Bulletins - Cornerstone Independent Baptist Church (Enola, PA)

Introduction
Turn to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
This past week I was reading some articles by a fellow independent Baptist pastor. He was writing about situations that some Christians face and he began touching on the theme of contentment. God worked in my heart about it and I believe that’s what he wants me to preach on this evening.
Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
It seems like just about every week lately I have found myself talking with different individuals in our church family about the problems they have been running into with health insurance.
Some folks face delays in getting surgeries done. Others can’t get the medication they need because policies change.
For myself, I just struggle with wrapping my mind around the terminology.
Deductible, premium, coinsurance, copay, out-of-pocket maximum, HMO’s versus PPO’s versus EPO’s!
About the only term I like is donut hole but it has nothing to do with food!
I think its pretty obvious that the health insurance industry is a complicated mess right now, to put it mildly.
There’s one more term in health insurance that we’re all familiar with: those things we call pre-existing conditions.
In health insurance, a pre-existing condition is a medical problem that existed before your health insurance coverage began. Insurers will sometimes advertise certain rates for health insurance but then the fine print will indicate that coverage may exclude or limit pre-existing conditions.
We know that as Christians, we are called to be content. But I fear that sometimes our contentment is contingent upon our having certain pre-existing conditions. In other words, we will be content, but our contentment is conditional.
I don’t see any evidence that Paul lived with that mindset.
Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
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Paul was content in weakness - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
It seems like this “thorn in the flesh” may have been what we would call a medical pre-existing condition. It’s possible that it was blindness because of Paul’s road to damascus experience, we don’t know. What we do know is this: it was a very real weakness. It was debilitating. It was limiting. It was difficult.
The most difficult part of all?
It was permanent.
Paul asked the Lord three times to take away this weakness, but the Lord said, “no.”
Application: How do you respond when God clearly says “no” to your prayer?
God had a purpose for this weakness, however, and Paul eventually came to appreciate it.
Were it not for this weakness, this thorn in the flesh, Paul likely would have been lifted up in pride over the fact that he received so much revelation from God. After all, more of the New Testament was delivered through Paul than any other human being. God had to keep Paul grounded.
Application: Take a moment, and identify your weakness.
It could be a health condition.
It could be a nagging problem that just won’t go away.
It could be the season of life you are in.
It could be the consequences of past decisions.
It could be an inability to do something that you feel you should be able to do.
It could be many other things besides, but whatever it is, it forces you to come to grips with your own frail humanity.
Now I ask you: are you content to live with that weakness?
Don’t just put up with your weakness. Learn to embrace it! Learn to see it not as a liability, but as an opportunity for God to get glory from your life!
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Paul was content in any condition - Philippians 4:10-11
Every now and then I will buy used items off of websites like Ebay or Facebook Marketplace.
When I see a listing the first thing I will notice is the price. Is it in my price range?
If the price is right, the next thing I want to know is the condition. What shape is it in?
Is it like new?
Is it in good condition?
Or is it, shall I say, “well-loved”?
Obviously, I care about the condition that a used item is in and generally, the better the condition, the more I like it.
That’s okay for Facebook Marketplace, but it’s a problem when that thinking bleeds over into life more broadly where the better our condition, the more we like it.
Listen to what Paul learned through the course of his walk with the Lord.
Read Philippians 4:10-11.
The Philippians could well appreciate what Paul says here, because he had lived it before them. Paul had learned that it didn’t matter what condition he was in - whether he was locked in a Philippian jail or whether he was resting in the comforts of Lydia’s house - Paul was content.
Application: Christian, what condition does God have you in, that you are not content with?
In other words, does your contentment comes with an asterisk?
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Contentment*
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Contentment*
*With certain pre-existing conditions
There’s one final principle about contentment that I see in Paul’s life.
Turn to 1 Timothy 6:6
In this final passage of Scripture, we are going to see Paul’s contentment in a positive sense. Not only was there much he was willing to do without, but his contentment was grounded in something far more important.
Read 1 Timothy 6:6-8
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Paul was content in godliness - 1 Timothy 6:6-8
Biblical contentment is not just learning to do without; it is learning to be satisfied with God alone.
If you learn to be satisfied with God alone, you will learn to be content with little else.
Luke 10:41–42 KJV 1900
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Psalm 27:4 KJV 1900
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
Psalm 73:25 KJV 1900
Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
That’s contentment. Paul had learned to be content in weakness, and to be content in any condition, because he had learned that true contentment is finding fulfillment in God alone.
Christian: learn contentment, without any pre-existing conditions.

Introduction