~ LISTENING CENTER ~

Date: October 11, 2026 Title: The Pursuit of Christ; Part 1 Dealing with your Past Passage: Philippians 3:1-21 Speaker: Bob Corbin Sermon Note Sheet (PDF) Download Audio Watch it on

* Paul has exhorted the church of Philippi to be united and to have one mind. And that oneness was supposed to be in Christ Jesus. They needed to take upon themselves the mind of Christ - the mind of a bondslave rooted in humility. * Last week, we saw that Paul presented them with three earthly illustrations of men who laid hold of that mindset and who then demonstrated it through their lives. * Paul now turns to the core motivation of having this "mind of Christ" ... it begins with a passion. We will pursue whatever we are impassioned about. As we saw in our study of Ecclesiastes, Solomon passionately pursued self-pleasure. What you want the most - what you crave - what you care the most about - you will make time for and you will spend money on. That desire will begin to consume you until you accomplish it. In the end, the object of that pursuit becomes your "god." * What was Paul's pursuit? About what was he most impassioned? He tells us plainly - to know Christ. But, not just to know Him superficially. Rather, Paul wanted to know Christ in the power of His resurrection and in the koinonia (fellowship/oneness) of His sufferings. In order to accomplish this, it was going to require him to change the way he thought of his past and his pedigree. It was going to require him to change the focus of his future hope. Finally, it would then require him to change his present pursuit. * Today, we want to consider the first part of this process - properly taking care of your past, or as Paul states to the church of Ephesus, "putting off the old man." * This message was presented by Bob Corbin on October 11, 2026 at Family Bible Church in Martinez, Georgia.