I thank my God every time I remember you. The memories of a wonderful ministry and the joy of service with God's people are what were on the mind of the Apostle Paul when he wrote those words. Friends, today, those are the memories on my mind. I thank my God every time I remember YOU! You have given me so many wonderful memories in the almost 5 years I have been here, and I thank God every time I remember you!

Like the first time I met you. In the summer of 1999, I was called to gather the tiny core of people from our mission effort in Oakville, who already named themselves "Cross of Life," and begin an exploratory mission here in Mississauga. I remember you were currently meeting together in various rented places. Dawn and I arrived in Oakville that July and attended the worship service you had that Sunday morning in a Holiday Inn. Pastor Herman, who was serving you when you didn't have your own pastor, gave the service, and there were less than ten of you there: Marguerite and her daughters, Frank, still unmarried, Boris, Roberto and Denise, and Anna Caswell. No little kids running around at that service! No Nicholas, Dylan, Jonah, or Elijah yet! Things certainly have changed around here! I thank God every time I remember you!

A month later, we arrived to stay and begin our work. After being installed as the missionary pastor here, I remember the first service I conducted for you - the one every pastor prepares endless hours for as he crafts his introductory sermon, his first impression! Yes, I remember showing up at the River Oaks Community Centre in Oakville for that first worship service as your pastor, walking into a tiny child care room lined with toys and mirrors, and viewing the first "pulpit" from which I would preach. The pulpit? A Fisher Price neon plastic picnic table turned on end with a parament hung over it. The sound system? Dawn playing on a mini keyboard hooked to a boom box with one speaker working - barely. Yes, I do remember how many people were at that service. Seven. I remember that day with thanks and joy!

I also thank God every time I remember my first visit on a prospective member of the church. Two weeks after I began my work, I started ringing the doorbells of the 120 people whom the church had on a "prospect list" for some reason or other. The first doorbell I rang caused Dwight and Jill Gutzman to the door. How friendly they were! "Nice to meet you, Pastor! Can I take your jacket? Have a seat in the living room! Can I get you something to drink?" 45 minutes later, I was still sitting there, hamming it up with Dwight, and getting the brief version of his life history! I thought to myself, these outreach visits are fun, and easy! And when Dwight ambled up to the Living Arts Centre room we worshiped in that very next Sunday, I again thought, hey, this mission work stuff is easy! Well, I can tell you now that Dwight was the only one of those 120 people we ever got to grace our presence. And of course, I remember with joy some two years later, receiving Dwight and Jill into membership here at Cross of Life.

I also remember with joy our first attempt at a fellowship event. That fall, Dawn and I invited everyone in Cross of Life to come to our house for an autumn-themed get-together. Dawn worked for hours preparing all kinds of tasty treats. The attendance? Again, seven is the magic number! But we had a great time! I remember that with joy! I also remember our first church picnic the next summer at the Oakville park down by the river. I think there is still a picture of that on our web site! You will see Marguerite, Marcelline, Frank, Boris, Dawn, Jonah, and, 4 girls from a TCW team sitting at a picnic table! Again, we had a great time!

I remember with joy our first Christmas service - 1999. We had 42 people there, and were tickled pink! We had delivered thousands of mailings, and were so happy to have such a crowd at the Living Arts Centre in our special worship service. And then I remember the following Christmas, 2000, when we made 10,000 flyers, and I personally spent 50 hours trudging through snow to deliver them. The phone was ringing! But then I remember how many visitors we had that night. Zero. I remember driving home in the cold, stopping to dig out a car that had gone into the ditch on Ninth Line, and then driving back to the Living Arts Centre to retrieve my forgotten camera. And I remember staying up late that night with my wife, realizing that we could no longer worship at a place so far from the community we were trying to reach.

The very next week, I remember beginning with you the search for a nearer worship location. I remember the list we had. St. Peter's. A couple churches out in the country. And last, and least, Lisgar School. I remember how God knocked down one possibility after another, until He showed us so clearly where He wanted us to be - in the school right down the road from our church office! And I remember making that decision as a group on the same day Paul and May decided to visit us for the first time - all the way from Yarrow Ave! And how Paul told me that day, since he lived a block away from Lisgar, that we could count on him to help set up on Sunday mornings. We did count on him to do that. And we still do. I remember that with joy.

I also remember my first three shut-ins that I visited regularly: Dorothy Harrison, Laura Casey, and Anna Caswell. I remember with joy that they are all with Jesus in heaven right now.

I remember so many other things. The meetings we would have in our houses to plan upcoming events. The many fun times we gathered together. The 3 Thanksgivings we actually invited the whole congregation to come and eat with us - those were fun! The year you helped us move from the Oakville house to our current one - on the day before Easter Sunday! And I thank God as I remember meeting each of you! Whether you walked in this door or I walked in yours, I remember each of those with joy - and I wish time allowed me to tell all those stories!

Memories can be good things. When we remember gifts, blessings, and mercy from God. Memories aren't good when we remember the things that separate us from God. Like all the times that your thoughts, words, and actions have made God angry with you. It isn't fun dredging up guilt. It isn't fun feeling guilty. And we all have good reason for that. It also isn't fun when your memories are only filled with grudges against others for the ways that they have wronged you. These kinds of "memories" fill your life with pain and a heavy weight that you can't carry around. But that is the very reason Cross of Life exists - to erase memories like that and replace them with something better. To share this message: "More Joy than Guilt."

Paul continues in our text: "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." Paul remembers his fellow believers in Philippi as part of his regular prayer life. Remembering them makes him thankful. And remembering them gives him joy. Friends, I also remember all of you in my regular prayer life. You are all on a schedule, from A to W, Sunday through Saturday, as a weekly part of my prayers. If you are visiting today and I haven't met you yet, I would love to put you on my list! In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. Why?

What gave Paul particular joy was the Philippians' partnership in the gospel. The word partnership means "communion," or "sharing in." They had a "share" in the good news by believing in its truth! It was not just good news in general, but their faith had brought them to the point where they could say, "This is good news for me." Since they had a share in the gospel by faith, they had also supported Paul in his work of sharing the gospel with others. Once I understand that Jesus is "for me," then I want to share Him with others! I know that the One who died for me died for all! I am united with you, not only in faith, but in our privilege of telling the good news to all! This is why you can forget the guilty memories! Because of what Jesus did for you! He took them away! He gave us Joy instead! Good news! That good news is something we share! And that is something we share with others here at Cross of Life! MORE JOY THAN GUILT! What a privilege and joy it is for me to share in that partnership with you!

God has been blessing that message of good news we have been sharing here! I wish I could tell the stories of when each of you walked in here for the first time! Stories about how you joined our partnership here! Stories about Bible Camps, Soccer Camps, Steel Drum Concerts, crowds beginning to gather here, and more and more new faces coming to hear about more joy than guilt. Stories about Bible classes starting and people growing in faith and knowledge of God's good news! Stories of our worship attendance doubling overnight. Stories about how little children now flood our hallways! Stories of the wonderful blessings God brought us through the additional "manpower" of first the Festerlings and now the Walkers. Stories of parties, gatherings, bowling trips, ski trips, apple picking, and movie nights. Stories of seeing older white men dancing to Caribbean rhythms in the Chandoo's basement! Stories of friendships developing, fellowship blooming, and gospel mission work blossoming! I wish I could tell you all those stories, but I think most of you remember them too - just like I do.

I wish I could tell you the stories about the memories the District Mission Board has of our mission effort in Mississauga. Those stories would go all the way back to 1980! Those stories would tell of two pastors who got a congregation here going, a church building bought, but then sadly, having to close it down. Those stories would tell of another man called to serve here, and having mission work done in Bolton, Hamilton, Waterloo, and Oakville. They would tell of a ministry centre in southern Oakville opened up and closed 2 years later. And they would tell of coming all the way back full-circle to Mississauga to get a church going. They would tell of hardships and frustrations. They would also tell about God's power and blessings.

And now, they would also tell the story of Mission Status. Oh yes, in the fall of 2003, Cross of Life finally achieved mission status! No longer is it an "Exploratory," where a pastor goes in for three years to "explore" and experiment to see if we can get a viable church started here. Now it is an actual mission, and our larger church body is committed to helping it become a self-supporting beacon of the gospel in Mississauga!

The last verse of our text says: "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." Paul said this to the Philippian church. And today, I say it to you! The DMB said it to you when they gave you mission status! They have showed their confidence in what is happening here. Paul told you and me to be confident in what is happening here. Why? Because we are so great at being missionaries? Because Cross of Life is such wonderful people? No. Be confident because God is going to continue what He started here! He is going to finish what He started! God is behind everything that has happened here! And God is going to continue making things happen with his powerful Word! And THAT is why the DMB has placed their confidence in us and given us mission status! That is why I am confident in you! Because God is working in your hearts and lives! And God is going to finish what He started!

Today, we aren't celebrating some graduation or completion of a project. We haven't arrived yet. We have just begun! Let's keep going! Today, we are thanking God for the memories He has given us, the joy He has brought to our hearts and lives, and for the promise that He will be with us in the future! God WILL be with us in the future and He WILL continue what He has been doing here - that's a promise! So, with that in mind, let's thank God and get back to work! Amen.

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