Providence Church of San Diego

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Providence Church of San Diego

It's all about Jesus! Providence Church exists to glorify God by making disciples of all nations.

09/08/2026

Last Sunday we finished our series on vocation with this hopeful promise: “In the Lord your labor is not in vain.” — 1 Corinthians 15:58

That certainly doesn’t mean everything you build will last; it won’t. Careers end, businesses change, children grow up, and our strength fades. Much of what consumes our attention today will eventually be forgotten.

But faithfulness is never wasted. That’s because our hope isn’t in what we can make last. Our hope is in Christ, who died and rose again. Death does not get the final word over your life or your labor.

That truth brings the whole five weeks of sermons together. Work is God’s good gift, even though sin has filled it with thorns. God often cares for others through our ordinary work. Our calling begins with the responsibilities already in front of us. We work for Christ rather than human approval. And because Christ is risen, we can labor knowing that God wastes none of our faithfulness.

So perhaps the question to carry with you from this series is simpler than, “What is my calling?”

Ask instead:
- Who has God given me to love?
- What has God given me to do?
- How can I faithfully serve Christ there today?

You may never see everything God does through your work, but you don't need to. God is responsible for omniscience and providence, you are responsible for faithfulness.

So, be faithful, love your neighbor, and leave the results with God. Christ is risen. And in Him, your labor is not in vain.

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Pastor Brian

09/06/2026

Sunday Worship - September 6, 2026

09/05/2026

This Sunday, Pastor Brian will continue the sermon series: "Called: God at Work in Ordinary Life." He'll be preaching from 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, reminding us that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Please read and meditate on this passage in preparation for Sunday worship. Let's also lift up Pastor Brian in prayer as he prepares to deliver God's Word.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

09/03/2026

What does faithfulness look like in an age of constant comparison?

Listen to Pastor Brian's full sermon here: https://fb.watch/JoB9KBA5v2/

09/02/2026

How can we pray for you? Share in the comments or reach out on messenger.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."

Romans 8:26 (ESV)

08/31/2026

By the time you read this, your work has probably already started. The truck is loaded. The first email is answered. You’ve wiped down the same counter you wiped down last night. And almost none of it will be noticed.

That is the ordinary condition of most human work, and it often weighs on us more than we care to admit. We want the boss to see it. We want the customer to be pleased. We want somebody in the house to say something. When they don't, we go one of three directions. We shrink and do less. We get quietly bitter. Or we push harder, hoping this time the effort finally registers.

It helps to be honest about what we are actually after. It isn't a “thanks,” but a verdict. We want someone to look at what we produced and tell us we are worth something. That is the payoff, and it only lasts about an hour. Then the work resets and we need the verdict again.

Paul cuts underneath all of it. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23). “Heartily” in Greek is ek psychēs, meaning “from the soul.” Put yourself into what God has given you to do. And then verse 24 tells you why it is safe to do that: “You are serving the Lord Christ.”

These six words change who is actually in the room. You can do good work when no one is watching, because Someone is. You can keep your word when breaking it would be cheaper and quieter. You can serve a parent who will never fully understand what it cost you. The audience was never the problem; the audience was just too small. Ultimately, you work for an audience of One. And He is the One that matters most.

There is one verdict you could never earn, which is the verdict that you are right with God. Christ alone earned it for you. On the cross, Jesus declared, "It is finished." So you do not work for God's acceptance. You work from it. You can pursue excellence without demanding perfection. You can fail on a Tuesday without concluding that you are a failure. You can stop at the end of the day and sleep, because the world was never being held up by you.

When nobody notices, remember, you are serving the Lord Christ.

When someone else gets the credit, remember, you are serving the Lord Christ.

When the work is ordinary and repetitive and no one will ever know you did it well, remember that you are serving the Lord Christ.

And when you start to feel that everything depends on you, remember it one more time. You are serving the Lord Christ. You are not Him, but He is with you and has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. So even as you labor this week, rest in Him.

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Pastor Brian

08/30/2026

Sunday Worship - August 30, 2026

08/29/2026

This Sunday, Pastor Brian will continue the sermon series: "Called: God at Work in Ordinary Life." He'll be preaching from Colossians 3:17–4:1, examining how every vocation comes under the Lordship of Christ.

Please read and meditate on this passage in preparation for Sunday worship. Let's also lift up Pastor Brian in prayer as he prepares to deliver God's Word.

Colossians 3:17–4:1

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

08/26/2026

How can we pray for you? Share in the comments or reach out on messenger.

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

08/24/2026

You do not need a different life than the one you have today in order to faithfully serve God. That may sound simple, but I think many of us struggle to believe it. We are so often looking ahead to “when…then…” situations.

When I get the better job…
When the business grows…
When I finally leave this job…
When I get married…
When the kids get older…
When the finances improve…
When this difficult season ends…
When I retire…

“Then” I’ll be able to do what God really wants me to do.

But in 1 Corinthians 7:17–24, Paul gives us a very different way of looking at our lives. Three times he essentially says the same thing: remain where God has called you. And then he ends with these remarkable words: “So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” (1 Corinthians 7:24)

Paul is not saying that your circumstances can never change. In fact, when speaking to bondservants, he specifically says that if they have the opportunity to become free, they should take it.

Yes, you can pursue a better job, grow your business, develop your gifts, make plans, and pray for change. But you cannot postpone faithfulness until your circumstances change.

Your life with God is happening now. That means the job you have today matters. The family sitting around your table matters. The people you work with matter. The church you belong to matters. The aging parent who needs you matters. The child who keeps “interrupting” your plans matters. The responsibility you wish someone else would handle matters.

We can become so focused on discovering God’s will for tomorrow that we neglect the responsibilities He has clearly given us today.

And sometimes the calling we keep asking God to reveal is sitting right in front of us. So perhaps the most important question for this Monday morning is not, “God, what big thing are You calling me to do with my life?” Maybe it’s, “God, what have You already given me to do; and what would faithfulness look like here?”

Take a good look around you right now. Who has God given you to love? What responsibilities already bear your name? What promises have you made? What work has been placed in your hands? Where have you been waiting for circumstances to change instead of obeying God where you are? Start there.

And remember why you are free to do that. Paul says, “You were bought with a price.”

Your job does not have to tell you who you are. Your success does not have to prove that your life matters. Your accomplishments do not have to justify you. You belong to Christ. That means you can stop asking your circumstances to give you an identity they were never capable of giving you.

Maybe God will change your circumstances. Maybe He will open a new door. Maybe five years from now your life will look very different. But you have today. And you can be faithful with what’s in front of you right here, right now.

And today is not merely a waiting room for the life God really intends for you. This is your life. They are your people. These are your responsibilities. This is your present field of faithfulness.

So don’t wait for your “real” life to begin. It already has. Be faithful where you are; and be there with God. Because God’s calling is not first about finding something extraordinary to do, but faithfully serving Him in the ordinary responsibilities He has already entrusted to you.

May the Lord bless and keep you this week,
Pastor Brian

Address

3845 Avocado School Road
La Mesa, CA
91941

Telephone

+16198810100

Website

http://www.providencechurchsd.org/

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