Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Recap previous days

- We are here to know Jesus and to tell others about Him

- Jesus had to come to die on the cross because of our sins

Tonight we’ll continue looking at what Jesus does and we’re going to talk about how Jesus changes us.

Who here likes change?

A lot of us don’t like change.

We like things to be the way that they usually are… But over the last 2 years, hasn’t there been a lot of change?

Think of some changes in recent years?

School changed whenever we did virtual learning

We had to wear masks everywhere

We couldn’t do some of the things we were used to doing

Change is difficult but sometimes it’s necessary and even helpful.

Have any of you ever moved before?

Whenever I was about your age (3rd grade) my dad got a job at First Baptist Ozark as their Children and Recreation Pastor and we moved from Springfield to Ozark.

This was a big change for me because I had lived in Springfield and gone to FBC Springfield my whole life.

I didn’t know anyone in Ozark.

I didn’t have any friends.

I didn’t even know the people at the church.

This was a big change and I wasn’t very happy whenever I found out.

Do you know what’s really cool about God’s plan for our lives?

God’s plan for our lives involves some changes that we didn’t see coming.

His plan might require you to step out of your comfort zone or it might require you to go to a place that you didn’t think you’d go to like it was for Jonah in the Bible.

Tonight we’re going to continue looking at the book of Philippians and we’re going to be in Philippians chapter 3 looking at how Jesus changed Paul’s life upside down.

Paul thought that he had it all figured out but Jesus changed Paul’s view on life and Jesus gave him a new purpose.

For Paul, his life was all about living for Jesus and knowing Jesus more and more.

This is what Jesus wants for us too!

He wants us to know Him more, He wants us to look more like Him, and He wants us to tell others about what He has done!

Tonight let’s look at Philippians 3:1-11 and see how Jesus changes us.

Jesus Changes Our Priorities

What are some things that people place their confidence in?

Good works

Accomplishments

Money

Friends

Others

Paul tells us that these things aren’t grounds for confidence… Instead the only thing that we can truly be confident in is Jesus Christ and His power and presence in our life.

Whenever you meet Jesus and you repent of your sins and place your faith in Him, you change from the inside out, from top to bottom!

One of the things that changes is your priority list.

See, Paul had all the reasons to have confidence in himself.

Look at his “stats” if you will in these verses.

What do we read about Paul?

Circumcised on 8th day

Israelite

Hebrew of Hebrews

Tribe of Benjamin

Pharisee

Persecuted others

Blameless according to the law

Educated by one of the best teachers in the world: Gamileal in Jerusalem

Paul had all of these reasons to have confidence in himself!

Whenever the church doors were open, Paul was there.

Whenever the Bible was studied, Paul stood out because he knew all of the answers.

He easily could have placed his faith and confidence in what he knew and all that he had done.

But we read in verse 7 that this isn’t an option because Paul met Jesus!

See, whenever you and I meet Jesus, Jesus changes the way that we think and the things that we do.

So many people in our world and even people in churches place their confidence in what they do.

They think that they help out with VBS and they go to church and they do nice things for other people and these are good things!

But they can’t save us.

All of Paul’s trophy list of things couldn’t save him.

See, his focus was on the wrong things.

It wasn’t that he was doing bad things.

He was reading the Bible and praying to God… But his focus was on his works.

His focus was on the good stuff that he did.

His focus was on some good things but it wasn’t on God’s thing.

Think about your priorities for a minute.

What would you say are some good priorities in life?

Working Hard

Being nice to other people

Doing good in school

Practicing hard at your sport or activity

These are good priorities!

But think of the way that Jesus changes everything that we do.

Instead of just playing baseball, for example, Jesus comes first and you play baseball to tell people about Jesus.

Instead of just working hard at your job or at something you have to do, you work hard in order to show others the love of Jesus.

You don’t work hard just because you’re asked to, you work hard because you want to glorify Jesus.

Think about your priorities in life today.

Would you say that Jesus is at the top of the list?

Would you say that you do what you do because you want to tell others about Him?

If you’re a Christian tonight, make sure that you try and always point people to Jesus wherever you’re at and with whatever you’re doing.

If you’re not a Christian, maybe you’re placing your confidence in the wrong thing.

Look at Paul’s testimony here… Don’t place your confidence in yourself or your actions… Place your confidence in Jesus because only Jesus can save us.

Jesus Changes Our Eyes

He changes our hearts and He also changes our eyes.

This doesn’t mean that whenever you’re a Christian you suddenly don’t need glasses or you get 20/20 vision all of a sudden… But whenever you become a Christian, Jesus changes your eyes to see situations and people differently.

You’re able to see people the way that Jesus see’s people.

For Paul, before Jesus he saw people the way that he wanted to see them… But after he met Jesus, he began to see people with grace and compassion just like Jesus see’s us and others.

There’s a Christian song that came out a few years ago called Give Me Your Eyes and it talks about if we could just see others the way that Jesus does for just one second everything would change.

So many times Jesus would see someone who might look ok on the outside but Jesus would know what they were dealing with on the inside.

We see an example of this in John 4 as Jesus meets with the woman at the well.

Do you know that story?

This woman puts on a good face but Jesus knows what’s really going on because, after all, He’s God! Jesus meets people where they are at and calls on them to repent and trust in Him.

This is what He wants us to do as well - He wants us to speak the truth to others and call on them to trust in Jesus.

He wants us to not look at people as if they are a lost cause but to help them out where they are at and encourage them to become more like Jesus!

Not only was Paul’s focus on the wrong things, he was looking the wrong direction.

Paul was looking backwards instead of forwards.

He thought that if he did enough things in this life that he’d measure up… Instead of looking at what Jesus had already done and looking at what Jesus wanted Him to do now.

Paul wants to live a life of faith in Jesus and part of that type of life means that we have to tell other people the truth of Jesus Christ.

If you look on a car, a car has something called a rear view mirror that helps a driver look at what is behind them to make sure that everything is ok.

A rearview mirror is helpful whenever you back up, but you don’t use it a lot whenever you’re driving forward.