Pastor Claude delivered a great sermon this week at New Life titled “Consumed by Christ.” The sermon was centered around Philippians 1:19-30.
Pastor Claude laid out several questions to ponder that have challenged me in the past and still do to this day and I wanted to share them with you.
If you, like me, are a believer in Christ and have committed your life to Him, these are essential and convicting questions we must consider.
Paul in Philippians 1:21 said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
How would you will in the blank? “For me, to live is ____________.”
What consumes you? What motivates you to live each day, consumes your thoughts, time, and drives your priorities? What defines you? Take a good look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself – where does my true identity lie?
Do you really know Jesus today or do you just know stuff ABOUT Him? Do you really BELIEVE Him or just believe IN Him? Is your identity centered around Christ or something else of this world (success, notoriety, money, job, family, body, possessions, etc.)? These are challenging questions that every Christian needs to consider.
The worship team ended the service with this great song by Natalie Grant. I desire to live my life for Christ alone and to make Him the cornerstone of my identity and my life. I struggle to do this on a daily basis but it is my desire!
In Christ Alone
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
enspire balance 