Untitled Sermon (2)

Christmas Side Effects

DISSAPOINTMENT

Family supposed to show up and they let you down

The Dinner didn’t turn out like you had planned … burnt, not ready, not enough

That special gift you ordered didn’t arrive on time

You didn’t get that special gift you were hoping for

What is true at Christmas is the same in everyday life … full of disappointment

not the job you had hoped for

not living in the house you thought you should have

not living the life you thought you would be livng

the family dynamic isn’t what you dreamed about

Disappointment is part of life … not if but when and how bad

Contentment … that is what we should strive for

“Contentment is something we long for but struggle to achieve”

IF WE EVER ACHIEVE CONTENTMENT … IT DISAPPEARS FAST WHEN WE SEE SOMETHING THAT WE MIGHT MISS OUT ON … APPLE PRODUCTS

Is it possible to live a contented life?

In PHILIPPIANS, Paul adresses contentment

There is a verse we see on ...

coffee mugs

key chains

t-shirts

bumper stickers

and i know a young man who even has it as a tattoo

English Standard Version Chapter 4

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

This is an awesome verse … but … when it is isolated and out of context it is ...

misunderstood

misapplied

misinterpreted

When Paul wrote this letter ...

he was under house-arrest

The Church at Philippi often sent him financial support to help with his mission efforts around the area

Paul wrote to commend them for their concern ...

English Standard Version Chapter 4

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.

He had needs that they helped meet at one time … he wanted to let them know he was alright

English Standard Version Chapter 4

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

He understood what contentment meant.

He had been through every storm that life could through at him … and yet … he was CONTENT.

Then … verse 13 ...

English Standard Version Chapter 4

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The “ALL THINGS” Paul is speaking of was not … “PROSPERITY”

The “ALL THINGS” … the rough spots in which he found contentment

“Our circumstances are never perfect … so what does that say about contentment?”

3 Things that we can find in these verses about being content ...

1. We can learn it

v. 11 “for I have learned”

GOD allows ups and downs to teach us contentment

Instead of complaining … learn contentment

2. It is a life we can live

v. 12 “I know” … because I have lived it

Paul lived out being content in the rough times

The best incubator for contentment is adversity … not the pleasant easy life

3. It comes from the LORD whom we love

v. 13 “through HIM … CHRIST”

our strength for contentment is found in JESUS

“strength” in the original language is translated to mean … “to transfuse something into someone else”

blood transfusion

CHRIST’s life transfused into us = contentment