Daily: Joy - National Community Church

Grace and Peace

June 7, 2021 • Dr. Mark Batterson

Welcome to the NCC Daily. We are beginning a new series called Joy. Over the next nine weeks, we’ll walk through the book of Philippians verse-by-verse, day-by-day. Two reminders: one, joy is a person, and His name is Jesus. Two, joy is a choice. It’s not always the easiest choice or the obvious choice, but you can choose joy. We’ll discover how over the next nine weeks!

Joy in the House

June 25, 2021 • Pastor Heidi Scanlon

We know from the context of the New Testament that both Jesus and Paul would describe every “tongue” as not only individuals but nations as well. Remember on the day of Pentecost thousands of people all heard the glory of God being declared in their own nation’s or native tongue. When we zoom out and look at the big picture of this verse, here’s what we see and hear: God wants everyone to belong to Jesus. Every nation has reserved seating in the house of God. Every. Single. One.

Story of the Church

June 24, 2021 • Pastor Jenni Clayville

The cross was a cruel form of punishment reserved for slaves, and thieves, and others with little to no earthly status. In His obedience to the Father, Jesus willingly gave His life upon that cross. In this letter to the Philippians, Paul illuminates Jesus's character: that He’s self-emptying instead of self-magnifying. Don’t be mistaken—this isn’t just some coincidence happening to Jesus. He is actually entering into His mission fully and willingly, and not as a passive victim.

Jesus' Humble Mind

June 23, 2021 • Peter Hartwig

Jesus did not consider His equality with God to be like that—to be the kind of thing He needed to keep a grip on, to take for Himself. Instead, He knew that even His divinity was something He could hold with an open hand. His divine status was not the kind of thing He needed to keep on lockdown. That’s the way He thought about Himself and it decided the form of His incarnation. That, you might say, was Jesus’ humble mind.

A Posture of Humility

June 22, 2021 • Charles Williams

Reading this passage is a reminder of one of Jesus’ more peculiar ways. Found in the thirteenth chapter of John’s gospel is a story that begins with Jesus eating dinner with his disciples (pretty normal). After Jesus gets up, He ties a towel around His waist, pours water into a basin, kneels before His disciples, and begins to wash their feet. Now, why would a teacher bow before His students to wash their dirty feet? If anything, it should be the other way around as a way to honor their leader.

There You Are

June 21, 2021 • Dr. Mark Batterson

Being of one mind doesn’t mean we’ll see eye-to-eye on every issue. God-fearing, Bible-believing, Christ-following Christians have disagreed on certain points of doctrine for thousands of years. But please hear this: what unites us is much stronger than the things that divide us. Our common ground is common grace.

His Favor and Grace

June 18, 2021 • Steven Most

Joy is having the awareness of God’s grace and favor. As we meditate on the suffering of Paul and perhaps our own or that of others, let us make that profound decision of faith and hope in the power of Jesus and His love. May we acknowledge God’s favor and grace in our lives for that is where true joy comes from.

Joy on the Grayscale

June 17, 2021 • Ethan Lewis

Our call is to continue to stand unified because of the power of the gospel that transforms both hearts and minds for the restoration of the world. When we grasp the beauty of what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do, even when He paints in shades of gray, then friends, we can even find opportunities for joy, even on the grayscale.

Joy of Your Faith

June 16, 2021 • Sarah Arndt

Paul is confident in the giftings that God has given him to further the Gospel but he is also confident that he will live through this really difficult season in his life and keep using those giftings to encourage and inspire joy in his friends. This should be an inspiration to us all to help someone grow and experience the joy of their faith.

For Your Sake

June 15, 2021 • Pastor Kiersten Telzerow

We’ve been reading through chapter one together and the most common thread in this letter is that Paul is always thinking about Christ or he is always thinking about the other person to whom he is writing. Then we get to this passage and he says, yet again, it’s about Christ, and it’s about the body of Christ, but it’s also about the work that Paul is called to and the joy and fruitfulness that comes from it.

Courage to Show Up

June 14, 2021 • Pastor Robb Schmidgall

The most courageous thing you can do is show up as yourself. Who you are is a child of God. You are most like yourself when you are most like Christ.

Even Still, I Rejoice

June 11, 2021 • Jill Wyman

We all have circumstances beyond our control, and while we may not be in literal physical chains, there are other types of chains. While it is hard when we are in these circumstances, let’s try to stay accountable to one another in prayer, in friendships, and individually, by reading the Word and staying centered and rejoicing in His promises for our lives, even in the suffering. Let’s rejoice, even when we don’t feel it.

Advancement of the Gospel

June 10, 2021 • Debra De Los Reyes

How do your experiences of pain, loss, or trauma inform the advancement of the gospel in your life? Our pain, loss, and trauma can become a form of imprisonment. We have all heard how these experiences inform how we see ourselves, how we see the world around us, and its humanity. Our experiences inform what we do or say, how we react, how we withhold—for good or for wrong.

Power of Love

June 9, 2021 • Pastor Ernest Clover

Love is the greatest winnowing fork there is. The love of Christ separates so that it may unite us. It separates us from those things that would keep us from God and His good and perfect will and unites us to God.

Special Favor of God

June 8, 2021 • Pastor Lyle Tard

There is a binding agent, a blood transfusion that we all have the opportunity to receive if we haven’t done so already. You may call it Blood Type J. The special favor of God we rejoice in over each one of you is that this blood type, Blood Type J, Blood Type Jesus, supersedes any blood on this earth that could potentially bring us together in a way that distance can’t separate, that proximity cannot make closer, and personal knowledge cannot make any more intimate. It’s the special favor that you and I are blood-bought relatives in this family called the Church of Jesus Christ.