A new series through Philippians

Pastor Max Lyons explains that Elan Church preaches both topical and textual messages because Jesus did both, and that this summer series will walk through Philippians line by line, one chapter per week, so that anyone who stays for the whole series will have read an entire book of the Bible. Paul writes this letter from prison in Rome, not knowing whether he will be released or executed, to a young church in Philippi, a city full of retired Roman soldiers who proclaimed Caesar as lord and god.

Where is God when life gets hard?

In 2012 Pastor Max was a young business consultant in New York City when he sensed God calling him to lay it down and attend Bible college in Sydney, Australia. A one-year leave of absence made the first year manageable, but when God asked him to stay a second year he had to quit his job with no savings, no visa, no place to live, and school fees unpaid. Living seven to a two-bedroom apartment, he hit his knees and asked, "God, where are you?" Everyone is born with a predisposition to let what is happening around us determine what is happening in us. Proverbs 25:28 says a person with no rule over his own spirit is like a city without walls. This is the difference between happiness, which depends on circumstances, and joy, which comes from God. Pastor Max asks his kids in the back seat, "Are you controlling your emotions or are your emotions controlling you?" Maturity means what happens around us no longer dictates what happens in us.

Saints, grace, and peace

Unlike most of his letters, Paul does not open by asserting his apostolic authority because he is not correcting a heresy; he simply calls himself a servant and addresses the Philippians as saints. When we give our lives to Jesus our identity shifts: we may still mess up, but what we do is no longer who we are. Paul's greeting of grace and peace always comes in that order because no one can know the peace of God until they have experienced the grace of God.

Mark one: where you are is not who you are

Instead of beginning with a cry for help, Paul writes, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you," and fills the opening with joy and praise. The prison does not define him. Pastor Max returns to Australia, where the only job his student visa allowed was taping boxes for minimum wage at a shipping company after years of consulting for Microsoft and American Express. God used that humbling season to pry out a false identity rooted in what he did. Your value does not come from your job, your bank account, a breakup, or what people say about you; it comes from your Father in heaven alone.

Mark two: your problems are opportunities for God to show up

Paul reports that his imprisonment has advanced the gospel through the whole imperial guard and made other believers bolder. The Romans thought Paul was trapped with them; Paul knew they were trapped with him. Pastor Max tells of moving his family to Nashville in 2018 to help a nonprofit president expand the organization, only for the board to fire that president for being too innovative. Jobless with a newborn and a twelve-month lease, he prayed, "God, I don't know what's going on, but I trust you." A friend of a friend connected them to a church in West Palm Beach, where they saved money, saw Juliet's green card approved, joined their church-planting network, and received a financial gift that helped launch Elan Church. Without the firing there would be no Florida, and without Florida no Elan. What feels like a step back can be a step forward.

Mark three: even when you lose, you win

Paul says that to live is Christ and to die is gain; if he lives he has fruitful ministry, and if he dies he is with Jesus. Pastor Max recalls a childhood soccer tournament where his team advanced whether they won or lost, so he literally could not lose. Following Jesus is the same, because nothing external can take Him away. Lose your job, you still have Jesus. Friends betray you, you still have Jesus. The diagnosis is bad, your dreams fall apart, people reject you for your faith, even death comes knocking, and you still win.

What's the worst that can happen?

The closing challenge is a shift in perspective from "God, where are you?" to "God, you are good, and this is an opportunity to see what you will do." He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. The world defines winning by circumstances; Paul defines it by knowing Jesus. The more deeply rooted you are in Christ, the less you will be ruled by what happens to you.