Core Values Disctinctives - Part 1 - Jesus.

GREET EVERYONE-

If I have not had a chance to meet you; My name is Scott and I am a follower of Jesus and have the privilege of serving Him as the Lead Pastor among the people of Stonewater Fellowship.

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LETS GRAB OUR BIBLES IF YOU HAVE ONE AND

Open it to Philippians 3:7-10 today as we begin a new series in Exposition or exposing what Jesus says about our core values as a people

DESIRE FOR THE SERIES

This year as we began with an over arching thyme of The Church - exposing from the Scriptures what Jesus says about His Church we know that Jesus brings to us three kind of overarching frameworks of His church.

1st its His church -

2nd it is a People

3rd the church is Gospel Centered -

So a Gospel Centered People - With a Gospel Centered Message - Committed to Gospel Centered Service to the world - In Gospel Centered Community with Leaders - Out in Gospel Centered Forms and Expressions.

So AS we begin thinking through the Church as a People - that belong to Jesus and are Gospel Centered -

The Question that we begin This series with is - What does Jesus say Important?

What do we see and hear is to be valued as His people, a collective people who belong to Jesus and have assembled into a local expression of His body called Stonewater Fellowship?

As Stonewater Fellowship began those questions were asked and as the Elder team has ask that question The Scriptures have answered and so we dive into the scriptures to see and hear what Jesus says in His word - Both Personally and through the Prophets and Apostles.

My prayer for this series is that as we unpack these 7 core values -

would come to know these 7 -

Understand them,

Become unified around them and

See Jesus transform us through them.

Invite other people into them

and draw us in ever closer abiding relationship with Jesus and with each other.

DESIRE FOR THE MESSAGE

That we would come to know How to know Jesus more and more.

That we would understand what knowing the person of Jesus Christ is all about.

That Jesus is a person -

That he invites us to learn of Him.

That knowing him as a person is the key knowing Him as Lord - To knowing Him as God - To knowing Him as savior and to having relationship with Him and with the father.

AS a result my prayer is

that we would find the Pathway to a deeper relationship with Him -

That we would know How to pursue that relationship -

That in pursuit we would have a clarity of the Gospel

and in pursuit The Holy Spirit would change the way we read, the why we read, the how we read and the urgency by which we read the Bible.

and in doing so Jesus would become more real to us than any thing or anyone else in our lives.

TENSION

A little over 20 years ago - I took flight 201 form Dallas love field to Houston hobby Airport at 6:30 am - as would be my normal practice for the next 15 or so years.

To get into a car when I arrived and drive 2 hours to the Beaumont, Nederland, Orange, Bridge City area of south east Texas to go with one of my agents and to visit clients.

One particular morning , i got into the car with my friend Forrest and HE was particularly silent.

I ask him what was going one and here is what He said to me.

Scott - Do you know the person of Jesus Christ?

I said Forrest you know I do - I am a christian and of course I know Jesus.

He said “your missing my question” DO you know the person of Jesus? DO you know his thoughts? DO you know his personality? SO you know Him as a person? DO you know his heart? do you know HIM?

I though this was one of the strangest questions that I had ever been asked -

So I asked Forrest “why are you asking?”

Forest said - in a very serious way - “I meet a man this last weekend that came to our church and spoke for three sessions - and Here is what He said to me as I was talking to him between teaching sessions. He told me that Jesus Christ was more real to Him than I was, and Scott I was standing right next to Him.

Scott I have to tell you it has bothered the rest of the day last night into early this morning and it bothers me even know.

I struggle with the honesty of my own heart - I have to confess - Jesus is not more real to me than you are - and I am burdened with that honesty.

SO what happened for the next couple of years is that every time Forrest and I were together we would Sit together with our Bibles open and we would learn of Jesus.

You see one of the invitation of Jesus - is to learn of Him

You may or may not know when or how Jesus says this but here is what he says -

Take my YOLK upon you and Learn OF Me for I am gentler and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls - for my Yolk is easy and my burden is light.

Than is Matth 11:29 and there is this invitation form Jesus as He calls us to take on His yolk and His burden - to find rest for our souls - He invites us to learn from Him and with the implication to learn of or about Him

So over the next two years - Forest and I set about a journey learning of Jesus.

So with the question - DO You KNOW THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST? IS HE more REAL to you thank anyone or anything in this life? - Lets open our text.

BACKGROUND -

Our passage of Text this morning is from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church -

In New testament times - it is very easy for us to think - One church - One location - One community - One set of leaders - and so forth -

What we must give room for in the understanding of the new testament is when Paul or anyone writes to “the church” in what ever city - He is addressing the letter to Every gathering of God people that meet in that City - So think of it as ONE church - with the possibility of multiple locations for meeting places within that City.

Paul - Silas and Team were the instrument that God used to see people come to faith in Jesus and then become assembled together as a Church.

There was little to no Jewish people there to see come to faith So the Philippian Church was Gentile.

A couple of Key Things that happens in Philippi when Paul and Silas were there making disciples and planting the Church.

A lady named Lydia, who was a wealthy merchant of fine purple linens, came to faith in Jesus and it is very very likely that her some became the first gathering place foe these new believers.

The Second significant thing that we know about the events of the Philippians church is that the Satanic attacks were pretty strong-

There was a Demon possessed - Fortune Telling - Slave girl that Paul did some warfare for and cast the demon out in the name of Jesus -

She is set free and her slave owners who could no longer make any money on her skill set - Caused a riot to come against the church and the leaders

They arrested aul and Silas and beat them and then placed them in the city Jail -

Middle of the night - Earthquake happens - Jail doors open - Jailer gets scared and wants to kill himself -

Paul and Silas had been inside Praying and singing -

Guard Gets saved - and All His OIKOS

So nothing too out of the ordinary -

God was working - Holy Spirit was moving - Devil was against it all - Govt leaders appeased the business owners - all about the same ol same ol and Paul and Silas left - Lydia and team continued -

I think is pretty awesome that the Church in Philippi is not mentioned by Jesus in the Revelation.

HEre is the other thing - The Church in Philippi still is in operation today -

So it was and is a faithful Church.

Paul writes this letter to thank them for their support as Paul is in Rome under arrest and in house arrest as he wrote this letter.

Paul wrote this some 13 years or so after he and Silas and Team planted the churches there.

UNPACKING

by the Time we get to our text today - Paul has shared his circumstances being in prison.

Encourage them to Stand firm in the faith even as they face increasing persecution.

ENcouraged and called them into unity with each other -

Encouraged them to rember the example of Jesus

Be the Light in the Dark world that Jesus called them to be.

He let them know that He was sending Timothy and Epaphroditus - A couple of leaders to them.

In chapter 3

Then He warn term against legalism and lawlessness and false teachers.

Right in the middle of this teaching against legalism

He will ramp up to vs 7 he begins by warning them against the “I can crowd”

The I can We can Crowd -We hear them and see them and all of are very very easily woooded by them - AS they make life all about what we can do our selves -

We all have struggled with this -

Ya now God helps those who help them selves -

We all have had the tee shits form time to time that has “I can do all things” printed in the large 165 point front across our t-shirts with the

“Through Christ who gives me strength in the number 8 fine print font. -

Paul says - Beware of those who have confidence in the flesh - beware of those who place their abilities as central to their confidence -

You see its not that we are supposed to go around with no confidence - Moping and thinking that we cant do anything -

But rather we are to have confidence - In fact Eternal divine Holy Spirit power of God confidence in Jesus - That he can finishes the Good work that He begins- That we are created in Him as Gods workmanship -

Paul says - Look people if there is ANYONE on the planet who should and could and used to have confidence in what I knew and what I should do it was and it is ME -

and at the beginnings of Chapter three Paul goes through His resume -

8th day circumcision -

Hebrew

Tribe of Benjamin

in fact Hebrew of Hebrews - Like he was the who’s who - The Hebrew time magazine “man of the year” guy

A pharisee - Teacher and supposed Keeper of the Law - Certainly Religious leader -

Passionate - some of your versions say as far as zeal - He had passion for what He perceived as the things and activities to live for God -

AS to being a Law Follower - He claims to be Blameless -

No included in this resume was His education - He was Educated in Rabbinical Studies under a man Named Gamaliel .

This was the Harvered, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale university of the Day - There was NO higher education available and

He had political power and was more than likely a very wealthy person -

VS 7 Here is what He says

and he begins with the word BUT -

which means He is giving a contrasting narrative -

BUT Whatever Things were gain to me -

What ever is an all inclusive statement - It means What Ever - Everything - Anything -

AN indefinite inclusiveness -

It means Whatever -

What ever that was in Paul's life that presented to him or allowed him or supported Him getting ahead - GAIN -

What ever it was that did that in His life - Be in Education - Be it position - Be it heritage - Be in Approval or authority or power or passion -

Paul says : He counted those things as a loss for the sake of Christ -

Here is what is interesting about what Paul has said - For the sake of Christ - Those things made it more difficult

They didn't help - They hurt - If you think about the road blocks that other people put in Paul's way as He was saved and began serving Jesus becasue of who He was - Make sense.

and iF he had stopped at vs 7 with that it would all make perfect sense - But Paul then goes one step further than I think most would even think.

VS 8

He Begins with “Indeed” and what He is saying here is “more than that”

More than what I have Just said - I count Everything in my life as a loss -

Then He explains Why

Every achievement - Every position - Every resource - Every passion - Every part of what He had He considered A loss - Which Means - A disadvantage -

e considered Everything in His life from His past a disadvantage

WHY - Because of the Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ Jesus my Lord -

Surpassing Worth

The Value that is more valuable than anything or anyone -

The Value that is the most valuable -

The Worth that is worth the most -

Knowing Christ Jesus my Lord -

Here is what Paul did not say -

Paul did not say Knowing Christ Jesus as Lord As master AS savior -

NOPE — Paul says the most valuable thing that is so valuable in fact that it makes everything else in life a complete and total disadvantage - That most valuable thing is KNOWING The ANOINTED ON OF GOD — JESUS/

he then Places upon the name of Jesus the Role Jesus had in Paul's life - The position that Jesus had in - LORD - Master -

Paul has just said that the mose valuable possession in His life that is so valuable that everything else that he ever possess is actually a disadvantage to Him was Knowing the person whom He was serving The Master to whom He was a bond servant - The Master who to whom He was a slave -

Knowing the person of Jesus Christ was the more valued possession Paul could have and it was so valuable to Him that everything else was a disadvantage in this life to him.

Vs 8 again Paul says - They are so much of a disadvantage that I have suffered the loss of those things all for the sake of Jesus.

When Jesus calls you to surrender to Him - And in the work of salvation - God calls you to Surrender to Jesus - Turn your life over to Him -

There is and there would be a sense of fear of the unknown -

I am going to surrender my life to Jesus and Live the Life He wants me to Live and have an abundance that He wants me to Have - And HE gets to define that live and what abundance really looks like.

You really don't know what that is going to look like. and so it is unknown to a certain extent -

But here is what you can know about surrendering to Jesus - It is worth it!

Paul suffered the Loss of all his resume and all his accolades and all his stuff -

And in re-retrospect Paul saw what they were doing to Him and the disadvantaged that brought into His life and He called them “rubbish”

In the original language there are a couple of things it could have meant in the way Paul was using the word -

it could have meant - stuff you through to the dogs -

It could have meant - Food that had gone bad or rotten -

It could have meant poo poo -

like number 2 poo poo -

Here is what Paul has just laid out for all of us -

Knowing Jesus - - Knowing Him and His person - Knowing Jesus the One I serve as slave and bond servant -

That is so valuable to me and of such worth -

That everything else is a disadvantage and rotten

Everything else does not help and is poo poo.

Everything - I have lost Everything -

Paul say the reason I ave suffered like this - The reason that I have lost everything - The reason that I consider all of the things in my life that I brought to the table Scraps to be thrown to the dogs or poo poo is so that I may gain Christ.

In the original Language -

So that I my have the Advantage Jesus - That I may Profit Jesus - That I may Gain Christ -

Here is what Paul is saying and what He has not Said -

Paul has in no way placed a way to earn Salvation - Giving up everything in this life as a means of exchange to be saved melignbes the name of God and makes the finished work of the cross a wasted effort.

But here is what Paul has said -

When Jesus calls you - You drop everything and it is to your advantage to do so - So much so that everything you dropped you will be glad you did. becasue it will be as the craps that are good for nothing but to throw to the dogs.

Paul wants to have the Advantage of Jesus - and then

VS 9 and to be found in Him -

Found - means a spiritual discovery after investigation a discovery, A perception or insight on the basis of deliberations, investigation and or demonstration.

Jesus said -It is difficult for a rich man to come to Jesus - Paul was a rich man

Jesus said - If you come to me you have to come as trusting helpless little children - Paul was a powerful educated leader.

Jesus said - The poor and bankrupt in spirit or disposition will get the kingdom of God - Paul was proud Pharisee of Pharisees - A Hebrew of Hebrews.

Jesus said the peacemakers will see God - Paul was making war and a serial killer of Jesus followers -

You see Everything Paul had and Paul Was did not and could not give Him Jesus.

Paul had to drop everything so that nothing could stand in the way of Jesus doing with and in Paul what Jesus wanted to do .

This is why Paul said clearly “I have been crucified with Jesus and I no longer life but it is Christ who lives through me.

HE also said I have been crucified to the world and the world to me.

Here is the Reason that Paul wants to to be found in Jesus - Paul does not want to be made right by the Law of god becasue He knows that He will not make the Cut -

Paul actually calls himself the Chief of Sinners. He consider Himself to be the one person who has broken the law of God more than another person and So Paul KNOWS he cant get there by the Law - So his desire is to be found in Christ - and the righteousness that comes though faith in Christ - The Righteousness form God and depends on Faith -

Here is what we all need to realize -

Faith = Trust . In the language of the New Testament - Faith Means TRUST - Paul wants to be found in christ and has considered every resource that used to be in his life rubbish becasue what Paul wants to demonstrate is TRUST - Trust that Christ is sufficient - Trust that the Life He lives He lives by the Son of God - Trust that God that does not rely on the works of the flesh - Trust that displays no confidence in any thing or any one other that on Jesus.

Trust that Jesus and His finished work is all that can be done and all that will be done and all that is required to be done to make Paul right with God and take away the condemnation that the chief of sinners would so rightly deserve.

VS 10

Paul's heart cry - IN our version this morning is says “that I may know Christ - Some other versions put it this way - “I want to know Christ”

IT is so very interesting what Paul said and what Paul didn't say -

Paul again said - I want to know Christ - That I may Know HIM - I want to now His personhood - I want to accept the invitation of Christ to Learn of HIM -

I want to know Him and be found in Him so that there is no possible way that He may say to me at the end of my life “depart form me I never knew you”

Here is what Paul did not say - I want to know Jesus as Lord - He did not say - I want to know him as a miracle worker - He did not say “I want to know Him as a savior -

Why did Paul not say those things - The Demons know all of those things and they shudder -

AS the devil or his demons if they will give up all things and follow Jesus, surrender their will and way to His will and way - No way not in a million years -

Put Paul wants to know Jesus - Be found in Him and the righteousness of God that come by Trust in Christ -

He also wants to Know the Power of His resurrection - The Power of Jesus Resurrection is being raised to New life - To eternal and glorious life -

and then Paul heart cry turns to this world and He says something that is almost untenable -

I want to share in the fellowship of His sufferings -

I have wondered for years and years and years and I have contemplated for years and years and years - What Paul was trying to say or what was the root of His heart cry that He would write so emphatically that He wanted to share in the fellowship if His sufferings - and yes there are many a theologian who has put fort through as to what the cause of this dept of heart cry was -

and I am not sure I have it right - because Jesus sufferings were unbearable by any human thats why it was God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself 0- That why God was paying the penalty -

Maybe Just Maybe Paul knew Jesus so intimately and walk with Him so closely that there was not a single aspect of Jesus life that Paul did not want to share in -

The peopl of God assembled into His body are called the Bride of Christ- Husbands and Wives - if you have travel this life together in the kind of Love that God would have for you in this life - If your source is suffering you share -

This is the only explanation that makes sense in any rhelm of humans understanding Paul loved Jesus so much, that He was willing to share the the fellowship of his sufferings - For Paul, just like Jesus was sent by Jesus as Jesus had been sent by the father into the world to Make disciples of all nations. And jesus said We will suffer when we do that and He even met Saul before He became Paul by sending a man Names Annanias to tell Paul how much Paul must suffer for Jesus sake.

Paul said “yes Lord” Everything in my life is rotten food compared to knowing You - I want to Know you and the power of your resurrection and to share in the fellowship of your sufferings - and to become like you in death -

STICKY POINT EMANUELA AND PRAYER TEAM

And so as we begin with the 7 core values of the Church - We begin with Jesus- It must be said of Every church and of Every believer that we all We desire and strive to being a people passionate about knowing Jesus –

That Knowing the person of Jesus, as revealed in the Bible, and having a deep, intimate, growing, abiding relationship with Him is the most valuable possession a person can have. And pursuing this kind of relationship with Him is the highest pursuit a person can be dedicated to.

COLLISION

Here is where this text may collide with many of us this morning - DO you know the person of Jesus Christ? or “DO you just know about Him?”

DO you know Him and the Power of His resurrection - Or do you just know what he has done?

Do you pursue Jesus or do you find that Jesus is continually pursuing you?

Do you believe that you bring something useful to the table of salvation? or do you come poor blind naked with nothing and no one with the hear cry “I want to know Jesus my Lord”

Let me tell you this morning Church lay down - Come to Jesus - Come to him as a little child with nothing - La down your need for anything for Jesus is enough -

Lay aside you skills and your resources and your temperament and tour fears and your timidity and come to Jesus -

You might be here this morning and you your life looks pretty Good - In fact you may have a whole lot of peace and all that sounds to you like a life full of no peace -

You might be looking at your peaceful life and say Pastor man oh man, but the peace of God is with me. I have the peace with God -

Please hear me - IT is not important that you have the peace of God in you life - Many many people will live a relatively peaceful life, thinking becasue they walk an Isle and said a prayer all those years ago and went to church and life was good will find themselves headed to hell to a christless eternity.

Because they think that having a peaceful, educated, healthy, resourced life is the marking of being reconciled with GOD -

You might say “Pastor why in the world your you say that” Because Just like the Apostle Paul understood well - I must tell you that it is more important for you, Even more important than having the peace of GOD -is to be at peace WITH GOD -

Until you lay it all down and come to trust in the finished work of Jesus as the only work to repair your relationship with God, and respond with empty hand and open heart by surrendering all to Him, and beholding His glory where all else in this world turns to rubbish, you need to understand that you are an enemy of God. You commit sins of cosmic treason against God, and there is only ONE way for you to become a friend of God, adopted as the Child of God,

and there is only ONE way for God to cease his warfare against you. and that is for you to come to His Son Jesus as a child - With nothing in your ope hands and nothing closed off in your wooish heart and To Trust upon Him and His finished work on the cross as the Only means by which your cosmic sins can be forgiven and Gods wrath against you be satisfied.

Jesus Christ who is the Eternal Son of God - Born of A virgin, Who live a sinless and morally perfect life - Who willingly recieved a sentence of execution as an innocent man. lifted up and died for the sins of those who would place their trust in Him, Who was taken down and buried and on the third day was raised from the dead by the power of God that created all things.

This Jesus who has ascended into heaven and who is now seated at the right hand of the majesty of God on high and WHOSO Ever calls upon HIS name shall be saved.

IF you have Never Trusted Christ with everything, called upon His name with completely empty hands, open heart with nothing, realizing your need and

PRAYER TEAM!