Sermon Outline: We study the Bible so we can… #1: Face opposition and have confidence (Philippians 3:1-11) #2: Face fear and have assurance (Philippians 3:12-16) #3: Face temptation and have joy (Philippians 3:17-21) The strongest opposition we face against the Gospel is false righteousness. We need confidence to face opposition around us and within us. Studying the Bible helps us grow in confidence. The longer we live and the more we experience in life, the more tempted we are to be controlled by our past and driven by fear and worry. We need assurance to face fear around us and within us. Studying the Bible helps us grow in assurance. We are tempted to live like the world around us and to focus on earthly things. We need joy to face temptation around us and within us. Studying the Bible helps us grow in joy. Sample Questions for GCs: We can locate our false righteousness by asking ourselves, “When do I look down on other people?” If I pride myself on being successful, I will tend to look down on others for their failure. If I pride myself on having a great family, I will tend to look down on others for having family dysfunction. Search yourself: Where does false righteousness try to take up residence in your life? It’s easy to be controlled by the past, but this is a posture of fear not assurance. Look at verse 12. What assurance does God give us in this verse? If this is really true, do you need to be afraid? Focusing on earthly things makes us enemies of the cross. Paul warns us to be careful about who we imitate because we are so often tempted to live like the world around us. How do you determine if someone is worthy of imitation? Look at verses 20 & 21. There is immense joy in these words! How do the promises in these verses help us fight the temptation to focus on earthly things?