The city of Philippi, located in the northeast of modern Greece, was once one of the largest cities in the world. When the apostle Paul arrived there, he discovered a city totally assimilated into the Roman culture. It was a materialistic culture where injustices and cruelty reigned and where the vulnerable were forgotten or exploited. According to the religious traditions of the time, everyone fashioned their own god and regularly prayed to the dead to ask for guidance. It was a fundamentally anti-Christ culture.
This was the place where the Apostle Paul founded a church. It was to this church that Paul wrote, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:3-5, ESV).
This is a reminder to everyone that the Word of God is never limited by the circumstances, culture or obstacles around us. Two thousand years later, I stand by Paul's side and remind every believer, leader, pastor that whatever hostile socio-cultural mindsets or trends surround where you work, there are always possibilities to reach our generation. Where sin abounds, the grace of God abounds all the more!
People in the world thirst for the absolute, for authenticity, for meaning in their lives, for the liberation of their souls from the chains of the past. The same societies that have rejected religion and deplored fundamentalism are still craving spirituality. This is what we have experienced every year for more than two decades at Eglise Nouvelle Vie. In Quebec, the culture is closed to the gospel, like in many French-speaking countries and cities. Nevertheless, in the past year, two thousand people have passed through the doors of the church for the first time. After hearing the gospel message, those two thousand people registered their names with the church staff because they recognized their need for God; they want to have their questions answered and to have someone pray with them.
I declare by faith that, in the coming years, God will plant and expand his church with supernatural power.
Claude Houde is the lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.