I invite you at this time to open with me to the New Testament and the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians, chapter 1, verses 3 through 6. That's Philippians, chapter 1, verses 3 through 6, which is found on page 980, if you're using the church Bible. I intend to resume the Sermon on the Mount next week, I promise, Lord willing. But I wanted to focus on a number of things that are keenly relevant to us today. Thanksgiving Day is this week. We're baptizing three covenant children. One of our families is about to move, with today being our chance to say farewell as they answer the Lord's call, as he leads them to another place of service in the United States Army chaplaincy, leaving us a bit torn. We're also looking ahead to an annual congregation meeting, a congregational meeting in a couple of weeks with one item on the docket, that is to have you who are members voting on proposed bathroom renovations, which is a significant commitment both financially and labor-intensively. And last but not least, we're collecting today and the next couple of weeks what we're chipping into the Orthodox Presbyterian Church thank offering. This passage though, among all the other things it does, and it does a lot, speaks to each of these, bringing together and bundling them up as it were. helping to give us an accurate, encouraging framework, a God-centered, Christ-exalting perspective. So, let's go ahead and give our strict and undivided attention to it, to the reading of God's holy, inspired, inerrant, and infallible life-giving word. Again, Philippians chapter 1, verses 3 through 6. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always, in every prayer of mine, for you all, making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let the one who has ears to hear, hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I don't know what your plans are for this Thanksgiving, but I bet that in most cases they revolve around being with and visiting family, which can be very precious as a feast with parents, and grandparents and children and grandchildren and siblings and other extended relatives can bring us into an acute awareness of how richly God has blessed us. I would venture to guess it's especially meaningful when your family gathering will include a number of fellow believers in Jesus, with your family according to the flesh and the household of faith overlapping. Sometimes though, on the other hand, when that's not the case, when you're the only Christian on hand or close to it, it can be a lonely experience when Turkey and football, not that we have anything against Turkey and football, take over and giving praise and thanks to God is forgotten, thoughtlessly set aside. The holidays for many people, for many reasons, can be depressing, joyless, and reuniting with certain family members can be painful, tension-filled. If you do know our Savior, however, you know it, and you do well to recall it to mind and take it to heart. that you do have an enduring forever family in the church, with this being something you are called to participate in on a local level, visibly, even to the extent of covenanting unto membership in a biblical congregation like our own, striving, by God's grace, to be faithful. For here, in our midst, we taste of it, that communion of the saints in the Holy Spirit, which is marked by joyful thanksgiving unto God, with the reality of the church itself evoking joyful thanksgiving unto God. Covenant Presbyterian, that's certainly Paul's outlook upon the church at Philippi as he writes to the Philippians in such a way that he teaches and in effect calls his readers, people like us, to cultivate a similar point of view with regard to the community that we are, however fledgling and imperfect a kingdom outpost we may be, to grow in our appreciation of it. As this church's founding pastor, full of affection for these beloved souls, Paul is just bursting with thanksgiving unto God. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, he begins in verse 3. He goes on to further describe how thanksgiving permeates his prayers for them, the prayers he makes with joy, according to verse 4. What about me and you? As we contemplate this fellowship we take part in, are we ready to break out with glad songs of thanksgiving, even if they are mixed with tears, as we reflect upon a family whose covenant daughters we're about to baptize, but also a family we're about to be separated from, though it cannot break the ties that bind us. making us one in Jesus. Are we prepared to bless God for it, for His work in bringing us all to Himself and knitting us together as brothers and sisters in the Lord, be it newer members and attendees or more long-standing and established ones, be it those we need to part company with for a season or those we're happy to still be stuck with. With this being the big idea, as God's Word challenges and refreshes us this morning, because there is no greater blessing than belonging to the family of God in union with Christ, you and I must be about the business of thanking God for the Church. You know, one reason why Thanksgiving unto God is so essential whatever time of year it is, is this. Without it, Like I do, you begin to indulge a complaining heart. You lose sight of answer after answer to your prayers and you just fixate on your laundry list of needs and wants. When things get hard and times get tough, that preoccupation can even drive you to a sense of panic. Because you're forgetting how faithful, and how good, and how powerful, and how strong, and how trustworthy God is. Because you're forgetting His track record. And the principle applies to His church. If we're not thankful to Him for who and what the church is, for all that she represents by God's grace, then we can end up giving up. on God being at work in and through His Church, to perfect His children and make them like His Son. So let's survey the Church and the Church's potential with eyes of faith, like Paul does here. You and I actually have compelling and solid grounds for taking such a radical step as showing the world we are Jesus' disciples by, for one thing, caring for, and loving, and valuing each other. Because while, as the church's members, we will let one another down, at least from time to time, God is undergirding us. Christ is upholding us. The church has a lot going for it, including these three things that I draw out of these verses, having to do with the past, the present, and the future. First, Privilege. Privilege. Brothers, sisters, this has to do with the past. There's more than what meets the eye when it comes to the Church, including congregations like this one. Just consider the history of those who make up the Church. Paul recognizes it when it comes to the Philippian Church and its members. Their origins are not in themselves. The Church would not exist were it not for God and His creative work. Reconsider Paul's opening words here, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. Take note of what he doesn't say. He could conceivably say, thank you Philippians for believing the gospel. Or he could add, thank you for your commitment, your dedication, your love. But he doesn't, at least not in any unqualified way. Because he can't. They are the work of God, the fruit of His miraculous, supernatural activity, as is every true church, as is every true Christian. Paul brings it way out into the open in verse 6, when he reminds his audience, then and now, of one thing he is sure of, that it is God who began a good work in you. With roots in eternity past, when God would choose us before the foundation of the world, when God would determine to send and sacrifice Christ for our salvation, and raise Him from the dead to give us eternal life, and to seed us with Him, where He has ascended, in heavenly places. With our very first steps towards Christ being the result of God's decisive work through His Spirit. Just like at creation when God would have nothing besides himself to work with, when by the word of his power he would bring the world into being, so has he created his church, one Christian at a time. C.S. Lewis' story of his own conversion reflects as much. Listen to what he writes, and surprised by joy, his autobiography. In 1929, I gave in. and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed. Perhaps that night the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England. I did not see what is now the most shining and obvious thing, the divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The prodigal son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape. If you're also a Christian, the same is true of you. As with me, it's because of your highly favored past when God would seek you out and find you. And the same goes for your lasting this long as a Christian. It's His doing, His glory, even in our very recent past, the evidence is there. As I like to remind myself and all of you periodically, just the fact that we're here another Sunday morning, having gotten out of bed, to gather together to worship God, to honor Him, to give Him something of the adoration He is due. Even if it's a struggle for us to do it, even if it seems like we're just barely making it across the threshold into His presence, it's His doing. So, if that's us, and we are Christians, it's His doing that we're still Christians this week. As we are joined to Him, and to each other, helping to compose the body of Christ. So, that's one thing we've got going for ourselves, along with these Philippians and other churches, having to do with the past. First, privilege. Second, partnership. Partnership. Brothers and sisters, this has to do with the present. Paul hones in on this as one of the more prominent motives lying behind his joyful thanksgiving unto God when it comes to the Philippians. This is where we're going to spend the bulk of our time. He spells it out in verse 5 that it's because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. The Greek word is koinonia. And it stands for something very rich with it being hard for just one word in English to do it justice. I believe the translation partnership is helpful, even with all the business connotations that we might associate with it. In fact, some churches don't call their members members, but instead partners. See, Paul is saying that the Philippians have been his partners since the beginning, since he would found the church, which you can read all about in Acts chapter 16. And what do partners do in an ongoing way? They invest. They invest in something they've taken ownership of. In this case, what are they investing in? What are we to be investing in? in the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, with God himself in Christ leading the way in the giving of his son to make the ultimate investment, the investment of all investments, which gives us a clue that this partnership is all about investing in people, as in other people, not just yourself. Look at those around you. If you're part of this church, these are your kin, spiritually speaking. Some of your nearest and dearest relations in the Lord. And you need one another. You need to invest in one another. such that you are furthering in one another faith in the person and work of Christ, who He is and what He would pull off about 2,000 years ago, dying on the cross and rising from the dead three days later to put an end to sin and death triumphantly en route to entering into glory. Thus, do you need to invest in one another, just as I need to invest in it myself. Such that you are, as well, furthering in one another the work of the Spirit of God, through the Word of God, in order to purge the dross, to refine us like gold with purifying fires. Turning to verse 6 again, it is, after all, a good work which God has begun, as He whittles away at us, at our character, to conform us to the image of His Son, whatever it takes. Contributing to it, investing in it means things like prayer for and with one another. for all our fellow Christians, for those beyond our circles, but certainly inclusive of those here. It means worshiping God together, but it also means reading, studying, meditating upon, and singing God's word together in ways that are not limited to corporate worship and public preaching and teaching on the Lord's day. It means turning the conversation in his direction. Spending time in such a way that it counts for Christ and His Kingdom as we interact with one another. It means additionally spending our money in such a way that it counts for Christ and His Kingdom. With the koinonia later on in this letter, chapter 4 in fact, referring to the collection of offerings for the church, including her poor. Just as it does if you read all about it in Acts chapter 2, verse 42. Now, make no mistake, what we've touched on so far is only the beginning. Because a partnership in the gospel means investing not just in each other, but in the world around us as we seek to be on mission for Jesus, seeking to be his instruments in saving the lost, as we seek to share in and support the work of global missions too, in part through having a hand in OPC foreign missions and giving to the denominational thank offering. That's what Paul sees in the Philippians, and yet it's every church's calling. That is to be realized, including ours. We need all hands on deck. here and now, just as it would be needed then and there. Notice how Paul emphasizes it. Not only do all his remembrances of the Philippians stimulate thanksgiving in him, according to verse 3, but always, in every prayer of his, for them all, he offers up his intercessions and petitions with joy. It's repeatedly very inclusive language. which he applies not only to his joy-filled gratitude and prayers unto God for them, but to the Philippians themselves, pointing to how they are all objects of God's love, and His, without exception, so that none are excluded from the table, with Paul demonstrating this in his prayers for them all. They are all in and not out, if you will. Whether they are low or high maintenance, considered easy to get along with or hard. They have all been reached and brought in, thanks to Jesus, in the room He makes for sinners, for all kinds. at the foot of the cross, such that every last one of them is accepted and embraced. It also means that they are all, without exception, enlisted in the service of Christ and his church and his kingdom work. And so it is here, as we are all called and recruited to this gospel partnership, to give of ourselves to its kingdom work one way or another. Today we make it official that we are getting help. Three new junior partners. Though it might feel like we are losing them with their parents, we need to revamp and revise our take on it all. We are not losing as much as sending them. as our Lord deploys them elsewhere, very strategically, serving not just the U.S. Army, but Christ's Army, as His soldiers, still serving in His campaign, even if they might be, for a little while, placed in a different bunker than the one we're in. In other words, whatever the circumstances, we're all in this together. There's another way in which koinonia can be translated, which I just want to touch on before leaving this heading behind, and that's with the word fellowship, which stands for something we've, I'm afraid, watered down, reducing it to eating and drinking together, by and large. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, what do you think of when our fellowship hall is mentioned? I think of our fellowship meals, which are so good. And yet the higher, loftier goal is that in the midst of that eating and drinking and conversation and hanging out, real fellowship would break out. A sharing in the things of God and of His Christ, which cannot be contained within such mealtime conversations. It's broader in scope than just that, and it's wonderful as those good times of camaraderie are. The late pastor and commentator, Dr. James Boyce, illustrates it by suggesting that fellowship rightly understood, is analogous to the way British universities are organized into various colleges, each with its own structure, admissions policies, and distinctive traits. A given college within the university governs its own students and has the final say in how it is to be run. Its affairs are overseen by the faculty members, the professors associated with it. And they are called fellows, as they fellowship together in the work of the college. What they hold in common is not the interests of two or three of them, but that which concerns them all in mutual ways, namely the interests of the college. It's along these lines that Paul says here and throughout this epistle that Christian fellowship in God, in Christ, in His sufferings and in His exalted glory, in the Holy Spirit and in the Gospel operates. It's not a sharing in something that can be likened to bank robbers sharing in their stolen loot. It's participating, sharing in something that is greater than the people involved then and there. It involves them, all of them, but also all those that they represent. It's a participation, a sharing in something that is more lasting than any given moment. I bring this up because when the Bathroom Renovations Committee recently met with a session, one of those on the committee brought something up that has helped convince your leaders that this is at least worthy of bringing before you for a vote. He said that this project needs to be considered for the sake of the next generation. Bathrooms aside. and let the work be done only if it's God's will as discerned through your vote. That sort of thing, that sort of mindset captures this fellowship in the gospel that has Paul so thankful for the church at Philippi. That's what makes me a thankful-to-God pastor, when I remember you and carry you to our Heavenly Father in prayer. And that's what I wish to promote more and more of, a heart that sees our collective work as contributing to the kingdom, which impacts not just us, but other people too, which impacts not just our time and place, but other times and places as well, which trains us to look beyond self, to be others-oriented for the glory of God and the spiritual well-being of our neighbors and fellow sinners. For this is the mind of Christ, what he himself would model, as Paul will soon unpack in Philippians chapter 2, as he would be quick to do his Father's will and to look to the needs of others. So that's another thing we've got going for ourselves, along with these Philippians and other churches having to do with the present. First, privilege. Second, partnership. Third, promise. Promise. Beloved, this has to do with the future, though we can only briefly dwell on it. Dwelling on a good thing, because we can go on and on about our past and our present, but how do we know we'll keep on going? How do we know we'll make it as Christians, as a church family? Well, we need to read the rest of verse 6, where again Paul says, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. I have so many books that I have not finished. I have to-do lists every day that I do not finish. Do you know how hard it can be to do just one good work? One good work? It's hard, but it's compounded by the fact that I, by nature, am not a finisher. None of us are. But God is a different story. What He starts, He finishes. What He begins, He completes. He will complete it at the day of Jesus Christ, when He returns. And He will make us see Christ as He is in all of His glory, when all is said and done. And He will make us shine like Him, radiating as we share in His likeness, body and soul. which is one of His overarching designs in salvation, to reproduce something of Christ in each and every Christian, with the very term Christian meaning Christ's One. We don't become Christ, we aren't deified, we remain creatures retaining the nature of a creature, and yet we are destined to each be little Christs, if it can be put that way. with our walk down the road of holiness, of progressive sanctification, however slow it may be, as we make it a group project, being a sign that we are not a bunch of pretenders, but really are headed for glory. God promises it right here through Paul. And this is the one thing that gives me and you and all of us courage to commit to Christ and to one another. Because God is first and foremost committed to us, giving us certainty, confidence. So that's the final thing we've got going for ourselves, along with these Philippians and other churches, having to do with the future. First, privilege. Second, partnership. Third, promise. Dear brothers and sisters, to sum it all up, what the Church has going for it, what we have going for us as a congregation is this, we've got God going for us. With His provision in Christ, applied by the Spirit, which means, even if you're not yet a Christian, and have perhaps felt like there's no place for you in the Church family, like ours here, there is, through Jesus. Because He is the difference maker who takes our sin and gives us His righteousness in exchange. And with it, His warm welcome. He is the one who takes our raw material and turns us into Christian material, making us in the end, to with Him resemble the Father above. So if that's you, join the rest of us. Let's all take our case to Christ and be thanking God for the Church, joyfully giving praise and thanks that in Him we belong, both now and forever. Amen.