Good morning. Good morning. You can be seated. Ma'am, well, for those of you who may not know me, my name is Marin Black, and my husband, Michael, and I help oversee the ministry to the youth on both of our campuses. And I'm just so excited to be here with you guys today. If you have not seen me very much over this last year, I have really been home with our son Jet a lot as we are walking out this cancer journey with him. There's a lot of days that I'm home with him on Sundays so that Michael can be here. But I just want to thank you guys. Over this last year, we have felt just so loved and carried by the body. Like we feel your prayers, we feel your love. And even if it's from afar, I just want to thank you guys for really being the body of Christ to us in this season.
And this morning, we are going to be in
Philippians 3 together. Over the last few weeks, we have been in a series in the book of Philippians called Formed in Christ. And two weeks ago, we looked at what it really means to work out our salvation with fear and trembling as God works in us to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purposes. Right? We saw that we have this call and we have this responsibility as believers to lean in to the process of sanctification, to lean into the process of maturing. It's this reality that we're not just saved so we can stand around and be saved. No, we are saved so that we can be conformed into Christ's image, so that we can be formed in him. And then last week we saw at the end of
chapter two that Paul presented us with these two models of maturity in Timothy and in Epaphroditus, right? They were these men's, these sons of the faith who had the true marks of maturity in Christ. We saw that they had a deep care for the people of God around them. They had proven their character. They were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel. And they were loved and honored by those around them in the body because of the way that they had served. These men were clearly formed in Christ, and the fruit was evident in their lives. And now this morning, we are going to be looking at
chapter three, and we're actually going to look at Paul himself as an example. Okay, we're gonna get a glimpse into Paul's own life and into his own testimony, and we're going to see the ultimate result of a life that has truly been transformed by Christ and formed in Christ. Because for Paul, that changed everything. Right, it changed everything about the way that he viewed himself. It changed everything about the way that he viewed Christ. And I believe that as we work through this passage today, that it's going to bring change to our own lives as well.
Okay, so if you guys will go ahead and turn to
Philippians 3 with me, we're gonna begin in
verse one today. And I'm gonna warn you guys, all right? Paul comes right out the gate in this chapter, guns a plazin, fists a swinging, okay? He comes out hot. All right, he's gonna start off with this warning to the believers in Philippi. And he is warning them about a group of Judaizers. And these Judaizers were basically this group of Jewish Christians who were very legalistic and they were falsely teaching that the Gentile Christians must now be circumcised like them in order to be saved. And even though physical circumcision was something that the Lord commanded of the Israelites in the Old Testament, Paul knew that it was not the source of their salvation then, nor was it the source of their salvation now. And so he begins by addressing this issue head on in
verse one. And he writes Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me, and it is safe for you. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision. We who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. So Paul's saying, hey, everything that I'm about to tell you guys, I've already told you before, okay, but I have no issue telling you again for the sake of your own safety and for your own protection. And then he tells them to look out. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh, because it is not they who are the circumcision, it is we who are the circumcision. I told you guys. Paul comes out guns blazing, okay? Like he's he's letting them have it. This is some of the most intense verbiage that we see Paul use in the whole New Testament. And I love it. I'm here for it. I think it's the coolest thing ever. But up on the board, I'm gonna have a little chart for you guys because we've got these two distinct groups here that Paul is identifying. So over here on this side, we have the Judaizers. The legalistic believers and false teachers who were claiming that Gentiles must now be circumcised in order to be saved. They were teaching that their faith in Christ was not enough in and of itself, but now they must also follow the Mosaic law and be circumcised in order to be justified. And we see in
Ephesians 2 that these Jews would have referred to themselves as the circumcision. But here in
Philippians 3, Paul is referring to them as the dogs. As the evil doers or as the evil workers and as the mutilators of the flesh. And these are not just empty insults that Paul made up to like call them mean names. No, every single one of these terms that Paul uses are so significant. Because usually dogs would be a term that Jews would use to refer to a Gentile who was not in covenant with God. But here Paul is clarifying that anyone who is relying on a physical circumcision for salvation is actually the one who. Who is not in covenant with God, because a covenant that hinges upon the works of the flesh is no covenant with God at all. And that's why Paul called them the evildoers or the evil workers, because these Jews were truly relying on their own works and on the accolades of their own flesh to save them. These Jews truly believed that they were workers of righteousness, but Paul knew that they were only workers of evil. He knew that none of their fleshly, external works could ever result in righteousness before God, because no one could be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law. And then finally, he calls them mutilators of the flesh. Because Paul knew that apart from Christ, this physical circumcision that they so depended on for salvation, it was completely emptied and void of any spiritual significance whatsoever. Making it merely equivalent to the mutilations and the cuttings of the flesh that the pagans themselves would practice. Like Paul showing them a circumcision of the flesh means nothing if there is no circumcision of the heart. And then over here on the other side of our chart, we have this group that Paul himself is identifying with, right? He's like, I know you guys claim to be the circumcision, but I'm telling you, it is we who are the circumcision. And then he gives three descriptors of these people who are of the true circumcision, the true believers, the true children of Abraham, the true Israel of God. And he says that it is we who worship by the Spirit of God. We who glory or boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Paul says that we who are of the true circumcision are those who worship by the Spirit of God. It is not by the flesh.
It is by the spirit of the living God Possibly quoting 2 Corinthians 3:3. Right? Covenant with God is not based on the external works of the flesh. No covenant with God is an internal work and it is by his spirit. Right? That's why
Romans 2 tells us that a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is a circumcision of the heart by the spirit, not by the written code. That's why
Colossians 2 says that in Christ we were also circumcised with the circumcision not performed by human hands. Our whole self, ruled by the flesh, was put off when we were circumcised by Christ. It's this reality that we were not saved by an outward work that was performed by human hands. No, we were saved by an inward work that was performed by Christ. And by his spirit. And that is why we who are of the true circumcision, that's why we glory in Christ. That's why we boast in him because we know that he did the work, that he does the saving. Right? We don't have a confidence in the flesh or in anything that we've done. No, we have a confidence in Christ alone and in what he has done. And in
Galatians 6, Paul is addressing a very similar issue that is happening inside of the Galatian church. And he writes, Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in the circumcision of your flesh. May I never boast in anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. May I never boast in anything. Accept the cross of Christ. Like Paul knew that this was the mark of the true believer, that this was the mark of the true circumcision, of the true Israel of God, that our boasting was in Christ alone, because that is our salvation. Our confidence is never in our flesh or in the good things we can do or in how righteous we are. No, our confidence is in Christ alone and in his righteousness and in what he did on the cross.
And each of my points today, I've kind of put them in the form of questions because I really want us to think and reflect on each way that this passage applies to us, okay? And so my first question for us today is this I really want us to ask ourselves is this the way that I view my own salvation? Like I know that this is the way that Paul views salvation, but is this the way that I view my own salvation? Do I really know that it is by the Spirit of God and not by my flesh? Do I truly know that it is all him and that it's none of me? Do I only boast in Christ? Or is there a part of me that still boasts in my own flesh and in my own works? When I'm looking at these descriptors on the chart, am I truly living as one who is of the true circumcision? It's awesome that this is the way that Paul views his salvation, but the question becomes: is this the way that I view mine? Do I really know that it's all him and not me? And I really want us to meditate on that and think about that today and be honest with ourselves as we're moving through this passage. And I want us to look in verse four together, okay? Because Paul's about to do something really cool. All right. He's just finished explaining to us that those of the true circumcision are those who only boast
in Christ, who put no confidence in their flesh Likely quoting Philippians 3:3–6. And then look what he writes. He says, Though I myself have reasons to For confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks that he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. So Paul's literally saying if any of these Judaizers think that they have a reason to put confidence in their flesh, I'm telling you, I have more. Right, if any of these Judaizers think that they got some real good works that they want to point to for righteousness, I'm telling you, I have even more. I was circumcised on the eighth day. What's Paul saying? He's saying I had the exact perfect timing instructed by God in
Genesis 17. I was circumcised on the eighth day after my birth, and I had all the right rituals of the people of Israel. I was a natural descendant of Abraham. I was born into the covenant people of God. I had all of the right ancestry. He was of the tribe of Benjamin. He's saying, I wasn't just any ordinary Israelite. No, I was born into an elite and respected tribe that was born of Rachel herself that gave Israel its very first king. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. My mama was a Hebrew. My daddy was a Hebrew. I didn't conform to the way of the Greeks like the rest of you didn't. No, I lived every single day of my life as a true Hebrew. In regards to the law, I was a Pharisee. He's saying I had the highest possible standard for my life. I was of the strictest sect of Judaism, and I gave my life to studying the law and to observing it, and I was rising in the ranks. As for zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. I was so sincere and so passionate about that standard that I literally killed people for it. That I literally got the papers to go round up the Christians and take them off to be killed. Like you want to talk about zeal? I've got it. And then he says, as thank you, ma'am. Thank you. And then he says, as for righteousness under the law, blameless. What's he saying? He's saying every outward, external law that I was meant to keep, I kept it. Every standard that there was for a Pharisee outwardly, I met it. I followed it to a T. And in the eyes of man and only man, I was blameless. Y'all, every worldly, fleshly accolade that Paul could possibly have, he had it. Every possible reason to put a confidence in his flesh and to boast in himself, Paul possessed it. But then we get to verse 7 and look what Paul writes. He says, But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss. Because of the surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ Likely quoting Philippians 3:8–9 and be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. So Paul lists out every single reason that he has to put confidence in the flesh. And then he tells us, but whatever gain I had. I count it as a loss for the sake of Christ. Everything that I thought was profit to me, everything that I thought I could boast in, everything I thought I could rely on for righteousness, everything that's been an advantage to me for my entire life, I met Christ. And I came face to face with the reality that all of that was nothing and that Christ is everything. And I want us to catch this today because Paul didn't just realize that it was all nothing. Paul realized that it was all a loss. And these are like business terms and accounting terms that Paul's using here. Not that I know anything like about that. So bear with me, okay? But what he's describing here is a spiritual transaction that occurred when he met Christ and when Christ redeemed him. Every accolade, every fleshly work, every accomplishment, every reason to boast, Paul had put those over here in the prophet column, and they'd been there for his entire life. And when he met Christ, it didn't just put an X through it, right? It didn't just balance it out to zero. It didn't just become nothing. No, every credential that he had counted as profit to him for his entire life in an instant, it became a loss when he truly saw the surpassing greatness of Christ. He's saying that the day that I met Christ, I moved everything over to my loss column. I counted it all as lost. And then he says, and I still count it. Like to this day, I presently count everything as lost. Why? Because I measured it up. Against the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. And knowing Him is so much greater that everything else is lost in comparison to knowing Him. Why? Because He is the supreme treasure. He is the good thing. He is the glorious one. He is the pinnacle of life. And everything else has a negative value when I compare it to the worth of knowing him. Not just knowing him intellectually, not just knowing him mentally, no, deeply and personally knowing him, knowing him experientially, knowing him relationally. And then Paul says that for Christ's sake, he has
suffered the loss of all things and counts them Possibly quoting Philippians 3:8 as rubbish. And I love Paul's verbiage here. I love that he says, for Christ's sake, I have suffered the loss of all things. Because it communicates this reality to us that it might not be easy. Right? Like we love easy. We love comfortable. But can I tell you, losing everything for the sake of Christ may not feel easy. Losing everything for the sake of Christ, it may not feel comfortable. It may feel like suffering in the moment. But in
Matthew 16, Jesus presents us with this great paradox of Christianity that whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for his sake will find it. It's this thing that only makes sense in the spiritual, that could only happen supernaturally, that somehow by suffering the loss of everything, we can actually gain more than we ever imagined in Christ. This is how we can have nothing yet possess everything. We can lose it all and gain everything because of this supernatural transaction that occurs whenever we meet Christ. In this word that Paul uses here when he says,
I suffered the loss of all things and I count them Likely quoting Philippians 3:8 as rubbish. Okay, he's saying every accolade, every work, every reason I had to put confidence in the flesh, I now consider it rubbish. And this is kind of gross, okay? I'm gonna say a gross word. But what Paul's saying here, like this actually translates to excrement, to poop, to filth. I never thought I would say poop on a Sunday morning, but here I am. I'm I'm gonna say it one more time. Poop. Okay. So Paul's like, all right, I think using the word loss kind of still made it seem like it had a little bit of value, but I really want you guys to know it has the same value to me as dung, right? It has the same value to me as poop, never needing to be looked at or spoken of or thought of again because that's how disgusting and filthy those things are in comparison to knowing Christ. And Paul says that he's done all of this in order that he may gain Christ and be found in him. Paul willingly lost everything so that Christ could be his gain, so that Christ could be his prophet, so that he could be found in him. What does that mean? That Christ is his, right? That he is Christ, that he could be identified with Christ and in Christ. And how do we do that? How do we gain Christ and be found in him? Paul tells us at the end of this passage here, he says, by
not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but by having a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God Likely quoting Philippians 3:9 that depends on faith. Paul knew that no one could ever be declared righteous by the works of the law, or by the deeds of the flesh, or by a physical circumcision, or by a valuable ancestry. Right now, Paul knew that the only way to be declared righteous before God was through faith in Christ. Paul knew that everything on his list, everything on his list of achievements, everything on his list of accolades, he knew it was all worthless to him and not just worthless to him. But also worthless to God. Because the only thing that mattered before God was a faith in Christ alone. That was the only thing of worth.
And so my next question for us today is this I want us to ask ourselves is this the way that I view my own works? Like I see the way that Paul views his works, but is this really the way that I view mine? And for us who are here today, I know that we don't really cling to like our ancestry or our circumcision or our status in Judaism, right? Those things aren't fully relatable to us, but we might cling to the years that we've spent in ministry. Right? We may cling to how much theology we know or how much biblical content we know. We may put confidence in how much we've sacrificed or in how much we've served others. We may put confidence in how long we've been a Christian. Or how many spiritual experiences we have? We may even be putting our confidence in the reputation that we have and the way that we think the people around us view us. And so I really want us to ask ourselves deep down, do I truly view my own works and my own accomplishments and my own accolades? Do I truly view them as rubbish? Do I truly view them as garbage, as poop? I'm gonna say it again, I guess. Do I actually know that they are valueless in comparison to Christ? Have I actually placed my works in the loss column? Or am I still clinging to them as prophet? And do I really know and believe that those works could never obtain a righteousness for me and that only Christ can? Am I willing to suffer the loss of my own accomplishments and my own accolades if it means gaining Christ and knowing Him? It's incredible that Paul was able to view his own works this way. But the question becomes: is this the way that I view mine?
And then in verses 10 and 11, Paul's gonna bring it home for us, okay? He's just told us that it's not about
having a righteousness of his own from the law. It's about having faith in Christ, a righteousness from God Likely quoting Philippians 3:9 that depends on faith. And then he writes, and I'm gonna read this one out of the NIV for us. He closes up saying, I want to know Christ. I want to know Christ. Yes, to know
the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death Likely quoting Philippians 3:10–11, and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. This is Paul's ultimate point of this passage. This is the peak thing that he's trying to communicate to us. He's revealing hey guys, listen, my circumcision is not my supreme treasure. Christ is. My fleshly works are not my ultimate treasure in this life. Christ is, my worldly accomplishments are not my treasure. Christ is the peak experience of my life, the focal point of my entire existence is knowing him. I want to know him. And I said this earlier, but this knowing that Paul's using, he's not, he's not just saying like I want to mentally know of him or I want to intellectually or theologically know about him. No, he's saying I want to deeply. And relationally know him. I want to experientially know him. I don't want to just intellectually know about
the power of Christ's resurrection. No, I want to experience it. I want Likely quoting Philippians 3:10 to feel the power of his resurrection over my sin and over my flesh every single day of my life. I don't want to experience it one day. I want to experience it right now. I don't just want to know about Christ's sufferings. I want to experience his sufferings. I want to participate in those sufferings with him. When is the last time you prayed that prayer? I can tell, I don't think I've ever prayed that prayer, okay? But Paul's like, no, I want to know what he felt. I want to feel what he felt. I want to experience what he experienced. I don't just want to know about his death, I want to know what it really means to deny myself and to take up my cross for him and with him every single day of my life. All I want in this life is to know Christ more and to experience him more. And Paul creates this true dichotomy here between all these reasons for his confidence in the flesh that he listed off before versus his desire to know Christ that he's depicting here at the end of our passage. Because he's like, hey guys, this list that I have of my accomplishments, yeah, that's what you would think has value. But I'm telling you, this is what actually holds value. This is the only thing with any value at all. And it's knowing Christ, knowing him in his resurrection, knowing him in his sufferings, knowing him in his death, and ultimately knowing him in the end. And here's what's so crazy to me, okay? I don't think that there's very many people who have existed that I would try to argue knew Christ better than Paul knows Christ, right? Like if I had to make a list, Paul would be pretty high up there on my list. Okay, he may have known Christ more than any human who ever existed. But yet here he is in his later life. Saying, no, I still want to know him. In fact, I want to know him even more. Paul easily knew more about the power of Christ's resurrection than anyone. Like he literally wrote
Romans 6 down. Like he knew about the resurrection of Christ, but he's here saying, No, I want to know it even more. I want an even deeper revelation. I want to experience it even more than I ever have before. Before Paul ever even wrote the book of Philippians, he had probably experienced the sufferings of Christ more than anyone in recorded history. Like, read the book of Acts. It's just Paul's suffering over and over and over again. And yet here he is, after everything that he's lived through, after everything that he's suffered, and he's saying, No, but I want to know his sufferings even more. I want to participate in them even more. And if anybody had come close to knowing Christ in his death, it was Paul. Like we see this story in
Acts 14 where they literally stone Paul. They think they've stoned him to death and they drag him outside of Lystra. And then Paul gets up, he walks back into the city, and the next day he goes on to Derby and he keeps preaching the gospel. Like if anyone on this planet had already obtained this, if there was anyone that we would say, no, no, no, he already knew Christ in all of these areas, it would be Paul. But yet here he is saying, No, I want to know him more. I want to know him deeper. I want to experience him in these things even more than I ever had before. I never want to stop getting to know him. Can I tell you this morning that the ultimate result of a life formed in Christ is a person who knows the surpassing worth of Christ and never stops pursuing him. And never stops desiring to know him.
And so my last question for us today is this: I want us to ask ourselves: is this the way that I view Christ? Like if I'm gut level honest with myself, do I truly see Christ as my supreme treasure? Do I truly see his surpassing worth? Am I this desperate to know him more? Am I this desperate to experience him, to know him relationally, to know him deeper, not just mentally and intellectually? Does every single day of my life revolve around knowing him more? Is the ultimate goal and focus of my existence to know him? And if I can be completely honest with you guys today, as I've been reading this passage over and over again this week, I've realized I'm not there yet. Like right now, this does not describe me, but my prayer this week has been, Lord, will you work this in me? Will you make you my supreme treasure? Will you teach me how to seek you? Will you teach me how to keep knowing you deeper and deeper? Will you give me the desire to know you even more?
And I think that there are two invitations out of our passage this morning. One, maybe this morning you're here and you've realized that you've still been relying on your own flesh. That you've still been putting confidence in the works of your flesh, but you're ready to count those things as loss and to see Christ as your only gain. And maybe you're here this morning and you've realized that you've been lacking the passion to know him. That when you look over the last few weeks, months, years of your life, you've realized that he has not been your supreme treasure. It has not been the focal point of your life. But maybe this morning you're saying, No, I want to know him. I want knowing him to be everything to me in the same way that it was to Paul. And so if either of those are you this morning, I'm just gonna ask that with every head bowed, every eye closed, that you would just kind of open up your hands there in your lap. Nobody needs to see, nobody needs to know. But if you would place yourself in one of those categories, let's just open our hands before the Lord. And I just want to pray over you. God, we just come before you this morning. And we thank you for your word. We thank you for this passage of Scripture. God, we know that it is alive and active, it is living and breathing. It is showing us the places in our hearts and in our lives that need to change. And so, God, this morning, we just want to recognize before you that the works of our flesh are nothing. And that you are everything, that everything we've counted on, everything we've relied on and put confidence in that is of our own flesh, God, this morning, we just move those things over to the lost column and we recognize that you are the only gain. That you are the only treasure, that you truly are everything. And God, I pray that this morning you would stir in us a desire to pursue you and to know you in the same way that Paul had that desire to pursue you and know you. God, would you make us into a people who long for you? That no matter how long we've been in the faith, no matter how long we've been working this, that note, God, would you give us. A deep conviction in our hearts to know you, a desire to know you, a desire to pursue you. God, we may we be a people. I'll never ever stop pursuing you and getting to know you. I pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
As we close this morning, I really cannot think of a better passage of scripture for us to be in as we partake in communion together. We have an opportunity to remember this morning, to really meditate on the power of Christ's resurrection and of his sufferings and of his death. And so the ushers are going to pass around the elements, and James is going to come and lead us in this time of communion. I agree with Marin that as we consider Christ and what He has done for us to bring us into a participation. Of life with him. I've been meditating and thinking about some of these things, especially when Paul says,
if I might attain unto the resurrection Likely quoting Philippians 3:11. I think sometimes we think about the resurrection that's going to be at the end and whatever that's going to be like. Not sure. Except the end. But he said
that I might attain unto the resurrection Likely quoting Philippians 3:11, that I could know the life of Christ. Where that Paul says again in Ephesians,
we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but we've been made alive unto Jesus Christ Likely quoting Ephesians 2:5. To participate in the life of Christ, that I may really experience Him in what it means that Jesus is a far surpassing treasure of my life. And as we partake of communion this morning, Jesus took the bread and he said, This. is my body. Which means, whenever he said, take and eat of this, partake of my life. Partake of my sufferings. Partake of all that I am. Eat. He said, if you do not eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you have no part in either. And this is a symbol symbolizing us partaking of the very life of Christ. Lord, I pray this morning, as we partake of the bread, you said to your disciples, Jesus. Take and eat all of it. Partake of everything of my life. Whatever it might be, partake of my life. And so we partake this morning, and we're saying, Jesus, I partake of your life. in sufferance and resurrection. Thank you. In Jesus' name. Partake of the bread. Then it says that he took
the cup. And he said, This cup. Is the New Testament or the New Covenant in my blood? This Likely quoting 1 Corinthians 11:25 seals the fact that I can partake of his life. And that I am in covenant with God. It's sealed in the blood of Christ.
The blood of bulls and goats could not take Likely quoting Hebrews 10:4 care of things. It took the blood of Christ, not only the forgiveness of sins, but the cleansing, Paul said, or the writer of Hebrews said, our very conscience of sin, that we are free. And as we partake of the cup, do so in thanksgiving. That we are in covenant with the living God. Father, thank you this morning. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir, that you brought us into covenant relationship and that our sins are not just forgiven. But you said in your word, they're removed from us
as far as the east is from the west Likely quoting Psalm 103:12. And you have cleansed us, cleansed our very conscience of guilt and of sin because of your blood. In Jesus' name, and as you partake this morning of the cup, receive it as the cleansing and the purging of our conscience. Sin. Let's partake. Lord, I thank you for the revelation that you give to us, that we identify and we partake of everything of you. And may we say, as Paul the Apostle said,
that I may know him. The power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death Likely quoting Philippians 3:10–11, if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.
More in thank you for delivering such a powerful revealing passage of scripture to us thank you thank you thank you thank you we want to continue to worship the Lord with our giving and this is a part of our worship it's giving worth to God it's our labor it's our seeking after God and we're saying thank you Lord thank you Lord For blessing me with my job. Thank you for blessing me with my health. Thank you for all that you have given unto me. And there are several ways to give. If you're a regular here, you know what they are: cash or check in an envelope online. But do so. In thanksgiving to God and in worship to Him. Also, as you prepare your giving, there are the black books at the end of the row that sit send them down so that uh fill out we like to know who's here. Sometimes we can overlook someone and we get to wondering, well, has so-and-so been here? Well, we can look back on attendance records. We take attendance so that we can make sure that we are serving you in every way that we can. Also, there's a card. If you're relatively new, if this is your first time or relatively new, there's a welcome card in the seat back, if you wouldn't mind filling that out. And when you leave this morning, there's an offering container at the back of the auditorium. Just drop that in there. We want to be able to keep you up to date on the things that are going on here at DLC. Let me pray for you and bless you as you prepare your giving. Lord, I thank you. I thank you for your people. Who honor you with their substance? They are saying, Lord, I realize that it is you who has given me power to get well, not by my own strength or my own ability, but you have blessed me with everything. And so I honor you. I pray your blessings upon your people. Those who need jobs, I pray that you would bring them into the right connection. To be able to have a job, to be able to labor with their hands, that which is good. Thank you, sir, for doing that and causing those who have jobs or businesses to increase. Give them faith. Cause them to increase in every way. I thank you for it. In Jesus' name. Amen. And amen.
And as you prepare your giving, check out these announcements, what's going on in DLC. What is up, DLC fam? My name is Darius Murphy, and we are glad to have you here with us today. Let's take a look at a few things that we have coming up here for you and your family here at Destiny Life Church. Next Sunday, October 25th is our DLC Together night on the Owasso campus at 6 p.m. To all the men in the house, our men's steak dinner is this Tuesday, October 20th at 6 30 on the Claremore campus. Today is the last day to register, so please scan the QR code on your seat flyer to sign up or go to dlc.tv slash events. For all of those interested in Christ College, our Old Testament survey begins November 2nd on the Owasso campus at 6 p.m. To apply and enroll, go to Christcollege.us. If you have any questions, please contact the office. Well, that's all that we have for you this week. We look forward to connecting with you at one of our Sunday services at 9 or 11 in Claremont or Owassa. And as always, we want to pray with you. So if you have a prayer need, please let us know. Have a great week, DLC. We want to make sure that if you have a need, our prayer teams will be here after the after we dismiss, that you can come and you can be prayed for and ministered to. And I I just want to encourage you to make sure that you join us next Sunday night at uh Owasso. Remember a few weeks ago that we had you share with us those that you saw. uh if
full of faith full of the holy Possibly quoting Acts 6:5 ghost and full of wisdom in act act and uh concerning deacons we will be ordaining deacons at that time next sunday night there on the owasso campus would you stand with us as we dismiss lord i thank you for what you've said to us this morning and you've challenged us by your spirit through the word I thank you that as we go from this place, that we will go with a fresh understanding of the life in Jesus Christ. I thank you for it.
Make your face to shine upon Likely quoting Psalm 31:16 us in all of our ways. Thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Go in the grace of the Lord and the peace of the Lord be upon you.
