Learning Contentment Through Christ in All Circumstances

1. "Last week was Confirmation Sunday. Pastor Dave reminded us of just of the sending out that not just was Paul sent out, but we are all sent out into the world and he reminded us of how the Holy Spirit functions in our life and among other things, it empowers, it helps, it guides, and it comforts. And that was kind of just the culmination of what we've seen the Holy Spirit do throughout this series that we've seen the Holy Spirit do. As we've seen Saul become Paul, this transformation of a life in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. He started off as an enemy of Christians and became converted. We've seen him preach boldly, be protected by brothers and sisters in Christ, the same brothers and sisters that he threatened and imprisoned." [00:23:24] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "We've seen him use his gifts in a variety of places, sometimes in places that were just very strategic, places he knew and knew how to interact with. We've seen him grow and be sent. We've seen him have disagreements between himself and other people in the church, sometimes just the differing of opinions and sometimes the differences that were actually hindering the gospel that he needed to stand up and fight for. And believe it or not, all of this that we've talked about so far is still all before he really wrote any of the letters that we know of in the New Testament. There's a lot of his life to go." [00:24:06] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Here's what Paul and Silas had. They had an angry mob that turned on them, flogged bodies, a wet prison and wooden stocks clamped around their feet. And during their sleepless night, they responded with, what else? Prayers and hymns. Prayers and songs they worshipped. And as they worshipped in these unwanted circumstances, the prisoners around them listened. These men were arrested and confined, but they were still effective. Sure, their physical circumstances, their physical circumstances were poor, but their spiritual circumstances, they were phenomenal." [00:29:56] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Paul's contentment is so easily seen in this story today. The prison doors are open. The stocks are broken off their feet due to this earthquake. And he and Silas, they don't bolt and make a run for it. It seems like this time of worship that they're having, and maybe the other prisoners are enjoying too, this worship that they're partaking in is so good that they didn't even want to leave it. Nobody did. All the prisoners were still there. And the jailer looks, and he sees the doors open, and he assumes everyone has escaped. He's going to kill himself out of shame. And Paul says, stop. Don't harm yourself. We're all here." [00:32:33] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Church, pray for this contentment. Pray that you learn it as Paul did. Some of you have, and it's amazing to see in your life. We need a deeper, a deeper sense of contentment in all of our circumstances because God is good all the time. And we have won the lottery by knowing Jesus Christ. You can be content in that. But even still, don't get me wrong, I know contentment is hard. Today we see much excess around us. People have so much, it's easy to want it, to feel inadequate without it. And it's hard to be content even just without the contentment, comfort that we've come to expect." [00:37:07] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "Paul says, I can do all things whether I'm hungry or I have plenty, abundance or need low or high, I can do all things through Him, through Jesus who gives me strength, a consistent strength, an unwavering strength who continues to give me all the promises that I find in this treasured, treasured trove called Scripture. This isn't just some genetic trait that Paul was blessed with. Paul had to learn this. He wasn't always good at it. But it was through the power of Jesus that Paul learned to encounter a variety of stressful things without them impacting his effectiveness, mood, attitude." [00:38:28] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "And we are reminded of that goodness in here. When you look to your circumstances to define God, you will fall into fear and to despair. But when you look into the Word of God, you will find hope for your future, comfort in sorrow, strength to faith challenges, and you'll be continually reminded of God's love and His faithfulness. Church, I'm no expert in contentment. My wife is far and away my hero in this area. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. But today, although I don't claim to be an expert, I do have seven verses that I want to go to really quickly that help me continually in my own life take my eyes off of my physical circumstances and onto my spiritual reality." [00:40:23] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "When you stay saturated in Scripture, I would maybe even go as far as to say this, discontentment seems impossible. How could we not be content after being claimed, loved, and forgiven by Jesus Christ? He's your Lord, your Savior, your Shepherd, your Friend. He has come to give you hope. He has come to accomplish all the things that you could not. Your circumstances do not need to be defined by the physical, but by the spiritual. And your circumstances do not need to define your contentment or your effectiveness in your faith. Jesus Christ defines your contentment." [00:45:48] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "You too can have an absurd contentment. It can be learned, and your heart can be transformed into it when this is opened in your life, and you get to discover all that you have. When your eyes aren't on what you do not have, amazing things can come, and effectiveness can be poured out for the kingdom of God through here." [00:47:35] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)