Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Hosts Pastors' Lee and Jim.
It's Time to Inspire, Uplift, and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now!
Beyond Sunday
Transformation in Progress: Embracing God's Sanctification Journey
Can we truly achieve transformation in a world filled with challenges and uncertainty? Join us as we uncover the promise held within Philippians 1:6, reminding us of God's unwavering commitment to complete the good work He started in us. By reflecting on Paul's perseverance during imprisonment, we draw parallels to our own struggles and find hope in the understanding that sanctification is a journey, not a destination. We invite you to explore how embracing God's process of change can bring peace, even amidst turmoil.
As we navigate the path of spiritual growth, we emphasize the power of active participation in our own transformation. Discover the role of free will and personal responsibility, guided by the Holy Spirit, in shaping our journey towards becoming more like Christ. With Pastor Jim leading a heartfelt prayer, we conclude with an uplifting message for those feeling discouraged, assuring you that God is present and actively working in your life. Whether you're at home or on the road, you're encouraged to stay connected, trust in divine plans, and keep showing up and growing. This episode is a beacon of hope and inspiration along your faith journey.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week With your hosts, pastors Lee and Jim. It's time to inspire, uplift and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2:Hey, what's going on, guys? This is Pastor Lee and I'm here with Pastor Jim. We're the Pastors of Christ Family Outreach Church, located in Amelia, Virginia. Hey, what's going on, guys? This is Pastor Lee and I'm here with Pastor Jim. We're the pastors of Christ Family Outreach Church, located in Amelia, Virginia, and we are excited for today's topic. If you've got a moment and you don't already have your Bibles in your hand, we need you to hit pause, run to the other room, grab it, come on back, sit down and get excited. We are excited and we're looking forward to this morning's topic.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and we're diving into a powerful verse in Philippians, chapter 1, verse 6, where it's all about God's work in and through us, his continued work in us, and we're going to be talking a little bit about how you know God's not going to start a work in us that he's not faithful to finish.
Speaker 2:Amen, brother, amen, amen. Why don't you go ahead and read that for the people? Hopefully they got their Bibles open by now. To Philippians 1.6. Go ahead and let them know what Paul's writing.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I love this verse and it says this Philippians 1.6,. And I am sure of this, that he who has began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. And you know this verse. It's really like a promise from God. He's not just letting us know that he's starting something and he's just going to leave us hanging, but that he's really in it for the long haul.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I want to point out too right that Paul is writing this letter to the church not from the comfort of his home, not from the comfort of a tent he's traveling around in, not from the comfort of his disciples around him. He's writing this letter to the church from his jail cell and he does not have a woe-is-me type attitude.
Speaker 1:He's using every chance he can get to encourage those who need encouraging, yeah, and it's interesting, as Paul is being persecuted and he's in jail and he's not accepted for what he talks about. You know, in the same sense, the audience, the church at Philippi they're going through the exact same thing and that encouragement that he's offering is because they need it too. Yeah, and it's a lot like you and me today. Okay, so we're Christians, we're working, we're living in this world, we're constantly being looked at as different, which, in a sense, we want to be, but we're also being persecuted for the things that we believe in in a lot of ways. And you know, there's an encouragement in this letter to the Church of Philippi for us today as well, because he's saying hey, look, god started this in you and he's not going to leave you hanging. So hold on tight because there's more coming.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, and hold on tight's a great expression, you know, because it's going to be a fun ride. You know, when we're serving Jesus Christ. I'd like to just share with the folks what this verse really means to me. You know, and I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you, he who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. This work that God is doing in my life and your life, pastor Jim, and in the life of every person that accepts Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, this work is called. Here we go, pastor Jim, and in the life of every person that accepts Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, this work is called. Here we go.
Speaker 2:One word sanctification. Right Sanctification. What is it? To sanctify something? What is this work of sanctification that God is working in and through our lives by the Holy Spirit's power? To sanctify something is to make it holy. So God is working in us, he's working in and through his people to make us holy, in other words, to make us more like him. So he's removing prior thoughts that do not honor God. He's removing sinful thoughts, unholy thoughts. He's removing attitudes that do not point to Christ. He's removing sinful thoughts, unholy thoughts, he's removing attitudes that do not point to Christ. He's removing those things that do not belong throughout the day in and throughout our lives, and he's doing it to make us look more like him. He's got to make room and if we were at church right now, I'd tell people, taking notes, I'd say write those two words down make room. Because that's exactly what Jesus is doing, that's exactly what the Father is doing through this sanctification process.
Speaker 1:He's clearing out some junk to make some room so we could be more like him Exactly, and I think it's one of those verses right that gives us a real sense of peace, because he's doing that work, he's not going to stop until he's done and honestly, I think that it's important and I think a lot of people need to hear that message today, because life can feel overwhelming and when you're trying to separate yourself from what the world says, go and do you know? We can offer, wondering am I doing enough to be set separate? Am I growing? And this reverse or I'm sorry, this verse just reminds me that you know, god is doing the heavy lifting and we don't have to.
Speaker 2:Oh, praise the Lord for that, brother. You know, I asked everybody to grab their Bibles for a reason today because we got a lot of scripture in today's episode, man, we got a lot of scripture. Matter of fact, if you have your Bibles, go ahead to turn to 2 Corinthians 5, verse 20. We see Paul writing in this letter, and in 2 Corinthians 5, 20, paul writes therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, god making his appeal through us. And so I just kind of started thinking, like what does this verse have to do with what Paul is saying in Philippians, chapter 1, verse 6? Like how can these two verses marry together? You know, what do they have in common?
Speaker 2:And I just started thinking about the job of an ambassador, pastor Jim, is to represent their country in a foreign country, you know.
Speaker 2:So here's a thought I'm living in a foreign land as a Christian, I'm living in a foreign land and my job is to represent Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:So when Jesus is praying to God in John 17, 16, jesus says to God, he says they, meaning the disciples, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And this really, pastor Jim, is where we get the term in the world, but not of the world, and so this is where we get that term, and oftentimes you'll hear Christians say that you know, I'm in it, right, but I'm not of it. And you see, once I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I then died to my old self, and so should have every other person that accepts Jesus Christ as King and Lord of their life. Amen, which means we no longer share the values of this world. We now represent Christ. So, in order to represent Jesus, I need the sanctification process happening in me all the time, brother, every day. This is a process and, according to what Paul says, this work is not going to be finished until the Lord calls us home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love Paul's confidence. I think one of the things that Paul writes with is an absolute confidence. He uses phrases like I am sure of this right and he's so confident that the work that the Holy Spirit is working in and through him, he understands that he's faithful to finish that work. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And here's some good news for everybody right Like if you woke up this morning feeling guilty for something you did, you know, last night or even already this morning, I've got good news for you that the sanctification process is an everyday process, you know. So like I'm trying to be more like Christ today. So one way that I look at it is God has given me a new day.
Speaker 1:I'm going to try to do better today than I did yesterday and we don't have to rely on our own strength to make any of that work. We're trusting in his faithfulness. And if you look at the promise that Jeremiah 29 makes, where he says for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord plans for welfare and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope, god just doesn't start us on this path. He has good plans for our lives and he provides the Holy Spirit to help us right. Because we learn in Ephesians 2, verses eight and nine for by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it's the gift of God, so it's not as a result of our own works, but that we cannot boast because it's a gift from the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man. And here's something else I'm going to say. You know, write this upon your hearts today, folks, three words, here it goes, don't fight it. You know, like so many times, man, I talk with Christians and you know the Holy Spirit is convicting them and letting them know some things that he's ready for them to let go of so that they can advance, so they can go from faith to faith and glory to glory. You know, and so many times people share with me, the struggle is real, right, like the fight is intense. The battle is real. Fight is intense, the battle is real, and oftentimes they're fighting against what God is trying to do to get them to let something go, maybe because, honestly, they love it.
Speaker 2:It's been a habit since maybe they were in high school. You know it's a crutch that they lean on. You know, when the marriage isn't going right or relationships are rocky and falling apart, you know, when they get fired from a job, when something's not going right, they turn to these things. It's almost like sometimes we'll keep things in our back closet of life for the just-in-case times. You know, those rocky moments, rather than we press into God, we can, you know, unfortunately run back to something that mentally pleases us or pleases the flesh. So again, I'm just going to repeat it Don't fight it. Don't fight that sanctification work that the Holy Spirit is trying to do in us to refine us, to make us more like God. And I got to thinking on this topic about not fighting that sanctification work, not fighting God bringing us out of ugly, not fighting God bringing us out of the war field of who we used to be. If you will and the Holy Spirit just reminded me as I was studying this of Genesis, chapter 19.
Speaker 2:And in Genesis, chapter 19, we find this cast of characters. If you will, it's Lot's family and Lot, his wife and their two daughters. They're told by a couple angels to leave the sin-ridden city of Sodom and you know, they end up leaving. But in the course of leaving, lot's wife, man, she looks back. And the reason she looks back is because she's drawn to what pleased her flesh. She's drawn to that old city of sin, she's drawn to that old lifestyle and it kept her from being set apart, it kept her from being consecrated, it kept her from being sanctified for God's holy use and because of it it destroyed her.
Speaker 2:And from there we get into James, chapter 1, verses 14 and 15,. Pastor Jim and I just want to touch a minute brother how sin tears us down and in the process of sin destroying us, it leads to death. So in James, chapter 1, 14 through 15, this is what it says. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. So sin tears us down and it's not going to allow God to do the sanctifying work to build us up as long as we choose to keep sin in our life. You got any thought?
Speaker 1:on that. Well, I think it's super important to remember, as we're talking about Lot's wife and we're talking about this process of becoming more like Christ, to remember that this is a process Becoming more like Jesus. It just doesn't happen overnight and, honestly, I think that that's a relief, because if I had to be perfect today, I think I'd be in a lot of trouble.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've already failed that Right already, and it's 10 o'clock in the morning. But God is patient with us, right? And he's working in us little by little over time. And I love in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, where it says and we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. And that's just a reminder that this is a step-by-step process. We might not be where we want to be right now. In this moment, we're exactly where God has us, but we're not where we used to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it's important that we take ownership of that, because when we look at what's going on in James 1, 14-15, where it says but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, so we've got to take ownership here. You know where we are today. That's on us. You know that's on us. You know we can't get anywhere without God and without his sanctifying work and the power of his Holy Spirit. We're not taking credit away from that. So I don't want the listeners to misunderstand what I'm trying to say. But we are not robotic in essence of this. We all get our own choice. We've got free will here. So we are where we are today because we either chose to ignore God and the work he wanted to do or because we accepted what God has for us and by his grace, his mercy, his strength, we are where we are because we have freely accepted the work that God is doing inside of us.
Speaker 1:So we've got to take responsibility here, no matter where we are yeah, and don't let the enemy lie to you and start whispering things that you're not where you should be. You know, we can't worry about the things of tomorrow. The Bible says that them things will worry about themselves. Right, and that's this beauty of sanctification God is. He's transforming us just a bit by bit to look more like Jesus, but we can't focus on how far we got to go right. The focus should be on today and how we're and what we're doing to grow in this moment. Like am I growing actively today? Is my faith and am I going from faith to faith and glory to glory in my actions today?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, man. It just reminds me, like you said, bit by bit, you know, as you were saying, that I'm just thinking like I see this masonry and he's out there doing like a brick mason. He's laying down one block, throwing some mortar, laying down another block, throwing some mortar, you know, and that big giant finished product, this huge wall. But it started out as one. You know, started out with one brick, you know, and day by day, piece by piece, work by work, we become fortified in what God wants us, who God wants us to be and what he wants us to do with our lives.
Speaker 1:So how does God do all of this, right? How does he make us more like Jesus? And I would say, first off, it's not on our own willpower, right, there's obviously a helper, and we learn about that helper in John 14, where he says the Father's going to give us another who'd be a helper, who's going to be with us forever, you know. So how can you talk a little bit about how does the Holy Spirit make us look more like Jesus?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely man. So again, this, this process of sanctification, he's going to be convicting us and teaching us and showing us, as we spend time in prayer and in his word, what we need to get out of our lives. I'm reminded of Second Timothy, chapter two, verse twenty one Timothy, chapter 2, verse 21. 2 Timothy 2, 21 says this, and again it comes down to personal decisions and taking ownership of how we're living our lives. 2 Timothy 2, 21,.
Speaker 2:Therefore, if anyone so that's good news, right. If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. And so how do we do that? We let go of the old lifestyle, we surrender to the working power of the Holy Spirit and we have to make a choice that we no longer want to serve self but we want to serve God. And that should be good news for every one of us that if you're out there today and you're listening and you feel dishonorable, right, you just feel like the unusable. I want to encourage you and remind you that that's exactly who God wants to use today. Amen, you know, that's exactly who God wants to use. But you've got to make a decision to no longer be the dishonorable vessel and choose to be a vessel, for as Scripture calls it honorable use.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Romans 12 tells us don't be conformed to the world. We got to be transformed by the renewal of our mind, and it speaks a little bit about how you were even touching on. We have a choice in this and we have to choose to let God's Word shape us. We have to choose to listen to the Holy Spirit, and I really think that that's the key. We have to choose to participate in this process. It's not waiting around for God just to do it all. We have to show up, we have to engage and we have to be active in our own growth. God's not going to force us. He wants to actually partner with us.
Speaker 2:Oh man, and what a partnership that is right. What an honor. The Creator of heaven and earth is willing to work in our lives and partner with us and do something that we definitely could not do without.
Speaker 1:Him in our lives. And this whole process, as we look to wrap things up today, has an end goal, and it's that day that Jesus comes back, that we're all going to be fully transformed and, finally, all the work that we've gone through to be obedient and to be faithful and look to him as a source for our perseverance, trying to be like Him, there's going to be a day, as 1 Thessalonians tells us, that the Lord Himself is going to descend from heaven with a cry command. And I love that because man can you imagine that? The day when we're finally going to be transformed, no more sin, no more pain, everything's going to be made right and we're just going to be with Jesus forever. And that's a hope that I know I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 2:Man come Lord Jesus, come. You know, come Lord Jesus, come. I'm waiting. The Bible tells us to look up because our redemption draws nigh, you know look up Absolutely, and that's the finish line.
Speaker 1:We're in this race, but ultimately, and while we're in a race from victory, there's still a hope for those who are in Christ to have more hope on the waiting of the true victory, when Jesus returns for His church, and on that day God's work in us is going to be complete. Amen, brother.
Speaker 2:Amen. Well, guys, that's going to bring a wrap to episode two of the Beyond Sunday podcast, and we just want to take a moment and personally say thank you. Thank you for allowing us into your home or into your vehicle. You know it means a lot to us that you spent the past few moments with us, and we would just like to close in a prayer. Pastor Jim, would you pray us out of here? Yeah?
Speaker 1:absolutely, Father. Thank you for an opportunity that we have to come before you and commune. Lord, I'm grateful for your word. I'm grateful for every listener. Father, I pray that you would just bless and anoint their life today as they go in their travels In Jesus' mighty name, amen, Amen. So if you're listening today and you feel discouraged, or if you're unsure about your growth, I want you to remember this God started a good work in you and he's going to finish it. Stay connected to Him, engage with His Word and trust that he is working in you, Keep showing up, keep growing and trust that he's got you covered. You're not alone.
