The word happiness can evoke lots of different images, such as Christmas morning, a great vacation, time with someone you love, a surprise you didn't expect, or simply laughing until your stomach hurts. We all know moments that make us happy.  In fact, we spend a lot of our lives pursuing them. We buy things, plan experiences, build relationships, and look forward to the next thing we believe will make life a little better. But there is a problem with happiness. Happiness depends a lot on what happens. 

So what happens when circumstances change, when the new wears off, when our health deteriorates, someone we love is gone, finances become uncertain, relationships struggle, or life simply doesn't turn out the way we hoped? Happiness can disappear pretty quickly.  In contrast to happiness, the Scriptures point us toward something deeper called JOY. 

Joy isn't pretending everything is okay. It isn't ignoring the difficult seasons of life or forcing ourselves to smile when life hurts. Biblical joy runs deeper because it is a quiet confidence that God is present, God is working, and our lives are held by something greater than our circumstances. Helping us see more clearly that happiness depends on happenings, whereas joy depends on Christ.

For this new 7-week series called Radiant Joy: A Journey Through Philippians, we are asking everyone to bring your Bible, not just this weekend, but every week throughout this journey.  Paul's letter to the Philippians is only four chapters long, and over the next seven weeks we are going to read and walk through this incredible letter together as a church family. We encourage you to underline, write in the margins, circle words that keep showing up, and discuss what you are discovering with your friends, family, and the groups you connect with.

Along the way, maybe we will discover thatRadiant Joy isn't something we are meant to experience only by ourselves, but with people around us. People who are praying, serving, giving, sacrificing, encouraging, and working together in partnership for the sake of the Gospel. From the very beginning of Paul's letter, we discover that there is incredible joy in knowing we don't follow Jesus alone.

So we encourage you to grab your Bible, invite someone to sit beside you, and come ready to open God's Word as we begin this journey. Over the next seven weeks, our hope is that we will not simply hear about Philippians, but that as a church family we will experience it together.

Watch Message

Scripture: Philippians 1:1-11 | Matthew 5:13-16

Reflection Questions

• Paul looks back on some incredibly difficult experiences in Philippi and still remembers them with thankfulness and joy. When you look back on your own life, where can you now see God working through something that was difficult to understand at the time?

• Paul describes the Philippians as his “partners in the Gospel.” Who have been some of the people God has used to help you know and follow Jesus, and how might God be asking you to become that kind of person for someone else?

• Philippians 1:6 reminds us that God is still working on us and that we are all a “work in progress.” Where do you most need the confidence right now that God is not finished with you yet?

• The message challenges us not only to believe the Gospel, but to participate in the “family business” by sharing and living it with others. Where are you currently participating in God's work, and where might you have become more of an observer than a partner?

• Psalm 34:5 says, “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” What is one think that likely causes you to look down, hide, or live in shame today, and what would it look like this week to intentionally lift your eyes toward Jesus and trust who He says you are in that situation instead?

Watch Message - Coming Soon

Scripture: Philippians 1:12-30

Questions to Consider:

• Can you tell of a difficult time in your life that was nevertheless joy-filled?  If so, why was that the case?

• The stories we tell ourselves are the ‘meaning-makers’ of our lives. What is the story you tell yourself about pain or suffering you have experienced?

• What are some of the fruits that have been produced in your life because of difficulty or hardship?

• Who do you go to in order to find strength, insight, and spiritual support?  

• Look at 2 Corinthians 1:8-11.  This is probably when Paul and his companions were in Philippi.  Where did Paul and his companions find strength through great difficulty?  How does this apply to all who trust in Christ?