Everything is Awesome & Nobody Is Happy: Partners For A Purpose

 Everything is Awesome

&

Nobody Is Happy

Partners For A Purpose

Opening Illustration:

We are living in an absolutely amazing time. Just look around folks. It appears that there are new technological advances each and every day. Just look at the medical advancements that have occurred. I think of our very own John Anderson. John, as many of you know, has been suffering with the debilitating side effects of Parkinson’s disease. You have seen over the years how his tremors have worsened. Just a few months ago John had a procedure Deep Brain Stimulation. DBS as it is commonly called, is where electrodes are inserted into a targeted area of the brain, using MRI (another amazing instrument of technology) and recordings of brain cell activity during the procedure. A second procedure is performed to implant an IPG, impulse generator battery (like a pacemaker). The IPG is placed under the collarbone or in the abdomen. The IPG sends an electrical impulse to a part of the brain involved in motor function. Those who undergo DBS surgery are given a controller to turn the device on or off. When this device was turned on for John, the tremors that he had suffered with for years suddenly, inextricably, disappeared. It was a miracle. 

That is just one medical advancement that is awesome. What about the advancements in transportation. If you were to tell me about self driving cars, night vision windshields, laser guided cruise control, lane departure monitoring, and autonomous braking I would have told you that you must be talking about the Jetson’s or some science fiction movie. Nope, I’d be talking about right here and right now. It is all happening in the year 2021. 

Don’t get me started in mobile technology. In 2007, Steve Jobs of Apple Computers changed the world with the advent of the iPhone. True, the iPhone was not really appreciated as an advancement at the time. Listen to some of it’s critics…

BLOOMBERG: The iPhone's impact will be minimal. It will only appeal to "a few gadget freaks." Nokia and Motorola haven't a care in the world.

PC MAGAZINE: The iPhone is deeply flawed. Apple will sell lots at first and then sales will plummet.

BUSINESSWEEK: The iPhone will never be a threat to the BlackBerry.

It is really really funny when you think about it. Did you know that there is more computing power in the phone in your pocket than what excited in 1969 that put men on the moon. It’s true. 

What about social media? In 2004 a little Internet company was created and it was called The Facebook. A few years later the company would drop the “the” and it would be called Facebook. Before that we had MySpace. Social media was born and suddenly the entire world was connected and communicating. Finally, we were able to see what each other were eating and we were able to see everyone’s grandchildren. Ok, maybe that’s not the best thing but still, many of us are addicted to social media.

Brothers and sisters, these are amazing times we live in. Everywhere you look, it is just awesome. Humans are doing more than has ever been done in the history of ever. You would think that since we are making all these advancements, that we are doing so much more, that we would be happier and more joyful. You would think that but you’d be dead wrong. 

On June 16, 2020, NBC reported that Americans were the unhappiest they had been in the last 50 years. 14% of American adults say they're very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they'd often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks. Now, 50% say that. Only 42% of Americans believe that when their children reach their age, their standard of living will be better. About twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018. That number has only increased since the lockdowns and social separations of 2020 and 2021. 

Everything may be awesome, but as shocking as this next statement is, it is still true. People are hungry for happiness and hope and there is only one place to find both, Jesus!

Thesis Statement:

People Are Hungry For Happiness and Hope! Our One Help…Jesus!

Starting Philippians & Background:

Church, today we are starting a new series entitled, “Everything is Awesome & Nobody is Happy”. Our study will chronicle the book of Philippians. Philippians was written by Paul. Paul wrote this letter to the Church in Philippi, from a Roman prison cell in A.D. 62. Imagine being Paul, you are writing from jail. You arms and legs were chained in a common holding cell. This jail would have been underground, subject to flooding, and engulfed in all manner of squalor. Roman jails were famous for being particularly brutal. Prisoners were expected to find their own food which meant that they had to eat vermin or insects that they could catch while chained. If prisoners had friends on the outside, they could pass food to them. However, if they were caught feeding the prisoners, they too could be jailed. Paul, because he was a Roman citizen would have been afforded one meal a day. Paul was guarded around the clock and given no privacy. Paul was used to being beaten in jail, whipped, and even tortured. 

Paul, in writing his letter, speaks continually of joy, happiness, purpose, and fulfillment. Think about it, Paul was living during a time and living in conditions where it would be hard for us to find happiness, but Paul had it in spades. He was not just joyful, he was overjoyed, overcome with happiness, and overflowing with worship. Why is it that so many people today are unhappy and have so much when Paul had nothing but was so joyful? Paul wrote this letter to encourage the Philippians to live as citizens of a heavenly city, growing in their commitment to serve God and one another.  

Let’s read this morning from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. I’ll be reading Philippians 1:1-11 from the New Living Translation this morning.

Today’s Scripture:

Philippians 1:1-12 NLT

1This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. 8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.

9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. 12“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.”

Transition Statement:

Now that we have read from God’s Word this morning, we have to ask ourselves what God is trying to communicate to us this morning? What is the application? Brothers and sisters, I truly believe that God was you and I to discover joy in the midst of trail and crisis. Paul was in jail, yet had joy. He was in a physical hell but he discovered hope. There is a real miracle in what Paul found. How many of you would like to be filled with joy in the aftermath of being suddenly, unexpectedly terminated? How many of you would like to find peace when you are battling some sort of health scare? How many of you would like to feel assurance and security when everything around you seems to be spinning out of control? The answer is of course all of us want those things. Why? The answer to that question is because every single person in this room is going to one day go through a significant difficulty and hardship and we all want to know that God has not abandoned us, forgotten about us or forsaken us. So, how does Paul find joy in jail? If we can discover the answer to that this morning then we might just crack the code to finding true joy in the midst of catastrophic events. 

How Does Paul Find Joy In Jail?

I. Partnership vs. 1-2

Philippians 1:1-2 NLT

1This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Point:

From the very start, Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is all about partnership. He introduces his letter saying that it is from both himself and Timothy. Timothy, of which Paul wrote 2 of his epistles, was a young protégé of Paul’s. Timothy was a pastor in his own right. Timothy was a great encourager to Paul and Timothy was someone that Paul poured a great deal of his life into. It’s interesting that as we read Philippians that Paul expands the role of partnership beyond Timothy and onto the church itself. Paul deeply loved the Philippian church and appreciated their prayers, their financial offerings that kept the ministry moving forward, and their service to the Lord. This book is significant because no man, not even a man who wrote one third of the New Testament, is an island. Everyone needs help. We were never created to do life apart from each other or without aid from another human. God created us for partnership. Without partnership, we lack the power to conduct ministry. Without partnership, we lack the accountability to keep our doctrine in check.

Point:

In my former church, my pastor had a saying that always stuck with me. “We need Jesus and we need each other”. Those words are so true. We do need Jesus and we need each other. I have said many times that when we think of these Bible characters that we often forget that they were real men and women. They were human beings with real struggles. They had the same flesh and blood that you and I have and they put their pants on the same way that you and I do. Philippians 1:1-2 are a great reminder that for all of Paul’s greatness, he still needed help. Clearly he needed help from God. All of us would admit that this morning. What I love about these first two verses is that Paul needs help from other people, other Christian brothers. 

Point:

I don’t remember where I heard this story. I cannot remember if it came from my family or from someone else’s family. The story goes that a little girl was having a hard time sleeping. The girl believed that there were monsters under her bed so she shouted for her Dad. The Dad walks upstairs, opens the door to the child’s bedroom, and the little one tells him that she is scared. He informs his daughter that monsters are not real and that she should just go back to sleep. The little girl tells him that she is just to scared to go back to sleep and requests that he stay with her. The Dad asks if she has stopped to pray, he asks “have you asked Jesus to come into your room and protect you”. His daughter replied “yes” that she has prayed but that she needs “Jesus with skin on”.  The story ends with her Father crawling into bed with his little girl and telling her that he will be the answer to her prayer, he will be Jesus with skin on. 

Point:

The point is friends is that all of us are Jesus with skin on. Again, we need Jesus. Of course that is true. But we also need one another. You are the physical manifestation of Christ’s compassion here on earth. Jesus is compelling all of us to love one another, support one another, help one another, and pray for one another. I will talk about prayer and how we should pray for each other in just a minute. 

Illustration:

Last week, we had a COVID scare in our home. I was at home with a sick child on a Wednesday. I was working at the kitchen table on my Sunday sermon. Over the summer, we had had some work done on our house and as it turns out, our irrigation system was no longer working. It was a complete mystery. I had several companies come by and even they were stumped. While I was working alone at my table, I heard a knock at my door. Low and behold it was Jeff Smith come to check on our family. Not only was he checking on Jay, he had come over to help me figure out my sprinkler problem. He spent several hours on his hands and knees digging in the South Baldwin county mud, humidity and heat. He and I laughed and talked. In that moment, Jeff Smith was no longer Jeff Smith the church member and corporate pilot, husband to Deborah and father to three outstanding boys. He was Jeff Smith, Jesus with skin on, close partner and helper. At that moment, he was my greatest encourager. 

Brothers and sisters, who can you parter with this week? Who can you serve? Who can you encourage? Maybe you will be like my other friend Mike Moity. Mike has served as a deacon in our church. Mike is a skilled craftsman, builder, and handyman. Mike recently retired and was lending his talents and service to a widow in our church. I bet if I asked Elaine Helms is Mike looked like Jesus with skin on, I bet you she would say “yes”?  Think right now, who can you pray for today by making a simple phone call? You could send a card to someone needing encouragement or thanks. You could drop off a small token of appreciation just letting someone know you care. 

Remember Paul’s words captured in I Thessalonians 5:11…

I Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…

How Does Paul Find Joy In Jail?

I. Partnership vs. 1-2

II. Prayer vs. 3-4

Philippians 1:3-4 NLT

3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 

Point:

As Christians we all know the importance of prayer. When we read Philippians, we discover that prayer was an important part of his ministry. Ask yourself the following question, “why do I pray”? I bet if I passed a microphone around the answer to that question would vary from person to person. I have discovered two things about prayer, it works and I should do it more. 

Illustration:

The other day I was reading about prayer. I came across a funny sermon where children were asked to share their prayer requests with the pastor. It reminds me that I can pray for just about anything. 

• Dear God: Please send a new baby for Mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much. Debbie, 7

• Dear God: Who did you make smarter? Boys or girls? My sister and I want to know. Jimmy, 6

• Dear God: How many angels are there in heaven? I would like to be the first kid in my class to know the answer. Norma, 8

• Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man. Hank, 7

• Dear God: I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father. Thank you. David, 7

• Dear God: This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains. So far he doesn’t have any. Angela, 8

Even though most of us would say that prayer is important, even vital to living a successful Christian life, we have fewer and fewer people praying. A recent pole of some 35,000 people was conducted by the Pew Research Group and they discovered that 23% of professing Christians never prayed. Another 6% said that they only prayed once a month and another 16% stated that they prayed once a week. There was 1% polled of professing Christians who said that they really don’t know if they ever pray. That comes out to 45% of Christians whose very best prayer life includes praying one time a week…at best. Then we wonder why we see churches shrinking, we see Christian marriages ending in divorce, we see little to no new Christian coverts. We wonder why we are missing spiritual power. We are frustrated because we feel like God is not speaking to us and we are concerned because we lack spiritual guidance and direction. Friends, it’s because we are not praying. Just plain and simple, we are not praying. 

Philippians 4:6 ESV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

I Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

Pray without ceasing,

Jeremiah 33:3 ESV

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Point:

The other day I had a fella in my office. He asked me a great question about prayer. He said, “pastor, can you tell me how I should pray?” Maybe you have wondered the same thing. How should I pray? Paul tells us in verses 3 and 4. 

How Should We Pray?

1. We Should Pray Consistently

Point:

Paul uses a couple of phrases when talking about prayer: “every time” and “whenever”. Paul had the unique ability to operate under a consistent attitude of prayer. He was constantly and continually praying for people. In Philippians, he was praying for them whenever and every time he could be reminded to do so. Are you praying consistently? How do we even accomplish consistent prayer?

First, it means that there is a spirit of dependence that should permeate all we do. This is the very spirit and essence of prayer: dependence. So, even when we are not speaking consciously to God, there is a deep, abiding dependence on him that is woven into the very essence of our faith.

In that sense, we are praying. We are experiencing a spirit of dependence continuously, and that kind of disposition is, I think, right at the heart of what God creates when he creates a Christian.

The second meaning that it has (and I think this is probably the one that is foremost in Paul’s conscious intention here) is that praying without ceasing means praying repeatedly and often. It doesn’t mean that he was verbally and mentally always, every second, praying. It means that over and over, always, repeatedly, without fail, when I get on my knees, I am praying. That is basically what I think he means by “pray without ceasing” — repeatedly and often. He means that we are to take time daily praying. We are to make praying a priority just as you would make going to the gym a priority or making the bed a priority. Prayer should become a priority for our day. 

How Should We Pray?

1. We Should Pray Consistently

2. We Should Pray Specifically

Point:

Again, Paul is not just throwing words around, speaking little trite prayers. He is not just asking for good weather or asking God to meet vague and nondescript needs. No way. Paul is specifically praying for the Philippians. Paul tells them that he is asking that God continue His work in them, growing them up to maturity in the midst of great persecution and turmoil. He is making specific requests concerning their very well being to God. 

Brothers and sisters, has anyone ever come to you and asked you to pray for them? Sure they have. Have you ever said “yes”, walk away and then forget about the promise to pray for them? Probably so. We are all guilty of that type of behavior. Let it not be so. When people ask us to pray for them, pray for them. Right then and there. There is nothing more important, more valuable, than praying for someone’s specific needs. Trust me, direct prayer and intersession will bring glory to God, blessing to the person being prayed for, and will mold you into the image of Christ. Be specific in your prayers. Be consistent in your prayers. Make prayer a priority. Ill remind you how Jesus prayed. Follow His example. 

Mark 1:35 NIV

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

How Does Paul Find Joy In Jail?

I. Partnership vs. 1-2

II. Prayer vs. 3-4

III. Perspective vs. 12

Philippians 1:12 NLT

12“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.”

Point:

Let’s remember where Paul was writing from for just one second. He was writing from a Roman jail. That really stinks. I failed to tell you at the beginning of the sermon as to why he was writing from a Roman jail. I told you how disgusting a Roman jail was, but I didn’t tell you why he was there. We find the answer in Acts 28. If you were to open your Bibles and read, you will discover that Paul was serving as a church planter and missionary. Good for Paul. We would all pat him on the back and say “well done”. Yet, in Acts 28, Paul is confronted with shipwrecks, starvation, snakebites, people took Paul for a murderer, and he was arrested and persecuted by his own people. At the conclusion of the chapter, he is back in Roman hands and under Roman guard. Now, ask yourself, if this was you, what would your reaction? How would these event effect your prayer life? Don’t you think you might question God, have a few doubts, maybe even be a bit angry. Here you are doing great things for the Lord, following His path and walking in accordance with His will and all these terrible things happen to you. If this were me I think that I might have a bit of a pity party or a bad attitude. 

Not Paul! 

Paul had a different perspective. 

Philippians 1:12 NLT

12“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.”

Paul could have had a pity party and be angry at God but Paul took these problems and turned them into an opportunity. He turned his jail cell into a mission field. Be care friends that you do not become so self consumed and caught up in your own person prison that you miss the opportunities that God has placed in your life to share your faith with you people and be an encouragement to someone else. Also, people are watching you in terms of how you handle the trials and difficulties in life. They are waiting to see if you respond in faith or fear. They are waiting to see your attitude, will be be positive and Christlike, seeing the best in brutal times. Will they see you fall apart, failing to embrace the promises that God has made. Paul found his call in contentment. So can you. Recall his words in Philippians 4:11-13,

Philippians 4:11-13 ESV

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Conclusion:

Friends, we are living in a day where we have more yet we are more empty than ever before. Paul was living in a day where he had absolutely nothing but was able to discover pure joy. His source of joy was from his relationship with Christ. His relationship with Christ was made possible through a powerful, consistent, an specific prayer life. Christ wants you to have the same joy that Paul possessed. It is available through having the same relationship with Christ that he had, it is available to you. This morning, you can receive Christ by asking Him into your life. Perhaps you are missing out on the mission of Christ because you are not a member of the Body of Christ, the local church. You can join today. Maybe you have never been baptized. Id love to speak to you about that this morning. Come now, make a decision for Christ. Find joy in Jesus. 

Amen.