<p style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary</b>:<br>Paul expresses his desire to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed to His death in the hope of attaining the resurrection from the dead. He clarifies that he has not already obtained this or become perfect, but presses on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of him. Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, he presses on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. He calls those who are mature to have this same attitude, trusting that God will reveal any needed understanding. He urges them to keep living according to the standard they have already attained.<br> <br><b>Teaching</b>:<br>To believe is to know Jesus—to know Jesus as the Christ. The entire story of the Gospels is the account that leads to Jesus’ resurrection.<br><br>He became human, grew, worked, suffered, died, was buried, and rose again. To believe is to seek to know this whole sequence of His story, and to take part in His sufferings, entering into His life and living out His story.<br><br>The central point of Jesus’ story is His death. Without death, there would be no resurrection, which is why Paul desires to know it. To “know” here means to take on His death by being conformed to it. To be conformed means to have the same form.<br><br>Therefore, as we live in the church, we come to share in Jesus’ death - denying ourselves and taking up our own cross.<br><i><br></i><i>Excerpt from the sermon by Pastor Lee, May 19, 2026</i><i><br></i><i>Philippians 3:10-16</i></p>
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