How to Respond in Unfortunate Circumstances

ME

to the glory and praise of God

were not done yet

they are doing good, he’s pushing them to do better, and now he wants to keep encouraging them

- What does suffering look like?

- what is your response to suffering?

- what is your way of dealing with changed plans?

((I was cooking a quiche in the oven, but It was set to "grill" instead of "bake". When I opened the oven the quiche burst into flame. I pulled it out along with the tray and tried to flick it out on to the balcony, which was closer to the oven than the sink. I put a bit to much power into it, so the smoking quiche sailed over the rail fell 3 stories, and landed in front of a hearse and a funeral procession.))

((When I was 12 I tied a bedsheet around my waist and went down this huge hill on my bike, I expected the bedsheet to slow me down, not make me fly backwards off my bike and end up with 3 staples in the back of my head.))

((I got a music degree. LOL.))

((Came here expecting a good story and laugh. Didn't go as planned.))

sometimes plans don’t go the way we expected haha

(Check for a tonight show video)

WE

We all have aches and pains, and many of us someday will experience true suffering, but what do we do in that suffering?

GOD

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel,

He starts this section off with a declarative phrasing, what has happened has advanced the Gospel

Why does He think this?

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ.

14 Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly.

the nature of his imprisonment is known to the whole guard (That he’s only in there because he was preaching)

people have gained the confidence to speak boldly about the gospel

so we start To see a conflict of intention. There are some people who are sharing the gospel because they actually care, and there are some people who are sharing the gospel to somehow act against Paul's wishes, Or otherwise, are just doing it for the wrong reasons, but Paul has something to say about that. Let's look at verse 15.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

15 To be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will.

16 These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;

17 the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment.

18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice

We see that v18 doesn't say it's OK to preach the wrong gospel! It says if Christ is proclaimed, the true gospel, is preached under false pretense we can rejoice in that the Christ is being preached.

So yes, let's celebrate when somebody is sharing the gospel as long as they're sharing, what is actually true.

Paul talks about in other writings that we need to root out false teachers, people who are not preaching the true gospel and are leading people astray. so do not get these things mixed up!

How Many of you have come across people on social media who may or may not know what they're talking about when it comes to the Bible, so be careful! Don't necessarily trust everything you hear off the bat. I can recommend several YouTube channels Or Facebook pages or Instagram accounts to you if you feel like it.

As we move on the end of verse 18 says yes and I will continue to rejoice in verse 19 says this

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice

19 because I know this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

20 My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

so Pauls encouragement, first to himself, but to them, is to not be ashamed. No shame in his lineage, past mistakes, no shame in sharing the good things Jesus has done. and that he would honor God with his body.

The whole letter to the Philippians is an encouragement and reminder to honor God with our lives.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

20 My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

all of us are called to honor God, thats what this book is all about

we should honor him in our

classrooms

relationships

tongue

and guys, today’s passage is all about how we honor god in hard circumstances!

YOU

- Paul Definitely didn’t plan to go to prison, didn't plan to suffer, and sometimes never planned to be in the cities he was in. yet he redeemed the situation he was in and used it as a gospel opportunity.

- when you and i go through hard things, we get to use it as a platform for sharing Gods grace and peace

Remember, you cant do it alone, paul didnt say he could either, look back at verse 18-19

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice

19 because I know this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Help from others

Help from God

WE

What if you and i praised God for our difficulties in stead of complaining about them

james 1:2-3

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,

3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

what if we used and shared what we learned from suffering instead of wallowing in it.

What if we let god work in our lives and the lives of those around us in spite of the circumstances we find ourselves in.

What if paul decided not to preach or write any more letters because, “why would God allow me to suffer like this wah wah wah”

Paul wasn’t imprisoned while he was in jail, he was more free than many of us choose to be.

and like him,

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

YOU, YOUR BODY, GLORIFY GOD

‌‌Small Group Q’s

What does suffering look like? (let them get examples like plauge, war, young deaths, poverty, persecution.)

What about Disrupted plans? what can that look like? (like paul not planning to go to jail, me never planning to move to cali, so and so never planning to get into a car wreck) the purpose of these two questions is to make them think in pauls shoes a little, and also to help them orient themselves to the convo.

How have you experienced these things in your life?

Who can we encourage thats going through something hard right now?

How can you and i respond intentionally to our circumstances? or, how can we use or unique situation to advance the gospel? (Its all about Glorifying God, making god famous, and honoring him, and responding well. avoiding sin)