God Finishes What He Starts Series

God Finishes What He Starts

Philippians 1:1-6

Rev. Brian Bill

January 4-5, 2025

This past week, ABC News ran a post with the same headline twice within five days, using a different image of an empty church each time: “Churches Fight to Stay Open as Attendance Dwindles.” It’s as if the editors took pleasure in this news by making sure no one missed this breaking story. Here’s how the article begins.

Churches faced with empty pews are fighting to keep their doors open, while former houses of worship are being converted into bars, clubs and luxury condos. In the late 1940s, nearly 80% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, mosque or temple, according to Gallup. Today, just 45% say the same, the analytics company noted, and only 32% say that they worship God in a house of prayer once a week.

The first post garnered over 43,000 comments. I spent some time reading many of them. Here’s a sampling.

• The decline in regular church service attendance correlates with our nation’s spiritual, moral, and cultural decline.

• I feel as if I can become closer to the Lord in a Waffle House than in a church.

• Here in Africa, old shopping centers and manufacturing plants are being turned into churches.

• Our church is not having this issue. It might depend on the type of church one is attending!

• I love my church! I’m reading this thread and it so disheartening…we believers are not perfect, and the church is a place where we all heal.

• Faith is making a comeback and rising…

There’s no doubt there’s been an alarming exodus of people from churches, but we also know that Jesus made this promise in Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Jesus is not finished building His church and I believe He is refining and reviving His remnant of redeemed believers. As we’ve said before, the church is God’s Plan A, and there is no Plan B! On an individual level, we all mess up and fall short, but God promises to finish what He has started in our lives.

Here’s what I’m hoping we’ll learn today: God will complete His work in us as we partner with Him in His work.

This weekend we’re beginning a brand-new sermon series from the Book of Philippians called, “A Journey to Joy.” Philippians has been called one of the Apostle Paul’s most personal letters and is perhaps the most quoted in the entire Bible. Here are a few of its greatest hits.

1:21 – “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (this was my text for Marvetta Jones’ funeral message on Thursday)

2:10-11 – “So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

3:13 – “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.”

4:13 – “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Background to the Book

When studying a book of the Bible, it’s helpful to begin with some background. This will enable us to understand the circumstances under which it was written so we can make accurate application to our own lives.

• The name Philippians comes from a city named Philippi in what is now Greece.

• Because it’s a letter, it’s intended to be read in its entirety. I encourage you to read this journal of joy at least once a week between now and Easter.

• The Apostle Paul was in a Roman prison when he penned these words. His thoughts are filled with thankfulness for the generosity and partnership of the Philippian believers.

God brought Paul to Philippi in a very fascinating way by closing one door and opening another as we read in Acts 16:9-10: “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

Once they arrived, Paul and his team met a woman named Lydia, who was a successful businesswoman. She was the first convert to Christ in Europe and became an anchor in the assembly at Philippi. After being baptized, she opened her home for ministry (see verse 15). Incidentally, our next baptisms will take place February 22-23. Fill out a Next Steps card to get on the growing list of those ready to take the plunge.