Piece of Work: Philippians 1:12-30 (Joy Heals Perspective)

Amen.

Come on, one more time.

Let's put our hands together.

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, before you have a seat, I want you to high-five three people and say, it is so good to see you in the house of God today.

Go ahead and tell them.

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

It is so good to see you in the house of the Lord today.

It is wonderful to be here.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday if you care about such things.

If not, the coffee's hot and the Lord is good.

So that's well, no matter what, it is a good day.

And I was uh instructed to tell you guys, I don't know if you know this, but it felt like that God Himself was winking at us a little bit earlier, you know?

It just kept kind of, you know, we got a little bit of a technical difficulty with a connection, and we're gonna get it fixed here in just a few moments.

But uh praise the Lord.

Okay, can we give a hand to all of our tech crew who's working so hard on stuff, right?

Something about a lot of our teams, you don't know they're there until something doesn't go the way you expected, right?

And that and they're they're working hard on that, and I'm thankful for that today.

And we're gonna continue to move on, and we're gonna get into the next part of our series entitled Piece of Work.

Look at your neighbor and say, You're just a piece of work.

Go ahead and tell them.

I know, right?

I know, I know.

It's it's definitely gonna have to become a t-shirt, okay?

God says I'm his piece of work.

Yeah, we are walking through the book of Philippians, and hopefully that will make sense uh in in due course here in just a little while as we continue to do that.

And so if you want to get your message notes out with me, go ahead and get out uh your Bible journals, your Bibles.

And I just want to tell you really quickly that if this is your first time joining us, welcome.

We are so glad that you are here today.

And we would love if at some point in the service you would fill out your connect card and you can drop it off at the Welcome Center at the end of the service.

We have a free gift for you today.

We just want to say it was great having you with us, and we want to invite you to uh the craziest party you're gonna be part of all month called RLC Connect, where we have free food and free child care.

Praise the Lord, right?

And just gonna talk about what the Lord is doing and give you an opportunity to get connected.

Also, I want to give a quick shout out to all of our life group leaders.

We just had the first week of our life groups.

We put our hands together and celebrate all of them.

Celebrate all of you who worked out child care, who had your house cleaned five minutes before the first person showed up, just did all of that, politely kicked somebody out when the evening was over with and they wouldn't go home, all of that.

I just want to say thank you so very much.

It is awesome that we have this opportunity to do life together.

And I want to go ahead and tell you, no matter how you have found yourself here today, because I don't know if you noticed this, it is the second Sunday in February.

Like January is gone.

I don't know about you.

That was the that was the longest six months of the year so far.

I mean, it was it was long, but but we're now on the second Sunday of what some people call single awareness month.

I get that.

Or um, I haven't yet planned what I'm gonna do for Valentine's Day month, right?

So you got like seven more days.

May the Lord be with you as you figure that out, right?

But no matter how you have found yourself here today, and if you would say that maybe the first six weeks of this year, you didn't get off to the start you wanted to, here's some great news.

And that is this can still be your best year ever if somebody say if, if it's your best year spiritually.

And I don't know about you, but I want to be the one that instead of leaning back, I want to lean in to what God wants to do in my life this year.

And that's why I think that the book of Philippians is such an amazing book to go through, one passage at a time, because I believe that God's word teaches us how to lean in to all that the Lord is trying and wanting to do in our lives.

And that's one of the things I also love about the book of Philippians is when we put ourselves back in the moment of where it was when the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to write this, it really gives us some amazing perspective.

Because I don't know if you've ever done this before.

Have you ever been talking to somebody and they've been kind of telling you what's going on in their life, and you're kind of like, I don't know where you must be living, but it's it's like you just came down from heaven.

I mean, like everything seems to be going right for them.

Everything, they just have this wonderful attitude about what's going on, and and you just immediately think there is no way you and I live in the same subdivision because I've got issues in my life, and in your life, it seems like everything is going okay.

I don't know if you've ever been around those kind of people, right?

But they just, you just like, well, praise the Lord for you.

I'm gonna get away from you now because my life isn't going that well.

Only to later find out their life isn't perfect either.

But what they have done is they have they have looked at their life in a certain way, and it has helped them to be able to see things the way God sees them.

And I think that's important that we remember that because if we're not careful, we can read the book of Philippians and think that Paul's address is 1,001 heaven way.

I mean, everything seems to be going well for him, but to realize that while he is writing these amazing promises in God's word, he's sitting in jail.

He he is around 61 AD when the persecution of the church was really ramping up, and he is sitting in a jail cell in Rome.

And this is a horrible place to be.

I mean, imagine there's maybe there's rats everywhere, there's there's water maybe dripping down, and he's got one window that he can look through, and he's he's having to dictate what the Holy Spirit is inspiring him to say, and at the end, he's having to write down what he's wanting to say because he's he's there in prison.

And while he is there, he is writing about the goodness of God.

And then you think about who he's writing to.

He's writing to a church in a city called Philippi.

There was about 50 to 75 people, and they were conflicted.

They were, most of them were retired military who were loyal to Rome.

The area of Philippi was a strategic location, and they wanted to make sure that it stayed a healthy outpost for the Roman Empire.

And so, if someone retired from the military with honors and distinguished, they would give them some land so that they would move there and they would stay loyal.

And so they were very loyal to Rome, but at the same time, they're part of the kingdom of God, and they're trying to figure all that out.

And so the question would be: what would a person who is in prison in Rome write to somebody who's trying to figure out the other side?

What in the world could they have in common?

And this is the big idea of the whole series, and that is he tells them that we can have joy because God is working on us.

That no matter what's going on in our lives, no matter what's happening on the outside, we can have joy because God is working on us.

And that's the idea.

I know that a lot of times, depending on where you come from, if you call somebody a piece of work, that wasn't necessarily a compliment.

And it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

It was the thing of, I don't know what you are.

I just know that you are different.

You are a piece of work.

And I think that that is the a great way to describe what God is doing in all of us.

Sometimes we look at one another and go, I got no idea what God is doing in your life, but he's definitely doing something.

And that's exactly what Paul is saying is he's like, I know I'm not exactly where I want to be, but I know I'm where God wants me to be right now.

And I think that's one of the reasons why we need to look through and read and study Philippians, is because I think Paul knew that there are many different kinds of prisons.

Only some have walls that we can see.

So many of us can identify with what Paul is going through because he's going through that situation.

I don't know if you ever heard this, but a great philosopher once said, everyone's got a private battle that nobody else knows about.

Look at somebody and say, he needs to stop.

He needs to put that on a t-shirt.

We did, we did, and you can give one today.

But but here's the reality, and that is Paul realized it's possible to be caught in a difficult season, but free with joy in your soul.

Your body can be in a place, but your soul can be free.

In other words, it's possible to have joy and also have toddlers in the house.

It's possible to have joy and wonder if your kids in Warren County are ever going back to school again.

Two weeks, but you can still have joy.

It's possible to have joy in a marriage that's going through a difficult season.

It's possible to have joy when you work at a place that you'd rather not work.

It's possible to have joy.

And then the reason why is because how we define joy.

Joy is this it's a sigh of contentment because God is in control.

It is a sigh of contentment because we don't know what all's going on on the outside, but we know that God is doing something.

It's the idea that when we look around at our world, we can go, thank goodness God knows what he's doing.

As a matter of fact, I want you to, and I count to three, I want you to take a big deep breath in and let it out as a sigh.

One, two, three.

And now one person coughed.

Praise the Lord, right?

But but with your soul, that when you see things that you don't like and you you don't understand that instead of getting all wrapped up and tangled up instead, you can go, man, I'm so glad that God is in control.

What I want to do is I want to read the next passage.

And Paul's got a lot to say here, but I want us to see how he is just choosing joy in his life over and over again.

So if you're ready, we're gonna read verse 12 through 30 says this.

I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything, somebody say everything.

That everything has happened to me because, or everything that happened to me has helped to spread the good news.

For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have actually gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear.

It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry, but others preach about Christ with pure motives.

They preach because they love me and they know that I have been appointed to defend the good news.

Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ.

They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerity, intending to make my chains more painful to me.

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, for I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ as I have been in the past.

And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.

So I really don't know which is better.

I'm torn between two desires.

I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me, but for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live.

Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience that joy of your faith.

And when I have come to you again, I you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

But above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the good news about Christ.

Then when I come to you and see you again, or only if I hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith which is the good news.

So don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies.

This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved even by God Himself.

For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ, but also the privilege of suffering for him.

They are, we are in this struggle together.

You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

So, in other words, he's not painting a picture of saying, I don't have any issues.

He's saying I got 99 of them, and everybody knows about them.

And you know about that's going on too, but I'm still so thankful for Jesus.

And not only do I have joy, but I'm so excited that if the Lord lets me live a little bit longer, I get to share that joy with you as well.

And so, what is he telling them?

How is he telling them that we can have joy as God's pieces of work because he is working?

Here it is, and that is because because God is at work, joy, his joy, heals our perspective.

Because we know that God is on the throne, because we know that God is working, that joy, that sigh of contentment, because I know that God is in control, it is able to slowly heal my perspective, the way I see things.

And so let's talk about that for a moment.

What does it mean to have perspective?

Simply, this is not in your notes, but perspective is the way we see the world.

It's the way we look at the world around us.

You ever heard, you know, some people say the glass is half empty and the glass is half full?

You ever heard that before?

How many of you would say that when you see this glass, you think it is half full?

See that one?

A few of you?

How many of you would say you see it as half empty?

How many of you are not gonna do this either way?

Yeah, I see that.

Okay, I see a few of those.

Yeah, absolutely.

And here's here's the thing.

I've heard people say, you know, I just, yeah, I'm a realist.

I don't see it as half full or half empty, I just see it as water.

Well, imagine you're in a desert and somebody passes you this.

I think your perspective would change a little bit.

You would be like, thank you.

I need some more.

You know, so it depends on the situation, right?

For me, that right there, I don't care.

But if it's a cup of coffee, I'm both thankful and frustrated because someone started drinking this instead of me, you know, and now I'm gonna have to go back and get some more.

It all depends on your perspective, on what that is.

And the reality is of what Paul is saying is he's saying, of course, I'm in prison.

Of course, I don't want to be here, but I don't see this the way you do.

I see this through the lens of joy, and God has been able to heal my perspective.

And the reality is that joy can heal us to the point where we stop living as though the sky is falling, and we start living like the king is in control.

That we stop living, waiting for the next shoe to drop and the next thing to go wrong, but instead we go, God, I know that the shoe is probably gonna drop at some point.

I know that everything's not gonna be perfect, which is why I'm so glad that you're in control.

I'm so glad that you work out all things together for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purpose.

This joy comes from what we read last week when he said, I give thanks to God with joy, a sigh of contentment, because I am certain that God, who both began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Remember, he's in prison.

And while he's in prison, he's saying, I'm so thankful, I'm so filled with joy.

Why?

Because God is doing a good thing.

I know it may not look like it.

I'm imprisoned in my body, but my soul is free because I know that God is doing something and I know that he's active.

Like God is not, he didn't get lost on the way, but he's still doing it, and then he's not going to change his mind.

Look at somebody and say, He's not gonna change his mind.

God's stubborn like that.

He's not gonna give up on you.

Even if you give up on yourself, sometimes he's gonna keep dragging you in the right direction because he is gonna do a good work, he's actively doing it, and he's not going to change his mind.

And when we begin to realize that, it does this amazing thing of starting to heal our perspective.

Instead of seeing the world as a place that is just out to get us, we start seeing the world as an adventure because God is for us and bad things will happen.

We're just not letting them define who God says we are.

That we're not saying that we don't need to do something.

We're just not gonna allow it to define the joy inside my heart.

And so here's the question, and that is this how does knowing that God is working heal our perspective when life is hard, when everything's not going well?

Because it once again, it's one thing to think about that in here.

But how can we heal our perspective and have a good mentality when our relationships don't work out?

When our finances are not doing well, when our boss comes in and yells at us and it wasn't our fault.

Once again, when we wonder, will our kids ever go back to school?

And you are certain that the city of Bowling Green has made it so that every light turns red when you're trying to get down Scospel Road.

How in the world can you have proper perspective?

Well, let's let's talk about a guy who's in prison, basically on death row, but in spite of the Holy Spirit saying, I'm so thankful for Jesus.

I'm so thankful that we can have joy because God is in control.

And I want us to look at the mentality that the Lord gave him and that the Lord will give us as well.

And that is this number one is that God is at work.

Therefore, we have joy as he turns our troubles into testimonies.

We can have joy because we know that God has the ability to turn our troubles into testimonies.

Somebody say, I'm just a piece of work.

I am.

I am God's moving, God's moving in my life, and I know I don't look like a finished product because I'm not a finished product yet.

And so I'm gonna have good days and I'm gonna have bad days.

But what I know is that God is working out our troubles and turning them into testimonies.

Look at what he says.

He says, I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything, say everything.

Everything, that's a pretty big statement.

All right, that's not a few.

Everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the good news.

If you've read the book of Acts, you're like, Paul, are you serious?

Because I'm gonna show you a few things that's happened to Paul since he left Philippi.

So he's been gone from Philippi about about 10 years at this point.

He's he's been gone, he's been traveling, and and just since the book of Acts, chapter 16, through the end of Acts, here's a few of the everything that's happened to Paul.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

Paul was forced to flee Thessalonica.

Then he was ran out of a place called Berea.

He dealt with opposition and legal threats in chapter 18.

He had riots in Ephesus and almost got killed by a mob.

He was beaten and arrested in Jerusalem.

He was imprisoned in Caesarea for two years.

He was shipwrecked, heading to Rome.

They literally almost died, and then he finally gets on an island called Malta and he gets bit by a poisonous snake.

Which, if it were my story, would then be followed by, and then he had a heart attack.

Just that I was that close to a poisonous snake, and then after he finally gets to Rome, he's thrown in prison.

Everything.

He had some good things happen too, but he had a whole lot of bad things happen.

And Paul is saying, everything that has happened to me has actually helped me.

It's actually, why?

Why what did it help you do, Paul?

Well, it's actually helped me to spread the good news.

And he says, look at this, because everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

They know that the only way I'd still be living is because God must have been in on it.

And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have actually gained confidence as they boldly speak God's message without fear.

It is true that some preaching are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry, but others preach about Christ with pure motives.

And he's saying, But that doesn't matter.

I am the message of Christ is being preached either way, so I will rejoice.

And so what they were doing is they were saying, Hey, you know how Paul is in prison?

Well, this is the message that he was preaching.

And they were trying to steal his attention so that they could make themselves look bigger.

They were preaching the right gospel, but for the wrong motives.

And Paul's like, but you did say the gospel's being preached.

Well, yeah.

Okay, then that's good enough.

And so he's in this moment and he is saying, Man, man, I'm I'm I did not want to get shipwrecked.

Believe me, I did not want to get bit by a poisonous snake.

I do not want to be in prison, but man, I'm so thankful for Jesus because he has put me exactly where I need to be.

Why did he say that?

Well, because one of the reasons the first things he said was, is he said, I have had an opportunity to talk to the entire palace guard.

Now, what that was is in the Roman Empire, no standing army was allowed to come to the city of Rome because they were afraid that they would try to overthrow Caesar.

And so to keep a standing army from coming, they had what's called a palace guard.

And the palace guard would consist of close to a thousand people or more, distinguished military people, and their job was to protect the city of Rome and to do the different things that needed to happen.

And according to history, what would happen was is three times a day they would shift out and they would replace a guard with Paul and chain him to Paul with a chain that was about 18 inches long.

And so about 18 inches, about as far away as he could get from this guy.

And he's going, I'm so thankful because three times a day I get to talk to a different guard.

Well, Paul, what are you talking about?

You're chained to a guard.

You're in prison.

I wonder if he's kind of saying, What do you think?

You think I'm chained to them?

I say they're chained to me.

I have a captive audience.

And so actually, what he's doing is he's sitting there and he's chained and he's writing, you know, he's maybe writing his name down as he's going through there and he's talking.

He's like, you know, I'm just so thankful for God.

Come on over here, buddy.

You know, I'm just so thankful for God.

God is good.

Shut up, Paul.

No, then you can't go anywhere.

So let me tell you what happened to me.

And then according to history, what started happening is these soldiers started getting saved, and so they were having to replace them instead of three, four times a day because as he kept talking about the goodness of God, they kept getting saved.

And Paul said, You give me enough time, I'm gonna get through all thousand of them.

So, what do you do with that?

You start healing our perspective as we start looking at our life because of all of its tragedies and say, Man, God, I am so thankful that you're in control.

And so instead of saying, God, why?

you start going, huh, I wonder why.

If God is in control and I know he is, then instead of wondering why God would do this, I'm going, I wonder why God would do this.

He must be up to something.

Because God's word says that we can trust in the Lord with all our heart and not depend on our own understanding.

Seek his will and all you do, and he will show you which paths to take.

And sometimes those paths take us through beautiful mountaintops, and sometimes they take us through dark valleys, but he's always with us every step of the way.

And I don't know about you, but one of the things I have learned about God turning our troubles into Into testimonies is that great difficulties can become greater testimonies.

That many times, that's exactly how it happens.

It reminds me of a story in the New Testament.

Jesus had been preaching in all these places, and at one point he needs to go from one side of the Sea of Gennasaret or the Sea of Galilee, and he needs to go over to the other side.

And he tells his disciples, hey, we've got to go across to the other side.

And this lake was very well known because of the way the layout was that storms could come up out of nowhere.

But I don't know about you.

I'd be thinking, well, I mean, Jesus is with me.

So there's not going to be any kind of storms.

I mean, if it's if it's God's will, it must not be any trouble that's coming on its way, right?

And so the Bible says that that evening Jesus said, Let's, which is let us, plural, me and you cross to the other side of the lake.

So they took Jesus in a boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind.

But soon a fierce storm came up.

High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

But Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.

The disciples woke him up and shouted, Teacher, don't you care that we are going to drown?

And Jesus woke up, and it's kind of my mind.

He wakes up, wipes the sleep from his eyes, you know.

He and then he looks up and he rebukes the wind and he said to the waves, Silence, be still.

And suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm, which would have been when I would lose my calm.

Okay.

Like, think about that for a moment.

Like, we've had a lot of crazy wind here recently.

Imagine somebody stands up and goes, Hey, quiet down.

And the wind's like, That's the boss.

Y'all shut up.

But that's what exactly what happened.

And and look, he said, Why are you afraid?

Do you still have no faith?

In other words, did you forget that I was here too?

Did you forget that I was in the boat with you?

And I love this.

This is so honest.

The disciples were absolutely terrified.

Who is this man?

Sir, you can go on back to sleep if you want to.

Okay.

Whatever you need is just fine.

Even the wind and the waves obey him.

You know what's amazing about trouble?

I've learned this.

We can't always see the strength of God until we come to the end of ours.

I'm telling you, I would never want to go through another trouble.

I'd never want to go through another difficulty, but I can stand here and tell you, and so many of you can do the same, that I did not know how God, how powerful God was until I didn't have any more power left in myself, until I didn't have another thing to do.

I didn't have anywhere else to turn.

And I just said, God, I guess this is it.

And then when I thought I was going to start to sink, all of a sudden there was something that was holding me and not letting me sink and actually lifting me up further than I thought it was going to be.

And it was the strength of God.

And so is it possible that even in our weaknesses, even in our difficulties, when we take a sigh, I'm so thankful that God is in control.

And just like Paul, I don't want to be in prison.

I didn't want all those bad things to happen.

But instead of going, God, why?

I start going, huh?

I wonder God why.

And now all of a sudden he realizes, man, I got a thousand people that I get to talk to and they can't go anywhere.

And also, while I'm here, I might as well write a few letters.

That now, 2,000 years later, we are still reading and learning because the Holy Spirit had done that.

He couldn't do any of that unless he was in a place where his body was in bondage, but his soul was free.

Is it possible that God is doing more with this season in your life than you realize?

And so here's the question: How can you see your story from the perspective of joy?

How can you?

How can you see your story instead of seeing it as the end?

Instead, look around and go, Well, God, you've got me here for a reason.

I might as well do something for you.

That's one of the reasons why I love life groups, is I love listening to people's story and listening how God has done great things.

And also what I love is once truth, or excuse me, trust is earned, you get in a conversation and somebody will tell you, hey, I'm going through a difficult time.

And many times we lose perspective because we're in the middle of our trouble.

And so somebody on the outside can look at it and go, man, I don't think that that cup is half empty.

I think it's half full.

I think that that God is actually doing more in your life.

And so we can get encouraged when we get around other people and get honest and tell them about what's going on.

And Paul is saying, that's why we can have joy, that we are God's work in progress.

And that joy is a sigh of contentment because I know that I know that he can take our troubles and turn them into testimonies.

That's why I'm not ashamed to say I am God's piece of work, because that means he's not done yet.

He's still working in my life.

And so I want you to encourage somebody to look at them and say, You're just a piece of work.

And do your best to not get offended by that, right?

Because you realize you're saying God's still working on you.

And so here's the second one he helps us turn our troubles into testimonies.

The second one is he turns our fear into unshakable faith.

He turns the things that want to make us afraid, and instead they almost become a dare.

Look what God can do.

Look at how faithful the Lord is.

That if I will just admit that I'm not a finished product yet, I'm still a work in progress, then I can have a sigh of contentment and go, okay, it's okay if I don't have it figured out, because I know that God does.

And He is going to work in this to do something that I can't see yet.

Look at what He says.

He says, I fully expect and hope.

Now, the Greek word for that is one word, and the mental picture is literally somebody leaning in, ready to start a race.

And he said, I am excited.

I'm leaning in.

I cannot wait to see and to show you that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ.

So no matter what comes, man, I'm not going to give up.

I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

For to me, living means living for Christ and dying, that's even better.

But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.

So I really don't know which is better.

I'm torn between two desires.

I long to go and be with Christ, which is far better for me, but for your sake, it is better that I continue to live.

Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.

That you can experience that sigh of contentment that I have found.

Because as I look around at this prison, I realize that that is not the end of my story.

And I'm not denying that I'm in prison.

I'm just denying its ability to tell me who I am.

Instead, I am a child of God.

And when I think about the fact that God is in control, it fills me with a sigh of contentment because I know God is in control.

And he said, Man, if I die, I get to go be with Jesus.

If I live, I get to bring glory to Jesus.

And that joy is why I can do that.

And is the longer I live, the more I can share it with you.

And I love that idea because he's helping us understand over and over again what that looks like.

Because his faith is that God is faithful.

Therefore, no matter what comes, I have an unshakable faith, not because of me, but because of who my God is.

Jesus said the same thing in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

He was finishing up his Sermon on the Mount.

He's been telling the people all these different things.

And finally, when he was done, he understood the people he was talking to.

And so many of them were under such such this bondage to the Roman Empire and all these things that were going on.

So he was encouraging them and he said this.

He said, Anyone, somebody say anyone.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise.

Like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

Though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock.

But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish.

Like a person who builds his house on sand.

When the rains and the floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

So, in other words, he's saying that there is going to be storms.

There's going to be wind, there's going to be rain that is going to happen.

And you get to choose where you stand.

You can stand on your own ideas and good luck.

Or you can stand on my teaching and the winds will come and the rains will fall and the thunder will be loud and the icequakes will happen.

Does that not creep anybody else out like it did me?

Okay.

That's going to happen.

But you can have unshakable faith, not because the environment is good, but because the foundation is solid and because his name is Jesus.

And when we do what he's called us to do, there's life there.

It reminds me of my grandparents.

They lived in Birmingham, Alabama, in this just rock solid house, and there was never really much more than thunderstorms.

And when they retired, they moved north to northeast Alabama and they moved into a trailer because there was that retirement and it was right there by a kind of a pond.

And that's what they were going to do.

And I'll never forget that they went through their very first Northeast Alabama storm.

And they said that they had never been in a house that would start doing this number back and forth because of the wind.

And it about scared them half to death.

And so the very next week they went and bought an underground storm shelter.

And after that, everything was different.

Because if the if the wind was coming and the rain was coming, we would call them to see if they were okay and we would not get them on the phone.

Because the first time the weatherman said it might, they were in the storm shelter.

And we couldn't get them down there.

There was no cell signal.

And so actually, when we would call them, we knew they were just fine.

That meant they were already there.

And it was amazing in the amount of confidence that they had because they knew when it gets difficult, I know exactly where to stand.

And can I tell you that if you have God in your life and if you are reading and studying and following God's word, not if, but when the storms come, you know exactly where to stand.

And that that joy can actually bring that sigh of contentment, not because everything's always going to go right, but when the storms come, I know that God is in control, not just today, but in the future.

So I don't have to live in fear of the future because I know he's already there.

It reminds me of another story from a guy that who treated God's promises like they mean something.

It was a guy named Caleb.

There's a story in the book of Joshua that does not get enough uh airtime, if we can say it like that, because back when the nation of Israel came out of Egyptian bondage, what they were supposed to do is to come out of the Egyptian bondage, go to Mount Sinai and get the law, and then go to the promised land.

It would have taken about 21 to 25 days for that to happen.

But they were in uh bond, they were in the wilderness for 40 years.

That's called getting lost a lot.

But here's the reason why is because when they went to the edge of the promised land, Moses sent out 12 scouts to go look at the land, figure out where they needed to cross over, encourage the people.

But when they came back, 10 of the scouts said, Moses, you must be crazy.

We can't go over there.

Have you seen what's over there?

That's too much for us.

We can't occupy that land.

That's too much.

We can't go, we can't go.

And they they got everybody all upset.

But there were two people that came back and they said, Man, I can't wait.

Yeah, it's a big deal, but man, I'm so glad God's bigger.

When do we start?

Let's go.

One of them was a guy named Joshua who took over, and the other was a guy named Caleb.

And God judged the people and said, Okay, since you are unwilling to go, for 40 years you're gonna be in the wilderness until that old generation dies off and the young generation rises up, with the exception of two people, Joshua and Caleb.

And God made Caleb a promise.

I'm gonna keep you alive and healthy because you had faith and you're gonna see.

And for 40 years, Caleb held on to that promise.

For 40 years, when his friends would start getting old and frail and passing away and wondering if his time was gonna be next, he held on.

God promised me, God promised me, I remember what that promised land looked like, and he promised me I was gonna get to go into it until finally the day came for them to cross over the river Jordan.

And it was a bunch of young people and two old guys, uh Joshua and Caleb.

And the Bible said that Caleb went to Joshua and he said, This, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well, as he promised all these 40 years since Moses made this promise, even while Israel was wandering in the wilderness.

So, other words, no matter how tough the times got, God kept me.

Today I am 85 years old, and I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then.

So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me.

And if the Lord is with me, I will drive out, uh drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.

So not only did God keep him, but God kept him strong until one day he said, I am ready.

I have not lost the vision that God said.

And so the Bible tells us that his clan went and took the land.

A bunch of young people and one really old guy just leading the charge, ah, you know, kind of moving forward with that final boss energy, just going on and taking it.

Can you imagine fighting an 85-year-old guy?

God promised me, you win.

You win, you win.

If you're that old and still excited, you got this, buddy, you know.

But the promise was he didn't forget.

And he kept going.

And here's my question for you.

And that is, where do you need to trust in the promises of God's word?

Where do you need to hold on?

Is it possible that God didn't bring you this far to just bring you this far?

But that actually God's not finished with you yet.

Even if bad things are happening all around you, even if, like Caleb, everybody else around you gives up on the promises of God, you say, But I know that God told me.

I know what God's word says.

And so I know you guys aren't there, but I believe.

And because of that, it can turn our faith, our fear into faith.

And he fixes our perspective that we stop looking at the world as a place that's falling apart, but instead we look at the world as ripe for the return of Jesus and say, man, what a great time it is to be alive because my God is still on his throne.

And Paul from prison is telling these people, he's like, Man, I may be in bondage in my body, but my soul is free because God has healed my perspective.

And I see myself in prison, but I don't see myself chained.

I see myself as an opportunity to turn these troubles into testimonies.

And then, yes, I do see all these bad things that are happening, and and I, but I've got so much faith in God, I don't care.

Because if he takes me to heaven, I get to see him face to face.

If I stay here on earth, I can spread this joy to somebody else.

And the thing is, what do you do to somebody who's got that kind of faith in God?

Nothing.

You can't do anything to them because they finally realize that because I am in the kingdom of God and I have that sigh of the soul because God is in charge, then I know that God is always doing more.

So therefore, it's okay that I'm not finished.

I'm just a work in progress.

God's still working on me.

Look at somebody else and say, we're both a work in progress.

Both of us.

So I'm gonna give you a little space.

You better give me a little space because God's gonna turn troubles into testimonies, fear into faith, and then one more, that he turns isolation into community.

And just as a side note, I couldn't figure out how a single word to rhyme with isolation.

So we went with community, okay?

As a pastor, I try to make things rhyme, but you find a good word that rhymes with isolation, and I'll talk to you, okay?

But that's exactly what he's saying that he was doing, turning isolation into community.

Going from by myself to we stand together.

Because he said, after all this, healing of your perspective to see the world for its possibilities, not just its tragedies.

And when you you realize that you have faith that's bigger than any fear you have, he says, once you get that figured out, and while you're working on that, he says, then above all, above all of that, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the good news about Christ.

Then I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the good news.

Don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies.

This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved even by God Himself.

In other words, when they see you standing together, it helps them to realize that they that you are standing for more than they can imagine.

For you have begun not only the privilege of trusting in Christ, but also the privilege of suffering for him.

And I love this.

And we are in this struggle together.

You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

Paul reminds them I'm not talking to you from some mountain somewhere.

I'm in the trenches with you.

I'm literally in prison, but I'm still so thankful for Jesus.

And I'm so thankful that we have the opportunity to do this thing called life together.

And he told them to do three things to make sure they stand together, they fight together, and they also struggle together.

I love how he says, as citizens of heaven, because he's talking to Roman citizens, and they would have realized that it was considered an honor to be a Roman citizen.

To be a Roman citizen, many times you had to pay a great amount of money to be invited into the Roman citizenship.

And you were expected to take care of one another.

You were expected to live for something greater because you were part of something greater.

And Paul is saying, what if we thought about that when it comes to the kingdom of God?

What if we realized the honor that we have to be part of God's kingdom?

And so we lived up to it and said, Man, I'm so thankful to be in the kingdom.

And then he said that we start fighting not with each other, but with each other, to say, I am no longer ashamed to be a Jesus follower, that I'm not going to, I'm not going to put my my relationship with Jesus over in a corner, but I'm going to say out loud that I'm not ashamed.

And I'm going to lock arms with my brothers and my sisters, and I'm going to proclaim the truth and realize that we're in a spiritual warfare that we've already won, but we have to take the ground in Jesus' name.

And so we fight together, not against people, but against the enemy in Jesus' name.

And then I love how he says, and then we struggle together.

And that's one of the things I love that we have the chance to do is because when many of us go through difficult times, we hide, we get along, we we isolate from one another.

And what Paul is saying, but because you're a citizen and because we're fighting together, the wonderful opportunity that we have is that nobody struggles alone.

But rather, it's when you struggle that your brothers and your sisters come around you and they pray for you because they know that we're all God's piece of work, which means at another time, I'm gonna need you to do that for me.

And that together we will become God's masterpiece.

And Paul is saying that when we start to think like this, we start to realize that God heals our perspective.

And we no longer see the world as a glass half empty, but instead we see it as God is in control.

And because of that, we stop looking at our troubles as merely troubles, but we start seeing them as an opportunity for a testimony.

We stop looking at the things that we're worried about and we're fearful of as the end of the story, but as a chance for God to show that it is it is good to have faith in Him.

And then we begin to look at our brothers and our sisters and to realize it's not just me that God is working out and becoming a masterpiece, but it is we that He is doing it.

And that's God's promise.

God's promise is that we have that opportunity.

That's what it reminds me of what we're gonna read this week in the book of Haggai or the book of Haggai.

However, you say that, okay, it really doesn't matter.

And if you'd like to read God's word with us, you could text RLC Bible to 94,000.

And it's this wonderful moment of the nation of Israel has come back from exile and they're scattered.

They don't know what to do.

They're isolating one from another because they came back from the known Babylonian Empire, so they weren't all living together.

They don't know each other, they don't know what's going on, they're not sure.

There's all these other nations around them that's saying they're going to destroy them.

I mean, it's bad.

It's really, really bad.

And God calls the prophet Haggai to stand up and he says this He says, Now the Lord says, Be strong, Zerubbabel.

That was the king.

Be strong, Jeshua, the son of Zadok, the high priest.

That was the pastor.

Be strong, all.

Somebody say all.

Not just leaders, but everybody be strong.

You people that are still left in the land.

And now get to work.

Start rebuilding.

Start becoming a community.

Why?

Because I am with you.

And I and my spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt.

So do not be afraid.

And they did.

They started to build and they started to realize that we're better together than we are apart.

And what I love about that is when we realize that God is working in my life and God is working in your life.

And just like God wants to do something in me, He also wants to do in you, then I get to have the honor of watching you become God's masterpiece.

You have the honor of watching me become God's masterpiece.

And as we become that kind of community, we have the honor of being somebody else's miracle.

They get the honor of being ours.

And the promise of God's word is that we realize that not just you, not just me, but we are God's masterpiece.

That we have the opportunity to see that He created us a new.

In Christ Jesus.

So we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

We.

Not just I am a piece of work.

Not just you.

But we can even start to look at each other and go, oh, okay.

I lower my expectations of man and raise my expectations of God.

I realize it's okay if you haven't arrived yet.

Because you're God's piece of work.

You are being made and formed into God's image.

And that God sees more in you than anybody else can see.

You know, last week you guys had so much fun with the ending painting because it ended out being a cat.

I am aware of that.

All right.

That was me throwing throwing an olive branch to all of my cat lovers out there.

But as I was thinking about that this past week, I came across a quote that was amazing by a guy named Michelangelo.

And I don't know if you know who that is.

It's you know, Michelangelo, not the turtle, you know.

Michelangelo, Renaissance guy, well, world famous sculptor, likes pizza.

Okay, yeah.

This guy, he was known as one of the greatest sculptors in history.

History.

He he some of the sculptures that he did, even if you don't know he did them, you'd recognize them immediately.

One of them is this one right here.

It's a it's a depiction of Jesus in in Mary's arms.

It's a sad picture, our sculpture, but it's beautiful.

And it was so detailed.

You can see his his ribs, you can see his ankle bones.

It was just amazing.

And somebody asked him one time, Michelangelo, how do you how do you see what you see?

And he said this he said, Every block of stone has a statue inside.

It is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

In other words, he said, When I look at a rock, I know you see a rock.

I see a masterpiece.

I just see that there's some things in the way.

And you know what I love is if you ever watched anybody make a sculpture, they'll start out and they'll have, I'm talking about a sledgehammer, you know, and they'll just start just messing with because they got to get big blocks out of the way.

But as they get closer and closer and closer to the finished product, the tools get smaller and smaller and smaller because they're getting they're getting closer.

And I don't know about you, but there's been times in my life when I've said, okay, God, you can have your way.

I don't know what you want to do, I don't know what you can do, but I'm gonna let you have your way.

And God says, Okay, here we go.

And he takes a big sledgehammer and he starts the process.

Ow.

I thought you were just going to love me.

I I am loving you.

The best thing I can do is get some of that mess out of the way.

Okay, God, well, I'm I'm yours.

Ow.

That hurt even worse.

I know, because you still got a whole lot of stuff in the way.

God, why?

Or, God, why?

What are you doing?

Okay, here's round three.

A little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more, and it starts to hurt and it starts to be difficult and starts to be painful, and your perspective could be God is destroying you, or your perspective can be God sees a masterpiece inside of you.

He's just got to get rid of all the extra stuff that's getting in the way of you being exactly who he's called you to be.

All that other stuff is just in the way from a masterpiece and say, Okay, God, but the tools get a little bit smaller as we get a little bit closer, as we get a little closer and a little closer and a little closer until finally he puts the finishing touches on it.

It's a work of art.

But it started with something you wouldn't have recognized, something I wouldn't have recognized, but God did.

And so I want to encourage you when you go through difficult times in life, don't let the world tell you how to see it.

Let God show you how to see it.

Let Him heal your perspective.

Because if you're not careful, you can look at the difficult and the horrible things that's happened in your life, and you can think that's evidence that God's not there.

Or you can look at the things that's happened in your life and realize that you're still here, you're still mostly in your right mind.

God is still good, and you realize, what if it wasn't to destroy me?

But what if God used it to form me into his work of art?

What if we saw our neighbors like that?

When they're going through a difficult time, we didn't go, well, they must be sinning.

They must be going through a hard time, they must have done something wrong.

But instead, man, look what God's making out of them.

Though he had a big, a big piece to move out of their life.

I can't wait to see what God does when it's over.

I can't wait to see the masterpiece.

Man, God's up to something.

He wouldn't be working that hard on them if he wasn't up to something.

That I'm not saying that God does it, but God uses everything for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Therefore, we can be confident that he who began a good work within you will be active and continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

God doesn't leave you half done, he's stubborn like that.

Instead, he finishes his work.

And this is what I want to say as an encouragement to you.

Maybe, just maybe, God is not out to destroy you.

He sees more in you than you see in yourself.

So don't give up.

Let God heal your perspective and realize he is on his throne and he is doing more than you can ask, think, or imagine.

And just a moment, the band's gonna lead us in a song of worship.

And I don't know exactly how you need to respond to this.

Maybe you're going through a season, you've come out on the other side of some of those formation moments, and you're just celebrating because man, you have seen the strength of God like never before, and you just want to have a moment, a little while to just say, Thank you, Jesus, because I see you like I never have.

Maybe you're right in the middle of one of those formation moments and God is chiseling away, and you're going, yo, anytime now, Jesus, you can go ahead and knock that piece off because I'm ready for break.

And then maybe, maybe you can have what God does.

Because one of the things that many sculptors would do in the moments of some of the hardest chiseling is they would pour water over it to kind of give the stone a little bit of a rest.

And maybe you just need the water of the Holy Spirit just to rest on your soul for a few moments as we worship, and Him just reminding you, I'm still in this, I'm still with you, I'm still moving, and maybe that just needs to be your prayer for a few moments.

Is God can I just feel your presence and just remember that you are still with me?

Maybe you're in here and you don't have a relationship with Jesus.

Can I tell you?

That's your next best step of worship today is that God wants to be known by you.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that you could have eternal life.

Salvation cannot be earned, salvation is surrender.

We turn our lives over to him.

God doesn't just want to heal your perspective, he wants to heal your eternity, he wants to wash away all of your sin and make you new from the inside out.

If that's you, in just a moment, as we begin our song of worship on the back of your connect card is the plan of salvation.

If you're ready to come home into the kingdom of God, as we begin to worship the Lord in just a moment, I want you to stand to your feet with everybody else in just a moment when we worship.

And your next best step of worship is to step out of your seat and meet us back at the prayer table.

We would love to talk to you about what salvation is.

Answer any questions you have and be with you as you enter into the kingdom of heaven.

It would be our honor.

I don't know what next step you need to take, but can I tell you God's for you and not against you?

God is doing a good thing in your life, and He's never gonna stop until it's finally finished.

Let's pray together right now.

God, thank you so much for today.

Thank you, God, that you're with us and that you are for us.

I'm so thankful, God, that you see us in this place.

Lord, that you see those of us, Lord, that are in this place that we're just in the process of turning our lives over to you.

And Lord, to our own selves, we look like that piece of stone.

But today is the day we're gonna give our lives to you.

And I just pray, Holy Spirit, that you will silence any voice of the enemy, any voice that would try to tell somebody that it's not gonna work, that God doesn't love them, that God's given up on them.

We know that is a lie from the enemy in Jesus' name.

And we just release you, Holy Spirit, even more to speak the words of love over them that you've not gonna give up on us, you're never gonna quit.

You see them and you know them and you love them anyway, and that today is the day of salvation.

Lord, I pray for the person maybe today that they're celebrating.

They've been through those formation moments and they're on the other side, and they just want to say thank you.

God, I pray for the ones today that they're right in the middle of those difficulties and those troubles.

They're right in the middle.

I pray that the water of the Holy Spirit will just fill their heart and their soul this morning to remind them that they are loved, that they are seen and they are known, that in your presence is fullness of joy.

At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

For it is here that we meet with the Lord and we see his goodness all our days.

I'm thankful, Lord, for this opportunity to worship you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Would you stand with me all over the house this morning?

I don't know exactly how you need to respond to this.

The prayer table is not just for salvation, it's for anything that we can do to pray with you.

Maybe you're going through that difficult moment right now and you're struggling with your perspective, and you just would like someone to just to hold hands with you and just pray the goodness of God over you.

We would love to pray with you today.

Maybe you just want to symbolically lay something at the altar.

In the Old Testament, they would lay things at the altar, giving them as acts of worship to the Lord.

Maybe you just want to symbolically lay some fear, lay some worry, lay some pain down, and just spend time quietly up here at the altar, just you and Jesus.

Or maybe right where you are, you just want to lift your hands and just allow the Holy Spirit just to flow over you and remind you that He is with you more than you realize.

But however, you need to connect with the Lord, let's take the next few moments and let's worship the Lord together today.

Amen.