Guest Speaker: Gabriele Replogle
Key Scripture
Philippians 2:1-11
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.
Start Talking
- Thinking about the positive side of pride, talk about something in your life you’re proud of (accomplishment, goal achieved, etc.)
- Describe a time you had someone tell you they were proud of you. How did this make you feel?
Start Sharing
- Moving on to the negative aspect of pride, how does our culture tend to push us toward vanity in the external things? (social media, celebrity culture)? How have these messages affected you?
- How would you define pride? Why is this such a hard concept to put into words?
- How do those in authority over us (people in authority, institutions, etc.) reveal our pride?
- Describe a time when you have had to confront your own pride in a specific area of your life (i.e., when has life humbled you?)
- Do you think it’s possible to live free from pride in your life? If so, how? If not, why not?
Start Living
- As Jesus demonstrated (Philippians 2:1-11), serving seems to be something God uses in our lives to help us overcome pride. Have you experienced this to be true in your life?
- What else do you learn about pride/humility from Jesus’ example (also Philippians 2:1-11) that you can put into practice this week?
People & Quotes Mentioned
“There is no fault that makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility… Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
– C.S. Lewis
“A humble man values others at a higher rate than himself, and the reason is because he can see his own heart better than he can another’s.”
– Thomas Watson
“Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world … That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us.”
– N.T. Wright, Simply Christian
Proud people have to prove that they are right.
Broken people are willing to yield the right to be right.
Proud people claim rights; they have a demanding spirit.
Broken people yield their rights; they have a meek spirit.
Proud people are self-protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation.
Broken people are self-denying.
Proud people desire to be served.
Broken people are motivated to serve others.
Proud people desire to be a success.
Broken people are motivated to be faithful and to make others a success.
Proud people are self-conscious.
Broken people are not concerned with self at all.
Proud people keep others at arms’ length.
Broken people are willing to risk getting close to others and to take risks of loving intimately.
Proud people are quick to blame others.
Broken people accept personal responsibility and can see where they are wrong in a situation.
Proud people are unapproachable or defensive when criticized.
Broken people receive criticism with a humble, open spirit.
Proud people are concerned with being respectable, with what others think; they work to protect their own image and reputation.
Broken people are concerned with being real; what matters to them is not what others think but what God knows; they are willing to die to their own reputation.
Proud people don’t think they have anything to repent of.
Broken people realize they have need of a continual heart attitude of repentance.
– Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Worship Set
All Things New
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1h4nxyVtU
The One Who Saves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we4p6GzcWIM
Rising Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS-dFKGB_uA
Lord, Have Mercy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlEcMRCzvWM&list=PLkSTsb1q6N-dy5a6UASBiRk3_YNne_9ve
