Servants & Stewards - Philippians 3:12-21

·35 min·3 clips

Paul admits he's not there yet, revealing the tension between who we are in Christ and who we're becoming.

This episode is a sermon from Northwest Hills Community Church, part of a series on the book of Philippians. Worship director Justin Jackson delivers the message, titled 'Servants & Stewards,' focusing on Philippians 3:12-21. He begins by acknowledging his own rough week, including sickness and a fitness challenge, to connect with listeners. Jackson then introduces the passage, where Paul admits he has not yet obtained perfection but presses on because Christ has made him his own. The sermon centers on the concept of the 'already and not yet'—Christians are already saved but not yet fully like Christ. Jackson uses a cross-country race analogy: conversion is the starting line, and believers must keep running toward Jesus. He delves into the Greek words for 'forgetting' (epilanthanomai) and 'straining forward' (epekteinomai), emphasizing letting go of the past and reaching toward the goal. Jackson contrasts Paul's example with those who are 'enemies of the cross,' describing them as people who sit in mud pits instead of running. He highlights that Christians' citizenship is in heaven, where they will receive resurrected bodies. The sermon includes practical applications: keep eyes on the prize through spiritual disciplines, lose weights like past guilt and distractions, and don't run alone but in community. Jackson references other Bible passages, such as Luke 9:23 and Hebrews 12, and shares personal tips, like charging phones away from the bedside. He ends with a prayer, reinforcing the message to keep moving forward in faith.

As heard by us

Paul's unfinished race becomes a direct call to keep moving forward.

Justin Jackson's Philippians teaching stays close to Paul's blunt honesty: he is not there yet, and that admission gives the message its shape.

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Why you'd press play

For when you need a calm shove out of spiritual inertia today.

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