Treasuring Christ Together

I want to invite you to open you bibles with me to the book of Philippians. There is something I’d like to say this morning about this moment. Every Sunday, this will be our weekly invitation, to open our bibles together. Whether you bring a physical Bible, or you use an electronic device with a Bible app… every Sunday I will invite you to open the word with me. I believe there is something special, and unifying about coming to church, gathering with the body and opening up God’s word together.

And to do so with joy. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been praying over these three words…. Father, Lead us by your Spirit, to Treasure Christ Together. That’s my prayer for us. To be a body that treasures Christ together… and theres a reason why I pray that… I pray that because I believe in three words… Jesus… together.. for others. Those are three words that sum up my ministry.

Jesus… means holiness. We pursue it… we dig for it.. we strive for it… we desire it. Everyone of us.. seeks to surrender our lives to Christ. Together means we pursue discipleship. We learn together… Strive together, struggle together. For others…. Means mission. We’re missional people. Thats the Nazarene way. Holiness and discipleship always leads the believer into being missional. And so, when we focus on these three things, Jesus, together for others…

we become a body that treasures Christ together. Let’s read, Philippians chapter 3, starting in verse 10. “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection.

But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things.

If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.” Philippians 3:10-16 NLT When it comes to treasuring Christ it begins with Pauls words in verse 10, “I want know Christ.” That's where treasuring Christ truly begins… but begins by knowing Jesus. That’s the pin that holds everything of our faith together…It’s an intimate pursuit to know Jesus, more and more each day.

I am telling you now… No one is going to grow in their knowledge of Christ if there is no change in them. To know Christ is to be changed. Or in other words, to be transformed. Paul had a change in his life. We also know that his heart had to change as well. And now, we are seeing him write to the Philippines encouraging them to put their faith in Christ.

And he tells them, I want to know Christ. I want to know HIm. Paul doesn’t say, “That I might know about Him,” but, “That I may know him” intimately. I day dream sometimes about meeting Jesus personally, face to face for the first time. And I often wonder, how sad will it be to meet and recognize Jesus but I do not know Him personally. How awkward it would be to speak Jesus, to read about Jesus, to tell others about Jesus…

but yet I dont know him personally myself. Have you ever had one of those moments when someone else called out your name and you were like… you look familiar, you sound familiar, but you begin to squint and yore like…. Do I know you? And many times if your as awkward as I am.. you kind of agree with them…. Ph hey… it’s.. you… Oh man, wow. It’s been so long I almost forgot about you…..

how’s… life? I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of people disappointed when they meet Jesus for the first time face to face and go…. You seem familiar, but I just can’t put my finger on who you are. When I get to heaven, I want to meet someone face to face that I know heart to heart. Paul desired nothing else but to know Jesus personally. There’s a story about a pastor and a broadway actor.

They were at a place and both of them were asked to perform something. So after discussion between the pastor and the actor, it was decided that they wold both recite Psalm 23. The actor went first, and boy did he give them a great show. His voice raised and lowered at each opportune moment. He paused for effect and intensity at each jot and tiddle and comma and period. He brought the crowd into every word.

After he was done, the crowed cheered and waved and went crazy with excitement. Until…. The pastor, came up to the stage and recited the same Pslam. Pslam 23. At the end, the crowd was silent and in tears. You could hear a pin drop. Everyone who was cheering now, was sobbing. The rousing happy mood had be sucked out of the room as fast as if someone had popped a balloon and the air escaped immediately.

Some time had passed and A person came to the actor and asked, How come when you performed, the crowd cheered, but when the pastor received the Psalm, the people wept? The actor replied, I know Psalm 23 by memory, but the pastor knows the Shepard by heart. You see, Paul wanted to know Christ intimately. And He wasn’t just satisfied with knowing about Christ, he wanted Christ as his life.

Jesus changed Pauls perspective, Jesus changed Pauls thinking,… Jesus changed Paul from a persecutor with a past, to a instrument of salvation for others in the present and future. And not only that… He changed Pauls’s life so much that he no longer looked in the past for the answers, but he began to look forward to Christ. You see, church…. All Paul wanted, was to be satisfied in Jesus.… He tells us in verse 8, Surpassing value of knowing Christ…..

He goes on to say, I want to know Him, and be found “In Him.” He’s reminding those reading this letter, that he wants to treasure Jesus as the ultimate treasure of life. That is what I want… I want to know Jesus like that.. and I want to imitate and be like Paul, and to know Christ and to experience the mighty power that saved Him from the dead. I want to see that in those around me too.

Because as a Christian my whole faith falls apart if there is no salvation from death, and no eternity with God. There will be people who will know a whole lot about Jesus… but who also do not know him…. And this sets the tone for treasuring Christ together. Everything we are, and everything we do as a church all depends upon our decision on whether or not, we’re all going all in to know Christ.

But what does going all in look like? It looks like this this… Look with me in verse 12: 12: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.” Philippians 3:12 NLT Did you hear what he just said… I’m not perfect… but I press on…

I can guarantee you I make mistakes… Just this morning… I made a mistake… I poured milk into my coffee and not creamer… When we arrived here the day before we moved things in… I made the mistake of turning the wrong way making our drive even longer to get to the parsonage to put the animals to bed. I make mistakes. We all do. The key to overcoming mistakes is this…

to not give up, find forgiveness thats offered thorough Christ, and to keep pressing on, in Him. My bibles in the CSB says, to make every effort…. Did you know that there are no permanent victories in life? There will never be a point in this life where you have totally arrived to total completion OF PERFECTION. And not only that, but One of the most disturbing lessons of life is to discover the illusion of arriving.

What does that mean when I say, the illusion of arriving. Arriving means you have set your goal and you accomplish it, you have achieved it, you have arrived at the intended goal and end. But that’s never the end? Because every time we arrive to the end of something, we find out that it’s never the end but the beginning to something new. Paul is saying, I have yet to achieve perfection, I haven’t even reached perfection..

but guess what. I still press on towards it. I make every effort to keep going. I wrote in my journal notes, “that to press on means that there is life. Because if you are pressing on, that means you are moving forward. life always moves forwards. Life never moves backwards. Life never stays put, life must and always moves forward.” And if there is life to press on, then that means there the probability for the need to expect change and growth in our Christian lives.

I’ve come to learn in ministry and in life in general, that I am constantly coming to a cross sections where when I arrive to a certain point, and when I am at these intersections for life and decision. That they are moments where I am born into a new direction, that brings new challenges and opportunities. These cross sections may be challenging and require us to make difficult decisions, but they also offer us the opportunity for growth and transformation.

If we would embrace these moments, I assure you, they can lead us down a path of growing in Christ together. I think of a caterpillar. Remember, God’s reflection is in his creation. He gives us glimpses of himself each and every day that he is king and that he is good and faithful. But a caterpillar comes to the end of the intersection and then metamorphoses into a butterfly. If we go up to a chrysalis and you see a butterfly struggling to get out, and you slit it open so the butterfly doesn’t struggle to free itself, There is a good chance that you killed that butterfly.

Because in the process of pushing and struggling, and in this process of adversity and moving forward, A chemical is made that fills the wings of the butterfly. If it doesn't struggle, this chemical doesn’t get made. You see, it’s not the end for the caterpillar, but a new beginning. The caterpillar presses on, and as long as there is life in it, it will continue to move forward. Just keep in mind when you go through hard situations..

theres always an opportunity to begin again. As long as theres life, there’s always an opportunity for new beginnings. Like the caterpillar, we need to learn to press on through adversity. Just remember, change leads us into adversity, and adversity enables growth. And since we are ;uprising to know Christ intimately, we know that wherever we arrive, it’s not the end, but the beginning for something new. Our victory’s in life are never our end, but they become our badges of faith that we get to show others in our new beginnings.

Don't stop growing… don't become complacent in your walk. Press on… Make every effort to keep moving on… and keep encouraging others around you to keep going. Do not let the past keep you from where GOd is leading you… Look with me in verse 13: “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,” Philippians 3:13 NLT If life is always moving forward, then we need to understand that anytime that we look back, we slow down, and the danger of slowing down is that we can become stagnate, apathetic and even comfortable where we are in our life.

It’s the same with running. If we are running in a race, and we begin to get fixed on what is behind us. You’re body needs to adjust to the direction that you’re looking. Have you ever drove your car, and you fixed on what was on the billboard, or the side of the road.. what happened? Well you begin to drift where you’re eyes are turned and focused on. Paul is reminding us that by looking back in the past, that is not where the goal is.

The goal to know and treasure Christ, and we see how Christ has worked in our past, and that should fuel our faith for the future. That is why we have this word nostalgia. Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or longing affection for the past. Nostalgia is not faith, but longing for the things of our past can become the enemy to our faith if we fixate on what we used to have, and not where God is trying to change and lead us towards.

And hear me when I say this.. Forgetting our past doesn't mean we forget the good and bad times we’ve shared with others, and where we used to be… it means we don't dwell on them or let them hold us back from moving forward in our journey with Christ. I believe we all need to learn to acknowledge and appreciate our past experiences, but even in appreciation of our past, it should never define our life or limit us in our pursuit of Christ.

If anything, we should be like Paul and say, that Christ is lifted in my weakness, and Christ is exalted in my shortcomings. That I am going to let go of my past so that that I can have open arms for what new God is leading me into for the future. When we let go of the past, we free ourselves to fully embrace the present and anticipate the future that God has in store for us.

That’s the truth for all of us… even those listening online… If we’re fixated on the past, we’re not going to be focused on the future, Because treasuring Christ together is looking forward to our hope in Christ, together. So how can we leave today with some practical things for our life when it comes to treasuring Christ…. Well for one: 1: Face your faults. Be honest about who you are and your walk with Christ.

Paul in verse 12 does this… He’s honest about his faults. He said, I haven’t achieved it yet, I’m not there. I don't have it all together.… Maybe there are some of you who feel that somehow you have arrived, or that you’re done or finished. That’s an illusion. Retirment doesn't mean you retire from faith. No, a growing Christian pressing on is never satisfied with his or her spiritual attainment.

If you’re growing in your faith, you’re never going to be satisfied where you are. Just don’t fall into the trap of putting your satisfaction into your past, even your eternal security of what you have attained in the present. Because what is the point of having security in your possessions if you’re never challenged to grow in your faith that God will provide? The bottom line is this.. Growth starts where pretense stops.

that means, growth begins when we’re honest where we are, and our need for Jesus every day, in every moment of our lives. 2: Forget your failures. Face your faults and forget your failures. You and I cannot live life looking over our shoulder at our past mistakes and our regrets. It’s one thing to recognize our faults, but it is another thing to be chained by our failures. Take your failures; bury them in the grave of God’s forgetfulness; ask God to forgive you;, seek to forgive those around you, and ask God to unchain you from things in your life where the failure hurts.

That’s the hardest part.. is to let go. Because there is always going to be people in your life who want you to remember that you’re a failure .Failure does not need not be final. The Apostle Paul had failed, but he said, “I forget those things which are behind.” That doesn’t mean that he was satisfied, but it does mean that he refused to be haunted by the ghost of guilt and shame.

He put that past in the grave of God’s forgetfulness. Failure is never final. Just remember this… , You always have the ability to begin, again. You will be given the ability to never give up, and to restart again. The question is, How different would that look, if you were truly a part of a church that instead of reminding others of their failures, that those who treasure Christ with you would pick you up and encouraged you to begin again….

Wouldn’t you say That’s living a sanctified life, that loves GOd and loves others? The bottom line: Your failures are events, not your identity. And thirdly: Focus your faith. Look with me real quick in Philippaisns 3:13: 3No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: If you mark in your Bible, underline that phrase, I focus on this one thing. This is a beautiful reminder with a laser beam focus.

Paul took everything in his life, and dropped it so that he can have this one life burning desire…to say, I do only this one thing and Look forward towards it. It being laser beamed focused. He’s looking ahead and focusing his life on this one thing… and I believing it came from verse 10… so that I may know Christ, intimately. If you are going to focus your faith.. you need to have a desire to narrow all of your interest, Jesus tells us in Matthew, that there are two paths to choose from in life: the wide gate that leads to destruction, and the narrow gate that leads to life.

To focus your faith means to narrow the things in your life that pull you from living Christ, and those around you. There needs to be discipline in our life, and when we narrow and become discipline, then set a direction forwards while not being fixated on the past. The bottom line is this.. Theres One aim, One game, and One name - Jesus” Face your faults: you’re not what you ought to be.

Forget your failures: God will forgive those failures. And then, focus your faith with, a desire, and a discipline, and a direction, where you say, “This one thing I do, no matter what the cost, my one aim, the one game and the one name I desire, is Jesus.” Could you do that.. If you willing to do that.. then I believe that we will be a church that treasures Christ, together.

Amen? Let us pray… *