This is a sermon preview for Sunday, May 21st. It is the 6th week of the Eastertide sermon series “Easter Joy: A Walk Through Philippians. "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” -Philippians 4:4-9 "...It is genuinely odd, even bizarre, for a man in prison to urge others to 'celebrate.' But again in Philippians, he repeats this order. Celebrate! Throw a party! ... God's people in Christ are meant to celebrate because the gospel is still spreading good news and power and joy and hope to people far and wide, and it still brings good things to the imprisoned (Paul) and the persecuted (the Philippians).” - Nijay Gupta Have you ever met someone too aggressively happy? They spin everything, performing Olympic-level gymnastics to find the best way to spin every negative experience. They seem incapable of recognizing that hurt can be real, that a circumstance in life could be truly bad. In cartoons, they might say with a smile, “It’s not so bad! It could be worse. It COULD be raining!” We know what immediately happens then. It rains. To use some examples from children’s literature, I’m not trying to be a sad Eeyore the donkey from the Thousand Acre Woods moping about. But I think for many of us, a call to rejoice always might be seen as “Pollyanna-ish.” Pollyanna was the main character of a 1913 children’s story. Now, her name is synonymous with what Merriam-Webster calls: “a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything.” Relentlessly. Annoyingly. Chipper. But Paul is anything but a "Pollyanna" figure! He knows his situation brings real trouble. But if he is naturally realistic about his situation, he is supernaturally hopeful about the peace we have in God. [Read the rest on our Blog website at the link below]