MOVE with Gratitude | Kyle Idleman

Good morning, Pando family. My name is Josh Head. I'm here with our Blankenbaker campus, and I just want to say welcome. Thank you for joining us today. I don't know what the weather's like where you are, but right here it is pretty snowy, so I'm glad you all are able to join us this morning. I just want to start by saying if you can, we would love for you to write us. We have a team of staff and volunteers here that would love, we love receiving your letters, your encouragement, helping you with any ways that you can get connected to this church, so we would love to continue by writing back to you to engage with you to continue to connect with you. Another thing is if you're tuning in, we would love if you would subscribe to our channel. We love our Pando family and would love for you to continue to stay connected to us, and one small way you could do that is by subscribing. If you all don't know, we're jumping into a six-week sermon series called MOVE. It's part of a two-year discipleship journey of generosity our church is on, and this is the midpoint. We're officially one year in, and we would love for you all to engage with our church in this way. It's part of our entire church family, and you have a chance to get plugged in, so we're gonna be walking through the book of Philippians for the next six weeks, so I can't wait to see what Kyle has to share for us, and with that being said, we would love to invite you to worship with us as we jump into the book of Philippians this morning. Come on, we sing. Come on, we sing. Come on, our God's been faithful. We sing. We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. If he's been able when no one else could we sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. Oh, he's worthy. We sing hallelujah.

So let the redeemed of the Lord lift their voices remember the things he has done. We've heard from our fathers and we'll tell our children the wonderful things he has done. Oh, if he's been faithful if he's been good we sing we sing hallelujah. And if he's been able when no one else could we sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. We give him praise our God's been good so faithful. Oh, he is good his love endures now and for eternity. He is good his love endures our history and our legacy. He is good we sing right now

and forevermore. He is good his love endures our history and our legacy. He has been faithful he has been good sing hallelujah. Come on. Our God has been able when no one else could we sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. And if he's been good we'll praise him forever we'll sing hallelujah. Our God has been able when no one else could we sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. We thank you Lord hallelujah. ♪♪♪ ♪♪ We want to see a move of God in our homes and in our fields. ♪♪ ♪♪ Spirit come move in us. ♪♪ ♪♪ We want to see a kingdom come in our church and in our city. ♪♪ ♪♪ Spirit come move through us. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ We bring it all. You bring the flame. ♪♪

♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Give us the eyes to see the lost and the heads to reach the heard. ♪♪ ♪♪ Spirit come move in us. ♪♪ ♪♪ Until we see the gospel taken to the corners of creation. ♪♪ ♪♪ Spirit come move through us. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ We bring it all. You bring the flame. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ We bring it all. You bring the flame. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit have your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Come out your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Let faith arise. Let darkness flee. ♪♪ ♪♪ A move of God like we've never seen. ♪♪ ♪♪ Consuming fire. A rushing wind. ♪♪ ♪♪ A move of God. Pour it out again. ♪♪ ♪♪ Let faith arise. Let darkness flee. ♪♪ ♪♪ A move of God like we've never seen. ♪♪ ♪♪ Consuming fire. A rushing wind. ♪♪ ♪♪ A move of God. Pour it out. Let faith arise. ♪♪ ♪♪ Let faith arise. Let darkness flee. ♪♪ ♪♪ A move of God like we've never seen. ♪♪ ♪♪ Consuming fire. A rushing wind. ♪♪ ♪♪ A move of God. Pour it out again. ♪♪ ♪♪ Come pour it out again. Come pour it out again. ♪♪ ♪♪ Come pour it out again. Come pour it out again. ♪♪

♪♪ And again and again. Holy Spirit, I'm Your way. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit, I'm Your way. We bring it all free. You bring the flame. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit, I'm Your way. We bring it all free. You bring the flame. ♪♪ ♪♪ Holy Spirit, I'm Your way. We bring it all free. You bring the flame. ♪♪ ♪ For all my life and still find more to love each time ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name ever on my lips ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on it ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus you're worthy ♪ ♪ You have been the friend who never left ♪ ♪ I won't forget your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name ever on my lips ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on it ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, You're worthy ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪

♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name, Lord ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name, Jesus, You're worthy, oh Lord, yeah ♪ ♪ There's no one like You, Lord ♪ ♪ You've always been there, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord, there's no one like You, Lord ♪ ♪ You are no one greater, God ♪ ♪ Jesus, Your name is like the morning light ♪ ♪ The one that darkness can't deny ♪ ♪ The resurrection and the life, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, Your name can save, Your name can heal ♪ ♪ Your name can make the storm be still ♪ ♪ You never fail, You never will, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ The bread of life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy one ♪ ♪ The first and last and soon to come, Jesus, Jesus the King ♪ ♪ Who overwhelmed the grave, the Lord who will forever reign ♪ ♪ The name above all other names, Jesus, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name, oh, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus be the name that gets all the glory, yeah ♪ ♪ All the glory, yeah, oh ♪ ♪ So high and lifted up, God, without your power, no A Lord ♪ ♪ No one greater God, no one higher God, yeah ♪

♪ Oh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h» ♪ So high and lifted up, God, oh ♪ ♪ Oh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h sentence it out! so Jesus be the name... Jesus be the name ♪ And let all the glory call out to You Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name over all Jesus be the name ♪ Jesus be the name that gets all the glory Sing that again, yes. ♪ So Jesus be the name ♪ Jesus be the name ♪ And Jesus be the name that gets all the glory Just have Your way God. ♪ Jesus be the name ♪ And Jesus be the name ♪ Oh Jesus be the name that gets all the glory And God, we magnify Your name tonight. There is no one greater and no one higher and no one more worthy of our praise, God. We lift Your name above all others. Above anything we are facing, God. Above any enemy that tries to have a seat at our table, God. You stand in the way and You say no, God. And You are above everything. And we glorify Your name tonight, God. And we lift Your name on high tonight. We love You, Lord. We forever worship You. And everybody said, amen.

Amen, church. You guys go ahead, let's have a seat together. Let's take a look at the screens. One year ago, in March of 2025, as a church, we gathered in faith and began a two-year discipleship journey called MOVE. If we're honest, we were nervous. Two years is a long time. The economy felt uncertain. Still kind of does. Some of us weren't sure we could make it, but we went ahead and we prayed a dangerous prayer together. God, what do You wanna do in me and through me? And over the next three years, we've been working together to make that happen. And over the last year, we have celebrated story after story as we have seen God's faithfulness, as we've seen the full force of our church come together to be radically generous out of a commitment to reach the next two generations. And this discipleship journey is challenging all of us to pursue God more passionately, to believe Him more radically, to give more generously, to serve others more sacrificially, and to invest in the kingdom more intentionally than ever before. And church, the receipts are coming in. We're getting to see what God has done, what He is doing.

As a church, we have moved together, believing that God has invited us to resource, unleash our current campuses and existing ministries in new ways. So among the many things God has done, we've seen 1,695 kids and students place their faith in Jesus and be baptized. Since the launch of MOVE, 201 new leaders have stepped forward to disciple and equip students and kids, unleashing the next generation and helping us as a church reach the over 143,000 unconnected students living in the communities around our campuses. We've invested in children and in families by distributing over 3,600 gospel-centered resources into homes across our church, equipping and coming alongside parents and caregivers to be a part of discipling children throughout the week. MOVE Together has also been about building deep and life-giving community. Since the fall, over 17,570 people have stepped into a Southeast group, with 4,033 joining a group for the very first time. Across our church, 1,570 people have joined. The 91 groups are now meeting regularly, creating spaces for discipleship and recovery, for prayer and belonging. As a church, we've moved forward.

Among the highlights, we saw 4,891 people baptized in 2025, declaring publicly that Jesus is my Lord and my Savior. And it's not just about what's happening here, but what we're continuing to see globally as well. This year marked our fourth visit to the Arabian Peninsula, taking faithful steps towards reaching one of the most spiritually unreached regions in the world. We're also partnering to translate the Bible into languages of 14 people groups in Liberia, bringing God's word to those who've never had it in their own language. Move forward also means reaching people wherever they are. From April through early December, Southeast's digital content generated more than 46 million views and impressions, helping people encounter the hope of Jesus right where they are at. Through the Pando platform, our ministry serving incarcerated individuals, we now reach 29,370 subscribers with over 3 million views as a way to offer discipleship and gospel hope to those inside prison walls. And as a church, we've committed to move closer, caring for the most vulnerable among us. Southeast Recovery is now active in 15 correctional and recovery facilities. In 2005 alone, 1,025 of our baptisms that we celebrated came through recovery and jail ministries.

We're also moving closer to families who are called to foster and adopt. So far, 60 families have taken that first step. And through Move, we have expanded Shine. Construction is now underway on a new Shine kids' classroom in Elizabethtown, creating space for children with disabilities to encounter Jesus in meaningful and accessible ways. And we've completed the launch of our Franklin campus. That happened in August. It's been incredible to hear stories coming out of Franklin. The expansion of our Bullitt County campus is already underway to meet even greater needs and reach even more people for Jesus. We have three more campus expansion projects on the horizon. We've already helped plant seven churches since the launch of Move, with 33 more to be planted across the country. All of this, and really so much more, was possible because you said yes. Because of your willingness to join God in the work He's doing, your commitments over this two-year journey are fueling ministry and mission and global impact at every level, and honestly, in historic ways. So today, I just wanna pause. And I wanna thank God for His incredible grace to allow us to be a part of this journey. I've honestly barely touched on the work God is doing

in and through our church. Our church family has been giving and serving and praying and catching the wind of the Spirit like never before. And here's what I want you to know. We're at the halfway point. We're at the midway point of this journey. This is the halftime talk, looking back at what God has done, looking ahead to what He will do. His faithfulness is undeniable, but we believe He's just getting started. For some of you, you're newer to Southeast, maybe since last March, and you're still learning about this whole Move journey, a lot of it's maybe new to you, or possibly you were here last spring, but you just haven't had a chance to become a part of Move. And I wanna invite you at this point to join us. Don't miss out on what God is doing in this season of our church. Don't miss out on the opportunity to be a part of something eternal. For others of you, you made a commitment last March, and it's every bit as challenging as you thought it would be. In fact, for some of you, it's more challenging than you thought because something happened that you weren't expecting. Some of life came at you in a way you didn't anticipate. I just wanna encourage you, stay the course,

lean into God, depend on Him, trust Him for how He's calling you to finish strong in this season. For others of us, it's not that our original commitment was easy. In fact, it's probably the largest step of faith that we've ever taken when it comes to generosity. But if you're really honest, maybe you would say you've grown comfortable. Maybe auto-draft has become autopilot, or possibly God has provided you in some ways that you weren't expecting. I just wanna challenge you, engage with God again. Ask Him if He's inviting you into an expanded step of faith in this season. Allow Him to challenge you and move in you in ways that only He can. Put yourself in a position where you are dependent on Him. For some of you, your commitment is harder than you expected, but I want you to think about one more prisoner hearing there's hope because you stayed faithful. One more foster child finally feeling loved. One more addict finding the courage to get free. One more lonely widow discovering she's not forgotten. One more teenager being baptized because someone cared enough to show up. One more child. filled with a disability, being fully included, maybe for the first time.

Because that's what's at stake. Wherever you are on this journey, keep asking God, God, how do you wanna move? How do you wanna move in me? How do you wanna move through me? Because here's what I know, we serve a God who is able. He's able to do more than we asked, able to do more than we imagine, and more than we plan for. So church, let's keep moving. I feel like that guy's aged a lot in the last year. I don't know, that's just me. It's unbelievable to think that it was only a year ago that we launched our Move Discipleship journey together. It's really been an unbelievable year. And so what we're gonna do these next number of weeks is we're gonna go through the book of Philippians to celebrate what God has done, to anticipate what God is doing. My prayer is that this would be true for us as a church, but this would also be true in your life personally. And so we're gonna hear Paul's words written to the church in Philippi, and what Paul's gonna do is he's gonna remind this church, this is your time. This is your time to change the world. You have a part to play in God's mission. And as we study Philippians, and as we lean into this Move series, we're gonna be reminded, not just as a church,

but each of us individually, hey, this is your time, that God made you to be on mission. He didn't make us just to spend our days scrolling on our phones. He didn't make us just to accumulate as much as we possibly can. Like God made us to make a difference in this world for him. And so we're gonna be challenged going through the book of Philippians at this halfway point to keep going, to look ahead with great faith about what God's got in mind for us next. When you walked in, you should have received a Move guide. If you have that, you can go ahead and pull it out. There's a few things in here I just wanna walk through with you. First, there are vision pages, and those vision pages capture what we prayerfully set out to do a year ago, what we've been praying about doing for multiple years leading up to this. It'll give you just a glimpse of that, some stats and some stories about how God is moving powerfully through us as a church. Secondly, in this book, you'll have message notes. I'd love to challenge you to bring this guide every week. I challenge you to do that, but I wanna do it with integrity. I don't wanna be a hypocrite.

There's no way I would remember to bring this book all six weeks. So don't feel guilty about it, but do the best you can. And we're gonna take notes as we go through this series. It's not fill in the blank. I'm not gonna exhaust you with that in Philippians. You don't have to applaud. That seems unnecessary. And we're gonna go through Genesis for a long time, and we've got fill in the blanks for Genesis, so emotionally prepare yourself. It's coming. Page 59 is where we're gonna, or 57, rather, is where we're gonna be as we jump into Philippians 1 here in just a moment. There's also group content in this book. It's so much more impactful to study the word of God in community. If you're not in a group, we just wanna challenge you as we start this new year. Join a group. This is a great time to do it. And lastly, in the back of the book, you'll find a commitment card in the back of it. We're gonna have a special midpoint commitment service on the weekend of February 26th, March 1st. And so leading up to that, just wanna ask you to just challenge yourself with some questions. Like where am I at on this journey?

Am I maximizing the time God has given me to make a difference in this world? Am I stewarding the resources God has entrusted to me to impact the kingdom? Am I living my life with eternity in mind? And put this card somewhere where you'll see it, somewhere where it'll remind you to pray, and just commit yourself to prayer. That's really what we're asking you to do. So put that on your nightstand, or maybe put it in the kitchen on the refrigerator, but put that up there, and let it be a prompt for you to pray, God, how do you want to move in me and through me? That's really the prayer. So this isn't about pressure or guilt or obligation. This is about challenging each of us with open hands and a willing heart to say, God, what do you want from my life? How do you want to move in me and through me? God, I don't want to just be numb and walk through this world kind of half blind to what's really happening. I want to make a difference. So God, how do you want to move in me and through me? So let's pray that prayer together, and then we'll jump into Philippians chapter one. God, thank you for your grace that I believe has brought us along this past year. I'm amazed, God, just to watch how the full force

of the church has come together. I know that there's an enemy, and he would want nothing more than to bring disunity and distraction and discouragement. And yet, God, you have moved so powerfully through this church. Would you allow us to celebrate what you've done? not as a way to bring attention to ourselves, but as a way to bring attention to who you are. It's by your power, it's by your spirit, it's by your might, it's not because of us or our resources or our creativity or what we bring to the table. We don't bring anything to the table, God. We humbly say, whatever we have to give is what you've given us, and we pray that you would use that for your purposes. God, thank you for the privilege of being a part of a church that's making a difference around the world, making a difference for eternity. I pray, God, it would just be the beginning. It's in your name, Jesus, we pray, amen. So, if you have your Bibles, turn to Philippians 1, or you can pop that open on your phone. There's a moment on every road trip when things change. Like at the beginning of a road trip, everyone's excited. Playlist is queued up. Snacks have already been opened, even though you haven't hit the highway yet. There's some energy, there's some anticipation,

we're doing this thing, and then you hit the middle, and the snacks are gone, which is incredible, because you feel like you packed enough. You feel like you packed like you were fleeing the country. That's how many snacks you had, and somehow they're gone. The playlist is annoying. You're starting to turn on each other, like who put this playlist together? The kids in the back seat are asking, are we there yet? And the middle of the journey can be brutal, because the excitement from the beginning has worn off, and yet you can't quite see the destination yet. You're in the middle. You're not where you started, but you're not where you're going. You're just in the middle, and here's what I would say. In life, you're almost always in the middle, and when you're in the middle, it requires something different. There's a different fuel that's required to get you through the middle. Now, some of you are in the middle of marriage. You remember the beginning, like the butterflies, and the long conversations into the night, and the way you'd look at each other, and it all just felt electric. But now, butterflies have been replaced by bills, and long conversations have been replaced by logistics conversations, and you love the person, like you really do,

but you just think quietly, and you try not to say it out loud. Is this it? Is this it? Is this what the rest of my life's gonna look like? So you're not at the beginning anymore. You can't see the finish line. You're just in the middle, and the middle of marriage can sometimes feel like a long stretch of highway with no scenery. So I'm told. Some of you are in the middle of parenting. The middle of parenting can be brutal. At the beginning, it was tiring, sleepless nights, and diapers, and constant effort to keep a tiny human alive, but at least they liked you, right? And now, you're in that middle part. It's maybe the carpool years, or the homework battles, or the eye rolls, and the bedroom dorts, being close too hard, and you're not done yet, and the finish line seems really far away, and you're just trying to survive until bedtime, or sometimes you're just in the middle of life itself, where you're old enough now, and you've got these regrets that feel really heavy to you. You live with a lot of shame, and this constant awareness of what you wish you would've done differently, and yet, maybe in the middle,

you're young enough to think, to wonder. Is it too late to change? But you're not sure what to do. You look in the mirror, and you ask yourself, when did this happen? You don't even recognize the person looking back at you. So, all of us are in the middle in some way. Maybe it's a career transition for you. Some of you are in the middle of grief, and you think you're through it, and you got to the other side, and then you wake up, and it just smacks you back down. Some of you are maybe in the middle of rebuilding your life after something fell apart. The point is, we're all in the middle, because most of life happens in the middle. What keeps you moving through the middle? As a church, I just want us to think about that, as we're on this journey, this MOVE journey. It's not a campaign. It's not a program. It's an invitation that we're in the middle of responding to, and the two invitations for MOVE was, number one, 100% engagement. Our challenge to you, unapologetically, is don't just come to church. Don't just attend church. Please don't think of yourself as the audience. That's not what it means to be a part of the church, and so the challenge is, come on, engage.

Be a part of what God is doing here. Jump in with both feet. If you're not in a group, join a group. If you're not serving, serve. If you're not giving, give. If you're not part of the prayer life of this church, be a part of the prayer life of this church. Commit yourself to it. 100% engagement. The second goal for us on this MOVE journey was two years of sacrificial generosity. Our church responded incredibly. We committed to giving $266 million over a two-year period, and it's just been amazing to see, but here we are at the halfway point, and I just want us to talk about. about this idea of what fuels us when the feelings fade. What keeps you going? What moves us when the emotion runs out? Because I'm just telling you, it's not guilt that works. It's not pressure, it's not obligation. You know how I know that? It's because I've been in church a long time and I know that the default for religion in church sometimes is to motivate people by making them feel bad. And yet, we've got grace and we've got God's love and we've got this deeper motivation. And so here's what I would say, what motivates us in the middle is gratitude. It's gratitude.

So Philippians 1, we're gonna discover this together just for context. Paul writes to a church in Philippi. It's the first church he ever planted in Europe. He had deep relationships with this church. They were his friends, they were his partners. They had supported him financially when no one else did. In fact, part of the purpose of Philippians was to say thank you for this gift that you've given me that's made it possible for me to expand the gospel throughout the known world. An important note for Philippians, we'll come back to this a few times, but an important note is where he wrote it. He wrote this from prison while he's chained to a guard. So he's not lounging on a beach right into this church in Philippians. He is in a really difficult situation physically, but also emotionally, because he doesn't know if he's gonna live or die. And yet, this book is one of the most joy-filled books in the Bible. The word joy or rejoice appears 16 times in four chapters. Paul is in chains, but he can't stop talking about the joy that he has. So how do you do that? We're gonna explore it together in the coming weeks. Here's where I wanna start. Philippians 1, before we read the actual text, I'm gonna read you a text that I made up.

So this isn't the Bible, but this is how, if I would have been Paul, I probably would have started this letter. And I would argue, if you would have been Paul, you probably would have sounded a little bit more like this too. So I've kind of imagined what Philippians 1, what you would expect to read, and then we'll read the real thing. So let me just say for clarification again, what I'm reading isn't the Bible, okay? I made it up. Philippians 1, but not really. Paul, a prisoner wrongly accused and unjustly sentenced and honestly over it. I hope this letter finds you well. I wish I could say the same for myself. I'm writing to you from a Roman prison cell, which, in case you're wondering, is exactly as miserable as it sounds. Zero stars, would not recommend. I'm currently chained to a guard named Brutus. The man has not bathed since the reign of Augustus. My back aches from this stone floor. I haven't had a decent meal in weeks. I think about you sometimes but I'm not thinking about how my life has completely fallen apart. I gave up everything for this mission and look where it's gotten me.

Arrested, beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, and now this rotting in a cell while the church argues about circumcision and whether or not I'm a real apostle. I hear some of you are doing well. That's nice, really. Meanwhile, I can't feel my hands half the time because of these chains. I hope you're enjoying your church potlucks and your small group socials. Anyway, if you could send warm clothes and prayers and maybe some incense to cover the smell of Brutus, that would be great. That's how I would anticipate Philippians 1 beginning. Based on the circumstances, based on the situation that he's in, seems like it would be the time to complain, to be the victim. It's not how he writes. Instead, what he does is he jumps in with gratitude. So let's read the real text, Philippians 1, starting in verse one. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God's people in Christ Jesus of Philippi, together with all the overseers and deacons, grace and peace to you, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ's return. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart, and whether I'm in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus, and this is my prayer. Church, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ through the glory and praise of God. And so from the jump, it's gratitude, it's joy, it's thanksgiving, and I just wanna pull out a few things from this passage, a few things about gratitude. that can fuel us in the middle when the emotion fades, when we feel discouraged, when we're a little bit stuck. First, gratitude is a practice, not a feeling. By practice, I mean it's something that you do intentionally and regularly whether you want to or not, whether you feel like it or not.

Paul writes in verse three, I thank my God every time I remember you. Not sometimes, not when I'm in the mood, not when things are going well, not when everything's going my way, but like every time. And so again, he's not sipping coffee overlooking the Mediterranean when he writes this. He's in chains. And yet, what's he doing when he's in chains? He's giving thanks to God for the church. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to you. And I've been thinking this week how much I want that to be my prayer as a pastor, as a fellow brother in Christ, that when I think of you, I give thanks. But what I know and what you know is that gratitude doesn't happen if we're waiting for the circumstances to affect our feelings. Paul says, I remember you. That word remember means to intentionally call to mind. And so while a lot of us would want to think of gratitude as a feeling that's a byproduct of circumstances. If my life is going well enough, then gratitude is something I have. Paul redefines it. Scripture redefines it as a practice, as a discipline. It's something you do regardless of what's happening to you. There's some research done in this area

by psychologist Robert Immons from UC Davis. He spent decades studying gratitude. And he found that people who are intentionally grateful, people who do things like keep gratitude journals where they intentionally write down what they're thankful for, there's all kinds of positive benefits. They're happier, they sleep better, they have better relationships, they have stronger immune systems. There's a long list. But here's the key. The benefits don't come from feeling grateful. The benefits come from practicing gratitude whether you feel like it or not. So if you think of gratitude as a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. But also like exercising muscles, when you're out of shape, you don't feel like it. When you haven't been doing it, it's really difficult. And so Paul says, when it comes to gratitude, it's something I practice. It's not based on what I feel. I'm not grateful because of the fact that my circumstances warrant it. I'm intentionally bringing to mind some things to say God, thank you for that. And so let me go back to my marriage example. In the middle of marriage, when the feelings fade and the resentment has room to grow,

what we tend to do is the opposite of gratitude. We start keeping track, but we're not keeping track of what we have to be thankful for. We're keeping track of other things. And you start noticing things, but you're not noticing the good. You're noticing what's not being done. And the mental list gets longer and longer and the grace gets shorter. And if that's where you're at in your marriage, what would happen if you just said, I'm gonna intentionally start being grateful for my husband or for my wife. I'm gonna write it down. Not because I feel like it, not because the circumstances warrant it, but because I'm struggling in the middle and I need to be grateful. The middle without gratitude is fertile ground for resentment and frustration and cynicism. But gratitude has a way of not allowing those things to grow in your life. So don't wait to feel grateful. I brought up here with me a pair of night vision goggles that I borrowed. I don't own a pair of night vision goggles. Without them, in a dark room, everything is dark. Everything is darkness. You can't see what's in front of you stumbling around, but you put on the night vision goggles

and suddenly you can navigate your way through the dark. And this is what gratitude does. It doesn't create something from nothing. It's not pretending, but rather it's allowing you to see through the darkness some things that are true and there, but the darkness makes it hard to see. So even in the darkness, you can see the faithfulness of God when you're wearing gratitude lenses. Even in the darkness, you can see evidence of his presence. Even in the darkness, there's just quiet signs of his work. But you've gotta wear your gratitude lenses in order to see that when you find yourself in darkness. So don't wait to feel grateful. If you wait to feel grateful, you'll always find yourself in the middle. It won't come. So instead, practice gratitude. Secondly, gratitude looks backward in order. move forward, gratitude looks backwards, and as it looks backwards at what has happened, it fills you with courage about what could happen. When you look backward through the lens of gratitude and you start finding things to be grateful for, it changes the way you anticipate what's coming. Look at verse five and six. Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you

will carry it into completion until the day of Christ Jesus. So what Paul does here is he looks backwards so that he can keep moving forward. He remembers the first day and he remembers it with gratitude. And then he projects that to the day of completion. Like looking back with gratitude lets him look forward with confidence about what's coming. And so he remembers the first day. Let me tell you about the first day in Philippi. We read about it in Acts 16. Paul and his team arrive at this Roman colony and there's no synagogue. But that's not what he remembers as he looks back on it. Instead what he remembers is going down to a river where he meets a woman. Her name is Lydia. She's a businesswoman. She is a dealer of purple cloth, well off. And she hears Paul speak and God opens her heart and Lydia believes and she's baptized. In fact, her whole household is baptized. She insists that Paul and his team stay at her house. She becomes a faithful financial supporter for Paul and for the ministry. That's the first day. Years later, Paul is writing to this thriving church. He's seen the faithfulness of God and the fruit that's come from Lydia's commitment

and generosity and that inspires courage and confidence. When you're in the middle and you can't see the finish line, the invitation is to look backward through the lens of gratitude. Now look, you can look backward through the lens of entitlement. And you can look back, marriage, parenting, work, like you can look back spiritually and you can, if you want to, find everything that went wrong. If you wanna look through that lens, you can look through that lens. What that's gonna do is it's gonna keep you stuck in the middle and it's gonna give you anxiety and fear for the future. But if you will look back and you will see the beauty, if you will look back through the lens of gratitude and find things to be thankful for, see the way that God has worked, even in small things, if you can have eyes for that, then it fills you with courage so that you can keep moving forward. When you see how God showed up, there's a social media trend right now that I got talked into participating in on Instagram where you post your pictures from 10 years ago, which is 2016. And so I spent a little bit of time this week and I was going through my list of pictures in 2016

on my phone just looking at them. And if I'm being honest with you, as I'm looking through that, we were in the middle of parenting in 2016, 10 years ago. We were in the middle of it. And so some of those pictures, as I'm looking at it, I'm remembering some things that were really difficult to navigate. I'm remembering some discussions that my wife and I had where we just didn't agree on, well, this is how we should handle this child. And frankly, neither of us, in hindsight, were right about it. Don't tell her I said that, but that's what's true. I look back and I can see these hard things. But as I look back, I also see, man, God has been so faithful. And God has been gracious and God's answered prayers. And now we find ourselves in a different kind of middle. Our kids are in their 20s, our kids are married. My daughters are pregnant. All three of them are pregnant. I'm going from three grandkids to six grandkids. They're just multiplying. And that feels like being in a different kind of middle. But here's what 2016 tells me about 2026. I'm still unsure about some things. And there's things that we're struggling with that we're not quite sure what to do about. There's prayers that we're praying

that haven't been answered, at least not the way we think they should be. But I can tell you this, over the last 10 years, as I look back through the goggles of gratitude, like God has been gracious. His grace has been sufficient. Like he's been enough, he's been faithful. He's worked things together for the good. Not always the way I would have wanted it. And sometimes it felt like the long way around. But I've got this confidence in 2026 as I look back on what God's done in the last 10 years. I want to challenge us to have those eyes as a church. When you're tired, when you're in the middle, when the emotion has faded, take some time and just look back. Verse six, he who began a good work in you will carry it to completion. I love this because here's what it tells me. That when you're in the middle and you're tired, it's up to you to be faithful, but it's up to God to do the completing. You just gotta keep moving. You just gotta keep moving. He'll bring. things to completion. Number three, gratitude prays for more, not less. Gratitude prays for more. Another way I could say this, gratitude prays for more, not for maintenance.

Not for maintenance. Look at verses nine through 11 here to summarize it. And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more. My prayer is that your love will abound more and more. That's his prayer for this church. There's a version of gratitude that says, I'm just thankful for what I have. I'm good. But there's a biblical gratitude that says something different. Biblical gratitude says, I am thankful for what God has done. I can't wait to see what he's gonna do next. And I think that this is the kind of faith that God responds to. I think this is the kind of faith that he invites us into. A faith that looks ahead and just doesn't say, well, can we just maintain? But a faith that says, God, what do you got planned next? Gratitude doesn't make us settle. Gratitude makes us expectant. What happens in the middle when we lose gratitude is we stop expecting and we start settling. This is true in marriage. You lose gratitude, you start to settle. You think, well, this is just who we are now. This is just how it's gonna be. And you stop praying for breakthrough. You stop believing the best days are ahead of you.

This is what happens in parenting. You shift into survival mode. Let's just get through the season. Let's just make it to graduation. We just gotta hold on and we stop praying for connection. Again, we stop praying for breakthrough. We stop believing that God's got something new that he wants to do. So when you look back and you see what God has done, let that move in your heart, this anticipation, this faith of what he might still do. It's one of my prayers for me in 26. I just wanna be a man of great faith. I just wanna believe in who God is and what he's promised and what he can do. So here's where I wanna land this. I just wanna give you some three quick practical ways to move forward with gratitude. I'm gonna roll through these. First, remember out loud. Like Paul, take some time this week to remember what God has done. Not in your head, write it down. Say it out loud. Better yet, tell someone about it. Name it specifically out loud. Specific out loud gratitude changes something in your brain. Your brain hears you say it and starts to believe it differently

than when you just think it. So remember out loud. Secondly, let gratitude interrupt your autopilot. When most of us find ourselves in the middle, we go through the motions and we wake up and we do the thing and we scroll and then we go to bed and we repeat and it's like the same thing over and over. It's on repeat. Gratitude has a way of interrupting your autopilot. You stop in the ordinary and you force yourself to notice some things to be thankful for. I just wanna challenge you with that this week. Like when you're sitting at that meal with somebody in your family, just stop and say, look, can I just tell you a few things I'm thankful for that we get to do this, that we get to have this time together for this food that we have? The moment you're grateful in the ordinary, it breaks up this autopilot life that you've been living. Third, pray for more, not just for survival. Pray for more, not just for survival. This is where you say, God, my prayer has helped me get through this, but don't let it stop there. God, my prayer is that love would abound more and more, that the story you're writing in my life

will be on the upward trajectory. I don't want maintenance, I want more, God. That's why Paul could write this joy-filled letter from a prison cell. That's why he could express gratitude when his circumstances were brutal. It's the reason he could pray for more when most people would have just been praying to survive. It's because he remembered the good and he disciplined himself to give thanks, and he chose gratitude as a practice, not as a feeling. So I wanna do that. Paul started his letter to the church by saying, I thank my God every time I remember you. That's how I wanna end my sermon, because I want you to know something. When Paul wrote those words from a prison cell, I used to think, oh, that's polite, that's nice sentiment, that's the way you should start a letter like this, but I don't feel that way anymore. Now, after walking with you over the years, I understand it differently. And I thank my God every time I remember you. When I remember the generosity of a child who emptied her piggy bank because she wanted to be a part of what God was doing this year. She didn't have much, but she had something and she gave it. I thank my God. And I remember the single mom who increased her giving not because she had margin,

but because she believed God would provide and she trusted him with what she didn't have yet and she didn't want to miss out on what God was doing. It wasn't out of obligation. I thank my God. And I remember the widow who handed me an envelope and said, quote, my husband would have wanted me, or my husband, rather, would have wanted to be a part of this. When I remember the retiree on fixed income who said, I can't do much, but I can do something, I just am overwhelmed with gratitude. I thank my God every time I remember you. When I remember the volunteer who had never served in student ministry before, nervous and unsure if they had anything to offer, you showed up anyway, and because you did, a teenager who felt invisible finally felt seen. When I think about and when I remember the generation of believers in this church who have quietly and humbly and without fanfare laid down their preferences, who chose not to fight for their style and their comfort and their way so that the next generation might meet Jesus, nobody applauded you, nobody gave you an award, but heaven noticed, and you may never know on this side of eternity,

but there are Christ followers who exist because you made room for them. I thank my God every time I remember you. When I remember the thousands of you who said yes to 21 days of prayer and fasting, you woke up early, you skipped meals, you interceded for people you've never met, for breakthroughs that you may never see, so many of you have reached out to tell me you were praying for me, and this church loves to pray, and I've watched God move because of it. And when I remember the handwritten notes that show up on my desk with words of encouragement that arrive on days right when I needed them, I thank my God every time I remember you. I remember how this church constantly loves people one at a time. There are constant hospital visits and meal trains and foster families who make room at their tables and in their hearts, and recovery sponsors who answer phones in the middle of the night because someone is struggling and they don't want them to struggle alone. I think of the greeters who shake hands at the parking lot and stand in the snow at the parking lot. I think of tears that have been shed down front here in recent weeks. I think of laughter in the lobby. I remember the baptisms and the baby dedications

and the funerals where we grieve together. I remember that this church just doesn't talk about being the hands and feet of Jesus, but this church actually serves and gets its hands dirty and gets its feet tired. And I just remember this, and I just am grateful. I just say, God, thank you. My heart is full of gratitude, and I just cannot wait to see what he does next. We are in the middle church, and I want you to know, I would not want to be in the middle with anyone else. I love you. I thank God for you. I cannot wait to see what he does next. Let's move forward with gratitude. Let me pray. God, I know that for a lot of us, I mean, we have a hard time not looking through the lens of frustration or annoyance because there's just a lot of hard things. There's things that aren't fair that we're dealing with. But would you teach us to look through this lens of gratitude and to see what's true and real? And what's true is, God, you have given us your grace. You've forgiven us of sins. What's that worth? Every day, God, would you fill our hearts with that perspective, that no matter what we're dealing with in this world and in this life, like we have the promise of eternity.

We have the hope of heaven. We should be the most joy-filled, grateful people on earth. But God, I don't want to fake it. I don't want us to pretend. I want us to be able to say to each other honestly, hey, I'm going through something hard and this is really difficult. But then to dig deep and find joy. Would you let us have that kind of joy that's not based on everything going well or going our way? Would you give us faith? Would you just let us be a church that is thankful? God, for those in the room, those listening to this, that are stuck in the middle, would you meet them there? And would you just be gentle with them and just start reminding them of your love and all they have to be grateful for because of you? It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. The thread that runs through this whole sermon is the idea of remembering with gratitude. Remembering, we said, is this intentionally calling something to mind. So that's what we want to do here is a time of communion. If you have your communion, you can go and pull that out. Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. And this is a time. and where we gather together and we remember with gratitude. We say, God, thank you for the sacrifice. Jesus, thank you that you went to the cross, that you gave yourself for us.

And so we want to take a few minutes for communion. We just want to remember with a heart of gratitude. As we take communion, let me reiterate something. I know that, I know that some of you came in here carrying hard things. I know that not everything is perfect. I know there's a lot you would change if you could. I would too. The middle is hard, but what we remember now is what Jesus has done for us. And we remember his promise that he's not finished. He who began a good work will carry it to completion. Let's thank him for what he has done. And with gratitude, let's anticipate what he will do. Let's take communion together. Let's take communion together. ♪ When I was lost and all alone ♪ ♪ Your presence was where I found home ♪ ♪ You were there and you're here right now ♪ ♪ In every high and every low ♪ ♪ You never left me without hope ♪ ♪ You were good and you're good right now ♪ ♪ I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I've seen you breathe life within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Your promises never fail ♪ ♪ I've got stories I'll live to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪

♪ You left your throne and chose the cross ♪ ♪ Laid down your life to rescue us ♪ ♪ The Savior then, the Savior now ♪ ♪ But even death was not the end ♪ ♪ You conquered hell so I could live ♪ ♪ Resurrecting then, resurrecting now ♪ ♪ Resurrecting then, resurrecting now ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I've witnessed your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I've seen you bring life within ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Your promises never fail ♪ ♪ I've got stories I'll live to tell ♪ ♪ So I'll pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ Yes, you're worthy Lord ♪ So worth you, Lord You're good and I've witnessed it You're strong and I've witnessed it You're constant, I've witnessed it And I'm confident, I'll see it again and again You love and I've witnessed it You heal and I've witnessed it You save and I've witnessed it And I'm confident, I'll see it again and again You're good and I've witnessed it You're strong and I've witnessed it You're constant, I've witnessed it And I'm confident, I'll see it again and again You love and I've witnessed it You heal and I've witnessed it You save and I've witnessed it And I'm confident, I'll see it again and again I've witnessed Your faithfulness I've seen You breathe life within So I'll pour out my praise again You're worthy, God You're worthy of all of it Your promises never fail I've got stories I'll live to tell So I'll pour out my praise again You're worthy, God You're worthy of all of it

To the broken I'll witness it To the hurting I'll witness it To the lost I'll witness it And I'm telling this, I'm telling what I've witnessed To my family I'll witness it To my city I'll witness it To the nations I'll witness it And I'm telling this, I'm telling what I've witnessed To the broken I'll witness it To the lost I'll witness it Oh, how guilty Sin had made me How I wish I could take it all back Oh, how perfect The life of Jesus How He enjoyed it Laying it down in my soul His death, my death His life, my life That I'd be born again His cross, my cross His grave, my grave So I will rise with Him Thank You, Jesus You died in my place I'm not held down You broke off those chains No, I don't deserve it My sin's been erased Thank You, Jesus For my empty grave Oh, how heavy That shame I carry How I wish I could leave it behind Oh, what freedom To walk with Jesus No turning back ♪ No turning back ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus you died in my place ♪ Thank you Lord. ♪ I'm not left now you broke off those chains ♪ ♪ No I don't deserve it all my sins be forgiven ♪ ♪ In the evening ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus for my empty grave ♪ ♪ For my empty grave ♪ ♪ You see His death my death, His life my life ♪

♪ That I've begun again ♪ ♪ His cross my cross, His grave my grave ♪ ♪ So I will rise again ♪ ♪ You see His death my death, His life my life ♪ ♪ That I've begun again ♪ ♪ His cross my cross, His grave my grave ♪ ♪ So I will rise again ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus, You died in my place ♪ ♪ Oh thank you Lord, I'm not held down ♪ ♪ You broke all those chains ♪ ♪ And all I know, deserve it ♪ ♪ All my sins been healed, thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus, for my empty grave ♪ Come on you sing. ♪ Thank you Jesus, give Him all your praise ♪ ♪ Thank you for my empty grave ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus, thank you for my empty grave ♪ ♪ Thank you for my empty grave ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus, thank you for my empty grave ♪ ♪ Thank you Jesus, thank you for my empty grave ♪ Man, thank you all for joining us. One thing that I love that Kyle said, he talked about moving with gratitude, and what we know is that Paul was writing this while in prison for sharing the gospel, and for him to have gratitude, it's an encouragement that no matter our circumstance, we can be grateful for the way that God provides for us, the way He loves us, and the way that He sent His Son to live, die on a cross, and save us,

that we can have the hope for eternity despite any current sufferings. Man, I love that encouragement. I can't wait to see what we hear in these next couple weeks, but we also have an opportunity for you to continue participating with the rest of our church by listening to a podcast about our Move Sermon series. It's gonna have Kyle, Steven, and some other of our friends, and those are gonna be debuting on Thursdays. We would love for you to engage with us in that way. And just one last thing before we go, I wanna encourage you with a prayer that comes from some of Paul's writings in the book of Philippians. So here we go. We pray that our love abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that we may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God, amen. Thank you all for joining us. We can't wait to see you next week. Take care.