Philippians 1:3-11

I have a deep passion for do-it-yourself projects. There’s something about working with my hands and discovering what I’m capable of doing myself that draws me in. Add a little woodworking knowledge learned from my dad, plus several years of youth mission trip experience, and I’m definitely the type of person who weighs the cost of buying something new or hiring a professional against what I think I have the time or skill to do on my own.

The trick—which my wife Courtney will surely tell you—is that when I take on a project, it always takes longer than expected. Often, significantly longer than my original (and overly optimistic) projection. Most of my work ends up in a perpetual "work-in-progress" timeline.

Over time, I’ve come to appreciate how much that mirrors our faith journey. Our faith is also a work in progress. That perspective helps relieve the pressure of needing to have a one-time, perfect spiritual response. Instead, we are given the grace, time, and space to grow in our faith—to move ever closer to God without having to get it right all at once.

As United Methodists, we describe this using the concept of sanctifying grace. It’s the understanding that the same love of God that finds us before we even know it, and the grace that brings us into right relationship with God, continues to work within us. This grace transforms us more and more into the holy, Spirit-breathed creation God intends us to be. Faith is not just a moment—it’s a lifelong journey. I love that saying “yes” to God is simple enough for a child to do, but also so profound that we spend our whole lives learning how to live into it more fully.

In the opening of his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul expresses intense joy, gratitude, and thankfulness for the Philippian church and their progress in faith. Yet even in his joy, he does not call their faith journey complete. Instead, he urges them to continue, that their love might “overflow more and more.”

This Sunday, we are celebrating our Youth Mission Trip to the Hinton Center in Hayesville, North Carolina. We’ll hear from our youth and learn about the impact our 23-person team had in this Appalachian mountain community. It promises to be a beautiful time of worship—you won’t want to miss it! We’ll also be enjoying songs from the musical Newsies.

While it’s easy to look back at a mission trip and think, “It’s done—look at all the good work we accomplished!” we remember that God’s grace is not finished. The same grace that empowers us to serve while away also continues to stir in us ways to serve at home right here in Flower Mound!