God's Got This | God Uses People for His Purposes | Pastor Jamie Kemp

Read:  Philippians 1:6; Romans 16:1-16

At the end of Romans, Paul lists more than 30 names. It feels like movie credits — ordinary people who helped build the early church. No celebrities. No superstars. Just faithful people who showed up.

The big truth: God uses people for His purposes.

God begins, continues, and finishes His good work in us (Philippians 1:6). But how does He do it? Through relationships.

Paul’s theology in Romans is deep and powerful, but in chapter 16 we see what the Gospel looks like in real life: friendships, sacrifice, partnership, spiritual family.

From this, we learn three kinds of people God uses:

1. God uses ordinary people who show up.
   Like Peter and John in Acts of the Apostles 4, they weren’t impressive by worldly standards — but they had “been with Jesus.” Availability matters more than ability.
2. God uses relationships that build up.
   Paul had co-workers, mentors, spiritual mothers, and friends who risked their lives for him. Faith grows in community, not isolation.
3. God uses communities that open up.
   The church was diverse, united, welcoming, and spiritually strong. True Christianity isn’t uniformity — it’s unity 1 Corinthians 12:12).

You don’t have to wait until you’re successful, stable, or “fully ready.” Your name already matters in God’s story.

So the call is simple:  Show up. Build up. Open up.

5 Discussion Questions for Young Adults

1. Where is God asking you to “show up” right now?
   (Worship, Core Group, serving, friendships, prayer?)
2. Who has God used to shape your faith?
   How did that relationship impact you — and how can you be that person for someone else?
3. Romans 16 is a list of ordinary names. Why do you think we often believe God only uses “extraordinary” people?
4. What does it look like for our generation to choose unity instead of division in a world full of identity, political, and cultural tension?
5. If your life were listed in the “credits” of someone else’s story, what would you want it to say about how you loved, served, or showed up?