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Author: tfreiner

The Joy of Gospel Contentment (Philippians 4:10-13), Will DuVal | 11/8/26

2026-11-08

We live in the most affluent nation in the history of the world. We have more of just about everything – wealth, possessions, opportunities… – everything but contentment. Only 44% of Americans say they are “very satisfied” with their personal lives, marking a 21% downturn in just the past 5 years (Gallup, 2025)! Only 48% of Americans describe their lives as “thriving”, an 11% drop in the last 4 years (Gallup, 2026). And the U.S. now ranks 24th amongst all countries on the “World Happiness Report”, our lowest ranking in the report’s history (WHR, 2025). The Rolling Stones prophetically pegged the prevailing sentiment of our age over six decades ago when they sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction!”

Where can we find contentment? This Sunday in Philippians ch4, the apostle Paul claims to have discovered “the secret… to be[ing] content” (4:11-12). And fortunately, Paul didn’t want it to stay a secret! Join us this weekend to learn “in any and every circumstance” how to be content (4:12).

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The Joy of Gospel Living (Philippians 4:8-9), Will DuVal | 11/1/26

2026-11-01

Most of us know what it looks like to live out our Christian faith on Sunday mornings at 9am (we gather with the church for heartfelt corporate worship!). But what about Sunday evening at 9pm? Or Monday morning at 9am? How should our relationship with Christ impact every aspect of our lives? This Sunday in Philippians 4:8-9, the apostle Paul answers that question for us, exhorting us to pursue holiness in all of our thoughts, actions, and connections.

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The Joy of Gospel Peace (Philippians 4:1-7), Thad Yessa | 10/25/26

2026-10-25

Wouldn’t we love to just have some peace? Peace in our relationships. Peace with our finances. Peace at work. We all just want a little more peace.

So how is it that the Apostle Paul, writing from house arrest, can tell us to “rejoice in the Lord always”? He wasn’t ignoring his circumstances. He had found a peace that doesn’t depend on them. Join us this Sunday as we see how the gospel gives us lasting peace.

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The Joy of Gospel Friendship (Philippians 2:19-30), Will DuVal | 10/4/26

2026-10-05

William Shakespeare said, “A friend knows you as you are, understands where you have been, and still gently allows you to grow.” Anna Deavere Smith called friendship “a wildly underrated medication”. And the Lord declares that “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. And if they fall, one will lift up his fellow” (Ecc 4:9-10). Truly we all need a good friend (or friends)!

But what makes a friend “good”? What are the traits we ought to look for in others – and pursue for ourselves – if we want loving, lasting, life-giving friendships? This Sunday, the apostle Paul answers that question for us in Philippians 2, and in the examples of Timothy, Ephaphroditus, and Paul himself. Join us this weekend for “The Joy of Gospel Friendship”, and as we worship our One True Friend who “sticks closer than a brother” (Pr 18:24): Jesus!

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The Joy of Gospel Doctrine (Philippians 2:5-11), Will DuVal | 9/20/26

2026-09-20

“Jesus asked some very important questions throughout his earthly ministry: “What are you seeking?” (Jn 1:38); “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mk 10:51); “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Mt 9:28); “Do you love me?” (Jn 15:21). But of all the questions Jesus asked, one towers above the rest in both its theological and personal significance: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15). It is the most important question that any of us will answer in our lives, and the most important question that all of us must answer: “Who do I say that Jesus is?”. This Sunday in Philippians 2, the apostle Paul gives us God’s answer to that question.”

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The Joy of Gospel Unity (Philippians 1:27-2:5), Will DuVal | 9/13/26

2026-09-13

“Why is unity so important to JESUS? Consider this: Of all the really important things that Jesus could have prayed for his disciples on their final night together in the Upper Room just before his crucifixion – he could have prayed for protection for them, for courage, for FAITH… – but what did he PRAY? What was the thing he wanted most for them… and for US?

UNITY: “Holy Father, keep them in your name… that they may be ONE, even as we are one” (Jn 17:11). Jesus made it CLEAR, in John 17, this wasn’t just a prayer for the 12 disciples sitting around the table with him that night; he said, ““I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [who’s THAT, Church? That’s US! All Christians who have BELIEVED in Jesus thanks to the written – and LIVED – testimonies of the apostles; Jesus prayed for US…] 21 that [we] may all be ONE… PERFECTLY one (he prayed)…  just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, [he prayed that we would be as UNIFIED as the TRI-une GOD] that they also may be in us, [that’s HOW we do it; we come together as ONE to the extent that we are IN CHRIST; HE is not divided, so neither can His BODY be; that’s the “WHO, WHAT, and HOW” of Christian unity; but here is Jesus’s WHY; John 17:21-] so that the world may believe that you [Father] have sent me.” (17:20-23)”

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The Joy of Gospel Ministry (Philippians 1:18b-26), Thad Yessa | 9/6/26

2026-09-06

“There are some questions that seem relatively small until you realize how much of your life depends upon the answer. What do you want for dinner? Small question. What are we doing this weekend? Small question. Do we really need another streaming service? Where do you want to go for vacation?  But then there are the questions underneath all the other questions. What makes a life worth living? What do I really want my life to accomplish? What am I afraid of losing? What would make me say, “If I have that, then my life matters”? And eventually, whether we want to think about it or not, there is another question: what happens when everything I have spent my life building is taken away?”

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The Joy of Gospel Partners (Philippians 1:1-11), Will DuVal | 8/23/26

2026-08-23

“This week in the life of our church, we had…
-One family who lost their baby due to a miscarriage.
-Another still in the hospital, with a newborn on intubation after heart surgery.
-We had one member receive the news that she has a rare, aggressive form of colon cancer.
-Two members who had to put a parent on hospice.
-Another already on in-home hospice who took a fall which could likely result in her needing to be moved to a facility.
-Another who collapsed right in the middle of church, and had to be rushed to the hospital. (by the way, Kevin is feeling fine and back at home now, praise God; but they STILL don’t know why he’s collapsed like that TWICE now in the past month).
-We had TWO beloved families announce that they’re moving and leaving the church.
-A member who found out she’s losing her job.
-Another who found out she’s being sued by her ex-husband.
-A regular attender get in a car accident and end up in an accidental altercation with the police that led to her arrest.

That was all just the past WEEK. And we’re really not THAT big of a CHURCH! And it’s to say NOTHING of those of who’ve suffered DAILY for YEARS now from:
-Deep depression or anxiety
-Financial strain
-Marital strife
-Familial estrangement
-PTSD, Dementia, spina bifida
-the aftermath of a debilitating stroke, sepsis,
-the SPIRITUAL agony of knowing that a deceased loved one is now suffering eternally in HELL!

And the list could go on. But here’s the question before us this morning: “What do we DO in the face of such suffering? How do you RESPOND? …When you find yourself in the St Luke’s E.R. (AGAIN!) at 3 in the morning night before last with intense pain in a VERY sensitive spot that can’t be discussed from the pulpit unless you’re preaching on Deuteronomy 23:1 (look it up later…).

Well, if you’re the apostle Paul, the greatest Christian of all time, who wrote half of our New Testament, there’s a very simple answer (it’s not EASY, but it is SIMPLE, it’s straightforward…) how we as believers ought to respond to our suffering, and here it is:
“With JOY!””

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Track 39: Dealing with Distress (Psalm 39), Will DuVal | 8/9/26

2026-08-09

“In this fallen world of ours, distress seems to constantly come at us in all shapes and sizes, from the “minor inconveniences” of a check-in delay or traffic jam, to the MAJOR life CRISES like a medical emergency or DEATH of a loved one. We all face varying degrees of distress almost daily. The question isn’t “IF” we’ll suffer, but “WHEN” we do, how SEVERE will it be, how LONG will it LAST, and most importantly: How FAITHFUL to the LORD will we REMAIN amidst our adversity?

This morning, in Psalm 39, King David provides a paradigm for us of SANCTIFIED SUFFERING, how to “deal with distress” in a godly, biblical way. So whether YOU’RE dealing this morning with a hangnail or a hemorrhage (in which case I HOPE that YOU TOO are in the hospital; perhaps you’re LIVESTREAMING this message from there now…); whether you’re dealing with a broken **garage door opener (and you’ve gotta actually get OUT of the car to manually punch in the code – the MISERY!!), or a broken HEART, because you recently lost the love of your LIFE (like Crystal, or Monica, or Angi, Joni…), or you just lost a CHILD (like the MILLERS) – WHATEVER your distress, physical or emotional, relational or spiritual, big or small, David wants to help us RESPOND to our trials this morning using God’s prescribed process”

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