September 7, 2025 • 41 mins
Life doesn't have to be easy to be joyful! In this powerful kickoff to our Philippians series, we discover why the Apostle Paul could write a letter "dripping with joy" from a prison cell. Learn the three biblical measurements of spiritual growth and why God's detours are often His perfect destinations for your life.
Show Notes:
🎯 Episode Highlights:
- Why following Jesus randomly limits spiritual growth
- The importance of measuring spiritual maturity intentionally
- How Paul found joy in the worst circumstances
- Three biblical measurements every believer should track
📖 Key Scriptures:
- Philippians 1:21 - "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain"
- Philippians 1:3-6 - Partnership in the Gospel
- Philippians 1:7-8 - Faithfulness in Ministry
- Philippians 1:9-11 - Abounding Love for Christ
💡 Main Takeaways:
- Church Participation: Spiritual growth shows through consistent involvement in local church community
- Ministry Faithfulness: Growth is measured by commitment to the work God has given you
- Abounding Love: True maturity displays increasing love and knowledge of Jesus Christ
🔥 Powerful Quotes:
- "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"
- "What we see as a detour is often the destination"
- "God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where you want to go"
Next Steps: ✅ Evaluate your church participation honestly ✅ Recommit to the ministry God has called you to ✅ Pray for deeper love and knowledge of Christ ✅ Join us next week for Philippians 1:12-18
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:03):
Hey, welcome back to another weekend message from
Grand Point Church.
I'm your host, Mitch, and I'mglad that you're joining us
today.
Whether you're driving orworking out, we're just taking a
minute to connect with God.
We believe he has somethingspecial in store for you with
today's message.
We're kicking off an incrediblenew series called To Live as
Christ as we walk through Paul'sletters to the Philippians
(00:26):
together.
If you've ever wondered how tofind joy when life gets messy or
question whether God really hasa plan when everything feels
like chaos, this series is foryou.
Before we dive in, I'd like toinvite you to take a moment to
subscribe to these weekendmessages from Grand Point Church
or just share it with a friend.
Your support helps us reach morepeople with the hope of Jesus.
(00:51):
Make sure at the end of themessage that you stick around
because we'll be sharing somepractical next steps to help you
apply what we're learningtogether.
Now, let's discover what itmeans to truly live for Christ.
SPEAKER_02 (01:06):
Here at Grand Point Church, we believe the word of
God is the lamp to our feet anda light to our path.
Amen.
This is the word that we standon.
This is the word that we holdhighly.
And as we get into the wordtonight, I'm excited about this
brand new message series comingfrom the book of Philippians.
But at this time, I'm going toask Levi to come and lead us in
our scripture reading.
(01:27):
And as part of the liturgy ofscripture reading, when he
concludes, he will say, this isthe word of the Lord.
And the congregation responds bysaying, thanks.
Thanks be to God.
Would you do that?
Levi, come and lead us in God'sword tonight.
SPEAKER_00 (01:42):
In Philippians 1, verses 1 to 11, Paul and
Timothy, servants of ChristJesus, to all God's people in
Christ Jesus at Philippi,together with the overseers and
deacons, grace and peace to youfrom God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
(02:03):
I thank my God every time Iremember you.
I will always pray with joy.
(02:36):
or defending and confirming thegospel, all of you share in
God's grace with me.
God can testify how I long forall of you with the affection of
Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
(02:59):
Amen.
that comes through Jesus Christto the glory and praise of God.
This is the word of the Lord.
(03:20):
Thanks be to God.
Knock him dead, Lawrence.
SPEAKER_02 (03:23):
You may be seated.
Well, thank you, Levi.
And welcome to this brand newmessage series from the book of
Philippians.
If you have Bibles, you'rewelcome to turn there, follow
along.
The text will be also on thescreen as well.
The key verse in this wholebook, in this whole study, is
Philippians chapter one, verse23.
(03:43):
21, say it all together.
For to me, to live is Christ andto die is gain.
Let's do that one more time.
For to me, to live is Christ andto die is gain.
My goal for this series is tohelp you discover a genuine,
fully connected life with JesusChrist because until you have
(04:04):
life with Jesus, you have notyet lived.
So welcome to this book ofPhilippians.
Chapter one, verse one, we'regonna jump right into it Paul
and Timothy, servants of JesusChrist, to all God's holy people
in Christ Jesus at Philippi.
Let me stop right there and giveyou a little bit of history.
It's always good to know thecontext, isn't it?
(04:25):
Philippi took its name fromPhilip II of Macedo.
He was the father of Alexanderthe Great.
Now, fast forward a couplecenturies, and Philippi is
conquered by the Roman Empire in31 BC.
So Paul is writing to Romancitizens, And this will be
critical a little bit later inour study.
(04:46):
But in Philippi, they spoke theLatin language.
They dressed like the Romancitizens.
They used Roman coins.
The city itself was patternedafter Rome.
Now, Philippi today is locatedin northeastern Greece near the
city of Kavala.
It's pretty much of anarchaeological site today.
There's a lot of ruins there,although there are some amazing
(05:09):
statues, some theaters and anamphitheater there that were
from this time and are preservedand a place for a lot of
archaeological guests.
But Philippi is located as isalso the location of the first
Christian church in Europe.
So you can see through thestrategic ministry at Philippi
(05:31):
how the gospel got into Europe.
Now at this time, as Paul iswriting, the average person did
not travel outside of a 30 mileradius of their home.
People didn't go.
That was a pretty small world,isn't it?
Just think, 30 miles around yourhome, that's about all the
people traveled.
However, some scholars believethat Paul may have logged 10,000
(05:57):
miles on his missionaryjourneys.
10,000 miles.
Now, the average adult takesbetween 3,000, 4,000 steps a
day, right?
Some of you monitor that withyour Apple Watches.
3,000 to 4,000 steps a day,which is equal It's the
equivalent of about one and ahalf to two miles.
So that would take the averageperson about 14 years to travel
(06:20):
the distance that the apostlePaul did.
He's one of the most traveledpeople on this planet in the
first century.
Now, let me tell you aboutPaul's second missionary
journey.
Like his first missionaryjourney, the second one began in
Antioch.
Actually, I'm gonna just back upthere a little bit because I
think it may have started inWaynesboro.
(06:43):
James Shoes, Main Street.
There's no way that Paul's goingto travel 10,000 miles without a
good pair of brooks, right?
So he probably started there,actually, because that's not
mentioned in Scripture.
We'll go back to Antioch, andI'll show you here on the map.
You can see right up here aboveSyria is Antioch.
Now, that is Paul's home church.
(07:03):
That's not where he grew up.
He grew up in Tarsus, just alittle bit north of Antioch, but
Antioch was his home church.
That was his home base.
That That's where he did hisministry.
Now, he's on his secondmissionary journey, and he heads
west toward Derbe and Lystra.
If you can see, kind of followthat line over there to my
(07:26):
right.
He goes up through Derbe andLystra, and Lystra, something
very significant happened.
That's where he picked upTimothy.
So Paul, at this point, hasSilas as a traveling companion.
It's Paul and Silas, but now atLystra, they pick up Timothy.
And Paul had learned aboutTimothy years before, about 10
(07:47):
years before when he was doinghis missionary journey.
And he knew that this young guy,this next generation leader was
coming up.
So they stopped and picked himup there at Lystra.
Now from Lystra, they movedtoward Asia.
That was their goal.
They were together there inAntioch and they said, let's go
to Asia and speak to the peoplethere and preach the gospel and
(08:08):
visit and encourage thechurches.
Now they're on their way to Asiaand here is where we pick up the
travel itinerary in Acts chapter16.
This is interesting.
In Acts chapter 16, verse six,it says, Paul and his companions
traveled through the region ofPhrygia and Galatia, watch this,
(08:28):
having been kept by the Spirit,Holy Spirit, from preaching the
word in the province of Asia.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy had aplan.
Their plan was to go to Asia,but that did not happen.
The Holy Spirit, for somereason, kept them out of Asia.
Asia was their plan A.
(08:49):
They could not do that.
So now they said, well, let's goto plan B.
So they went for plan B, andthat was to go to Bithynia.
So you can see, if you follow upthrough there, there's also,
they get up there to Bithynia.
It's a little bit north, thattan-colored place.
They're like, well, let's gothere.
You can see the Arab pointingthere, but watch this.
(09:10):
When they came to the border ofMysia, they tried to enter
Bithynia, Athenia, but the HolySpirit would not allow them to
go.
Plan B didn't work.
Like what is going on here?
What is happening?
Where do we go now?
See, most of you rely heavily onGPS, don't you?
And GPS kind of recalibrateswhen you need to.
(09:33):
I'm old enough to remember RandMcNally maps.
Anybody remember the RandMcNally maps?
Now you could not read one ofthose maps while you were
driving.
At least you should not havebeen.
In fact, you could not drivewhile your passenger was reading
one of those maps because itfilled the whole windshield, the
whole side of the car.
(09:54):
Now, fortunately, AAA came upwith something a whole lot
better called the triptych.
And so you could now havesomething a little bit smaller
there.
But either way, whether you werereading a map or whether you
were following a triptych, ifyou came to a dead end or if you
came to a detour or if you'regoing the wrong way, those tools
would not recalibrate.
(10:16):
Thank God for GPS, because nowif we've gone someplace wrong or
we can't go in there, itrecalibrates and takes us a
different direction.
Now, in Paul's case, it was theHoly Spirit who was doing the
recalibrating.
For some reason, the Holy Spiritsaid, no, you're not going to
Asia.
No, you're not going toBithynia.
(10:37):
You're going somewhere else.
So it says they passed by Mysiaand then And they went down to
Troas.
And during the night, Paul had avision of a man of Macedonia
standing and begging him, comeover to Macedonia and help us.
After Paul had seen the vision,we got ready at once to leave
(10:57):
for Macedonia, concluding,right?
We all come to conclusions atsome point in our lives.
Maybe this didn't work out.
Maybe this didn't work out.
So we conclude that there'ssomething else that we're to do,
a different place to go.
concluding that God had calledus to preach the gospel to them.
So from Troas, you can followthat all the way up there to
(11:19):
Troas, right next to the sea.
From Troas...
We put out to sea, we sailedstraight for Samanthus, and the
next day we went on to Neapolis,and from there we traveled to
Philippi.
Philippi, and they stayed thereseveral days.
(11:40):
It was not Asia.
It was not Bithynia.
No, it was Philippi where Godwanted them to go.
So the Holy Spirit kept themfrom going to these other
places.
Now, Paul had been to Philippibefore, and he started some
church is there about 10 yearsago, and the Holy Spirit led him
back there to reestablish hisrelationship with these churches
(12:03):
and to encourage the Philippianbelievers in their spiritual
growth.
Isn't this amazing?
Now, in response to all of this,this story and this itinerary,
Mark Batterson says, if you wantto make God laugh, tell him your
plans.
Tell him your plans.
You just say, God, here's whatI'm going to do.
(12:23):
God, here's where I'm going.
If you want to make God laugh,tell him your plans.
Now, sometimes your plans mightbe his, but often they're not.
Sometimes God has better plansfor us, so he, by his Holy
Spirit, keeps us from going someplaces that we might go on our
own.
(12:44):
When we see a detour, what wesee as a detour is often the
destination.
Never, never forget that.
Because there are times whenyou're on your way, you have
some life plans, you have somecareer plans, you have some
relational plans, and it's notworking out.
It seems like there's a detour.
(13:05):
God's taking me around my plans.
Just know what we see as adetour is often a destination.
Don't be afraid of closed doors.
Or as coach Nick Saban says,don't waste a failure.
Closed doors are often God'sprotection.
Someday, You will thank God forclosed doors as much as you
(13:28):
thank him for open doors.
When I read that, I came acrossthat statement.
I thought about, oh my goodness,thank God.
I thank God forever for closingsome doors in my dating
relationships.
Thanks be to God, right?
So I cannot imagine, I can notimagine today not knowing and
being with my wife, Penny.
(13:48):
God closed some other doors andhe opened this door and I'm glad
he did.
I can't imagine.
I don't even want to imaginewhat it would have been like if
I would have stepped into someother relationships, right?
So thank God that he closes somedoors.
When we were in ministry, justbefore we came here, it was
about a year before we came toGrand Point, God had been
(14:10):
stirring in our hearts aboutmoving, about going to a
different church.
We loved where we were, butthere was something inside of us
that says God was moving us.
So we put out some resumes Weput out two that were very
significant, very, veryattractive, wonderful churches.
(14:31):
And God closed the doors on bothof those.
And to this day, I'm gratefulthat God closed those doors
because then this opened and wewere able to come here.
And so from this day on, I can'timagine not knowing you, not
being at Grand Point Church.
(14:51):
So I thank God that he's closeddoors.
He didn't let me go to Asia.
He didn't let me to go toBithynia.
He had this place, this Philippiplanned for me.
So when God closes doors, it'sfor your protection most of the
time.
And the final thing thatBatterson says this, he says,
(15:12):
God wants you to get where Godwants you to go more than you
want to get to where you want togo.
God has a purpose for you.
God has a plan for you.
And God is so set on getting youthere, that he will do
everything that he can,including closing some doors
that you think might look open.
(15:33):
God wanted Paul and Philippi forthe very purpose of encouraging
the church members and theirspiritual growth.
For many years, I worked in atrade where a tape measure was
my most important tool.
I worked in construction.
This tool became a piece of myaccessory apparel, and a lot of
my belts often wore the mark ofthis tape measure.
(15:56):
I would clip it on my belt.
This was the constant for me allthe time.
So when I would build a house,it would be important that I'd
measure the studs and the platesexactly so that the house would
be square and plumb.
When I would measure a room forcarpet, I wanted a precise
measurement so I wouldn't comeup short or have a lot of excess
(16:19):
waste.
It had to be precise.
Now, I would guess that everyhome represents in this room
tonight has a tape measure.
You may not know exactly whereit is right now, but your house
has a tape measure.
Somewhere in your house there'sa tape measure because all of us
have occasions when we need totake precise measurements.
(16:39):
Maybe you're building somethingor you're repairing something
and it requires a bolt.
Is it a four-inch bolt or is ita five-inch bolt?
You're not exactly sure.
Now, if you need a four-inchbolt, the best thing to do would
be get out the tape measure andmeasure.
so that you get exactly what youneed.
I don't know if your familyplays bocce ball or not, but
(17:01):
when our family plays bocceball, we use a tape measure.
We're not guessing.
When it comes to winning orlosing a game, just guessing at
the distance is not good enough.
It has to be precise.
A random measurement is noteffective when you need to be
precise.
Now, I want to ask you tonight,when it comes to your spiritual
(17:22):
life, do you live it randomly ordo you live it measured?
Do you live it measured or is itjust random?
A random spiritual life wouldjust be like, I got Jesus in my
life.
I accepted him as my life andI'm just kind of going to float
through this.
Whatever happens, happens.
If I'm not doing anything else,I might go to church.
(17:44):
If I'm not busy, I might read myBible.
If I get in a crisis, ifsomething really bad happens,
I'll pray.
But it's just kind of random,right?
There's no consistent and maybeno discipline with it.
And consequently, there's veryseldom growth with that because
you're not measuring anything.
You don't really have a goal.
There's no precise destinationfor it.
(18:06):
Now, a measured spiritual lifewould be taking a look at where
you are now and asking yourselfthe question, am I more mature
in my faith than I was last yearor five years ago or 10 years
ago?
Am I growing?
Am I falling more in love withGod's word?
Am I falling more in love withGod's people?
and I give him my heart and mylife.
(18:26):
See, there's a differencebetween random spirituality and
measured spirituality.
And so now it's been about 10years since Paul was at
Philippi, and now he's makinghis spirit-directed visit back
to them about 10 years later.
And the very first thing thatPaul does at Philippi is he
(18:47):
recognizes their spiritualgrowth through several
observations.
And I wanna give you theseobservations tonight because I
think they all point towardspiritual growth in our
Christian lives as well.
So he begins in chapter one,verse three, and he says to
them, now that he's with them,he says, I thank my God every
(19:09):
time I remember you.
It's always a wonderful thingwhen remembrance and gratitude
go together, especially when itrelates to interpersonal
relationships.
See, if you wanna be, if youwant people to remember you in a
certain way, certain way, thenlive your life in the way that
you want to be remembered.
(19:30):
right?
Because people are going toremember you for who you are.
And the reality is all of uswant to be remembered and we
want to be remembered well.
And Paul says to this group ofpeople, I thank God every time I
remember you.
Now, then he continues and hesays, in all my prayers for all
(19:52):
of you, I always pray with joy.
Now, Paul's primary intentionwith that prayer is to affirm
his affection for these churchmembers but he's also announcing
a theme that runs all throughthis entire letter and that is
the theme of joy the theme ofjoy see I When someone opens
(20:16):
their heart, I don't know, wesang a great song tonight and I
kind of missed that we weregoing to sing that, but we
opened our service tonight bysinging, there's joy in the
house.
There's joy in the house of theLord.
And listen, if we're measuringat all our spiritual maturity,
if we're measuring at all ourgrowth, it is only accompanied
(20:40):
by great joy.
See, when someone has openedtheir heart to receive Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Savior,there is joy in the house.
When someone has thislife-changing moment because of
God working in their lifethrough the word or through
worship, there's joy in thehouse.
When someone comes to that placewhere they say, listen, I want
(21:01):
to do something to serve my Lordand his church, there's joy in
the house.
Two weeks ago, just two weeksago, the Point Youth Ministry
started their fall meeting backtogether and Here at the church,
And the Holy Spirit prompted ouryouth pastor, Scott Eckenrode,
to give an invitation for anystudent in the room to make a
(21:25):
first-time commitment to JesusChrist.
The worship team was up there.
They were singing the last song.
The whole evening was about toend, and Scott's standing in the
back, and the Holy Spirit'sprompting him, and Scott said, I
couldn't resist.
I went up on that stage, and Istopped the team, and I just
gave the students the gospel,and I just asked...
(21:46):
if there's anyone who would liketo receive Jesus Christ for the
first time in their lives, andsix students responded by giving
their hearts to Christ.
There's joy in the house.
There's joy in the house.
Listen, on Thursday evening ofthis week, Penny and I went to
The Gathering, which is ouryoung adult ministry.
They were celebrating theirfirst year anniversary.
(22:08):
And Carly, the director there,summarized the year with story
after story after story of youngadult lives being changed,
relationships being changed,futures being changed by Christ.
And I'll tell you, there was joyin the house.
This morning, 339 members ofGrand Point church, saturated
(22:29):
our community by serving ournonprofit organizations, by
being out there showing themthat they are loved, seen,
known, and valued.
Listen, there was joy in thishouse this morning when we
gathered back together.
There's been an influx ofvolunteers right now joining
Connections team and Kids PointMinistries.
When people step up and theystep out to serve, there is joy
(22:52):
in the house.
Can I tell you this?
When I see you pulling into theparking lot, see you coming
through the doors, seeing you inthe sanctuary, there is joy in
the house and in my heart.
And listen, I believe if theApostle Paul would walk another
10,000 miles and come to GrandPoint Church, I believe he would
say, you give me joy because ofyour partnership in the gospel.
(23:16):
Grand Point Church, you guys areamazing.
You're amazing.
See, joy is the natural responseto the spiritual life and growth
in God's people.
Joy.
When you grow in your knowledgeand understanding of what God
has done for you, who he is toyou, and what he has given you,
the only reasonable response isto give back to him and somehow
(23:39):
participate in this gospelministry.
Now watch this.
Paul says in verse four, so inall my prayers for all of you, I
always pray with what?
Joy because of your partnership,your partnership in the gospel
from the first day until nowbecause being confident of this,
that he who began a good work inyou will carry it on to
(24:03):
completion until the day ofJesus Christ.
I don't want to stretch this.
I don't want to put somethinginto scripture that's not there,
but I believe this to be true.
Now stay with me.
I don't want you to just checkout here, but number one,
spiritual growth can be measuredby a believer's participation in
(24:23):
the local church.
Listen, I fully understand lifestages.
I understand busy I understandphysical limitations, but when
you get to that place where youare ready to step up and step
out into some place of servicein the church, please let us
know and we will do our best tomatch your giftedness with our
(24:44):
need.
We will do that because that's asign of spiritual maturity when
people come and say, listen, Godhas gifted me in this way.
How can I serve the church withthat?
And when you do, the joy in thisplace Paul writes another letter
to the church in Corinth, and herefers to the church as the
(25:05):
body.
And he says the body is a unit,though it is made up of many
parts, and though all the partsare many, they form one body.
Later in the same text, he says,now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part ofit.
So today at the lunch, rightafter serve day, I came back in
(25:25):
and saw Jim McGee sitting there.
Jim comes to our first service.
He's an older gentleman.
And he just looked at me and hesaid, they put me with a whole
bunch of young guys today.
That was beautiful.
Those young guys needed Jimthere.
Whether Jim could workphysically or not, it didn't
matter.
(25:45):
He was there as a presence.
He was there as a support.
He was there as an affirmingposition.
So the young guys were working.
They were doing some masonrypatio work.
So it was hard work, but Jim wasthere with all of these young
guys.
See, your participation in theministry of the local church is
(26:06):
the normal function of ahealthy, mature body And as
individuals, though, yourparticipation will vary.
It may not all look the same.
Some of you will teach.
Some of you will serve inleadership positions.
Some of you will serve in themeal ministry.
Some of you will serve in ourlawn and garden care.
Some of you will serve in thecare ministry by visiting
(26:28):
people.
Some of you will run thecameras.
You'll mix the sound.
Some of you will sing.
Some of you will be a blessingto us if you don't sing.
Just kidding.
Some will give financially.
Others will give...
the gifts of affirmation andencouragement.
Whatever your participation is,it is a partnership for the
(26:48):
advancement of the gospel.
Isn't that beautiful?
This is how God designed it.
Every single one of us, thescripture says each one of you,
every one of you is a part ofit.
That's the beauty of this.
That's what brings the joy outbecause all of us are
contributed in some way oranother.
Thursday night, Ryan and Abby,young couple, up to me and Penny
(27:13):
at the gathering.
I don't really know them, buttheir affirmations were
absolutely amazing.
Young couple, dating, theyencouraged me more than they
would ever know.
It's a beautiful thing how justsimple words, simple
friendships, all contribute tothe advancement of the gospel.
(27:35):
See, I believe spiritual growthcan be measured by a believer's
participation in the localchurch.
And I believe Now, it'simportant to note that your
spiritual maturity is notreflected by the number of
things you participate in, butin the fact that you are
participating in the way thatGod has gifted you.
See, in our text, Paul's firedup because the Christians are
(27:56):
actively participating in theministry.
Now, the second reason forPaul's joyful thankfulness to
God is his confidence that Godwill complete the good work that
he began in the Philippianbelievers.
Now, the good work that Paul'sreferring to is a work that God
alone accomplishes.
But watch this, the notion thatit is not yet complete shows
(28:19):
that it involves a progressivetransformation in the lives of
believers.
Now, a lot of us skip right overthis, but what Paul just did, he
laid down an amazing, profoundtheological reality as it
relates to our salvation.
See, salvation involves both apoint and a process.
That's kind of how we look atsalvation for us.
(28:41):
from what we understandscripture, there's both a point
and there's a process.
And there's a point.
There is a time when you becomea Christian.
And some of you know that exacttime, that date, maybe even the
place where you became aChristian.
And you kind of celebrate that.
You have an anniversary, youhave a birthday celebration of
(29:01):
your spirituality.
Others of you maybe come to aplace that one day in your
lives, you're like, oh mygoodness, yes, I am a believer.
I've somehow been introduced tothe gospel and I've understood
it and along the way someplace Ibelieved it, right?
And you don't necessarilyremember the time or the place.
But nevertheless, there was apoint where you crossed over
(29:23):
from being an unbeliever to abeliever.
So that is the point.
There is a point in time whenall of that happened.
But salvation is also a processand it's a process that we call
sanctification.
I know that's a big word and youdon't have to remember that, but
here's what this means.
It means that And it's in thatprocess that God will continue
(29:45):
to grow us and mature us untilone day it will be completed
when we enter eternity with him.
So Paul's excited about this.
He's excited that thesebelievers have stepped into a
relationship with God.
There's this point of salvationand he's continuing to grow it
all the way until they meet himin eternity.
(30:07):
Now in verse seven, Paul says,it is right for me to feel this
way.
Thankful and joyful.
(30:41):
Paul says, I have you in myheart.
Have you in my heart and I longfor you with all the affection
of Christ Jesus.
And I feel this way about youbecause of your consistent
partnership in this ministry.
You guys just didn't startsomething and then you dropped
out.
No, I'm coming around 10 yearslater and you're still with me.
(31:02):
You're still doing it.
In fact, you've even grown andit gives me great joy and
gratitude to see how you havestayed with it.
You've stayed with it.
See, it's not really how muchyou start that matters, but it's
what you finish that matters.
And he says, I thank you forstaying with me all the way
through.
Listen, even when I was beingpersecuted for my faith, I was
(31:25):
shoved into prison.
You stayed with me, confirmingthe gospel.
Spiritual maturity is not onlymeasured by how or how much we
become involved in the localchurch or by how many things we
start, but it's measured by ourfaithful to the ministry after
we started.
Brings me to my second pointthere in your outline.
(31:46):
Spiritual growth can be measuredby a believer's faithfulness to
the ministry that they havestarted.
And then there's one more.
The final measurement ofspiritual maturity in this text
is in verses nine to 11.
And Paul concludes by saying,this is my prayer.
This is my prayer for you.
He commends them with gratitudeand with joy.
(32:07):
And now he says, this is myprayer that your love may abound
more and more in knowledge anddepth of insight so that you may
be able to discern what is bestand that you might be pure and
blameless for the day of Christfilled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes throughJesus Christ to the glory and
praise of God.
(32:28):
This is one of the mostoutstanding prayers that Paul
ever prayed for any of hischurches.
It expresses his heartfeltdesire for the Christians at
Philippi You know, there aresome words in the English
language that are extremelycolorful and powerful, and one
of those words is abound,abound.
(32:49):
And he uses that in this text.
Abound means a continualoverflow, a perpetual flow of
love that flows freely, somewhatlike a river.
But that river, as Paul says inhere, must be kept within its
banks.
Otherwise, it overflows andcauses a disaster If you've ever
(33:12):
been in a region that has beenflooded, you know the calamity
that floodwaters can bring.
And so while Paul paints thispicture of this river that's
abounded, he also gives it somebanks.
And the banks, but it's keptwithin those banks.
And the banks are knowledge anddiscernment.
(33:32):
See, when love flowsindiscriminately, we love
everything and sometimes eventhe wrong things.
And so Paul says it well.
He says, I want your love togrow and grow.
I want it to abound, but inknowledge and discernment.
And these form the banks of theriver.
Paul says, I want you to boundmore and more in the knowledge
(33:54):
of God so that you will be ableto discern not what is okay, not
what is good, but what is best.
I want to give you knowledge.
I want you to have knowledge todiscern what is best so that you
may be pure and blameless forthe day of Christ.
Keep that love between the banksof knowledge and discernment.
(34:16):
So number three, spiritualgrowth can be measured by a
believer's abounding love forJesus.
Now, the question that remainsfor you and me tonight is this.
How do we measure up on thisgrowth chart of spiritual
maturity?
How do we measure up?
(34:36):
Are we measured?
Are we just kind of random inour spiritual lives?
Are we doing all that we can toparticipate in the ministry of
the local church?
What is our level of commitmentto the ministry?
And is our love for God's wordand for each other abounding?
Is it growing more and more?
(34:57):
I may have shared this with youbefore, but when we lived in
Texas, we had some friends whohad a child who did not grow.
He just didn't grow.
He got to this certain age, andof course, you know, you're kind
of watching your children grow,and it's just a natural thing,
but he reached a certain age,and he stopped growing, did not
(35:19):
grow.
This was not some idiopathicshort stature thing where you
don't grow beyond a certainheight.
No, this was an evident disorderstemming from a dysfunction with
Mark's pituitary gland.
They discovered that at onepoint, and because Mark was not
(35:41):
growing, it was a concern.
And we watched them.
They were good friends of ours.
Mark's parents did everythingthat they could to find out why
he is not growing.
They took him to specialists.
They took him to clinics.
They administered medications.
They conducted tests.
We had prayer services.
We anointed him.
(36:02):
We did everything that we couldto see if Mark would start
growing.
And I don't know know what allthat they did, but his ungrowth
was not natural.
And so there was concern.
I don't know what all that theydid.
I know some of the things theydid, but the last time I saw
(36:22):
Mark, he was a teenager and hewas tracking in height just like
everyone else his age.
Something happened where hebegan to grow.
I don't know if it was a medicalprocedure or not, but the work
that went into discover why hewas not growing yielded the
fruitfulness of his growth.
(36:43):
See, everything that has lifegrows.
And I believe God's word for ustoday is a call to take a
measurement of our spirituallives.
And if we're not growing, ifwe're not growing, let's give
some attention to why, becauseto live is Christ.
Can I just tell you that servingGrand Point Church is nothing
(37:06):
less than a joy ride.
It is nothing less than a joyride.
As we get to work together andas I get to see you and see you
stepping up and stepping out andgrowing in your spiritual lives
and seeing new people come toChrist and seeing our young
adults step up into leadershipand on fire for God, there's so
much joy in this house.
(37:28):
But what brings it even greaterjoy, not only in the house, but
in your life, is when you stepup and step out in spiritual
growth.
Maybe you need to take somemeasurements to see where you're
at?
Are you more involved than youwere last year this time?
Are you more in love with God'sword than you were last year
this time?
Are you more in love with God'speople and with him than you
(37:52):
were last year at this time?
How's your growth?
Where do you measure up on thespiritual growth chart?
I ask myself the same question.
because it's all of us growingtogether.
And that's what Paul discovered.
That's what brought him thegreatest joy.
That's what brought himgratitude as he circled around
10 years later to the church atPhilippi.
(38:14):
He saw the spiritual growth.
He saw what God was doing inthese people and how they were
responding to him.
He saw their growth, filled himwith joy and gratitude.
See, God is delighted in who youare.
God loves you.
God has that plan for you.
Perhaps he's keeping you fromgoing here or from going there
(38:34):
because he wants you here.
And when you end up where Godwants you, there is growth in
you, there's joy in you, and thechurch abounds, abounds in its
effectiveness.
I'm gonna ask you to stand withme tonight.
I wanna pray over you.
I wanna pray, you know, if Icould, if I'm not the Apostle
(38:54):
Paul, I'm not gonna pretend to,but I think if I have anything
in common with the Apostle Paul,it is that I have joy in my
heart because of you.
I have gratitude in my heart, inmy life because of what I see
God doing through you.
There's so much joy, so muchgratitude because of your
stepping up and stepping down.
(39:15):
But there's more to come.
There's more to come.
So God, I pray tonight for thisservice.
I pray for everyone in this roomtonight.
I pray for everyone up here onthe stage.
I pray for myself.
And God, I pray.
I pray that we would allregularly take these spiritual
measurements.
Simply ask the questions, am Idoing what God prepared for me
(39:38):
to do?
Am I going Am I going where Godwants me to go?
Am I serving where God hasprepared for me and gifted me to
serve?
Am I giving, am I going, am Idoing everything that God has
planned for me?
God, maybe there's some of usthat feel like life is on a
detour right now, and I praythat instead of seeing it as a
(39:59):
detour, we'd see it as adestination.
And we would look at thatdestination and say, God, I
thought it was this, but what doyou have for me over here?
What do you have for me in thisnew place?
God, I just pray that you wouldstir within us that desire to
grow and be those women and menwho serve you with everything
that we have and thus discoverthe joy of being in a
(40:23):
relationship with you.
I pray all this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (40:27):
Hey, thanks for joining us for today's message.
I hope it was encouraging toyour heart and it challenged
your faith.
Here's what I want to challengeyou to do next.
Let it transform how you measurespiritual maturity in your own
(41:02):
life.
Next week we're continuing ourseries in Philippians as we
explore the difference betweenhappiness and joy.
Trust me, you won't want to missit.
Until then, remember that lifedoesn't have to be easy to be
joyful.
Because joy flows from thepresence of Jesus, not an
absence of problems.
(41:24):
We love you.
We're grateful for you and we'repraying for you.
And we'll see you next time.
For resources to connect withour church family, feel free to
visit us at grandpoint.church.
Keep living for Christ.
Hey, welcome back to another weekend message from
Grand Point Church.
I'm your host, Mitch, and I'mglad that you're joining us
today.
Whether you're driving orworking out, we're just taking a
minute to connect with God.
We believe he has somethingspecial in store for you with
today's message.
We're kicking off an incrediblenew series called To Live as
Christ as we walk through Paul'sletters to the Philippians
(00:26):
together.
If you've ever wondered how tofind joy when life gets messy or
question whether God really hasa plan when everything feels
like chaos, this series is foryou.
Before we dive in, I'd like toinvite you to take a moment to
subscribe to these weekendmessages from Grand Point Church
or just share it with a friend.
Your support helps us reach morepeople with the hope of Jesus.
(00:51):
Make sure at the end of themessage that you stick around
because we'll be sharing somepractical next steps to help you
apply what we're learningtogether.
Now, let's discover what itmeans to truly live for Christ.
SPEAKER_02 (01:06):
Here at Grand Point Church, we believe the word of
God is the lamp to our feet anda light to our path.
Amen.
This is the word that we standon.
This is the word that we holdhighly.
And as we get into the wordtonight, I'm excited about this
brand new message series comingfrom the book of Philippians.
But at this time, I'm going toask Levi to come and lead us in
our scripture reading.
(01:27):
And as part of the liturgy ofscripture reading, when he
concludes, he will say, this isthe word of the Lord.
And the congregation responds bysaying, thanks.
Thanks be to God.
Would you do that?
Levi, come and lead us in God'sword tonight.
SPEAKER_00 (01:42):
In Philippians 1, verses 1 to 11, Paul and
Timothy, servants of ChristJesus, to all God's people in
Christ Jesus at Philippi,together with the overseers and
deacons, grace and peace to youfrom God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
(02:03):
I thank my God every time Iremember you.
I will always pray with joy.
(02:36):
or defending and confirming thegospel, all of you share in
God's grace with me.
God can testify how I long forall of you with the affection of
Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
(02:59):
Amen.
that comes through Jesus Christto the glory and praise of God.
This is the word of the Lord.
(03:20):
Thanks be to God.
Knock him dead, Lawrence.
SPEAKER_02 (03:23):
You may be seated.
Well, thank you, Levi.
And welcome to this brand newmessage series from the book of
Philippians.
If you have Bibles, you'rewelcome to turn there, follow
along.
The text will be also on thescreen as well.
The key verse in this wholebook, in this whole study, is
Philippians chapter one, verse23.
(03:43):
21, say it all together.
For to me, to live is Christ andto die is gain.
Let's do that one more time.
For to me, to live is Christ andto die is gain.
My goal for this series is tohelp you discover a genuine,
fully connected life with JesusChrist because until you have
(04:04):
life with Jesus, you have notyet lived.
So welcome to this book ofPhilippians.
Chapter one, verse one, we'regonna jump right into it Paul
and Timothy, servants of JesusChrist, to all God's holy people
in Christ Jesus at Philippi.
Let me stop right there and giveyou a little bit of history.
It's always good to know thecontext, isn't it?
(04:25):
Philippi took its name fromPhilip II of Macedo.
He was the father of Alexanderthe Great.
Now, fast forward a couplecenturies, and Philippi is
conquered by the Roman Empire in31 BC.
So Paul is writing to Romancitizens, And this will be
critical a little bit later inour study.
(04:46):
But in Philippi, they spoke theLatin language.
They dressed like the Romancitizens.
They used Roman coins.
The city itself was patternedafter Rome.
Now, Philippi today is locatedin northeastern Greece near the
city of Kavala.
It's pretty much of anarchaeological site today.
There's a lot of ruins there,although there are some amazing
(05:09):
statues, some theaters and anamphitheater there that were
from this time and are preservedand a place for a lot of
archaeological guests.
But Philippi is located as isalso the location of the first
Christian church in Europe.
So you can see through thestrategic ministry at Philippi
(05:31):
how the gospel got into Europe.
Now at this time, as Paul iswriting, the average person did
not travel outside of a 30 mileradius of their home.
People didn't go.
That was a pretty small world,isn't it?
Just think, 30 miles around yourhome, that's about all the
people traveled.
However, some scholars believethat Paul may have logged 10,000
(05:57):
miles on his missionaryjourneys.
10,000 miles.
Now, the average adult takesbetween 3,000, 4,000 steps a
day, right?
Some of you monitor that withyour Apple Watches.
3,000 to 4,000 steps a day,which is equal It's the
equivalent of about one and ahalf to two miles.
So that would take the averageperson about 14 years to travel
(06:20):
the distance that the apostlePaul did.
He's one of the most traveledpeople on this planet in the
first century.
Now, let me tell you aboutPaul's second missionary
journey.
Like his first missionaryjourney, the second one began in
Antioch.
Actually, I'm gonna just back upthere a little bit because I
think it may have started inWaynesboro.
(06:43):
James Shoes, Main Street.
There's no way that Paul's goingto travel 10,000 miles without a
good pair of brooks, right?
So he probably started there,actually, because that's not
mentioned in Scripture.
We'll go back to Antioch, andI'll show you here on the map.
You can see right up here aboveSyria is Antioch.
Now, that is Paul's home church.
(07:03):
That's not where he grew up.
He grew up in Tarsus, just alittle bit north of Antioch, but
Antioch was his home church.
That was his home base.
That That's where he did hisministry.
Now, he's on his secondmissionary journey, and he heads
west toward Derbe and Lystra.
If you can see, kind of followthat line over there to my
(07:26):
right.
He goes up through Derbe andLystra, and Lystra, something
very significant happened.
That's where he picked upTimothy.
So Paul, at this point, hasSilas as a traveling companion.
It's Paul and Silas, but now atLystra, they pick up Timothy.
And Paul had learned aboutTimothy years before, about 10
(07:47):
years before when he was doinghis missionary journey.
And he knew that this young guy,this next generation leader was
coming up.
So they stopped and picked himup there at Lystra.
Now from Lystra, they movedtoward Asia.
That was their goal.
They were together there inAntioch and they said, let's go
to Asia and speak to the peoplethere and preach the gospel and
(08:08):
visit and encourage thechurches.
Now they're on their way to Asiaand here is where we pick up the
travel itinerary in Acts chapter16.
This is interesting.
In Acts chapter 16, verse six,it says, Paul and his companions
traveled through the region ofPhrygia and Galatia, watch this,
(08:28):
having been kept by the Spirit,Holy Spirit, from preaching the
word in the province of Asia.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy had aplan.
Their plan was to go to Asia,but that did not happen.
The Holy Spirit, for somereason, kept them out of Asia.
Asia was their plan A.
(08:49):
They could not do that.
So now they said, well, let's goto plan B.
So they went for plan B, andthat was to go to Bithynia.
So you can see, if you follow upthrough there, there's also,
they get up there to Bithynia.
It's a little bit north, thattan-colored place.
They're like, well, let's gothere.
You can see the Arab pointingthere, but watch this.
(09:10):
When they came to the border ofMysia, they tried to enter
Bithynia, Athenia, but the HolySpirit would not allow them to
go.
Plan B didn't work.
Like what is going on here?
What is happening?
Where do we go now?
See, most of you rely heavily onGPS, don't you?
And GPS kind of recalibrateswhen you need to.
(09:33):
I'm old enough to remember RandMcNally maps.
Anybody remember the RandMcNally maps?
Now you could not read one ofthose maps while you were
driving.
At least you should not havebeen.
In fact, you could not drivewhile your passenger was reading
one of those maps because itfilled the whole windshield, the
whole side of the car.
(09:54):
Now, fortunately, AAA came upwith something a whole lot
better called the triptych.
And so you could now havesomething a little bit smaller
there.
But either way, whether you werereading a map or whether you
were following a triptych, ifyou came to a dead end or if you
came to a detour or if you'regoing the wrong way, those tools
would not recalibrate.
(10:16):
Thank God for GPS, because nowif we've gone someplace wrong or
we can't go in there, itrecalibrates and takes us a
different direction.
Now, in Paul's case, it was theHoly Spirit who was doing the
recalibrating.
For some reason, the Holy Spiritsaid, no, you're not going to
Asia.
No, you're not going toBithynia.
(10:37):
You're going somewhere else.
So it says they passed by Mysiaand then And they went down to
Troas.
And during the night, Paul had avision of a man of Macedonia
standing and begging him, comeover to Macedonia and help us.
After Paul had seen the vision,we got ready at once to leave
(10:57):
for Macedonia, concluding,right?
We all come to conclusions atsome point in our lives.
Maybe this didn't work out.
Maybe this didn't work out.
So we conclude that there'ssomething else that we're to do,
a different place to go.
concluding that God had calledus to preach the gospel to them.
So from Troas, you can followthat all the way up there to
(11:19):
Troas, right next to the sea.
From Troas...
We put out to sea, we sailedstraight for Samanthus, and the
next day we went on to Neapolis,and from there we traveled to
Philippi.
Philippi, and they stayed thereseveral days.
(11:40):
It was not Asia.
It was not Bithynia.
No, it was Philippi where Godwanted them to go.
So the Holy Spirit kept themfrom going to these other
places.
Now, Paul had been to Philippibefore, and he started some
church is there about 10 yearsago, and the Holy Spirit led him
back there to reestablish hisrelationship with these churches
(12:03):
and to encourage the Philippianbelievers in their spiritual
growth.
Isn't this amazing?
Now, in response to all of this,this story and this itinerary,
Mark Batterson says, if you wantto make God laugh, tell him your
plans.
Tell him your plans.
You just say, God, here's whatI'm going to do.
(12:23):
God, here's where I'm going.
If you want to make God laugh,tell him your plans.
Now, sometimes your plans mightbe his, but often they're not.
Sometimes God has better plansfor us, so he, by his Holy
Spirit, keeps us from going someplaces that we might go on our
own.
(12:44):
When we see a detour, what wesee as a detour is often the
destination.
Never, never forget that.
Because there are times whenyou're on your way, you have
some life plans, you have somecareer plans, you have some
relational plans, and it's notworking out.
It seems like there's a detour.
(13:05):
God's taking me around my plans.
Just know what we see as adetour is often a destination.
Don't be afraid of closed doors.
Or as coach Nick Saban says,don't waste a failure.
Closed doors are often God'sprotection.
Someday, You will thank God forclosed doors as much as you
(13:28):
thank him for open doors.
When I read that, I came acrossthat statement.
I thought about, oh my goodness,thank God.
I thank God forever for closingsome doors in my dating
relationships.
Thanks be to God, right?
So I cannot imagine, I can notimagine today not knowing and
being with my wife, Penny.
(13:48):
God closed some other doors andhe opened this door and I'm glad
he did.
I can't imagine.
I don't even want to imaginewhat it would have been like if
I would have stepped into someother relationships, right?
So thank God that he closes somedoors.
When we were in ministry, justbefore we came here, it was
about a year before we came toGrand Point, God had been
(14:10):
stirring in our hearts aboutmoving, about going to a
different church.
We loved where we were, butthere was something inside of us
that says God was moving us.
So we put out some resumes Weput out two that were very
significant, very, veryattractive, wonderful churches.
(14:31):
And God closed the doors on bothof those.
And to this day, I'm gratefulthat God closed those doors
because then this opened and wewere able to come here.
And so from this day on, I can'timagine not knowing you, not
being at Grand Point Church.
(14:51):
So I thank God that he's closeddoors.
He didn't let me go to Asia.
He didn't let me to go toBithynia.
He had this place, this Philippiplanned for me.
So when God closes doors, it'sfor your protection most of the
time.
And the final thing thatBatterson says this, he says,
(15:12):
God wants you to get where Godwants you to go more than you
want to get to where you want togo.
God has a purpose for you.
God has a plan for you.
And God is so set on getting youthere, that he will do
everything that he can,including closing some doors
that you think might look open.
(15:33):
God wanted Paul and Philippi forthe very purpose of encouraging
the church members and theirspiritual growth.
For many years, I worked in atrade where a tape measure was
my most important tool.
I worked in construction.
This tool became a piece of myaccessory apparel, and a lot of
my belts often wore the mark ofthis tape measure.
(15:56):
I would clip it on my belt.
This was the constant for me allthe time.
So when I would build a house,it would be important that I'd
measure the studs and the platesexactly so that the house would
be square and plumb.
When I would measure a room forcarpet, I wanted a precise
measurement so I wouldn't comeup short or have a lot of excess
(16:19):
waste.
It had to be precise.
Now, I would guess that everyhome represents in this room
tonight has a tape measure.
You may not know exactly whereit is right now, but your house
has a tape measure.
Somewhere in your house there'sa tape measure because all of us
have occasions when we need totake precise measurements.
(16:39):
Maybe you're building somethingor you're repairing something
and it requires a bolt.
Is it a four-inch bolt or is ita five-inch bolt?
You're not exactly sure.
Now, if you need a four-inchbolt, the best thing to do would
be get out the tape measure andmeasure.
so that you get exactly what youneed.
I don't know if your familyplays bocce ball or not, but
(17:01):
when our family plays bocceball, we use a tape measure.
We're not guessing.
When it comes to winning orlosing a game, just guessing at
the distance is not good enough.
It has to be precise.
A random measurement is noteffective when you need to be
precise.
Now, I want to ask you tonight,when it comes to your spiritual
(17:22):
life, do you live it randomly ordo you live it measured?
Do you live it measured or is itjust random?
A random spiritual life wouldjust be like, I got Jesus in my
life.
I accepted him as my life andI'm just kind of going to float
through this.
Whatever happens, happens.
If I'm not doing anything else,I might go to church.
(17:44):
If I'm not busy, I might read myBible.
If I get in a crisis, ifsomething really bad happens,
I'll pray.
But it's just kind of random,right?
There's no consistent and maybeno discipline with it.
And consequently, there's veryseldom growth with that because
you're not measuring anything.
You don't really have a goal.
There's no precise destinationfor it.
(18:06):
Now, a measured spiritual lifewould be taking a look at where
you are now and asking yourselfthe question, am I more mature
in my faith than I was last yearor five years ago or 10 years
ago?
Am I growing?
Am I falling more in love withGod's word?
Am I falling more in love withGod's people?
and I give him my heart and mylife.
(18:26):
See, there's a differencebetween random spirituality and
measured spirituality.
And so now it's been about 10years since Paul was at
Philippi, and now he's makinghis spirit-directed visit back
to them about 10 years later.
And the very first thing thatPaul does at Philippi is he
(18:47):
recognizes their spiritualgrowth through several
observations.
And I wanna give you theseobservations tonight because I
think they all point towardspiritual growth in our
Christian lives as well.
So he begins in chapter one,verse three, and he says to
them, now that he's with them,he says, I thank my God every
(19:09):
time I remember you.
It's always a wonderful thingwhen remembrance and gratitude
go together, especially when itrelates to interpersonal
relationships.
See, if you wanna be, if youwant people to remember you in a
certain way, certain way, thenlive your life in the way that
you want to be remembered.
(19:30):
right?
Because people are going toremember you for who you are.
And the reality is all of uswant to be remembered and we
want to be remembered well.
And Paul says to this group ofpeople, I thank God every time I
remember you.
Now, then he continues and hesays, in all my prayers for all
(19:52):
of you, I always pray with joy.
Now, Paul's primary intentionwith that prayer is to affirm
his affection for these churchmembers but he's also announcing
a theme that runs all throughthis entire letter and that is
the theme of joy the theme ofjoy see I When someone opens
(20:16):
their heart, I don't know, wesang a great song tonight and I
kind of missed that we weregoing to sing that, but we
opened our service tonight bysinging, there's joy in the
house.
There's joy in the house of theLord.
And listen, if we're measuringat all our spiritual maturity,
if we're measuring at all ourgrowth, it is only accompanied
(20:40):
by great joy.
See, when someone has openedtheir heart to receive Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Savior,there is joy in the house.
When someone has thislife-changing moment because of
God working in their lifethrough the word or through
worship, there's joy in thehouse.
When someone comes to that placewhere they say, listen, I want
(21:01):
to do something to serve my Lordand his church, there's joy in
the house.
Two weeks ago, just two weeksago, the Point Youth Ministry
started their fall meeting backtogether and Here at the church,
And the Holy Spirit prompted ouryouth pastor, Scott Eckenrode,
to give an invitation for anystudent in the room to make a
(21:25):
first-time commitment to JesusChrist.
The worship team was up there.
They were singing the last song.
The whole evening was about toend, and Scott's standing in the
back, and the Holy Spirit'sprompting him, and Scott said, I
couldn't resist.
I went up on that stage, and Istopped the team, and I just
gave the students the gospel,and I just asked...
(21:46):
if there's anyone who would liketo receive Jesus Christ for the
first time in their lives, andsix students responded by giving
their hearts to Christ.
There's joy in the house.
There's joy in the house.
Listen, on Thursday evening ofthis week, Penny and I went to
The Gathering, which is ouryoung adult ministry.
They were celebrating theirfirst year anniversary.
(22:08):
And Carly, the director there,summarized the year with story
after story after story of youngadult lives being changed,
relationships being changed,futures being changed by Christ.
And I'll tell you, there was joyin the house.
This morning, 339 members ofGrand Point church, saturated
(22:29):
our community by serving ournonprofit organizations, by
being out there showing themthat they are loved, seen,
known, and valued.
Listen, there was joy in thishouse this morning when we
gathered back together.
There's been an influx ofvolunteers right now joining
Connections team and Kids PointMinistries.
When people step up and theystep out to serve, there is joy
(22:52):
in the house.
Can I tell you this?
When I see you pulling into theparking lot, see you coming
through the doors, seeing you inthe sanctuary, there is joy in
the house and in my heart.
And listen, I believe if theApostle Paul would walk another
10,000 miles and come to GrandPoint Church, I believe he would
say, you give me joy because ofyour partnership in the gospel.
(23:16):
Grand Point Church, you guys areamazing.
You're amazing.
See, joy is the natural responseto the spiritual life and growth
in God's people.
Joy.
When you grow in your knowledgeand understanding of what God
has done for you, who he is toyou, and what he has given you,
the only reasonable response isto give back to him and somehow
(23:39):
participate in this gospelministry.
Now watch this.
Paul says in verse four, so inall my prayers for all of you, I
always pray with what?
Joy because of your partnership,your partnership in the gospel
from the first day until nowbecause being confident of this,
that he who began a good work inyou will carry it on to
(24:03):
completion until the day ofJesus Christ.
I don't want to stretch this.
I don't want to put somethinginto scripture that's not there,
but I believe this to be true.
Now stay with me.
I don't want you to just checkout here, but number one,
spiritual growth can be measuredby a believer's participation in
(24:23):
the local church.
Listen, I fully understand lifestages.
I understand busy I understandphysical limitations, but when
you get to that place where youare ready to step up and step
out into some place of servicein the church, please let us
know and we will do our best tomatch your giftedness with our
(24:44):
need.
We will do that because that's asign of spiritual maturity when
people come and say, listen, Godhas gifted me in this way.
How can I serve the church withthat?
And when you do, the joy in thisplace Paul writes another letter
to the church in Corinth, and herefers to the church as the
(25:05):
body.
And he says the body is a unit,though it is made up of many
parts, and though all the partsare many, they form one body.
Later in the same text, he says,now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part ofit.
So today at the lunch, rightafter serve day, I came back in
(25:25):
and saw Jim McGee sitting there.
Jim comes to our first service.
He's an older gentleman.
And he just looked at me and hesaid, they put me with a whole
bunch of young guys today.
That was beautiful.
Those young guys needed Jimthere.
Whether Jim could workphysically or not, it didn't
matter.
(25:45):
He was there as a presence.
He was there as a support.
He was there as an affirmingposition.
So the young guys were working.
They were doing some masonrypatio work.
So it was hard work, but Jim wasthere with all of these young
guys.
See, your participation in theministry of the local church is
(26:06):
the normal function of ahealthy, mature body And as
individuals, though, yourparticipation will vary.
It may not all look the same.
Some of you will teach.
Some of you will serve inleadership positions.
Some of you will serve in themeal ministry.
Some of you will serve in ourlawn and garden care.
Some of you will serve in thecare ministry by visiting
(26:28):
people.
Some of you will run thecameras.
You'll mix the sound.
Some of you will sing.
Some of you will be a blessingto us if you don't sing.
Just kidding.
Some will give financially.
Others will give...
the gifts of affirmation andencouragement.
Whatever your participation is,it is a partnership for the
(26:48):
advancement of the gospel.
Isn't that beautiful?
This is how God designed it.
Every single one of us, thescripture says each one of you,
every one of you is a part ofit.
That's the beauty of this.
That's what brings the joy outbecause all of us are
contributed in some way oranother.
Thursday night, Ryan and Abby,young couple, up to me and Penny
(27:13):
at the gathering.
I don't really know them, buttheir affirmations were
absolutely amazing.
Young couple, dating, theyencouraged me more than they
would ever know.
It's a beautiful thing how justsimple words, simple
friendships, all contribute tothe advancement of the gospel.
(27:35):
See, I believe spiritual growthcan be measured by a believer's
participation in the localchurch.
And I believe Now, it'simportant to note that your
spiritual maturity is notreflected by the number of
things you participate in, butin the fact that you are
participating in the way thatGod has gifted you.
See, in our text, Paul's firedup because the Christians are
(27:56):
actively participating in theministry.
Now, the second reason forPaul's joyful thankfulness to
God is his confidence that Godwill complete the good work that
he began in the Philippianbelievers.
Now, the good work that Paul'sreferring to is a work that God
alone accomplishes.
But watch this, the notion thatit is not yet complete shows
(28:19):
that it involves a progressivetransformation in the lives of
believers.
Now, a lot of us skip right overthis, but what Paul just did, he
laid down an amazing, profoundtheological reality as it
relates to our salvation.
See, salvation involves both apoint and a process.
That's kind of how we look atsalvation for us.
(28:41):
from what we understandscripture, there's both a point
and there's a process.
And there's a point.
There is a time when you becomea Christian.
And some of you know that exacttime, that date, maybe even the
place where you became aChristian.
And you kind of celebrate that.
You have an anniversary, youhave a birthday celebration of
(29:01):
your spirituality.
Others of you maybe come to aplace that one day in your
lives, you're like, oh mygoodness, yes, I am a believer.
I've somehow been introduced tothe gospel and I've understood
it and along the way someplace Ibelieved it, right?
And you don't necessarilyremember the time or the place.
But nevertheless, there was apoint where you crossed over
(29:23):
from being an unbeliever to abeliever.
So that is the point.
There is a point in time whenall of that happened.
But salvation is also a processand it's a process that we call
sanctification.
I know that's a big word and youdon't have to remember that, but
here's what this means.
It means that And it's in thatprocess that God will continue
(29:45):
to grow us and mature us untilone day it will be completed
when we enter eternity with him.
So Paul's excited about this.
He's excited that thesebelievers have stepped into a
relationship with God.
There's this point of salvationand he's continuing to grow it
all the way until they meet himin eternity.
(30:07):
Now in verse seven, Paul says,it is right for me to feel this
way.
Thankful and joyful.
(30:41):
Paul says, I have you in myheart.
Have you in my heart and I longfor you with all the affection
of Christ Jesus.
And I feel this way about youbecause of your consistent
partnership in this ministry.
You guys just didn't startsomething and then you dropped
out.
No, I'm coming around 10 yearslater and you're still with me.
(31:02):
You're still doing it.
In fact, you've even grown andit gives me great joy and
gratitude to see how you havestayed with it.
You've stayed with it.
See, it's not really how muchyou start that matters, but it's
what you finish that matters.
And he says, I thank you forstaying with me all the way
through.
Listen, even when I was beingpersecuted for my faith, I was
(31:25):
shoved into prison.
You stayed with me, confirmingthe gospel.
Spiritual maturity is not onlymeasured by how or how much we
become involved in the localchurch or by how many things we
start, but it's measured by ourfaithful to the ministry after
we started.
Brings me to my second pointthere in your outline.
(31:46):
Spiritual growth can be measuredby a believer's faithfulness to
the ministry that they havestarted.
And then there's one more.
The final measurement ofspiritual maturity in this text
is in verses nine to 11.
And Paul concludes by saying,this is my prayer.
This is my prayer for you.
He commends them with gratitudeand with joy.
(32:07):
And now he says, this is myprayer that your love may abound
more and more in knowledge anddepth of insight so that you may
be able to discern what is bestand that you might be pure and
blameless for the day of Christfilled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes throughJesus Christ to the glory and
praise of God.
(32:28):
This is one of the mostoutstanding prayers that Paul
ever prayed for any of hischurches.
It expresses his heartfeltdesire for the Christians at
Philippi You know, there aresome words in the English
language that are extremelycolorful and powerful, and one
of those words is abound,abound.
(32:49):
And he uses that in this text.
Abound means a continualoverflow, a perpetual flow of
love that flows freely, somewhatlike a river.
But that river, as Paul says inhere, must be kept within its
banks.
Otherwise, it overflows andcauses a disaster If you've ever
(33:12):
been in a region that has beenflooded, you know the calamity
that floodwaters can bring.
And so while Paul paints thispicture of this river that's
abounded, he also gives it somebanks.
And the banks, but it's keptwithin those banks.
And the banks are knowledge anddiscernment.
(33:32):
See, when love flowsindiscriminately, we love
everything and sometimes eventhe wrong things.
And so Paul says it well.
He says, I want your love togrow and grow.
I want it to abound, but inknowledge and discernment.
And these form the banks of theriver.
Paul says, I want you to boundmore and more in the knowledge
(33:54):
of God so that you will be ableto discern not what is okay, not
what is good, but what is best.
I want to give you knowledge.
I want you to have knowledge todiscern what is best so that you
may be pure and blameless forthe day of Christ.
Keep that love between the banksof knowledge and discernment.
(34:16):
So number three, spiritualgrowth can be measured by a
believer's abounding love forJesus.
Now, the question that remainsfor you and me tonight is this.
How do we measure up on thisgrowth chart of spiritual
maturity?
How do we measure up?
(34:36):
Are we measured?
Are we just kind of random inour spiritual lives?
Are we doing all that we can toparticipate in the ministry of
the local church?
What is our level of commitmentto the ministry?
And is our love for God's wordand for each other abounding?
Is it growing more and more?
(34:57):
I may have shared this with youbefore, but when we lived in
Texas, we had some friends whohad a child who did not grow.
He just didn't grow.
He got to this certain age, andof course, you know, you're kind
of watching your children grow,and it's just a natural thing,
but he reached a certain age,and he stopped growing, did not
(35:19):
grow.
This was not some idiopathicshort stature thing where you
don't grow beyond a certainheight.
No, this was an evident disorderstemming from a dysfunction with
Mark's pituitary gland.
They discovered that at onepoint, and because Mark was not
(35:41):
growing, it was a concern.
And we watched them.
They were good friends of ours.
Mark's parents did everythingthat they could to find out why
he is not growing.
They took him to specialists.
They took him to clinics.
They administered medications.
They conducted tests.
We had prayer services.
We anointed him.
(36:02):
We did everything that we couldto see if Mark would start
growing.
And I don't know know what allthat they did, but his ungrowth
was not natural.
And so there was concern.
I don't know what all that theydid.
I know some of the things theydid, but the last time I saw
(36:22):
Mark, he was a teenager and hewas tracking in height just like
everyone else his age.
Something happened where hebegan to grow.
I don't know if it was a medicalprocedure or not, but the work
that went into discover why hewas not growing yielded the
fruitfulness of his growth.
(36:43):
See, everything that has lifegrows.
And I believe God's word for ustoday is a call to take a
measurement of our spirituallives.
And if we're not growing, ifwe're not growing, let's give
some attention to why, becauseto live is Christ.
Can I just tell you that servingGrand Point Church is nothing
(37:06):
less than a joy ride.
It is nothing less than a joyride.
As we get to work together andas I get to see you and see you
stepping up and stepping out andgrowing in your spiritual lives
and seeing new people come toChrist and seeing our young
adults step up into leadershipand on fire for God, there's so
much joy in this house.
(37:28):
But what brings it even greaterjoy, not only in the house, but
in your life, is when you stepup and step out in spiritual
growth.
Maybe you need to take somemeasurements to see where you're
at?
Are you more involved than youwere last year this time?
Are you more in love with God'sword than you were last year
this time?
Are you more in love with God'speople and with him than you
(37:52):
were last year at this time?
How's your growth?
Where do you measure up on thespiritual growth chart?
I ask myself the same question.
because it's all of us growingtogether.
And that's what Paul discovered.
That's what brought him thegreatest joy.
That's what brought himgratitude as he circled around
10 years later to the church atPhilippi.
(38:14):
He saw the spiritual growth.
He saw what God was doing inthese people and how they were
responding to him.
He saw their growth, filled himwith joy and gratitude.
See, God is delighted in who youare.
God loves you.
God has that plan for you.
Perhaps he's keeping you fromgoing here or from going there
(38:34):
because he wants you here.
And when you end up where Godwants you, there is growth in
you, there's joy in you, and thechurch abounds, abounds in its
effectiveness.
I'm gonna ask you to stand withme tonight.
I wanna pray over you.
I wanna pray, you know, if Icould, if I'm not the Apostle
(38:54):
Paul, I'm not gonna pretend to,but I think if I have anything
in common with the Apostle Paul,it is that I have joy in my
heart because of you.
I have gratitude in my heart, inmy life because of what I see
God doing through you.
There's so much joy, so muchgratitude because of your
stepping up and stepping down.
(39:15):
But there's more to come.
There's more to come.
So God, I pray tonight for thisservice.
I pray for everyone in this roomtonight.
I pray for everyone up here onthe stage.
I pray for myself.
And God, I pray.
I pray that we would allregularly take these spiritual
measurements.
Simply ask the questions, am Idoing what God prepared for me
(39:38):
to do?
Am I going Am I going where Godwants me to go?
Am I serving where God hasprepared for me and gifted me to
serve?
Am I giving, am I going, am Idoing everything that God has
planned for me?
God, maybe there's some of usthat feel like life is on a
detour right now, and I praythat instead of seeing it as a
(39:59):
detour, we'd see it as adestination.
And we would look at thatdestination and say, God, I
thought it was this, but what doyou have for me over here?
What do you have for me in thisnew place?
God, I just pray that you wouldstir within us that desire to
grow and be those women and menwho serve you with everything
that we have and thus discoverthe joy of being in a
(40:23):
relationship with you.
I pray all this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
SPEAKER_01 (40:27):
Hey, thanks for joining us for today's message.
I hope it was encouraging toyour heart and it challenged
your faith.
Here's what I want to challengeyou to do next.
Let it transform how you measurespiritual maturity in your own
(41:02):
life.
Next week we're continuing ourseries in Philippians as we
explore the difference betweenhappiness and joy.
Trust me, you won't want to missit.
Until then, remember that lifedoesn't have to be easy to be
joyful.
Because joy flows from thepresence of Jesus, not an
absence of problems.
(41:24):
We love you.
We're grateful for you and we'repraying for you.
And we'll see you next time.
For resources to connect withour church family, feel free to
visit us at grandpoint.church.
Keep living for Christ.
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