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Philippians 8: Throwing out your valuables

Philippians 3:1-11

Ready for Impact (10 minutes)

Catch up on how things have been over the past week. Then ask group members: describe something in your life that is valuable to you – what makes it valuable?

Ask for a volunteer to read Philippians 3:1-11 to the group, praying that you’d be deeply impacted by God’s word and then impact others in Jesus’ name.

Watch

If you’re not gathered in person, the leader should project the video for the group through sharing their screen

Impacted by the Word (15 minutes)

Here are some suggested questions to help your discussion:

  • What are your initial responses to Philippians 3:1-11? What strikes you?
  • In verse 1, Paul calls the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord. Then he immediately tells them to look out for the false teachers. How might the influence of these people keep the Philippians from rejoicing in the Lord?
  • We can easily end up placing confidence in our own efforts rather than in Christ’s finished work on the cross. When this happens, how does it affect your joy in Christ, or your relationship with him? How does Christ’s righteousness truly accomplish what you’re trying to achieve by your own efforts?
  • If you truly believed that Jesus’ righteousness was enough for you in each moment of your university life, how might your life look different?

Taking It Further

Don Carson comments on the confusing word ‘somehow’ in Philippians 3:11:

By this wording, Paul does not mean to inject doubt as to whether or not he will receive resurrection from the dead. The word ‘somehow’ in the original probably suggests Paul is uncertain as to the timing of this experience. Might it come to him in his lifetime, so that he receives a transformed, resurrection body without passing through death? We know from his first letter to the Thessalonians that this is what Paul teaches will befall those believers who are alive when Jesus returns (1 Thess. 4:13-17). Or will he die and then rise from the dead? Either way, ‘somehow’, he will ‘attain to the resurrection from the dead.’ And in Paul’s mind, attaining that glorious end, the final resurrection, the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness, is bound up with persevering in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. So for the knowledge of Christ, Paul yearns.

Thank God for those of older generations you’ve known in church who’ve shown such perseverance in the knowledge of Christ. Encourage CU Impact Group members who’ve not yet read Chapter 3 of Basics for Believers to consider reading it in the coming week.

Impacting Our Hearts (10 minutes)

Paul seeks to underline the value of Christ to the Philippians through sharing the difference Christ has made to his own life. Ask members of your group what changes they’ve seen in their own lives since coming to meet Jesus. Can anyone identify with the things Paul used to trust in?

You might also like to discuss the value of our personal stories (testimonies) in our worship and evangelism. How might they be used more effectively?

Impacting the University (15 minutes)

It’s not always easy to speak about the realities of sin and the cross in ways that are both faithful to Scripture and which resonate with our friends. Becky Pippert writes:

“The paradox of the cross is that it insists on highlighting our evil, in order to leave us with absolutely no doubt that whatever we have done, we can be forgiven.”
  • How have we seen the reality of this statement in our time in Philippians 3?
  • Some people think they are too good to need forgiveness, whilst others think they are too bad to be offered forgiveness. How should these two perceptions shape the ways you communicate the message of the cross to each group?
  • How has todays Impact Group session burdened you to pray for students around you at university who don’t know Jesus?

To think more about this theme, see Chapter 8 of Becky Pippert’s book, Stay Salt.

Spend time praying for one another and for friends by name, especially for those you suspect consider themselves too good to need forgiveness. Pray that they’d have their opinions changed by meeting Jesus, just as Paul did.

Then confirm the time you’ll meet together next week, and close your time together.