Harbor Church Honolulu

You don’t need to hate God to derail your life. You just need to be fine with how you are right now. God designed us to be constantly stretching and growing, and that starts with our souls. If you're feeling the need for change and growth, tune into the message.

We’re all looking for strategies to optimize our daily lives. But fitness-hacks and housekeeping-hacks can only take us so far. We need life-hacks that can optimize our friendships, careers, marriages, finances, and mental health. That’s where the book of Proverbs comes in. It gives hard-won wisdom on real-life issues. It helps us align our lives to the way God designed them to run best.

There’s a secret piece of information. If you know it, your life will be transformed. If you don’t, your life might be destroyed. It’s the secret to finding contentment, and Paul’s going to let us in on it.

Maybe it's social media, maybe it's FOMO (fear of missing out - probably induced by what people are watching on social media!) but anxiety in Americans is high. What's interesting is that in a survey of young adults, we see that the fears are much more “common” than we might think: financial concerns, jobs, relationships, and parents. The research actually shows that these concerns are globally common—everyone in the world can fall into patterns of fear and worry. The good news is the Bible gives us the solution the world needs in this week’s Scripture passage in Philippians.

We've all faced relational conflicts—whether as a toddler scrapping over toys, as a teenager feeling left out, or as an adult butting heads with coworkers and family members. Paul’s going to offer us guidance on how to respond, and it’s less about proving who is right, and more about doing what is right, which leads to greater happiness.

Ever find it hard to let go of the good and bad in life? Maybe you catch yourself playing the comparison game, or longing for the "good old days,” or even feeling like you’re drowning in regret and disappointment. Paul wrestled with all these things, and his approach was to forget both his brightest achievements and his darkest sins. This gives us a powerful lesson on how we can move forward.

We think we'll gain happiness by gaining things. Money and possessions. Epic experiences and vacations. Status and respect. A perfect family. Then we come to the book of Philippians and we meet a guy named Paul who found true happiness when he lost all those things, and gained something else in exchange. What’s that one thing that made him so ridiculously happy?

All of us follow the examples of other people. But what kind of examples are we following? Paul will help us identify the kind of people who will help us thrive in life, when we model our lives after them.

We can see darkness creeping in. Problems like drug abuse, violent crime, and involuntary homelessness are on the rise in Hawai’i. But Philippians 2 says God has a plan to address the darkness: “YOU shine like stars in the world.” So how can we shine at our brightest?

All of us who follow Christ want to be seen as servants. The problem is that none of us want to be treated like servants. But there’s deep happiness we can find when we consider others more important than ourselves.