Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group leader podcast. This week the conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practice the spiritual rhythms and changes the world together. Welcome leaders to week six of our Life Group leader podcast, looking at our series, Fighting for Joy, a study for the book of Philippians. So glad that you're joining us here again this week.
Hey, before we dive in, we just got to look back a little bit at this previous weekend. Incredible. It was our rooted celebration, our VDS celebration, baptisms, I believe. I mean, it's what we call around here kind of a mega weekend.
God just did so many incredible things. We love to celebrate what's happening. And then of course, we know we've got many who are joining us this week, new life group leaders as your reader group has just had your celebration and you're looking ahead towards the summer. We've got new leader training on July 9th.
So there's so many great things that are going on. And if you are a new listener, so glad to have you and do mark your calendars for that July 9th with our new life group leader training. All right. Well, here we are week six, officially crossing the halfway point of our study through the book of Philippians.
And I've got one of my favorite people, not only on our team, but in the entire world, the brother and her pastor Linda Vito. I'm here. Here we go. Let's do this.
It's going to be great. Linda Vito, so many things to love about Linda Vito, including your last name. My Siri, my Siri does never recognize your name. I have to say, I have to say, who's not.
You do. Yeah. Many people are family do that. They're serious.
I mean, it's much more than Thomas. Pretty, pretty morning. Well, yeah, at least it's phonetic. I guess so.
What was your maiden name again? I've asked you this. Chum chal. Chum chal.
So you went from Chum chal to the vinyl. Yeah, but Chum chal was phonetics. You am a CHAL Chum chal. Yeah.
Well, we can talk about it. I have last name envy. You do. Yeah.
Well, you should because your last name is incredible. And the person who's in attached to you. Yes. All right, let's jump on in here.
You're ready to do this thing. We're looking at Philippians 3, 1, 3, 9. We are. This is it.
The turning point of the series halfway through here. Let's start with our lean in question. It says, you ready for it? I'm ready.
If you could go back to relive or redo any particular period of time, what would it be and why? So you could think about the grand scale of time, like sort of the Bill and Ted's excellent adventure, where would you go back in the magic foam booth? Or maybe in your own life if there was a season where it was particularly like, yeah, that was a great time of life. I wish I could jump back and relive that again.
Anything, Sam? I get older and our kids get older. It's natural to want to go back to when the simplicity of life, which seems so chaotic at the time when we had kids in elementary school in junior high. But I just I miss that about them, I think, not necessarily the time and the chaos of that, but just I would just do something.
We would do things so much differently than what we know now. So I just I miss that. I miss having the kids all in the house together and us all being together as a family and being able to go on outings together as a family. So I do miss that.
Yeah. And you're kind of a little further down the way with that than we are. We're also experiencing that a little bit with our old issues. You know, pivoting to high school next year and reliving those times and remembering those times just dropping her off here, actually, at the Meredith's preschool when she was little and now she's off on her own, not on her own, but on her way to high school.
And again, we look back at those moments with a lot of joy and celebration. And I think the question is, is getting us again to look at circumstantial joy, looking back at things that we would want to relive. And those are good and great and wonderful things and it can be a cause for joy. But it's not where we find our deepest profound meaning and purpose in life.
So we can have a good conversation around around that. All right. So although this might not be in your leader guide, the sermon was really versus one through nine. So I'll go ahead and read chapter three verse one.
In addition to my brothers and sisters rejoicing the Lord to write to you again about this is no trouble for me and a safeguard for you. Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh for we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus and do not put confidence in the flesh. Although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more and then he goes on and he lists all of his different qualifications, which are from verse five all the way down to verse six, picking up at seven.
Everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. That's really the principle verse that we're looking at. Everything that was a gain or all that I had, the resume, I considered to be a loss. And more than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, because of him, I have suffered the loss of all things and considered them as done so that I might gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes for the law, but one that is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
All right. So there's a lot there to unpack. Yes. I have a question here to help pull out some of the things of the passage.
First it says about what does Paul mean by having confidence in the flesh? What stands out to you about the things that he mentions? How would you interact with that question? Well, I just, I think that we can so easily go to our accolades and our successes and think that those are such great things, regardless of our spiritual maturity.
That's just something that we have a propensity to lean into as humans. And Paul so clearly says, you know, as you're reading that, you're like, well, he's actually telling how great he is because he's listening them all, but he's really doing that to emphasize the fact that although those are great, he considers them done. Like it's just nothing compares. Yeah, this isn't like a false humility of Paul.
Right. List those things starting on from verse five, but really stating like, hey, you think that you know, you've got all these great accolades and you've got a great name for yourself because you've achieved, you've earned the status. Well, let me tell you, let me tell you, I love how Eric talks about the message. He breaks it down into a few different categories.
He talks about his legacy and his heritage, the relationships that he had, his reputation. Right. He talks about his passion for persecuting the church. He talks about his own goodness, all these things where he previously had a confidence in the flesh.
And then according to Paul then, he says, what is it about knowing Jesus? That is so much more valuable than whatever he once held dear. What do you want to learn about that from the passage? Everything, everything.
We have nothing if it weren't for Christ and his sacrifice. So it just turns us back to that point. And I think it just refocuses us on it doesn't matter. First of all, you're not taking any of that with you.
The glory and honor is all his. He gave it all to us. He allows us to step into those things for his glory. And we just sacrificially lay them at his feet and make him the center of our lives.
And I love what he says to at the end of verse eight. He says, because of him, meaning Christ because of him. And he says, I have suffered loss of all things. And I consider them as done.
So it's really interesting. He talks about suffering. I've lost what I thought once was a prophet in my life. And Eric talks about that quite a bit, prophet and loss in the message.
But those things that I would have put in that column, I've lost them. They're not no significance for me anymore. I consider them as as done. Yeah.
You're done as done, but it's a little bit more explicit. Right. And he talks about that in his message, just about the Greek implications of that on how awful it is. I mean, we know when we see it on the streets or stepping it in it and it's pretty ugly.
Yeah, yeah. It's right. And it's done. And it's not that that's the only side of it.
I know that I might gain Christ. Right. And that's the beauty. That's the beauty.
That's the beauty. That's the beautiful, that wonderful exchange of actually all the things that I earn and strive for and my reputation, all of that. Man, insignificant to the righteousness that I can inherit that I receive by faith and grace in who Jesus is. So there's so much that's going on in the passage.
And then as we look out, you remember, you know, we're looking at the passage lookout. We start talking about where we see this at work in the world around us. So a couple of questions here. Would Paul's criticism of those who think that they can be good enough for God to accept them resonate with our culture?
And you'd be here that quite often of, well, I'm just a good person. Right. I have high standards. I care for those that are marginalized.
Like surely I've done enough. I'm not a better, I'm better than most. Right. How do you think Paul would interact with that, which is a very real thing in our culture?
Well, Paul had no problem speaking truth and love. And it was, he reminds us that nothing we do can ever make us worthy of our salvation or our time in heaven, our eternity spent with him, nothing. That's right. And I know he would shut that down so quickly.
That's right. Then the other question is what things does our culture hold on to as more valuable than Jesus? Because what can be proclaimed about Jesus as more valuable as alternative to those things? So what do we look to?
So the first question talks about our moralism. What are the other things that you might see at work around us? Well, I just, I think of the passage where it says, you know, I am the living water and you'll be thirsty no more. And I remember in one message Eric talked about talking to somebody and the guy's like, I've got a great life.
Like I don't need to hunger and thirst for the Lord because everything's great. And he just, he turned it around to say, but it could be so much better. I think people get complacent in where they are right now and thinking it's good. It's good enough.
I don't need Jesus because my life's pretty great. But they don't understand how much better it could be with a fully surrendered life to Christ. And I think back to a few weeks ago when we talked about having a right size view of eternity and what that looks like. I think that's one of the things too is, well, I can build up my empire, my wealth, my security.
And I could, right now I could see it and it seems to be tangible and it's praised and it's praised by others. But we're talking about storing out treasures in heaven that last where moth won't rot or destroy. I mean, it's something that will stand the test of not just our temporal experience on earth, but for all, for all of time. And I do think as I talked about that, sometimes that's a bit of a barrier of people believing that and understanding that, let alone for those that don't follow Jesus and even Jesus followers as well.
I want the immediacy. Like I want to feel the, I did it the success, the immediate hit of my striving and my effort where Paul reminds us so often through this letter that there's so much more than the temporal and that actually this connection between the things that we held that we surrendered and that we sacrificed them and they exchanged for that as far greater than we could ever imagine. The impacts of that as far greater than we could ever imagine. Right.
And that comes from our selfishness. I think we just don't, we have such a low bar on what God can do. But sometimes our faith is so tempered that we hold on to things that we think are good enough or great, but yeah, God has so much more and so much better and greater. That's good.
That's great. So as we continue to work through the questions, new leaders are beginning to see the flow of it lean in as our intro, get us thinking creatively about it, look down as looking at the passage, look out as where we see it at work in the world around us. And now look in it's for us. Allow God's word to read us, challenge us, move us into action.
And the question here is, aside from working to earn God's favor, what are some other ways that you may be putting confidence in the flesh? Or I love the question even that Eric posed, it's asking the same thing in a different way. At the end of his message, he says, what does your life profit and loss look like? Where are you trying to build a life with a bunch of profits and attempt to earn your way to God?
Remember, you talked about that significantly, profits, the things that we think are going to bring us benefit, meaning and purpose. Where do you think maybe before you, Linda, or for those that you see around you, where's the temptation to stack up your profit? Right. The temptation is always because it's the here and now you talked about it's what we could see.
Yeah. When we take our focus off God, that's what we do. We look inward. It comes from self-centeredness.
And yet we are called to self-denial to focus on him. But there's nothing wrong with being successful. I just want to reiterate that it's okay to do your very best where God is placed you. And that's not what we're talking about here.
We're talking about understanding that it all is from God and it is all for him to continue to strive to please him and to fear him, be obedient to what he's asking us to do. Yeah, it's a question of what has that priority seat, that first place, right? Right. In your heart that informs your view of God, your view of yourself and your view of others.
And I think it could be a good callback even to what Paul put his hope in, his profit side in. You might say, man, which of these resonates with you is it legacy and heritage, your family, how you grew up, where you were born, is it the relationships that you have, reputation, wanting to build a good name for yourself? Is it just the things that you're passionate about, the things that you're running after? Is it goodness, moralism, trying to be a good person?
Which of these may be resonated with you? And I think for me, it's probably all of them at times, all of them at times. Certainly the heritage and legacy have been brought up in church. You can take things for granted and just operate under assumption.
Right. And actually lose the joy and the wonder of what it means to be a recipient of grace. So that might be one for me. But think about that with your group.
And you might want to again, call back to the things that Paul put in the profit side, the things that Eric calls out in the message, which one resonates with you. And then have a great free-falling conversation from there. All right, guys. Awesome.
Linda, thanks for joining us. Yes. Appreciate you. Happy to be here.
Do and we will see you next week for week seven of fighting for joy.