2/25 Sermon on Philippians, Part 7

Our senior pastor at The Family Church here in Gainesville, Philip Griffin, continued his sermon series on the New Testament book of Philippians by beginning Chapter 3 and focusing on Verses 1-11, which you can read by clicking on Bible Gateway. The theme...and message title...was Joyful Confidence. The Biblical text featured Paul's opposition to those within the church who were insisting on physical circumcision on top of receiving Christ's salvation through his crucifixion and resurrection.  Paul insisted that what Jesus did was enough and had some pretty harsh words for those who maintained that it wasn't.  Pastor Philip took this reading to present some helpful ideas about the nature of confidence and how to truly attain and enjoy it...

In refuting those who erroneously were placing their confidence in the flesh, Paul listed several of his own "qualifications" for having confidence in salvation...and quickly dismissed them all as loss.  Pastor Philip listed areas where trust leads to false confidence: in religious rituals, in one's heritage, in one's titles and accomplishments, in one's sincerity, and in one's attempts at goodness.  As for heritage, Philip pointed out that God has no grandchildren, and where one's parents stood with God does not automatically pass down to their children. What leads instead to true, joyful confidence?  No surprise here, as Philip laid it out: it's all about Jesus: his presence in my life, his purity coming though faith, his power for living, his perspective on suffering,, and his promise in my death.  Wow, that's a lot to absorb, both on the positive and negative side.  Keeping my focus on God and not myself can go a very long way toward simplifying things, though...

The Family Church weekly sermons can be viewed through its YouTube video website...just click on the following link to watch the one I just discussed: [link]. I recommend you do so as Philip says so much that I simply cannot fit into the small space of a blog article...watching the message live at church is even better.  The weekly Sunday services there are at 9 and 10:30, and besides the message there is inspiring live praise and worship music along with prayer and discipleship opportunities.  This fellowship is located at 2022 SW 122nd Street, accessible via Newberry Road, SW 24th Avenue, or Archer Road.  A good way to start or end the week, depending on where you're coming from..