“What kind of Christian experience produces great, satisfying, life-affirming and visible JOY in the life of the believer, even in the midst of sad, difficult and sacrifice-demanding circumstances? Good question!

Note three REALITIES about the life of Paul which answer it….

1.  PAUL PRACTICED THE PRESENCE OF GOD. Php 2.12-13

Paul encouraged the Philippian believers to remember they were in the presence of a holy God. “Fear and trembling” means reverence.

I have heard since I was old enough to understand words that in God’s house you must walk and talk with reverence.

But Christ’s Teachings declare that God’s house is the universe. If you seek joy as a Christian, practice the presence of God everywhere!

How do you do that? Understand that we are to do it. Paul said, “Work out…” What is implied is “YOU work out…”

God wants us to be aware of His presence in everything.

Marry that thought with the reality that there is nothing you can do to please God without seeking to live in God’s presence.

It all begins with a decision to give God the first priority in your life.

The late author and Presbyterian Pastor, Rev. Alan Loy McGinnis wrote, “The people I admire always turn out to be people who practice rigorously the habit of a daily appointment with God.” Here is the key to real Christian joy – a genuine reality of being close to God.

The joy of being at one with Christ is a reality that can and should be constant.

A second reality about Paul’s life that helps us understand about having real joy in the midst of a tough world is…

PAUL PROCLAIMED THE POWER OF GOD Php 2.14-16

According to Paul the only thing he’d ever boast about was the testimony of the church at Philippi.

They were “holding forth the word” and that made them as shining stars in a very dark place.

Church and Urban Poor Course… African American Churches

LIVING IN CHRISTIAN JOY PRODUCES (2:14-16):

The absence of murmuring and grumbling isn’t the focus. Naturally whenever there IS that kind of thing it becomes the focus and poisons the community killing any possibility of joy…

So…

Counting your blessings vs. counting your curses…

“Do everything…” is the main verb and the main focus of this passage. Paul is admonishing the folks to direct their energies to constructive activities and living their lives in the positive mode.

That provides a sure footing to live life with certainty and serenity.

LIVING OUT God’s word also produces…

b. Purity & Integrity 2.15.

It’s difficult to make choices that honor God when you live in a society that’s doing its level-best to remove God from view. Shining like stars in a dark world…

But then again, that’s what the light of a candle is supposed to do!

A man discovered some of his potatoes sprouting in the darkest corner of the basement. That was unusual, as light is needed for growth.

Then he discovered that a copper pan, hanging in the kitchen near the basement window had been so brightly polished that it was reflecting the sunlight onto the potatoes.

A person may not be a Peter to preach to thousands, or a Paul to start churches and great missionary movements –

BUT WE CAN be who we are in Christ – lights reflecting the power of God, filled with the joy of God.

We can so live and witness that non-believers and believers alike will see the reflected light of Christ. JOY…

PAUL’S HEART WAS TOUCHED BY THE CHURCH IN PHILIPPI — even though the Apostle Paul was imprisoned, because they lived in the presence of Christ, making his teachings come alive in their community, and they shined liked stars in the darkest sky.

Closing Prayer

For the gift of rest and renewal, for the ebb and flow of each season, for discoveries and delights, we praise you Gracious God.

During the sleepy days of summer, help us to take some time to relax under the canopy of your holy presence. Deliver us from our never-ending pursuit of the urgent and instead, re-orient us to the important in our lives. Help us to create space for your word to break through – to create time to be still, to pray, to listen, to rejoice.

O Lord of all life, as we rest in you, we lift up the things that trouble our minds today. In our daily lives, soften our hearts that we might release our most difficult relationships into your care, neither trying to control the outcome nor hardening ourselves to your guiding hand in them. We know people who are dealing with illness and grief and are in need of your healing presence.

Some of us are frightened by what we imagine the future might hold – some are dealing with the instability of health or financial burdens, some know the disquiet that comes with failure and disappointment. There are so many around us who are so overwhelmed by life that they cannot even imagine that you care, plant the seed of hope that life could be different with your grace. For all these people and for personal situations that grip our hearts this morning, we offer our silent prayers now – for we trust that you are indeed the Mover of Mountains. We pray all these things in the name of the one who showed us a life built upon seeking your will, in Jesus the Christ, who gave us these words:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.