The Power of Embracing
Spiritual Paradox
Have you ever felt that you had to get everything right before you could be okay—with God, with others, even with yourself? Or felt alone in the struggle, as if you had to find your own way back to solid ground?
Paul’s words in Philippians 3 offer a different starting place. He wants to know Christ and presses toward the life Christ has for him. But his striving does not begin with fear that he has been abandoned or that he must make himself worthy. It begins with this: Christ has already taken hold of him.
My sermon title this Sunday is “καταλάβω of Christ (a.k.a. κατελήμφθην BY Christ)… TOGETHER.” The Greek words come from Philippians 3:12. καταλάβω (katalabō) means “that I may take hold,” and κατελήμφθην (katelēmphthēn) means “I was taken hold of.” Paul presses on toward the life Christ has for him because Christ has already reached for him.
That changes the ground beneath our feet. We do not strive to earn a place in God’s care; we move forward because we are already held by Christ. We may still have growing to do, losses to face, and questions we cannot answer. We may not feel okay every moment. But our worth and our hope do not depend on having everything figured out. Christ’s hold on us is the ground of our being—and the ground from which our journey begins.
And we make that journey together. We encourage one another, let go of what cannot give us life, and keep learning what it means to know a God who is greater than our understanding.
At the Communion table, we come as we are—not finished or flawless, but welcomed by Christ. I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we worship, share Communion, and remember the grace that holds us and calls us forward, together.
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