There’s a book in your Bible called Philippians, and it’s our book study for the next five weeks. Paul wrote this letter to a church he had a great love for, and you can hear it coming out in the letter. We’ll start with our theme verse:
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 1:6 (NIV)
In other words, Jesus has started something in you. And how many of you know that God is going to be faithful to see that work in you and in me through to completion?
A church plant called Philippi
Philippi was a church plant, just like Rise Church. It was a new church that God launched by calling some people together, and Paul was part of its beginning. We see it in Acts 16.
Paul and his friend Silas were traveling, and they were being led by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes God would say, “Go in here,” and sometimes He would say, “Don’t go here.” It’s like when you’ve got the maps on in your car and you get rerouted. Then one night Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia begging, “Please come to Macedonia. We need help.” So Paul headed straight there. He started preaching the gospel, and he met a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth who worshiped God. Acts 16:14 says the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. She was saved at the riverbank where the people of God went to pray.
Every day at that riverbank, a slave girl followed Paul and Silas, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” That sounds great, but she was a fortune teller, and the way she told fortunes was through a demon. Her masters were making tons of money from her. Paul finally got fed up, turned around, and cast the spirit out of her. She couldn’t tell fortunes anymore, so her masters had Paul and Silas thrown into prison.
But even in jail, Paul was bold in his faith:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. Acts 16:25-26 (NIV)
The jailer was about to kill himself, because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Hey man, don’t harm yourself. We’re all here.” The jailer fell trembling before them and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” That same night, he and his whole household believed and were baptized. Paul’s ministry was people getting saved left and right, no matter what circumstance Paul and Silas were in.
Some years later, Paul wrote this church a letter, and you can tell how much he loved them:
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, Philippians 1:3-5 (NIV)
I love that the Bible shows us how much we need help. And it has something to say about it, especially when we find ourselves feeling stuck.
When you feel stuck
Have you ever felt stuck? Nobody leaves the house excited about traffic. Nobody likes being stuck in line at the DMV. The DMV in D.C. was the absolute worst. You needed a laptop, snacks, plenty of water, and a couple days’ rations.
I did get stuck one time. In fact, the reason your pastor owns a four-wheel drive truck is because your pastor at one time owned a two-wheel drive truck.
Missy and I had a little above-ground pool in the backyard for the kids, and I had this great idea to level it out. I hauled some sand home from Lowe’s in the back of my truck, unloaded it on the grass, put the truck in gear, and pressed the gas pedal. I heard the motor rev, but there was no forward progress. I was hearing what I should hear, but I wasn’t seeing what I should see.
It would have been so manly to be stuck in the woods off-roading. No, it was my yard, and the grass was wet. I had to take my Prius to Lowe’s, load it with gravel way over capacity, and put that gravel under my tires to get out. I sold that truck, and now I drive a four-wheel drive truck, because I didn’t want to be in that situation again.
Sometimes in life we get stuck, and we can’t get out on our own. We’re revving the motor of whatever that situation is, but there’s no forward progress. We need something else to intervene. We need some four-wheel drive to kick in.
Here’s the deal. Some people aren’t taking steps forward in their faith because they’re stuck in their circumstances. Instead of depending on God to be their companion through it, they’re trying to figure it out on their own. Work and money can make us feel stuck. So can family and relationships. Even our health can. This year I’m on a health journey, and sometimes I’ve felt stuck, like I’m not seeing what I hoped to see. Our past and our bad habits can sneak back in. Sometimes it’s even faith itself where you feel stuck.
When you’re stuck, you might feel trapped, like every door is shut. You might feel on hold, like you’re waiting on customer service and nothing is moving. You might be spinning your wheels, like me in that backyard. You might feel held back, like you’re putting real energy into it but some other force keeps pulling against you. And the worst of all is when you start to feel numb. You wonder, “Am I ever going to get out of this thing?” You don’t even have the energy to try again.
The psalmist shows us what to do:
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Psalm 40:1-2 (NIV)
We would all love for “patiently” to go fast, but that’s the opposite of patience. And I love that God didn’t give him a soft seat to sit in or a nice bed to lie down on. He gave him a firm place to stand. As I was praying through this, the Lord showed me that when we stand, we’re in the position we need to be in to take a step forward. Some of you are in the wrong posture in your faith. You’re seated, you’re lying down, you’re asleep. Let God lift you up out of your situation and get you on your feet, so you can step forward into what He wants for you.
A lack of confidence
Often when we feel stuck, we’re not as stuck as we think, especially if you know Jesus. But we’re often compromised by a lack of confidence.
When my sister Jen was in sixth grade, a girl at her school named Carla picked her as a target. Carla pulled Jen’s hair, called her names, and knocked her backpack off. Jen got to the point where she didn’t want to go to school anymore.
My mom told her to get some wisdom from my dad, Grady. My dad said, “Oh, Jen, this is a pretty simple problem to solve. You get a roll of quarters, and you hold it in your palm, and you ball up your fist.” My mom said, “No, Grady! Jen, don’t listen to that.” Of course, my dad was kidding.
So they sat down with Jen and asked, “What does the Bible actually say about this?” It’s one of the toughest parts of the Bible, because it says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. The next day, Carla started picking on her like normal, and Jen said, “You want to know something, Carla? I’ve been praying for you. And I also want you to know that I love you.”
And it worked. Carla went from being her bully to being her protector. Jen wasn’t stuck anymore. She could walk back into school with confidence. That’s the power of God going into action for an 11-year-old girl.
I think that’s why Paul spends so much time in Philippians encouraging confidence. Knowing who you are in Christ gives you confidence. Knowing who has your back gives you confidence. It was great for Jen to have Carla on her side, but it’s even better to know Jesus has your back. And if we could get a glimpse into how all of this ends, into God’s great plan, we would have so much holy confidence.
You’ve probably met somebody who is super confident and a little loud. But sometimes you meet a person who isn’t saying a word, and you think, “I wouldn’t want to cross that person,” because they have a quiet confidence. Listen, confidence is not how loud you are. It’s how sure you are. It comes from belief. It comes from faith in what God is doing.
For the Lord will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught. Proverbs 3:26 (NKJV)
God directed Paul’s steps through people, through pain, and through purpose. All of those kept Paul moving forward so the story of Jesus could keep spreading, even when he was in chains:
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. Philippians 1:12 (NIV)
A beep-beep message
Have you ever been stopped at a red light when it turns green, and the car in front of you doesn’t move? When we lived in Washington, D.C., the millisecond the light turned green, the person behind you was going to lay on the horn.
It’s different here in the South. In the South, we’re polite. When the car in front doesn’t go, we say under our breath, “Oh, bless your heart.” But we don’t dare honk, because that would be rude. A whole cycle might go past. And when it turns red again, you have to pray and ask the Lord whether you should do a little beep-beep.
So I’m not going to lay on the horn. This is a beep-beep message. If you happen to have missed the fact that God turned the light green, it’s time for you to move forward. As politely as I can, but also as clearly as I can, I want to show you in God’s Word how to get unstuck. God has already made a way, and you might just need a little holy confidence to step out.
1. God uses people to build you up
When I was 14 years old, I had a youth pastor who believed in me, Pastor David Strahan. He’s still in ministry all these years later. I was kind of a rascal back then, but somehow he saw some hope and some potential in me.
He pulled me aside one day, around 1995, and I’ll never forget it. He said, “David, I see greatness in you. God has His hand on your life, and you’re meant for more. You’re going to do great things, and many, many people will be blessed by what God calls you to do. So whatever He calls you to do, do that.” Six years later, I was called into ministry. The fruit of his prophetic words that day are still ringing true in my life. It took somebody to build me up. It took somebody to believe in me.
Paul was encouraged by the people in Philippi too:
for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. Philippians 1:19 (NIV)
Paul was stuck in a circumstance, but he didn’t let that circumstance define his level of confidence. I’m convinced he wasn’t only thinking about the chains he was wearing. He was talking about the freedom that only comes through Jesus Christ. And he didn’t go through it alone. He had people praying for him and supporting him.
You need that in your life too, and it’s why small groups are so important. Small groups are where you’ll experience community and care. You need some voices in your life that will build you up. And if the voices in your life are holding you back or tearing you down, get some new voices.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)
2. God redeems your pain to build others up
People walking through pain can accidentally hurt the people around them. They don’t mean to. It’s the weight of the pain. But once you’ve been through pain yourself, you have a new grace for anybody you meet who is walking through it, because you know how hard it is.
God wants to do even more with your pain. He wants to use it. It doesn’t take away the pain, but it helps so much to know God is walking with you through it, and that on the other side He’s going to use it for His glory. You’ll even discern pain on people more clearly, and you can come alongside and help.
As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. Philippians 1:13-14 (NIV)
If you choose to believe in the middle of your pain that God is going to use it for His glory and for your good (Romans 8:28), people will see that. They’ll ask, “How are you walking through this?” You have a confidence that God is going to do something with it, and they will be encouraged.
Paul was under house arrest, chained to a Roman guard. Paul was supposed to be the captive one. But when he started to talk about Jesus, he had a captive audience. That’s hilarious to me. And his chains made other people bold. The followers of Jesus said, “If he can preach in chains, why am I not sharing Jesus with the people around me?”
for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 2 Timothy 2:9 (NIV)
This is the same church that watched Paul take a beating back in Acts 16. And Paul was telling them, “God did something great through all that pain. I didn’t want to go through it, but it was worth it.” So if you’re struggling, trust God in that pain.
3. God gives you purpose that keeps you moving forward
Purpose has to be one of my favorite words in the English language. Some of you are stuck because you don’t know yet what God put you on planet earth to do. That’s exactly why we have Next Steps. We’ll share the story of our church, and then we’ll help you discover your purpose. When you find it, you won’t need extra energy to take steps forward. You’ll move through life because God has given you something to point your life to.
At the very least, every person who follows Jesus has a purpose in helping fulfill the Great Commission. Somebody you know doesn’t have Jesus. Help that person know God. Introduce them to Jesus, and share what God did in your life. That has eternal impact. The people who come after them in their family have a better chance of knowing Jesus because of the bold step you took.
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
Don’t look at Paul, look at Jesus. Don’t look at me, look at Jesus. Let our old self die, and let’s live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us. The greatest response is to give our lives to Him.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, Philippians 1:25 (NIV)
The momentum God puts behind His work keeps growing and growing. You’re sitting in the result of that progress, and the progress continues.
Let’s be bold
This is what we need in our church, in our hearts, and in our city. We need boldness. If we’re afraid or ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, God is not going to use us for His glory. But if we’re bold, if we take our stand and keep moving forward, declaring the name of Jesus without a shred of fear, then we can carry the story of Jesus to this city. People will hear it, and they will say yes.
We can’t manufacture this confidence. It can only come from Him. If you weep over the lost in Chattanooga, you’re in the right place, because we do too. Let’s be people of action. Let’s not be people who stay stuck with slippery tires on wet grass. Let’s be people who are moving forward in Jesus.
Your next step
Maybe you don’t know God yet. You’ve looked at all the other answers, and none of them have worked. I was in your shoes years ago. I tried everything too, and nothing worked except Jesus, because He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
He loves you more than you could ever love Him, and He paid the price for your sin when He died on the cross. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23). You don’t have to clean anything up before you come to Him. You can come as you are and let Him wash you clean.
Or maybe you’ve known God, but you’ve been stuck for far too long, and you’re done with it. If that’s you, pray this with me:
“Lord Jesus, thank You for saving me. Thank You today for Your boldness that You’re rising inside me. I give my life to You. I make You Lord. I receive Your free gift of salvation. And with a grateful heart, I say thank You. My life is Yours. I’m committed to You. I’ll live my life for You all the days of my life. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.”
If you prayed that prayer, we would love to help you take your next step. Visit rise.church to let us know.
