Embracing Community and God's Transformative Grace

Paul is writing this letter to his Christian friends in Philippi. And it's important for us to know that he's writing about 60 years after Christ. And he's writing this particular letter 10 years after he started the church in Philippi. So this is the church that he began. And he's writing now, years later, a letter of encouragement to them. And he's writing this letter to the whole church, including the leaders and those who are serving there. And he starts by giving thanks for them. It's a really beautiful letter where you can sense the love and appreciation that Paul has for the Philippians. [00:03:24]

And so we hear from Paul that he prays for them consistently, constantly. He obviously feels that this is one way he can honor them because there's not much else he can do to repay how much he wants to have. And so he's writing this letter to thank them. And so he prays for them consistently as a way of giving thanks to God for them. [00:04:13]

Let me read just verses three and five again. He says, I thank my God every time I remember you and all my prayers for all of you because of your partnership in the gospel. I pray with joy from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. [00:04:31]

You can really sense this love that he has for them. And so he prays for them consistently as a way of giving thanks to God for the church. Can't you? Like we said, effectively, Paul is imprisoned as he writes this letter and his future is looking really uncertain. And yet he is able to have joy in the midst of it. The church brings him so much joy. [00:04:53]

And then they were still encouraging him and supporting him all these years later. And I think it's really interesting. Paul felt their support. Now, this is before the days of social media or texting. He is a traveling preacher. He's a church planter. He goes from place to place. He's not rooted anywhere. And yet Paul says that he feels supported. He doesn't sense that he's lonely. [00:05:55]

He has such a sense of what it means to be part of the church, the family of God. And he knows that he is a brother in Christ. He has such a deep love for the church and all the places he has been. And he feels like he's part of it. And, you know, so much of this, as I was reading through this, resonated with our church here over the years. [00:06:19]

And as I was looking back and thinking over the previous years, I was thinking about how far we've come. Some of you will have been here for a long time and remembered all the changes we've been through. But I was thinking about all of the young leaders. Leaders that you as the church have invested in before you knew if they were any good or not. And yet you gave them space to lead and to grow. [00:06:47]

And this list of young leaders. And I offer a thank you for all the ways that you've supported me and loved me over the years. When I was preparing this sermon, I had to think back to one of my first sermons that I ever preached. And I was cringing. And I was thinking, I cannot believe that was out there in the world. The things that I was saying and the things I was preaching as a young 18-year-old preacher. [00:07:22]

And I think part of the reason why Paul has such a sense of togetherness with the people in Philippi is because he describes them as partners in the gospel. And what that means is that they are one in heart and mind. They are positioned in particular places to share Christ with the world. They have the same mission regardless of where they are in the world. They are working to share God's love with others. [00:08:02]

And then he says something really cool he goes on to say this in verse six he says being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on until the day of completion in Christ Jesus there are two amazing things that I want to mention here that are completely amazing the first is that God is at work in you whether you knew or not this morning when you came in the door God is absolutely at work in you he has begun a good work in you now this is an incredible truth to remember and the Nazarene church we call it God's provenient grace it comes from the Latin word provenio which means I go before and what we mean by this is that God goes before us where we could even before we could even see it God is already at work. [00:08:57]

And then the other thing that is amazing is this Paul is confident that this good work which has been begun he is sure it will be carried on until it is wholly complete praise Jesus hallelujah I feel like I'm so longing for this my heart is just aching for this sometimes all the areas where I feel like I'm broken all the areas where I feel disappointed with myself all the areas where I feel I wish I was better God is going to be completing that work I long for it I ache for it and God will complete it there's something really exciting and encouraging about this to be part of community together and to be able to say to one another God will complete his work is working you to be able to say God's not finished with you yet. [00:10:02]

He offers a real challenge in the way that he loves the church. This isn't just a surface level chatting over a cup of tea on a Sunday morning type of love. This is a, in the midst of suffering and persecution, it brings me joy to think of you type of love. When I'm really struggling, I think of you and it brings me joy type of love. He says that even then he still had a heart. He had them in his heart. [00:14:53]