Happy and You Know It 1 | In Pursuit Of...

We are beginning a new series here at Cross Connection in the book of Philippians called "Happy." The book of Philippians is the letter of joy in the New Testament, so join us as we discover some of the ways that we can experience the joy and rejoicing that Jesus gives.

We were wondering if people would clap, and you passed the test! We all have our favorites, don't we? Most of the time, we are really excited about sharing with others what our favorite things are. In fact, we become pretty good evangelists about the things that are our favorites. If you have a favorite food or a favorite restaurant, you generally want to share that with people. If you have a favorite ice cream flavor or a favorite sports team, you probably want to share those things as well. Your favorite drink at Starbucks is something you might want to share with others too.

There are times, however, when we are a little more reluctant to share what our favorites are. For example, if you are a Chargers fan and you are in Oakland at a Raiders-Chargers game, you might not want to share that they are your favorite team; it could be dangerous if you do.

As for my parents, I am absolutely certain that I am their favorite. I understand that they would be reluctant to share that with the rest of the family, but I am quite certain that I am the favorite. They have told me before in private.

I have been excited about getting into the book of Philippians, which we are going to begin today here at Cross Connection. As I think about the books of the Bible, Philippians stands out to me as probably my favorite book. I realize I may have said that about other books, but really, Philippians is my favorite. This is because, in just about every one of the passages—there are four chapters in this small book—there are verses or passages that really stand out to me as important in my life. These are verses that the Lord has used to shape my understanding of who God is and to change my concept of who I am in Christ.

In Philippians chapter 1, Paul says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." We will look more in depth at that next week. He goes on to say in verse 6, "Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." That is a great and important scripture in my life, and I’m sure that many of you can relate as well.

It relates to that passage in Philippians 1:20 and 21, where Paul says, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." What a revolutionary way of looking at the world! To think and to walk out this Christian life is truly transformative.

Philippians chapter 2 contains probably my most favorite verse in the entire Bible. In verse 13, it says, "It is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure." What a great reminder to know that He will complete the work that He started. He is working in me right now to will and to do His good pleasure.

Then, in Philippians chapter 3, there is a whole series of verses from verse 7 to about verse 15, where Paul says that he has counted all things as loss that he might gain Christ. He desires to lay hold of Christ and be laid hold of by Christ, to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering, and to be conformed to His death.

In Philippians 4:6 through verse 8, Paul instructs us to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. The peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. He tells us that we need to set our minds and hearts, all of our being, on these eight things that will help us maintain peace in the midst of troubling circumstances.

Philippians, as a book, is powerful and important. It is definitely among my favorites, if not my absolute favorite book of the Bible. I have been looking forward to getting into this text. I knew that we would be in the book of Philippians quite some time ago, as we have been moving through the New Testament here at Cross Connection for several years. We approached it in a unique way, going through the book of Acts, which is a history book of the New Testament.

During that history, many other letters and books were written. We have looked at each one of those chronologically through the book of Acts. Last year, we finished the book of Acts, but we are continuing on that progression. Following the history described in the 28 chapters of Acts is a period of time where these letters were written, including the book of Ephesians, which we just considered at the beginning of this year, and now the book of Philippians. We will also be looking at Colossians and other books over the next several months.

I have known for some time that we were going to get into this passage and explore this powerful and important book. We are going to spend about nine weeks going through it. If you have ever read through Philippians or any commentaries on it, you know that this book is called by many the letter of joy.

The Epistle to the Philippians is often referred to as the Epistle of Joy. I realize we don't use the term "epistle" too often unless we're in a church discussing Apostles and Epistles. Sometimes, people mix up Apostles with Epistles, but it's important to note that Apostles wrote Epistles, which are simply letters. The Apostle Paul wrote the Epistle to the Philippians, and it is called the Epistle of Joy because nearly twenty times in these four chapters, the author writes about joy, rejoicing, and peace. He encourages the church, which he was instrumental in starting, to walk in the joy that God has for them.

This is why this series is called "Happy." Happiness, as I'm sure you all know, is an essential value in American culture. It is among our founding ideas—the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit is considered by our founding fathers to be one of the unalienable rights created by God, which we have been given the freedom to pursue. For the last 230 years, this nation has been committed to pursuing happiness. People have come from all over the world to experience life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

You would think that after nearly 250 years of pursuing happiness, we would be the happiest nation in the world. However, I am sad to report that when you look at the actual statistics, the situation is quite different. Gallup and other organizations track the mood of America, and as of the 9th of this month, just a couple of days ago, 47% of Americans reported being unhappy. Gallup conducts daily surveys, randomly sampling people from across the nation and asking them various questions, including their mood—whether they feel happy or stressed in the last 24-hour period. As of Friday, 47% of Americans indicated that they were not too happy.

Here we are in a nation that is pursuing happiness, yet many are not finding satisfaction, saying, "I still haven't."

Found what I'm looking for. As they pursue happiness in our nation, for many, happiness is elusive. Hunting for happiness is like snipe hunting. Have you ever gone snipe hunting before? Some of you have tricked people or been tricked; it's not very nice. Seeking happiness, a lot of people come up short. They're not able to apprehend what they're looking for.

This causes me to wonder if we might be pursuing it in the wrong way or if maybe we're looking for it in the wrong things. I think that we're going to learn some important things about happiness, the pursuit of happiness, and how to find joy as we go through the book of Philippians. This is the epistle, the letter of joy, which is why I think that the church in the city called Philippi, to which the Apostle Paul is writing, was one of Paul's favorite churches.

Paul was involved in a lot of churches throughout his life and ministry as he followed Jesus. He was instrumental in planting and starting a whole bunch of different churches. It seems from his writing and from some of the things he shares in the book of Acts that the people of the church at Philippi were very close to his heart. Something about that church endeared them to the Apostle Paul.

His first introduction to the people is found in the book of Acts, chapter 16. If you want to open your Bibles to the book of Acts, it's in the New Testament, a long book right after Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Open your old-fashioned Bible or an iPad or whatever device you have today to Acts chapter 16.

Acts chapter 16 describes the Apostle Paul's first meeting with the people in that region called Philippi. It happened during Paul's second missionary journey. He was a missionary, one who was sent out by a church to carry the gospel to people who had never heard it before. He lived and was part of a church in what is modern-day Syria, in a city called Antioch of Syria. A few years before the events described in Acts 16, Paul and his friend Barnabas had been sent out by that church, and they went to a region called Galatia, a county, almost if you will, called Galatia, which is in the middle of modern-day Turkey. There, in that area of modern-day Turkey 2,000 years ago, Paul and Barnabas planted a church.

A series of churches were established in cities called Lisra, Iconium, and Derby, and God began to do a work in that area. Paul and Barnabas returned to their home church, and after a period of time, that church in Syria sent Paul and another companion, Silas, out to plant more churches. They traveled through Galatia, revisiting the churches that Paul and Barnabas had planted a few years earlier. They encouraged the church and ministered there again, but their primary aim was to continue carrying the gospel as missionaries to people who had never heard it before.

In Acts chapter 16, as you follow the story, after they had been in Galatia, Paul and Silas picked up another partner to help them carry the gospel—a young man named Timothy. They were leaving Galatia to spread the gospel, and it seemed that Paul's plan was to go into a city called Ephesus. If you look at Galatia in central Turkey, Ephesus would be down to the southwest on the peninsula of the nation of Turkey today, right there on the Mediterranean Sea. Paul wanted to go to that area in Ephesus.

However, in Acts chapter 16, verse 6, it states that when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After passing through Galatia, Paul was on his way, and you can even look at the maps in the back of your Bible later on. There are maps called the "Journeys of Paul," and this is the second journey of Paul. It seems like he was heading northwest and then wanted to turn down into the area called Asia Minor, where Ephesus was located.

But something happened. We don't know what occurred; we are not given much information. It simply states that the Spirit forbade them from going there. This raises a curious question: what happened that Paul, Silas, and Timothy, as they were walking along the road, encountered a fork? One direction led to Asia Minor and Ephesus, while the other did not. It seems they wanted to go left, but the Lord wouldn't let them. We don't know why, and we don't know what happened, but they could not proceed in that direction. So, they continued on their journey.

In the very next verse, verse 7, they came to Mia, which is another town along the road. They tried to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. Imagine Paul, Silas, and Timothy on this journey, wanting to go to Asia Minor and Ephesus, but being told by the Lord that they could not.

Somehow, in some way, Paul and Silas came to a town called Troas. The guys said, "Well, let's go to Bithynia." They couldn't go to the left, so they decided to go to the right. However, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit; the Spirit would not permit them to go in that direction. There was a closed door, so they continued on their journey. They couldn't go to the left to Ephesus, nor could they go to the right to Bithynia. Ultimately, they came to what was really a roadblock in a town called Troas.

You can look at the map in the back of your Bible later on and see that Troas is a coastal town. Paul couldn't go to the left down to Asia Minor, nor could he go to the right up to Bithynia, and he had the Aegean Sea in front of him. He was essentially stopped in this city called Troas. Then we read this in Acts 16:9: "Now a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.'"

After he had seen the vision, immediately, Luke, who is the one writing this, noted that there were four of them now: Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke. Luke says, "We sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them." Therefore, sailing from Troas, they ran a straight course to Samothrace, which was a coastal town in Macedonia. The next day, they came to Neapolis, which is a little bit inland from Samothrace. From there, they came to Philippi, which is still a bit more inland from Neapolis. Philippi is the foremost city, or the capital city, of Macedonia, a colony.

They stayed in the city for many days. The Apostle Paul, along with Luke, Silas, and Timothy, was on this journey to carry the good news of the Gospel of Jesus to people who hadn't heard it yet. There were many people in the area of Asia Minor, particularly in Ephesus, who had not heard, and there were all kinds of people in Bithynia who had not heard either. Yet the Lord directed them, saying, "Not this way, not that way, but this way."

If you have your sermon guide, point number one on your outline as we study through the New Testament, the book of Acts, and the letters of the Apostle Paul...

Other Apostles, we find that there is joy in joining Jesus on mission. One of the reasons that so many pursuers of happiness in our nation today are unhappy is that they are endeavoring on the wrong mission. They are engaged in the wrong mission, and that's why they are not experiencing the joy and happiness that Jesus described when He said, "I came to give life and life more abundantly."

In fact, in the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed that His joy would be experienced in full in the lives of His followers. So, one of the reasons that people in our nation today are not experiencing the happiness and joy they are pursuing is that they are committed to the wrong mission. There is joy in joining Jesus on mission. When you become a Christian, that's exactly what you do. Christians are people who are following Jesus; they are engaged in His mission.

Jesus has a mission in the world. In fact, He told His early followers at the end of each of the Gospels, "I want you to be engaged in my mission: go into all the world and preach the gospel to all peoples, to all creatures. Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." This is the mission that Jesus commissioned His followers to. From what we can ascertain in the Scriptures and from our experiences, those of us who have engaged in this mission find that there is joy in joining with Jesus in this mission.

Now, I realize that in saying we should join Jesus in mission, a number of red flags go up immediately among people. They instantly start to think, "What exactly does that mean, joining Jesus on mission? What's He going to make me do?" I remember as a 16-year-old in a youth group at this church, being at a youth camp about three hours from here, up in Big Bear. There, at this youth camp, a short, balding old guy with big red cheeks and a smiley face got up and told a room full of 400 high schoolers that they should follow Jesus wherever He calls them to go. I remember sitting there and thinking, "I don't want to do that."

Going to send me to Africa? I don't want to go to Africa. He's going to make me do something I don't want to do. Instantly, in our minds, I think most of us, when we hear someone say we need to join with Jesus on Mission, the first thing we think is that he's going to make me do something weird. If you read the Bible, there are some weird things that some followers of God have done. For example, read the book of Ezekiel or the book of Isaiah, and you might think, "I don't know about this whole following God thing." So, people start to get a little bit concerned.

When someone like me, a preacher, says we need to join with Jesus on Mission, we instantly start to say, "Well, what does that mean?" I want to tell you that it does not necessarily mean that you leave your job, sell your house, and move to another country. That's the first thing that comes to people's minds when we say you need to join with Jesus on Mission: "I have to quit my job, sell my house, and go." Yes, there are some people who do that, but that's not necessarily what it means.

It does, however, mean that your plans may change. We don't like it when our plans change, do we? Right now, you're probably thinking of a time this last week when your plans changed suddenly, and you weren't too happy about that. The reality is that when we join Jesus on Mission, our plans may change, and there may be times of uncertainty.

The Apostle Paul had a plan, didn't he? "Let's go to Asia Minor. Let's go to Ephesus." But God said, "No, we're not doing that. That's not the plan today." Then it was, "Well, let's go to Bithynia." Again, God said, "No, that's not what we're doing." I imagine that Paul, Luke, Timothy, and Silas, when they came to Troas, felt a bit of consternation, saying, "Well, what now? Here we are in Troas, and what do you want us to do?" It seemed like God wanted them to keep moving, but they couldn't go to the left or the right.

Then God said, "Well, you need to cross this body of water here," and He gave them a vision. Walking with Jesus on Mission sometimes means that our plans change. It does mean that your view of your life, your time, your talents, your money, and everything that you have will change when you join Jesus on Mission. When you begin to follow Him where He is going, what He wants you to do in your life may mean that you stay right here in North County, continue in the job that you're in, and do many of the things that you did, but you begin to see everything differently.

As you begin to recognize that the things you have gained are not actually yours but belong to God, you understand that those on mission with Jesus are not owners but stewards of everything they possess. This includes their time, talents, and treasures. When you follow Jesus on mission, you realize that these things are not yours but His, and you become a steward of all of it.

Following Jesus on mission also means that your motivations change. The reasons behind what you do and how you do it begin to be altered. As you follow Jesus, you become a servant of Him and ask the same question that the Apostle Paul asked when he first met Jesus.

Before he was known as the Apostle Paul, his name was Saul. He was a staunch religious Jewish Pharisee who wanted nothing to do with Jesus. In fact, he was committed to the persecution and destruction of anyone who followed after Jesus. The story is told in Acts chapter 9 that Saul of Tarsus, who would become Paul the Apostle, was on his way to find Christians—followers of Jesus—to bring them back and put them in jail in Jerusalem.

While he was on his way to the capital of Syria, just outside that city at midday, a bright shining light shone before him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice from Heaven saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Isn't it hard for you to kick against the goads?" Saul, as he lay there on the ground, asked, "Who are you, Lord?" He then heard what was probably the worst words he had ever heard: "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting."

In that moment, his heart likely skipped thirty beats, and he was able to choke out one of the most important questions that each of us needs to ask. This question is found in Acts chapter 9, verse 6. He said, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"

Do what you want me to do in that moment. Saul of Tarsus became a follower of Jesus, and he joined Jesus on His mission. Prior to that, Saul was engaged in his own mission. He had a plan and a purpose: to destroy anybody who followed Jesus. He had a method to do that, and he had the authority and power to accomplish it. He had all of these things mapped out; he was on his own mission.

I would suggest to you that he wasn't very happy because his mission was not actually being fulfilled. He was quite frustrated. From what you can see in the passage, he was pretty angry because his mission was not being fulfilled. In that moment, he relinquished his mission and said, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"

Years later, we find the story here in Acts chapter 16, where Paul was following the mission of the Lord. In Acts chapter 16, he was doing exactly what God had called him to do. Back in Acts chapter 9, when he asked, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" Jesus's response was given in Acts 9:15, when He said, "You are going to be an apostle to Gentiles. I'm going to send you to people that are not like you. I'm going to send you to people that are not from your tribe, from your heritage, or from your part of the neighborhood. You're going to go to people that have never heard, and you're going to share the gospel."

In Acts chapter 16, that's exactly what Paul was doing. He went into the city of Philippi, which was different from the other cities that Paul had gone to. When he arrived in that city, there was really no Jewish presence. Paul was Jewish, and everywhere he went, the first thing he would do was try to find people that had something in common with him. He would look for a Jewish synagogue in whatever city he visited, whether it was Listra, Derby, Corinth, or Athens.

However, when he came to the city of Philippi, there was no Jewish synagogue and no one that really had anything in common with Paul. So, he went looking for people who might be seeking God. He was seeking God seekers, and he found some. Acts chapter 16 tells us that on a Saturday, on the Sabbath, when normally Jews would gather together to worship, he found a group of Gentile women who were seeking God by the river outside the city of Philippi.

When he found this group of women, he preached the gospel. Luke, Timothy, and Silas were with him as Paul preached.

The Gospel tells the story of a businesswoman named Lydia, who is mentioned in Acts chapter 16. The scripture states that her heart was opened by God, and she received the Gospel. Not only did she accept the message, but she also invited Paul, Luke, Silas, and Timothy to her house, where she planned to host them. Lydia was apparently fairly wealthy, as she had a household with servants. Paul preached the Gospel to her household, and they became Christians.

On that Sabbath day in the city of Philippi, a group of Gentiles became followers of Jesus, establishing a church for the first time in Europe. What happened in that city 2,000 years ago has led to us sitting here today as the fruit of that moment. This was the first move of the Gospel from the Eastern world, the Middle Eastern world, into the Western world. It marked the beginning of the church among Europeans. Now, 2,000 years later, we are the result of that effort, as the Apostle Paul, led by the Lord on a mission with Jesus, received a vision to go to Macedonia. He preached the Gospel, and a church was started. All the people in Lydia's household were baptized, believing in Jesus.

Jesus commanded His followers to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He promised, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Paul entered Philippi, preached the Gospel, and baptized those who put their faith in Jesus. It seemed like everything was going perfectly, but as often happens, things took a turn.

In Acts chapter 16, which you can read in depth later, while Paul was ministering in Philippi with Luke, Silas, and Timothy, there was a young slave girl possessed by a demon. This possession gave her a supernatural ability to foretell the future, allowing her to earn a significant income for her masters. One day, as Paul was ministering, he cast the demon out of the young slave girl. You might think this was a good thing, but her employers were not pleased, as she could no longer fortune-tell. They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the court, the magistrates in Philippi, accusing them of wrongdoing.

Bad dudes are wreaking havoc in our city, and so the magistrates say, "All right, let's beat them with no trial, no hearing." They beat them with rods and then throw them in jail, with no hearing, putting them in the deepest part of the dungeon, the deepest part of the prison, in stocks.

We probably have some sort of medieval picture of what stocks would be, but whatever the case is, it's bad news. You get beaten and thrown in prison for doing nothing wrong, for actually doing something good, and there you are in stocks in the prison. You would think, "Bad day, really bad day."

But look, if you will, at Acts chapter 16, verse 25. This is at the end of a bad day. At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God in the prison after being beaten and sitting in stocks. At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

This makes very little sense, but it informs us of a very important point: Joy is not dependent upon circumstances. This goes against the view of modern culture, where happiness is found in good happenings. Our modern culture believes that we only really find true joy, happiness, contentment, and good things that happen in our lives.

However, what is evidenced in the Bible is that the joy that God desires for us to experience is not dependent upon our circumstances. After a beating, after a trial in which he didn't have any opportunity to speak up for himself, after being thrown in prison and put in stocks, Paul the Apostle, with Silas in the deepest, darkest part of the prison, would be expected to respond with doom and gloom, not with praise and hymns to God.

When you join with Jesus on mission, you quickly find that joy is not dependent upon circumstances.

What happened to Paul while ministering in Philippi was quite remarkable. He was beaten and thrown into prison, among other hardships. The next day, the magistrates, the leaders of the city, told him to leave, saying, "Get out of here; we don't want anything to do with you." After God had done a great work in that area, Paul was booted out of the city.

You might think that Paul's memory of Philippi would not be a good one. However, if you turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians, which is to the right of the book of Acts, you will pass First and Second Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians before reaching Philippians. In chapter 1, verse 3, Paul writes to the church there, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." This seems counterintuitive. It was a place where some good things were happening, but he was beaten, thrown in jail, and kicked out of the city.

Despite these experiences, Paul expresses gratitude: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer making request for you all with joy." He has joy as he remembers the church at Philippi. The memories Paul had of that time didn't seem like they should inspire thankfulness, gratitude, or joy. Yet, he insists, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." This sentiment seems to defy logic.

What else seems out of place is that this is known as the letter of joy. Nearly 20 times, Paul speaks of joy, rejoicing, peace, and contentment. In this passage, he discusses being content and having joy. Yet, in the latter half of Philippians chapter 1, we learn that he is in jail again for no crime he committed, facing execution in the city of Rome. He is uncertain whether he will live or die, and yet he states, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

How does one reach that point? I would suggest that the kind of joy, rejoicing, contentment, and peace that Paul speaks of is the kind of joy that you and I should want to pursue. If we are a people who value the pursuit of happiness, then this is the joy we should seek.

The kind of joy that we should want to pursue is a joy that is not dependent upon our circumstances. It is a joy that brings peace and rejoicing even when plans suddenly go awry and change. I guarantee it was never in Paul's plans to get beaten and thrown in jail. I guarantee it was not part of what he envisioned for his future that he would end up in Rome, in a prison, facing execution, not knowing what would happen to him. Yet, even in the midst of it, he had peace and joy.

This letter, the Letter of Joy, is one of Paul's prison Epistles, one of the letters he wrote while he was in jail. You would imagine that a letter written while in jail, falsely accused for nothing he ever did, would express feelings of upset and anger at the government. However, he doesn't say anything like that. Instead, he states, "I have joy and rejoicing because for me to live is Christ, to die is gain."

This is the kind of joy that we should pursue. As I have studied through and read the Book of Philippians many times, I know that many of you have also studied and read it extensively. You could probably give some teachings on the Book of Philippians. What I want to do as we look at this series is to consider what sort of things Paul encourages Christians, both 2,000 years ago and today, to do so that they might experience the same kind of joy, peace, and contentment in Christ. Jesus prayed that you and I would have His joy fulfilled in us.

I believe there are some things in these four chapters that might help us to more fully enjoy the joy of Christ, for He came to give life and that more abundantly. Unfortunately, we are only going to look at two verses today.

So, Philippians chapter 1, would you stand with me? We are just going to read the first 11 verses, and I will make two quick points on two verses.

Philippians chapter 1, verse 1: Paul, writing from prison in Rome, writes this: "Paul and Timothy, bond servants, bond slaves of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and the deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of..."

This very thing that He who began a good work in you will complete until the day of Jesus Christ. Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, you are all partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Father, give us insight as we, over the next nine weeks, consider this book. Teach us and help us to learn from You how You instruct us to experience joy, peace, rejoicing, and contentment, because these are most certainly the things that people in our nation and people all over the world are seeking. So instruct us, we ask in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, Amen. You can be seated.

The Apostle Paul was a prolific writer, and the vast majority of the Christian doctrines and teachings of the church find their foundation in what the Apostle Paul wrote. His life was drastically transformed by Jesus through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Today, we are going to partake of communion, remembering His life, death, burial, and resurrection—what we celebrated last week on Easter.

The Apostle Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, 13 letters that were written by him. In each one of those, he identifies himself. In many of them, he identifies himself in the same way as he does in this one, where he says, "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ." A bondservant was a slave, but it was a slave by choice. It's hard for us to imagine that a slave could be someone who is happy.

Point number three on your outline...

As we prepare our hearts for communion, happiness is found in service to Christ. True happiness is found in service to Christ. The Apostle Paul understood this and taught it. In fact, every one of the New Testament writers conveys this very same message.

The Apostle Peter introduces himself in Second Peter, chapter 1, verse 1, as Peter, a bondslave of Jesus. The Apostle Jude identifies himself in Jude, chapter 1, verse 1, as Jude, a bondslave of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John speaks of himself as a servant, a slave (doulos in Greek) of Jesus Christ. The Apostle James begins his letter by stating, "James, a bondservant of Jesus Christ."

That great 20th-century philosopher Bob Dylan, as I have mentioned before, said, "You're gonna serve somebody, either the devil or the Lord." You're going to serve somebody, and he is right. Happiness in servitude comes from which Master you have. Paul and all of the New Testament writers understood that true happiness is found in Jesus being the master of your life when He is the one you are serving.

In 21st-century America, we are told that happiness is found in having liberty and freedom to do whatever you want, with whomever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, and however you want. However, as you read through the Scriptures, you find that if you live that way, you become a servant, a slave of sin. Jesus came to set us free from sin; He came that we might be redeemed, purchased back out of slavery.

That's exactly what He did on the cross. When He died on the cross, He gave His life for us so that He might buy us out of our servitude, our slavery to sin. This took place, as Paul reveals in verse 2 of Philippians, chapter 1, through grace. Look at this: Philippians 1:2 states, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Point number four on your outline: There is lasting joy only by grace.

Christ, happiness is found in service to Christ, and there is lasting joy only by grace through Christ. What He did on the cross is God's gracious gift to us so that we could experience lasting joy in Christ forever. Psalm 16:1 says, "In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore."

The worship team is going to play in just a moment, and our ushers are going to come forward and pass out bread, a little cracker that is representative of the body of Jesus that was given for us. This symbolizes that we might be redeemed from slavery to sin and experience lasting joy through grace by Christ.

Father, we ask that as we prepare our hearts for communion, You would meet us here. Lord Jesus, 2,000 years ago, You started this thing that we're doing right now—partaking of bread and the cup to remember Your body that was broken for us and Your blood that was shed for us. This allows us to come out of our slavery to sin and enjoy happiness by serving You. We might have lasting joy because of Your gracious gift. God, remind us of these things as we now prepare for communion. In Jesus' name, amen.