All right, well, let me go ahead and read our scripture for the day. Philippians 4, starting verse 10, says this, "How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me." Again, this is the apostle Paul talking."I know that you have always been concerned for me, "but you didn't have a chance to help me. "Not that I was ever in need, "for I have learned how to be," everyone say this word with me, "content." And there you go, that was fast."I have learned how to be content with whatever I have."I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything."I have learned the secret of living in every situation, "whether it is with a full stomach or empty, "with plenty or little, for I can do everything "through Christ who gives me strength."Even so, you have done well to share with me "in my present difficulty." And our declaration for this series has been this, "I can't change yesterday, I can't control tomorrow, "but I can choose joy today." I can choose joy today. Okay, here you go. This summer, my family and I, we joined a jiu-jitsu gym, right? I'm teaching my kids how to do jiu-jitsu. Well, I'm not teaching them 'cause I don't know how to do it. They are teaching them how to do jiu-jitsu. It's been really fun. But while they were in the class, simultaneously during their class, there's a Muay Thai class happening. And I said, man, it's time for me to show my kids that I'm brave. And so I sign up for this Muay Thai class, right? And I've never fought before in my life. I got two older brothers, I had to fight that way, but not for real. And so, but here you go, in this class, I have learned a lot of things already. I have learned a fight stance. I have learned that you don't punch at someone, you punch through them. I have learned how to check a kick. I have learned how to block. I have learned a lot of different things. I'm in training, y'all. I'm ready for it. And so I've mainly done this. Like I said, I'm not trying to become some fighter. I'm not having a midlife crisis, I don't think. I might be. You know, I'm doing this for a healthy hobby and this is why I'm doing it. But when I started, here you go, when I started, I had no idea how to block. I had no idea how to protect myself. I had no idea that there was a proper way to throw a punch. I just thought you threw 'em. So I thought you just went. Nope, it was a proper way. Now, now, because I know these things, if somebody sees me, if somebody sees me, and they say, hey, let's jump that skinny, Mickey Mouse-wearing guy over there and get 'em, if they try to jump me, they're gonna be pleasantly surprised when they get these hands. I know it's thing or two now, they'll do it, you know? It's been, 'cause, and the reason why I know a thing or two is because I've been in training. I've been in training. And here's the beautiful part about training. When we train, we don't train just for the thing that is happening. We train for what might come. We're getting ourselves ready for what might come. And what we have discovered in this book of Philippians, this year-long Bible study we've been doing, is that the apostle Paul was in training. Now, he wasn't in Muay Thai training. That would be another kind of Bible story we would get. But he was in soul training. He was training his soul through the circumstances that life was throwing at him. Life was his classroom and he was training. And that's the whole point of training. You practice over and over so that when the pressure comes, you don't have to figure it out for the first time. See, and I think this is what Paul was trying to help the followers and Philippi and us learn as well. He is learning how to follow Jesus when life was good. Come on, we all love following Jesus when life is good. But Paul was learning how to follow Jesus when life wasn't good. He was learning how to follow Jesus when life didn't go the way he wanted to go. He was learning how to follow Jesus when things didn't happen the way that he thought it was going to happen. He was learning both ways because he was in training. Now, now notice what he doesn't say, though. He doesn't say, "I was born content." He doesn't say, "I've just always been content." He doesn't say, "God just magically removed "all my frustrations in life." No, it doesn't say that. He says, "I learned it, I learned it." He says, "Well, I have learned how to be content "with whatever I have." Which means contentment isn't just something you feel, contentment is something you train for. Contentment is something you learn and life is the classroom where Jesus trains your soul. But this is often easier said than practiced, because the grass always looks greener in the neighbor's yard. For example, you may say, "You know, my car is good, but did you see Martha's new car? It's nice." You may say, "I like my house, but look at my neighbors. They got all the cool stuff in their backyard." You may say, "My marriage is good, but did you see that hot hunk of man walking at the gym?" That was a joke. It's a joke. You know, you may say, "My job is fine, but maybe I'll be happier if I had their position." We have this constant pull towards something different, something more, something newer, something bigger, something better, something upgraded. And yet Paul writes in prison, and he says something that almost sounds impossible. He says, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance." whatever the circumstance. But how? How do you get to a place where your joy is no longer controlled by what you have? How do you get to a place where your joy is no longer controlled by what you don't have or what you wish you had? And that's what Paul is going to teach us. Again, as we're coming close to the end of this year-long series we've been doing, an invitation to joy, where we've been learning how to find joy, how to choose joy in our life, where we've been looking at this joy letter in the Bible the book of Philippians and the Apostle Paul is writing this letter while under Roman imprisonment and he says this the craziest things throughout this whole letter he just says the craziest things about good perspective in life and finding joy and finding peace and in a situation that is not peaceful so here you go so so while in prison Paul says I've learned how to be content I can barely learn how to be content in my suburban house. How is he learning how to be content? In prison. Here you go, here's the definition of contentment. Contentment is a peaceful state of being happy and satisfied with your current life and what you have. But how? And again, contentment at its core is not connected to outward circumstances, but it is connected, hear me LVC, to inward union with God. Contentment is connected to inward connection inward union with our father God another way to put it is like this contentment is the outward position of an inward soul anchored to God it's an outward position of an inward soul anchored to God. Paul's words are so important here because contentment is something you learn check it out again he says how I praise the Lord that you're concerned about me again I know you I know you have always been concerned for me but you didn't have a chance to help me. Paul's talking to the church in Philippi that gave him a significant financial gift that the church gave him and so that so that he could have food and shelter while in Roman prison and they risked their lives to do it. And so he's writing a thank you for that. Now he's saying so he's saying, praise God. He's saying, praise God that your concern for me was more than just a sad thought and feeling that you had and you took action with it. And can I just say something to that real fast?'Cause sometimes we feel sad about things. We watch stuff on the news or we know someone in our lives is struggling with someone and we have a sad thought. I just wanna encourage you, if you have that sad thought, it's the nudge of the Holy Spirit telling you to do something. So if you know a neighbor is going through something, be a good neighbor, be there for them. If you know a friend is going through a hardship, man, write them a letter, write them an encouragement, let them know. Don't just sit on the sad feeling, be all that sad, do something about it. Be a person of action and watch how you change someone's life, okay? So here you go, he says, the next part is key, though, to what Paul says here. He says, "Not that I was ever in need." Paul, what are you lying for? Paul, what are you talking about? You were in need. What are you talking about? You didn't have no food. You didn't barely have shelter. You chained up to a guy named Bubba all day long. You were in need, Paul. What are you talking about as you weren't in need over what was happening in your life? But Paul, so look how Eugene Peterson puts it in the message paraphrase of the Bible. It says this, it says, "Actually," this is Paul talking, it says, "Actually, I don't have a sense "of needing anything personally." I love this. I'm in a bad spot on the outside, but personally on the inside, my heart, my soul, I'm good. Like my circumstances aren't good, but I'm good. Like my life, this is not where I planned my life to go. This is not where I saw myself going. But on the inside, man, I got peace that's just like unexplainable. I got joy that I'm anchored to. I have hope even in this thing. And here's the thing that we got to know. Following Jesus is not just the next best step to having the perfect great life. Following Jesus can help us anchor our lives to Him in the hard things that are going in our lives, in the challenging seasons. How can we face the difficulties in our lives? A soul anchored to Jesus, anchored to Jesus. And this is what Paul's getting at. He says, "I'm in a bad spot, but I'm good on the inside." And Paul is not doing some denial of reality. He's not faking it until he makes it. It's nothing like that. He's not saying he didn't need the money or the food or that he wasn't grateful for the provision of God through the church. He's talking about the condition of his heart, of his heart. And even though everything around me wasn't going good, I had inner peace. And check this out, and notice the next thing he says. For I have learned, I have learned how to be content whatever I have, with whatever I have. Or another way to put it, or what I don't have, what I don't have. The world is falling apart around me, but Christ in me is stronger than the bad things around me. But again, notice the word that he uses. And why does he gotta use this word? Like, Paul, why you gotta use, well, out of all the words you could've used, Paul, why you gotta use this nasty little word for? You know, I wish Paul would've said, for I have been given miraculously good perspective on life. I wish he would've said, for I've been born with the ability to see the good in all situations, because if it was miraculous or if he was born with it, then that's good for Paul, but we can still complain. We can still be upset 'cause Paul had a miraculous way, but no, no, no, that's not what he says. That's not what he said. He used a nasty little word there. He says, "For I have learned." I have learned. Paul, I don't wanna go back to school. School was hard for me. I don't wanna learn anymore. He says, "I have learned." Now in the Greek, the word learn is manthano, which means, this is so good, which means by use or practice, by use in practice. It's the word by use and practice meaning that this learning that Paul is talking about isn't in a classroom environment. He's not just sitting down and hearing a lecture or understanding a theory that's being presented to him by a professor, he's not just learning a theory, he's learning through use of hands and practice of life. That his learning is coming through real life situations, real life challenges, this is how he's learning. He's learning by hands, meaning the more you do something, the better you get at it. The more you do, it means he's been in training, for I have trained myself how to be content with whatever I have. Jesus uses the same word, Matthew 11. He says this, "Take my yoke upon you and learn, manthano, from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Contentment comes through inner healing, inner peace, but that healing and peace only comes through training. It comes through training. OK, so how, Jacob? How? How do we train? How do I learn contentment? How do I learn contentment?"Well, I'm glad you asked."That was funny, too." First, we need to understand this, and this is so key. There is a ruthless and relentless attack against your contentment. There is a ruthless and relentless attack against your contentment. Friends, there is a real spiritual enemy who does not want you to live from a place of contentment, doesn't want it at all. And we know this to be true because you and I, we can't go one day without being advertised to. We can't go one day without it, the only way. I think the only way that you can go a day without being advertised to is that you lock yourself in your room without your phone and just lay there under the covers. That's it, that's it, that's the only way. That's the only way, and it's bad 'cause they get you. Guys, I have a confession to make. Can I make a confession? You won't judge me? Okay, I guess you will judge me, so. I'm gonna say it anyways. I have a confession to make. I have what's known as a Yankee Candle problem. I do, and it's fall time, and that's the best smells come out in fall. Dude, all of 'em. I mean, I got apple pumpkin, I got pumpkin spice. They made this new one called apple pumpkin bourbon spice. Of course I want that. Of course I wanna light that while I'm sittin' on the couch. next to my wife, watching some fall movies. This sounds great. I want all of them. And then when the B2G2 comes on my email, buy two, get two. Yeah, I need four fall candles. Light 'em all up at the same time. I'm being advertised to. I'm not content with just one candle. I got a problem. Pray for me. But all of us have these things. They have these issues. Here you go. Two ways our contentment is attacked. You can write this down on your outline. The first way is this. We compare. Comparison. Two ways that the enemy attacks our contentment. The first one is comparison. We will start to compare our lives to others. Haven't we all done that before? We compare our lives to other people. If only I had what they have. If only I had their house. If only I had kids like theirs. Their kids listen on the first time. My kids don't listen to the 10, 15 time. I tell them to do something. You know, comparison will always steal your joy. And now, and now because of AI, you will start to compare yourself with something that's not even real. Like for example, I was talking to a seasoned person in our church and she was telling me, she was telling me she was so discouraged because she was on her Facebook and all these 80-year-old grannies were doing burpees and had eight packs, and she was like, "I don't know, I just can't do it like that."How are their bodies like this?"It must be like the minerals they're taking or something." And I was like, "What?" I was like, "80 year olds doing burpees, like what?" And I was like, "Let me see that video." And I looked down and I was like, "Man, that's AI, that ain't real."They're not doing that." But that's funny, it's kind of funny. But the truth is this, the truth is this. We are bombarded with so much media content and only seeing people's highlights that we compare to our lives, the people's highlights, and become discontent with our own lives. And at its core, this is so good, I want you to get this, at its core, comparison says to God, you did a bad job making me God. You just did a bad job, God. You did right with them, but not with me.'Cause then when we compare, it leads to negativity. I can't do this, I'm not good enough. And we begin to frame our lives I thought about this a couple of weeks ago begin to frame our lives looking at what we don't have and what we should have had this, but life's not fair for me. Should have had that, but you know, this is my problem. And here's the thing about negativity. Here's the thing about negativity. The more you do it, the better you become at it. The more you just practice negativity, you become that person. You become the person that when you walk in a room, you can feel the whole atmosphere of a room shift because you got really good at being negative. And I wanna be positive to you today. You are really good at being negative. But I want you to change. I want you to change. See, you may walk into a situation, you may, when we embrace that negativity, we can walk into any situation and just be so critical. For example, here you go. It's like this, someone can come into church today and say, ugh, the parking lot is too far from the entrance of the church. You can say, "Only medium roast coffee?"I like dark roast coffee." You may come in and say, "The music is too loud."The message wasn't deep enough, "not enough Greek or Hebrew in it."The lobby's too crowded after service "by people talking to each other." You may say that in critical, or you can walk into church and say, "Man, this walk from the parking lot "to the front entrance sure is some good exercise today." The free coffee, that's always nice. Man, I'm glad my ears can hear that drummer. Good. That message, man, it was so practical, and boy, ain't that preacher so handsome. And I love how people stay back and talk. It's just how you frame it. It's how you frame it. You know, a lot of times it's how you frame it. You know, most of the time it's how you frame it, but that goes for every aspect of your life. My house is always messy. Well, maybe I'm just glad I have kids that have a safe house and they can play with their toys. That's a good thing. My job is stressing me out. Well, I'm glad I got money. I can make money and provide for my family and get to retirement in Jesus' name. See, comparing leads to negativity and that leads to complacency. It can lead to complacency. And contentment is not complacency. Don't confuse the two. Don't confuse the two. You know, it's different. Complacency is this, it's a feeling of quiet satisfaction with our own abilities, our current situation, but here's the key, that stops you from trying to improve or make you unaware of hidden dangers. See, when we get complacent, we're not improving anymore. And there could be dangers all around us, which means being too pleased with how things are going and lacking the effort to move forward. And friends, this is how we get to the place to feel unsatisfied with our lives. Why we keep moving towards vices that makes us feel good in the moment, but leaves us empty the next day. Because we're complacent. We allow comparison, negativity to come in. And we may think, if I get the next upgrade, if I get the next upgrade, if I upgrade my spouse, if I upgrade my house, if I upgrade this, then, then I'm gonna feel good. then I'm gonna be all right. Then my life is gonna be what I wanna be. When I get this thing, then contentment is gonna follow. When I get this promotion, then joy is gonna have. When I get this thing, then I'm gonna feel good with my life. And a thing I will say to us today is this, what if you don't get those things? What if those things don't happen? What if those things that you're hoping for do not happen? See, what Paul is getting at here is sometimes, and this is something that you know and I know, and we're smart people, so we know this, Sometimes life has a way of not giving you the thing that you wish you wanted. It just has a way of doing it. I think we all experience that, right? And what Paul is getting at here is that contentment is so much deeper than getting the things you want. That joy is so much deeper than just having life go the way you plan it to go. That these things, that these principles and these values, There's so much more than just things going the right way. He's saying there's something deeper here. There's something deeper. See, Paul's words. Now, notice Paul's words here."I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living or in plenty or in want." Here's the key, "For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Other translations say it, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Now this verse, we love this verse. This is the sports verse though, isn't it? This is the athletes verse of the bible. You can run that extra mile, you can do all things through Christ. You can make the winning basket, you can do all things through Christ. UFC fighter Jon Jones famously had this bible verse tattooed on his chest, so while he was beating the snot out of people, they knew that Christ could do all things through them. This is good. Now it's a good motivational verse for achieving hard things. But friends, it's so much more, it's so much more. Paul got to a place where he experienced a life in serious hardship and amazing abundance. He knows what it's like to be hungry and to have Ruth's Chris for dinner. Come on, somebody. But notice what he says. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. There's a secret to this, Paul? Well, what's the secret? Let us in on it. Tell us what it is. And Paul's like, I am gonna tell you what it is. That's why you gotta read your Bible. I am gonna tell you what it is. For Paul to say he learned to be content implies discontentment is our natural response. So if discontentment is our natural response to life's circumstances, That means I have to be intentional about learning contentment. The phrase, I have learned the secret, translates to a single Greek word that means to be initiated, to be fully instructed in the mysteries of a thing. It invokes the notions of being admitted to a secret society and being fully initiated into the mysteries of it. Paul has gotten the initiation and he's going public with it. The secret Paul has learned is this, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And that Greek word translated to do has the idea of the power to accomplish. I have the power to accomplish. And Paul is saying my power to do all things does not come from me pressing a little bit harder to run the extra mile. It doesn't come from me just lifting one more weight in the bench and on the bench press. It has nothing to do with my strength or my ability. It has zero to do with how much willpower, how much I can white knuckle my way through a situation. It has nothing to do with me. All my strength comes through my relationship with God. It comes through the strength. It comes through the resurrection strength of Jesus. When I rely and lean and get up close to Jesus, then I can do all things. So while Jon Jones is beating the snot out of someone, Reminding them that they can do all things through Christ. It's not just get out, it's lean in. It's lean into Jesus. Rely on Jesus more. Trust Him more. Spend time with Him. And friends, and that's why at our local Basics class is why we say serving on a serve team is so important, because when we serve, we are on mission. And the reason why Paul was able to have contentment in all circumstances is this. It's this, He can endure any circumstance because He didn't lose a mission on why God placed them here, which means the reason discontentment happens is because we don't understand our God-designed mission. And so of course, of course we're discontent when we lose that job or don't land that client or when things aren't going the way we want because our mission is in the wrong spot. but if our mission is the mission of Jesus, if our mission is life everlasting, growing deeper with our relationship with Jesus, then when the promotion doesn't happen, when this person disappoints me because they do, when these things happen, my heart, my heart is fine. There's still joy in here because my mission is aligned with God. So strength is relying on Jesus, it's trusting Him. Let me be practical real fast, though, OK? I want to give us three ways, the secret to contentment. I found is this, the first way is this, how do we get this secret? We spend daily time with God, spend daily time with God. You've got to spend daily time with God. Paul exposes the secret that Jesus invites us into when our rabbi says this, "I am the vine and you are the branches."If you remain in me and I in you, "you will bear much fruit."Apart from me, you can do nothing." And so friends, we got to shift. We shift from upgrades to daily bread. We shift from getting the next best thing to daily time with God. Instead of falling into the trap of consumerism that we need the latest phone, the fastest car, the bigger house, we lean into the Lord's Prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. And we depend on God for everything. For everything. For everything. And then when that happens, then we call it out. And you can see this on your outlines. We recognize the illusion of more. We recognize that that's just an illusion. That if I get more, then I'll be happier. If I get this, then I'll be good. We recognize that and say, no, no, no, no, no. That's not true. 'Cause I've already had more and I still was empty. Already got the job and I still was unfulfilled. Already got this thing. I got the kids and now I'm complaining about the kids. Like I said, I keep getting more and I still find myself wanting more. And I'm going to tell you this, guys, I'm going to tell you this. You may have a desire for more, but the only thing that can ever quench your desire for more is a daily relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a God sized hole in our hearts and unless we fill it with God, you will always be searching for a little bit more. You can make all the money in the world, Jesus says, yet forfeit your soul. and forfeit it, give it up. So we recognize Jesus says this. He says, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in abundance of possessions. Our hope and identity does not come from status or things or possessions. Instead, we guard our minds to the lie that more is the joy. And we turn our hearts to Jesus in every and all circumstances. God, you are more than enough. And then, last thing on your outline, we cultivate a kingdom first gratitude mindset, a kingdom first gratitude mindset. And this is where we see Paul. My contentment is found in living out the mission and purpose that Jesus has for me. Even if things around me are falling apart, even if the situation is hard, even if fear and worry are trying to capture me, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. And again, Scripture doesn't say I can do all things through trying really hard. I don't know. I can do all things through and only through Christ. So God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, we submit our hearts to you today. We say that we've been trying to do things through our own strength. and trying to do things through our own abilities and for some of us we keep ending in the vices that we said we're never going to do again keep doing the thing that we said man I don't want to do that anymore but we find ourselves back there and that's for the Holy Spirit speaking to some people today I feel the Holy Spirit saying you find doing things that you don't want to do and he sees you there and God loves you there. I actually just have this image, I go with it, I just have this image of someone kind of on their knees down and out ready to give up and I just kind of have this image of Jesus wrapping his arms around you, helping you get back to your feet and just looking at you with the biggest smile saying I'm here with you I don't know who that's for but I just want to pray that vision over you that that word picture over you if you feel like you're ready to give up your Jesus is wrapping his arms around you he's helping you back to your feet you're not alone and he smiles at you I just really feel like the Father wants to say that to someone your understanding of God or authority or even men for that example has been one of anger and aggression and God wants to pleasantly surprise you with his kindness and his goodness and the kindness of the Lord leads to repentance the Bible tells us yeah so the Father looks at you with kind eyes okay I'm going with it guys and but I also feel like the Holy Spirit is saying his eyes are kind and his arms are strong. Meaning that you can trust Him. He's strong enough for you. All things are possible. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength and the strength He gives you is leaning in on Him. And so Father we receive that today. We say yes to that, God. And you lift us up. You pick us up. You brush us off. And then I also feel the Father saying, "And He walks with you every step of the way." So God, we thank you. We thank you that you bring us and for those of us who are struggling with contentment, financially, and our relationships. Holy Spirit, will you teach us how to lean into you, how to trust you more, how to see how good you truly are. So we love you, Jesus. We say yes to you in Jesus' name, the church says amen amen come on let's give God some praise today