MEANT FOR MORE: GOD WILL SEE YOU THROUGH

Allow for prayer to focus them in, marinating on what God is telling them today.

Yesterday was a great day of starting Spiritual Emphasis Week. What a blessing it was to see so many of you come forward in prayer, or just where you are. Engaged in conversation with God. God is definitely on the move here. That’s what this week is about. It is for you who need to connect with God. It is for you who need to reconnect with God. It is for all of us. This may sound wierd to you, but I need this week like you.

As I was preparing, God began to lead me back to a passage that I mentioned towards the end of our first meeting together. I initiatly tried to move away from it, but God guided me back to it. I’ve learned over the years to trust in how God is leading. You see for many of you, yesterday was a massive breakthrough. An answer to prayer. Hope was kindled. I saw people just hugging on each other, praying together, talking with teachers. Talking with each other about what they prayed about. And that is so awesome.

As awesome as that is, the devil doesn’t like it. He hates the fact that you are seeking to follow after to God. He hates the fact that you are no longer his. That you have freedom in Christ, and that you belong to the One who loves you so much that He gave His Son to die in your place. He hates that fully and completely.

You might now a song that talks about how we’ve got the joy, joy, down in my heart and if the devil doesn’t like he can sit on a tack. (Have fun with this, like sing it country. If the students jump in, let them sing it!)

Yall know what I’m talking about, right? But here’s the deal. He isn’t sitting. He’s plotting. He doesn’t want you to share the hope that you who are followers of Jesus have. And for those of you who still have not made a decision to follow Christ, He doesn’t want you to. So He will throw everything at you to cause you to doubt. To cause you to be discouraged where you are not following Christ, and that you are back where you started.

So what do we do when that happens? How can we follow what God is calling us to do and not give up? The man who wrote the most books of the Bible, the most New Testament books wrote about how to follow through with what God is calling us to do. We briefly hit on it a couple of weeks ago, but today, we are going to dive into it.

As always, grab your Bible and tun to the book of Philippians. We are going to camp out at Philippians 1:6. It will aslo be up on the screen. Paul is writing to this group of believers who are Phillipians. He’s writing them to encourage them in their walk. By the way, we say the Bible has books, but really, especially the New Testament, they are letters and books. This is a letter. Now show of hands, how many of you know what written letters are? Allow for responses.

The first thing you did back in the day was to have a greeting. You would write who it is to and say “Dear _________________” or “To Whom It May Concern” or “My dear sweet princess who I love so much....” (Have fun with this, but not too long).

Paul is not writing that type of greeting, but he does greet these people with a blessing of grace and peace. He talks about how he is so thankful for them in their partnership with Paul sharing the Gospel. He shares that he prays for them because of the faithful work that happens. It is here in Philippians 1:6, Paul shares how we can follow through with what God is calling us to do. You see, God, who began a good work in believers, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. When God calls us to do something, you will see how this passage reassures us of God's continued presence and purpose in our lives, even amidst challenges. Let’s read it and see what it says:

Philippians 1:6

“I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

1. God's Gracious Beginning

Philippians 1:6a

The first part of this passage says, “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you...” When God calls us to do something and we follow Him, we can do it because we aren’t the one trying to do it. It is God wanting to do it in us.

God is the one who starts the work in us. God is always the one to initiates this. Because He so desparately wants to. That’s the thing with being in relationship with God. God isn’t required to love you or to care about you. God doesn’t have to use you. God can do anything He wants. He’s God. He doesn’t have to do anything with us.

But He wants to. Think about this. We messed up back in the garden. We allowed sin to come in and disrupt everything. We chose to disobey God. Yet God initiates the work of salvation by taking on flesh and dwelling among us.

In the book of Matthew it says this:

Matthew 1:21-23 CSB

She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

For some of you, you needed to hear that. Even with what happened yesterday, you still struggle with the truth that God loves you and wants to be in a relationship with you. Know this, that God wants to begin a good work in you. He wants to save you because He loves you.

Let me say that again:

He

Loves

You

For those of you who are still unsure about doing what God is calling you to do. Remeber, He is the one who is calling you to do it. Not you. He is the one inviting you to be bold. To stand out for your faith. To share about what God has done in your life. God has given you a purpose. A purpose that is filled with the grace and freedom that God has given us. If God is the one to start it, know what that should tell you? That He believes in you to do it. He wouldn’t do it if He didn’t think you could do it.

2. God's Unfailing Commitment

Philippians 1:6b

Notice what Paul says after God starting a good work? He says that God, “...will carry it on to completion...” When God calls us to do something we do it not alone. Nor do we do it without any help. The beauty is that when God calls or leads us to do something, He guides us the entire way.

You can trust God to lead you every step of the way. He doesn’t have us do something and then sit on the sidelines. When He invites you into the work that He wants you to do, He sees it all the way through. He doesn’t give up or just neglect us. Scripture says that He will never leave us nor forsake. That what He says doesn’t come back empty. All the while He is saying you can do this.

Those doubts that say you can’t. Because of you, your past, your age, your knowledge are not from the Lord. It is the devil that causing you to doubt. Scripture is clear that if God is calling you to do what He’s already started will finish it with you.

But just because God is leading doesn’t mean that we just sit back and do nothing. When God is leading us, He is inviting us to depend on Him. To trust in Him. Stepping out on faith is not easy. There will be hard times. That is why Hebrews 4:16 says:

Hebrews 4:16

“Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”

We are to depend on God everystep of the way. And know that as we do that, He will see us through. And as the rest of the passage says, that He will always do that.

3. God's Promised Completion

Philippians 1:6c

Scripture has taught us that God invites us to the work that He is calling us to do. That He will see it through to completion. Over and over again until as the last part of the verse says, “...until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Think about that for a moment. The Lord promises that He will guide us, lead us, until the day we die. That’s God’s commitment to you. He will see you through.

But there’s something more. It goes beyond us. I’m the announcer for our Basketball Games at South Side High School. Last night, while at the game, I was thinking through this passage and the scoreboard operator noticed our passage. And he shared with me something that kinda blew my mind. The passage doesn’t just say til the day we die. It says “until the day of Christ Jesus.” What is so significant about that is that you and I get to leave a legacy of being bold in our faith for others to follow.

So when we follow what God is calling us to do, when we step out in boldness embracing the unknown, taking that leap of faith, it shows a path for others to follow. A path that trusts that God will do what He said He would do.

As the musicians come, let me wrap up by saying that you have the opportunity to leave a legacy for others to follow. You might be here this morning and think that there is no way that you can do that. You are just you. You are not alone in feeling that. There is uncertainty when it comes to stepping out and trusting God. And while I don’t know what your situation is, I do know that God is calling you to step out. You might be the one, who causes a revival to pour out on this campus.

For those of you, you may still be battling responding to giving your life to Christ. That you know He is calling you. But you’ve tried to side step it through actions. You may even have fooled yourself by thinking that you are doing the things that He calls us to do - help the needy, be a friend to the friendless, whatever. But you’ve never made the commitment yourself to follow Him in Faith for the first time. And as great as what it is that you have done those good deeds, the truth is if you have never accepted Christ as Savior, taking that initial leap of faith, then all that stuff means nothing. Today is the day that you can break free and experience the freedom that comes from trusting in Jesus as Lord.

Whatever the reason is, don’t allow fear to consume you. Step out. Be bold and trust that God will lead you through just as the Bible has taught us today. You simply need to trust in Him and let go of yourself.

God is committed to completing the good work He began in you, and you can rely on Him every step of the way.

Again the altar is open. Again, you have teachers here that want to talk with you. Again, I am here if you feel you can’t talk with anyone else.