Say More with Fullerton Free
A weekly sermon discussion podcast, reflecting on the Sunday morning message at Fullerton Free Church the previous week.
Say More with Fullerton Free
Say more about Life in Christ
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This week we talk about the sermon form July 12th, 2026 at Fullerton Free Church
Hey, everybody, welcome to Say More. Woo! Yay! A weekly podcast for Fullerton Free Church. We talk about the passages from Sunday and the sermon. You guys get to ask questions and we answer them to the very best of our abilities. I'm Katie Smiley. I'm one of your hosts. And today I have two special guests. One is Christina Mandola. Hello. Wow. And the crowd goes wild. And the other is Morgan Peterson. Woo!
SPEAKER_02Thanks, Christina. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00And Morgan, most of you know already. She's been on the podcast several times, but she's our high school. High school ministry pastor, high school ministry, shepherd, high school ministry.
SPEAKER_02Admin, coordinator, director, whatever you want to call it. I'm all of the above. I'm doing everything.
SPEAKER_00Park night supervisor.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00We got our plates full over here. That's right. A camp goer. Yes. Yes. And so we're going to talk about Philippians, chapter one, verses 12 to 30. Isn't that exciting? This is from July 12th, just in case you're wondering. Okay, guys, I just want to say I got all the details out. I put the song on at the right time.
SPEAKER_03This day is starting strong.
SPEAKER_00I feel really goodly good about here.
SPEAKER_02Can only go downhill from here.
SPEAKER_00I feel really good about it. Christina, you gave us the message on Sunday. Would you care to give us a little recap for our listeners? Sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So we went through verses 12 to 30 of Philippians 1 and uh broke it down into four different parts. So we talked about first how Paul is um, he's writing, he's in prison, and he's reporting to the Philippians that uh despite him being in prison and actually like through him being in prison, that uh the gospel is advancing, that people are hearing um that he's imprisoned for Christ, and that uh other believers around him are feeling more bold to actually share their faith. So uh that first part of the message was just looking at how Paul has this really um difficult circumstance that would seem like a huge setback, but he's writing to share like God is working even through it, and actually like the gospel is not held back by him being in prison, but is spreading. Um and then we looked at, oh, we talked about suffering. Um, and we kind of talked about this throughout the message too, because Paul is going through suffering. And one of the things that he's writing to the Philippians about is that they are also um going through suffering. And, you know, as we get deeper into the book, we'll talk more about what he's encouraging them specifically toward through their suffering. But um, he's really wanting to help them have perspective through suffering. So we talked about how uh for this passage, um, and just in general, when we talk about suffering in the Bible, especially when it's sometimes presented in what can feel like a positive light when we're reading it, to make sure that um we understand that the Bible in and of itself is not saying that suffering is good, uh, but that God can still use it. And that's what Paul's showing us here. Paul's not like celebrating in the suffering. And I felt pretty like burdened to to talk about that because I actually grew up in a like Christian environment that actually gloried, glorified suffering and made you feel like you have to pursue suffering to be like an all-star Christian. And that's so that cut that like formed me in a pretty deep way. So just sitting through passages like this, um I mean, I I feel very differently about that now, but I feel sensitive to how that narrative sometimes can feel like it circulates in Christian circles about suffering, um, because there's so much suffering written in the New Testament. But the second thing we talked about suffering uh in the Bible is that like a lot of times when like in this particular suffering, Paul says that it's a gift of grace that God has given both like him and the Philippians to suffer in this way. And uh this suffering is specifically for suffering for faithfulness to Christ and suffering for the gospel. So something about that kind of suffering and for Jesus, um, Paul calls a gift of grace. And so I think that's really important too, to like kind of keep keep some bounds on how the Bible itself is even talking about suffering, uh, and not to say like just stay in every situation of suffering that you're in. We're looking at Paul who's like in prison, he has no power, and the Philippians, you know, they're living in a Roman province trying to stay faithful to Jesus, uh experiencing resistance for that, because you know, Caesar is Lord in Rome, and the Christians are gonna have to say Jesus is Lord, and that creates a lot of opposition for them. Um, and so that's a little bit out of their control if they're gonna, you know, stay allegiant to Christ. So um just getting that context, I feel like is helpful because uh I just didn't want that to be like abused or misunderstood, even in people's own spirits, if they find themselves in a situation of suffering to just feel like, oh, well, I'm just supposed to stay in this suffering and look for how God's working through it. Like, I don't think that's always pervasively the case. Actually, that's not pervasively the case. Um so we see Paul like rejoicing um in his suffering because God is moving. We see him able to say, people are even trying to make his suffering worse, but because Christ is being preached, he's able to um to glory in that. And we spent some time talking about that too. That's kind of a complicated passage, like about people having bad motives and what's Paul actually saying there. So if we have time and there's a question about that, we could talk about that later. Um and then mostly like we kind of focused on the last part of Paul's teaching is uh to in this section, is like his whole uh thought process on whether he lives or dies, what his aim is, and in verse 21, he says to live is Christ, to die is gain. So um from that point on, just really try to think about like what does it mean for Paul to say to live is Christ? To die is gain makes a little bit more sense because he's like he says that he longs to go be with Christ, um, which is better by far, but to live is Christ, I feel like is kind of a complicated statement. So, what does he mean by that? So we just unpacked the idea that for Paul, like his whole perspective is that as a believer, his life has been so transformed by the love of God, and now he sees his life as being like uh participating in the life of Christ. He sees himself as having a union with Christ, um, and that's what's driving everything for him. So Christ becomes not just like something really important to him, but it is the defining aspect of his life. Like whether he lives or dies, he wants Christ to be glorified. He uh he wants to follow in Christ's way, which means that as he suffers for the name of Christ, he can see his suffering as an opportunity to participate. He, I mean, in other parts, he talks about how he's like participating in the sufferings of Christ specifically. He'll even talk about that later in Philippians. Um, and he's encouraging the Philippians in their suffering to um also see their lives as an opportunity to participate in the life of Christ. So we kind of did a uh thing on just kind of hinting at union with Christ. And um, man, it was hard for me to like trim down this message because I was like, this is such a big topic to talk about like what does it mean to have union with God? Um, which is like the Bible talks about it all over the place, but it's kind of one of those things where you have to like dig to try to understand. Um, so we didn't get like too much in into that, but just mostly asking questions like, do I for me is the goal of my Christian life to love Jesus, or is it like driven just by some concept of Christianity? Is it like I want to know Christ, or is it like I'm trying to be a good person and do that in the way I think? Is it like I want to just die and go to heaven, or is it like I want to go be with Christ? Like what Paul's modeling is that his relationship with Christ is very vibrant and real and it is affecting everything about his perspective. So there's that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is such a holistic view. It's not a slice of your life or even your mind, or just sort of like, oh, I'm I'm better off because I I'm a Christian. It's much more um to the core of who you are. And but even as you lay out those examples, it's like so easy for us as human beings to just fall into those other things, like, yeah, yeah, I just want to go to heaven when I die, or I want to be a better person, even though we know deeply that it's God who does the work and that that's not exactly possible. It just these passages do remind us of the stuff that we need to kind of dig into and and know um about Jesus more clearly.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I think too, like uh just remembering that is you know, there there's the like c standard Christian phrase, like it's not a religion, it's a relationship.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um but it is like it it I think like what we see in Paul is that he actually has like a real relationship with Jesus, and that is what he longs for, is to be with him. So to me, that's like I I just feel like I could sit and think about that for a long time. Like that affects me in a lot of ways to uh consider like uh what does that look like in my life? Yeah, you know, is it just actually a longing for Christ Himself to be with God, or is it just a bunch of like concepts of Christianity?
SPEAKER_00So anyways, that's really good. Um, we do have three count 'em. Three, three questions. One, two, three. Yay! Um, that reminds me of parenting small children. Okay, I don't want to get to three. It doesn't really work anyway, because you end up getting to four or five or twenty-seven. It's like you just shouldn't count to begin with. Just no warnings. Um, okay, so I'm gonna ask the first one here and let's see what we think about it. Um, this person wants to know if the podcast is happening even though we're having VBS. And let me just say, yes, we are.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Um the grind never stops.
SPEAKER_00Also, VBS is going swimmingly. PS. I love watching the kids. Except not tempest.
SPEAKER_02Not literally swimmingly because we are not having a water day this year.
SPEAKER_00Hey, it's 97 degrees today. I wouldn't want to be on the black top throwing water balloons, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Uh Jackson Bridgeford has been really into wanting us to do a slime day out on the black top in the heat. He's like, instead of water, you use slime. He said, by the end of the day, kids are gonna come home with slime crusted all over their arms and legs. It's just hot.
SPEAKER_00Hot slime. It's like hot yoga, hot slime. Okay, anyway, back to the question. Um, I loved Christina's music illustration and the connection to how giving context can really open our eyes. I would love to know what's a passage or a story from the Bible that once you gained more context really opened your eyes to how impactful the story or passage is. Hmm. Uh maybe I guess I could do it too, but um, you want to just tell us a little bit about what that was in your message, in case someone hasn't heard it yet?
SPEAKER_03Yep. So I just played a little excerpt from a classical piece and just said, listen to the song, think about what it makes you feel. And then after listening to it, um, the first time I said, All right, here this this was written by a Japanese composer who was at his sister's bedside while she was dying from terminal cancer. And I said, the title of the song is called Bird in Grief. And so now listen to it again with that in mind. And you you just like hear, uh, you hear the song differently when you understand the context, and just used I use that illustration to say when you understand the perspective of the person who's authoring a piece of art, you're able to experience a piece of art with their perspective in mind. So for Paul, like his perspective is based on this idea of living in Christ. And so when you read the rest of what he says, if you don't have that perspective, you're kind of trying to piece together, like, oh, this makes me feel like this, or this, but you can understand, like, oh, this is permeating everything Paul's writing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's good. Do you guys have a thought about a passage of scripture, Morgan? Yeah. Did you think of one?
SPEAKER_02Uh there's a I mean, there's a handful, but the one that kept keeps coming to mind. Oh, I mean All right. Everyone, I'm leaving the podcast. Enjoy the rest of it. With just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Sorry, continue, continue, continue.
SPEAKER_02Oh, do you want me to talk about that? Yes, please. Let me beg you. Katie and I are office mates. So we I mean, we're just the around each other pinters, right?
SPEAKER_00It's just so real.
SPEAKER_02Just getting under each other's skin all the time. Um I mine's uh also I feel like my I am having trouble hearing myself a little bit. So sorry if I um sound funny, but oh, perfect. Thanks, Katie. Sure, I fixed it. Sorry, I realized that was an issue for only me, but I was getting distracted by it and I was worried I wouldn't be able to refocus. It's like, you know, back in COVID and like you're on Zoom and like someone's like video was delayed, and you're like, I can't pay attention to anything that you're saying because your voice is up. Yeah, anyways. All right, that was a tangent and back on it. Um Bible passages. Bible passages. I'm gonna repeat um actually, I think it was my first sermon here that I did on in Maine. So anyone who's there for that, it would be somewhat familiar, but it has stayed as like one of my favorite kind of eye-opening moments was um I was in a Bible study with a professor of mine in college, and um we were he was talking about Jonah. And um when Jonah gets swallowed up by the whale, Jonah has this kind of prayer poem type thing that he recites where he's talking about um basically drowning um before getting swallowed by the whale. And a lot of times I think we picture the whale as like this bad thing that came and like swallowed up Jonah. But what you see in the way that Jonah talks about it is that the whale is actually what saves Jonah. Jonah is like thankful that the whale comes to swallow him up um because he was drowning. And so the whale you kind of look at as like, oh, that's the thing. You get swallowed by a whale, you're gonna die. But it actually ended up becoming something that saved him and gave him life instead of killing him. And so then you see later Jesus talk about um the sign of Jonah that he is gonna be to the people, and that that will be the sign that the Messiah has come. And so, with that context, you look at it a whole nother way of just being like, it's not just like, well, Jesus is gonna like die and be buried for three days, like Jonah was in the whale for three days. It's also this picture of um with Jonah, the thing that seems like it was death for him, ended up bringing life to him. And so you see the same with Jesus that the cross um that brings death in finality actually is the thing that brings life for us. And so having that context and new understanding, um, I just I really loved that picture. And I felt it felt really applicable because I think there's a lot of things in my life that sometimes I feel like um it feels like, man, this this is gonna kill me, you know. Yes, not literally, but like just feels like I feel like I'm dying right now. And the reminder that like God is a God who takes things that should cause us death and he brings life out of them through Jesus and also just in our day-to-day lives.
SPEAKER_00That's really good. Thank you for sharing that. I love it. Um, my mind is kind of all over the place for this because it it seemed there's just a million things. Even right before we started recording, Christy and I were talking about some of the passages that are harder to understand about um like household codes and ways that um households are supposed to operate in the New Testament. And um, there's so much context involved. Once you study some of that, it's pretty um, it just really allows you to see more clearly what the society was saying, what Paul is saying about culture versus your relationship with Christ and what freedom in Christ looks like and all those things. But I also thought about um Psalm 23, which is a very beloved quoted Psalm, um, The Lord is my shepherd. Um, and a million years ago I read a little tiny book called, you know, uh a shepherd's perspective on Psalm 23 or something like that. I know that it has a title, but I'm just old now and I can't remember. And um, I remember reading that as like not a young Christian, but as like a person newly interested in um really studying scripture and reading this little book and recognizing all of a sudden that the context of where this passage was written, the time that it was written, what uh being a shepherd was in this time period. Um, I have no concept for those things. And having someone just really draw that out and illustrate it in a way that helped me understand what this is saying about God is so much deeper than I could have imagined just on a quick read of it and thinking about a shepherd and their relationship to their flock and the way that they tenderly care for it and all those things. It was um was like a trigger, almost like lightning. Just, oh wow, this is what studying the Bible can be if you have a better sense of the big themes and the context and that kind of stuff. So that's one story for me. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03Uh, one that came to mind for me was John 10, where Jesus talks about being the Good Shepherd, and uh it comes on the heels of the story of the blind, the man who was born blind, Jesus heals him, the religious leaders get all frustrated and they're seeking him out, and then Jesus, you know, spare the details. But then after all of that, Jesus goes into the Good Shepherd. Um, but the the background context to that is a big allusion to a passage in Ezekiel about um the leaders of Israel being bad shepherds because they're not caring for the people, but they're like lost in their religiosity, essentially. I mean, I'm way like simplifying that. But when you get the background of that um and you understand that Jesus is calling himself the good shepherd because he's actually caring for the people, uh, and it's it's an indictment on like the religious leaders. It's not just a comment about like Jesus being it is a comment on him being a good shepherd, but there's a lot of context to it. Um, that really changed how I like the depth of understanding that story and seeing it connected to the John 9 account as well.
SPEAKER_00Makes sense, yeah, for sure. Um, yeah, I feel like I could go off on a couple that are now, even as you're sharing, popping into my head. But we're gonna stop because we had three questions. Three. And we don't want to run out of time. Not that there's some sort of a time limit, but what if what if a buzzer goes off? We want to be done, filibuster.
SPEAKER_02I think I made it. I think I made the comment about filibuster on the last podcast, too.
SPEAKER_00I think you did. I've I've been you're obsessed with the filibuster. Yeah, it's your signature move. Um, okay, here's another question. Considering Philippians 123, which let me just read that really quickly. Uh, Philippians 123 says, I'm torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. Um in what sense is Paul not already being with Christ, that he would desire to die to be with Christ? In what way was Paul experiencing any lack of Christ in Paul's then current lived experience? Does that question make sense to you guys? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Anyone have a thought on that?
SPEAKER_03I do, but I don't want to talk too much.
SPEAKER_02It's all right. Morgan? No, go for it, Christina. You have do you have a thought? I'm I can't. Yeah, sure. I can't have a thought. Um yeah, I mean, um to me, I look at it and I go, like, Paul has the Holy Spirit within him, and we all do as followers of Jesus. And so um, through that, we do have connection to God and Jesus in the spirit, but also there's a reality that we are not with him um physically for sure. Um, and Jesus does say it's better to, you know, have the spirit, but I think it's also better to have both if you can have both, you know. But um I even and Christine, you probably know the context of this better, but I was just the passage that came to mind for me was um talks about like now we see dimly, but then we will see in full. And so this idea of like while we are on earth in broken, sinful bodies, um we like in our flesh, and like you even see in Romans six, maybe. Um, it talk about like the the spirit versus like the sinful desires of the flesh that are like these two different powers that are within us that kind of war with each other. And so um to depart and be with Jesus allows us to not have to battle the sinful desires of the flesh anymore, and we get to live fully in the spirit and fully in the freedom that Jesus offers that we currently have access to, but we don't take advantage of because we have this old self-human nature that is still with us. And so it's not it's not necessarily a lack of like Jesus' presence with him, but it's I think to me, it's a lack of the ability to actually fully experience the benefit and freedom of Jesus' presence with us while we are still on earth.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. For me, I I think just like fully to just go be with Christ, like and actually see him and be with him, but not like only through his spirit, but to like be fully in the presence of God. Um yeah, I mean, I think about it as like this probably so theologically not right, but like if your best friend lives across the country or something, you can like talk to your best friend, but there's something different about like going and being with them, you know. Um it like sits in that kind of sentiment for me. I don't know if that's right, but that's what it makes me think of.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I um I was just thinking about um shoot, and I'm trying to find it here, but now of course Bible Gateway is like giving me every version of a verse. Okay. Um I I I thought about the idea of what Paul talks about in Corinthians, 2 Corinthians about like this earthly tent, which is our bodies. And so if he wants to go be with Christ, it's like being able to shed that earthly part of us that is always kind of feels like it makes us run our race a little bit more slowly and gets in the way of that full union. And um, but to just be without any encumbrance or barrier or anything that gets in the way of being fully with him 100%. That's kind of how I would look at it too. So it feels like we're all sort of, you know, on the same page there.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, we all have the right answers over here.
SPEAKER_00Phew, at least somebody does. Okay. The ladies of Fullerton free. The ladies free ladies. Wow. Okay. Um so our last question is um, it's a great, it's a great question. So it has a little bit of context to it also. In sections like we studied on Sunday, I end up feeling like Paul is this Michael Jordan of the faith. I can play basketball too, but there's no way I can come close to how he does it. I don't know, Danny. I feel like you could You're not supposed to say his name.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I'm sorry. Shout out someone. But also, like shout out to Danny Danny Day-Lewis in this question. Danny DeVito came to church on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00Also, Morgan may or may not be suggesting that you are slightly like Michael Jordan. Okay. Um so I've always felt a lot of pressure to be like Paul in my faith and actions, but it sounds impossible. What do you think the average member of the Philippian church thought about their day-to-day life compared to Paul? I'm imagining a family needing to sell crops in the market to have enough money to feed their kids, hearing about Paul in prison for the gospel. Maybe to put it simply, what do we do with the difference between between the epic life of sacrifice and the practical life of necessary routine? Thanks. Good question. Such a good question.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because we're I'm so happy Mr. DeVito asked this.
SPEAKER_00Oh, Danny DeVito.
SPEAKER_02Such a theological man.
SPEAKER_00I thought it was Danny Glover. Hey, um, we're gonna making a lot of references to like the 90s and 2000s. Um I I love this question because it is so easy for us to just kind of like harp on the message and of like this life of sacrifice or to live as Christ and to kind of get in that like heady place of it and understand it. But then to actually put a lens on it that's like a family that needs to sell crops to keep their kids alive is so sobering and kind of like, yes, I feel like we do need to talk about that because there is a part of our life that is just routine-based and like paying the rent and doing the things that we need to do. And so, um yeah, anyway, I think it helps put things into perspective, even just to ask the question. But do you guys have any other thoughts? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I have a lot of thoughts.
SPEAKER_02This is this is Christina. That pauses Christina and I looking at each other and us figuring out who was gonna go first.
SPEAKER_03So how many thoughts do you not have? Uh okay, two thoughts come to me. The first is we're gonna talk about this verse this week, but in chapter two, verse four, um, the NIV says not looking to your own interests, but each of each of the interests of others. Yes. Uh, but actually, like that is not the best translation. Won't get into to that right now, but like there's a word that's um that other translations will show it there, and there's blah, blah, blah, whatever. Not gonna get into it. Okay. It it really should be not merely or not only looking to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Like, Paul's implying here, no, it's like, yeah, you look out to your own interests, but the way that you look out for your own interests, you should also be looking out for the interests of others. So, so this also kind of like the suffering thing, I feel like has been. I mean, it's all, it's all like complicated, but it I feel like this can be very much abused, and especially like um, in this idea of like, don't care at all for yourself, only care for other people. Like, I don't think that's what Jesus is saying. I don't think that's what the Bible's saying. Um, I do think there is this idea of like deep sacrifice that we're supposed to have for each other. I mean, Paul's gonna talk a lot about that, but um, it's not like don't take care of your family and only take care of other people who have needs. It's like, no, like take care of your needs and take care of other people. And that's gonna look different for different people. I think this is a very subjective thing, depending on where people are at in their lives, and it requires discernment and community and whatever. But that's the first thing that comes to mind. The second thing about Paul being an all-star, the Michael Jordan, I love this question too. I felt sensitive to this actually on Sunday, because sometimes I think we incorrectly teach the Bible characters as like these amazing people when the story's really about God. In this book, Paul is actually there are a couple places where he's like, I'm gonna give you examples of how to follow Christ, and he is using himself as one. Christ is the preeminent example. We'll get into that. But it's like Timothy, Epaphroditus, Paul. So we do want to like look at how he's living his life. Um, but I think what we have to remember is like we're only getting a sliver of Paul's, Paul's life in these letters. We're not having the full context of who he was. And there's also other places in some of his letters where you see him spicy, mad. He makes a weird decision about John Mark and Axe. Like, I, in my opinion, I think he was wrong in that. Like, uh, there's, you know, there's other places that kind of round him out as a person, but we have to remember too, like, these people lived a lot of life with Paul. They lived day to day with him. Like, Paul was not perfect. I'm sure Paul like got mad at people and messed up and had to apologize. Like, struggle, he struggled with sin, like he was normal. Um, so I do think like it's good to keep in mind that he we're seeing a little piece of him writing specifically in this instance to encourage them. I don't think that means that Paul was never in prison suffering and being like, God, where are you? Or God, like, did you leave me? Like, just because we see Paul write this, I think we have to remember he's still human. So there's like a whole other dimension to him that we might not even be seeing in his letters.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So that's what comes about for me.
SPEAKER_00He ran the gamut of human emotion. He's not like a demigod, he is a guy. Yeah. And so we have to put ourselves in that perspective. I love that you brought that up about the characters of the Bible. Like the first time I ever read through the life of David, I was like, wait a second. This is not how he was portrayed to me when before I had read it myself. Because I thought, you know, he's very flawed and he makes crazy decisions and he does have a heart after God, and he does like spew love of God in the things that he writes and does. But he also, you know, is passive when he should be active and he's sinful when he needs to have integrity and you know, those kinds of things. Like these are human beings.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And I think too, Paul's not saying that everybody's way of following Christ should look exactly like his. Like Paul had a mission to go be a missionary. But in like, I think it's in First Thessalonians, he writes, people like, work hard with your hands, like live a quiet life. Basically, like do your jobs, be good citizens. Like, he's not saying to them, every single one of you get up and like go live this radical life. Like, radical life looks like living faithfully in the mundane of your every single day and like reflecting Christ in that. And that that's boring, you know, but but hard and important.
SPEAKER_00Well, and necessary routine, as like um Danny DeVito asks, is like that the a necessary routine of life presents and opens up circumstances to you in which to be faithful and to live a life of sacrifice. It's like without those routines, you you wouldn't necessarily have ways to to do this stuff. I mean, in some ways, necessary routine is like a better measure of an actual Christian life in their heart because it's like you gotta get up and do this same thing that you did yesterday, and this is the place that God is calling you. And also, like there may be someone who you run into a target that you could bless with your attitude or your heart or your generosity, and those kinds of things just I always just think of it that way. Like God presents these circumstances to us, and then we get the opportunity to step into them. Sorry, I haven't allowed you talk yet.
SPEAKER_02Thank God. Um I man, taking on my ears. I'm just kidding. Yeah, um, no, I think you guys had great stuff to say, and uh that what was kind of going on in my mind was like a both and. So yes, like I think part of it is realizing that Paul is all that we know of Paul is limited to a handful of letters. And if it was me and I'm writing letters to people to like encourage them or whatever, it's not gonna be talking about me and my struggles and flaws that I have. So it's just not a full picture of who Paul is. We don't see all the ways that he does struggle and is human. Um, and so humanizing Paul on one hand. On the other hand, what if Paul was a air quote superior Christian to you? It's okay. Like, I think I I was when I was looking at this question, I was like, okay, like because I felt it too, where I'm like, gosh, Paul, just tell me what to do, and he's so perfect, and like just a superhuman guy. And I was like, okay, well, but how how are the ways that he's like actually flawed and that makes me feel better about myself? And it was like, well, hold on, like, I feel like we put this pressure on ourselves of comparison of like, how do I live like as a Christian of, you know, what am I saying? How do I live like so-and-so? I don't know. We'll get there. Um, like, how do I live like this person? Like, they're like a superstar Christian in my mind, and like I just feel like I need to be more like them. And like, number one, like the ultimate picture is Jesus, but also I feel like it puts the ball in our court to make us feel like we are the ones who are in charge of our like and again, air quote, like success as Christians. Um, and like it is the work of the Holy Spirit within us who gives us anything good, any good that comes out of us is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. And so our job is to surrender to that. So if Paul is a better evangelist than me, that is the work of the spirit in my life, like to make me a better evangelist and me to surrender to that. And so our job is to surrender to God and let him make us what he is trying to make us into. And if that doesn't look as flashy or impressive as somebody else to humans, like that's okay. Like, yeah, and you get to make mistakes and you get to not always get it right, and that doesn't lessen your value or worth in the eyes of God. So don't let it lessen your value of yourself, you know.
SPEAKER_00That's so good. And even it brings up something to to kind of pray about or think about. If Paul is inspiring you in some kind of way, talk to God about it. Say, hey, there's this piece of this that's really inspiring to me or makes me kind of achy, and I want to be more like that. In the context of my life, God, like, how would that work? You show me some things, you know? Or show me some ways that why is you know, even just to put that in in into prayer, like, why does this make me feel like lacking in some way? What what do you want to show me in that? So I think that's great. Thank you for saying that. You're great, Morgan. Oh, thanks, Katie. Sure, anytime. We don't only banter, we also encourage.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, a banter can be encouragement. Yeah, it can. It can. That's right. Well, that was awesome, ladies. Thanks for joining us on the same more um with three women podcast. Girl, girl power. We're gonna head out and we hope to see you on Sunday. Come and see us for Philippians. We're starting in chapter two.