God Will Finish What He’s Started In You!

GOD WILL FINISH WHAT HE’S STARTED IN YOU!

“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.” – Phip. 1:6

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: THE END OF THE WORLD

1. Jewish scientists are famous for coming up with new innovations.

2. Someone imagined that, if the polar icecaps melted because of climate change, and 70% of the world’s population was to drown within four days, how would the world’s religious leaders respond?

3. To comfort the people of the world, the Pope, the Dalai Lama and the Chief Rabbi of Israel decided to appear on TV.

4. The Pope would say, "My children, there is still time to accept Jesus as your savior."

5. The Dalai Lama would say, "I ask all of you to follow Buddhist teachings, so that you may find inner peace in the midst of disaster."

6. The Chief Rabbi would say, "My people, we have four days to learn how to live underwater!"

B. TEXT

1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phip. 1:1-6, NKJV

C. THESIS

1. Looking back over our spiritual walks, we all probably have satisfaction about some periods of our lives where we made spiritual advancements, and disappointments about other areas where we seemed to fall off the wagon.

2. Even if our efforts seem like they flopped, the Apostle Paul has given us words of encouragement to inspire/ us not to trust in our own efforts, but in God, Who alone can accomplish His work in us.

3. Because there are many dangers which accompany the spiritual life, the life of a Christian is a series of miracles. The Christian frequently finds him/ herself surrounded with opposition or assaults by the enemy which threaten to capsize our faith, to overwhelm us with troubles, or at least to make us ineffective for the Kingdom.

4. The Christian may feel like we’re in a battle that we can’t win but Paul here gives assurance that God’s will be accomplished in our lives.

5. Let’s look at 3 things Paul tells us about God’s work in our lives:

I. REMEMBER GOD’S GREAT LOVE FOR YOU

Paul said, “Being confident of this very thing…” What gave Paul such “confidence”? Because he knew that God is faithful & loves us!

A. GOD LOOKS FOR SOMETHING VALUABLE

1. In Luke 15:8-9, Jesus tells a Parable to describe the Father’s Love for you; “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.”

2. Jesus told this parable to relate God’s joy in finding you.

B. GOD’S SEARCH

1. God spared nothing in His search for you. He gathered the greatest search party that has ever been formed in order to find you. He sent His Son, His Spirit, and His Angels after you. As they searched, He had his people pray for you, you will never fully know how deep, how thorough, and how costly His search was.

2. You do not belong to Him today because of chance, or accident, or a stroke of fate; You are His because He never gave up His search until He found You.

3. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

C. THE DEEP JOY OF GOD

1. Did you know that God rejoices because you’re His?

2. How many of you parents have ever walked into your children’s bedrooms at night and just looked at them, all quiet, peaceful? They’re SO SWEET!

3. Do you remember your heart just “jumping with joy” because you love them so much. How much MORE does God love you, His Child? Remember God rejoices over you......not based on how good you are, but because of who you are to Him.

II. GOD IS WORKING IN YOU

A. OUR PROBLEM ACCEPTING PARTIAL COMPLETIONS

1. How many of you will only do one project at a time, and won’t start another one until the first one is finished? If this describes you, I would guess that unfinished projects kind of bother you until they’re done, right?