SUNDAY SERMON COMMENT (7.17.05)

TEXT: Philippians 3:1-14


"Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ"

Anything that blocks us from knowing Christ -- or from being fully connected to him is a loss -- even if on the outside it looks like a gain.

Jeremiah 9:23ff -- there are three areas where we tend to boast/put our confidence in rather than in God -- wisdom, might, wealth.

Part of why we fall into the trap of putting out confidence in the flesh is that we forget that we are sinners and we forget grace.

Here are some questions:
What keeps me from counting all things loss compared to knowing Christ?
What things do I tend to "boast" in other than God?
How can the things of this life -- wisdom, might, wealth, etc. be a means of knowing God/Christ rather than a hindrance?

Other thoughts?

Looking forward to the comments.