Remembering Together

I want to invite you to open you bibles with me to Philippians chapter 1. Theres a lot of emotion surrounding my heart today because this will be the last message I bring to you as the Momentum Congregation. Next week, I’d like to gather too pray and worship, and to take our final communion together as the body of Christ. This morning, Id like to read to you from Philippians chapter 1, verses 3-6, and then i’d like to share with you an excerpt of my journal entry from August 7th.

“I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 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." Journal Entry, August 7th, 2024. I write theses words at the Philadelphia Pre-Teen Camp during our time of prayer together.

In my heart, I am being readied too let go. I feel that the work is coming to an end at momentum for me. I sense God moving me in a different, and new direction. I am ready to say yes. My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body whether by life or death.

Deo Volente. Whatever God wants. When apostle Paul came to Philipi, This city was known for two things. The infamous, Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus. The city which was smaller than the cities of Corinth and Thessilonica was about 10,000 people, and founded roughly 350 years before Jesus came onto the scene. Alexander the Great conquered the town and named it after a person named Philip II of Macedon, which was the father of Alexander the Great.

Then, in about 168 bc, the romans came in and conquered the city and around 42 bc, there was a famous battle that happened when the armies of Brutus and Cassius, who had assassinated Julius Caesar, met and fought the armies of Marc Antony and Octavian. This city was important because it was the gateway between Europe and Asia… But unless your a history buff, you may not of known those two facts, and you may be someone who knows of this city because of something even greater…

Jesus. Philippi is the place where Paul, would end up visiting and establishing a church, and there is where you get the book of Philippines. I share this with you because I want you to know you will always be a part of my life. Paul writes in verse 3, I thank my God every time I remember you. I think of how Paul loved Jesus and how the Spirit of God took him on this journey to the known world to plant churches, and I think about how hard it must have been for him to make connections, and build relationships with people, and baptize them, and share bread, and communion with them, and grow in their relationship together, all for Paul, who had to know he woiukldnt be there long, would need to leave, because his calling was to plant churches.

Paul had a heart to take the gospel as far as Spain, but the beauty is, by the time he reaches Rome, he would be surprised that the gospel was already growing and going before him. But he remembers them. I'm thankful God would have designed us in a way that memory is a part of our life. We remember. What a phrase. We remember the past. We remember the smells and the people we’ve met throughout our life.

We remember words. Think of the Bible. Most of the OT is Israel remembering. Remembering God’s faithfulness. Remembering the promises. Remembering the faithfulness of God and how God forgives and loves and pursues us even in the moments we stop pursuing him. And I imagine Paul is sitting there writing to the philiiapsians remembering all of these things as he writes. Do you remember? Do you remember when you first heard your child cry?

Do you remember the first time you met someone you’ve love. Do you remember when the little feet would pitter patter across the floor, and the giggles, and the smiles. I think of these moments and often times in prayer, I think GOd says that to us.. do you remember… Do you remember when you cried out for help. Do you remember when you prayed to get pregnant, or you prayed for this situation, or that situation.

I sense God at times when I slow down my life, and I sense God saying to me.. remember when I…… And you can place your own story here…. But there are moments in our walk of faith where God has shown up… and says to us.. Remember when I showed myself too be faithful. Remember when I when showed myself to be kind and loving towards you. Remember when I showed and revealed my only son, Jesus, to your heart.

Remember that time you believed and the Spirt of Christ was born within you… Do you remember? When we slow down our life, and we take time to remember, its not just reminiscing of our past, but in reality, its receiving an invitation to praise God, in his very presence in the present. He’s inviting us to remember. We always want God to speak something new to us. We always want God to do something.

To change something. And we should–after all, He is God. He invites His children to ask Him, to call upon Him day and night. But there is something so sacred and so holy about just pausing to remember what He has already done. The more we remember, the more we can trust Him. The more we can rest in Him. The more we know how very near He is. David wrote, “I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds.” Psalm 77: 11-12 What was David meaning when he said, to muse.. it means to saturate yourself with thoughts of GOd. To rememberer what he has done, but to also remember and trust in what he’s; already doing. Paul was remembering the people that God had touched. They were partners in the gospel.. thats what he says in verse 5..

you’ve been partners with me.. From he first day to the last… till now, till my departure, we ahvce been partners. Thats what we have been over the last few years. We’ve been partners. Working together in the gospel. I remember the joy, and the sadness we have experienced together. I remember our little celebrations and prayers for help, and for God to be a very presents help in our troubles.

I remember, all the quirky mishaps, and all of the many, many technical difficulties we had with our sound system. I remember baptizing you, and walking with you in your journey of faith… and I celebrate with you, over our love for Christ together. But just like Paul, as God would call him to the next town or even when God called him to be imprisoned and chained for God’s glory, God has called me to move on.

Not for my own gain, but for the gospel to which I am indebted to. And I imagine these moments with Paul had to be tough. They had to be filled with all kinds emotions. I shared my journal entry with you because I was filled with all kinds of emotions too… IN my Bible, on that day I wrote this in my journal, I wrote the word.. ready. I’m ready.

And it amazed me how fast things have moved once I say to God, I’m ready. I don’t think for a moment, we can hinder God’s plan.. but we can hinder our own involvement at times when we let fear take over and we’re afraid to say yes to GOd, and take steps or even leaps foreword by faith. We cant let fear keep us from letting go and letting God work…

I remember at Erma teen camp, there was this phrase that came up.. it was, If I say yes, God will do the rest. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, “There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth … A right time to hold on and another to let go.” Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6b (MSG) Life is full of change. Life is full of transitions. For instance, there are natural transitions…

Like our kids growing up. We cant stop that. I was telling Alicia the other day, I miss our kids being little. Then theres the transitions with jobs, and moving, and the changing of our friendships at times. Then there are unexpected c change… Divorce. And illness and death. Poor choices we make at times in life. And every transition comes with a roller coaster ride of emotions. But listen to Solomon’s wisdom..

he says, Theres a time to hold on, and a time to let go. The first time I read these words, I remember saying in prayer, Father, I’m ready. IM ready to let go. That is what I needed to stop the roller coaster of emotions and the fear of moving on…. I need to know what to hold on to and what to let go of. Think about that for a moment…

when it becomes clear to us in our life, what we need to hold on to, and what we need to let go… When we have that clarity, I believe we make progress. To many times, through ministry I’ve seen a lot of people refusing to let go and a lot of people holding on to things that hurt them and others… mainly unforgivness.. We struggle with letting go of past hurts, and we even struggle with letting go of the good things that bring nostalgia.

And things like tradition… Often times, I believe that if we can learn to let go, and Let God, we’ll see some amazing changes in our journey when it comes time for us to let go to move forward. And Think about this… letting go means were redirecting our trust. Its like yesterday as we sat around tables for the birthday party, and we shared stories with one another.. remembering, and talking…

when it was time to leave, we were filled with tears.. because our family was about to leave, and take a journey far away to Colorado. But with every embrace, and hug, there was a moment where we had to let go.. and trust that God would care for them, as he would care for us. Letting go is an act of trust… Paul writes in verse 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.

For me, letting go was saying.. God this is your church…. Not mine. And not just this church.,., but this life… this body.. I have…..its yours. You’ve called me to advance the gospel. You’ve called me proclaim the good news. And through trusting in your word… I am able to let go knowing that you will continue to complete the good work he had started… not just at momentum church… the church may be closed, or it may not be..

I dunno. But the work isn’t the building… its us. He’s working in us… growing us… perfecting us. I had to learn that myself… the work isn’t growing the building… its guiding people with the truth of the Word and watching God grow the body of Christ, because his Spirit dwells within us. But it all happens when we are willing to let go, and when we’re learning to hold on to what is good and profitable for us.

I’m letting go… and I’m holding on to God trusting that he will be faithful to to complete the work he has begun in you…. Until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. I join Paul in knowing this… God isn’t done with you… God isn’t done writing your story, for his glory. It may be here, or it may be at another church… I dunno… but I do know this…

Before you say untying.. make sure you know what you need to let go of… and what you need to hold on to… My prayer for you today is this… its the same prayer Paul says to the Philippians… and it comes form verse 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.

Let us pray together.. Heavily Father.. you have begun a work in all of us. And you’ve been faithful. You’ve been patient in times when we were unwilling to let go of things that hinder our growth. You’ve pursued us, listened to us, cared for us, and walled with us….. and there are time where we do not know or understand life, but you promise us that you would be there from the beginning to the end…

I pray that you will open our eyes to what we need to let go of, and to hold on to. I pray that you will grow within each of us a desire to know you more. I lift this congregation up in full submission to you, and pray for any healing that may need to happen. Care for any of my mistakes, and lead these people into the future with confidence in you, and the gospel they mist carry themselves.

Help them to conduct themselves worthy of the gospel. Help them to stand firm in your Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel. Grant to us this one request… Help us to be still, and know…. That you are our God. In Jesus name, amen. *