- Well, good morning Rockpoint Church, it's great to be with all of you. Well, today as we continue in worship, we have a chance to open up a great little book in the New Testament, it's the book of Philippians. So as we begin a brand new series today, I want you to first get a Bible out and open up to Philippians 1:1. Now, if you haven't had a chance to download the notes yet from our website, you can do so. And I want us to begin to take a look at a wonderful book that I believe is gonna bless you with some wonderful principles not only for the crisis that we find ourselves in, but also the life that we have to live after COVID-19. So, let me pause, pray for us, and then we're gonna dive right into this time together in Philippians. God, we thank you for your grace and your goodness in our lives, and it is my prayer now that you would open our eyes to see your truth and hearts willing to obey. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Now, why did I select the book of Philippians in the midst of the crisis that we find ourselves? Well, it's because it is in the book of Philippians that Paul reveals the secret to finding joy in contentment in life regardless of his circumstances. And Paul talks about the secret of that joy is the person and the work of Jesus Christ. See, I really do believe that it is a choice to rejoice, we can choose to rejoice, which is the title of this series, because we can choose to focus on the person of Christ. As a matter of fact, Paul says in chapter 1, verse 21, he says, "For to me to live as Christ, and to die is gain." And so today as we begin to look at the first 11 verses, Paul talks to us about who he has confidence in, and we're gonna discover finding confidence in the journey, and that comes from confidence in the person of Jesus Christ, He's the one that gives us confidence because He is gonna be faithful in completing the work that He's already started in us. And so today Paul talks about confidence in Him and that produces joy. Now, this little letter, which is what it is, we call it the book of Philippians but it is a letter that Paul wrote to thank a group of believers up in Northern Greece, in the city of Philippi. And so, let's start beginning. If you look down at chapter one, verse one, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul is writing this, he's writing it from Rome about 62 AD. Now, how did Paul get to Rome? Well, when we read through the book of Acts, we discover that Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and because he was not given a fair trial, he is a Roman citizen and so he appeals to Caesar, he wants to bring the trial before Caesar. And so he shipped off to Rome, and at the writing of this letter to this church in Philippi, Paul is under what is called house arrest, it's a prison, but it's really a rented house. And Paul is under Imperial Guard, which means he's more than likely chained to a Roman guard all the time, 24/7, but he's in a house arrest. And we also find out at the end of the book of Acts that Paul was able to preach the gospel but he wasn't able to go outside in the open air and have a public gathering, people had to come to him, but he did have freedom to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ. However, when we get into the book of Philippians, we begin to find out that there are some critics of Paul and perhaps even the Roman officials don't want Paul to preach too much, but however, even though he's in jail, even though he's chained, it really is causing the gospel of Jesus Christ to grow. You see, Paul, while he's under house arrest is waiting for the verdict to come down from Caesar, he could lose his life, he might live but he might die. And as a result of his boldness in communicating Jesus Christ regardless of the fact that he's under house arrest or prison, other individuals are becoming even bolder about sharing their faith, and Paul talks to us about that once we get later on into the book. Now, when you are under house arrest, you had to rent the house yourself, you had to provide for your own room and board, and so this wonderful church had partnered with Paul, and they sent down a gift through epaphroditus and now Paul is writing them a thank you back because of their partnership with him. Now, how did all of this begin? Well, let's go back to how this church was planted. And so turn left from the book of Philippians and I want you to go to Acts chapter 16. So in your Bibles, go all the way back to Acts chapter 16 and let's begin to take a look at how this church began. Paul, starting in verse six, begins to go on a journey. And Luke is writing Acts, and there's times when Luke is with Paul, and there's times when he's not. You can pick that up when you realize that actually Luke will say we were or Paul was with us, and that's a clue that Luke was right there. But I wanna pick up the story in Acts chapter 16, starting in verse six. "And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, "having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit "to speak the word in Asia." So Paul's first choice was to go into Asia. He's in his second missionary journey with Silas, we'll see that in a minute. And the first city or cities he wanted to go to was in Asia. Well, in verse seven though, it says, "And when they had come up to Mysia, "they attempted to go into Bithynia," that's the second choice, "but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. "So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas "and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. "A man from Macedonia, that's Greece, "was standing there, urging him and saying, "come over to Macedonian and help us. "And when Paul had seen the vision, "immediately, we sought to go into Macedonia, "concluding that God had called us "to preach the gospel to them." So, he couldn't go into Asia, he couldn't go into Bithynia, and then God gives him a vision calling him to go to Macedonia or Greece, pick up the story in verse 11. "So setting sail from Troas, "we made a direct voyage to Samothrace "and the following day to Neapolis. "and from there to Philippi, "which is the leading city of the district of Macedonia, "and a Roman colony. "Since we remained in the city some days, "and on the Sabbath day "we went outside the gate to the riverside "where we suppose there was a place of prayer, "and we sat down and spoke to the women "who had come together." Now, stop just for a second, let me explain the background there, Paul would normally go into a city and in order to plant a church, he would immediately go to the synagogue because those Jews believed in the true God. So he would have a conversation with them and he would, through God working in their hearts and lives, begin to communicate the message of Jesus Christ. However, when he gets to Philippi, which is in Greece, there was not even a large enough group of Jewish followers of God to even have a synagogue. So he goes outside the gate to the river and he finds a group of women, there's no men there. Verse 14, "One who heard us communicate the gospel," as Paul begins to share Jesus, "was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, "seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. "And the Lord opened her heart "to pay attention to what was said by Paul "and after she was baptized and her household as well, "she urged us saying, "if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, "come to my house and stay and she prevailed upon us." So Luke is there. She's a professional woman, she comes to Christ. So this is his first convert at a river, not even in a synagogue so it's different from what he's expected typically when he goes into cities. Now, from there, things begin to go south because as we move into verse 16, after she comes to Christ, and invites them to stay, it says, "As we were going to the place of prayer, "which is by the river, "we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination, "and brought her owners much gain by fortune telling," Demons are behind fortune telling. "And she followed Paul and us, crying out, "these men are servants of the Most High God "who proclaim to you the way of salvation. "And this she kept doing for many days. "Paul, having become greatly annoyed, "turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ "to come out of her, and it came out that very hour." I mean, can you imagine this, that even though she's a possessed individual, who's the fortune teller, God moves in and through her to somehow even utilize this evil demon to communicate that Paul is coming with the gospel. But finally, after this demonically possessed slave girl doing the PR for Paul, Paul acknowledges and recognizes through the Spirit of God that this is a demonic spirit, he cast out this demon. And then in verse 19, "But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, "they seized Paul and Silas, "and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. "And when they had brought them to the magistrates, "they said, these men are Jews "and they're disturbing our city. "They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans "to accept or practice." Well, then the crowd gathered around them, they beat them with rods, and they threw them in prison. And it says at the end of verse 24 that they had their their feet fastened in the stocks. Now you'd think Paul would be wondering, God, what on earth are you up to? This wasn't my first choice, it wasn't my second choice, it was my third choice. I go to a river, I lead this woman to Christ, hoping that people would come to faith and the church would begin to grow, I would imagine, and then all of a sudden as he's going back, being faithful, this demonically possessed slave girl, and that's what's so ironic about this, actually is communicating truth that Paul is communicating the message from the Most High God, the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, but obviously, she's controlled by spirit. When that becomes annoying, Paul casts her out, and as a result of doing God's work, he's beaten and thrown in jail. And yet, he chose to rejoice. Because when you look at verse 25, "At about midnight, "Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God "and the prisoners were listening to them. "But then there was this massive earthquake that took place "and as a result of that, "the prison doors were opened, the chains off. "When the jailer awoke," in verse 27, "he was scared to death. "He didn't know what to think, "he thought the prisoners were gonna leave the prison "and he was going to be responsible. "So it says that he was about to kill himself "supposing that the prisoners had escaped. "But that's when Paul cries out and he says, "with a loud voice," in verse 28, "do not harm yourself, for we are all here. "And the jailer called for lights and rushed in "and trembling with fear, "he fell down before Paul and Silas. "And then he brought them out and said, "sirs, what must I do to be saved? "And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ "and you will be saved, you and your household. "And they spoke the word of the Lord to him "and to all who were in his house. "And he took them the same hour of the night "and washed their wounds "and he was baptized at once, he and all of his family. "Then brought them up into the house "and set food before them "and he rejoiced along with the entire household "that he had believed in God." As far as we know, there was no other male that came to Christ until this Roman soldier and now his house has become believers, they've joined with Lydia. And so God was at work even though Paul was thrown into jail. And the next day the leaders of the city sent word to the jailer to release Paul and Silas. Paul actually reveals at that point that he's a Roman citizen. And so now they're really scared because Roman citizens had rights, he had the right for a trial, he should have never been beaten like this. So they're scared to death that they're gonna be in big trouble from the higher ups in the Roman Imperial Guard and or leaders I should say. And so as a result of that, they want him released. He's a Roman citizen, they mistreated him, and even though they were leaders of this city, the higher ups in the Roman government might clamp down on them and so they want them gone. And so Paul visits, it says in verse 40, the brothers so that means men and women have come to Christ now and encourage them and then he departs. You know, when I read through the story of how this church started and then grew, it reminds me that just because events go from bad to worse, doesn't mean God is not at work. I mean, circumstances kept getting worse for Paul, and then all of a sudden, he encounters this demonically possessed fortune teller, but God even takes evil things in His sovereign plan and uses them to advance the cause of Christ. Now, this principle is very counterintuitive quite frankly because we love the idea that is communicated in the phrase, while God is blessing me, I've been so faithful and now God is blessing me. What we don't like is the opposite. I've been faithful, and life continues to get hard, and it's difficult. You see, when we move into times of trials and difficulties, we can either get bitter, or we can get better. And when we come to Jesus Christ as a follower of Christ, life doesn't always get better. As a matter of fact, there's a guarantee that the New Testament tells us that if we are really following Jesus Christ, we will experience trials and difficulties and suffering in life. And Paul experienced intense opposition, not only in this church, but in other churches, and he finds himself in prison or under house arrest, wondering if he's gonna live or die. And yet this is the guy that says, but wait a minute, God is at work and I've seen it over and over and over again. I mean, if you just get on the internet and look at what happens in countries where believers are persecuted for the faith, the church continues to grow. Now, I know that many of you love the Lord and you wanna remain faithful, and you want to see His hand at work even in the midst of what we're going through. So there's a couple of thoughts that I think are reminders and steps that we can take that help us focus on the fact that God really is at work, and we can have confidence in Him. And first is this, reflect on His promises and His principles. Go back to the truth, look at what He is doing. And one of those is found right here in verse six, which we'll get into in just a second. But Paul is confident that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it, reflect on the promises that God gives us. One of the practical steps I take is when I'm encountering a situation where people, or it doesn't matter who it is, could even be myself, where we struggle with a crisis in our life, one of my favorite all time chapters in the Bible is Isaiah 40. And that's because it reminds us of who God is, that He is carefully watching out for us, it's a reminder for me, it's a reminder for you, and that even at times when we are weary, it says in the last verse of Isaiah chapter 41, when we are weary, He renews our strength. And Paul even says in Second Corinthians 12:9 when he was struggling with a physical ailment in his life, that God didn't heal him off it. God said to him, I'm providing my grace which is sufficient for you. We're reminded in James 1:2-4, He says, count it all. What does he say? Joy. "Joy, my brothers when you meet trials of Various kinds." Boy, it sounds like Paul wrote it even though this was the half brother of Jesus. "For you know that the testing of your faith "produces steadfastness." Endurance. The only way you're ever gonna know endurance is by going through a trial and a test. "And let steadfastness have its full effect "that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." We know that God is at work. Here's another practical step, review stories of His faithfulness. Review stories of God's faithfulness in your life. When I think of the nation of Israel, that God made a covenant promise with them starting in Genesis chapter 12, that He was gonna make them into a great nation, He was gonna bless the world, he was gonna give them a land, it was a covenant promise. And now we see those promises being fulfilled before our very eyes. They are now a state, they were declared a state in 1948. He is now bringing the nation or the Jewish people back to the nation of Israel from the four corners of the globe, preparing them for the day when Jesus comes again and they will return to Him as Messiah and Jesus sets up His millennial reign, His earthly kingdom for 1000 years, it's recorded in Revelation chapter 20. God is faithful, He's been faithful to those promises which were literal, which were real, which were unconditional, and therefore as a follower of Jesus Christ, whether I'm Jewish or a Gentile, I'm in the church today, God fulfills His promises because He is faithful. I'm reminding of this verse, Lamentations, it's in the Old Testament, chapter three verses 22 and 23. If you've never found this one, it's a great one. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, "His mercies never come to an end, "they're new every morning, great is your faithfulness." The word steadfast means loyal love. Why? Because God keeps His promises. We enter into a relationship with Him, and He keeps His promises. We see that with Paul. I mean, he struggled from city after city after city, he was persecuted, he was beaten, and yet God was faithful. Here's another step, trust His timing and His ways. Trust His timing and His ways, Paul had to. He walked into this tiny town, or into a significant town I should say, in Philippi, and yet he established this tiny church. So it was a major Roman colony, and yet he establishes this tiny church and he had to trust God's growth in those individuals, and he had to trust God's plan and His ways. You know, we don't know how God is going to use this COVID-19 situation, this global pandemic, but we never have to lack peace because we can put our focus on the person and work of Christ knowing he's accomplishing His ways, preparing us and growing us to follow Him. And this last one is one I think we oftentimes forget, share your doubts in community. I mean, we all have doubts, we're humans and we wonder, God, where are you at work, life's not going well. But quite frankly, when life is not going well, and oftentimes it's counterintuitive, we wonder, well, where is God? And we say, while the presence of pain means the absence of God, no, it's just the opposite. The presence of pain and trials and suffering mean that God's presence is right there. And if you know Him as Savior, and you know Him as Lord, you can know for sure His promises that are found in those moments. And so this step is almost counterintuitive when you think about it. It's not the fact that the presence of pain means the absence of God, it's the fact that the presence of pain means the very presence of God in my life and in the life of other people. But there are human moments where we doubt, there are human moments where we struggle, and that's why we've got to be in community with one another. Well, if you look down at verse three, let me begin reading for you. He says, I think, my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I told you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel for God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. Paul is confident and he mentions that he thanks God. And in the process of thanking God, he is praying with incredible joy because he knows of their partnership with him in the Gospel. And because he sees evidence of that, he knows that God began a work in them, and that this is the God who's gonna complete that work. And whether it's Paul defending the gospel in public or being imprisoned, they were partakers of grace through Jesus Christ, they're sharing Jesus in Philippi and now they're sharing their generosity with Paul to help him in a very, very difficult time in his life. See, Paul was confident in the Lord that God will complete His work in us if God is really in us. So how do we know that? Well, genuine faith always produces fruit. The reason why Paul was confident is because he saw the evidence of their faith. He knew they were sharing Christ, he knew that they were partnering with him and standing with him for the cause of Jesus Christ. The key is they embrace Christ and then there was evidence. See, verse six is a wonderful promise given to us. It is confidence that the Lord who is in control of their life will continue to remain faithful and guide them and that would bring them joy. You know, no matter where I start my journey, no matter what baggage I bring into this relationship with Jesus Christ, if I have turned to Him, and I'm trusting Him as my Savior, and my Lord, He will bring about His work in me, He will change me, transform me. And that means by turning and trusting Him wholly as my Savior, turning from myself, turning from myself and trusting in Him, that's going to bring peace in my life, but that's also gonna bring about growth. There'll be a pattern of evidence throughout my life, that I have faith in Him and that's what Paul sees here. He's confident that God's gonna continue the work because He sees the evidence in their life. You know, I've heard the phrase before, and I think it's really true, if there's no fruit, there's no route. And Paul is saying right here, right now, he's giving us an opportunity in the midst of the circumstances we find ourselves in to anchor our soul in Jesus Christ, to turn to Him and trust Him as Savior and Lord. And then once we are confident He is leading our life, and it doesn't mean we don't struggle with sin from time to time, and it doesn't mean that we oftentimes try and grab the wheel of our life again, but the pattern of our life is I became a follower, and now as I am growing in that relationship, I am continuing to let Him have more and more control of my life and He brings about fruit in and through me, then the next question that comes up, if I'm saved, if I'm secure in Him, then what does that road of growth look like? Well, it's individual, genuine growth is individual, God fashions it just for you. And God takes us through some tough times in life but He always provides hope for us, especially in times where they're suffering and difficulty just like Paul was experiencing. I mean, this guy is under house arrest, again, wondering if his life is gonna be preserved, and yet God is still growing him and God is advancing the gospel through him and through the lives of others. Why? Because he says in verse 21 of chapter one, for me to live as Christ and to die is gain. Our individual growth in our Christian life is based on our response to trust Him and yield to Him. And He fashions that based upon those things he wants to change us to become like Christ, those things that He wants to move into our life, there's things He's gonna wanna remove, there's things he's gonna wanna add. But as we continue to submit to Him, He develops our character based on our own struggles, based on our personalities, based on who we are. He's going to fashion us based on His plan and His purposes. The key for all of us, regardless of what that looks like is we need to surrender. And he oftentimes takes us through difficulties, trials, tribulations, times where we are gonna be stretched in the midst of this world. We are guaranteed trials and sufferings and even persecution as a follower of Jesus Christ. It comes in various ways, in this culture and in other cultures, but He will continue to guide us so that we can grow. Well, there's another point that comes up in verses three through eight that I think is really, really important. You see, Paul was partnering with this group of believers that were giving evidence for their faith, they were genuinely committing their lives to Christ, and that's this, community flows from our commitment to the gospel. We oftentimes find community in a variety of different things, like sports and having fun together. Soon we're gonna be able to get back outside and maybe gather in some groups, slowly beginning to move towards larger groups hopefully, and we're gonna find joy in being together. But our community together as followers of Jesus Christ is because we have community with God and therefore we have community with one another through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the gospel that allows us to be in relationships with Him and then one another. Very practical idea here is that as we go through this crisis, I would encourage you to take just a couple of moments if you can, and either write out or record how you came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, it can only be two to three minutes. And then for some of you who are tech savvy, go ahead and record it, put it on social media. Take 30 seconds to describe your life before you came to know Jesus and then maybe describe how you came to turn and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, and then what the difference has been in your life. And then ask the community of believers, friends, to begin to pray with you that God would enable that testimony or that witness for Christ to be seen by friends and people that you know and others who need to hear the message of Christ. You can actually take Instagram and just put a picture on there, and then maybe a little statement, follower of Jesus ask me, and then see what the response is. The point is that together, we find community in the Gospel, we're partnering with one another. And we can help one another even in the midst of a time of being quarantined and shelter in place and the difficulties that we go through, begin to share your journey. Perhaps it's sharing your journey of a trial, a difficulty that you're experiencing right now and the peace of God and your life, find ways to get that message out. And now if you look down at verse nine, because Paul is confident, because he knows God is at work in their life, because they are growing and partnering with him and they are in community together, he continues to pray for their growth and he says, "And it is my prayer," verse nine, "that your love may be about more and more "with knowledge and all discernment," those are the two key words, "so that you may approve what is excellent "and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, "filled with the fruit of righteousness "that comes through Jesus Christ "to the glory and praise of God." Paul is praying that they would continue to grow, and he's praying for knowledge and spiritual discernment. So in the midst of this time, in the midst of our life, regardless of whether you're in a prison or regardless of the fact that we're in COVID-19, or even in the days after, we can pray for knowledge and spiritual discernment in our lives so that we can keep on growing. And Paul is praying that they would live and that they would learn to love Jesus more and love one another, and that is guided first by knowledge. So in other words, we must feed our minds with the truth of God's Word. Discernment comes, but it comes from the truth. This is why Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world," and then he tells you the secret, "to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. "That by testing you may discern." There it is, so you have a connection between renewing by our mind which is with the truth, "in order to discern what is the will of God, "what is good and acceptable and perfect." Paul uses the word mind in the book of Philippians 10 times, think five times and the word remember one time, so 16 references. It's another big word, it's another wonderful concept, that I find joy because my mind is renewed with the truth of God's Word so that it changes is me, and my focus is on Jesus Christ, loving Him more, and learning to love others. And once that is in place, then I ask God for spiritual discernment. And that flows from the word, that flows from the fact that every believer in Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit living within them, He's dwelling in them, He's guiding them, He's changing them, He's transforming them. And I know that is your desire. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, He is inviting you into this wonderful relationship, and you have been given this wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit living in you. And as the Holy Spirit is living in you, that wonderful gift that you have and I have, is giving us new desires to follow Jesus, and He wants us to take the truth of God's Word, putting it in our mind, and then it's the Holy Spirit that takes that truth and He begins to change us, He begins to give us spiritual eyes to see our self and our world and our circumstances according to His plan and His purposes, and to follow His lead. But what does that look like? What is it really look like to find that discernment, to hear that voice? What does that look like? Well, let me give you a couple of practical steps, you'll have to write these down. And so I wanna invite you to participate right now. And it's one reason why I wanted you to download the note page, I want you to write these down. First is this, go to the truth. How do we know that this is the discerning voice of the Holy Spirit in our life? What does that look like? What are the steps that can help us do that? First, go to the truth as we said, read it and meditate on it. Second, second, we know that the Spirit is moving in us by what is oftentimes called those inner promptings or leading or some people say it's the voice of the Spirit of God in my heart and in my life. Sometimes it can come from burdens, but be Careful because not every burden means that that's the voice of the Holy Spirit leading in my life, it has to be consistent with the truth. And that's the first point that I gave you. But you can follow those. And if it is from God, I'll guarantee you this, that inner prompting, the leading, the voice of the spirit in your life, whatever term you might wanna use, if it doesn't go away, then we know it's from Him. And third, spiritual discernment can come through people. So I would always check on that with other people. So, if you sense, and this pulls together those first three points, you go to the truth, you're sensing God is moving, as you read the scriptures and you're meditating on it, God is moving in your heart and He's guiding you towards something. Well, then go and share that with other followers of Jesus Christ. There are people that have the gift of spiritual wisdom and insight, it's a spiritual gift. And as you begin to share with them your journey and that prompting or that voice and leading doesn't go away, and they begin to confirm it, then you know you're moving in the right direction of this idea of spiritual discernment. And finally, I would look at the circumstances, God moves in circumstances, He certainly did with Paul. He was able to find great joy even in the midst of some tough times, both in Philippi when he was in jail, and now in Rome. Look at the circumstances of what God is doing. And when you know the truth, when you're sensing His leading, when it's confirmed by people in your life, then as you observe what God is doing, then you have the incredible freedom to align your story with God's story. And as you step into that world, all of a sudden, God begins to move, and it doesn't matter what your circumstances are, the gospel is going out, He's changing you, He's transforming you. And this entire point of praying with spiritual knowledge and discernment, which by the way, is a great prayer not only for yourself, but for other people, and as you take action in life, in the midst of our circumstances, both knowledge and discernment that will help you know how to live and love God more, love Jesus more, love the Holy Spirit more, love God more but love other people more. And as you move forward with this discernment, you'll have the ability to act and love even in the midst of these trials, but you'll also have the discernment in how to pray for others in the midst of this trial. And the entire point is, as you begin to step out with knowledge and discernment, Paul says you'll be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and the praise of God, you're gonna find real joy. In Hebrews chapter 12, we encounter a magnificent verse where I want you to notice the parallel of what we've just talked about. "Therefore, since we are surrounded "by so great a cloud of witnesses," those are the faithful witnesses that are recorded in Hebrews chapter 11. You can read that on your own time this week. Notice the command that is given. Let us also lay aside, notice the us. Because we have community because of the gospel, we're sharing in partnership together, this is a group deal here. So we want you in life groups and to connect with one another. Because we have great cloud, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which claims to us so closely. How does that happen? Through knowledge and discernment, exactly what we talked about. You'll be able to see God working in your life, you'll be able to see those things He wants to remove from you that don't look like Jesus, and He's gonna add things to your life that look like Jesus. "And then let us run with endurance, "the race that is set before us, "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith "who for the joy that was set before Him, "endured the cross despising the shame, "and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Well, you may feel like you're under house arrest, you may feel like well, I'm really struggling with trials. And I don't know what you're experiencing right now with this shelter in place. I don't know if you're experiencing the loss of job, financial income, probably most of us are to some extent, but maybe there's been some illness and maybe there's even been the loss of a loved one, you can find great joy. And so the next step for you this week, I wanna give you four words, there are two phrases, four words, but they make up two phrases. Here's what I want you to think about. As you step into this world to find this kind of confidence in God and the joy that comes regardless of our circumstances, turn and trust, and then pray and rest. That's it. So write them down, turn and trust, and then pray and rest. Turn and trust Christ as your Savior and Lord, maybe you've never done that. It happens when you turn from yourself, you acknowledge you're a sinner, you turn from yourself which feeds your sins, you turn that direction to Jesus, believing He died on the cross, He rose from the grave and only trust Him as Savior and Lord. He's now gonna lead your life. And then you go to Him, and you have found the one that you're gonna live for, and then you pray, you pray that He would give you knowledge and discernment in the midst of these moments, these trials, so that you can find joy in Him and learn how to love Him and love others more. And that's where the discernment comes in, and then you rest. So maybe in the midst of all this, God is shaking up the priorities in your life. Maybe He's pulling away those things that were idols really, and He's asking you, maybe you've trusted Him as Savior and Lord, you've made that first choice, but now you need to keep turning to Him and trusting in Him. And maybe He's pulling away some things that have kind of clouded your Christian life right now, and you need to rededicate your life to letting Him lead your life and then pray for His work and rest. And when you put your focus on Christ, choosing to rejoice, He'll provide great joy for you. Let me pray for us. God, thank you for the words that you spoken into our hearts today. And as we learned this week to turn and trust, and then pray and rest, Father, I pray that you would begin to give us great joy in the journey, in the midst of this time. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.