F3 Knoxville

Layers of the Pearl

JUCO

THE SCENE: Pleasant 65 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Side straddle hop -20

Cherry pickers – 5

Tempo merkins – 10

Tempo squats – 10

Flutter Kicks – 20

THA-THANG:

  • Indian Run to Parking Lot
    • Run 2 lines forward and do 1 Burpee, Bernie 1 line back and do 1 Get Down (both cheeks and both shulder blades touch the ground), Repeat increasing reps by 1 until the end of the parking lot (Max 8). 
  • Mosey to CMU pile
    • Beginning at 1 rep, cycle through Squats, Curls, Raises, and then hold a coupon at eye level for the number of seconds equal to the reps, repeat cycle with 2 reps all the way up to 20 reps.
  • Mosey to the stairs
    • At the curb, beginning at 1 rep, cycle through CMU bench press and skull crusher. Repeat cycle with 2 reps all the way up to 5 reps. 
    • At the first level of stairs, beginning at 6 reps, cycle through coupon push up, skull crusher. Repeat cycle with 7 reps all the way up to 10 reps.
    • At the second level of stairs, beginning at 11 reps, cycle through coupon push up, skull crusher. Repeat cycle with 12 reps all the way up to 15 reps.
    • At the top of the stairs, beginning at 16 reps, cycle through coupon push up, skull crusher. Repeat cycle with 17 reps all the way up to 20 reps.
  • Mosey to the AO

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Matt 13: 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

So valuable that he went away and sold everything…

There are two types of oyster produced pearls: natural and cultured. Natural Pearls form when an irritant – usually a parasite and not the proverbial grain of sand – works its way into an oyster, mussel, or clam. As a defense mechanism, a fluid is used to coat the irritant. Layer upon layer of this coating, called ‘nacre’, is deposited until a lustrous pearl is formed. A cultured pearl undergoes the same process except that the irritant is a surgically implanted bead. The cultured pearl is a pearl on the outside with a thin, exterior layer of nacre while the natural pearl is pearl throughout. 

Takes years to form a natural pearl. If we look within ourselves, we too find parasites that try to steal the best of our strength, thought, joy and holiness. The temptation is smother the parasite with a bunch of nacre all at once but then you will have an uneven pearl, which has no beauty. It takes thin layers, little by little, layer by layer, day by day, prayer by prayer, scripture by scripture. The natural pearl within is started and then grown into a thing to be desired. 

This is the fine pearl that the man in the parable went and sold all he had to go purchase. As HIMs, we embrace this grind in the spirit of James 1 – 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

The kingdom of Heaven, the fine pearl, the natural pearl is worth selling all you have for. So if we are going to go all in,  we mist ensure that we have strength and faith throughout and not just a pretty exterior with a false center.