3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now, 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. – Philippians 1:3-6
January kicks off two months of renovations for our worship space at Holy Cross. Our facilities are getting some much-needed TLC–it’s an exciting time to be on our campus as we anticipate completion in just a few months! Yeah!
We all know that buildings, including our homes, require continual care and sometimes complete renovations, but have you ever thought of yourself as being “worked on” or “renovated” in your life of faith? In his letter to the Philippian Christians, the apostle Paul uses this idea of construction (or repair) upon the people of God. That we are, in a right way, a project, attended to by the Master Craftsman who is continuously caring for His creation, using the power of the Gospel to heal and reshape us into the people He is calling us to be. It’s what Paul calls in verse 6, a “good work” in us.
But what is the end goal of this good work? When you renovate your kitchen, or the church renovates the sanctuary, we have an idea of what we are working towards, an image or picture in our mind. (Fresh! Bold! Beautiful!) We have paint color and floor styles and everything else that goes into the project, so does this mean that God does too? Of course!
Paul tells us in chapter 3 that the goal is “Christ-likeness”—to become like Christ. Not to be Jesus, but to be like Jesus, receiving from Him His righteousness and having our lives shaped in such a way by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we exhibit the Jesus characteristics of humility, generosity, joy, and a heart for service. A fresh, bold, and beautiful new look!
I hope you’ll join me for our on-line sermon series during the facility renovations. It will be titled “Renovate” and will come from Philippians. We’ll explore what it means to be made Christ-like by the power of the Gospel and how this new Christ-likeness furthers God’s kingdom among us. It’s time to renovate! Let the good work begin!
Pastor Tom
