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(Read Philippians 3:12-14) Heaven is the prize awarded to the believer upon completing this earthly life. What a prize! There is none other like it! Paul said he “pressed on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” At Paul’s conversion, Jesus called him heavenward. That’s…
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(Read Philippians 3:12a; 13a) Maturity in Christ is not a destination. It’s a journey. As believers in Christ, we progressively mature in our relationship with Christ daily until Jesus calls us home. I think it’s best to say, “I’m maturing” instead of “I’ve matured” when it comes to growth in Christ. If you remember from last week,…
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(Read Philippians 3:11) What will heaven be like? My first thought of heaven was at my aunt’s funeral when I was about five. She was a Christian. My mom said, “My sister is now with Jesus in a perfect body and heaven.” I wondered how this worked. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. My simple…
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(Read Philippians 3:10) I have a birthdate – you do, too. That’s the day we started life in this world. It was the first day, but not the only day. Since that day, I have been maturing in many ways. I’ve had many birthdays since. I no longer crawl or drink from a bottle. I grew…
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(Read Philippians 3:9) The next three days will cover three phases of salvation: justification, sanctification, and glorification. Justification is the act whereby God pronounces a sinner forgiven from sin and righteous because of their faith in Christ. It is Christ’s work through His atoning sacrifice on the cross. Sanctification is how Christians grow and are…
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(Read Philippians 3:7-8) A good friend named to his university’s “All-Decade” basketball team told me an interesting story. He visited his school’s athletic department, where his picture and trophies were once on display, only to find they had been taken down ten years later. He found them in a box in a closet labeled “throw away.” He…
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(Read Philippians 3:4-6) I loved playing basketball in school. In one game, I scored a couple of points toward the end to pull within one point. With only a few seconds left, I made a layup and was fouled. Those free throws could win the game. As I stood on the line to shoot, I…
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(Read Philippians 3:2-3) In the last two chapters of Philippians, especially 3:1-4:9, Paul transitioned from encouragement and instruction to mostly commands. He steps up his warnings about false teachers and directives on how the church should live in Christ. Philippians 3 is all about avoiding false teachers. The attackers were the Judaizers, pushing a false gospel that demanded…
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(Read Philippians 3:1) I don’t know about you, but I need multiple reminders for important dates. It terrifies me as a pastor at the possibility of being late for a wedding or funeral I am preaching. Thankfully, that has never happened, but I think about it each time I preach those. I set at least…
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(Read Philippians 2:29-30) Honor is fast becoming something we’re losing sight of doing. Dishonor, it seems, gets more laughs, ratings, and views. That doesn’t make it right. In junior high, we would “talk trash” during sports. At lunch, we would “dis” (disrespect) each other in what seemed like an insult competition. To “joan on” or “burn” someone was…
stephen R Harrison 