Count It All Joy | Emonne Markland | Sermon Notes — Hello Pastor

Sermon Notes

Count It All Joy

Emonne Markland

Victory Church • Jul 11, 2026 • 124 min

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Take this message with you through a journey of Scripture, reflection, and prayer.

Summary

In times of unexpected challenges and suffering, God calls believers to shift their mindset from survival to spiritual profit. Counting it all joy means viewing life's tests through the lens of faith, recognizing that trials are not designed to destroy us but to produce patient endurance and spiritual maturity. By acknowledging God's presence, resting in His promises, and looking to Jesus, we can trust that God is doing the spiritual math to turn every loss into lasting profit.

Themes

Counting It All JoyTrials and SufferingSpiritual Maturity and EnduranceProfit vs. Loss LedgerGod's Presence in DifficultyFaithfulness and Promises

Pastor's Points

1.

Count it

2.

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials

3.

Count it all joy by knowing that the testing of your faith is producing

4.

Count it all joy by letting patient endurance do its work

5.

Count it all joy by acknowledging God's presence and remembering His promises

6.

Count it all joy by looking to Jesus

7.

Count it all joy by considering your reward

Key Points

1.
Count it—take account, acknowledge the struggle, and face it directly rather than discounting, hiding from, or devaluing what you are going through.
2.
Count it all joy when you fall into various trials—do not withhold your gratitude, praise, or counting until after the breakthrough, but count it in the middle of the trial.
3.
Count it all joy by knowing that the testing of your faith is producing—recognize that tests refine your faith like fire purifies gold and build spiritual endurance.
4.
Count it all joy by letting patient endurance do its work—allow God to bring you to spiritual maturity and completeness so that you lack nothing.
5.
Count it all joy by acknowledging God's presence and remembering His promises—ask God to reveal His proximity in your situation and anchor your soul in His unchanging Word.
6.
Count it all joy by looking to Jesus—keep your focus on the author and finisher of your faith, who endured the cross for the joy set before Him.
7.

Sermon Moments

“The story of a stranger passing a handwritten prayer request note at a Midtown brunch spot, serving as a reminder that everyone faces deep trials.”

“The introduction of the Blessing Jar, built to write down and preserve small, daily expressions of God's unexpected goodness.”

“The illustration of the silversmith who keeps silver in the fire only until he can see his own reflection in the metal.”

“The concept of 'Jesus math,' where suffering, surrender, crucifixion, and resurrection add up to eternal joy and profit.”

“The personal testimony of lung cancer surgery on April 17, 2007, and how God turned the month of April from a season of medical grief into a season of marriage, family, and ministry rebirth.”

“The contrast between erecting gravestones over painful experiences versus establishing memorial stones of God's resurrection power.”

This Week

Start a blessing jar in your home to write down and collect daily notes of God's unexpected goodness, faithfulness, and answers to prayer.

Create a timeline of the past decades of your life to reflect on former trials and identify how God produced spiritual gain out of hardship.

When facing a test or challenge this week, pray: 'Lord, show me Your proximity in this place and reveal what You are building in me.'

Intentionally shift your mental ledger on a current struggle, moving it from a perceived 'loss' into God's 'profit' column through prayer.

Write key Bible promises on sticky notes or set them as your phone wallpaper so God's Word remains an anchor during difficult days.

Fix your eyes on Jesus during times of weariness, drawing strength from the knowledge that He sympathizes with your weaknesses.

Share a personal testimony with someone in the next generation about how God brought you through past trials and remained faithful.

Remember This

Counting it all joy means looking at every trial through the eyes of faith, trusting that God is present and actively turning every pain into spiritual profit.

A Challenge for You

Don't discount your season. Don't overlook it. Start counting it because God's turning it. God's moving. And it's time to begin to have joy—joy that doesn't make sense, joy that is unreasonable and unconventional, joy that can only come from God.

These are personal sermon notes shared to help you remember the message — not a replacement for Scripture, your church, or your pastors.