Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning everyone.

I’m really honored to be here with you this morning and to help kick off the new year by turning our thoughts and affections toward Jesus.

There’s no better way to start off a new year than by resting in Him.

If you’re anything like me, you love the start to a new year.

It just brings a sense of freshness and almost like a reset.

So, whether you make resolutions or set new goals we typically like to start the beginning of a year with a purpose.

I would argue to make habits rather than resolutions.

Resolutions fade, habits remain.

Habits form who we are.

And so, this is also a good time to evaluate your life.

What are you living for?

What gives your life meaning and purpose?

As followers of Jesus, what’s it look like to live for Christ?

That’s what I want to talk about with you from the book of Philippians.

Many of you here are probably familiar with the story of Aron Ralston.

Even if you don’t recognize his name, you most likely know his story.

In 2003 Aron was canyoneering alone through Bluejohn Canyon in Utah when he dislodged an 800lb boulder which subsequently pinned his right arm against the canyon he was descending.

After five days of trying to get free he finally made the decision that the only way to live would be if he amputated the pinned forearm.

So, with a dull pocketknife, he got to work and freed himself.

He then had to repel 65 more feet with only one hand and then hike another 8 miles until a vacationing family found him and called for help.

He lived.

Human beings will go to great lengths to live, but culturally speaking we struggle to know what we’re living for.

We know we want to live, we desire life and vitality and to flourish, but humanity wrestles with the meaning and purpose of what we live for or what gives us that ultimate sense of purpose.

A simple search on Amazon for “Meaning of life books” will turn up over 30,000 results.

A search for “self-help books” will turn up over 100,000 titles.

We’re searching.

We’re hungry to find purpose and meaning in life but it doesn’t seem like the world is giving us answers that outlast the next new book coming out.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we see a man who found purpose and meaning to his living.

We see someone who’s free to live a life of joy regardless of circumstances.

And this freedom wasn’t found through a self-help book.

It was found in Jesus.

Jesus is disruptive.

Jesus changes everything.

But always for the better.

Hear what Paul says.

Philippians 1:18b-26, Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.

Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

I am hard pressed between the two.

My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

What do we desire?

What do you desire?

What just gets your heart absolutely racing?

What makes you happy?

David Brainerd, a missionary to the Native Americans back in the 1700’s once said this,

“It is impossible for any rational creature to be happy without acting all for God.

God Himself could not make him happy any other way…There is nothing in the world worth living for but doing good and finishing God’s work, doing the work that Christ did.

I see nothing else in the world that can yield any satisfaction besides living to God, pleasing Him, and doing his whole will.”

“What do you live for?”

Paul says, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

This is arguably one of the most well-known verses in Philippians.

And rightly so.

It’s an unbelievable declaration and really the foundation of our text today.

What we live for affects how we live and how we view life and even how we view death.

How would you fill in the blank, “For me, to live is _________”?

What are the common ways humanity seeks to answer this question?

Power, relationships, success, riches, security, control, fame, beauty, family, sports and the list goes on.

But here’s the main problem with all those things.

They just don’t last.

Think of each of these like a top that spins.

When you first start the top it starts off strong, but over time it begins to wobble and shake and then eventually runs out of momentum and tips over.

That’s exactly what seeking worldly pleasure or power, success and security, money and entertainment does every time.

Starts off strong where you drink of it and think, “this is pretty good,” but down the road it begins to wobble and shake, the taste becomes sour or dull until eventually it no longer is sustaining the same level of enjoyment that it once did.

So, what’s the sinful heart do?

It searches for the next fix.

Another dose, maybe larger this time to get that enjoyment back.

But the cycle will continue.

Tastes good for the moment and begins to dull.

Listen, that’s everything on this earth.

Nothing lasts!

Everything fades.

Paul says, “For me to live is Christ.”

So, what is a life worth living?

Paul answers it.

Philippians 1:20, As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Simply put, it’s honoring Jesus.

Exalting Christ.

Glorying in Jesus.

Creating habits in our lives that stir our affections for Jesus.

So, every second, every moment, whether I have breath, or my breath is fading, I want to live for Jesus.

So big picture, a life that is worth living is a life that honors Jesus.

That’s a 30,000-foot view, but let’s land, get on the ground and see how this plays out day to day.

Paul identifies four life-changing, Jesus-exalting, liberating and freeing attitudes of the heart:

Number 1.

A life that honors Jesus finds joy in Jesus.

It’s what you see at the end of verse 18, Yes, and I will rejoice.

Paul was sitting in a jail cell as he wrote this letter.

His life was one marked with constant suffering, but it was also a life marked with constant rejoicing.

No matter the circumstance, he knew one thing, he would rejoice.

A life that honors Jesus finds joy in any and every circumstance.

Tomorrow for some in here, the sun is going to shine and for others, tomorrow storms are going to come.

A life that honors Jesus, a life that is free is one that says, even so, I will find joy in Christ.

He is who makes me happy.

Why does rejoicing in Christ bring honor to Jesus?

Because when you find joy in something, it displays it’s worth and value.

Do you treasure Jesus?

In the midst of the highs and lows of this life, is Jesus everything to you?