Sermon Notes: Keep Going!

It was so good to be back in the house of the Lord on Sunday!  After traveling one week, and then not feeling well the next, it seemed like ages since I'd been to church! What's that sign we've seen on some church billboards?  "Seven Days without God makes one weak!"...Well, even though I was never "without God"...He is always near...always here...in my heart...and yet, when we wander too far from His fold...His house...His people...our strength may fail...we need a steady diet of God's Word and fellowship with His people to keep growing strong and healthy in our faith.

And so, as I said in the beginning...it was good to be back in the house of the Lord!  And to hear the Word of God proclaimed was definitely a dose of good medicine to my soul... So here we go:

Sermon Notes for July 1, 2018..."Keep Going"
The Scripture reading was from Philippians 3:4-14

Question:  What do you want more than anything else in this world?
Is it to know Christ Jesus...and "the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death..." (see Philippians 3:10)

We become so focused on things...keeping up with the Joneses...
But What is the most important thing in the our lives?

The Apostle Paul listed his credentials in verses 5 and 6...He was a powerful man in the realm of the Hebrew world...A Pharisee, very zealous, righteous in the eyes of the "law"...blameless...
Power...an expensive commodity in the world.  Most people would find that kind of power difficult to give up...

But Jesus met Paul (Saul) on the road to Damascus  (See Acts 9:1-22), and Paul cast aside all those so-called important credentials...and said in verse 7 of our text "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ."

Look at verse 8, "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ..."

• What is it that is "rubbish" that we are hesitating to give up for the cause of Christ?
• What is it that shapes your identity ....and holds you accountable?
• What or who holds you accountable in your life of faith?
• Do you consider things "rubbish", except for the cause of Christ in your life?
• Who and what is your focus?
• Is your focus to experience and love God more than these things in life?

Paul's focus was heavenward...he had more peace, joy, love, and confidence because of Christ...

Have we lost our confidence...our ability to "love one another"...has it become just "tolerance" of one another?

Paul experienced more because his focus was on Christ.
No matter what our circumstances are in life...can you put your focus on God?
How much pain and hardship do we cause because we can't "forget those things that are behind..." (verse 13) 

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended;

but one thing I do, 

forgetting those things which are behind

 and reaching forward to those things which are ahead..."

God wants you as you are, where you are right now...

But what are you holding on to that keeps you from moving ahead?

Paul wanted to become like Christ...(verse 14)

"I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

But look back at verse 10 again:

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death..."

How in the world and why would Paul want to die like Christ?  He wanted to be more and more like his Savior...

And we should also...

Empty ourselves completely for the sake of others...be more like Him...be close to Him forever...

Are you willing to give up everything to further your spiritual walk?

What is holding us back from that relationship with Christ Jesus?

Paul was on a journey with God...

What about you?  Are you on that journey with Christ?

• I want my life to be about being so full of Jesus that it overflows...
• A life resurrected from the dead...
• A light shining in the darkness...

We need to build our life in Christ Jesus...

But we tend to want status...is that our glory? What more could we ask for than to be called a Christian?

Seek out God's call on your life...

What do we need to empty ourselves of to let Jesus fill it back up?

Claim the love of Christ...Let Him lead and guide you...Claim His death...and the power of His resurrection...

Lord, we ask that You empower us ... help us to be willing to serve You as we 

"press toward the goal for the prize of 

the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  

Amen.

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given.  I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously.  Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said.  Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear...  That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts.  So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

Sermon Notes, FUMC, Interlachen, FL., Pastor A.C. Myers, 7-1-2018