THE JOY OF KNOWING CHRIST

Join your Calvary Chapel family (Sunday, December 28, at 10:00 a.m.) in the main sanctuary or online through our website (www.calvaryinv.com), Facebook, and YouTube (Calvary Inverness) for the last Sunday of 2025 as we come together to exalt Jesus, build each other up in love, and be equipped to evangelize a lost world by continuing our study in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians (3:9-16).

Paul had told the Philippian church in detail about the futility of relying on one’s own work to justify oneself before God. He, of all people, had a reason to be confident. He was from a prominent family and was trained to be part of an elite group of men who served as Israel’s spiritual leaders. And, despite his young age, he had achieved more in his life than many older than him.

Yet he saw it all as useless compared to what Christ had done for him. His deeds, though performed with good intentions, lacked power. On the outside, he was faultless in following the law, but inside, his heart was corrupt and filled with greed.

Therefore, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes about the joy of knowing Christ. It’s more than just an intellectual exercise. He speaks of personally and intimately knowing the power of God that transformed him from the inside out.

This power was so great that it wiped his heart clean of all the greed, hatred, arrogance, and bitterness that had driven him to pursue and kill those who claimed to be followers of Christ.

One can’t put a price on what Christ has done on the cross. His death and resurrection open the way for sinners to become saints. The only requirement is for the wayward sinner to place their faith in Him.

Paul came to this realization only after recognizing that everything he was and had achieved paled in comparison to knowing what Christ had done. He set aside his accomplishments and humbly and passionately pursued the One who had promised him eternal life.

As he sat in a Roman prison, he wanted his beloved Philippian church to know that he was okay and was ready to live or die for the cause of Christ. He didn’t have a death wish; instead, he wanted to live wholeheartedly for the pleasure and purpose Christ had for him. With that resolve, Paul has a joy that Rome, Israel, friends, enemies, possessions, or the lack of them could never take away.

My prayer is that our church, filled with love for God and one another, will continue to maintain the unity of the Spirit and walk humbly before our Lord and Savior so that our ministries remain impactful. Therefore, our community will see and recognize that we love God and each other with all our hearts, minds, and strength.

In His Unfailing Love,

Pastor