Key Passage: Overview of Philippians – Paul’s Situation and His Use of Joy / General Study of the word “Joy”

Key Idea: For the believer in Jesus, our ability to experience true “joy” is completely independent of our circumstances. This is because joy is a gift (as the etymology of the Greek word suggests), something that is given by God and focused on our present community with Jesus and our future reality of eternity. As we face these uncertain times, not dissimilar to Paul when he wrote Philippians, we are going to be aware of the fact that joy is possible–if we know where to look for it.