New September Series: “Take Heart”
“I thank my God for every remembrance of you, always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:3–5)
Did you catch that? This verse comes from the greeting in Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, telling them that he’s praying for them with joy.
Joy is a consistent theme throughout this letter from Paul to the Philippians. If you made a word cloud of all the words that appear in the epistle (fancy word for letter), joy would be the largest. And of the 104 verses that comprise the book, joy is referred to 16 times, more than any other word in the letter. And this becomes even more profound when you consider that he’s writing this letter from prison—from deprivation and captivity.
So as our team prayerfully set out to plan our fall season, discerning what sort of good news we might need to lean into, cling to, and share together, especially against the backdrop of a world that can feel so precarious, divisive, and disorienting, we kept coming back to this theme of joy. And this, obviously, kept us coming back to Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
But here’s the thing about joy for Paul. It isn’t manufactured. It can’t be bought or sold, forced or grasped. There’s no magic wand or magic pill that can summon it into existence. Instead, this joy is the natural outflow of a life with God. For Paul, joy isn’t an escape from hardship; it’s an act of defiance, rooted in a heart shaped and nurtured by God’s own heart—the sort of heart Paul describes throughout the letter.
And this is what makes Paul’s message so timely. So many of us are feeling burnt out, disillusioned, and weary—whether it’s the weight of responsibilities, the constant noise of our world, or the deep divisions pulling us apart. The joy that Paul writes about, however, offers something deeper and truer, something that can give us life and sustain us. It’s the kind of joy that can’t be found in escaping these realities but in meeting them with a heart transformed by grace and peace.
So, for the month of September at The Local Church, we’re going to work through Paul’s letter to the Philippians and explore what it might look like to cultivate this heart. In other words, what if God is offering us God’s own heart for ourselves, for one another, and for the world? What is the nature of this heart? And how might receiving this heart enlarge our own and give us a greater capacity for joy and liberation on the way of Jesus?
Whether you’ve been part of The Local Church for years or you’re just dipping your toes into the waters of faith, this series is an invitation to rediscover joy. It’s an invitation to take heart, to believe that joy is possible even now.
We can’t wait to share it with you.
To accompany you throughout the series, we made you a playlist full of songs we’ll share on Sunday mornings as well as others that will fill your heart with joy.
