Return To Joy-Joy in Community
A message from the series "Return To Joy-Olathe." We think joy comes in comfort, a day off, another vacation, being served. For Paul, it’s the opposite. It comes in giving your all to something great. Not in being served, but in serving.
We think joy comes in absolute security. We’ve got to keep ourselves safe. Keep our families safe. We don’t want to risk anything! That’s not what Paul praises. He praises risk! Receive him with joy, for he risked everything, even his own life, for something bigger than himself. When’s the last time you’ve done that?
The work of Christ is always risky. Always dangerous. If there is no risk in your life as you follow Jesus, you’re doing it wrong. And it might not be Him you’re following.
Return To Joy-Joy in Community
A message from the series "Return To Joy-Leawood." When it comes to our Christian faith, we somehow miss that joy is a team sport. The strong tug of individualistic consumer Christianity greatly hinders the joy our hearts so deeply long for. One of the negative consequences of a “Me” centered Christianity built around personal preference and personal comfort, is the loss of joy. This joy can be more deeply found in being on mission together. Our mission goes further, when our relationships go deeper. It is also a reciprocal truth that our relationships have a hard time going deeper, if we are not on mission together. Jesus calls his people to draw close to each other, before he commissions to send them out into the world. Our mission as the local church is embedded in forging deep friendships, embracing Christ’s mission and making sacrifices. Will you join us in finding a deeper joy on mission for Jesus?
Return To Joy-Joy in Community
A message from the series "Return To Joy-Downtown." One of the most common relationships Christians talk about today is marriage, but that wasn’t the focus of the early church. Friendship was the backbone of ancient society and relationships in the church. Without meaningful relationships shaped by the gospel, the message and mission of Jesus would have languished.
So what does the Apostle Paul have to say and model about friendship shaped by the gospel? And what does that have to do with joy? Join us as we continue our journey in returning to joy in the letter to the Philippian church.
Return To Joy-Joy In Becoming
A message from the series "Return To Joy-Olathe." God loves us, saves us, and makes something with us, because it brings him joy. The face of God lights up when people who are far from him are brought near through the work of Son. The heart of God fills up with joy when he works with and through his beloved to shine as lights in the world.
If you are far from God, lost in this world, and burdened by your sin, know that God delights to save you. He longs to rescue you and invite you into his kingdom and call you his beloved.
If you are in Christ, know that God delights in seeing live out your identity as his beloved. His joy is amplified when his children reflect the character of their Father.
Return To Joy-Joy In Becoming
A message from the series "Return To Joy-Leawood." In his incredibly joyful letter to the Philippian church, Paul tells how they can have joy too, and it comes in a surprising way: through obedience. Most of us probably don’t associate obedience with joy, but that’s what Paul says in our text for today: obedience actually leads to joy. Obedience as individuals and as a community. If you are like me and you’re looking for joy right now, the answer is not found in something we can make happen or something we can buy on Amazon. Joy comes when we live out our salvation by following Jesus. It comes when by obeying we become the kind of community God always intended for his people to be - a community that shines light into a dark and darkening world.