Knowing Christ, Not Just Knowing About Him

In one paragraph

The pastor preached from Philippians 3:1-11, walking through Paul's warning against adding anything to the gospel, Paul's own religious résumé, and what Paul ultimately counted all of it worth. The heart of the message was the difference between knowing about Jesus and actually knowing Him, and what it means to pursue that as the one thing worth having. Paul opens the section with a word that...

Read together

1. Philippians 3:1-11 the main passage for the sermon
2. Galatians (unspecified verse) quoted to show Paul saying if he still preached circumcision the offense of the cross would cease and wishing those who troubled them would cut themselves off
3. Romans 2:28 quoted to show true circumcision is of the heart by the spirit not outward in the flesh
4. Colossians (unspecified verse) quoted on circumcision made without hands through burial and resurrection with Christ
5. Ephesians 2:8-9 quoted on salvation by grace through faith not of ourselves so no one can boast
6. Luke 11 mentioned as the passage Carl would teach the following Monday night on purity and true change from the inside out

Talk about it

1. The pastor described the difference between knowing someone and knowing about someone, using the example of attending a funeral for a stranger. Where in your own life have you noticed that difference when it comes to knowing Jesus versus knowing about Jesus?
2. Paul listed his religious credentials, things like being a Hebrew of Hebrews and a Pharisee, and then called all of it rubbish compared to knowing Christ. What are some things in your own background, religious or otherwise, that you might be tempted to count as spiritual assets?
3. The pastor said that a dead form of Christianity can inoculate you against the real thing. What do you think he meant by that, and have you ever seen it happen?
4. The sermon connected the power of Christ's resurrection directly to the fellowship of his sufferings, saying you cannot have one without the other. How has that shown up, or not shown up, in the way Christianity is often presented today?
5. The pastor said that taking part in the Lord's Supper is a way of declaring that you are trusting in Christ's righteousness and not your own. What practical difference does that kind of trust make in the way you actually live day to day?