Introduction:
Why Don't You Grow Up?
(Philippians 3:12-4:1)
- Growing up involves Exertion . (Phil 3:12-14)
- Why we must grow: Jesus has Ahold of us .
- How we must grow: By Forgetting and Striving .
- Growing up involves right Thinking and careful Imitation. (Phil 3:15-18)
See: Matthew 19:16, 17b-22 | 1 Corinthians 6:12 | 1 Corinthians 10:23
- Growing up involves glorious Transformation . (Phil 3:18-21,4:1)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Good morning.
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As Jeff said, please turn to the book of Philippians chapter 3.
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And if you don't mind, I'm going to preach myself this morning.
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I think I need to hear this message more than anybody else.
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So let's pray and we'll dig in.
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Our gracious Father, oh, you are so great and so good.
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You have given us all things in Jesus Christ, and your great desire for us is that we grow up into Him, into all the fullness of the stature of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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I pray that you will help us to do that.
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We will concentrate every thought this morning, every fiber of our being on your word and what you have to say to us, and that you would plant your word deeply into our hearts, and He would transform us into the image of our Savior, Jesus.
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And it's in his great name we ask this.
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There are things people said to me when I was a boy, when I was growing up, that have stuck with me my whole life.
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One of them was my cousin Claudia would say to me, "Richie, you're just like your father." And I was like six or seven.
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I was just starting to become aware of the larger world.
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I had really no idea what she meant.
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What do you mean I'm just like my father?
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Well, I need to back up a little bit because I was the baby of the family.
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My siblings were all a decade or more older than I was.
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All of my cousins were older than I was.
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By the time I was about six or seven, they were all in their late teens.
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They were all adults.
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And so they knew my father.
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And my cousins really loved my father.
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They knew him, they knew his propensity to tease and to play practical jokes and to just kind of have fun with them.
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And so when my cousin Claudia would say, "Richie, you're just like your father." But she was really saying, "You little stinker, you're just like your father." And I didn't understand that until later in life, But if someone were to tell me today that you're just like your father, I'd take that as a compliment.
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When I got a little bit older, when I was in middle school, there's a lot going on in middle school, things are changing, and I started noticing girls, and I tried to interact with them, probably by being just like my father and teasing.
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And the usual response was met with, "Spronk, you're so weird.
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"You're so immature.
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"Why don't you grow up?" Well, these girls, they could say that because they were mature.
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They were mature 'cause they wore makeup now and they wore jewelry and they were dating boys in the 10th grade.
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Well, I'm barely 13.
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I don't know what's going on.
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Of course I'm immature.
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I'm still trying to figure things out.
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You know, one day I'm playing with my Legos and my Hot Wheels, and the next I'm looking at these mature girls.
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It was hard, and true, it was probably weird, right?
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The world was a weird place.
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I grew up in the turbulent '60s, you know, with the riots and all the counterculture.
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And I came of age in the 1970s with the philosophy of it feels good, do it, right?
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It was the '70s, the decade of free love and easy drugs and a lot of political turmoil.
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And I gotta tell you, all the world's influences, TV and movies, easy drugs, pornography, peer pressure, alcohol, it just kind of produced a toxic fog that made it very difficult to know what grown up like. And I wanted to grow up. I read self-help books. I read all the advice columns in the papers.
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I read horoscopes. I got advice from friends and advice from my frat brothers when I got in college.
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And the result of all of that was I just kind of flailed around doing adult things, but I just sunk deeper and deeper into sin and immaturity and weirdness.
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You know, all you kids growing up today, you've got it easy, right?
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Because the world's not at all weird anymore.
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But I was on the struggle bus when it came to growing up, and in the midst of those struggles, praise God, I was found by Jesus.
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So when I became a believer in my early 20s, I found I had a new challenge.
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Well, now I've got to grow up spiritually.
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and he becomes spiritually mature.
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Well, I'll tell you for many years, as a young believer, I thought, oh, I gotta grow up as a man in the world, and I also gotta grow up spiritually, as though those two were entirely separate concepts.
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Because Bethany and I moved around so much in our marriage with the army, we never put down roots anywhere.
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I never had an opportunity to develop close friendships, develop a mentor with anybody, someone who could guide me into understanding that growing up spiritually meant growing up as a whole person.
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And I would even say it's not just physical maturity or emotional maturity and spiritual maturity, I would just say it's maturity, growing up and becoming mature.
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The Apostle Paul knew something about becoming mature.
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He had a very clear idea of what it meant, what was involved in the end result, and he knew it took a great deal of effort.
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So our first point this morning is, growing up involves exertion.
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We're gonna take a look at a bit of background on Paul.
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In chapter three, Paul rattled off all of his accomplishments, or as he phrased it, his confidence in the flesh.
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Look at verse five.
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He said he was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under law, blameless.
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In modern terms, we would say Paul was born into privilege with a respected pedigree.
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He was raised in the most elite Jewish circles.
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He was educated in the Jewish equivalent of an Ivy League school.
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He was certain that all of his ideas were right.
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He was respected, he had authority, he had prestige, influence, and above all, he had a lot of passion.
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He was on the fast track to greatness in the Jewish world until Jesus took him down more than a few notches on the road to Damascus.
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You see, following that encounter, Paul took a different view of his life's accomplishments.
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They're all worthless.
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And moreover, it required disciplined exertion to purge them from his life.
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Take a look at verse 7.
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He says, "But whatever gain I had, I count it as loss for the sake of Christ.
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Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
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For his sake I've suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him." He says it's all a loss because of their surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
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He uses some pretty strong language here too.
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When he says all of his accomplishments were rubbish, he doesn't just mean some Kleenex or some apple peels in a wastebasket.
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doesn't quite get at what Paul said. The Greek word is only used here in the New Testament and it refers to human excrement and not in a polite or juvenile way. At the very least the Philippians would have understood Paul considered all of his accomplishments to be crap.
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Did he just say that in church?
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Yeah I did because that's as polite as I can be to get at what Paul is trying to say here? It's all crap, and there's a sense of revulsion about it. Paul is using strong language to impress on his readers that he is revolted by his former life. For Paul, it provokes a gag reflex when he thinks about it. So Paul has dug a giant cat hole and he's buried it all. He says, "In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." Wow, that captures our idealized image of Paul, doesn't it?
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After all, that's why we call him Saint Paul. He knows Jesus so much better than we do and he's just so far above us. We're right to put him on a pedestal.
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I mean just as he was a Hebrew among the Hebrews, he became the hardest-working apostle. He was the most outstanding apostle. He was always the brightest. He was always the best of the best. Right? That's how we think about Paul. We can't ever be like Paul. That's Look at verse 12.
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"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
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Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
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In his exhortation to exertion, Paul tells us two things, why we must grow and how we must grow.
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So let's look first at why we must grow.
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We must grow because Jesus has a hold of us.
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Paul says he makes every effort to take hold of his goal because Jesus has taken a hold of him.
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What does it mean that Jesus has taken a hold of Paul?
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Well, to be taken a hold of in the Greek has several meanings, such as to learn or understand something or to grasp something in our mind as a concept.
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But Paul is saying something stronger than that.
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It can also mean to obtain something, to appropriate a thing or make something one's own.
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But Paul is saying something even stronger than that.
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Or a third meaning is to seize, to overtake or overwhelm.
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In effect, Christ has swept Paul up by the scruff of the neck and yanked him out of the septic tank and he's embraced him within himself as his own.
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Think about, I'm sure you've all watched the videos, right?
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Of these soldiers coming home from combat and they come down the runway into the airport or into the gym or wherever They see their family and they just embrace them.
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And they're not gonna let them go.
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That's how tightly Jesus Christ has a hold of you.
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Are you returning the embrace?
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Are you exerting every effort to lay hold of Christ?
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Second, Paul tells us how we must grow.
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By forgetting and striving.
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Look at verse 13 again.
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"But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind "and straining toward what is ahead." Sounds like there's two things here, doesn't it?
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Forgetting and striving, two different things.
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But really, they're so closely intertwined, it's all one effort, it's all one action on Paul's part.
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But we're gonna look at each separately.
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First, there's the forgetting part.
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And I'm really glad Paul mentions this, because although Paul mainly mentioned all of his credentials, he may have also had in mind what he did with those credentials.
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You may recall Paul once zealously took hold of believers and had them in prison, and in some cases put to death.
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I think Paul had a great deal to regret and be ashamed of.
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His past could have been a huge, Huge weight that held him back from pursuing Jesus But instead he keeps on forgetting What he was and what he did in the past What's in your past what's in your present You have a pedigree you have education you have degrees influence prestige and well What about the other side of that coin You have pride, boasting, sin, broken relationships, broken promises, pain, burned bridges, self-justification, bitterness, self-pity, insecurities, has your life been full of hating and being hated?
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Divorce, broken families, abuse, sexual immorality, lies and more lies.
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It seems like a long list, but we all know it's just the tip of the iceberg.
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You know, in all these ways and more, we have sinned and wrecked ourselves. We have sinned against others and wrecked their lives. Others have sinned against us and broken us.
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And all these things could be a huge ball and chain, spiritually and emotionally and even physically.
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Because Satan the accuser, he's always lurking around to remind us about our past.
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You're worthless. You'll never measure up. You can't do this. I know what you've done.
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You know, you remember that time when you just fill in the blank.
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But the good news is your past is dead. God doesn't hold you responsible for anything you did when you were dead, and neither should you. You are forgiven.
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Your guilt is removed and so is your shame. You need to forget the past.
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Forget it. Indeed, the Greek word for forgetting is so strong here.
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It means to oblivious. Your past has faded into oblivion and God no longer brings it up. He doesn't think about it. He doesn't remember it. Satan does. Your flesh might. But beloved, what is in your past no longer exists. For you are in Christ Jesus. You So don't let the past drag you down in the present.
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Don't let it deter you from pressing onward for the future, which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.
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The next part is striving.
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Look at verse 12.
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Paul says a curious thing.
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I haven't attained it yet.
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I haven't arrived.
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This is a process.
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I don't possess it yet.
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I haven't attained yet to that for which Jesus took hold of me.
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Nevertheless, he says, I press on.
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I forget what is behind.
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I strain toward what is ahead.
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I press on toward the goal to win the prize.
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Paul is using vigorous athletic imagery here.
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The Greek for press on is dioko.
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And it means to pursue, to aggressively chase, to pursue with all haste like a hunter in pursuit.
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It could describe a runner who has fallen behind early in an endurance race, but now, now he's catching up.
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Now he's exerting every spiritual muscle to reach the finish line.
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It's an image of a runner hurtling towards the tape and throwing herself over the line to be first.
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You know, it's interesting that the Greek for press on here in verses 12 and 14, it's the same word translated as persecuting in verse six.
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Paul is telling us is that just as I once zealously pursued believers in Christ, well, now I am zealously pursuing Christ.
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How about you?
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How about me?
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Are we pursuing Christ as zealously as we once pursued our lusts and evil desires?
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Or do we now have kind of a take it easy point of view?
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Do we think, hey, my ticket to heaven's been punched.
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Jesus is gonna bless me with my best life now.
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I don't have to do a thing.
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You know, let go, let God, right?
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Hey, I'm just gonna take the easy victory lap.
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I don't have to run the race.
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No!
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No, we are disciples, and life in Jesus takes discipline.
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It takes hard, concerted, striving, straining effort to grow in Christ.
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So study the Word to show yourself approved.
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Apply it, do it.
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Spend time in prayer and meditation on the Word.
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Fast and deny yourself for the sake of gaining Christ.
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So growing up involves our utmost exertion to forget and press on, and growing up also involves right thinking and careful imitation.
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In verse 15, Paul says, "All of us then who are mature "should take such a view of things." Now previously Paul said, "I haven't already obtained all this." arrived at his goal, but he keeps striving to attain it. But then he says, "All who are mature should take this view of things." That seems odd. Well, the Greek word for "mature" is "kaleos." It means "finished, brought to completion, wanting nothing necessary for completeness and perfect." Paul used that very same word in verse 12 when he said he hadn't arrived.
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Not that I am perfect, not that I am mature, and yet here now he says all of us who are mature should think like this. Well, in other words, Paul is telling us that those who are mature are the ones who realize we're not mature. When we view ourselves that way, we're thinking the right way. So let's dive a little deeper into right thinking because our thinking reveals what we treasure. Jesus used the same word when the rich young man asked him in Matthew chapter 19, "Good teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" Jesus told him, "If you would enter life, keep the commandments.
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He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have kept, what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, "Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, "and you will have treasure in heaven.
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"And come, follow me." Jesus said to the young man, "If you want to be teleos," that is, if you want to be perfect, if you want to be mature, "then unload your worldly possessions." And we know the man went away dejected because he had lots of stuff.
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Do you notice anything about Jesus' list of the commandments?
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"Whereas you shall have no other gods before me." And what about, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything.
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You shall not bow down to them and serve them." And where is number 10, "You shall not covet." And Jesus mentioned loving your neighbor.
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"What about loving the Lord your God "with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength?" The man's reaction to Jesus' exhortation to sell all his belongings identified his real problem.
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It's not that he had lots of stuff.
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It was the value that he placed on it.
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It was the way he thought about his stuff and his identity.
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He's an idolater who loves the world.
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He loved his stuff more than God.
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He wanted heaven, but he didn't really want the God who dwells there.
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He wanted to have eternal life, but he only wanted to run the victory lap.
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He
Speaker 2:
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You didn't
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want to actually strive to win the race.
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He wanted the world more than heaven.
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Compare that to Paul, who counted all things as loss.
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Compare that to yourself, what you treasure.
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Now that account really focuses on stuff, but the broader picture is that what characterizes mature Christians is a rejection of and a revulsion towards worldly values.
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We're not to love the world or anything in it.
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This is difficult because we're so used to the smell and texture of our crap that we We don't even notice we've brought it into the church with us.
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We don't notice that we've brought it into our life in Christ.
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We hold on to things like our pride and our pettiness, our self-importance, or maybe even our negative self-abasement.
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We wanna hold on to all the stuff that we use to accessorize our lives so that we can let others know that we're blessed than they are.
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What we really need, beloved, is a gag reflex, a spiritual gag reflex.
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You know what I'm talking about.
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If you ever had to clean up somebody else's fluids, it's all you can do to keep everything down.
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We look at our world that way, "Oh, that's revolting." Do you have that response?
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They're coming for our children.
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Oh, that's revolting.
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Yeah, we need to be revolted by the world and recognize the crap for what it is.
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We need to purge it and count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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See, how we think about the world reveals a great deal about our maturity.
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What are you focused on?
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What occupies your heart and your thoughts and your time?
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You might ask me, "Well, what should I be focused on?
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What should I be occupied with and doing?" If you're expecting a laundry list of do's and don'ts right now, I'm sorry you're going to be disappointed.
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You know, Satan likes that kind of Christianity, you know, lists of rules, things to do and not do.
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But we all know that's a graceless, legalistic set of rules.
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founded on worldly pride.
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Man-made rules have no power to save.
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And me telling you what kind of car you should or shouldn't drive, or what kind of house you should own, isn't going to make you holy.
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Nor am I going to tell you what movies you should or shouldn't watch, or TV shows that are acceptable, or what social media you can use, what you should drink or not drink, how to spend your money.
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No.
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Such things will do you no good in the long run or the short run.
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And really, over the past year, we've seen how man-made rules play out, haven't we?
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They spiral out of control until they become completely nonsensical.
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They take on a legalistic virtue signaling.
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When has that kind of legalism ever worked out for the church?
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My Aunt Jen, who was a Sunday school teacher and a good Pentecostal church woman, she used to tell me, "Richie, good Christian boys "don't do those kinds of things.
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"Richie, good Christian boys don't go to movie theaters." And I have the heart to tell her that I was only one of those three things.
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But there's that kind of rule.
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What good is that rule? It doesn't get behind what's going on, such as, "Well, who am I giving my money to?
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What kind of ideas are being purveyed by these movies? What are people doing with the money that I'm giving them?
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What's their worldview and what are they promoting?" That's what we've got to get at. That's what we've got to be discerning about and think about. So my Aunt Jen, she wouldn't go to movie theaters and watch movies, but she would watch them on TV at home. Kind of proves my point, right? So no, cultural rules have no power at all to save or sanctify you. By following them you might look like somebody's idea of an obedient Christian in a particular culture.
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You but your heart won't be transformed.
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To be transformed in your thinking, you have work to do every day.
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If you're Jesus' disciple, you've got to work out your salvation by examining what you treasure, what you crave, what you long for, and you have to ask yourself how your stuff, your activities, your cherished thoughts and ideas square with Jesus.
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A good starting point is assuming that everything about us and our values is wrong.
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It's of the world, it's of Satan, and it's crap.
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I realize that this is kind of a flat out, scorched earth approach to life.
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But you know, it makes things pretty simple.
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And it's not an approach that happens overnight.
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It doesn't happen in a month or a year.
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It takes a lifetime.
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It's a process of shucking off the world and striving to take hold of Jesus for a lifetime.
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Now you may want to know, what does this process look like practically?
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Well, life in Christ isn't about just selling all your stuff and becoming a minimalist.
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It's not about becoming an ascetic.
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I'm not advocating that we all become like the Amish and we're living in some anachronistic world, right?
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We don't want to create a culture frozen in time.
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And as I said, it's certainly not about learning and following a set of rules.
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It's rather seeing and evaluating the world with baptized eyes and realizing our lives were and in some ways may still be full of crap of the world.
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And we gotta ask ourselves, why do I still value this?
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The Corinthian church faced the same challenge.
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On the one hand, they'd been set free in Christ, yet they were dogged by problems that arose out of their pagan worldview that was still so much a part of them.
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They mixed everything together from their old lives with their new lives in Christ, and they justified it by saying, "All things are lawful for me." Well, Paul countered that by saying, "You need to think this way." He said, "Yes, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.
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All things are lawful for me.
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I will not be dominated by anything." And again in chapter 10, "All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful.
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Some things are lawful, but not all things build up.
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So that's the process.
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It's a process of weighing your motives, your attitudes, your behaviors, your possessions, and evaluating everything in the light of Christ.
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Something might be lawful, but is it really helpful?
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Does it control or dominate me?
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Or can I just walk away from it?
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Don't need that anymore. Is what I'm doing please God? Is it motivated by pride? Or is it motivated by humility?
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I mean earlier you probably thought it was being a killjoy. Oh he wants us to get rid of everything we do, we can't have fun.
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No! Oh as you go through this process of discerning and evaluating and shaking off the world, shaking off everything that so easily entangles, you discern God's true gifts. You find real joy. You walk in real freedom.
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As I said, this process takes a lifetime, but don't think for that reason you can put it off till later. "I've got time." No, you don't. With the help of the Holy Spirit and In the light of the word, get after it.
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We have work to do every day to develop right thinking.
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And I understand not everyone will agree with my scorched earth approach, and that's okay.
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Paul anticipated the same objection when he said in the rest of verse 15, if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
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And he went on, only let us live up what we have already attained. Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do." Paul turns here to the careful imitation of our outline.
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It sounds kind of confusing. On the one hand, he says, "I haven't attained my goal." But on the other, he says, "Let us live up to what we've attained." Well, what is it? What exactly have we all attained?
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Why? Forgiveness of sins and God's unlimited mercy, abounding grace and steadfast love that endures forever. We've been adopted and united with Christ and in Him we sit at the right hand of God the Father. We've been raised with Christ and transferred to his kingdom of light.
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Beloved, we've attained to everything and now we need to grow up into it.
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How do we do that?
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I mentioned earlier that it takes concerted striving to grow up in Christ.
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We live up to what we've attained by studying the word, by doing it, such as pouring out forgiveness.
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Pouring out mercy and grace and love for others.
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And yes, to be in the process of shunning the world.
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In short, to think and act like Jesus.
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You know, we've had multiple excellent sermons about knowing Jesus and imitating Him.
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So I'd recommend you review your notes and re-watch these messages listed here.
35:00-35:01
Go back and take a look.
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Paul also says to be a copycat.
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Look for and keep your eyes on mature believers.
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Get their advice, their guidance.
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Imitate them.
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We have plenty of mature believers here at Harvest.
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So find a mentor and ask for their help in prayers.
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Study them, imitate them.
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All right, so we've seen growing up involves exertion, right thinking, careful imitation.
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Finally, growing up involves glorious transformation.
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We've already seen the goal of pursuing maturity is knowing Christ more than anything else.
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But you know, Paul doesn't want to wait until he's dead to know Christ.
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No, he wants to know Him right now, right now.
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But he concludes this passage by pointing out why maturity matters.
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Look what he says in verse 18.
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For as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
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Their destiny is destruction.
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Their God is their stomach, their glory is in their shame.
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Their mind is set on earthly things.
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But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
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There's a sharp contrast here.
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We might think that those who are living enemies of the cross of Christ are unbelievers.
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It's more likely Paul is referring to people in the church.
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Why else would his warning come with tears?
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You see, these folks live as enemies of the cross because they're immersed in worldly, earthly things.
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They love the world and all its crap.
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They exult in their shame and in pursuing temporary pleasures.
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and therefore their destiny is destruction.
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And here, beloved, is why maturity matters.
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When persecution comes, what will you do?
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You're probably going like, "What? Persecution? What does this have to do with this message?" Well, remember where Paul is when he's writing this letter. He's in prison.
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The church in Philippi was founded out of persecution.
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Remember, he was locked in prison.
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He was in the stocks with Silas.
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And yet, the whole letter to the Philippians speaks of joy and thanksgiving and contentment.
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In the light of persecution, Paul lives no differently for Christ.
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Whether he's out walking free and preaching the gospel, or whether he's in prison, the gospel isn't chained. And my chains have resulted in glory to God.
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He's already suffered the loss of all things.
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He has nothing left to lose. Nothing can be taken away from him.
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He doesn't care if he's being persecuted. To live is Christ, to die is gain.
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Write that down.
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Write that down in your notes. What will I do when persecution comes?
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Those who are living as enemies of the cross will simply compromise.
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It won't be difficult for them to do because they're already living there.
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They won't count the cost, or they will count the cost and decide, "Hey, preserving my lives, preserving my reputation, preserving my creature comforts are of greater value than following Jesus." They will be unwilling to count all things as lost.
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But what about me?
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When persecution comes, will I compromise to save my stuff, my reputation, and maybe even save my skin?
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You know they're burning churches in Canada?
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Canada!
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Will I be numbered with those whose destiny is destruction?
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Or will I gladly suffer the loss of all things for the cross of Christ?
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You will if you're striving to be mature.
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As he said, Paul did not care that he lost all things because of what he had gained.
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I know Jesus, I'm becoming like Jesus.
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I'm obtaining a citizenship in heaven, where one day I will see Jesus face to face.
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Beloved, these precious promises are for us as well.
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We are citizens of heaven, and Jesus is going to return for us and transform us into his glorious likeness.
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In Philippians 4, verse one, Paul concludes his exhortation to press on to maturity.
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And in keeping with his athletic imagery, he brings us to the top of the victor's podium.
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Look what he says.
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He says, "Therefore my brothers and sisters, "you whom I love and long for, "my joy and my crown, "stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends." Beloved, we will stand firm by doing these things.
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We will not be caught up in the world or live in fear of anything.
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Instead, as citizens of heaven, we will press on to maturity in Christ and the prize of knowing him and being like him forever.
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Paul used similar imagery in his letter to the Ephesians where he urged them to attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
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And he prayed for them that they may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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Beloved, make that your goal.
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We have thoroughly examined Paul's example of counting all things as loss, of strenuously forgetting what is behind and straining for what is ahead.
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Glorious transformation into the fullness of Christ, into all the fullness of God.
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There is nothing better.
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There is no more worthy way to live your life.
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So why don't you grow up and become just like your Father?
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Let's pray.
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Oh, glorious Father, our great God, You who have loved us and saved us through our Lord Jesus Christ, help us by Your Holy Spirit to grow up in Him, to be imitators of Him in all we think and do and say.
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Help us, Father, to be daily busy at this work, at this task.
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There is nothing better for us to do.
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We are confident of this.
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You will help us and transform us until that great day when we see our Lord Jesus face to face.
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In His name we pray, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Philippians 3:12-4:1
What is one thing that God revealed to you personally during the sermon?
Do you pursue Jesus as zealously as you once pursued sin? Why is it difficult for us to do that?
What comes to mind when you think of maturity? What do you think of Jesus’s perspective on maturity (Matthew 19:22)?
It was said during the message that a good starting point for evaluating what we value is that “everything is crap” and “everything about us and our values is wrong.” What do you think about those statements?
What does the process of sorting through your values look like for you? (1 Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23)?
Breakout
Pray for one another.