Philippians 7: Loss Is Gain

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Welcome

Bye, kids!

Good morning! I’m Bill Connors, senior pastor of the family of Eastern Hills Baptist Church, and it’s good to see all of you this morning who are in the room, and I suppose it’s good to be seen by all of you joining us online today. Thanks for joining us to worship the Lord and consider His Word this morning.

Have you tried participating in one of our weekly Bible Study groups? If you haven’t, I’d like to recommend it. Whether it’s a group on Sunday mornings, Pastor’s Study on Sunday nights, Women’s study on Wednesday nights, or another study during the week (there are several), getting plugged into a Bible study group is the best way to build relationships with other believers at Eastern Hills. So I encourage you to check out a weekly Bible study group sometime this week or next Sunday morning. And those studies wouldn’t happen without those who lead them. I’d like to say “thanks” to those who give of their time, their talent, and their energy to lead our Bible study groups each week. You are all so important to the ministry of Eastern Hills!

If you’re visiting with us this morning, we’re really glad that you’re here today. We’d like to be able to connect with you to thank you personally for joining us for worship. If you could take a second during my message and fill out a communication card, which you’ll find in the back of the pew in front of you, we’d appreciate it. You can return that to us one of two ways: First, you can bring it down to me at the end of the service, because I’d enjoy meeting you and giving you a small gift as a token of our gratitude for your visit today. If you don’t have time for that this morning, you can drop the Welcome card in the boxes by the doors as you leave after the service ends. If you’d rather fill out something online, you can head to ehbc.org or download our church app (EHBC Albuquerque) and fill out the contact form at the bottom of the “I’m New” link.

Announcements

I have two quick announcements to make this morning before we get to our next message from the book of Philippians.

First, I need to inform you that next Sunday night at 5:30, the church will hold its annual discussion meeting for the 2025 church budget here in the sanctuary. However, the Financial Management Ministry has a recommendation regarding paying the cost of the vision framing journey that we’re on with Auxano, and that recommendation will require a church vote. Furthermore, that decision may impact the budget discussion, so it needs to be taken care of first by vote at a special called business meeting. So there will be a special called business meeting for the purpose of considering a recommendation from the Financial Management Ministry at 5:30 pm next Sunday night, October 27. This will also be announced tonight at Pastor’s Study, on Wednesday at Prayer Meeting, and next Sunday morning during Family Worship.

Then, our vision framing team has been hard at work with Clint from Auxano, and we would like to call the church together to hear about the process so far, to consider the fruits of our labors, and to get your feedback on the work that has been done. So I’m asking that as many as possible plan to be here for a fun dinner and discussion on Wednesday night, November 13 beginning at 5:30 pm in Miller Hall, so that we can take the next step on this journey together. We’re calling it a “wet cement” session, because these things aren’t set in concrete: This process isn’t about telling Eastern Hills who we are and where we’re going—it’s about discovering the things that God is doing in us and through us that is unique to us, and joining Him in that work. Again, please mark your calendars to be here at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, November 13. Dinner and childcare will be provided.

Opening

I’m so grateful for the other three pastors who serve this church family with me! Trevor, Joe, and Rich each were faithful to the Scriptures and brought great messages over the last three weeks. Thanks, guys, for your faithfulness, your servants’ hearts, and your love for this church family.

Each of the other pastors spent at least some of their time focusing on the concept of unity in the church as revealed in the message of Philippians chapter 2. Trevor opened by considering the priority, the pattern, and the possibility of unity, calling us to fight for unity in the church. Joe followed that by speaking to the necessity of humility in the church: humility in our attitudes, our agendas, and our actions. Then last Sunday, Rich talked about how we get by with a little help from our friends, and how that portrays the unity of the Christian church as we walk together, facing the difficulties of life with one another. Great stuff, gentlemen.

And this morning, we discover as we enter chapter 3 of this little letter that Paul is changes topics. The church at Philippi was facing some opposition, and Paul wanted to encourage them in their faith. The rest of the letter is decidedly practical in nature. So let’s stand as we are able in honor of the reading of God’s holy Word as we open our Bibles or our Bible apps to Philippians 3, and we will begin in verse 1:

Philippians 3:1–9 CSB

1 In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh—4 although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; 6 regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. 7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.

PRAYER (Election coming up)

One thing that’s fascinating about our governmental system is the fact that people can propose laws prohibiting just about anything. What’s really impressive is that sometimes these suggestions or proposals can actually make it all the point of becoming the law of the land… and sometimes those laws are completed absurd. Here are a few examples which I found on onelegal.com:

In the state of Alabama, it is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in a church. (All of you sporting your fake moustaches this morning, just be glad you’re not in Alabama!)

If you ever attend a wake in the state of Louisiana, know that it is illegal to eat more than three sandwiches during the event.

It is illegal to allow your donkey to sleep in a bathtub in the state of Arizona. Apparently back in the 1920’s, a rancher’s donkey fell asleep in a bathtub outside, and then a flood washed the tub (and the donkey) away. The donkey was rescued, but the good folks of Arizona decided that a law was necessary to prevent this from occurring in the future.

In the state of Ohio, it is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday. Apparently, you can fish for them any time you like Monday to Saturday, even though Ohio doesn’t have an ocean nearby, and there are no whales in Lake Erie.

It has been illegal to mispronounce the state of Arkansas’ name (“AR-kan-sas”) since 1881, well, at least as long as you’re IN Arkansas.

Here in New Mexico, you can legally bet on bicycle and horse races. However, camel and ostrich races are beyond the gambling pale. Keep that in mind the next time you’re going to one of those events.

We make up some laws that are just ridiculous. I seriously doubt any of these laws are strictly enforced… of course, most of the situations make it so that the likelihood of running afoul of them is almost zero. But one thing this proves is that we as human like to regulate things.

Sometimes, we do the same thing spiritually (although perhaps not in as silly a way). We make up laws around our spiritual lives that help us to regulate ourselves. This isn’t wrong. Done correctly and with the right heart, this is called being disciplined. Reading your Bible regularly, giving to the church, attending worship service, and spending daily time in prayer are all great things that fall into this category, and we should want to do these things out of a love for and a desire to know Jesus more. But sometimes, we need the structure of developed habits to help us stay on track.

Of course, we can approach these same things with the wrong heart. We can read the Bible, give, attend worship, and even pray with bad motives. We can do these things because we think that we will “score points” with God by doing so, or to “butter Him up” for some reason. We might even do these things so that we will feel self-righteous, as if we are in some kind of righteousness competition with our brothers and sisters in the church, and by religiously doing these things, we make ourselves look better.

But things get really serious when we take the structure that we set up for ourselves and apply it to someone else in order to make judgments about them. We might even question someone’s salvation because they don’t fit into the box that we’ve constructed. This is called legalism.

I would define legalism as lessening the Gospel by adding a requirement to salvation beyond that it is received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Now, to be clear—the Bible tells us what a Christian ought to look like, and that God through the work of His Holy Spirit will apply that truth to the regenerate heart. It also tells us that we should inspect the fruit of each other’s lives, for example, to make sure that no one in the church “falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up.” (Hebrews 12:15). And Paul in this letter even told the Philippians (and thus, us) to “live [our lives] worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” (Phil 1:27).

But for us to add anything to the means of salvation through Jesus is to lessen the truth, because then it becomes about our effort, not His finished work. We only surrender in faith to what He’s already done. We don’t earn it at all.

This is what we find when we get to chapter 3 in the book of Philippians. Some trouble-makers called Judaizers had come along at some point and started making a bunch of claims that Gentile believers (and probably nearly all of the church at Philippi were Gentiles) weren’t saved because they hadn’t followed the Law of Moses, specifically the law of circumcision. They basically said that in order to be a Christian, you must first become a Jew, which had already been settled way back at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15. So Paul had to address this false teaching taking root in this congregation that he loved.

And how did he address it? By first reminding the Philippians of the joy of their salvation, then by calling them to resist relying on self-righteousness to determine their salvation, and finally, by telling them to redefine their ideas of loss and gain because of Jesus. And we are called to the same things through the message of this letter.

1: Rejoice in our salvation

I think that the quickest way to avoid becoming legalistic is to rejoice in the fact that we are saved at all. I mean, this could really be the only point this morning (it’s not, but it could be). If our focus is on Jesus, and we are completely enamored of Him, then we’re going to approach especially our brothers and sisters in Christ through His love and in joy. This is what Paul has been building for the first part of the letter. And before addressing the Judaizers, Paul reminds the church of this calling to rejoice:

Philippians 3:1–3 CSB

1 In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh—

There are four commands in our focal passage this morning, and all four of them are found here. The first is “rejoice.” This is a major theme of this letter overall. Paul rejoiced that the Gospel was being preached (Phil 1:18), he called the church to unity so that his joy would be made complete (Phil 2:2), he said that he would rejoice with the church and call them to rejoice in his imprisonment, even if it should end in his death (Phil 2:17-18), and he was sending Epaphroditus to them so they could rejoice in seeing him again (Phil. 2:28). And now, he calls on the church at Philippi to rejoice in the Lord. We are commanded to rejoice in the Lord as we reflect on what He has done for us, which is what I believe Paul is writing to them “again...” It’s what he just finished writing at the beginning of chapter 2. And what has the Lord Jesus done?

He’s taken the judgment that we deserve for our sins on Himself through the cross. He’s proven the love of God for us, and shown us what love truly is, as John wrote in his first epistle:

1 John 4:10 CSB

10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus, the sinless Son of God, died a sinner’s death so that we don’t have to. As I said earlier: if we will surrender to the work that He has done, trusting Him as our Savior and Lord, then we will be saved simply because of His grace through faith.

This is what Paul meant when he said that writing to them about this (the message of the Gospel) was no trouble for him, and was a safeguard for them. We are never done hearing the message of God’s love for us displayed through the sacrifice of His Son so that we could be saved, placed back in a right standing with God as our sin is forgiven. We are never done considering Jesus’s holiness and our need for Him because of our sins, and the fact that in Christ, the Almighty condescended to be one of us. We are never done reflecting on the truth that Jesus defeated death in our place, so that we if belong to Him, then we are promised eternal life with Him, and are guaranteed that through the fact that His Holy Spirit lives within the one who believes in Jesus. We’re never done applying the message of the Gospel to our lives. Hearing the Gospel should always cause us to rejoice!

But the truth of the Gospel was a safeguard for them because they faced opposition from those who had the Gospel wrong.

The other three commands in our focal passage are all in verse 2, and they’re all the same command: “Watch out!” or “Beware!” Beware the dogs, the evil workers, those who mutilate the flesh. These are all references to the Judaizers, who demanded that Gentile believers in Jesus submit to circumcision like the Jews as a sign of, or even worse, as a necessary step in their salvation.

The mention of “dogs” bears explanation for a moment. When Paul used this term, he wasn’t talking about chihuahuas, dalmatians, and golden retrievers. At the time, dogs weren’t generally kept as house pets. Instead, they were feral packs of scavengers. They fed on trash, made a mess, and caused problems because they threatened the safety of people. Jewish households especially hated dogs. In fact, they hated dogs so much that they often referred to Gentiles as dogs. And here, Paul is writing to a predominantly Gentile congregation, and he’s referring to the Judaizers—these Jews who were distorting the Gospel—as the “dogs.”

They were legalists. They were telling the Philippians that salvation was “Jesus PLUS circumcision.” This was simply not true. Like the dogs in the streets, the Judaizers were full of garbage, making a mess of the truth, and causing problems by threatening the peace of the church with their lies.

Instead, Paul says that “WE are the circumcision.” It wasn’t the cutting away of physical flesh that mattered—it was a circumcision of the heart that happened when one was saved. Paul had written to the church at Rome:

Romans 2:28–29 CSB

28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.

And in another prison epistle, this time to the church at Colosse, Paul wrote:

Colossians 2:11 CSB

11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

To the churches of Galatia, Paul had explained:

Galatians 6:15 CSB

15 For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation.

This concept echoes a promise given by God to the people of Israel in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 36:26 CSB

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

So Paul gives the church three marks that should be visible in the life of the believer in verse 3—He says that we are the ones who:

Worship (or serve, the word encompasses both ideas) by the Spirit of God. He’s talking not about Sunday mornings, but of a life devoted to God through faith. In Romans 12:1, Paul wrote: “1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.” Do you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, moving you to worship and serve the Lord out of love and gratitude?

Boast in Christ Jesus. Our glory should be in Jesus alone, not in anything or anyone else. The Christian life is to be a life that exalts Jesus. Paul said in Galatians 6:14 “14 But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.” Do you make much of Jesus?

And third, Paul says that the Christian should not place confidence in the flesh. We know that we didn’t earn our salvation, and therefore, we can’t work to keep it. God’s love for us has been declared on the cross, and it has nothing to do with how “good” we are in our strength. Where is your confidence for your salvation? In what are you trusting that will make you able to stand before God in His grace instead of in His judgment?

And what Paul does next really expands on this last mark that should be visible in the Christian life. This takes us to our second point.

2: Resist relying on self-righteousness

The next little part of our focal passage this morning actually makes me chuckle a little. Paul has just said that the Christian doesn’t put confidence in the works of the flesh for their justification before our holy God—the Christian’s confidence comes from Christ. However, the Judaizers said that it was their adherence to the Law, and of course to circumcision, that gave them their confidence. They were like the “next level” of Christian. Paul was having none of that. He decides to talk about his own religious pedigree, saying that if anyone had reason to boast and put their confidence in the flesh, it was him, not the Judaizers:

Philippians 3:4–6 CSB

4 although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; 6 regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

Very quickly, let’s look at his list:

1: Circumcised the eighth day. Literally, he said that he was an “eighth day one.” His parents had followed the Law, and he had been circumcised as a ritual when he was eight days old. Certainly at least some of the Judaizers were formerly Gentiles, and so could not have been circumcised on the eighth day of life like Paul.

2: Of the nation of Israel. Paul’s lineage went back to Abraham. He knew he was a Jew, through and through. Not all of the Judaizers could say that.

3: Of the tribe of Benjamin. This was the tribe of the first king of Israel, and Paul’s Jewish name, Saul, made him the namesake of that first king. The city of Jerusalem, and thus the Temple, had actually been in the allotment of land given to Benjamin.

4: A Hebrew born of Hebrews. It wasn’t even that either his mom or his dad were Jewish—they both were. Paul had been taught Hebrew and Aramaic at home, even though he was born in Tarsus (a Gentile city). His parents were devout.

Each of these things points to Paul’s birth privileges. He could have pointed to ritual, or ethnicity, or position, or parents as markers for his worthiness for his salvation. But as we will see, Paul knew that none of these things meant anything in his salvation. So in continuing, Paul shifted to speaking about his own personal accomplishments:

5: Regarding the law, a Pharisee. They loved the rules. They were the conservatives of their day, and their name comes from the Aramaic term meaning, “separated.” And it was their rules that they trusted in for being right with God. Paul even was one of the best of the best at living the Pharisaic life.

6: Regarding zeal, persecuting the church. Paul’s own words in Galatians 1 tell this perspective best:

Galatians 1:13–14 CSB

13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

He tried to wipe out Christianity because of how zealous he was for Judaism. He was certain that he was doing God a favor at the time.

7: Regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. Paul was externally blameless. No one else in Judaism could point the finger at him and call him a sinner. He was, in his view at the time, self-righteous. He was one of those “white-washed tombs” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 23:27.

Matthew 23:27 CSB

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.

Just as Paul’s birth privileges didn’t matter for his salvation, neither did his religious accomplishments. It didn’t matter what religious group he was in, or what Bible studies he went to, or what church he was a member of. It didn’t make any difference how passionate or sincere he was in his religious observance: he was passionately and sincerely wrong. And it didn’t matter that he was self-righteous, because self-righteousness was just another term for the sin of pride in his heart.

Paul said that he could boast in the flesh better than anyone, but he’s already said that he puts no confidence in the flesh (v. 3). What he goes on to say in the last part of our focal passage is deeper still than that.

3: Redefine loss and gain in Christ

As a Jewish Pharisee, Paul would have seen all of the things that he just listed as badges of honor, facts that moved him up the ladder of righteousness, so to speak: His lineage, his accomplishments, his passion, his legalistic piety. All of these had come together to make Saul of Tarsus the Jewish man that he was. But when he came to faith in Christ, he discovered that those things didn’t matter. They didn’t make him more holy. They didn’t make him more worthy. They didn’t really amount to anything of value. So Paul could say:

Philippians 3:7–9 CSB

7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.

The reality of Paul’s words in verse 7 is that, when compared with the righteousness and holiness that he has received in Christ, everything that he had relied upon didn’t just fade—they were lost. None of these things, which he thought were so valuable, had brought him to a place of salvation. Instead, it was in the surpassing value of knowing Christ that salvation occurred. So Paul saw that everything that he just listed amounted to nothing. In fact, he went on to say that it all amounted to less than nothing. I mean, think about it: What would you rather find on your front porch? Nothing, or a pile of dung? I don’t know about you, but I’m going to vote for nothing.

Paul wrote that he had “suffered the loss of” or “forfeited” all things because compared to Jesus, everything else is completely useless—whether things that were perhaps “good” (like being of the tribe of Benjamin, or having devout Hebrew parents), or things that were “bad” (like being filled with pride). The author of Hebrews wrote about getting rid of everything and anything that hinders our walk with Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1–2 CSB

1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Sadly, sometimes we tend to see this truly as suffering: the giving up of things that might stand in the way of us truly walking with Jesus. We might even see giving up our sin as some form of “suffering.” That’s terrible thinking! How ridiculous does it sound to say, “Well, it’s just really makes me sad that because of Jesus, I’m convicted that I should stop looking at pornography so I can be a better husband like He is,” or, “I’m miserable because the Spirit has revealed to me that the next step in being more like Christ is that I should reevaluate the things that I say and how I say them, so that my words might give grace to those who hear them... I sure hope He understands what a sacrifice He’s asking me to make!”

Paul understood this really well. He had considered all of that formerly important stuff as loss, and he had traded it for true suffering, according to what he wrote to the church at Corinth, again comparing himself with the Judaizers:

2 Corinthians 11:22–29 CSB

22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death. 24 Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; 27 toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. 28 Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

The idea for Paul here in Philippians is one of exchange: that which was a gain is considered to be a loss because of Christ (7), and in fact, everything that could be considered valuable is considered more than a loss compared to gaining Jesus, who is worth literally suffering for. Do we see Him this way? Do we see that He is worth giving up literally everything for (if necessary)? Do we see Him as worth suffering for? Jesus said that His kingdom was that valuable:

Matthew 13:44–46 CSB

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

This was two pictures of what takes place at salvation, and what Paul was getting at with his exchange language. It was impossible for Paul to hold on to his former values and walk with Christ at the same time. Everything he once considered important was nothing. Everything was reevaluated in the light of Christ. This is what it means that Jesus is Lord. Salvation requires no “work” from us to earn it, and no work to keep it. But if we can claim to be in Christ and continue to live exactly the same afterwards, with the same priorities, passions, and perspectives as before we came to faith, then we should be deathly concerned that we have never actually been saved at all, and we should believe the Gospel and surrender to Christ.

This is another way (besides rejoicing) that we can avoid legalism: we humbly approach what He is doing in us, knowing that He still has a lot of work to do. Even the righteousness that we do have isn’t ours. Paul said that it wasn’t a “righteousness of [his] own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.” (9) Paul said it this way to the church at Rome:

Romans 3:21–24 CSB

21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Closing

It’s Jesus who saves us, not ourselves. It’s Jesus who makes us righteous, not ourselves. If you think that you’re going to somehow earn your way to heaven, you’re mistaken. If you think that you’re going to get God extra brownie points from God by jumping through a bunch of hoops, you’re not. If you think that you’re more loved than the brother or sister next to you because you’re some next-level Christian, you’re wrong.

The message of the Gospel tells us that we need Jesus, even after we are found in Jesus, we keep needing Jesus. Every moment of every day.

And if you’ve never believed in what Jesus has done to save you, will you surrender today?

Baptism

Church membership

Prayer

Giving

PRAYER

Closing Remarks

Bible reading (Job 11, Psalm 107)

Pastor’s Study tonight, starting at Ephesians 5:25.

Prayer Meeting Wednesday, continuing our look at the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8.

Two memorial services this week: Jim King on Tuesday at 11:00 am, Carolyn Burch on Saturday at 10:30 am.

Instructions for guests

Benediction

In reflection of this morning’s message, I’d like for us to sing hymn 234 as our benediction this morning:

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ, my God; All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down; Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all!