Scripture referenced 3 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Philippians 3:1-11 the main text of the sermon, read aloud in full
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not tiresome, but for you it is safe.
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh;
4 though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more:
5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;
6 concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.
7 However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ.
8 Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
10 that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death;
11 if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Proverbs (unspecified verse)
paraphrased loosely as 'teach your kids the laws of the Lord and when they grow up they will not depart from my words'
Keep this verseRevelation (unspecified verse)
briefly cited as saying God will wipe our tears when we enter His kingdom
Keep this verseRecap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Florin preached on Philippians 3:1-11, using Paul's words from prison to ask whether we truly know Christ or only know about him. He drew on his own story, from a small Romanian village through years of wandering and three jobs in America, to show what it looks like to drift away and then come back. The central question he kept returning to was simple: is Christ actually the center of your life, not just on Sunday?
What was said
Florin opened by being honest about why he almost said no to preaching. His English is not his first language, and standing up in front of people in English still makes him nervous. But he decided the invitation might be from God, and that was enough reason to say yes.
He told his own story at some length because he said it was necessary for what came next. He grew up in Romania, lost his father at eleven and a brother at nineteen, came to faith at twelve, and threw himself into church life and Bible study. Then, slowly and almost without noticing, he drifted toward legalism on one side and then sin on the other. When he came to America in 2006 he was chasing his own plans, working three jobs, accumulating paychecks, and finding that none of it filled anything. It was Pastor Ray who told him, "Nothing is wasted in the kingdom of God," and that conversation turned him back.
He read Philippians 3:1-11 and pointed out that Paul wrote those words from prison, probably hungry, probably beaten, and yet his first instruction to the Philippians was to rejoice. Florin said that is the whole point: our circumstances do not define the joy we have in Christ. Happiness can come from a BMW or a full bank account, but that kind of happiness is temporary. The joy that comes from knowing Christ can also spill over into other people's lives, and that is something material things cannot do.
He then worked through what he saw as three movements in the passage. First, watch out for anything that pulls your attention away from Christ, because there are people and possessions and voices constantly competing for that attention. Rejoicing in the Lord is one of the main ways to keep your focus. Second, watch out for false teachers who add conditions to the gospel, the way some were telling the Philippians that circumcision was also required for salvation. Salvation rests entirely on what Christ did on the cross, not on human effort or religious credentials.
Third, and most personally, he pressed on the question of whether we are Sunday-only Christians. He described going into his shift at Smith's and praying before he walked through the door, asking God to use him that day with every customer. He said if your coworkers do not know you are a Christian, there is nobody for them to come to when they are struggling. That witness does not require pushing a tract into someone's hand; it starts with simply being known as someone who follows Christ.
He closed by coming back to Paul's phrase about counting everything else as garbage compared to knowing Christ. He was careful to say he was not telling anyone to stop buying things or planning for their children's futures. But he asked whether Christ is genuinely first, ahead of credentials, background, and possessions, in a way that makes all of it available for the kingdom of God rather than just for ourselves. He mentioned his own stay in the hospital with COVID and pneumonia earlier that year, and said that when he was lying there unable to breathe, none of his plans mattered at all. What he came away with was a renewed desire to partner with God rather than run his own program.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Florin described moving from one 'ditch' to the other, from rigid rule-following to letting sin take over, before finding his way back to Christ. Have you ever drifted gradually in one of those directions without noticing it at first? What did that look like for you?
- Florin said that at Smith's he prays before every shift, 'Lord, use me today,' and that his coworkers notice something different about him without him having to push the gospel on them. What does that kind of everyday witness look like in your own workplace or neighborhood?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 8,088 words
Speaker 3So thankful that this morning we gathered together to worship the Lord. Amen?
FlorinLet's make it special. Let's make it special because he's present here in this place. Amen? Would you please stand now with me to worship God with all our hearts? Amen.
Amen. Praise the Lord. Luke has some announcements for us.
Speaker 2Good morning and welcome to First Baptist Church everyone. We're so glad you're spending your spring break with us. Come back tomorrow for the Monday night service. It's over here in the Fellowship Hall at 06:00. You get a meal, music, and a message, and I'm speaking tomorrow night on James chapter one.
So if you wanna come and learn a little bit about that, please come back and Florian is gonna be playing some wonderful music, and we're having a taco bar tomorrow. So come on by for that. There is no Awana tomorrow. We're gonna be off for spring break, but we'll be back next week, so be sure to be looking for that. We have our Bondurant Women's Conference.
It's coming back. So if you guys were at the IF conference or you wanna go again, they're gonna be rebroadcasting it and have live music there as well. Our, it's also on our website. If you have any questions, feel free to check that out as well. We'd love to have all the ladies there and there's a Wednesday morning prayer group in the church office that could use some new bodies.
We need, we always need more prayer, right? So, come on by and pray with us at 07:30AM in the office. We pray for our missionaries. We pray for everything. And and whatever is going on in your life as well, we'd we'd love to help pray with you about that.
The new church directories are out, believe it or not, at long last, and they're by the front doors. They go fast. If by any chance you did not get your information into us, please do get it to us because we only printed a few copies in hopes that you might be motivated to then give us your information at this point too. So they're probably for the front doors. Feel free to grab one.
There's a book study at the first and third Thursdays of the month in the fellowship hall at 9AM. If you have trouble remembering this, there's a new calendar on our church website with all of the up to date information. So, if you're like, which Thursday was that? Feel free to click on the church calendar on the website and you'll be able to see which Thursday that is but they're going through a Bible study and it's by Anne Graham Lotts. So, feel free to come check that out.
Also, we do not have anybody in the nursery during the 11AM service. We do have a shortage of volunteers. If you'd like to help us fix that, please please do. Please contact Christine Galloway, and if you have any questions about that, you could sure check your church directory because her phone number is in there. It all ties together, people.
The next one is we have a connect hour between services every Sunday, and we need people to supply food for that too. We'll help pay for it. If you'll pick it up and arrange it and make it all pretty, that'd be great. And we're also looking for volunteer kitchen help on the Monday night service. So if you wanna sign up for that, there's a bulletin board on the right hand side as you enter the fellowship.
We'll see you tomorrow at Monday night service.
FlorinThank you, Nick. Oh, I love the way you talk, honestly. I wish I could be able to speak English like you. We haven't done this in a long time. Would you please just turn around and just hi to someone to your right, to your left?
Holy keys, if you wanna do that, that's fine too. Our God's firm foundation, our rock, the only solid ground. Let's sing that. Amen? Amen.
Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you for the privilege we have to be here this morning. God, how wonderful it is when brothers and sister gather together in your name worshiping you, Lord. That's why we are here. Lord, would you please touch our hearts?
Would you please speak to us this morning so we can get trained, so we can get stronger in such a way that we can proclaim your name outside of this building, dear Lord. But while we are here, we wanna hear your whisper. I am sure, Lord, that you have something for every soul that is here in this building. So, dear God, help us to praise you, help us to lift up your name, but in the same time, Lord, would you whisper to your Holy Spirit something unique to every one of us. In your precious name I pray, hallelujah.
Amen. Amen. Oh, I love the song. Oh, the lyrics are so so good. Wonderful, merciful savior, redeemer, and friend.
That's Jesus. Amen? Oh, you are the one that we praise. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace.
Oh, hallelujah. Hearts always hunger for. Oh, dear Jesus. Thank you. Thank you, our savior.
Thank you for providing the salvation for us on the cross. Thank you for... According to the Bible, the moment we believe in you, our name is written in the book of life. Lord, not only that you saved us from this world, but also you prepared a place for us in your kingdom. And no matter our circumstances, no matter where we are in this life, when we know you, Lord, when we understand the grace that comes from you, you put peace in our hearts and mind.
Lord, may we project that peace and love to those around us. In your precious name I pray. Amen. Amen. A bit of water.
This song. I used to go on hiking and snorkeling and this is one of my favorite one. At one point, was looking to the right, to the left, in front, behind me, make sure nobody's there and just lay down on my knees and snorkeling with my hands up and just sing this song. It's so beautiful. If you don't wanna sing, that's fine.
Just close your eyes and have a precious moment with Jesus this morning. Amen? That's the plan. The plan is to to to get in touch with Jesus with Jesus in a unique way. And as I said, you don't have to sing.
Just close your eyes and have a conversation with him. Amen? You give Amen. Praise the Lord. Now is the time to worship the the Lord through through giving.
And, respectfully, I'm gonna ask Nick. Would you please pray for us, Nick, while, the elders are coming up front?
Speaker 2Lord God, thank you so much for all you've given us. You've richly richly blessed us, lord, and we just wanna give back to you, lord. And I pray that you would open up our hearts today, lord, so we would, be able to fully connect with you and understand you and maybe find you for the first time, God and, thank you again for all that you've given us and we just wanna give back to you, as you've given to us, lord, in your holy name. Amen.
FlorinThis song is quite long, but the lyrics, I promise you, will touch your hearts. Amen. Wasn't that a great song? Amen. Praise the Lord.
Thank you, Amy. Thank you, Seth. Thank you, Naomi. Hello? Yes.
Okay. I am very thankful to be here this morning, not only to sing, but also to speak a little bit about God's word. As as you know, and I mentioned this so many, many times, my English... I know. I know you've been telling me, Florian, your English is great, blah blah blah.
And thank you. But I'm not very confident when it comes about standing in front of people and speak in English. I've I've been preaching in Romania for so many times, and I'm very confident to stay in front of people. I'm confident with that. But when it comes when it comes about to do it in English, it's not my fortieth.
So thank you for your patience with this. Okay? When pastor asked me, Florin, I would like for you to to preach on Sunday. My first thought was, why me? I can look right now at this at this...
In in the room right now. I can picture one, two, three, four that could stand here and do a great job. But then I was thinking, what if this is from God? What if this... What what if what if this is an opportunity that God wants me to give to give it to me so I can share few thoughts with you?
And then I thought, you know what? I think that's a beautiful call to be able to speak in front of the church that I love so much. And, guys, I'm telling you, I love you with all that... With with all my heart. You are very special to me because when I came to United States in 2006, I kind of was lost in my mind.
Right? I wasn't sure when I'm going. I was follow my dreams. I I I was not following God at that time. I was literally looking for my own desires, for my own pleasure.
I want to do this. I want to reach this. I want to buy this. And and I end up being lost finding the things that I want. But then when I came to first b, this church here and the pastors here slowly invited me to be part of the the church again to be able to pray...
Play the piano. So little by little, God's been working in my heart so much, and I owe so much to this church. This church is the one... Is is like is like the hospital for me. And this is the way, by the way, the church should be.
The church should always be like a hospital when people outside from the from the outside can come here and hear the good news about Christ, about salvation, and in this manner they can be saved and rescued from their position when they are. A little bit about me. So I accepted Christ when I was 12 years old. Very passionate, very dedicated from a small village. I love to play the guitar with all that I am.
I actually learned to play the guitar while I was taking care of one of our goats, which I have to admit it. I hated that goat at that time. But since I was the the youngest, I had to take the goat in the middle of nowhere. So my brother didn't wanna do it. The other brother didn't wanna do it, so I had to do it.
But what I did, I took the guitar with me. So my mom, to this day, she doesn't have no idea that I did this. I let her go literally go whatever you want. And I just sit down and play and learn chords, just play whatever I I wanted because I learned by myself. So I fall in love with music.
And then in 1993, two beautiful missionaries, one from Florida, one originally from Mexico, but he was living in Florida at the time. They came together to be missionary in in Romania. And as you know, Romania, we were under communism in '9... Until 1989. I'm gonna take a little break here.
Okay. I'm back to the... To English now. So as I said, so when the missionaries came right after the communism fell down, they came with such a beautiful smile with with a love that I have never experienced in my life. And I'm gonna go a little bit behind saying that it happened that my father died when I was 11 years old.
One of my brother died when he was 19 years old. So there was a lot of pain in my life, struggle, a lot of difficult stuff. But missionaries, when they came, I am telling you they were my brothers, they were my sisters, they were they were my... And coming from a... This is very important here.
Coming from a gypsy family, my mom very... My mom hated the fact that we have Gypsy blood. From my father's side, nobody knew for sure if we were Gypsy or not. So we were not supposed to say out loud, hey, I'm a Gypsy. Actually, I did that a few times, and my mom really really respect me immediately.
Don't do that. Don't ever say the word Gypsy outside of this house. Okay? But since I was very young and crazy and stupid a little bit, I thought that was fun. So...
And later on, I I I understand that saying gypsy word look darker skin a little bit and look like a gypsy, it's a terrible thing. Anyway, but when missionaries, back to the missionaries, when missionaries came, they loved me just for the soul that I am. And because of that, I get in touch with them. We became very, very good friends. At one point, the missionaries provide a job for me, work anything around constructions in the building churches, pay the bills here and there.
But in the meantime, I get very much in touch with the Bible, with our savior, and little by little, I was leading worship with kids, with teenagers. And later on, I end up doing the Bible study, a seminary that missionaries started in Romania between Independent Baptist Church. That means a very good and strong doctrine. I'm not going to go there because it can be tough. Anyway, so good, good learning about the Bible and stuff like that.
And I had many opportunities to preach and because of because of them. They gave me many many chances to stand in front of churches, many other churches where we would travel from time to time to to preach and to speak the goodness of God. And... But then at one point, I saw... Do you remember when pastor A always speaks about two ditches?
One, the legalist, one, the license. Am I right? Right? So by being so much in love with the Bible, with the church, with the Independent Baptist Church, I end up, I think, going towards the... Like, listen.
No. This is the way. No. This is the way we're gonna preach. This is the way the way we were dressed and everything had to be perfect.
And then, unfortunately, after being there, slowly, I came to the center, but I end up, little by little, going to the other ditch, unfortunately, where I let the sin be part of my life. I was entangled in sin for a very long time. And it's a very, very dangerous place to be. And I can tell you this, you know how it happened? It happened very small, small steps.
I I could say I barely noticed that. But little by little, I saw myself from a very strong young man ready to preach, serving God, doing all those things, going to the other ditch and then from there, all the way to the other ditch. And then when I came to The States, I remember when I when I went to the embassy, I said, Lord, if you help me going to The States, I will never ask you absolutely anything. I thought coming to The States is gonna be a new life, a new beginning, and work a lot, make a lot of money, buy my BMW, the one that I really dreamed about. And and here I am.
I end up working three jobs, 6AM in the morning until 12AM. Right? With with breaks between, take a shower, and jump to another job. And then I realized that I had so much money, so many paychecks coming in, but my soul was way worse than before. And then, little by little, I I start up and and ask Lord, I need you.
I need you more than anything in this life. I've experienced both sides to the right or to the left. None of them are good. I wanna come back to you, Lord. I wanna serve you.
I wanna learn about you. And I I remember to these days when I had a conversation with pastor Ray in his office, and I told him my life and my struggles and my everything, absolutely everything. He said, Florin, nothing is wasted in the kingdom of God. And then what I've done is I've I've been asking the Lord with all my heart, Lord, whatever what I've been through to this side or to the other side, would you please pull them all together and use them for the kingdom of God? Now I have to tell you right here, you don't have to go to that side too much in order to be rescued to say, hey, I learned so many other good things.
Now I know what I'm supposed to do. No. No. No. Let's stay in the center where Christ is.
Amen? This is the best way to be in the center, follow Christ, and let him touch our hearts. Why do I share that? It's important for me to share this because when I'm at Smith, I need some more. One second.
When I'm at Smith, so many people ask me... I promise. I'm gonna go into text a little bit. I promise. When I'm at Smith's, I get asked this question a lot.
Why are you so happy all the time? Why are you smiling all the time? What's going on? And the answer is, I always tell people like this is one day at a time or or then I tell them like this, it's fifty fifty. It's what I mean by that.
50 what comes towards you, problems, many, many other things, and the other 50 is from God. There is no way I can survive at Smith's taking care of six registers at once without having God with me every single day in what I do. Before I go into that building, I always do this, Lord, use me today. I know I'm gonna deal with someone that is gonna be bad in a second because the computer doesn't work that fast or someone at at at some checkout, when you scan your item, you can hear the beep, but it doesn't scan. And and you can you can scan.
And I had the customer one time, poor guy. He scanned 24 items. He heard the beep all the time, but nothing scanned. And then so I saw I saw everything on my little computer. Right?
Then I said, how am I gonna do this? Because I know he's gonna be mad. So I went over there. I said, sir, I have good news and bad news. Which one would you like?
He gave me that face in a second. And then I start to pray immediately because I know what's happening. So I prayed immediately, Lord, please bless him. I don't know what he's going through. I I...
And he has no idea what I'm going through. Would you please use me today? So I said, sir, unfortunately, you... Although you heard your... You heard beep, that means you thought you scanned the items, but actually didn't scan.
But let me tell you something. I'm gonna scan them for you. I'm gonna give you five dollar discount, and I'm gonna give you 10 back points for gas. He gave me a nice smile. Yes.
So it's $50.50. You cannot survive in this world without putting Christ in what you do. But it takes it takes effort sometimes. There are days when it when it feel like like this. Whew.
It's gonna be an amazing day and it goes that way. There are the other days when, no, it's not that way. You have to work hard at it. You have to pay attention to every single detail and maintain, keep your mind busy with Christ, in Christ, so you can do what you do in order to witness to people around you. Okay.
Now I'm going to the text. Thank you for listening. So in other words, everything that I do is because Christ is in me today. He rescued me. He saved me.
He is the one that is in me. Okay. I'm gonna read Philippians chapter three. Oh, by the way, I I I don't know. I will share that after this.
So let me read the text first. Philippians chapter three from verse one to 11. Remember, Paul was in prison when he wrote this text. Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.
Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For we who worship by the spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort. Though I could have confidence in my own effort, if anyone could, indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more.
I was circumcised circumcised when I was eight days old. I am pure blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a real Hebrew if there ever was one. I was a member of the Pharisees who demand a strict obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obey the law with fault.
Reminds me about when I was young and I thought I knew everything. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless. Oh, would you please pay attention to this again? I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes.
Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting in... Counting it all as garbage so that I could gain Christ. Amen. And became one with him, I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law, rather I become righteous through faith in Christ.
For God's way of making us right, this is very important right here, for God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him sharing in his death so that one way or another, I will experience the resurrection from the dead. Isn't this an amazing, wonderful chapter? Someone that is in the in the prison right now suffering from Christ, knowing how difficult it is to be there, probably beaten, maybe didn't have enough food, he he starts this by saying, rejoice.
Oh, when you know Christ, when Christ is in control of your life, when when when when there's a connection between you and Christ, there will always be peace in your life. Our circumstances never defines the joy that we have in our hearts. The joy that we have in our hearts comes from Christ. Amen? Happiness comes from material things.
Remember I mentioned I really wanted to buy a BMW? By the way, when I when I mentioned that I used to work a lot and I had so many... So much money in my account, I went to Idaho Falls. I saw the BMW that I like in. My wife was next to me.
She said, Payal, you always wanted this. I had the pen in my hand, one more signature to put it right there and then get the BMW at home. I said, no. I don't need it anymore. Because don't get me wrong.
If you give me a BMW, now I'll take it. Of course, I'll take it. But at the moment, my my my heart was more, no, I wanna know Christ more. I want him to control my life, not the material things, which can bring happiness for a while, for a moment, for certain times. But the joy that comes from Christ, it's specific, beautiful, unique.
And not only there is a joy that can affect your life, dear brothers and sisters, this is extremely important. The joy that comes from from Christ, not only that affects your life, but can affect someone else's life. I promise you, it works. And and as I said, it doesn't matter what's going on in your life, how many how many difficult situation you find yourself in. Paul Paul was in prison suffering for Christ, and yet he he's encouraging the church saying, rejoice in the Lord.
Okay. This is the way how I operate when when I'm supposed to to to preach. First thing that I do, I get in... As soon as pastor Ray said, okay, Florin, would you like to preach? Then I go for a walk.
I go for a walk, for a bike, and pray, pray, stay and pray. Pray, pray. Lord, speak something to me. Say, Lord, would you please mention something to me that I needed right now, but also that my church needs it? Would you please use me as an instrument so I can send a message to the church?
But first of all, to me, Lord, touch my heart. And the title of this sermon would be knowing Christ. We know about Christ. We heard about Christ, but easily we can become to the place where we can act like we do not know Christ. Have you ever been there?
I've done it. I promise you. And and I'm I'm the example right here. If it happens to me, if it happened to me, it can happen to any one of you. I was...
When I was young, I was twenty four seven in the church. I was reading the Bible. I was writing songs. I was... But then slowly, little by little, I became a stranger.
I couldn't hear God's voice anymore. I was a stranger far away from the church, from the the the family of Christ. I was in touch with the Bible. And once in a while, I would go out to church to visit just because I liked it. But there was no connection between me and God at that time.
Although I knew 100% my salvation is based on what Christ did for me and no matter where I am in this life. And let me say this, hallelujah. Honestly, hallelujah and amen because our salvation does not depend about how good you are, how great you are, how amazing you are, you got all together, you're gonna enter the kingdom of God based on your merit. No. No.
No. Salvation is pure provided on the cross based on what Jesus did for us. And when we say, Lord Jesus, here I am. I want to know you. Save me.
Accept me. He knows already. This is this is this is a miracle and beautiful all in one all in one. Do you remember the time when you said, Lord Christ, I accept in my heart? Okay.
He already knew what you're gonna do the next day, next year, so on, so on. Right? And he already had my life lined up. But that doesn't give me the license to do anything I want. It's just the almighty power, almighty infinite God that knows everything.
Now, I accept the Christ, I'm saved, but can easily... You can become this way and become a stranger. And and there's no connection. Or another situation can... Might happen.
And this is what the Lord specifically want me to share with you because it happened to me. Are we a Sunday Christian church? Please please think about that. Do I reflect God's goodness just on Sunday? We meet here for for one hour.
We worship. We let the emotion overflow, we sing, we even do this if we can. And then as soon as we leave, we end up in our own life and there's no connection with God. No reading the Bible, no praying, no testifying to someone at work or your community? Or are you afraid or shy to say, hey, I'm a Christian.
I go to First Baptist Church. Does your coworker knows that you're a Christian? And by the way, that doesn't mean that you have to go over there and punch the gospel in his hand and all that stuff. I promise you, just say I'm a Christian. And the moment you say I'm a Christian or I'm I'm part of the Baptist church that is located at Cashion Hill and stuff like that, your coworkers would understand if I'm ever in trouble, if there anything happened to me, I know someone at work that believes in God and and trust Gods, I'm gonna go sit down and talk to him and share with him a little about my struggles, my problems.
But if but if you go day by day without mentioning anything about God, about Christ, who's gonna show up and ask and wanted to talk to you? That's very important. Knowing Christ, just only here at the church, but also let there be a overflow, a joyful communication with our savior. Amen? If Paul said this, I want to know Christ.
If Paul said this, I want to know him more and more. I want my life to be transformed so I can be used in his kingdom. Oh, I love that. I really love that. I just...
I I I just don't wanna go through the water just like this. And then at the kingdom of God, I'm gonna... At the judgment day. Isn't it... There's gonna be a judgment day.
We all know know this. Right? It's gonna be a judgment day for the Christians. It's gonna be a judgment day for those who are not Christians. The judgment day for the Christians are, we gotta show what we've done with the salvation that he provided for us.
Now don't be afraid. He will wipe up... Will will wipe our tears. The the the book of Revelation, it says that he will wipe our tears, and we're gonna enter in that state of thankfulness when we're gonna enter in the kingdom of God. But what am I gonna do with the Christ that I know?
Am I gonna go to... With with empty hands? Or I can show, Lord, not only that you saved me, not only that you provide salvation for me on the cross, but I've been partnering with you. I've been working with you, Lord. Not working to prove something to the Lord because anything we can do in this world will never be will never be enough to please our almighty God.
We can always try. We can always try and have this attitude, Lord, use me today. Show me today how can I whisper the good news to someone around me? Amen? Now this text...
Oh, time is fast over there. In Romania, by the way, whoever speaks to the pastor, whoever he has the freedom to go as long as he wants. I'm Romanian, so thank you. For real now. We we meet at...
We start at ten. 10:10 forty five is Bible study, then fifteen minutes break, and then and then worship again. Three songs, operatory, three specials, Psalms reading all, all, all. And then the pastor can go as long as he wants. And nobody leaves by the way.
Okay? Nobody leaves. Everybody stays right there. I'm just joking. Okay.
No. No. That's true what I said, but I'm just joking. If you have to leave, you have to leave. So in this stage, are three important parts that I notice here.
Watch out for those who draw your attention attention away from Christ. It's easy, brothers and sisters. It's easy to to fill yourself away from the... From Christ. These days...
In these days, there are so many voices, so many things, possessions, houses, I don't know, so many other things that can... You you think of... You you can think of them right now that can take your vision away from Christ. And one way to do that in order to to stay focused is rejoice in the Lord. I I have some things right here because it's it's difficult for me to to speak in English, I'm going to read them.
Begin every day with praise to God in Christ. Rejoice in your salvation. Rejoice in God's love for your for you in Christ. Rejoice in his promise to be with you always. Never to leave you or forsake you.
When you are rejoicing in Christ, it is hard for anyone to pull your attention away from Christ. Isn't that true? And thank you to my... For my wife that she helped me with put this all together. And by the way, normally, she's supposed to be here translating for me.
I I... Although I told pastor Ray that I'm gonna try to speak in English, I was just joking. I said... I told my wife, no. I'm gonna speak Romanian language and you will translate for me.
But she doesn't feel good. She had to be at home and here I am speaking in English. And I asked Matt Litzerman to pray for me. And for real, if you ever need prayer, talk to him. He's he's in touch with Almighty God.
You need prayer, you need something, he will always... And look, I'm here speaking in English. Here, the Lord answer your prayers. Amen. Against anyone who would steal your joy by drawing your attention away from Christ.
There are people, there are things, there are lots of circumstances that can get the joy or get your attention attention from Christ. Another another important part is watch out for the false teachers. In this in this time when Paul was writing to the Philippians, there were people that said, you know what? Yes. We can believe.
We can trust what Christ did for us, but also it's important to be circumcised. It's important to respect the law, to do this and that and so many other things, rules that didn't have no value in itself. But Christ is the only one that provided the salvation, that gave us the full salvation based on what he does on on the cross. Amen? So again, watch out for the false teachers.
Hold on to your identity in Christ. Oh, I love this one. False teachers who would draw your attention away from Christ. Hold on to your attention to to your identity in Christ instead. And then verse three says, for we who worship by the spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised.
We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort. Oh, I love this one. Thank you with... For your patience with me.
The circumcision isn't circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision of the heart. Oh, I love that. When Christ touches your heart, when Christ touches your mind, when Christ takes the first place in your life, then your... You can rejoice in what Christ done for done for you and for me. But brothers and sisters, this is the key verse right here.
We have to allow Christ to do the work in our lives. It's not just on Sunday. It's not just here and there. It's a it's a communication. It's a...
If I can say it's a nonstop communication with almighty God through the Holy Spirit. Stay in that state of mind where we say, Lord, here I am. Use me. I wanna keep my focus on you. I wanna love you, Lord.
I wanna I wanna I wanna be used in your kingdom of God. Amen? Put your confidence in Christ, not in yourself. Whoo. That's a good one.
And it's hard to say this in United States because in United States, if you have a boat, if you have three cars, if you have a house, you you are someone. You are... You're good. Your needs are completed right over there. In these times, they didn't have a car.
They didn't have many other positions. It were very very easy for them to say, I put my confidence in Christ and I am okay with just what I have. In United States, the more you have, the less you tend to rely on Christ. Put your confidence in Christ, not in yourself, not in your position, not in your university, not in your degrees. Those are good.
Those are very, very good and important. And I noticed here in United States, nobody focused on the family or on the kids better than you guys. Every child here is doing three sports, has already planned what they're gonna study, what they're gonna do, and all that stuff. But what if we're gonna do the other part where we're gonna focus to keep our kids to have a vision for Christ in their life? Because we focus on material things for too long.
Right? They grow like this. They go on. And then when when they are 25 or 30, they might not know Christ. They might not be at the church.
And then then and then we are touching with them. And I've seen this and the reason I'm sharing this and if and and if this sounds harsh, please forgive me. But it's important because comes from from the Lord. Okay? I saw...
I I noticed a lot of people coming to me. I said, Floreen, I used to bring my child with me at church. She loved Awana. She loved the youth, but now is in the world. Doesn't wanna get...
Stay in touch with the with the Lord anymore. And then my encouragement is that let's let's put our confidence in Christ in such a way that our lives will be transformed and would have an impact in our family and maintain those youngsters with us in the such a way that they would grow in the knowledge of Christ. I told my wife, we we do homeschool for this main purpose. So we can teach them the goodness of God. So we can put a good good seed of the Lord in their hearts.
I want my kids to grow knowing the importance of knowing the Bible, the importance of knowing God, and the and the importance of staying and serving in the church. Now I know there's gonna be a time when they have to fly and be on their own. But I think that if we do our best at the right moment, they will stay focused on on God. It says in the Proverbs, teach your kids the laws of the Lord. And when they will grow up, they will not depart from my will or my own words.
That was my own translation. I was circumstance... Circumcised when I was eight day... Eight days old. I am a pure blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
Do not put confidence in your background. Paul was the one that he could brag about it. He said, I've done everything. I fulfilled the law. I did absolutely everything in order to show how good I am.
But now that I know Christ, by... But now that I discover Christ, and I promise I'm gonna close, but now that I... That Christ makes sense to me, when I met Christ, and when he appeared to me, and he made known his will to me, everything else around me, I consider them as garbage. How can we get to that mentality, to that position where we can live joyfully in this world, use every position we have, a boat, a house, you name it, three cars and everything. All those things are good and necessary for us to use them, to rejoice in them, and...
But I want the Christ to be the center of my life. And everything that I have around me, consider them garbage, but not only that I consider them garbage. Right now, I'm gonna put them in the in the kingdom of God at work for advance, to advance the kingdom of God. So do you know do you know what I'm trying to say? You know what Paul was trying to say?
Rechoice. Be glad in this world. I'm not telling you to don't buy this, don't buy that, don't... No. No.
No. No. No. Those are very good and important things that we can use them in this life. And not only that you can use them, but you can bless others with what you have.
But may it be Christ, the first one in our lives. May he may he have the center of our hearts, and may he guide us in everything we do in such a way that every position we have will be like, they don't care. And I don't care. I don't care how big my house is. I don't care how big my boat is.
I don't care that I have three houses. I wanna use them for the kingdom of God. I wanna use my life to know Christ more, and and if it's possible, I wanna reach out to win a soul for Christ. Whoo. Amen.
Let's make that a priority in our lives, brothers and sisters. I know I'm a Romanian guy. I'm... I come from a different culture. We speak different.
We... I know I'm different. And I told pastor Ephesians from the beginning, pastor, in Romania, we say anything we want when we are on the stage. We are not afraid. If I feel that the Lord says something to me, I'm gonna say it.
And and here in United States, pastors, they're very careful with what they can say, so they cannot hurt someone at sometimes. But if I feel that the Lord put something on my heart and wanted me to share this morning is like this. Is your heart 100% in God's hands right now? Is he the center of your life right now? And let's let's pray on that.
Let's ask... Let let's... As we walk this building, let's question our lives. Am I to this side where I feel like everybody should do the way I do? Or am I walking this side, I'm saved, I'm good, Christ died for me, it...
I'm... It's paid already. I have the license to do everything I want because I'm saved and I'm all good to go. And if I mess mess up here and there over and over again, there is a river of salvation right here, then I'm good to go. It's true.
But the Holy Spirit would always whisper, won't you wanna work for me? Won't you wanna be partner with me? Won't you wanna let me guide your life and your soul? And won't you wanna win a soul for me? Because the kingdom of God can advance when we partner with God.
If you don't remember anything I said this morning and probably you won't remember much because I jumped from here to there, remember this, Christ wants us to be partner with him so we can win more souls for the kingdom of God. Amen? Thank you for your patience. Would you please stand up and let's let's worship God one more song. I went.
Sorry. I went a little bit farther, but not too much. Thank you for staying and thank you for being here. And if I said something that was harsh or different, it came from the Lord. Amen?
I remember a long time ago I had an opportunity to speak here and I said, blame it on the cultural difference or something like that. But this time, I felt that God inspired me to share what the Lord put on my heart. And it's important for us to hear it, you know, hear it dealing with it and pray on it and dream on it and when you go to bed, just ask that question and I do that a lot. Lord, how can I be used more in the kingdom of God? Lord, I see my eyes are looking in the wrong direction.
I'm I'm not on fire as I used to be. Lord, would you please, touch my heart, touch my mind, and help me to stay focused on you, Lord. And I know it's late. Please allow me to share just a little bit more. I I remember this.
When I when I when I got COVID, as you know, I work at Smith's. I, I touch everything everybody touch. For two years, nothing happened. And honestly, I was, woah, I'm strong, I'm awesome. And then at the beginning of January of this year, I had a stomach bug.
For three days I was sorry for the description, puking and vomiting and all that for three days. And then, COVID came a week after that. My immune system was so down and it knocked me down so well. I end up in the hospital for three days with pneumonia. Okay.
Before that, I had so many things. I was... I had so many plans in my mind. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do that.
I wanna do this. I wanna raise funds of the ministry. I'm gonna visit churches and do this. I promise you, when I was in the hospital with all that device on me and couldn't breathe, nothing matters in that moment. Our life is so tiny.
We we we can stand right now and feel strong and amazing, but we don't know about tomorrow. We don't know about tomorrow. So a little bit back kind of like September, I would say September 2021, I intensely, prayed and I said, Lord, would you please work in my life in three aspects, physically, mentally, and spiritually? And when I got sick, I end up losing 15 pounds, read two books, and pray as like never before. I promise you our circumstances are at work in our lives if we have our eyes open and say, would you teach me something?
Would you show me your will? Would you show me what am I supposed to do? And I promise you, brothers and sisters, this is the old fashioned and I love this. Brothers and sisters, if you ask today, if you in in humility, and that's the that's the key part here. It takes humility on on your part and on my part and say, Lord, I messed up.
I feel like I'm far away. It's not enough just to be on Sunday. Lord, I wanna be on fire for you. I wanna I wanna be an instrument so you can share the goodness in the gospel through me today. Amen?
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Amen. Oh, Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for giving us the privilege to be here. Lord, would you please do the work in us, through us, in such a way that the world would hear the gospel, the good news, Lord.
Use us today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. We want to partner with you, Lord. In your precious name I pray, hallelujah, amen. May the Lord bless you and thank you so much for your patience and thank you for staying a little bit extra. God bless you.
Topics
Faith Vs WorksFinding PurposeJoy In SufferingKnowing ChristRaising Kids In FaithSunday Christian
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