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Study Four: Again, I Say Rejoice (Philippians 4)
Key Scripture: Philippians 4:1-23 (The Message)
Remember a time where you have felt pure joy. Joy that’s captured all of your being – lifting you beyond all that’s happening in your life in that moment. Now, imagine experiencing a life where such joy is not just felt in a fleeting moment, but joy that is permanent and ever-present.
If there is a message for our current generation, it’s to, ‘Be anxious for nothing!’ These recent years of disruption, wars and the ‘anxieties of life’ (Luke 21:34) have led many of us feeling exhausted, tired, worried and spent. It’s been a challenging time for us all – individually, and in our communities.
When have you lost your joy? Perhaps your joy is lost now? Or spent? In EVERY situation we face and encounter, we’re to come before God with prayer, requests and THANKSGIVING.
Learning to live a Jesus-centered life – not determined by our circumstances, but as an expression of the renewal and restoration of the good work He is doing in and through us – is the key to experiencing joy.
Jesus is our ‘joy’ and our ‘crown’.
My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.
Philippians 4:1 (The Message)
1. OUR 'JOY' AND OUR 'CROWN'
In verse 4:1, we need to position ourselves by standing firm together in our faith and trust in Jesus.
Question: Why is Paul so passionately-appreciative of His friends in Philippi? What was so special about them that he considers them his reward and blessing?
Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!
Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.
Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Philippians 4:4-7 (The Message)
2. GOD IS NEAR
In verses 4:4-7, ultimately, we have an ‘Audience of One’. God is ever-present, and His peace transcends all understanding, and guards our hearts and minds. And He is listening.
Question: Why does God ask us to rejoice, most especially when we face times of difficulty? Why do you think He wants to hear our prayers?
Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances.
I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty.
Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
Philippians 4:11-13 (The Message)
3. SECRET OF CONTENTMENT
In verses 4:11-13, true joy and assurance strengthens and cultivates us through all we encounter. Paul identifies the secret of his contentment amidst his circumstances while he is yet imprisoned far away in Rome. Jesus.
Question: How can Paul’s secret become our secret in maintaining our sense of joy when we face difficult circumstances?
PRAY TOGETHER
Pray together, and perhaps commit to praying each day in the week ahead.
Gracious God, open our eyes this day to whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. Give us eyes to see anything that is excellent or praiseworthy — and the grace to give You alone thanks for it all. Amen
Thank you to Marley from Melbourne City Campus for these studies.