today in the September 28-October 2
Today in The Word
Monday Sept 28, 2020
Have you ever been asked, “Do you know Christ?” Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. Paul explains some of what that phrase means in Philippians 3:9-10:
“…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection…”
Paul is saying that knowing Christ is more than just knowing some details about his life. Knowing Christ comes from knowing the power of his resurrection. The crucified and resurrected Jesus has made an offer to humanity. Instead of trying to impress God with our righteousness, we can accept the offer of Jesus’ righteousness to replace our own. The resurrected Jesus has the power to stand in our place before the Father.
So, knowing Jesus has to do with abandoning our ineffective efforts to be righteous on our own and accept his covering of righteousness over our mistakes. Do you want to know Jesus? Then accept the resurrected Jesus’ offer of righteousness before God.
And that’s The Word from Deer Lodge Assembly on the corner of 5th and Montana.
Today in The Word
Tuesday Sept 29, 2020
Have you ever been asked, “Do you know Christ?” Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. Yesterday we explained that knowing Jesus involves accepting his offer of his righteousness to cover our mistakes. But Paul explains another aspect of what that phrase means in Philippians 3:7-8, 10:
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ…I want to know Christ…becoming like him in his death”
Paul was a highly trained, highly respected, deeply religious Pharisee at one time. He had status in Israel. But his desire to know Christ was far more important than that status. And further, he knew that Jesus had suffered persecution and martyrdom. He did not only wish to understand and participate in Jesus’ power, he wanted to value his sacrifice as well. He wanted to connect completely, even in suffering.
Do we want to know the full Jesus? Then we must be willing to lose in order to know.
And that’s The Word from Pastor David of Deer Lodge Assembly on the corner of 5th and Montana.
Today in the Word
Wednesday Sept 30, 2020
How do we keep growing toward God? Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. Paul gives us his advice in Philippians 3:12:
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on…”
Sometimes we get self-congratulatory in our spiritual life. We take a look at how far we have come over time, and get to thinking we are pretty great. We shift into neutral and figure we can coast. Paul resists this tendency. He reminds himself that he has not arrived at some kind of perfection. And if the apostle Paul, the greatest missionary of his time and the writer of multiple books of the New Testament has not yet arrived, is it possible that we have not arrived either?
After all, our comparative goodness is not to be compared to other humans but to God’s perfection, and that means we are all woefully short. So, that can motivate us to keep pressing on. We are to keep growing. We are to stay at the task of becoming a little more like Jesus until our last breath. Keep pressing on. We haven’t arrived yet!
And that’s The Word from Pastor David of Deer Lodge Assembly. Join our Wednesday adult Bible Study at 6:30 for more of the Word.
Today in the Word
Thursday Oct 1, 2020
What can help us keep pressing on in our spiritual growth? Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. Paul speaks to this in Philippians 3:13-14:
“…I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
He ‘forgets what is behind.’ Paul has had many wonderful successes, but he does not rest on his laurels. Paul has done some truly terrible things in the past, but he chooses to not dwell on his worst days. He has asked and received forgiveness for those actions. Humans have a tendency to live in the past—either the ‘good old days’ or the replays of our darkest hours. The trick is to live in neither kind of past. Instead Paul lives in the present. It motivates him to press on. Time goes in one direction, and he is going to press on one day at a time toward the ultimate future of life with the Lord he loves.
Doesn’t that sound like a better way to live?
And that is the Word from Deer Lodge Assembly on the corner of 5th and Montana.
Today in the Word
Friday Oct 2, 2020
Do you remember trying to hold your child’s hand tight and it seemed like they were doing their best to wiggle out of your grip? Welcome to The Word with Pastor David. Paul states in Philippians 3:12:
“…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
Paul knows that Jesus took hold of our hand first. Jesus initiated relationship with us.
“…while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
But Paul says he is going to grab Jesus’ hand back. Jesus has got hold of Paul, but Paul is not trying to wiggle out of God’s grasp, he is holding right back. As if he was dangling over a cliff, Paul is gripping tight the hand that grips him.
What a picture for us! God wants to hold us in his hand. People who press on in their relationship with God ‘grab hold back.’
And that’s the Word. We are restarting our Sunday School hour for every age at Deer Lodge Assembly this Sunday at a new time: 9:30. And all are welcome at 10:30 for a worship service with more of the Word.