Date: October 30, 2005
Passage: Philippians 4:10-13
Message: How Much is Enough?
Series in Philippians [14]
How much is enough?
Share some examples of where you have had to try and answer that question. [Refer Matthew 18:21-22,
Exodus 16:11-20]
Why do we have trouble working out when and where we have enough?
How much of this dilemma can we attribute to the materialistic, ‘must have’ world in which we live?
Or is it more personal than that?
1. Contentment is GRACIOUS Read v10
Paul was in prison and it seems that in recent times the care from the Christians in Philippi had dropped off.
Paul tells us in v15 that after he left Philippi –
……. not one Church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only. For even when I was in Thessalonica you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
But lately he had not heard from them. The support was not there. The interest seemed to have waned. Yet he speaks very graciously to them when they finally send a gift to him.
How do we react when people let us down?
Do we have greater expectations of each other in the Church?
Is that reasonable / unreasonable?
What should we do if we feel disappointed or disillusioned by someone in the Church or the Church itself?
2. Contentment is HUMBLE Read v11
Paul was more grateful for their renewed interest than he was for the gift.
I am not saying this because I am in need…
Interesting response. Thankyou for the gift but I don’t really need it. That’s one way to keep your mission support up!!
But it gets to the heart of the problem of contentment.
What do we think we NEED?
What are the ‘must have’s’ of our world?
Discuss
Problem with growing up in a consumerist society is not so much the thing itself but the VALUE we place on it.
We have become conditioned to the fact that whatever we see becomes a NEED.
Discuss
Our culture at this time is caught between two worlds. The materialistic and the mystical. We are trying to juggle the material and spiritual. It’s almost like we want the best of both Western and Eastern spirituality!
Discuss
3. Contentment is ROBUST Read v12
We sometimes think that contentment is a passive thing.
Kind of settled resignation.
Contentment is not devoid of pain.
Jesus was content to do His father’s will but in the garden he sweat great drops of blood.
On the cross his body was racked in pain and in his final moments as he bore the sin of the world he cried out,
My God My God why have you forsaken me?
Can you share some aspect of your life that is / has been difficult and yet you have learned to be content in it / with it?
“True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare.â€
Gilbert K. Chesterton
Paul had learned that by the grace of God he could get out of any situation all there was in it! Read Philippians 1:12ff
Paul was not one of these people who said,
‘When I get out of prison, I’m going to make the most of my freedom.’
He says,
‘What I can do, is make the most of my imprisonment!’
Share some experience where God has enabled you to ‘make the most’ of something that was difficult!
4. Contentment is MOTIVATIONAL Read v13
Contented people ‘can do’ people!
Dis-contented people are so preoccupied with having their needs met that they don’t know how to be ‘can do’ people.
There is more often a reason why they can’t do!
Discuss
….I can do everything through him who gives me the strength [v13]
Share your own experience of this.