Put No Confidence in the Flesh

In one paragraph

This was the first sermon from the new associate pastor at First Baptist Jackson, preaching through Philippians 3:1-14. He came to it fresh off a big life transition, moving from construction work in Alabama to pastoral ministry in Wyoming, and that personal weight of not trusting in his own experience gave the passage a natural entry point. The message centered on what it actually means to stop...

Read together

1. Philippians 3:1-14 the primary passage preached through, covering encouragement, warning, Paul's resume, counting gains as loss, and pressing toward the prize
2. Romans 2:29 cited to explain that circumcision is a matter of the heart, not a fleshly thing
3. Acts 9 Jesus meets Paul on the road to Damascus, blinding light and thundering voice, Paul's radical conversion
4. Philippians 2 poem about who Jesus is, his humility, servant form, obedience to death, and exaltation above every name
5. Jeremiah 9:23 do not boast in wisdom, might, or riches, but boast in knowing the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness
6. Galatians 6 Paul says far be it for me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to him
7. Hebrews 11:26 Moses considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, looking to the reward
8. Matthew 13 man finds treasure in a field, sells everything he has to buy the field
9. 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says he worked harder than any of them
10. Colossians 1:28-29 Paul toils and struggles with all of God's energy that powerfully works within him to present everyone mature in Christ
11. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, noted as often taken out of context
12. John 9 Jesus heals a man born blind on the Sabbath, the healed man tells the Pharisees one thing I know, I was born blind and now I see

Talk about it

1. Pastor Blake described coming from construction in Alabama to serving as associate pastor in Wyoming, and said he was wrestling with not placing confidence in his own experience or how many sermons he had preached. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to stop relying on what you have done or who you are rather than on Christ?
2. Paul lists out his credentials as a Pharisee and then calls all of it rubbish compared to knowing Christ. What are the gains or achievements in your own life that you find most tempting to build your identity on?
3. Pastor Blake quoted the line attributed to Jim Elliot, 'He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.' What does it look like practically, in day-to-day life, to actually live as though your fleshly gains cannot be kept and Christ cannot be lost?
4. The sermon drew a contrast between working to earn righteousness and pressing on because Christ has already made us his own. How do you personally tell the difference between those two kinds of effort in your own walk with God?
5. Pastor Blake used the image of a cicada shell to talk about dying to the flesh and being raised to newness of life. Where in your life right now do you sense God calling you to let go of an empty shell and strain forward toward something he has for you?