October 3 rd 2022 Monday Night @ First B

In one paragraph

Brad walked the congregation through Philippians 3:12 through 4:1, covering progressive sanctification, the danger of a self-centered view of salvation, the importance of discipleship, and the call to live as citizens of heaven. He framed the whole passage around a single idea: keeping the end goal in mind shapes how we run the race. He was clear that he is not a pastor but was grateful for the...

Read together

1. Psalm 100:4 opening call to worship, enter his gates with thanksgiving
2. Philippians 3:12-4:1 main text read aloud by a congregation member
3. Matthew 28 great commission cited as example of Christ calling believers to ongoing obedience
4. Luke 6:46 Jesus rebukes those who call him Lord but do not do what he says
5. Matthew 7 wise man who built his house on the rock, hearing and practicing Jesus words
6. Romans 7 Paul battling the flesh, doing what he does not want to do
7. John 3 Jesus telling Nicodemus you cannot enter the kingdom unless you have been born again
8. Romans 8:28-29 all things work for good, predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son
9. John 15 if the world hates you remember it hated me first
10. 1 Corinthians 11 follow my example as I follow the example of Christ
11. 1 Timothy 3 criteria for an elder listed as marks to look for in a discipler
12. Titus 1 criteria for an elder listed alongside 1 Timothy 3 as marks for a discipler
13. 1 Corinthians 15:58 mentioned briefly as a closing passage

Talk about it

1. Brad described progressive sanctification as neither steady nor smooth, with plateaus, peaks, and valleys, and said progress is measured in years and decades rather than days or weeks. Looking back on your own Christian walk, what has that arc looked like for you?
2. Brad said we can have a self-centered view of our salvation, always asking what God is doing for us rather than what God is doing for his kingdom and his glory. Where do you notice that pull in your own life, and what helps you reorient?
3. Paul tells the Philippians to keep their eyes on those who live as he does, and Brad connected that to the discipleship relationships available within this church. Are you currently in a discipling relationship, either as the one being discipled or the one doing the discipling, and what has that looked like?
4. Brad warned about false or unbalanced teaching coming in through podcasts and YouTube, and offered this test: are people shouting what the Bible whispers? What other guardrails do you use when you are taking in teaching from outside the church?
5. Brad used the image of redecorating a hotel room to describe how we can get focused on temporary things instead of our eternal citizenship. What does it look like practically, in an ordinary week, to live as an ambassador rather than a permanent resident of this world?