Knowing Him, Not Just Knowing About Him

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray preached from Philippians 3:1-11, a passage he described as the most gospel-centered digression in all of scripture. He worked through Paul's warning against the Judaizers, Paul's own religious pedigree, and the goal Paul set out in knowing Christ, not merely knowing about him. The sermon closed with a time of communion tied directly to that theme. Pastor Ray opened by noting that he...

Read together

1. Philippians 3:1-11 the main passage for the sermon
2. Galatians 5:11 quoted to show Paul's earlier argument against requiring circumcision and the offense of the cross
3. Galatians 5:12 quoted on Paul wishing those troubling the church would cut themselves off
4. Romans 2:28-29 quoted to show true circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit, not outward in the flesh
5. Colossians 2:11-12 quoted on circumcision made without hands and being buried and raised with Christ in baptism
6. Ephesians 2:8-9 cited on salvation by grace through faith, not of ourselves, so no one can boast

Talk about it

1. Ray described the difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them, using the example of attending a funeral for a stranger. Where have you seen that same difference show up in someone's relationship with Jesus?
2. Paul listed his religious credentials, circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, blameless under the law, and then called all of it rubbish compared to knowing Christ. What things in your own background have you been tempted to lean on as a source of standing before God?
3. Ray drew a picture of two ditches on either side of the gospel road: legalism on one side and license on the other. Which ditch do you think pulls at you more, and why?
4. Paul says he wants to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings. Ray pointed out that the fellowship of sufferings can mean being mistreated by someone who claims to follow Jesus. Has that ever happened to you, and how did you handle it?
5. Ray said there is no kind of mean like Christian mean, and suggested it often comes from people who know about Jesus rather than people who know Jesus. Do you agree with that connection, and what does it look like in practice to move from one to the other?