Welcome to Day 2314 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Philippians-1 Insights into Philippians – Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message – 11/05/2023 - (10/29 was missions Sunday) Joy in Living - Insights into Philippians Last week was our Outreach/Mission focus with Jeff & Candy Waite of the Gospel Mission Food Pantry. Partnering with others worldwide to build God’s kingdom is a blessing. This week, we begin a new series in the letter to the Church in Philippi, where our focus for this month will be Joy in Living for this Thanksgiving season. Today, we will explore some insights into this letter, and next week, we will begin walking through Philippians. As an introduction today, let’s read Philippians 1:1-2, on page 1825 in your Pew Bibles. 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons[a]: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As we sang the song ‘I’ve Got The Joy’ along with our children’s message today, it makes you wonder why some church gatherings seem to have lost their joy. There certainly are exceptions where there are joyful believers and rejoicing congregations. I’m thankful I’ve have the privilege to serve in such a congregation here at Putnam. But sadly, truly joyful Christians are a rare species in some congregations. To be clear, when I say “joyful Christians,” I’m not talking about silly or foolish Christians. I’m not talking about Christians who think everything’s a joke. And I’m certainly not talking about sarcastic, cynical, or sneering Christians. I’m searching for genuinely joyful Christians—the kind of joy that looks more like contentment and peace than excitement or happiness. This type of joy is what the letter to the Philippians is about. It is the joy mentioned during our children’s video this morning in Psalm 16:11. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Let's ask ourselves a few questions if we think it does not apply to us. Are we together, and each of us individually, part of the joyful remnants? Or have we forgotten how good it is to smile? Have our burdens caused our shoulders to sag and our backs to slouch? When was the last time we really let the joy of the Lord change our countenance? If we’re like most people, we could probably use a healthy dose of real joy. Thankfully, that’s the theme of the book of Philippians. Paul’s letter is saturated with joy from the first word to the last. Talk about a message desperately needed today! In our world of downers and disappointments, setbacks and failures, tragedies and disasters, how easy it is to let despair take over. I can’t think of anything that reveals the person and work of Jesus Christ in the lives of believers more than the manifestation of joy. The Christian’s most obvious advertisement is that they have something that can make a real difference in a world scraping for just an ounce of
