Sunday Service

precious father was a gift that you would speak to us in in your kindness you would preserve your word in this this book and so maybe we come to it and not handle it like any other book but it is what it is the the living actor is powerful word of God and so with that God we ask for at least these two things that you would grant us as we dive into this text and continue to worship you through your word you would grant us hunger in humility is make us hungry for you or you help us realize how famished our souls are without hearing from our living Creator God that would look like our bodies being attentive and our minds and we would have energy given from you that we might engage with your word and you also granicy humility you'd help us bow our knees beneath your Texas is a massively encouraging positive but we even need humility take to receive it truth and so we asked you and help us to the Balvenie that we could memorize these vs. and we can remember I see these doctrines but God we don't want to be people that Master the Bible as much as be master Buy it. It's off of Steuben beneatha above all things God. I pray that there's not a single person that leaves here more burden than they came in because they would have heard of the perfect work and performance of Jesus Christ on their behalf. May Jesus be seen and savored and celebrated his hero today. I pray that would be true in our songs. I pray that would be true in our prayers. I pray that would be true in the sermon. I know it is true in this text. We say all of this. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. If you're able would you please stand for the reading of God's word?

Philippians chapter 1 verses 3 through 8 This is God's holy encouraging word. I think my God in all my remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy. Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart for you all partakers with me of Grace. Both in my imprisonment and of the defense and confirmation of the Gospel. For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ. Jesus. Feel free to grab a scene.

The author of this letter Paul who helped plan this church about 12 years prior in this Roman colony called Phillipi. He wrote this letter as an expression really it in and we could take these verses we could stay like this Paul love the local church Paul absolutely adored the local church in these verses are in many ways a celebration of that's what I want to do. Today is talk about how do we get to the place? If you're already there praise got to be that formation. How do we get to the place? We would like the local church may want to play for a different to look at the place. We actually aren't even sure about the local church, but how might we get to a place where we love the local church. Imma give you a number of handles for this. I'll start with this one. You need a local church. You need a local church Paul new this personally. Paul with someone in the early church you start a new church is travel around all over the ancient world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in planting churches. He is resilient and tough and Getty Road half of the New Testament and yet he was never somebody who said I can go It Alone ever. He was always somebody you had a team with him wherever he wanted was somebody who always knew that he needed other people to engage with him and his faith in the Gospel Mission of seeing other people meet Jesus Christ his letters. There's 13 of them. They are loaded with names of people that were parts of local churches. They are loaded with request for prayer. They are loaded with request for for practical acts of a service. They are loaded with examples of the Church of visiting in and encouraging him. He needed help support everything Paul is likely writing this letter to the Philippian Church from a Roman prison. He's in a difficult place a place prisons at this time often times. You weren't fed. You relied on the kindness of your friends or your community to come in and actually be able to provide for even the most practical things of a food and water. He's writing this letter from prison. And what's amazing is it drips with Choi the whole that I Think About You from prison? In all my remembrance of you from prison. I make my prayer with joy throughout the letters as you you bring you bring me joy and rejoicing in the Lord. I am just stunned by Who You Are How is that? How is he? Joyful? Cuz he's thinking of the church that help the plant it go back 12 years ago last week. We talked about the briefly the beginnings of this church. He's thinking about Lydia. This is Asia business woman who's a fashion Mogul wealthy homes in multiple places. He's thinking about how she met Jesus Christ in even while he's in prison in Chains. He's just thanking God. You thinking about this? Brutal Roman Jailer who had imprisoned him in Philip. I'm singing about how God saved him and it's bringing him Joy. The friends in his letters. He's thinking about their faith or friendship and he's definitely thinking about we have this clue in verse five. He singing about their partnership in the gospel. So this is prayer that he's making from prison is joy that he has he says it this way to ditch because there's five of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now that word partnership is a really cute word for us understanding our need for a local church. It's a word that it it it it says it's not it's not it's not a.m. It's not a light word. It means deep familiarity a deep knitting together 8 belonging to one another a deep Affinity with one another and there are millions of ways you think about a local church? There are millions of ways to partner with a local church to have the sort of Buy in the start of Fellowship that you generate with other people. I'll give you some of them one of them was through funding. So the this church in Phillipi funded the work that Paul did to go plant churches and other places they help to support him practically funding is one of the ways that they partnered there's examples of prayers one of the ways they partner there's any Kirkman visitations, there's people from Philippine. It actually went to visit Paul to try to encourage him in the work that he was doing. These are all things that some of you have engaged in and partnership. There's teaching one another we can expand this out. There's forgiveness of one of those are praying for another there's hanging out with one of those playing with what I was watching each other's kids. They showed up in volunteering with one another's serving your city together. These are all the ways that we might say. We are partnering together for the Take of the Gospel in the midst of our City's but let me tell you this there are millions and millions of reasons to partner. There's all sorts of ways. Anyway that you buy in to a local church is an example of you part and there are millions of ways to get I'm going to give you two of them to try to get us to say like, I need a local church. Let me give you the first one. It's practically helpful. Like not to stay on the sidelines not to just attend, but to really Buy in a few I'm going to partner with this community. One of the reasons it is practically helpful Mission takes money. It's expensive to two plant. Rich is Paul. He's traveling around the world. This takes money to to feed into clothing to care. And if you all sorts of things mission takes money, it takes people serving. It takes a lot of work to pull off at church. Let me just take a Sunday morning around Redeemer. It takes something like 65 volunteers just to pull this off every single son in this is just one small thing that this church is involved it. So it's practically helpful. We can't do this alone it take people willing to give people willing to work people going to pray people willing to show up people willing to buy in that's the Practical side of the cemetery this so maybe even more so it's personally helpful. Partnering with a local church is personally help with someone appeal to our own self-interest here for a minute. Your heart will follow the things that you invest in the Bible talk about Jesus when he talks about giving uses your your heart will follow your treasure where you put your time where you put your money where you put your interest your heart will go after that until one of the things that can happen. When you partner with a church because of your partnership in the gospel is it does not just benefit the work that's happening out here. It's benefiting what God's doing in here. It's drawing our attention or affection towards the things that were given to the things that were serving your heart will follow the people you partner with in the mission your partnering on contribute to a variety of different church planting and every one of the first ones we ever got involved in was the ruse who went from Boston. We were in similar back in Boston, they decide to move to Japan to help plant churches. And so it was such a joy to be able to be one of their financial and prayer partners and I'm sure the time because I was in seminary and working at a bookstore for like 5 bucks an hour. We partnered like, you know a Snickers a month and so but what happened is we started to care about the Japanese people. We tried to pray for the Japanese people one of the largest if not the largest unreached people group in the entire world. It's like I didn't think about it that much before that. I didn't think about what it would be like to let him think about access to the gospel anything but ask me again to partner with them. God begin to strengthen our heart begin to follow. It was personally helpful to us thinking about them Lord of the Rings in Lord of the Rings fans. Three of you while you're the three of you would like to sell the stration I was thinking about it. I was cracking the stream in the sort of idea of The Fellowship of the Rings. This word we have for partnership for fellowship and by God's grace and it's just shows you the kindness of the Lord towards me. Is it last night? My oldest son came up to me said hey, Dad, can we restart watching The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Let's watch all 6 movies. And I said, yes, we can it's a weary watch this all the time and one of the reasons that I love it so much as you get into the Lord of the Rings in the whole story of this some of you may know it's something you don't answer. It's basically a ring that has to get destroyed because it represents massive evil. And it destroys people until they going to throw it in this volcano. It totally makes sense. It's based on real life. And so they basically they got to go on this giant epic journey to get to a place where they can Chuck this ring into a big lava pool and then everything is great. And so what they do though is they had to create this community of people they're going to be able to go on this Mission and order the good can triumph over evil and there's this scene. Is there sitting amongst all these elves. In this really beautiful little idyllic place and they're gathered around and there's a variety of people there's humans. There's else there's Hobbits. There's this great divorce picture all gathered around 1 Central Mission and hazard in this place. They get dub to get christened. As you are now The Fellowship of the Ring you are the ones that have been appointed in chosen to partner together in order to overthrow. Even when I watch that. I think I just go that's the local church. The diversity of people from A diversity of backgrounds with the diversity of gifts gather on one Central purpose to make the name of Jesus Christ known and their cities and to the ends of the Earth. What happens is that through that mission and through that partnership you develop deep deep friendships. That's what you having. A lot of things. You have deep meaningful friendships with people that you would never have connected with before. If the mission transcends our disagreements and it causes and compels us to go into why do you need a local church? Why do you need to Depart of the local church? Because it's personally helpful to get your heart after God in the things of God.

You want them the more you going man said this way one of the best ways to grow your faith is to increase your partnership to pray to serve two to connect to engage the more you go in his gospel Partners, the more the Gospel of Jesus Christ will get him or the story of God's grace in Christ pursuing us will become real to us. They just say this way the more you buy in the more you will get out. It's easy. It's so easy to get to gather and kind of tiptoe nutrition. I love it. Where a place where we we don't we're not going to ever push. We're not going to push you to it to do more than just an invitation if you if you feel like man, I'm just not that connected. I don't really know that many people. I don't really ever think about this. I don't really think about the gospel Monday through Saturday one of the ways that that can change and tweaks. Is it the more you buy in the more you will get out it almost always happens that way

I love this line. And this text turn first three Paul says, I think my God in all my remembrance of you. This is him saying I need I need the local church. All my remembrance is such a helpful phrases and I had a really joyful time this last week playing back this real and story of how different local churches have been such a huge part of my own faith in my own growth. I'm hoping maybe stir your own memories for those who have been apart of local churches weather long time or short time of riding horses that did this will remind you of what God's done through God's people to grow your faith in your love for him and maybe for some it would just encourage you like you're going to hear stories and you're probably doing these things for other people. Maybe it just encourage you and cheer you on and what you're doing. I'll give you two some examples like I was thinking about the caucuses and in my friend Pete who has a childhood friend with and I'm in elementary school. I want to his house and we would walk to school together and and his parents would open up their their home to me and I would go in there in the morning their families always be family devotions. And so we Gather the living room and in the dad John he wouldn't John and Joanne were the the the the the husband and wife and that they would lead family devotions in this living room. And they and they always included me they would have welcomed me and I just don't remember anything that was ever said. I remember anything that was ever prayed for. I just remember that they welcome to me and I began to stir this kind of desire for the things of God and they would take me then to church with them. And this is in my drawer in my office is the the first Bible that I ever had they bought this for me was so cool. I looked at the front they bought this for me on May 10th birthday and it was I remember just think it was I never read it cuz I was 10 but I did I had it and in the end the front here, you know, just my name I can go did anyone in her dude, it would never have someone buy you a Bible. Put your name on it, Thanks be to God. a partner in the gospel

Start thinking about summer. I was a senior in my high school. I was a freshman at the time and she would come and pick me up from my house. And she she was part of a a church where I go kind of infrequently, but you would come and get me and then she would take me to youth group. But I am sure I think about that far only for a couple of recent stuff was really hot and I was a freshman she was a senior and she could drive so that was awesome. And thanks be to God. He uses all me and Stripes. I'm sure the time I'm not like let me go to youth group health like Summers. Can I get me a Min? Can we go twice? You no answer. So I just started thinking about these people that would go out of their way and order that I could stay connected to a church sure thing about Mark who was from what I remember. Really dumpy Church stodgy the most uncool Church. You could possibly imagine. He was the youth pastor of five kids, and I was one of them. And just thinking through this guy who who just loved us remember anything else? I remember we talked about. I don't remember the stuff that we why I don't but I just remember the key to the church have a youth pastor like that someone who just loved you.

My friend Matt wall who was a youth pastor at Christ the King Church in Bellingham and when my wife and I move or at the time we were dating but we moved to Western from the Seattle area to go to Western and she wanted to work with young life. And at the time it said we don't need any female leaders. They had too many of them with your stunning, right? That's 20. This is like 50 years ago. So

Okay, my mom adjust the notes. I was joking. So as soon as I prevent she got connected with Christ the King Community Church. This guy named Matt who is leading that group today? I would love for you to come out and leave it our youth group. And I remember her telling me about it when she came home from the first I said, I'll tell me about she's a great group of people they mean the warehouse and I was like, I think they're cool if they mean the warehouse I got to be a call. And so I said, can I come check it out with you? So she asked me go and my first time going to this youth group. I got recruited by Matt to actually start serving this youth ministry. And so I began serving in high school as a freshman at Western who had it been disciples and didn't know anything about the church and had a Bible but never cracked. And they said hey, why'd you come in and then we'll train your what will get you involved and it's just somebody said I'm going to give you a place of meaningful servicing and we're going to train you were going to work with you and then he grew me to tell begin to leave music at that church over 4 years while I was in college and I just looked back and I go how the Lord tethered me to him through my college Years because he gave me a place to serve at a local church. I did all sorts of idiotic things. I just think how much more idiotic I would have been without a local church. Amen. Yeah, you can't get too hungover when you have to play music on Sunday. She's practically hope I'm so grateful for that. I'm grateful for for a Pastor Steve of that church. I got to baptize my wife with them. I'm grateful for my friend Jason who's in my wedding who would pick me up once a week to take me to breakfast just a feet have so many just buy you breakfast and hang out with you because they wanted to invest in you. She was probably full of that. I think about the vision that was Casper my wife and I as we were dating is people just speak into our license places to serve the did such a big deal. And when we move to Seattle and got involved in a church plant in between to leave music in the past. It was there looking at me in really scare me one day and said you don't people can look at you like a pastor here, which I think he medicine encouragement and I just fell Dominus and so then I end up in San there cuz I thought I probably should read my Bible. It's some point if you were going to think about me like that and then going to Seminary and having God put local church people in my life like Scott who I remember the first time I met him as an older guy who I'd ask to mention me in the first thing ever did it you just grab me and hug me and he kept hugging me and hug me till it was awkward and then he hugged me until the awkward one away and you love me for 2 years straight. The local church is study. I need I need need need the local church. Then Christ the King in town invited me back to be able to pastor and serve and just putting up with the young pass. You didn't know anything. And then enjoy sending me out to to plant this church in a room full of people that were part of that. I got more on Redeemer later. I'll see if it hears a big up Chad. I need a local church. I need a local people. They're willing to partner with me for my good and my faith and that's what it takes. Right none of that. So part of this like you need a local church. I'll give you the other side of the local church needs you the stuff. I experienced would have happened. None of it would have happened if other people weren't willing to partner in to buy in and contribute the local church needs you one key way to understand the the letter to the Philippian church. Is it say what's known as a missionary support letter? The church was helping to fund the work that Paul was doing it. So he's writing this letter in part to thank them to fill them in. This is what's going on in my life. This is how the gospel is going forth. Don't be discourage be encouraged. God is doing something a missionary support letters away of date basically saying like I can't do this without you. This is God's grace through you what you do really matters at the way of saying the local church. It needs you. There's a key obstacle with that right? There's a bunch of them, but I'll give you a big one is it we have to lay down if we're going to buy into this type of partnership. Remember this word Reese's you partnered with me. It's a deep word. It said it's a meaning for V word. That means we have to lay down if some of our individualism We have to lay down some of our freedoms in our in our even our rights our preferences in our opinions in order to say it's just not all about me. It gets to be someone about me. But the local church isn't all about me when I show up. It's not all about me. It's not do I like the music do I like the sermon do I like the kids missed you I like the coffee. Do I like my parking spot? It's not just that but it's also how is God using me for these people today for the good of other people Church isn't just about a set of Paula saying it's been thank you for partnering with me. Thank you for being willing to be other oriented. Thank you for saying it's not all about me. Jerry Bridges has this quote. He says for many years. I took an individual stick approach to the Christian Life. I was concerned about my growth as a Christian my prayer list all the mines my progress and Holiness my acquisition to finish screws skills. I prayed that God would enable me to be more holding in my personal life and more effective in my evangelism. I ask God's blessing on my church in the Christian organization. I work for but as I learn more about True Fellowship, it's another way of saying partnership. I began to pray that we is the body of Christ would grow that we know that ship from my two weeks. He's not that he's not included anymore. It's just that there's other people that are brought along. Plus I learn more about True Fellowship. I begin to pray that we as a body of Christ would grow in Holiness that we would be more effective witnesses to the Saving Grace of Christ. It is the entire body not just me that needs to grow. When you partner with the gospel and you partner with the local church, what you're saying is it's not all about me to give you a couple of examples of TV for examples of how we as a church of benefit from the gift of people in this church. I might give you four out of probably a trillion examples your gifts your time. Your love your service your partnership are all examples of Wade that we as a church benefit from you. I was thinking about give you one of them a couple in Our Gospel Community is it's got to be one of the friendliest most inclusive most inviting people I've ever met in my entire life they actually so they show up early before services and why they show up early as they know that the only people that ever show up early at least it Redeemer Church our visitors and them that's it. Right. Everyone else comes about 12 minutes late. And so so they come early because they know that the people that actually going to be sitting here that's how you know, if there's a visitor they're here early or they're here on time and still actually come early and I watch them every Single week. I watch them meet a new couple then then as a meat that new couple. They look him in the eyes. They remember their names then they go introduce them to other people in the church and it happens. I I think I've heard this a dozen times over the last 12 weeks. It will be like, oh, hey give us a call this week. Here's our number would love to have you for dinner or what? Hey, let's go to dinner this afternoon or doing that. This is a couple that we need that sort of hospitality from I'll give you another example in our church gospel communities in our church and loving each other. Well has been studying over this season of a lot of medical issues. Some of you were aware of this some of you may not be aware. But we as a church you're going to attend the candy number of very serious very significant very tired and very costly very disruptive medical issues. And I have watched all of our Juicy's love the people that are in their groups to help fun fun needs to to pray for them to do babysitting to cook meals for them to come provide massages for for for them to do yard work for them to scour bathrooms for them to do drive to Seattle and back for radiation treatments over and over and over again to not forget them. It's a stunning. I watch to expand out of just those immediate gospel can use iWatch to just be this church. Just the absolute love and come back like we need that. Their burdens in life that we can carry and there's loads that we cannot carry by ourselves in God's appointed churches to help us carry those and you're doing it. The local church needs you. It's sending volunteers. As I said, I think it takes like 60 to volunteers to just pull off a Sunday every Sunday. Thank you. Thank you. Give me another way out of trillions of ways that we need you want one of our core commitment to the churches that we are in our city to love our city, which means we have practical tangible things that we do to try to love this city. It's a one of those things is our partnership with all the Wood Elementary School on the north side of town. This is a group of students and teachers and staff that are just wonderful and we've been invited by her school district to go in there and practically love and serve. So that looks like people running after school program that looks like people partnering in classrooms that looks like people volunteering for field days and it's showing of it PTA meetings and all sorts of different things recently that it look like and there's no way that I would have pulled this off by myself cuz I'm just not going to write this many. Thank you card. Is it we decided we wanted to do something really tangible. So we want for all 55 people that are staff at all. Elementary to actually get them gift card and a little note. This is what you do matters. And so we need a 55 you was at church provided 64 and that awesome will do some what do a couple of pictures. So this is this is what you're doing. When you partner with the gospels, you're making a difference in a community of people that are probably tired and probably exhausted even though schools you're just got started and so they're sitting there holding these cards. I think three of them will just go to the next one. Just people singing. Thank you little part to say what you do gets noticed. Keep going keeping it there really excited. They got the golden ones, I guess so, What you do matters the local church needs you we cannot do this without you Paul. No doubt. So you write this letter it says I'm praising God as I think about you my heart's encouraged even though I'm in prison the gospels going for your partnership is Meaningful. It's making a difference. Some of this we could keep a nut the theoretical the idea of love the local church. You need a local church local church needs you it sometimes gets a little bit harder though when we make it specific like love your local church love this local place for some this is easy for some hard loving the idea of a church can sometimes be easier in theory and in practice. So what I want to do is give a couple handles for how we can do this. Well one thing I do want to recognize though. Is that what Paul experienced in this church what I've experienced in my my life and local churches. I think it's been predominantly very positive. I know I know even in this room all that you've experienced in a local churches in this positive. So I'm not going to go into it too. Why but I will say this that's why we got to get church, right? That's why the cultures of our church really matter. That's why how we build this thing really matters because not everyone is experience the start of the life-giving partnership. Some people say that's the last place. I really want of Engagement because it's so painful that so with that is why it matters we want we want to be able to thank God, right? So it's one of the things is that it's important to notice when we are part of good churches. So it's like wouldn't churches are or are not doing well when they're not loving places. It's really painful. And so it's a good reminder to us that when they are that that we should really take notice and celebrate and thank God. Like pause and you say I can't believe this thing that I'm getting to be a part of that's what Paul is doing. He's pausing and saying I'm so thankful to God for this community. He's he's just taking a moment and say what a gift from God good churches artists. It's not take them for granted. But let's let them help us rejoice that if you've been apart of a good church for any amount of time you can sometimes get so used to it. You forget what you have. Like my wife has loved me since I was 17 years old. That's miraculous it right you your many of you put up with me every week. I mean imagine every day every day. She is loved me since I was 17 years that we have 19 years of marriage. She is by far my best friend. She is an incredible partner with me in life and Ministry in razor in building a legacy by God's grace. I mean she is stunning to me. I forget it all the time. I forget to look at her and be captivated with her kindness and her beauty and her side. I forget and then every now and then what will be hanging out at home and I look over and I'm like, wow. I mean, wow am I making up for it now? Am I getting there?

All right. Beautiful, but who she is in my life and all that. She's done. I would not be nearly who I am without her with that when you sit there and you pause for I'm remembering you posted. I'm remembering you you get a positive say thanks be to God for this place that loves me and investing me that one handle for loving your local church. Is a local church doesn't have to be perfect to be a great church. Amen. A local church does not have to take every single box that you have in order to be a great church. It just doesn't a lot of what shapes the way we think about a local churches where we choose to look. And what we choose to emphasize. Paul etching Philippians Philippians is probably one of the most positive letters that he wrote It's arguably one of the best churches in the New Testament and yet they still at issues will get there later on in the book but there's multiple references to like, let's go to maturity everyone. So there's an assumption that maybe there's some immaturity happy in the church. There's a lot of emphasis on having humility with one another in our personal relationships. So there's it's likely that he's trying to counteract. So it's imposter in Posen what's happening in the church in chapter 4, he directly talks about two people in the church that are having a massive conflict. And now other people interested to go in a wreck. So there are there are issues in this really really good church, but it still was a great church that he sits here from prison saying I think God in all my remembrance of you always and every prayer of my making my prayer with joy When God brings you to mind my heart left. Scott sauce doesn't like the sentence is a good helpful. Cody says membership in a local church means joining your imperfect self too many other imperfect cells to form an imperfect community that through Jesus embarked on a journey towards a better future together a really healthy way up shot of how how can you love your local church. Maybe it's this emphasize. What's right not what's wrong and set realistic expectations and start looking for these things to celebrate. All right. Let me let me give you giving got 2 Verse 6 yet, which is a monster of a purse too big reasons to love your local church. If I don't have you yet. I hope it does you need a local church a local church needs you I see I see that in phatic Lee the local church needs you. Let me give each other big reasons to love the local church. The local church is God's idea. It's God's plan. It's God's agenda. It's it's God's directed. That's why if you look at the text again pulses is it look it look with me at at verse 3. So look down at your text what to say? I think who am I? Okay, look at me Philippians chapter 1 verse 3 page 980 in the Bible's in front of you. I thank my he's thanking God cuz he knows it's God's gift. You got that. He said I thank God for the Philippian church because I know the Philippian church is the gift of God. So one reason to love the local church in to see it is God's grace. Good is it's God's idea and the other part is it's God's grace for your good. So, it's God the gift for your good Dietrich. Bonhoeffer says this he says it is by the grace of God. The congregation is permitted to gather visibly in the world to share God's word and sacrament. Not all Christians receive this blessing. The imprisoned the sick the scattered lonely. They know not the visible Fellowship is a bus in this thing that we're doing now is an example of that. You're That Word Fellowship again, right? Therefore let him who until now has had the privilege of living in the common Christian Life with other Christians. Praise God's grace. from the bottom of his heart let him thank God on his knees and declare it is Grace. Nothing, but Grace. that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brother and listen I get it is Grace. Nothing, but Grace that we are allowed to live in Camilla Christian brother. Is that how we think of this thing that we get to do?

Is Grace nothing but Grace, you know, it's it's probably it from it for me. I'll just know I mean that I've been a regular part of a church for a long time and it's hard for me to always think about it like that.

Until it's not there. And if you ask the missionaries that we've sent out, I think of the missionaries to be sent to the Middle East now when they come back here when they're gone for 2 years and they come back here soon. As the best thing to do is just watch them worshiping the Lord. Oh my goodness. This place is special. Or we send a team to Boston before they had a local church before there's a community of people. Did I just hear you the texts and emails if we miss you so much. Where's our team that teams that are in Moldova as they're trying to build team to get involved in local churches for those early stages. Just just this homesickness. If they have for this thing that we get to experience every week that I get to gather I get to be with his people I get to serve his people I get to be served by his people all right now and we moved to verse 6, we have this incredible deep Doctrine kind of put in the sandwich of love. So I kind of think alike verses 3 through 5 and verses 7 & 8 is kind of like dislike Paul is just geeking out and loving this local church. And then right in the middle kind of the meat of it is it's really really profound. And he says that he says I am sure of this. The who began a good work in you will bring it to completion of the day of Jesus Christ. Now there's too many options for for this versus multiple options. But with most parts of the Bible, there's disagreements about how it works out that there's two main ones in the question is is it disconnected from what comes before and after thankfulness for the partnership in the gospel? Is it connected to the first option for Wizard? This this good work? What's his good work that God began that will bring the completion will some would say that the good work is their partnership in the gospel specifically around funding church planting missions and establishment of new churches and basically expansion of Christ Fame and Glory among the nation. So that's one option at their partnership will go on to completion namely funding and planting churches will end up producing something. So that's option one the other options. He's actually personalizing saying it's not God's grace through you was God's grace to you. I'm sure that the guy that God who began a good work in you meaning their salvation. They're coming to faith that God will actually bring that to completion of the day of Jesus Christ when Jesus comes back that the faith that they had 12 years ago in the church got store. It will keep going until Jesus comes back. And so which one is it? Is it the partnership they have in the gospel going for that or is it the work of the Gospel in their own Hearts to come and believe in the work of Jesus? I will give you my answer. I think it's both. I think it's both text Julie. I'll give you this though. Biblically. It is undoubtedly. Both. Both things are absolutely true that what God has begun. God will complete his wife with this matter for us give you the first application. You can have confidence that everything you do to serve a local church will last.

you can have confidence that everything you do to partner with a local church will last what you give how you pray how you volunteer how you engage the sacrifices you make to contribute and buy it, but it will last until Jesus comes back and actually after he comes back God will always God will always do something with your service. You may not know it you may not see it. You may never get to experience it tangibly but it is always true. So let me show you a pill is put this picture up on the screen. So this got sent to us this morning. It was really cool about this. This person was a part of our church. That she's getting baptized here at another church, which looks like it's a Super Rad church, right? I was like, well that's in that's in this is insulting. I was like that's kind of an upgrade at least in the pastor's they're Inked out. They look really cool. Right? So I was like good for you. She's getting baptized in in her know that she sent just this morning. She's like Redeemer. You don't know what a difference you've made in My Fit. You don't know what it's meant to be a part of this church and she named specific people. There were part of her now now getting baptized all the way on the other side of the country. So I want like I just felt like I was like here let me give you a sermon illustration show that the Hue began a good work through your partnership in the local church. He will not wait to bring it to completion in here's just one example of that celebration. So when you give you sure you pray and Gage it's never wasted even if a local church crumbles and closes its doors. It will give birth. Thousands and thousands of other churches the Philippian Church. You can't go find this church, but you can't find his millions of little grandbabies to the glory of Jesus Christ. What you do in the local church is never ever ever waste a day. Carson says it like this. He says the church is the only Human Institution that continues into the new heavens and the new Earth. The only thing you can give yourself to that's going to last into eternity. The Human Institution is the church. Mercedes of God will never give up on the church. Now the second one was personally first one to partnership in gospel to say I am sure that he began a good work in you and your salvation and bringing you to fit people bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. This is talking about a doctor known as the perseverance of the Saints this idea that if you have believed in Christ, you will persevere until the end you will maintain your faith until the end and I think that phrase perseverance of the Saints of the little bit misleading and we should probably tweak it because it puts the emphasis on us instead of her the episode should be that it says in this text, which is this it's not the person bring to the same as much as it's the preservation of God. I'm sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion of the day of Christ Jesus the same as God has begun Faith. He will grow your faith. Not perfectly we're going to have all sorts of ups and downs the local church has ups and downs followers of Jesus Christ has ups and downs, but because God never gives up on either he will preserve you until the end but lots of texts for the Spurs 1st Peter 1 3 through 5 only give you 2 but there's lots of passages 1st Peter 1 3 through 5 1st Peter 1. That's a good one. I like that one first Peter 3:1 through 5. We're going to 1st Peter 1 3 through 5. I am sure that is by far my fault. I invert my numbers all the time and sermons getting along. You don't want me to dive into that text. All right, here's my 1st. Peter 1 3 through 5 says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great Mercy. He has caused us to be born again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance. It is imperishable Assurance of a text like this. The assurance that you get as a follower of Christ because of the grace of God Assyrian undefiled unfading kept in heaven for you first five who by God's power are being guarded true faith for salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. Just like God Will Not Waste anything in the you doing the church. God will not let you drift so far from your faith that you won't be his if you are his I'm sure this is gives his radical confidence or John 10. 2073 I like the second one the dice will see what verse is come up. Alright, so John alright my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. This is the insurance you can have to a Christ begins in the local church keeps going price begins in the hearts of followers of Christ. When you came to Faith in the giving of Jesus living to do your the life you were meant to live Diana death that you were you you deserve in Meriden rising from the dead. This is more than just something that we have out there. This is something takes a hold of us right now in here regardless of how you're walking and living God is if you're his you're going to be his He sure of this in this gets Paul reason to Joyce's in prison. What sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no other reason it's with me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.