Until the 9:00 service. Don't let it fool you, this table's heavy. When Mark changed the top off of this thing, bro, he bought some good wood. I'm pretty sure if anything caught on fire, that metal would burn before the top of it. But I'm so glad you're here.

I'm so. I mean, today's an exciting day, is it not if you don't have green on. I'm sorry, I'm a day early. St. Patrick's Day Eve.

But to me, like, what greater Eve can there be than 3:16 the day before? If we studied the True History of St. Patrick about a man who was enslaved on the island of Ireland, who returned home and felt God called him to come back and be a missionary. So it's not a drinking holiday. It should be a missional holiday, celebrating what John 3:16 represents.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever would believe in him would not. What? Not perish, but have everlasting life. That is our hope today. And I hope it's your hope.

But at the same time that I'm excited, baptisms and all the things we have going on, I'm a little sad that we're. Today is the last day of our Philippians study. And for those of you that have been following that, you grabbed a journal at the first of the year. I hope that this has been an enriching process. This isn't something to throw away.

You can put this on a shelf and maybe if you're ever going back to Philippians, you can go back and go, oh, when I studied this, I circled that and it meant something, or you made this little note. It's always something handy to have around. And they sell these, like, for all 66 books of the Bible. So if you enjoyed this, pick up another one and go to another book and do the same thing. In fact, I want to give you the last little nugget for Bible study.

And I've said it before, and I just want to encourage you again that part of this process was to encourage people to journal their thoughts. And if you don't journal, like, if you don't, like, sit down with your Bible and you don't have a little notebook beside you to write down as you're reading and as God's prompting you different things or that you're praying different things, I want to encourage you, go to Walmart. Mead makes this little notebook about yay big, and it's got enough spiral to put a pin in there. Get that thing out when you're reading your Bible and make some notes you might jot down. Like, I'll sometimes go back and leaf through mine and I'll see some low points in my life and what I was thinking, what I was feeling.

Then I'll see some times that were cool and I can relive those moments. But I hope that you will take journaling serious as a part of your Bible study.

How many of you, I don't want you to raise your hands, but have you picked up a card yet? Have you picked up one of the Be the Bridge cards? They're right outside in the connection center. I just want to remind you one more time of how vital this is. I had a conversation with somebody this week and we were talking about just life.

And this person said to me, I just feel alone. And I'm like, alright, there's my door. And so I said, well, do you have a group? Do you have a group of Christians that you can go to and talk with and share your hurts, your sorrows, your struggles, process with? And they were like, oh, I don't.

And I said, well, let me tell you something. And so not only did I invite this person, I went ahead and went on the registration link and signed them up. So they're gonna get an email telling them to come to this class. But what about you? You see, it's so simple.

Like what I. What? Here's my goal in December 2025, I want the word invite to be so much a part of your thinking that you can't sign up, show up, go somewhere and do something without thinking, who can I bring along with me? That's what we're trying to culture. That's what we're hoping that you will begin to culture, to gravitate.

Because think about this. We don't want to just grow our church. That's not what it's about. What it's about is taking the gospel to the lost, the broken and the hurting. And if we are winning people to Christ and we're able to disciple them, yes, there'll be more people in this room.

It should, if we're getting better at living our Christian faith. And so I want you to, if you don't have one yet, to get one. And let me remind you that when you see blanks, that's an opportunity for you to invite somebody. And I did. I dated all the invites that I've made.

I've dated them. So I know when I made the invite and I pray for them that maybe they'll heed that invitation. So I want to encourage you again, if you don't have a card yet, get a card. And, hey, somebody in here may be the overachiever. And you filled your card up.

Remember, I don't want you to bring them back. But if you filled a card up, get another one. Because what I hope to see in December is no cards on that table. Because if that's the case, then that means that our church has taken 500 cards and made 20 invites, which is how many? 10,000.

And so that's what we were aiming to do. I want you to turn in your Bible to Philippians 4. We're going to read verses 19 and 20 in just a moment. But before we do that, I want to ask you a very personal question. When I ask this question, I want you to yourself, be very, very honest.

How content are you in life? Would you describe yourself as someone who is content, self satisfied? Does that describe you? Does that describe your attitude? Does that describe your walk in life?

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go read at one of our elementary schools. And being the husband of a former media specialist, we've got plenty of children's books. But along the way, as she would buy new books at the library and I would come at the school where she was, I could show up and she'd be having story time and I'd say, give me that book. And she'd let me read. And it was awesome and fun.

But along that way, there were a couple of personal favorites that I found, and this is one of them. It's called Bob and Joss Gets Lost. I'm going to read it to you. I'm just kidding. I'm not going to read it to you.

I'm going to paraphrase it, because in this book there are two characters, Bob, who is this kind of discontent, anxious, never satisfied, always strung up, just like nothing's good. Nothing is good. Nothing is good. And then there's Joss. And the best way I can describe Joss is he would be the guy renting surfboards to you at the beach, easygoing, mellow.

And they're together on a trip and they decide to go sailing. And they get lost. And what they think has happened is they've gotten washed up on a beach and they think they're deserted. And so Bob, being high strung and just worried, he's like, oh, we gotta find some food and we gotta build a shelter and we gotta do this and this and this. And Josh is just over.

Yeah, man, that's cool. And Bob's like, don't you care? Yeah, man. And he's just so easy going and just going through life. So there comes this point where they're standing on the beach and Bob says, josh, do you not care what's going on?

He's like, nah, man, I'm just listening to the waves. He said, well, what are they saying? He's like, I don't know. I don't speak. Wave.

Then the next page is the enlightening page because the scene is the same beach looking out on the water and there's a trunk of a palm tree that's twisted. And seated on that palm tree is Josh content and taking it all in. Bob is over onto the other side. He's going, I hate this place. There's nothing here.

There's no tv, video games, books, clocks, bikes, peanut butter paper, pens, jelly chairs. There's nothing. And he's stuck in this position of discontentment. But then it shifts over and there's Joss. And he's looking at the waves.

They're calm and the sun is kind of shimmering through a cloud. As you see three seagulls, which I think if you paint a picture of the beach, there always has to be three seagulls. If you ever got one painted at the. You've got a T shirt painted at the beach, there's always three seagulls. I don't know why, but he says, yes, isn't it wonderful?

You see, I believe that Joss represents what it means to be in a place of contentment, where you're not worried about what's going to happen in the next moment. You're not dwelling on what just happened. You're not fretting over whether or not you're going to get rained on or not get rained on or none of that matters. In just that moment of contentment, he's able to see some beauty that Bob, in his discontentment, cannot. And I think that describes many of us in this room today.

Remember we talked about with Bible study, everything building up to this point matters. We've learned about how Paul has called the Philippians to be other minded, to divorce themselves, to count the cost, to give up the things of this life, the material things and the pursuit of things and the successes, all the titles to give those things up. Because nothing in this world compares to what we have in glory that we are citizens of. Where? Heaven.

This is not our home. But when I am discontent, I have given the things of this world power over me in the last two decades. Have we not seen enough things happen to us for us to realize that in the blink of an eye, what we own, what we've accumulated, what we've managed to succeed in, can be taken in the blink of an eye? I remember talking to some peers of mine in 2007, 2008, when the recession hit, that were getting ready to retire and they had to backpedal a little bit. And some of them were, were tore up and angry, but it helped them to realize, well, my security was in my 401, my security was in my 403.

And I'm looking at that balance. And I was planning to retire next year. And now I can't. Some of you face that. Am I right or wrong?

Some of my friends in this room that are around you in your 70s, you experienced that in 2007. Where you're going, man, I was going to retire. I was going to take it easy. And now I got to work another 10 years to make up the difference that I lost. Or maybe you're like some of the friends that I had when Covid hit in 2020 that lost loved ones that way too soon.

I remember this one young family that we were close to, they lost their uncle, who was only at the time about 42, 43. And I remember week after week ministering to these little boys and how much it hurt them to lose their uncle. In a moment, their life changed. And the point is that in this life, we can choose to put our security in our things. You can do that today and you can be proud of your successes.

But what I'm saying to you is that you may wake up tomorrow and none of that be here. My security and your security must be in heaven, seated at the right hand of God, in his name is Jesus. And if my security does not have him in my equation number one, I would, if I were you, question whether or not you're a Christian. Now, listen to me, that sounds a little bit harsh, but I'm saying it from a depth of love, that if your security is here and Jesus is an afterthought, that's not saving faith. Saving faith is that God is the center of my life and Christ defines my goings and my comings, and he is where I am pointed.

I wonder today if the reason that you're not content and I'm not content is because I'm still taking my eyes off of heaven and putting it on the things of the earth. But, you know, this is the beautiful thing, and I want you to go ahead and stand and we're going to read verses 19 and 20 of chapter four, because here's the nugget, here's the point, here's a great promise and a great truth. Paul says, but my God will supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God. And notice this, our Father be glory forever and ever.

Amen. Is God your Father? Is he the One looking to nurture you and supply for you? Are you tired of trying to be self sufficient and independent outside of God's will? And so, Father, as we dig into this text today, speak to us, God, speak to us and help us to move from a place of discontentment to contentment, that we might experience the joy that we have in you.

In Jesus name, Amen. So let me just go ahead right to the jugular. Let me give you point number one. It says this. Discover joy, no matter your circumstances, because God is sufficient.

If you go back up to verse number 10, he says this, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. It kind of sounds like the same thing when Epaphroditus was ministering to Paul's needs because they weren't there. And here it is and he's saying, man, I am blessed that you would be worried about me. In fact, he says, I rejoiced.

I mean, this is one of the last times we see Paul use this word to choose joy. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. Why? Because at last they had revived or their concern had blossomed again for him. I liken it like this.

Let's say you get in your car today and you start your car. I picked on my daughter this week. She said she went to crank her car and I said, you can't crank it. That was old times when you went out there and literally turned a crank. You start your car and you have this sound and you're like, whoa, that doesn't sound normal, but it goes away.

So you're kind of concerned, but it's not an immediate concern. So you go out there about three or four days later and it does it again. You're like, okay, I just don't have time to fool with that. It's not right front and center and it's not an emergency. But then that weekend you get in there and you turn that key and your car won't start.

All of a sudden your concern isn't just blooming, it's bearing fruit. You're like, I got to solve this problem and I've got to solve it now. Whatever moved on their heart, they said, you know what? Whatever Paul needs, we want to give. I think sometimes we get so focused on ourselves.

This is discontentment and the things that I need to make my life complete that I fail to see what people need around me. Our good old friend Freneo, we've talked about that word throughout this entire book. Is the word here for concern? When he said be like minded, he uses the word for nao. Now he's saying, you're concerned.

For me, it's not worry. But they knew that he was in prison. They knew that he probably had needs. He can't go out and make tents and make a little living and eat off of that. But watch this.

He says in verse 11, but not that I speak from want. He's about to unveil the key to contentment. Because he's saying to them, look, I didn't write you a letter and say, hey, I'm starving. Bring me some food. He was blown away that they were at a place in their Christian life where they had become generous.

Say generous. You know, there's something so freeing about just being a giving person. Did you have somebody like that in your life that, you know, you might just show up and they've put a little Kit Kat on your desk, you know, or maybe somebody gave you flowers and they were unexpected. Or maybe you're that person. Maybe you're just constantly giving and giving and giving, I think last summer to one of our dear old ladies that before we went on our Italy trip, made each one of our members on that trip a little baggie.

And, you know, the one thing I remember that was in that baggie, more than anything else, was a single Band Aid.

Now, y'all can laugh if you want to, but it's like she was concerned that somebody was going to get a cut and needed a band aid. And I thought, this is awesome. You know why? Because she had general concern. And I'm afraid that when we're discontent and we're solely focused on what I need and what I want and what I need to acquire and what I need to do, I miss these generosity moments where I can just go love on somebody.

In fact, he goes on to talk about the word contentment. The word contentment, it only appears here in the Greek. There's some sister words to it, but right here is where it lands. And this is the way it's defined. Sufficient for oneself strong enough or processing Enough to need no aid or support.

We call that self sufficiency. Right? Depended on myself, right? No, no, no, no. FF Bruce defined it like this.

He said he wasn't so much Paul wasn't so much being self sufficient as he was being God sufficient. You see, when you and I get to this place of contentment, it's not that we're saying, I don't need anybody else. I am fine just as I am. Let me ask you, how would that work today if you go home and no grocery store in this town had food? Aren't you glad that there are farms that are right now harvesting produce that we can buy?

Because any of you got a garden going right now other than turnip green kind of stuff? I didn't think so. See, you may think you're independent and you may think, no, I've got life all to myself. I don't need anybody. I don't need their stuff.

And I especially don't need God. Let me ask you a question. When you sit down and you got a big old pile of green beans on your plate, did you grow those beans? You may have, but let me ask you a further question. Who provided the soil for those beans?

And who provided the rain that caused them to be nourished? And who provided the sunshine that shines down on the beans for the bean to grow? Did you do that? No. And see, that's the fallacy in discontentment.

I'm discontent when I divorce myself from what God is really blessing me. The breath that you just took came from Almighty God. And there's so many things last week we talked about be anxious for nothing. But in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God. You see, if I want to step into a place of being content, it starts with me counting my blessings.

And for those things that I'm anxious about, I give them to the Lord fully. And then I let my hands go and say, you know what, God? It's yours. Because I can't solve it. I don't have the power.

I don't have the ability. I don't have the knowledge. I need you to do it. My God will supply how much of your need. Say it again.

Because, see, if I hear you say it, I believe you're one step closer. That you may not be feeling it. You are thinking it. That God will supply all of my needs according to what? His riches in glory.

You see, when you take your eyes off of the here and now and you begin to point them heavenward, where they need to be. Everything in this world begins to grow dim. There's a story of a man my wife shared with me last night. His name is Steve. Not Steve Payson.

Unless you did scratch off and win a million dollars. Did you? Because if you. Are you buying lunch? This man in North Carolina 10 years ago won a lottery ticket.

Scratch off, he won a million dollars. And after all the process, and it came down to about $750,000, that's still a good bit of money, right? After taxes, he ended up pocketing about $556,000. Well, what would you do with $556,000? One of our little girls in the church this week wrote a story at School about St Patrick's if you found a pot of gold, what would you do?

And you know what that young lady wrote? She said, I would give to the missions fund at my church. Now, let's be honest. How many of you would run down to South State and pay off your mortgage? How many of you would think, you know, my car's about to die, I probably need to do that.

And you probably could even justify all of it. But isn't it freeing to have this attitude, you know, if I had this money, I'd just give it. Do you know what this man did with $556,000? He gambled every last cent away. Eight years later, a year ago, he had $6,000 to his name in a bank account and $27,000 in student loans.

That is the epitome of. Of discontentment. No, no, no, no. I can go back. I can get more.

I can get two more scratch offs, and I might get another million dollars and another million dollars and another million dollars. And then if you get $3 million. Whoa, man, look at my bank account. The next day you die over and you're dead. And what's the use in it?

Let me ask you a question. If Jesus is really our prize, have we measured his value enough to say there is nothing in this world that compares to the value we have in Jesus? I mean, think about it. The next verse, he goes on to say this. He says, I know how to get along with humble means, and I know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance.

He says, I have learned. It's a different word there. This means to uncover a mystery. I have uncovered the mystery of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering. Need.

Let me translate that. He says, I appreciate you sending me the gift, but what I'm proud of is not that you sent me Money that I can go get a Happy Meal. What I'm proud is that you love me enough to send me something. He's like, the gospel is penetrating. You are concerned for others.

And I have learned that whether I am poor or I am rich, God is sufficient to meet my need. And if I starve to death, what I'm going to get in glory is so much more than what I would have lost down here. Because then he goes in. I mean, think about it. How did it work for King David?

King David became king, had anything and everything he could have had. He had multiple wives, which is not what we do now. Let's just make sure we understand that. But in second Samuel, chapter 11, he doesn't go out to war and he's at home and he's twiddling his thumbs and he's like, Bob, he's pacing back and forth, what am I going to do myself my time? He's up on top of his house and he looks over at another house and there's Bathsheba taking a bath.

And just like any good man do, he's like, oh, I shouldn't be looking at that. Y'all know better, right? What did King David, a man after God's own heart, do? He ordered her to come, had his way with her, committed adultery, made her commit adultery, End of story, right? No, his lust, his lack of contentment drove him one step further, that he ordered her husband to be put on the front line and killed.

So now he's guilty of adultery and he's guilty of murder because he could not find the secret of contentment. And that secret is in Christ alone. Look at the next verse. Look at the next verse. You ready?

I'm meddling. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Do what? What things? Make a three point shot at a basketball game.

How does making a three point shot in a basketball game do anything for the Gospel?

I can be a star quarterback. How does being a star quarterback contribute anything to the Gospel?

The I can do all things through him who strengthens me is that he gives me the strength to be content. So whether I have a lot or I have little, I'm content. See, the truth is you can't find this contentment without the indwelling power of God living inside of you. And the truth is the all things you can do is all things in that contentment that as God leads, I will follow. Now, does that mean it's a bad thing to make a three point shot?

No. Can you glorify God when you make one, yes, but you're selling this verse short.

See, I can't and you can't. We don't have the strength necessary to come to that full place of contentment where I can experience the full joy of knowing Christ. 2nd Corinthians 12:9 says, and he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in your ability. Is that what it says? My power is perfected in your success?

My power is perfected. You fill in the blank there. What does it say? Weakness, shortcoming, inability, ignorance. God is glorified when he's able to reach down and work through us what we're not capable of doing on our own.

Ephesians 3:16 says, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power. Colossians 1:11, 12 says, to be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness, patience. I kind of wonder if somebody would have ever walked into jail with Paul and quoted his words back to him, said, hey, hey, Paul, guess what? I went to this thing and I was made foreman of my crew because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And there's Paul sitting in a prison with shackles and chains on him for the cause of the gospel.

This is not a making you insufficient only in yourself. This is about pulling you into place of full submission and dependence on God. You want to experience that I can do all things, then you must be willing to die to yourself. Focus heavenward and ask the Lord, Lord, what can I do to take the gospel further? 14 says, nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

I think like a dad, he was so proud that they were getting it, that it's not about how much I need or how much I don't have. It's that you thought enough to care. You see, because here's the truth. We can discover joy no matter our circumstances. But what that then produces is point two, that we can have joy by being generous.

When I don't depend on my stuff for my security, I don't care if somebody takes it. Have you ever known somebody who is a true hoarder? I met one one time and I'm going like, why don't you get rid of that? You don't really need it. Well, I might need it in five years.

I'm like, what? In five years it may not be working anymore. You buy an engine block and sit it in the back of your shop and if you don't run that engine block. Things start to seize up and rubber starts to dry rot. I mean, what are you thinking?

If you could give that away, if you could sell it and take that money and give it away. You can't take it with you, but what joy there is. Paul said that God loves a cheerful. What? Cheerful giver.

Jesus taught in Matthew, chapter six, the first thing he says, when you give, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. But don't be like the others who go out in the street and go, guess what? I just gave $5 million. And they pronounce it to the world. The Bible says they have their reward.

What's their reward? The applause of men. But what did Jesus say? Let the Lord reward you. Where?

In your closet? See, I wouldn't need the approval and the appraisal of men if I was only seeking to please one person. And that's the Lord. And that's, I think, the key to generosity and giving liberally. Alfred Plumer says this.

The means of the giver. In other words, what, how they give and the motive are really the measure of true generosity. Jesus Observes In Mark 12:41, 44, a little widow who comes in and puts two coins in the treasury. And he says in this, he said, you know, there's those who give out of their abundance. But she gave out of her want because she just put everything she had into the treasury.

What would drive somebody to do that? I know. I know the key. I know the secret. Because she knew that God would supply all of her needs according to his riches and glory.

And his goal isn't to make her rich, it's to meet her need. If God looks at the birds of the air and provides for them, and he looks at the flowers of the field and he clothes them, and how much more will God do that for you? Jesus said that it's not eating and drinking and being clothed that matters. That's not what matters. What did he say?

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things would be added unto you. What kind of life, what kind of free life could you live and be generous if the things of this world didn't hold you back? Chip Ingram tells a story that when he's in seminary, there was a young lady who couldn't make rent payment. And they prayed about it, prayed about it. His wife said, no, we need to make her payment.

We need to pay her rent. And he goes, but you know that when we do, we won't have Money in the bank, and they did it, and their rent's coming due. And I can't remember. It was like he said we had 10 to $20 in our bank account. It was a very small amount.

He said, I didn't know what we were going to do. It's coming up. Due dates coming up. He said he checked the mail one day and a former student of his he had mentored who went on to play football, sent him a check and it covered his rent. And he just said, hey, I was just thinking about you, and God laid it on my heart to send you this money.

Now, listen, that may not happen to you. God may stretch you a little bit more than that. But what I'm saying is, when you find contentment in the Lord of loan, it somehow frees our hands to release the stuff that we have. Look at verse 15. He says, nevertheless, you know Philippians, that at the first preaching of the Gospel, remember Lydia and the jailer?

He says, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone. They stood out in their generosity. He said, for even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once for my needs, which, remember, he wasn't in Thessalonica long because they ran him out. Then he says this. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.

In other words, he's affirming there, it's not about what you sent. It's not a matter of how much you sent. It's the fact that you sent. Generosity is that place where you're willing to do whatever it takes to bless somebody else. Kind of sounds like Jesus, who emptied himself, taking on the form of a bondservant, lived this life, and then what did he do?

He sacrificed it. He killed it. Why? So your sins could be taken away and that you might have access to the riches in glory. Paul said, I'm so glad you gave what you have.

And how much you gave isn't the point. The point is that you gave. It's like he's saying, I'm so proud. Let me remind you of something. Whatever you gave, God can give even more.

He said, but I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance, and I'm amply supplied, thank you. He's like, look, I'm good. I'm good. He said, but what you have sent is a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well, pleasing to God. Why?

Not because of what and how much, but because they did. And I'm afraid. In this life when we live in discontentment and we're only looking out for ourself, we rarely take our eyes off self and put it on others to think what could I do for them? As you realize walking in this room today, there are people that are hurting, that are sick, that are struggling, that are discouraged. And we could come in and do our church thing, check and walk right back out the door.

Or we could slow down long enough, go. You know what? What if just the smile on my face encourages somebody? What if the handshake that I give to somebody makes a difference? It makes them feel included.

Or maybe I begin to recognize and I see the same person leaving every Sunday and not going anywhere but going home by themselves and go, I'm going to invite them to lunch. What if you slowed down long enough to take eyes off of you and put them somewhere else? What God can do that? Don't do with that. You know what it can do.

It can produce joy in your life because you take your eyes off your problems and you put it on solutions. Point number three is this experience joy by trusting in God's abundant supply. Why I put it at the end of each three of these points because God is what y'all say it with me, sufficient. And my God will notice how he said my God. He made it very personal.

My God, my personal God. I know. I know God because he knows me. Because I know Jesus. Jesus is my joy.

Jesus is my passion. Jesus is my victory. Jesus is my sustenance. Jesus is everything. He's my all in all.

And when I live that way, then I can say just like he did now to God, to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Dwight Pentecost said, if a human father will bend every effort to see that his family's needs are met, how much more is that? A true and faithful God will do the same. See, as we walk through this book, here's what we've learned. That we can find joy in the support of others around us because I'm giving and taking.

I can find joy in serving those around me, content in how I am engaging others life for their betterment. I can find joy when I'm suffering because whatever is a gain, I I've counted it as a loss for knowing Christ. And whatever's taken from me, I don't care because it doesn't matter because it's here and I'm going there. But I can find joy being in submission to him. Because I'm following the example set by Christ and yielding to his leading.

And I can find joy when I surrender because I take my hands off the wheel and I give it to him to guide and direct me. And then this week I. I can find joy in sufficiency because Christ can and will meet all of my needs according to his riches in glory. Laura's mom had a saying she would say often to us when we would get a little anxious and worried about things being done or not being done. And my kids should know this because we say it too.

Psalm 50, verse 10 through 12. God says, I own the cattle on a thousand hills, and he owns the hills too. Don't tell me God can't meet your need. But then we're sitting here and you're going, okay, Jamie, that's great. I want to be content.

Gosh, there's just so much going on in my life. How do I trust God when everything is falling apart? That's what faith is about. God may not solve your problem today, the next day, or the next day, but I promise you, like I promised you last week, we can go to the feet of Christ and beg him to give you peace, to sustain you, to get to where you need to be. So I want you ask, to bow your heads this morning, close your eyes, we're going to close with a prayer, and then Kevin's going to come up and share some last minute thoughts with us as we leave today.

But are you a Bob or are you a joss? In other words, I'm asking you today, are you content? And if you're not content, would you be willing to spend some time in prayer this week asking God, God, what is it that I'm longing after? Is it a lust? Is it something I need to die to?

Or is it something that I just need to be patient about? And how aggressively generous are you? That's a loaded question. But you know, for many of us, when times get hard, we just stop giving. We stop giving to other people.

We start giving to our church. But what would it look like if you said, you know what, Lord, I trust you and I can't outgive you. And I'm going to trust that if I choose to give, you'll replace whatever it is that I'm given. It reminds me of a man that Laura did remind me about, of an Australian man who gave blood plasma that helped treat babies with a disease that oftentimes caused death when they were born. It's estimated that he saved tens of thousands of lives because he gave for almost 70 years his plasma.

What would it look like if God's people being content, would say, you know what I'm going to give, because I'll never out give. God, Father, we love you. We thank you so much. Thank you for what you've done for us. I pray God that you would speak to our hearts today.

And if we are discontent, help us to find that place of contentment, to unravel that mystery and to learn it so that no matter where I'm at, whether I'm rich or poor, whether things are falling in around me or everything's at peace, God, I pray that I can be content, Lord. And I pray this last verse of Philippians over us today that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with us. Lord, we need you with us. And we need you to remind us that you've got our stuff in your control, Lord. Make us generous.

Speak to us, Lord. Paul reminded us that you give as you purposed in your heart. And so, Lord, I pray that you would speak to our hearts now and let us see how we can meet.