Sustaining Joy

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¹ Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. (Philippians 3:1)

Joy Robbers:

A. Gospel

² Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. ³ For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, ⁴ though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! (Philippians 3:2-4)

B. Hope

⁵ I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin — a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. ⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. (Philippians 3:5-7)

C. Desires

¹⁸ 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. (Philippians 3:18-19)

D. -minde

(Romans 8:5-6)

Sustaining Joy:

1. Faith

¹ Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. (Philippians 3:1)

2. Be Full

⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, ¹¹ so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! (Philippians 3:8-11)

(Romans 15:13)

3. Be Focused on the Not Fixated with the Former.

¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Don’t let things get in the way of things.

4. Don’t Waste the .

²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. (Philippians 3:20-21)

God is in control

Additional Notes

What’s Happening at Crossroads

NEW HERE?

We’re so glad you’ve chosen to come to Crossroads today! We want to thank you for visiting and would love to get to know you. Stop by and say hello at one of our Welcome Centers, our First Step area, or check out ecrossroads.info for more. We can’t wait to meet you!

EASTER GATHERINGS

How do we know God loves us? We’d love to tell you at our Easter gatherings. We’ll have five different gathering times between March 30th and 31st:
• South: Saturday at 5 p.m.; Sunday at 9:15 & 10:45 a.m.
• Downtown: Sunday at 9:15 & 10:45 a.m.

EASTER SERVING

Easter isn’t possible without a team of volunteers helping to make our special gatherings unforgettable. Will you join us this year? There are Easter serving opportunities available at both campuses. We encourage you to serve one gathering and attend one gathering. You can sign up here.

MEIJER SIMPLY GIVE PROGRAM

Meijer’s “Simply Give” program is an opportunity to restock our food pantry with your help and generosity! You can give any amount anytime at www.ecrossroads.org/give (click “Give via Pushpay”) and select “Meijer Simply Give” or by placing cash/check in the offering boxes. Your gift prior to March 23rd will be matched by Meijer up to $5000. Thank you!