Philippians 1:3-11
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 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.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:3-11 GOD’S GOOD WORK
Springford Baptist Church: October 17, 2021.
CBOQ (Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec) Sunday
Key verse: “Being confident that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
Although most of us have some projects or work that we have started but have not finished, God does carry on His work to completion. There are 2 things for us to hear as we are LISTENING FOR GOD in today’s message:
1. God completes the good work that He begins in people
2. God invites us to join Him in that good work that He is carrying on.
On this CBOQ Sunday, the Mission Statement of our Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec inspires us in this regard:
A family of churches, transformed by Christ, revealing God’s kingdom.
It is always necessary for us to keep in view that the revealing of God’s kingdom is God’s good work and He does His good work through us.
Sometimes churches lose sight of the truth that what they are doing and being is God’s work. There is sometimes a dangerous and false conclusion that church is all about us and what we do, when it is in fact all about God and what he does.
If we think of God already being at work in the lives of people and us joining Him in that work, it can help us to maintain an accurate perspective.
As Paul writes this letter to the church at Phillipi, He is so thankful for God’s work in and through them.
We can recognize his genuine gratitude when he writes, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (vs.3)
Would people say that about you and about our church?
Paul prays with joy when he prays for this church, “because of their partnership in the gospel.” (vs.4)
The carrying out of God’s good work does require partnership. It is necessary for people to work together in individual churches. It is necessary for there to be an overall partnership in the gospel when churches join together in supporting and doing God’s good work.
We are remembering that:
1. God completes the good work that He begins in people
2. God invites us to join Him in that good work that He is carrying on.
We can gain an understanding of how Paul feels about this church in Philippi when he says that he, “has them in his heart.” (vs.7)
We have our families in our hearts. Do we also have our church family in our hearts as we consider that we are in partnership in the gospel, the work of building God’s kingdom?
Paul’s prayer for this church is expressed in Philippians 1:9-11,
“that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
This is a prayer that we can and need to be praying for our church family and for our wider family of CBOQ churches. When our love is abounding more and more in knowledge and depth of insight then we can be certain that God is carrying on the good work that He has begun in us.
We too can be confident that:
1. God completes the good work that He begins in people
2. God invites us to join Him in that good work that He is carrying on.
Being available for God’s good work always involves listening for God and here is a true story of a single Mom that demonstrates the potential for God’s good work when we listen and are available for what God guides us to do:
“It was the day before Thanksgiving the first one my three children and I would be spending without their father, who had left several months before. Now the two older children were very sick with the flu, and the oldest had just been prescribed bed rest for a week.
It was a cool, gray day outside, and a light rain was falling. I grew wearier as I scurried around, trying to care for each child: thermometers, juice, diapers. And I was fast running out of liquids for the children. But when I checked my purse, all I found was about $2.50 and this was supposed to last me until the end of the month. That’s when I heard the phone ring.
It was the secretary from our former church, and she told me that they had been thinking about us and had something to give us from the congregation. I told her that I was going out to pick up some more juice and soup for the children, and I would drop by the church on my way to the market.
I arrived at the church just before lunch. The church secretary met me at the door and handed me a special gift envelope. “We think of you and the kids often,” she said, “and you are in our hearts and prayers. We love you.” When I opened the envelope, I found two grocery certificates inside. I was so touched and moved, I broke down and cried.
“Thank you very much,” I said, as we hugged each other. “Please give our love and thanks to the church.” Then I drove to a store near our home and purchased some much-needed items for the children.
At the check-out counter I had a little over $14.00 worth of groceries, and I handed the cashier one of the gift certificates. She took it, then turned her back for what seemed like a very long time. I thought something might be wrong. Finally I said, “This gift certificate is a real blessing. Our former church gave it to our family, knowing I’m a single patent trying to make ends meet.”
The cashier then turned around, with tears in her loving eyes, and replied, “Honey, that’s wonderful! Do you have a turkey?” “No. It’s okay because my children are sick anyway.” She then asked, “Do you have anything else for Thanksgiving dinner?” Again I replied, “No.”
After handing me the change from the certificate, she looked at my face and said, “Honey, I can’t tell you exactly why right now, but I want you to go back into the store and buy a turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie or anything else you need for a Thanksgiving dinner.” I was shocked, and humbled to tears. “Are you sure?” I asked. “Yes! Get whatever you want. And get some Gatorade for the kids.”
I felt awkward as I went back to do more shopping, but I selected a fresh turkey, a few yams and potatoes, and some juices for the children. Then I wheeled the shopping cart up to the same cashier as before. As I placed my groceries on the counter, she looked at me once more with giant tears in her kind eyes and began to speak.
“Now I can tell you. This morning I prayed that I could help someone today, and you walked through my line.” She reached under the counter for her purse and took out a $20 bill. She paid for my groceries and then handed me the change. Once more I was moved to tears.
The sweet cashier then said, “I am a Christian. Here is my phone number if you ever need anything.” She then took my head in her hands, kissed my cheek and said, “God bless you, honey.”
As I walked to my car, I was overwhelmed by this stranger’s love and by the realization that God loves my family too, and shows us his love through this stranger’s and my church’s kind deeds.”
This story reminds all of us that as we are praying and listening for God that He can show us how to join him in the good work that He is already doing and that we are invited to join in. How amazing to have opportunity to see evidence that:
1. God completes the good work that He begins in people
2. God invites us to join Him in that good work that He is carrying on.