father. He sees himself as a spiritual father

over many spiritual children. He basically said that his joy is made complete by his

spiritual family working in harmony with one another and with God. In addition to that,

their great joy will also be found there. Got a lot of parents in the room. You know

sometimes parents of kids can see their kids not getting along and I don't know anything

that aggravates a parent more than seeing their kids not getting along, right? And so

it becomes a quest that, and a prayer request that God help my kids get along with each

other. And if they don't do it by the time they get out of the house, at least let them

get along with each other in adulthood, right? Please God. Now those are some of the prayers

that move mountains right there, I tell you. We have six kids, you've heard my story,

and enough times to know. We took lots of vacations and six kids were in the back of

the suburban. I'm telling you, we used every strategy known to mankind to get them to get

along on vacation. And sometimes it worked and often it didn't. I pulled off the road,

off the side of the road several times most trips, restore order, you know. The long arm

of the law, you know what I'm talking about? You know, you've been there. But one of our

prayer requests as parents was Lord let them get along. And it wasn't just a desperate

prayer but it was a prayer that said at some point in the future Lord could you give us

that prayer request. Now they're all adults now which means I don't pay anybody else's

cell phone bill, I'm really happy about that. But all adults. And one of the proudest things

I have of my kids is they get along like champions. It's amazing. God has answered our prayer

request for that. It gives me joy to know that when one of them is hurting, all of them

are hurting for them. And when one of them moves from one house to another, they all

show up to help. And I find an easy boy and iced tea and I watch it unfold with great

joy. I don't have to do that work anymore because they get along, because they're together,

because they care for each other. Now that's true of my biological family but what must

you think that God thinks when his spiritual children get along and walk together and work

together and care for one another selflessly. It's a big deal. And you find joy in that

selfless living. Catch this thing. Selfless living is a key to joy in part because self

is insatiable. Have you ever figured that out? That when you view life just through

your lens, just for you, life is insatiable. You cannot feel that chasm, that gulf inside

of you. You can't feel that hole. And you'll never be able to but you're always trying

to. When your own self or pleasure is on the throne, you can become inward, egotistical,

malicious to others, controlling. You want everything your way. There's little joy because

the world doesn't actually revolve around you. Some of you might need to think about

that for a minute. The world does not revolve around you. You never have, never will, never

can and yet you live like it does. And at the extreme end of all that selfishness is

narcissism and sociopathic behavior and we see this running wild all around us. But there's

something greater to live for than self, isn't there? Now when you realize that something

greater to live for, you begin to find the avenue, the capacity for joy. And of course

the greatest example of this is Jesus. Paul tells us that that was the greatest example

of it. In chapter two verse five, if you'll look at that verse, he says, have this attitude

in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped. Now catch this next line, highlight

these words, underline them, put a star next to them, whatever you do with your Bible,

but emptied himself taking the form of a bond servant. Now this is an attention getting

statement for me. When God walked among us, he showed us how to live selflessly, the God

of the universe. If the universe needs to revolve around anyone, it's God. But Jesus

came and demonstrated that he had the capacity to love others sacrificially and emptied himself.

You know, part of joy is emptying yourself of self so there'll be room for joy. Emptying

yourself of self so there'll be room for others. Jesus later on in his ministry in Matthew

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 was teaching his disciples about leadership and he said, whoever wishes to

become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever wishes to be first among you shall

be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to

give his life a ransom for many. We quote that a lot, we're thankful for that because

that means Jesus was willing to die on the cross for us to give us eternal life through

the forgiveness of sin. But I want you to see this verse in another way. I want you

to see it in the light of the fact you're made in his image, you're designed by him

and wired by him to do that very same thing. To be able to love others, look out for others,

care for others, and when you do that, joy happens. And sometimes you find joy through

helping other people, other creatures, other things, other causes. At times we associate

this selfless kind of living with biological family relationships like marriage or family

and children or other significant relationships. And it's true, if you're in a relationship

with somebody else, another human being, you've got to be more selfless to succeed in that

relationship. When I got married 45 years ago, I learned how selfish I was before I got

married. I only thought about myself. My wife confirmed that when she said, you don't know

how selfish you are until you got married. Just kind of a tongue in cheek joke there.

But when you're not far into marriage, you realize it can't just be about you. It doesn't

work like that. When you have children, you realize you can be pretty selfish and they

can too. And sometimes it's the existence of those relationships that help you know

how selfless you need to be serving others, whether it's in your family or whether it's

in the church, wherever it may be. It matures us, it grows us, it helps us. What you do

in your everyday life can give you the capacity for immeasurable joy because you've emptied

yourself of yourself. There's a secret in finding joy and that is in serving others.

That's number two. Thirdly, Paul emphasizes another avenue of joy and that is how you

view your purpose in life. How you view your purpose in life. And I want you to jump to

chapter three, verse 12, another one of those great quotable verses that so many of us know

about. He says, I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold

of by Christ Jesus. Now the word here is gripped or grasped. So Paul is talking about gripped

hold of something and being gripped by something. The word was actually first used to describe

the grasping of the trophy at the end of the public games. Somebody wins a race, they grasp

the prize. But he uses it not in the sense of winning the race, but running the race.

So Paul's description is, you need to learn to run a race and grasp the prize. He says,

Paul's description is, you need to learn to run a race and grasp the purpose for which

God has created you. Now at the end of the day today, the Super Bowl champion will hoist

a Lombardi trophy over their head. They're going to grab it, pass it on to the next guy

and pass it on to the next guy until everybody has held that trophy. But that's the exact

idea here. The idea is God has a purpose and plan for your life and when you discover that,

you grab hold of that which you were laid hold of by God, by Christ. And that basically

says of course that you have a purpose in life. You have a God given purpose that's

behind all he's doing in your life and joy is found in that journey. Let me just pause

for a second. All that God is doing in your life is not necessarily happy kinds of things.

All that God is doing in your life sometimes involves pain and heartbreak and difficulty

and tragedy. All that God is doing or allowing to happen in your life is not easy. But all

that contributes at some point to the joy of knowing his purpose for your life. Sometimes

you find that purpose altered a bit this way or that way but always in line with him and

his timing. But I want you to know if you're listening to this message today about secrets

to joy and you don't have joy and you've got disastrous destructive circumstances in

your life, that doesn't mean that joy is not coming. And that doesn't mean that that joy

is not possible. You've got to remember that God shapes your life in such a way to help

you find purpose and to help you find joy even in the hard time. That's why a man in

a prison cell in a pit in the ground could write about joy because that's the God we

had. So you're going to find joy in the purpose that you have in life. You remember the movie

Chariots of Fire? It's a 1991 movie. There are probably 13 people in the room that were

alive in 1991. How many of you know Chariots of Fire? Raise your hand. Okay. There's several.

There's several of you. Great great great great movie. All kinds of great scenes and

quotes in there. It's based on two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics. Eric Little,

a devout Scottish Christian who ran for the glory of God and Harold Abrahams who was running

to highlight and overcome prejudice as he was an Englishman who was a Jew. And when

they asked Eric Little why was he running? Why do you run? Why are you so possessed by

running? And he said this. It's a memorable line. He said, I believe God made me for a

purpose but he also made me fast and when I run I feel his pleasure. Have you heard that

line before? Raise your hand if you've heard that line before. When I run I feel his pleasure.

I connect with that line. Now God did not make me fast. When I run I do not feel his

pleasure when I run. But there are other things that God does in my life that I feel his pleasure

when I do those things. And what he's trying to communicate is I found my purpose. I figured

out why I'm on the planet. I know God is going to use me for a lot of different things but

one of those happens to be running at this particular point in my life. It's a great

story, great movie, great line but the bottom line is it simply illustrates the fact that

you've been laid hold of for a purpose by Christ Jesus. And he may have laid hold of

you for a purposeful gift that he's put in your life or a passion or a zeal, a skill

set or a talent, a relationship that you have or a season of helping someone else through

something that they're going through, whatever it might be. It has wide application. I couldn't

possibly name all the things that God intends by this line but what he does intend is for

you to find the purpose for which he laid hold of you and thrive in it and find joy

in it. Wow. Wow. How you view your purpose in life. And number four, lastly, the most

important one, the one upon which all these other secrets hinge, why you can have joy.

So by the time Paul gets to chapter four, verse four, he's making these short statements

that have loads of meaning in them. Rejoice in the Lord always again, I will say rejoice.

So you see what rejoice is followed by is the phrase in the Lord. He doesn't say rejoice,

I'm telling you, just rejoice. But he says rejoice in the Lord always and again rejoice.

If you read on to verse five of chapter four, he says the Lord is near. And if you go on

to chapter four, verse nine, he says the God of peace will be with you. In other words,

your joy is going to be determined by the presence of God in your life. That's why this

joy exceeds anything the world can offer. It's way above happiness, way above circumstantial

fun. It really is about the presence of God in your life. His life gives you joy. Listen

to me. If you're not finding joy in the life of Christ, slow down a little bit. Draw a

little bit more close to him and find the joy in him. If your life is so hectic, so

painful, so far from where you want to be and you're not getting any joy from Jesus,

slow down. He's there. It's there. The Lord is near. The God of comfort, the God of peace

is present. And it's not a giddy happiness you're shooting for. You can get that with

a good ice cream cone on a hot summer day. It's not that. It's the deep residing joy

in the heart, the gladness of heart that comes from knowing and having him. I told you the

story of a guy named Willie in past messages years ago. I talked to you about this guy

named Willie. And when I was in college, Willie and I worked together. And Willie was rough.

He was a rough, rough construction worker. I worked with him on a roof that we were building.

We decked it out. We put roofing on it. He came to Christ during one of those visits

and the next day he shows up, rough as sky on the planet. I'm telling you, he was rough.

He smelled bad. You could smell him coming almost a block away. It was bad. But that

next day after he came to Christ, he came back singing. And he was on the roof singing,

I've got a joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. And I thought, you know, I'd seen

him come to Christ and I knew that he had prayed to invite Christ into his life. And

even I was surprised at how fast he got joy. Here's a rough guy that didn't know anything

about joy, singing about joy the very next day. And he's a perfect illustration for

what I want to say today. Because what I want to say is if you don't have peace with God,

you're not going to have joy. And if you don't have a relationship with Him, you're just

not going to have it. You're not ever going to have it. You're going to pursue it to the

ends of the earth. But you won't have it because Jesus is the source of joy. His presence brings

joy. And you're going to look for joy everywhere else. You might find temporary happiness.

You might find something that's fleeting and then passes away real quick. But the trials

and the difficulties will take you down, down, down. You'll lack purpose. You'll lack meaning.

You'll lack endurance of any kind because you don't know what track you're on. You don't

know if you're going the right way or not. But in Christ, you're going to find life.

You're going to find joy. And even when life is really, really awesome, the joy you have

with Jesus is even better. And when your joy level is really low because of pain and circumstances,

then you're still going to have joy that He gives you in the midst of that heartbreak,

those tears and that pain. That's why Paul in Philippians 4 says, be anxious for nothing

but in everything by prayer and supplication that your requests be made known to God, the

God of peace, the peace of God. That passes understanding and regards your hearts and

minds in Christ Jesus. You're going to have peace. You're going to have joy in the midst

of that hard, hard, anxious, difficult time. Now I have to tell you today, I mean it is

Super Bowl Sunday and I'm a football kind of guy, so I have to say one more thing about

the football game, okay? Brock Purdy is my favorite player on the field. He's QB1 for

the San Francisco 49ers. And I've got some 49er fans out here. He was called Mr. Irrelevant

because he was the last man chosen in the draft a couple of years ago. So they gave

him the title Mr. Irrelevant. The idea is he was the last guy drafted. It was probably

just a courtesy draft. There's no way he's going to make the team. There's no way he's

going to get his contract. No way is he going to be a star at all. He's the last guy. We

don't know who else to choose. There's this man. Let's get it. Mr. Irrelevant. They even

gave him a jersey. Mr. Irrelevant. And he's not irrelevant anymore. It's really a great

story, fascinating story. But what I like about Brock Purdy is not his football skills

but his attitude in life. When athletes win, they get up and they say spiritual things

sometimes. They don't say those same things when they lose, by the way, but they just

say some spiritual things when they win. But here's Brock Purdy answering questions about

who he is and what it means to him to play football or do anything else. Let me just

quote him. James Dennison writes, Purdy is clear on who gets the credit for his quick

rise toward stardom. That's all God, he said, adding that the Lord's plan is bigger and

more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I'm just going to show up every day, work

hard, see where this takes me. So I'm thankful for it. But did I ever expect all this kind

of stuff? I did not. I had no idea. So I just try to show up, do my job every day, and it

falls in the place it needs to fall. Elsewhere he stated, I know who I am. And God, if you

want me to do great things with football, great. If not, that's fine. Let's go do something

else. Whatever you need from me. I like that. It shows me that somebody sees Jesus and the

joy that Jesus gives as more important than a Lombardi Trophy. Now he wants to win the

game. We all want to win the game. Everybody wants to win the game. But more importantly

than that, here's a guy that says the most important thing to me is Jesus. That's relevant.

Let me give you this. Wherever we are, whatever happens to us, our joy is more dependent upon

the God who is present in our lives than in our external circumstances. Look at it again.

Wherever we are, where are you right now? Whatever happens to you, what's been happening

to you, your joy is more dependent upon the God who is present. Where's he at? He's here.

He's here. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, he's not just here, he's in you. He's residing

inside of your life. Amen. It's more dependent upon the joy, upon the God who is present

in your life than on external circumstances. That's how Paul wants you to live. That's

how Jesus intends for you to live. Paul again, for to me to live is Christ and to die is

game. Philippians 1.21. We'll get to that soon. And in the end, after counting all the

ups and downs of life and all the difficulties of a prison cell, he writes, I count all things

to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. Oh my, what

a line. It's probably no surprise to our worship team because I say it to them all the time

that one of my favorite songs is a song based on the Psalm. It's called The Goodness of

God. And I told him I wanted him to sing it at my funeral. I don't have a date yet, but

someday I know I'll die. And when I do, I want that song sung. And these words have

a lot to do with what I think Paul is saying in Philippians 3.8. All my life you have been

faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I

will sing of the goodness of God. Can you do that? I want you to learn to do that process.

But no matter what I have, how great, how bad, how hard, how easy, nothing is better

than the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. In just a few moments I'm going

to close this in prayer. We have decisions stations back at the back. And I'm going to

invite you to do two or three things today. First of all, if you do not have the confidence

that you put your faith and trust in Jesus, let's have a conversation. Let's talk. I'm

going to ask you to stop by one of these tables. They're lighting the tables up now. Counselors

will stand there at those tables and they'll just be happy to answer any questions you

have. The most important thing that you can walk away with here today is knowing that

you have a relationship with Jesus by faith, by putting your trust and confidence in what

he did on the cross. Everything in this service says that from the songs to the Lord's supper,

to all of our allusions to Jesus is the author of joy and life and salvation. We want you

to walk out of here knowing that you have a relationship with him. Stop by the decision

stations. We're happy to pray with you. Secondly, I invite you to go to guest reception room.

It's outside the center exit doors across the hallway, a glassed in room. And I'm there.

I would love to welcome you as a guest and share some things about Cross City Church.

So take a few moments to do that. It takes about 10 or 15 minutes. It doesn't take long.

Then we'll get you on your way. Thirdly, come back next week ready to go into Philippians

one one and walk with me through this amazing book. If these things in Philippians four

that I've just fairly covered today are important to you, imagine what it'll be like to walk

through the whole book, verse by verse, chapter by chapter and walk away going, I get it now.

I understand why Paul said what he said and I get the joy he has. That's what I want for

you. Let's stand together and let's have some prayer. Father, I want to thank you today

for this day, for these people, for this opportunity, for this moment of worship and prayer and

a moment of decision. Lord, I know today there are those in the room that need to settle

their relationship with you. Even if it's simply vague to them, they just don't know.

Maybe they have doubts. Today, give them the courage and the boldness to stop at the decision

station and to say, help me be sure that I have this relationship. And for others in

the room, Lord, today that know you, but perhaps struggle with circumstances and hardship.

Maybe their joys just a bit diminished right now. Help them to take hope that that joy

is still there, still present, still available. And all of us in this room will need to make

the adjustments that are necessary, important for us to be able to walk in the joy that

you promised us. Thank you so much for an apostle like Paul who went through it all

so that we can see what it was like to go through it all and still have joy. And Father,

we ask these things in Jesus' name with joy. Amen. God bless you. Have a wonderful Lord's

Day.