Tossed No More — A Sunday Worth Leaning Into

Let me ask you a question that almost nobody asks themselves out loud.

When was the last time you thought, *I've arrived*?

Maybe it didn't show up that bluntly. Maybe it sounded more like *I've been doing this a long time*, or *I've heard this passage before*, or *I'm in a good place spiritually*. But it's the same thought, dressed up. And here's what I want us to wrestle with this Sunday: the moment that thought enters the heart of a Christian, the running has stopped.

And usually, the runner doesn't notice.

This Sunday we'll sit with one of the most quietly shocking paragraphs in the New Testament — Philippians 3:12–15. Paul has just spent ten verses describing what it cost him to follow Christ and what he's still chasing after. And then, in verse 12, he pulls the brake on his own self-assessment: *"Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect…"* This is the apostle Paul. Decades into ministry. Writing from a Roman prison cell, in chains for Christ Jesus. And he says, *I'm not there yet.*

If *he* won't claim it, who can?

Last Sunday, we asked the diagnostic question — are we still on milk? This Sunday, Paul shows us the antidote. Not a program. A way of being. A way of leaning. The mature Christian isn't the one who's arrived. It's the one who knows they haven't, and keeps pressing.

That's why we're calling it *Tossed No More.* Ephesians 4 says immature Christians get blown around by every wind of doctrine, pushed in fourteen directions at once. Paul's answer in Philippians 3 is a settled, single-eyed mind locked on Christ. Forward-leaning. One thing. And that's what we'll dig into together — what it looks like to stop being tossed and start being still.

Maybe your years in the church have been heavy lately. Too much past, you can't seem to outrun. Too many directions pulling at once. Not enough lean toward what's ahead. This passage was written for you. Come hungry. Come honest.

See you Sunday! Bible classes begin at 9:30. Worship is at 10:30.
Cornerstone Church of Christ website: .cornerstone-coc.com.

1. Paul refuses to claim arrival even from a Roman prison cell, decades into ministry. Where in your life are you most tempted to fly the “I’ve arrived” flag? What does taking it down look like?
2. Same Greek verb describes Saul persecuting the church (3:6) and Paul pursuing Christ (3:12). What passion or fire in you used to chase the wrong thing? How might it be aimed at Christ now?
3. “Forgetting what lies behind” includes both past failure AND past faithfulness. Which side pulls you backward more — shame over what you’ve done, or pride over what you’ve built?
4. Paul lands on “one thing.” Most of us are leaning in fourteen directions at once. What’s your one thing right now? If you had to name it out loud, would it be Christ — or something Christ-adjacent?
5. The cure for tossed is a settled mind. Where are you most tossed this week — what voices, currents, or pressures? What would setting your mind on Christ look like in that exact place?

Those Serving
CALL TO WORSHIP/PRAYER
Richard Jacobs
SONG LEADER
Roy Pyle
LEAD LORD'S SUPPER
Chris Terrian
ASSIST LORD’S SUPPER
Robert Zehring
Jeremy Price
Bob Hoopes
Luke Powell
SCRIPTURE READING
Brayden Grushon
Philippians 3:12-15
PREACHING
Matthew Allen
CLOSING PRAYER
Patrick Newbill
CLOSING COMMENTS
Boyd Hastings
WELCOME CENTER
Emily McDonald // Kathy Downey
USHERS
Justin Spargo // Billy Robbins
COMMUNION PREP
Pam Grushon
CLOSING THE BUILDING
Daniel Spargo