Next Chapter: 39 and Counting

Sermon Quick Summary
Today, South Bay Community Church is celebrating its 39th anniversary. We reflect on all God has done over these past decades, and look ahead to what God will do in the years ahead, for God never leaves us nor forsakes us. Philippians 1:6: "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" gives a solid framework as we look back and look forward with our eyes on God. We have completed a series called “Next Chapter” about God’s invitation to live into our purpose, live with passion, live through perseverance, and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Greek biblical language in Philippians 1:6 for “you” is plural, not singular; Paul is talking about the good work of the entire community of believers begun in us as the family of the body of Christ. We are called by God to live into our purpose both individually and as a connected community. When living into our passion, we have confidence that ignites joy. When facing challenges, we persevere by God’s Faithfulness. As we live into the Power of Walking in the Holy Spirit, God’s anointing falls on us. With faith in God, we move forward.

Today, South Bay Community Church is celebrating its 39th anniversary. We reflect on all God has done over these past decades, and look ahead to what God will do in the years ahead, for God never leaves us nor forsakes us.
Birthday and anniversary celebrations are important because they give us an opportunity to pause and reflect. We are grateful for the highs that are the blessings of God’s presents and presence. We are also grateful for the lows that are the ways God carried us through, held us up, and led us through valleys even when we veered left when God was leading right. We can celebrate God’s faithfulness and unconditional love to gently guide us back to God. All of it (the highs, the lows, the ups and downs) are worthy of praise to our God because God never leaves us nor forsakes us. God is faithful to walk by our side.
 
Philippians 1:6: "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" gives a solid framework as we look back and look forward with our eyes on God.
Our text for this sermon is one verse, which gives us a solid framework to look back and look forward with our eyes on God. Philippians 1:6 reads, "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6 New Revised Standard Version).

We have completed a series called “Next Chapter” about God’s invitation to live into our purpose, live with passion, live through perseverance, and live in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Embracing God’s vision for the next chapter of our lives may be a new season, a reset, or a transition you find yourself in right now. In our Next Chapter, God invites us to engage by living into our purpose, living with passion, living through perseverance, and living in the power of the Holy Spirit who brings it all together. We concluded the series last Sunday and invited the Holy Spirit to empower us afresh for the next chapter of our stories with a powerful anointing service.    
 
The Greek biblical language in Philippians 1:6 for “you” is plural, not singular; Paul is talking about the good work of the entire community of believers begun in us as the family of the body of Christ.
            When we talk about the next chapter of our lives, it is more than just “my” next chapter. There’s also an “us” next chapter as God’s family. As we look at Philippians 1:6, it’s important to understand a key aspect of this passage that sometimes gets lost in translation. In English, when we see the word “you,” we often think individually. Our Western culture is highly individualistic, so we tend to read the Bible through that lens. In many other languages, like Spanish, “you plural” is a distinct word. In Spanish, for example, the word “ustedes” makes it clear when “you” means a group of “you all,” not just one person. You used to have that distinction in Old English: “thou” was you singular and “ye” was you plural, like when it’s said, “Hear ye, hear ye.” In the biblical language of Greek, there is a distinction between “you singular” and “you plural,” too, and much of the New Testament that we read uses the Greek plural “you,” including this passage in Philippians. Paul was speaking to the entire church community in this text. So when Paul says, “I’m confident that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it,” he’s really saying, “the one who began a good work in you all!” Paul is talking about the good work of the entire community of believers as a family, as the body of Christ.
            Philippi was a community Paul knew well. Paul planted the church in Philippi about ten years before he penned this letter; it was the first church he planted in Europe. Biblical scholars believe the church in Philippi had more non-Jewish believers in its membership than any other church founded by Paul, which is significant because sharing the Good News of Jesus with Gentiles was part of Paul’s purpose and passion. So, the Philippian church would have been a distinct joy for him. This was a community of believers Paul loved deeply, a church that had been faithful to God on their journey. They had partnered with Paul in his ministry, and they gave sacrificially. In our text, Paul is affirming the good work God began in them, and that good work was their purpose as one of God’s masterpieces, created through the work of Christ Jesus.
            This is a message for South Bay Community Church family today as well, as we celebrate 39 years as a church. We too are one of God’s masterpieces, created with the purpose to do good works in Christ Jesus as a church family.

We are called by God to live into our purpose both individually and as a connected community.
            Just as God began a good work in Philippi, God began a good work in South Bay Community Church. Nearly four decades ago, we began in the home of Helen Eldridge, who invited Pastor Emeritus Stan Long to lead a Bible study. We became South Bay Community Church with less than two dozen charter members. Our church was planted with a purpose: to share the Good News of Jesus in the Bay Area as a Bible-teaching, caring church.
            From the very beginning, we had a unique vision. God did not call us to be a city church or a neighborhood church. Instead, God led us to Fremont as a Bay Area hub church. We are perfectly located for the community God put in our hearts to serve. That community is the larger Bay Area.
            We are exactly where God wants us to be, and we have sought to be faithful to our purpose. Programs, strategies, names, and faces have changed over the years. We’ve seen our kids grow up and have kids of their own. We’ve seen the surrounding community change around us: trees have come down, buildings have gone up, and the population demographics have continued to shift. But our home at 47385 Warm Springs Blvd. has remained a beacon of light for the entire Bay Area.
            Our purpose has remained the same: to share the love of Jesus with one another and with a broken and hurting world. Like the church in Philippi, we have continued the good work God began. We are still about loving God with all of our mind, soul, and strength, loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. This is what we mean when we say we are about Connecting with God, Growing Together, and Changing the World. This is our mission and our purpose, even if how we do it changes with the needs of the times.
            Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 12:20, we are many members but ONE Body. As we step into our next chapter as a church family, we’re invited to remember and to recommit to the purpose God prepared in advance for us to do. We’re called to live into our purpose individually and live into our purpose with the family. We are the body of Christ, and every individual purpose is needed to fulfill the community purpose God has called us to as God’s church.

When living into our passion, we have confidence that ignites joy.
God is not through with us yet! Paul’s words in Philippians 1:6 are filled with confidence. This confidence is not a hope-so, think-so, maybe-so confidence, but a known confidence! We are convinced that God will complete the work God began.
            This assurance and confidence ignites passion. Confidence in God’s promise is the catalyst that drives us to serve with joy, share with enthusiasm, and worship with abandon. Because of the confidence that God is on the move in and through us, passion for God and God’s mission is fueled and fanned. This was true for the church at Philippi, and it is also true for us. God is still writing our story, and our next chapter is unfolding right now. We see it, feel it, and sense it. There’s an energy and momentum happening here at South Bay that speaks to passion born out of confidence that God is on the move. God is reinvigorating our purpose with fresh passion for God, for others, and for God’s purpose in our lives and in our church as a family.
            When we’re passionate about God and God’s work, it reflects the abundant life Jesus promised. The promise is not just individually but abundant life in the church family, in our worship and in our service. The world notices. When the flames of passion in the church family are hot, people stop and look. They want to be a part of this passion. They want to be a part of the community. As we each live individually into our purpose with passion, it enables us to live collectively into our passion purpose as the family of God. This passion is contagious as a beacon of hope to a hurting world. As we look forward to our next chapter, let’s ask ourselves: What stirs my heart for God’s work? How can I bring that passion into our church family and join what God is doing through SBCC? Let us think and pray about this. We need you because your passion is the kindling that fans our family purpose, igniting the abundant life God offers to us and the world.
When facing challenges, we persevere by God’s Faithfulness.
            So while purpose grounds us, and passion fuels us, perseverance keeps us because the journey of God’s unfolding story is not always easy. The church in Philippi knew this very well. Like every church, they had struggles to navigate. In the 1st Century, the Philippian church faced persecution. They were challenged by the culture and Roman society, in part because of the clash between the Christian gospel and the city’s civic cult. The Philippian church had to deal with false teachings that contaminated the gospel and led people astray. They had to address conflict between members, such as the disagreement Paul addresses between two pillars of the church, Euodia and Syntyche. We know they also faced economic challenges. The church in Philippi was generally poor, and yet the Bible tells us they still gave generously to Paul. Even with these struggles, however, the church at Philippi persevered.
            Their challenges aren’t necessarily our challenges. But every church has its own array of challenging issues. Challenging issues include the pressure and impact of anti-biblical cultural norms, financial realities that can impede vision, hard decisions that need to be made, and strife and painful interpersonal relationships in the church family.
            South Bay Community Church is no different. Our journey has had its own challenges. We’ve worshipped in various locations and had to sometimes make hard decisions about space and place. As we grew, we moved from school auditoriums to a strip mall and then to this industrial site that was not even worship-ready. We’ve navigated major construction twice. First, for the original construction project of the old sanctuary (Multi-Purpose Room across the hall), we met in the Bistro until the old sanctuary was ready. The second construction project was to build the existing sanctuary. Both construction projects brought major financial challenges, disruptions, and the unexpected headaches that come with any construction project. When we first moved here, there were members who took out second mortgages to help cover the costs, and we had our share of run-ins with city officials and inspectors alike.
            Our church has journeyed through economic downturns, unemployment crises, natural disasters, September 11th attacks, social upheaval, and a COVID pandemic that changed everything forever. In fact, the pandemic thrust us into a new chapter and knocked everyone off balance for a few years. Actually, we are still recovering, resetting, and reimagining from that reality.
            However, none of these challenges or upheavals threw God off balance. Through it all, God continued to do a good work in us or through us, and we persevered. Like every church, there were moments when we might have been tempted to give up. But Philippians 1:6 assures us that the good work God started will continue, even with struggles until God’s purposes are completed.
            As we look toward our next chapter, there are new challenges. Even now, we are facing challenges related to church membership given the change in church rhythms and attendance across the country today. Many young adults are less interested in traditional church experiences, while others have to relocate to more affordable areas. There’s also the reality of fewer children being born. Even public schools are facing closure challenges. So there’s a legitimate concern around church growth, particularly considering the next generations. That is not just a concern at South Bay Community Church.
            There are also financial challenges as giving trends to churches have changed. Reports have found that Generation X and Millennials, while generous for causes, are not as likely to give to churches as the Baby Boomer generation. We have challenges of an aging population and the care needed among our church family. We even have the challenge of an aging building with increasing maintenance needs.
            Technology has revolutionized the way churches worship. Many of these challenges could cause churches to give up, quit, throw in the towel, and say, “never mind; this work is too hard.”
            However, Paul’s words to the Philippians and to us are words of encouragement and hope: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6, NRSVUE). Paul is reminding the believers in Philippi and us to persevere because God has begun a good work and will complete it. He is working all things together for good. What God is doing may look different from anything we’ve seen or done before, but as a church family, we must persevere in our purpose with passion. We must encourage each other, support one another, and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us together as a family.
            The Spirit speaks to us in community. With every challenge we have faced, God has put people in this family who had experience, insight, suggestions, contacts, and solutions that have helped us persevere. So many of the ideas and wonderful things we are doing as a church did not come from the lead pastor, but God planting an idea in a church family member that aligns with our purpose and becomes clear as an answer to prayer or movement of God. As we move into our next chapter, we must persevere not as lone rangers but as a church family, listening together, discerning together, and walking in faith together.  
 
As we live into the Power of Walking in the Holy Spirit, God’s anointing falls on us.
            As we have heard Paul’s word from God, did you catch who is really doing the work? Let’s repeat the Word of God one more time: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, New Revised Standard Version). God who began the good work will complete it (or perfect it, as it says in some translations). It is our job to be faithful, but it’s not on us alone. Philippians 1:6 assures us that God will complete this work not by our strength, but by God’s power. The Holy Spirit empowers us as a family to fulfill God’s mission and God’s purpose with passion and perseverance. But the end results, the completion of God’s purposes, are all in God’s hands.
            Some may say our future looks bleak, the challenges are insurmountable, the handwriting is on the wall. But Holy Spirit power makes the impossible possible, and we have no idea what God will do. We walk by faith, not by sight! Just as we invited the Holy Spirit to empower us in the anointing service last week, that same Spirit is empowering us as a church family right now! We may have stood and been anointed individually, but we were also standing as a community of a church family. Like Paul, we can be confident that the same Spirit is at work. Similar to the Church in Philippi and any church on fire for God down through the ages, that same Spirit is at work in us as a church family. As we step into our next chapter, we are South Bay Community Church, depending on the Spirit’s strength (not our own) trusting that God will lead us, sustain us, and take us exactly where God wants us to be. The Spirit will complete the work God is doing in us and through us until the day of Jesus Christ. Whatever the future may hold, let us persevere in our purpose with passion, confident that God will complete the work God began in us by the power of God’s Spirit.

With faith in God, we move forward.
            We’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in God’s Holy Word. God has never failed us yet. We can’t turn around, because we’ve come this far by faith. It is that same faith through the power of God’s Spirit that will carry us into the future. We are moving forward by faith in God.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FAMILY GROUPS
Sermon Quick Summary
-For further explanation of any statement in the Quick Summary, review the discussion and questions under the heading for that statement.
Today, South Bay Community Church is celebrating its 39th anniversary. We reflect on all God has done over these past decades, and look ahead to what God will do in the years ahead, for God never leaves us nor forsakes us.
-Reflecting on Philippians 1:6, how have you seen God’s faithfulness in the “highs and lows” of your personal life? Can you share a time when God carried you through a challenging season?
Philippians 1:6: "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" gives a solid framework as we look back and look forward with our eyes on God.
-Who is the one who began a good work in you and will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ? What is the meaning of the “Day of Jesus Christ”?
-In Philippians 1:5, the preceding verse, Paul expresses joy about the Philistines sharing in the work of the gospel. Why did Paul’s confidence not rest ultimately on the Philistines despite their good work, but on God?
-Practice reciting Philippians 1:6 so that the verse is available to you when you need solid framework in looking back and forward with eyes on God.  As God transforms you in your deep inner self, what changes might you make as an individual so that you can contribute to be connected to others as the family of God?
We have completed a series called “Next Chapter” about God’s invitation to live into our purpose, live with passion, live through perseverance, and live in the power of the Holy Spirit.
-This sermon emphasizes God’s ongoing work in us both individually and as a community. What does it mean to you personally that God is continually “writing your story” with purpose and passion?
The Greek biblical language in Philippians 1:6 for “you” is plural, not singular; Paul is talking about the good work of the entire community of believers begun in us as the family of the body of Christ.
-If we did not understand that “you” is plural, not singular, what important biblical principle would we be missing from Philippians 1:6?
- South Bay has been described as “one of God’s masterpieces,” created with a unique purpose. How would you describe your church’s mission to someone new? What makes your church special to you?
We are called by God to live into our purpose both individually and as a connected community.
-How do you see God’s presence and power at work in your church? Where do you feel your church is in its “next chapter,” and how can you be a part of that journey?
When living into our passion, we have confidence that ignites joy
-Passion for God fuels our joy and service. What stirs your heart with passion for God’s work? How might you bring that passion to the community served by your church?
When facing challenges, we persevere by God’s Faithfulness.
-Like the church in Philippi, South Bay has faced its own challenges and joys over the years. What challenges does our church family face today, and how can we lean on God’s strength to navigate them together?
-The sermon spoke about “persevering as a family.” How does the idea of persevering together as one body affect the way you see your role at church? How can we encourage and support each other as a family?
As we live into the Power of Walking in the Holy Spirit, God’s anointing falls on us.
-We’ve seen how each member’s unique gifts and passions contribute to the whole body. What are some ways you think God may be calling you to step into or strengthen your role within your church’s mission?
With faith in God, we move forward.
-The sermon invites us to trust that “God isn’t done with us yet.” How can we continue to invite the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance as we walk forward into our church’s future?
-As we look to the future, what are your hopes for the next chapter of your church family? What opportunities do you see for us as a church family to impact our community?