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So fairly often, you guys know this about me. Um I try to be as honest and as raw as I can be from the platform, just because there are no there's no such thing as a super Christian. Uh and pastors especially, we don't get like a special card that says because you're a pastor, you're like you're the super Christian. Um there's no S on my chest, right? Uh I still deal with temptations and struggles just like you do. I'm a human being, and so I struggle with idolatry, I struggle with anger, I still struggle with frustration, I struggle with those things. But God is making me new, and thankfully, He's working on me, He's growing me up, and thankfully I'm making progress. I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago and even a year ago. Thankful for that. But uh recently um we've been through this kind of uh experience as a family, and I just thought it was appropriate in light of our discussion today. Uh I was noticing on social media, and I try to kind of balance that out, not to overdo it on the social media thing, because you can just kind of get lost and waste your whole day there. And I know for some people that's spent like hours on social media. But if you've noticed much on social media, Facebook, Twitter, whatever, you probably have seen people, Instagram, posting pictures out in front of this thing called Magnolia Farms. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I heard some uh uh there's this thing called Magnolia Farms in Waco, and and it's attached to this show called Fixer Upper. And so uh Chip and Jojo, um, we're on, yeah, that's where we are. And so they uh they they actually do these fixer upper projects on these homes. And I saw these posts and I'm like, what's wrong with these people? Like, what's wrong with these people posting all this stuff? Like, why are they why are they into this? And so I kind of just rejected the whole thing, like not into it, and just kind of were la was laughing at that. We had family members and close friends, they were all into this thing. And then uh we actually decided to sell our house and buy another house here locally, and when we did, we ended up kind of buying a fixer upper. And uh and in the process, my wife says, Hey, since we're kind of buying this house we need to work on, maybe we should watch the show Fixer Upper. Bad idea. So we did it, and we start watching on Netflix the show Fixer Upper. And if you've watched the show, of course, they make it look all glamorous and like that it's so great and it's so easy, and you don't see all like the 40 different people working on it, right? You just see Chip over there swinging a hammer, but there's like all these other people really working, doing all this hard work. So then in 30 days it's over and it's this complete project, and you don't know that at the end of the show that they don't actually get to keep all the decor that they put in there unless they choose to buy it. Like that's part of the deal. Uh but they make it look like it's all just like this nice, pretty, neat, neatly packaged thing. You just go through this process and fix your upper, and and in 30 days, you voila, you got your dream home. It's awesome. But that's really not the issue, it's just the fact that it doesn't really work that way. It's the fact that it stirred up some desires in me for stuff. I mean, just to be honest, there's I look at it and I see it and I'm like, oh, we should do that. Like originally when we bought this fixer upper house, I was thinking, well, maybe four or five years from now we'll work on this. But then we start watching the show, and I'm like, well, maybe we should do that. Well, maybe we should do that. Well, maybe we should do that. And so all of a sudden, there's these desires to do these things. And I'm not saying those desires are all bad, but what it does is it stirs up discontentment in me. It stirs up discontentment to be satisfied, to be content with what's what I have. And that's the way that the human heart works. We struggle with discontentment, with dissatisfaction. We always want something else. We always want something more. That's the human heart. That's the way it is. And that that dissatisfaction, that discontentment is directly connected to our happiness and how we kind of, our attitude, our countenance, even. And you can tell when someone is dissatisfied and discontent, right? Because their whole external, their whole exterior, their whole countenance kind of is just bitter, angry, frustrated, uh, agitated, and and it's all stirred by this discontentment that's in us. But it's not just about houses, it's not just about bank accounts, it's it's all of life. We struggle with the issue of contentment. It plagues the human heart. We always want something more. And we're gonna talk about that this morning. And so I want to read this text from Philippians chapter 4, verse 10 through 23. It's a lengthy section, so hang with me. And we're kind of closing out the book of Philippians, and I'll talk about that in a second. But if you've got your Bible, I encourage you to pull it open. Philippians chapter 4, verse 10. And we're gonna look at this section as Paul wraps up his letter to the people, the church in particular, at Philippi. Verse 10. I have it on the screen if you don't have a Bible in front of you. There's also some Bibles under the chairs if you would like to grab one of those. Here's what it says. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me, but lacked the opportunity to show it. I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have little and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content, whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need, I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. Still, you did well by sharing with me in my hardship. And you, Philippians, know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my needs several times. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided, a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father, be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus, those brothers who are with me, greet you. All the saints greet you, but especially those from Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Alright. So there's about seven or eight things we could talk about this morning, but I want to look at this issue of contentment. Because here's the thing in this life, we will never be fully or ultimately happy. We will not find ultimate happiness in this life. But we can experience contentment. We can live a content life. Now, some of you guys are like, how in the world is that even possible? And we're going to talk about that. But I want you to understand that in this life, going back to the very beginning of as the Bible describes God creating humanity, creating the whole earth, when God created man in the garden, they were happy. They were healthy, they were happy, they were holy. Everything was awesome. It was perfect. I mean, this tells us a lot about God that he didn't put them in an ugly place. And he didn't put them in a place where they had, uh, they didn't have all their needs met. They had everything that they need. They were fully supplied. They had this beautiful garden to live in, right? And Adam was even given a helpmate named Eve. And so here they are in this beautiful place. They're completely happy. And then what happens? They decide they need something else. They decide that they're not content with all that they have, and they buy the lie of Satan, and they go after this fruit that Satan obviously deceives them into eating, but they just went right in, hook, line, and sinker, ate the fruit, and at that point the world broke. And all this good, beautiful, amazing creation God created has a curse on it. And now there's this dissatisfaction, there's this pain, there's this suffering, there's this division, there's all these issues that arise from that one decision, right? To be discontent, in some sense, with what God has given to them in the garden. And to be deceived into believing there's something other than what God had provided. That they needed something more. Isn't that interesting? That that's what happened way back in the garden, and yet we still are plagued by that same reality today, aren't we? And in this life, we're never going to be fully happy, ultimately happy. It may be sad for some of us, but we probably see this to be true the longer you live. You realize there's always something that's broken, something that's just not right. I mean, you just live in a world where there is all kinds of issues, injustice, right? There's poverty, there's there's there's uh slavery, there's all these issues, and and that just makes you struggle. It should make us struggle in our heart because we know this world is not right. It's not right. And in this world, we can't fully get to a place where everything is gonna be fixed. But one day when Christ returns, he will fix it. And that's a good thing, right? Thankfully, it's not gonna stay broken forever. Thankfully, one day he's gonna restore, thankfully, he's gonna come back, he's gonna redeem, and he's ultimately gonna bring it back to that state of perfection again, where everything is complete again and whole. And I'm looking forward to that day. But in the interim, we can actually experience contentment. Contentment to really find a place of knowing God is in control, God is in charge, He is enough. He's enough. Now it's a hard place to live, but clearly Paul articulates that it's possible. And we're gonna talk about why it's possible. But as we think about that, I want us to look at this sort of recap really quickly of Philippians. Um, because some of you who may have not been here over the last eight weeks or so as we've been walking through this book, and I just want to make sure you understand what Paul's been talking about. So here's a really quick high flyover of what Paul has been instructing the people of Philippi. And by the way, remember when we say Paul instructing, this is Paul's letter. He penned it, but God inspired him to pin it, inspired him to write it, and it's inspired word of God. Therefore, we receive instruction as if these are God's words, even though Paul is the writer. Okay? So I want to make sure you're clear on that. This isn't just a man writing a letter that we're learning from. This is Paul inspired by God's Spirit to write words that were not only good for the people then, but they're good for us today. Okay? Applicable today. Chapter 1. To truly live is to know who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Paul introduces himself saying that I'm a servant and I'm a slave of God, and you are saints because of what Christ has done. Alright? And so we know in the first chapter there were a couple key verses. Uh verse six, where he says, He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete that work until the day of Christ Jesus. That's a cool thought. That God is the one who saves us, and God is the one who sustains us. He will ultimately carry us, right, to completion, the work that he started. We also looked at uh verse 27, which talks about how we should live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel we've received. But the the big, I guess the big theme of chapter one that I saw as we looked at it was to truly live is to know who Jesus is and what he has done. And this isn't just an intellectual knowledge of Jesus. If we want to experience the fullness of life, this is about an experience of Jesus. Knowing Jesus in all of life. Not just knowing about Jesus, but actually knowing him. He wants a personal relationship with each one of us. Just like we sang about. And so we thank God for that, that he is provided an access to himself through the person and work of Jesus. That's how we get eternal life. This is really key because Paul says there are other people who are going to try to sell you on this idea that you can become a child of God, or that you can get the salvation through what you do, through your performance. And I just want to make sure you hear this this morning. You cannot get into heaven, you cannot get forgiveness, you do not get salvation by your works. Just making sure we're crystal clear, okay? It's only given through the person and work of Jesus. That's the only way we are saved. Not by what we do, but what Christ has done. Chapter 2, when we got there, we had this amazing passage. We kind of called this was like a pinnacle, it's like a mountain peak in the Bible, where he talks about who Jesus is and what he has done. And so to live like Christ is to be a humble servant. If we want to live like Jesus, then we are humble servants because that Jesus was the ultimate humble servant. In fact, it says in the text that he humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant, a slave, right? To the point of death on the cross. And because he did that, God would elevate him, God would lift him up so that all people would be drawn to him, but all people would be worship him, they would bow down to him. And so we see this in chapter 2. In chapter 3, we see that to know Christ is the highest goal and prize. Paul kind of goes off in chapter 3 and he says, Listen, uh, I've done all these great things, all these things that are religious things, but these things are rubbish. They're refuse, right? He says that those things are worthless. What really matters is knowing Jesus. That's the prize, that's the goal, that's what we're shooting for. And so he tells us this in chapter 3. And in chapter 4, he says, to know Christ is to have joy and peace. Matt taught last week on Paul and understanding how we can have peace. Peace with others, peace with ourselves, peace with God. And we know that to know Jesus, to know Christ, is to experience peace because he is the Prince of peace. He has broken down the wall of hostility between us and God and us and other people. We can have real, genuine peace. In the midst of our anxiety, anxiety and stress and worry, we can have genuine peace. So, that being said, we know that today, as we kind of close out this book, we're building on this foundation that we are as God's children, as God's people, saved by the person and work of Jesus, and now our goal is to live a life worthy of that gift of salvation we've received. And experience all the benefits of that, including the fact that we will have true joy and peace. Like Paul, who had joy even while sitting in a prison cell. Which may seem a little crazy, a little loco, but Paul is in a prison cell, he has joy because why? Because he sees the bigger picture. So, how can we actually experience this contentment that Paul seems to be articulating, seems to say he has experience in his own life? How do we actually experience this contentment? Well, the first thing you'll notice in verse 11 and 12, we read it together, I'm gonna read it again. Notice what he says. He says, I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content. And then look at verse 12, the second half. He says, In any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content. The first thing that we have to do if we're gonna live as content people with lie in life is to learn the secret. We have to learn. It is not natural to be content, is it? We already talked about that on the front end. It's not natural, it's not normal. Our MO is to be discontent, to be dissatisfied, to always be looking for something else to satisfy us, to meet our needs. If we follow the culture, if we follow the human heart, we will we will just live sad, uh discontent lives, right? If we don't learn how to be content, at best we will be superficially happy. We'll kind of put on our happy face and act like everything's okay, which sometimes people do at church and just drives me crazy. Because I know when I say, You do okay, and they're like, Yeah, I'm great. It's okay, it's okay, yeah, it's good. Now I know the truth, right? Because I know my own heart. We sometimes we kind of have a superficial happiness that's there. But I also know that sometimes we'll go the other way and literally live like discouraged and depressed and just totally off-kilter because we aren't looking at Christ as our contentedness. And so we'll we're gonna talk about what that means. But if we want to learn how to be content, you have to have a teachable spirit. One of the things I pray over my kids all the time is, God, would you help my kids to be teachable? You know why I pray that? Because I've struggled to be teachable. All right? In my own heart, to be humble, to learn. And Paul says, I have learned what it means to be content. I have learned to be content in my life. As a Christian, once we put our trust in Christ, we don't stop growing, right? We just start. We really start to grow and we start to learn both the information and how to apply that information to really grow to be mature believers in our lives. And so there's two schools that the Bible talks about that I think help us learn to be content. The first one is the school of prosperity. Now, if you're an American, if you live in the United States, you are wealthy. You may not feel wealthy, you may not think that you have all that much money, but I'm telling you, if you live in the United States, you are wealthy comparatively to the rest of the world, you are wealthy. If you make $30,000 plus, you're in the top 1% of wealth earners in the entire world. That's pretty crazy, huh? In the top 1%. So what I'm saying to you is that in this prosperity, we are tempted sometimes to not be content. But why? You would think that we have all this stuff that would make us content. Um, you would think that because we have all these different um possessions and and we've accumulated a lot of stuff, that that would fix this nagging desire for more. But actually it doesn't. It only increases the appetite, doesn't it? In fact, listen to what the Ecclesiastes, the writer Ecclesiastes says this. The one who loves money is never satisfied with money. And whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. You know why? Because no matter how much you get, you always want a little more. We've talked about this before here. If you've been around Point very long, we've talked about this because it is a mirage, it's a game, and you're never gonna win. What's funny is you talk to people who are at varying degrees of wealth, and they all say, Well, if I could just get a little bit more. If I could just get a little more, right? And we play that game. Some of you are thinking, if I could just get an extra hundred bucks a month, man, my life would be awesome. And you get it, and you're like, Okay, maybe I needed another hundred. Well, okay, maybe maybe a thousand. And we just play that game all the way up. But you can talk to people who make six figures, who make eight figures, and they always want a little more because the human heart is bent towards discontentment, dissatisfaction, and always wanting a little bit more. In fact, 1 Timothy 6, 17 tells us, Paul's writing to young Timothy, who's a pastor in one of the churches, and he says this he says, Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. What's Paul trying to tell Timothy to instruct them about? He's saying, Be careful, if you're rich, if you're wealthy, you will have a natural tendency to be self-reliant, to be arrogant, and to put your hope on something that's not certain. And we know that, don't we? If you've been around very long, you know that wealth is not certain. It's here and it's gone. It just goes really quickly. It's not certain. And so Paul instructs Timothy to instruct them on this issue. You see, arrogance, false worship, self-reliance are all a problem for wealthy people. And as I said a while ago, if you're a Christ follower in the United States, you're probably wealthy. And in that wealth, there will be a tendency for you to become self-sufficient, to become self-reliant, and also to really begin loving money and looking to it for stability, looking to it for security, looking to it for significance. In fact, that can even create this attitude that because you have more, you're better than other people. That somehow, because you have more stuff, you have a nicer house, nicer car, nicer clothes, you have more money in your account, that you are actually more important than other people. That's a scary thought, isn't it? But that's exactly what will happen if our hearts aren't surrendered to Christ. If we don't understand and get honest about wealth and what it does to us. See, learning, a big part of learning is being self-aware. Being honest and being self-aware. Because some of us right now, we don't really want to own the fact that we've struggled with this, right? I mean, let's be let's be honest. We don't really want to struggle, we don't want to be honest about the fact that we actually have this issue, but it's there. Because that's, again, in the human heart. John Calvin writes this about wealth and about how to handle it. He says, He who knows how to use present abundance soberly and temperately with thanksgiving, prepared to part with everything whenever it may please the Lord, giving also a share to his brother according to his ability, and is also not puffed up, that man has learned to excel and to abound. This is an excellent and rare virtue, and much greater than the endurance of poverty. In some ways, John Calvin there is saying, Listen, if you want to know if you have a problem with this, see how open you are to giving it away. See how open you are to letting it go. If you can't let it go, you have a problem, right? If you're clinging to it, if you're attached to it, you're worshiping it. You're looking to be significant to find your significance, worth, identity, value, all those things that we talk about that can't, it cannot be because it is uncertain. But not only do we learn from the school of prosperity, we learn from the school of poverty. Now, I'm guessing many of us in here have not learned from this school as much, but it is possible in the United States there are people who struggle, and there are even seasons where people struggle when they lose jobs or they go they get uh sick and their bank accounts are drained, and you feel like, how are we gonna survive? How are we gonna make it? And in this poverty place, you can struggle with money just as much as you can when you're wealthy, when you're rich. You can struggle just as much as there. In fact, the Bible says it this way. I read a while ago from 1 Timothy 6. Let's go back there. Paul says to Timothy, but those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. Catching that? He's saying, if you want to be wealthy, if you want to be rich, if that's your goal, you just need to know it's a trap, it's a temptation, and a lot of things can happen that are bad as a result of that. Notice he didn't say, well, this next verse, watch this. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many transgressions. You know what? It's dangerous to not have money too, because if you pursue it, you can actually wander away from the faith. You can actually wander away from what the real treasure and riches are. And that's the person and work of Jesus, the good news about Christ, the hope that we have for eternity, not just the temporary satisfactions that come with wealth. In fact, Proverbs 30, verse 7 says this. This is one of those verses I come back to regularly, and I think, do I really think this way about money? Do I really feel this way about money? Here's what it says. The writer of Proverbs there says, Two things I ask of you. Don't deny them to me before I die. Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. That's good. Okay. Give me neither poverty nor wealth. Feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, Who is the Lord? Or I might have nothing and steal profaning the name of the Lord. You see that? There's a tension in both sides. If I'm wealthy, I might deny Christ. I might deny God in my need for God. If I'm in poverty, I might steal, right? I might try to get more. So he says, give me, just kind of give me the middle ground, God. Help me just like have enough to survive, but not so much that I did I actually deny you that I turn away and start looking to my stuff as my Savior. I don't know if anybody else, if anybody else feels this, but I read that, I'm like, do I really pray that? I think I only just pray, God, give me more. Keep giving me more, God. That's what I want. Just more and more and more. And he says, no, don't give me too much. An unusual prayer, but a wise prayer. The writer of Proverbs, so wise, and seeing the heart of humanity and our tendency to worship stuff. So the rich struggle with being arrogant and self-reliant, while the poor get consumed with trying to be like the rich. But both struggle, and that will rob us of the ability to be content. To be content with what God has given us. See, to be content requires that we learn a different way of thinking, that we learn a different perspective, that we see it through a different lens. Not only do we have to learn, but we have to look beyond our circumstances. We have to look beyond our circumstances. Now, Paul here, it says in verse 11 and 12, I just read it. I'll read it to you again. He says, I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in what? In whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have little, I know to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content, whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. So Paul describes both of those places. You can be very poor or be very rich, and he says, I've learned to be content because ultimately it's not about our circumstances. It's not about how much you have or how little you have, it's about contentment that comes again in Christ. Um, Paul would have known about this because when Paul was born, he was born with an incredible brain, an incredible capacity to think and to communicate. And so the guy was brilliant, and he was born into the right home in the situation where he had wealth, he had prestige. Um, and among the Jews he was a celebrity. In fact, in the story of the stoning of Stephen, it's recorded in Acts, those other leaders they're stoning uh this guy Stephen because he's talking about Jesus, and they decide that they can't get quite enough uh you know oomph behind their rock, and so they take off their coats so they can throw it even harder to try to kill Stephen. And where do they lay those coats? At the feet of Paul, who was actually named Saul at the time, right? So he was prestigious. He was a leader among the leaders. He knew what it was like to be in that position. He also had been at Lydia's table, and we know Lydia was one of the first converts and Philippi. She had a lot of money, so he had sat among the wealthy. He'd been in that environment. But Paul also knew poverty. He knew what it was like to be shipwrecked and have nothing. He knew what it was like to be in a setting where he was in prison and with nothing, and to be in obscurity and to be rejected by his own people, probably his own family, because he chose to follow Jesus. Paul knew both of those situations and he says, Whatever circumstances I can be content. That's challenging to me personally. Because I want to look at my circumstances and say, well, if this was fixed, then I would be happy. I would be satisfied. I would be content. Well, God, if this was, you know, if this situation here would be fixed, then I would be happy. I would be content. No, we wouldn't. Because our hearts don't work that way. That's not how we fix the problem, it's just through our circumstances changing. Personally, for you, I'm talking up here about this contentedness at a high level, but just, you don't have to answer out loud. What do you need to be happy? What, if you're really honest with yourself, what is it that you think, if I had this, I would be happy? If I had this, I would be satisfied. If I had this, that I would be content. Let me just encourage you to think about it. If you're really honest with yourself, you know that if you got that, you really wouldn't be happy. We see this play out numerous times when we buy something, we go to the store, we've got it in our brain, we're like, we gotta get this thing, we get it, and two days later we're like, eh, something else. Right? And it starts even from a time we're kids because we're always looking for something else. And by the way, just so you know, our passion and our focus on stuff and our focus on the things that we're trying to put into place of Christ to be content, like it's not hidden, it's not as it's not near as obscure as you think it is. People from outside of your life, they can look in and they can see what really matters to you. They know where you spend your time, they know what you talk about every time you get around them. So they know what you care about. It's not as obscure as you think. That's why we need community, Christian community, to be honest. People to be honest. Hey, I hear this tendency, this trend in your life. You seem like if you you think that if you got that, then you would be happy. You would be content. And I just want you to know, like, it's not gonna be there. You're not gonna find it, it's a mirage. Anyone want to have that conversation today on the way home? Okay. See, Paul knew it's that bigger is not always better and that more is not always a real upgrade. He knew that. He understood that, and therefore he's telling them contentment is something that's way more valuable than getting more stuff. Listen to this poem I read this week because this is not just about money, folks. It's not just about getting money and growing our material possessions. This is about the way our heart works. Uh, this is a poem called uh Present Tense. I thought that was pretty appropriate. It says it was spring, but it was summer I wanted. The warm days and the great outdoors. It was summer, but it was fall I wanted. The colorful leaves and the cool, dry air. It was fall, but it was winter I wanted. The beautiful snow and the joy of the holiday season. It was now winter, but it was spring I wanted. The warmth and the blossoming of nature. I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted. The freedom and the respect. I was twenty, but it was thirty I wanted. To be mature and sophisticated. I was middle-aged, but it was twenty I wanted. Notice the shift. Now we're going backwards. The youth and the free spirit. I was retired, but it was middle aged that I wanted. The presence of mind without limitations. My life was over, but I never got what I wanted. Man, is that not us? Ouch. But true, because that's where our hearts reside. They constantly are looking for something. We say things like, Well, if only I had this, then I would be. If only this happened, then I would be. When this happens, then I'll be okay. And all the while we miss contentedness and we miss the beautiful things God's doing right here, right now. In our marriages, in our parenting, in every season of life, there are beautiful things God's doing right in front of us, but we're missing it because we're discontent, we're dissatisfied, we're always looking to something else. Looking for something else. That's the human heart. And that's why we greatly we need God's help. We need God's way of thinking. Contentment is much bigger than being satisfied with our desire for money. It's in all of life. We need a change. We need a transformation of our desires that can only come through Christ. And that's really the next thing he says. Philippians 4.13. You guys could all quote it probably, right? For those of you that played sports, I'm sure you quoted this before your game. Here's what it says. 4.13, I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. The way I memorized that as a kid, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The way it's on Tim Tebow's eye patches, right? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Listen, what's funny about that, I don't have any ill will towards sports athletes using it. It's just completely out of context. That's not what the point is. Paul says, I can do all things through Christ, and he's specifically a better way to translate the language there, is I can do all these things through Christ. He's not talking about just everything. I know that to be true because I've tried to dunk a basketball, and I thought, well, if I could just say I can do all things through Christ who can strengthen me, then I can just dunk the basketball. But that's not how it works, right? Can't just like uh will myself to do it just by saying things like that. He's saying, I can be content. I can learn to be content with God's strength, which reminds us that it's gonna require God's strength. It's gonna require God's power to actually be content. You can't do this on your own. Two ways we lean on God's strength. We lean on God's power. We have to personally stay connected to Jesus. Personally stay connected to Jesus. I don't know how many of you guys have experienced this personally. My guess is some of you in this room have. But let me just say this to you. One thing I've noticed is that the closer I walk with Jesus, the less I desire all the stuff of this world. The more I walk with Jesus, the more I see everything in this world really as toys and trinkets. That it's really not that big a deal. The less I walk with Jesus, the more I start snatching for stuff in this world, and then I just find that it's just empty and it's shallow. Listen, if you want to walk in true contentment, it might sound churchy, it might sound like real easy, high, pie in the sky idea. Learn to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Walk with Jesus, talk to Jesus. And that's really the second piece of this is if you're gonna lean into God's power, it's not just leaning into a personal relationship with Jesus, but personally ask him for help. Like ask him for help. How many of us ask God, God help my desires become your desires? God help me not to want this stuff that I know is really not gonna satisfy me. God help me to stop wanting this house, this issue, this car, this money, like this job, whatever it is. Help me to keep to stop wanting, because I know that's not gonna satisfy me. God help me. And you know what? He will. He will. He will help you. He will give you strength, he will help change your desires. That's what's work, the gospel at work in our hearts. What's interesting is that the way the Bible talks about how this issue is resolved. This might come as a surprise, but Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5, says something very profound. I think this speaks directly to the heart of this issue. Notice what he says. Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have. Okay, I got it. Can do that. Be I can try to do that. Um, you know, be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have. Okay, got it. I'll do that. But notice what he goes on to say. Here's how you get there. For he himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Wait, how does that fit with the first half? Anybody else struggle with that a little bit? How does him never leaving me or forsaking me help me to be satisfied with what I have? Because again, in Christ's presence, he changes my desires. He helps me to be satisfied and content when I realize that what I really, really want is him. What I'm really longing for is him. What I'm really needing more than anything else is to know that I am loved and valued, rescued, free. I have salvation in Christ. That's what I really want. That's what I really need. C.S. Lewis says, you know, if there's, if you have this desire, this craving for something in this world, but it never tends to be satisfied or seems to be satisfied, it may be because you weren't made for this world. You weren't made for this life, that these things in this life can't fully satisfy you. You won't ever be fully happy apart from Christ. The final thing is this. Not only should we learn the secret, not only should we look beyond our circumstances, and not only should we lean on God's power, but we should live generously with God's gracious supply. Now again, I can't I can't even do justice to this section because it's attached to 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, where Paul specifically talks about this amazing church at Philippi who helped him in his need. In fact, we learned that they're not a very wealthy church. They don't have a lot. They're pretty poor, and even in their poverty, they still sacrificially give. But I want us to understand something. If we want to become the kind of people who are content with what God has given us, then we need to be ready and willing and able to give our stuff away to whoever needs it for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the mission. Notice what he says here. Verse 14 Still you did well by sharing with me in my hardship. And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for me for my needs several times. Not that I seek the gifts. I love that. Paul says, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. What is he saying? Well, in their day they probably didn't have this, but what he's kind of saying there is this idea that you don't just need an IRA where you're building up for your retirement, you need an IEA. Right? You don't just need an individual retirement account, you need an individual eternal account. You need to be investing in the things that are going to last. You need to be investing and sending your treasure ahead, right? He says, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Paphroditus what you provided. A fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. When we give to others, when we give sacrificially, when we give away our stuff, when we give, and I'm not just talking about giving this church. If you if you have a problem with giving to churches because you've seen it misused and abused in the past, like I pray that God will help your heart in that. This is not a plea for you to give money to point today. Go find somebody you trust and give, but just when you give, God will change your heart. He will transform your heart, he will transform the way you think about stuff. You will get to see the resources that He has provided with you, gracious provided you with graciously. He will use those resources to do something for eternal good. And so he says in this verse, My God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father, be glory forever and ever. Amen. Listen, everything that God has given you has been given you not just to meet your needs, but also that you would become a conduit to provide for others. If you want to be content, open your hand before God and say, God, this is not my stuff. Because the Bible holistically teaches that over and over and over again, that everything we have, all the earth belongs to God. Our house, it's not ours, it belongs to God. Our cars, they belong to God. We're stewards of it. And the moment we try to say it's my stuff, just like that little kid, you know, our little kids, my little kids, mine, you know, not only in that moment do we look really foolish, but we become very angry, we become very selfish, very rude people. And God's saying, Man, why are you holding on to that stuff like that? Why are you worshiping that stuff? Let go. Let go of that stuff. I could tell you countless stories of how this has worked, but I know in my heart alone that what's helped me grow in contentment is to say, God, it's all yours. Use it how you want, use it how you see fit. And God has helped me grow and learn increasingly to be content. I've got a long way to go. Do you? Got a long way to go. Still not there, still not fully content, still not a place that I can talk like Paul does here. But I want to be. And I want you to know that as Christ followers, we are not called to be selfish self-sufficient, right? We're supposed to see that Christ is our sufficiency. And he will be sufficient in our weakness. He will help us with this issue. You see, contentment really is all about Jesus. It really is all about knowing that he has met our greatest need. He has supplied for our greatest need. And out of that, everything else is just icing on the cake. Everything else that he provides is just resources that we get to stir to be a part of his work. Christians, a word on this. Just because I think it's appropriate. If you're a believer, and this is your home church, we hope you guys know that you're not a customer of Point Community Church. You're a co-laborer. That the goal is not to come and to be a customer, to receive goods and services from Point Community Church. If you're a visitor, if you're a guest, if you're just kind of checking this thing out, that's one thing. If you're a part of the family, you're not a customer. You're a contributor and you're a co-laborer with us. And part of the ways you can do that is not just to give money. Money is part of that, but but it's it's time, it's it's talent, it's giving, it's serving, it's investing because we're family. And I believe God will teach you contentment through that. Teach us contentment through working and serving together. Unbeliever. Maybe people who've never resolved the issue of how you're truly saved. You aren't confident that if I ask you the question today, are you gonna spend eternity in heaven? You'd say, Maybe I'm a good person? Like if that's your answer, I want you to know you can know with certainty today that you have eternal life, you have forgiveness of sin. It's in the person of Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for your sin. He died on the cross for my sin, he died on the cross to save us, to rescue us. And if we put our hope and our trust in him, he will forgive us of our sin. He will save us and he will give us eternal life. It's a gift. And if you want to experience real contentment, that's where it starts. That's where contentment starts, is in the person of Jesus and receiving the gift of salvation that He's offered us. Everything else is just gonna be a distraction. My hope today is that God will help me and you grow in contentment so that we can say like Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can be content whether in plenty or in want, I can be content. Whether I have a lot or little, I can be content because Christ is sufficient. Let me pray for us. God, thank you so much again for your love and your grace and your mercy you poured out on us. And I just pray that we would know that we're not saved based on our performance in this area of contentment. Like if we're content, then you let us in. If we're not content, then you don't let us in. We know that Christ, we're only saved by your work, your sacrifice on the cross. But we do know that as Christians, we can live pretty miserably if we choose to keep looking to stuff to satisfy us in ways that only you can. So we know God today, and we confess today, that there's not a house, a car, there's not a amount, a dollar amount in our bank account, there's not a job, there's not anything that's going to bring us ultimate satisfaction. Only you can do that, Jesus. And I just pray that uh every one of us would know that to be true today. I pray for every person in this room, um, God, to just be aware of your presence even right now, and that we'd be able to sense your goodness and your grace and your mercy, that you love us, even in our brokenness, even in our rebellion, even in our struggle with contentment, that you love us and you're pursuing us. I just pray, God, for any person that might be here today that has never received the gift of salvation, they've never received their trust, and received the gift of eternal life by putting their trust in you. I pray that today, they would just know that you you offer that. It's there, it's available. That our sins separated us, but you, Jesus, through the cross, have saved us and brought us near. So we just thank you for what you're gonna do in these coming moments and just pray that we continue to love you and to follow you and trust you. Pray so on your name. Amen.