The Right Perspective Part 1

discovered that he had cancer in his left arm and so they had to do a very extensive surgery to try to remove the cancer and it took out most of the muscle mass in his left arm especially in his rear deltoid which is pretty important for pitchers and most said he would never throw a ball again but by the grace of god and some really good doctors and physical therapists he was able to recover and he was able to come back and pitch and if i remember correctly it was 1988 season it might have been 89 but that last season that he pitched he finally made a comeback matter of fact even wrote a book about it's called comeback it's a great book you should read it and wrote

wrote the story of everything that it took for him to come back and pitch and so huge news that that this guy who had overcome cancer was able to come back and he comes back and he pitches the first game and it went great he won the game against the reds if i remember correctly won that first game against the reds and everything was looking great and the baseball world was kind of a buzz about everything that had taken place with this guy and then it came up for his next time to pitch in the rotation five days later and they were in montreal and he was pitching against the montreal expos and he wound up to throw and as he threw his left arm snapped it broke in half because there was undiscovered cancer in the bone of

his left arm and he never pitched again as a matter of fact they had to amputate his left arm past the shoulder and he wrote another book when you can't come back in the interview that i watched with him last night he talked about the difficult times that he went through after losing his left arm because in his mind he lost his identity everything that he was was tied up in baseball everything that he was was tied up in being a baseball player and now not only could he not do that he was actually missing an entire limb and he went through a very dark depressed time and he said i didn't know if i was going to come out but he said there was a couple of things that worked for me he said the first thing of course above all else and of course he's doing

a radio interview with some with some non-christian guys he goes it's going to sound weird to a lot of the things that brought me out of it was my faith in jesus christ my my faith in god is what helped bring me out of that depression he said but the second thing that brought me out of it is that i had people in my life that stood by me he said my wife put up with me during some of the darkest days of my life when i was so depressed and she said i know this isn't you and so when you come back i'm looking forward to it because she knew that what he was going through at that point in time was not really who he was he was simply experiencing the trials of life

he said the other thing that helped is i i had a best friend and that best friend for one year of my life just came and sat with me he didn't say anything he didn't give me any advice he didn't tell me what to do he just sat with me and he just let me be who i was he said when god brought healing i realized that all of this happened so that i could have a platform to preach the gospel of jesus christ because all of the things that he had been through in his life were the things that his life made him realize that his life was not about baseball there was something bigger his life was meant to bring glory to jesus christ and the best way that he could do that was not on a

pitcher's mound it was missing a left arm talking about how god is still good no matter what takes place in your life brothers and sisters he had gained perspective and the right perspective on trials paul had learned the exact same thing paul as we have mentioned was writing this letter from a prison cell in rome under house arrest in rome and as he is under house arrest in rome he is going to tell the people of philippi how to have the right perspective on trials and so we pick up in verse 12 of chapter 1 and it says this now i want you to know brethren that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel so that my imprisonment in the cause of christ has become well known

throughout the whole praetorian guard that and to everyone else you and that most of the brethren trusting in the lord because of my imprisonment have far more courage to speak the word of god without fear some to be sure are preaching christ from envy and strife but some from goodwill the latter do it out of love knowing that i am appointed for the defense of the gospel but the former proclaim christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment what then Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice. The right perspective on trials. Paul says, I want you to know, brethren, about my circumstances.

These people had become very important to Paul, and he wanted to make sure that they understood. That they understood that what was going on was for a purpose. That what he was going through was for a purpose. He says, I want you to know, brethren, to be aware, brethren, about my circumstances. Well, what circumstances is he referring to? Well, the very thing I just told you about, that he was writing this letter from prison.

You see, they had become aware of that, which is why they had sent a gift by the hand of Epaphroditus. And now he's sending this letter back to them. And he says, I want you to understand something about my circumstances. Now, what Paul was going through was an imprisonment. A wrong imprisonment, but an imprisonment nonetheless. You all are going through. You're going through things as well.

Since most of you are sitting in here with me right now, I'm guessing it's not imprisonment. Otherwise, we should call someone, right? So, I'm guessing imprisonment is not the circumstance that you're going through. So, what kind of trials are we going through in this room? Well, I would venture to say that there's a handful of them that I could name. I think that there's some people going in this room right now that are going through some illnesses.

You're going through some sicknesses. Some of you, it's the hundred-day cough that just won't go away. And some of you, it's a little bit deeper than that. Because I know that there are people that are battling illnesses that very well may take your life. Some of you are battling with loss that you've been through in your life. You've lost someone that you care for.

And it's been a trial in your life. Because no matter how much time it's been, you're still facing the reality of that loss. You're still facing the fact that that person isn't still with you. And it's become a major trial in your life. And it's become the one thing that you feel like identifies you. And that's the trial that you're facing. That's the circumstance that you're facing right now.

Some of you are facing the loss of a job. Perhaps because we're building back better. Or perhaps because things didn't go well for you in your particular job. Right now. And maybe you've lost a job. And you don't know where you're going to go next. Some of you are facing a financial hardship. Where you don't know how you're going to pay the bills for this next month.

Some of you are facing brokenness in your families or amongst your friends. Because relationships have been destroyed. Either through things that you've done. Or things that you had nothing to do with. But they're still a destroyed relationship. I want you to understand that the circumstance that Paul is talking about here. Is not the only trial that one can go through.

The trial that you're going through. Is the circumstance that you're going through. Is the circumstance that you can have the right perspective on. Paul says, I want you to know brethren about my circumstances. And now he's going to go on to tell us four things. Four lessons about the right perspective on trials. Lesson number one. Trials further the spread of the gospel.

Trials further the spread of the gospel. Look at verse 12 again. It says, now I want you to know brethren. That my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. That phrase greater progress in other translations is translated with the word furtherance. For the furtherance of the gospel. It's kind of an interesting word in the Greek. Literally what that phrase great progress or furtherance means.

Is to cut before. And this is the idea of how the word was used in its context in Paul's day. The idea is of an invading army coming. But they have faced a dense forest. So what they do is they send before them an army full of woodcutters. Who cut down and cut a path through an impenetrable forest. So that there is an open path for the army to come through.

It clears the path for the progress of the invading army. That's the idea of what trials do for us as far as the gospel is concerned. They are therefore the furtherance of the gospel. In other words, your trials clear a path for the gospel. Have you ever viewed it that way? Have you ever had that perspective on the trial that you go through? How is it that that works?

How is it that that trial clears a path for the furtherance of the gospel? I want you to understand something. Your vulnerability in the trial that you're facing right now. Is your greatest opportunity for the ministering of the gospel. Because you just became relatable to everybody. I think one of the worst things that's happened to the church is Christian influencers.

Now, if you're a Christian influencer, you're trying to be one here and today. I'm sorry, but it's just true because Christian influencers have created a perfect picture. You've created the perfect picture of sending your kids to the right school. They've created the perfect picture of sending your kids to the right camps of making sure that you go to the right church and of having all of the right things.

And unfortunately for the rest of the world, we can't afford that. And it has created this unreachable picture of what Christianity is supposed to be. And you kind of find yourself going, well, how are the rest of us supposed to be good, strong Christians if we can't afford to do all of those things? And then a trial comes into your life. And then trials hit somebody like that.

And all of a sudden, it's not about sending your kids to the right places or owning all of the right things. Now, it's about the one place where it should have always been. And that's your faith in Jesus Christ. Because now, all of a sudden, you're approachable by people. Because the path has been cleared. The path has been cleared for you to preach the gospel.

Have you noticed that most people are always willing to listen to a story from somebody who's been through a really hard time? They're always willing to listen to somebody's story if they've been through something difficult. Have you ever noticed the stories that they usually share? I don't remember if this is an Olympic year or not. But I always love Olympic years.

Because they always start sharing stories of people. You know what stories they always share of people when it comes time for the Olympics? The ones who've been through really hard times to get where they are. Why? Because everybody loves them. Everybody loves to hear that story. And all of a sudden now, what seems like the worst thing possible just became the only open door that you have to share the gospel with people.

Because your vulnerability creates opportunity. It clears the path for the gospel. Not only that, it just made your faith the most real thing anybody's ever seen. Because when they watch you walk through your trial and they see you hold on to your faith, it's not just because God's done everything good. It's not just because God's done everything good for you.

It's because God is everything to you. It's because now you have shown that your faith is the most real thing that you've ever held on to in your entire life. You know why we read the book of Job? We would not read the book of Job if Job just continued living the storied life that he lived before all of his trials happened. You know why we read the book of Job?

Because all of his trials happened. You see, brothers and sisters, that gives you a clear path for the gospel. Not just for you. Not only that, but I have known some people that have used their opportunities for what they're going through to be the way that they preach the gospel to people. That's what Paul did. Do you know that? Paul was constantly chained to a Roman soldier.

Do you know what he did when he was chained to a Roman soldier? Well, buddy, it's time to have a Bible study, right? What else did he do while he was chained to a Roman soldier? Well, he wrote the book of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. You know, he was a busy guy. He stayed at it. Pastor Mark, many of you don't know him because you've started coming. After he was the pastor here, but Pastor Mark went through this.

When he went through cancer, everywhere that he went, when he battled cancer, every time he had an appointment, every time he had to go to a hospital, every time he had to have another surgery, he prayed with the nurses and the people that were with him. Because he wanted to make sure that he used his opportunity to share the gospel. And one of my favorite people is a guy by the name of Doug Dillner. He may be watching online right now.

I don't mean to embarrass him, but Doug Dillner, because Doug is a guy that's about my age, about a year younger, younger than me, and we grew up together. I've known him my entire life. And Doug Dillner has now had two lung transplants. And he has battled so hard through all of it. But you know what? Two things always stick out to me about Doug. Number one, he's always in a good mood.

And he's always up because of his faith in Jesus Christ. And there is not a single nurse on the floor of any hospital he's ever been on that has not heard the gospel. Because his trial cleared a path for the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Number two, not only do our trials further the spread of the gospel, but number two, our trials produce a focus on Christ.

They produce a focus on Christ. I want you to notice what it says in verse 13. It says, So that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else. Let me tell you what that means. Anybody in the Roman royal world at that point in time, knew why Paul was in prison. And he wasn't in prison because of the bad things

that he had done. He was in prison because he was a witness for Jesus Christ. And it was well known to everyone that that was the case. And so his trial, his imprisonment, actually produced a focus on Jesus Christ. Let me tell you how that plays out in our lives. The first thing that trials do to produce a greater focus on Jesus Christ is it does it in your life.

Have you ever noticed when hard things happen, all of a sudden the perfunctory things of life, the unknowing, the unnecessary things of life become way less important to you? Because after all, what's the point of all of these incendiary things around me? The most important thing is Jesus right now because quite frankly, he's all that I have to hold on to. Because all of a sudden you realize that either life is short or life is precious or quite frankly, you just don't have patience for the whining of the people of the world around you.

You know why? Because that trial has produced a greater focus on Jesus Christ. Now before I go on, I want to make sure that I say something. I want us to understand that trials are never wasted. The only thing that can allow a trial to be wasted in our lives is us. You know what? Two things can cause us to waste trials in our lives. Either one, I can wallow in it

or number two, I can get caught in what I call the spin cycle of why. You ever found yourself there where all you ask is why? Like you're straight Nancy Kerrigan, right? You're like, why, why? Sorry, it's a terrible joke. If you're going through that and you're saying why, I'm not making fun of you right now. That's just a really funny thought. But we get caught in that cycle of why

or we wallow in it. We say, I can't believe this happened to me. Listen, if you want to know something about the trial that you're in, start asking the right question. Number one, quit asking why. Number two, start asking what. What does God want to do through this? What does God want to do through me? What does God want to do in the world? What does God want to do

to use me in the midst of what I have going on right now? Lord, what do you want me to learn? Because I'm here to tell you right now, one of my favorite things about God is that I'm not going to do anything. I'm not going to do anything. I'm not going to do anything. One of my favorite verses in scripture comes out of the book of Deuteronomy and it says, the secret things belong

to God. The revealed things belong to us. Let me tell you what that means in Ryan's language. You may never know why on the top side of planet Earth, but you can know what. Because God will show you what he wants you to do. God will show you what he wants you to learn. Even though you may never know why. And all of a sudden, your focus on Jesus is increased

because of the trial that you're going through. But not only that, do you realize it focuses other people on Jesus too? Without them even intending to. Without them even meaning to, they start to focus on Jesus. I'm going to tell a little story about my dad. Don't look at him. Look at me. I don't want him to be embarrassed. But my dad has to go out to the hospital a lot

for tests and things like that, right? Well, there's a lady that works with my mom, who my mom also works at the hospital. There's a lady that works with her who, to our knowledge, maybe doesn't know Jesus, but has taken a real vested interest in my dad. And as she has taken this vested interest in my dad, she is believing that God is going to heal him. Now, we don't know what's going to happen

with all of that. God can do whatever he wants to. We're surrendered either way. He's surrendered either way. But she is so focused on God through all of this. And every time my dad has a test, she says, so tell me what happened. Has God healed him yet? Right? And it's given my mom an opportunity. Why? Because that trial has produced a focus on Jesus. There's a goofy show that we watch right

now. Maybe you watch it too. It's called Young Sheldon. Anybody ever watch that show? The laughter would indicate that a handful of you have. Well, so the only thing I don't like about the show is that Sheldon's an atheist, right? But that actually is what creates the point I'm about to make to you right now. And so it actually has created some really good conversations,

especially with my youngest daughter. Because when your dad is a pastor, everything in the world becomes a spiritual conversation. You're welcome. So we're watching this show last night and there's this episode. And remember, Sheldon is an atheist. And there's a tornado that comes through and they're hiding in their bathroom. It's a really bad tornado. And the mom, who's a really strong believer

in Jesus Christ, starts praying. And she starts praying all this hedge of protection around their house and all this kind of stuff. And it's kind of interesting because Sheldon looks over and says, Mom, pray harder. Now my wife said something that I thought was really interesting. She goes, isn't it funny that Sheldon who's supposed to be an atheist just asks his mom

pray harder. Now that's a show, but I can tell you there's an old saying amongst war veterans and that's that there's no atheists in foxholes. You know why? Because when it comes right down to it, trials produce a focus on Jesus. So what you're going through right now may be terrible and you hate it, but allow it to put your focus on Jesus. So number one, trials further the spread of the

gospel. Number two, trials produce a focus on Jesus. Number three, trials produce a boldness of the brethren. Trials produce a boldness of the brethren. I want you to notice what it says. In verse 14, he says, and that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Most of the brethren because of my

imprisonment are now encouraged to speak the word of God without fear. Now it's always kind of interesting because it usually just takes one person. It takes one person making a stand. To end up causing other people around them to join on our Wednesday nights. We're in the book of judges. We've been trucking our way through the Old Testament right now. We're in the book of judges, and I just love the book

of judges. Perhaps it's because of the crazy battles that take place. I think it's mainly the story of Eglon. But anyway, the judge is just fascinating book. And so last Wednesday, we started looking at the story of Gideon. Now Gideon was about the scaredest person in the world, and yet God called him a valiant warrior and Gideon lived in a time in Israel, when idolatry was running rampant.

Matter of fact, idolatry was not only in the nation, idolatry was in his family. And so God showed up and said, Gideon, you are going to deliver the people. And Gideon says, that's a terrible idea. I'm the youngest and we're the least of the tribe of Manasseh. There's no way I can do this. And God says, nope. I called the right guy. You jump in. You got this. And so Gideon

says, okay, what's the first thing you want me to do? So God says, here's your first mission. You need to go, and you need to take one of your father's oxen, and you're going to tear down, I want you to listen closely to this, your father's altar to Baal and the Asherah pole. That means that idolatry was not just in his land, it was in his house. Go tear down the

altar at your dad's house. And so that's what he does. And he is so bold and he is so brave that he does it in the middle of the night when no one can see him. So he goes and he takes an oxen and he tears down the altar, and then he takes another oxen, and he tears down the Asherah pole, and he takes another oxen, and he cuts up the Asherah pole, builds a fire, sacrifices the other oxen to the Lord, and the next morning they wake up and they're like, who tore down the altar?

Who did this? And one of them said, it was Gideon. He was on my ring doorbell. So they're like, it was Gideon. Gideon's the one that did it. And so they go and get Gideon. They're like, we're going to kill your son. And his dad looks, and his dad, who has the altar, says, if Baal is a god, let Baal defend himself. Otherwise, I'm standing with Gideon. Now, early on in the book of Judges, we saw that

the nation of Israel started to fall one tribe after the other, and failed to drive out the inhabitants of the land. And we made a point out of that, a spiritual application, and that's that failure tends to beget more failure. That's why you have to be careful who you're around, because if you're around people that compromise all the time, you're probably going to compromise all the time. But we drew another point out of the story of Gideon, and the point is this.

Courage begets courage. Revival begets more revival. Because Gideon, one man who was absolutely terrified to stand up, stands up. And you know what happened? His dad joined him. You know what's going to happen in the next chapter? Spoiler alert for those that come on Wednesday nights, and if you don't come on Wednesday nights, you should. Spoiler alert, 32,000 people

are going to join him. You see, brothers and sisters, courage just takes one person to stand up. It takes one person to say, I'm going to make a stand for this. I'm going to do what's right. I'm not going to bow to what everybody else has to say. I'm going to make a stand for the truth. I'm going to make a stand for Jesus, and I'm going to make a stand for what the Word of God

has to say. And I will promise you, people will join. Because courage begets more courage. I speak to lots of groups. I talk to lots of groups of people, and here's what I've ever found. If one person starts to talk, everybody starts to talk. If one person raises their hand, lots of other people raise their hands. When you give an altar call for something, it takes one

person to stand up and say, that's me. I need that. Then all of a sudden, other people start standing up. Why? Because that one person gave them the boldness that they needed to stand. Brothers and sisters, the right perspective on trials is that trials produce courage amongst the brethren. Because when they see you stand in the midst of your trial, they say,

I can stand too. And I'll stand with you. Number four, trials produce a single purpose of Christ being preached. Trials produce the single purpose of Christ being preached. Dovetailing off what he said about the brethren who are speaking the word of God without fear, we jump into verse 15, and it says this. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ from envy and strife,

but some from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives. Thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in this, I rejoice. Yes,

and I will rejoice. Paul says we have to understand something. There's two different people out preaching the gospel right now. Some people are doing it out of wrong motives. They're doing it out of envy. They're doing it out of selfish ambition. They're doing it for all the wrong reasons. If you will, these are people that want to build their own kingdom. They

wanted to build their own kingdom on the backs of what Paul has already started and now can't continue. Now, we need to understand something. These people that are preaching the gospel out of selfish ambition, they're not false teachers. We have to understand that because if they were false teachers, Paul would have said, there are people out who are false teachers. He had no problem calling that kind of thing

out. No, these are people that are actually preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They're just doing it for the wrong reasons. They're doing it because now Paul is no longer there. So they think I can build my church. I can build my following. I can build my kingdom while Paul is in prison and they're out giving out the truth, but with the wrong motivation and the same is true today.

There are people preaching the gospel for the wrong motivation. They're preaching the gospel to build their church, to build their following, to build their bank account, to build their freedom. And it's terrible that that's taking place in the world today. As a matter of fact, I was listening to Joe Foch teach on this and he said, the worst thing that has happened to the church is professional pastors. We

have decided that someone's education determines whether or not they are ordained. He said, it has nothing to do with your education. It has everything to do with your calling. Education creates men who want followings. Calling creates shepherds who lead people. And I'm going to be real honest with you. After I heard that quote, I had to check my own heart because I think

the only thing I can do at that point in time, reading a section like this, is for me to go, Lord, what's my motivation? What am I doing? Am I doing this for the right reason? So far, so good. But if anybody ever sees anything different, I don't mind you calling me out on it. He said, but then there are some people who are giving out the truth for the exact right reasons.

They just want to see people come to know Jesus. They just want to build the kingdom of God. There's always those two people out there. There's always those two groups of preachers out there. But Paul, in his time in ministry and his experience, had learned to have the right perspective. And he gives us the right perspective in verse 18. He says, what then?

Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. And in this, I rejoice. Paul says, it doesn't really matter who the one doing the preaching is. It really doesn't even matter what their motivation is. The most important thing is that the word of God is being preached. That's a little bit of a dangerous statement to make, but I think it's a pretty cool statement that Paul makes.

It tells me a lot about what God had done in his heart up to that point in time. It's something that God is working on me about, even at this particular moment, even at this juncture in my life. At this juncture in my life in pastoral ministry, I can get pretty critical things. You all know how hard I am and how critical I am of pastors with satellite campuses, because I just think it creates a cult of personality that I don't necessarily agree with. But you know what

God told me? That's not my decision to make. And I have to remember that. That's not my decision to make. It's not my place to judge where their heart is. It's my job to pray that the gospel will continue to go out. Because it doesn't even matter if it goes out in the wrong way, or with the wrong motives. As long as the gospel of Jesus Christ is going out. I have some really

crazy news for you. Do you know that people get saved in churches where the pastor's not saved? As he's giving out the truth of the word of God, but he doesn't get it himself? Yeah, because God's word is powerful. We just heard that, right? We just heard how powerful God's word is. And we have to be careful who we criticize. We have to be careful what we do with all of that.

I always tell this joke, and I told it to first service, and not too many people got offended, so surely you won't get offended either. But, and if you do, my number's 911. Anyway, so in between my first and second year of Bible college, there was a guy who was always on TV before I would go to work in the mornings. I was working at a place there in Johnson County, and Benny Hinn was always on TV. Y'all remember Benny Hinn? And this was

my joke. I watched Benny Hinn before I went to work, and then I healed people all the way there, right? That was always my joke about Benny Hinn. Well, I had a roommate in Bible college, and he said, you know, we give that guy a hard time, but my grandmother reminded me of something. Do you know that people get saved in his services all the time? We don't agree with a lot of what he has to say.

We don't agree with the way that he handles the gifts of the Spirit, and we don't agree with the way that he almost markets the gospel. But here's the thing. People are getting saved through his ministry, and you should pray for him. And I was like, fun killer. Anyway, but it was really good for me to hear, because it's a good reminder for me that just because people

have the wrong motives doesn't mean that God's Word's not being preached. And it's not for me to judge their motives. It's for me to pray that the Word of God will continue to do its work. Because when it comes right down to it, one of the things that trials produces in our lives is the understanding that the most important thing is to get out the gospel of Jesus Christ, is to get out the truth of the gospel. Because when it comes right down to

it, brothers and sisters, the things of this earth are passing away. And it won't last very long. The only thing that lasts for eternity is your salvation in Jesus Christ. Matter of fact, there's a placard right as you walk up the stairs of this church. I think it's on the right hand side. And it says this, one life will soon be passed, and only what's done for Christ will

last. You see, all of us can sometimes be a little too interested in building our kingdoms here on earth. And we think that God's way more concerned about our checkbook and our house than He is about whether or not the gospel is going out. I'm not saying God doesn't care about those things. He absolutely does. But the heart that we have to get to is that the most important thing that we can do

is get the Word of God out to people. To get the message of the gospel out to people. And that's the right perspective. All of a sudden, all the things of the earth start fading away, and we go, but what really matters? What really matters is people knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior, because that is what will last forever. Brothers and sisters, as we face trials, we need the

right perspective. We need the perspective that these trials further the spread of the gospel, that they produce our focus on Christ, that they produce boldness, and ultimately produce a singleness of mind. I don't know about you, but as I was reading and studying this, I was bothered by something. I was bothered by the fact that I struggled to have that perspective.

Anybody else bothered by the fact that you're struggling to have that kind of perspective? How was Paul able to come to the place in his life where he ultimately reached this right perspective about the trials that he went through? Is it because he was some super saint? Absolutely not. You know how I know that? Because of the multiple times throughout Scripture that either an angel

of the Lord, or the Lord himself, or God sent someone to Paul to say, don't be afraid. You know what that tells me? It tells me that Paul was a man. He was a man who struggled with all the same things that we do. All of the same downfalls that we do. All of the same weaknesses that we do. All of the same, I tend to get my eyes on the wrong things that we do.

And yet he can have this kind of perspective. How could he have this perspective? Well, I want to close up with this. There's two ways that Paul had the right kind of perspective. Number one, he had an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. You know how I know that? I know that because of this letter. Because what is the first thing that we studied about in this letter?

We studied about his prayer for the Philippian people. Matter of fact, every letter that you study of Paul's, you'll learn about his prayer life. You know where he learned about that kind of prayer life from? Jesus. Because in his humanity, Jesus had a great prayer life. He had a great abiding relationship with his Father. Which is why he said, as I abide in the

Father, you abide in me. Paul had an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. And that abiding relationship with Jesus Christ produced the right perspective on trials. Because when we get our eyes focused back on Jesus, when we get our eyes focused exactly where they need to be in that abiding relationship with Jesus Christ, it's amazing how we gain the right perspective on trials.

It's amazing how we gain the right perspective on what's going on in our lives. And so, brothers and sisters, if you're struggling with that right now, first of all, make sure that you get your heart back in the Word, get your heart back in prayer, and have that abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know what the second thing is? The second reason why Paul was able to have a prayer?

He was able to have this perspective because of the fellowship of the brethren. Because of the fellowship with the people. He said, Ryan, he's stuck in prison. He didn't have fellowship with anybody, didn't he, though? Who wrote this letter with him? Go back to verse 1. Paul and, go ahead and shout it out. Paul and Timothy. Who's there with him? Timothy. Remember when I said Dave Gervecki

said he was going through such a hard time, and the most important thing to him when he was going through that year of depression, the most important thing to him was a friend that just came and sat with him. I think that was Timothy for Paul. I think the reason why Timothy's with Paul right now is because Paul needed someone with him because we were never intended to do this alone. Not only that, why is Paul writing this letter to the Philippians?

Because they had supported him. Because they sent him a gift while he was in prison. The fellowship of the brethren is what was supporting him. Now I need us to understand something. We have a decent sized church here. A lot of people that go here. As a matter of fact, I made a list here a while back so that we can do the best that we can to minister to the people here.

And I was kind of amazed at all the people that go here, at least on somewhat of a consistent basis. And it's really cool to see, but you know what? I'm one person, and our board is just a handful of guys. And I have to be honest with you, sometimes I let people slip through the cracks. It's not on purpose. It's because life gets busy and there's lots of people to keep track of.

And I can't always keep up with everybody. And I've had to send some messages and say I'm genuinely sorry that I've not reached out more than I have. But when it comes right down to it, the church is not an organization run by a handful of men. The church is a body filled with members. Members that are supposed to support each other. Members that are supposed to love each other.

So I have a question for you. Are you just sitting with anybody right now? Are you just talking with anybody right now? Do you know the names of the people that even just sit around you in your area? Because you need them like they need you. And sometimes the best thing that we can do for each other is learn each other's names. Get a phone number from somebody.

Send them a message. Unless they send you too many, then block them. But anyway, just send them a message, right? That last part was a joke-ish. Get to know somebody. And if you don't see them in church, you could do something really wild. You could call them and be like, hey, it's been a month since I've seen you in church. Everything okay? Everything alright with you?

How can I pray for you? Because friends, I see your faces when you're sitting out here, but I don't memorize them all. But the people that you're sitting around, you can know them. And if we would all work together as the body of Christ, we could point each other towards having the right perspective. Amen. Now I didn't do this first service. I'm going to invite the worship team

to come up. I didn't do this first service, but I'm going to do it second service. And I'm going to do it with our eyes open because courage begets courage. If you're going through a trial this morning, if you've got a hard thing going on right now, if you've got some situations that you're dealing with, and you need some right perspective on these trials, you need some right perspective on these things, I'm going to ask you to do something.

And it's going to be kind of hard for you to do because it'll be admitting to everybody that your life isn't perfect. But I'm going to ask you to stand up because I want to pray for you. And I want everybody around you to lay hands on you so that we can pray for you. So if that's you this morning, it'll just take the first one of you standing up. If you're here this morning

and you've got something going on in your life, take that stand because I want to pray for you.

See, it just takes one. Friends, we're all going through stuff. And the best thing that we can do is let the body of Christ around us know, hey, I got some trials going on in my life right now, and I need the right perspective on them. I need some prayer for them. It doesn't make you weak. It makes you human. And I feel like somebody else isn't willing to stand up right now. And your

heart's beating fast. And you're like, it's me. Because you got things in the body of Christ wants to support you. And the body of Christ wants to love you. So here's what I want us to do. I want everybody to look at these people, and I want you to stand up, and I want you to lay your hands on them. So everybody stand. Find somebody around you that's standing. I want you to lay hands on them.

Because this is what the body does for each other. And if you don't know their name, ask them their name afterwards. And I'm going to pray. Father, we come before you. And Lord, it's so hard to gain that right perspective, especially right when the midst of something. And so Lord, I pray for each person that has stood up. And Lord, I pray for the ones who wanted to but couldn't.

And that's okay, Lord, because your grace is sufficient. And you know. Lord, I want to pray for these people, and I want to pray, God, that you would move in their hearts and in their lives. Father, I want to pray that you would bring the encouragement, that only your Holy Spirit can bring. Father, that you would bring the comfort that only your Holy Spirit can bring. Father, I pray that

you would show them, Lord, how this trial that they're going through can ultimately work out for the spreading of the gospel. Lord, how it can ultimately bring a greater focus on you. And Lord, show them how they can find their hope in you in the midst of a difficult time in their life. And so, Lord, I just want to lift up each person that's standing. And Lord, I want to pray

that you would move in them by the power of your Holy Spirit. And Lord, I lift up, lift up the people that have their hands on them as they are joining me in prayer. And Lord, I pray that you would bless them, too. And Father, for each of us that are here this morning, would you move in our hearts and lives? And would you use your word in us as you see fit to produce the

fruit that only your Holy Spirit can produce through your word? Father, we thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.

God, we just thank you. Thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives this morning, Lord. Thank you for the breath that you give us. And we just want to use that to return praise, return glory to you, O God, where it belongs. God, you are King of kings and Lord of lords and name above all names, Lord. So we just want to use that breath to return praise to you.

Father, just be with us as we leave here today and continue your good work in our hearts. We love you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.