Speaker 1: Well, I want to jump right into the word here.
Speaker 1: And I was excited when I found out I was
Speaker 1: going to be able to preach today. But about a
Speaker 1: couple months ago, it was last fall, I had a situation,
Speaker 1: an experience that as I was experiencing it, I thought,
Speaker 1: there is a sermon here. And so I've been waiting
Speaker 1: and waiting, and you know, while I was in Florida,
Speaker 1: sitting there waiting for Knowing to be done teaching, I thought,
Speaker 1: this is it, this is so it. So I want
Speaker 1: to welcome you into an experience that I had last fall,
Speaker 1: and you're going to be right up there, right on
Speaker 1: the sidelines with me, all right. So what happened was
Speaker 1: we have four children, as you know, and our third born,
Speaker 1: his name is Austin. He's married Andrea. How many of
Speaker 1: you know Austin Andrea and how many? Yes, they're wonderful.
Speaker 1: He drums for us. We are so blessed. Anyway, they
Speaker 1: have two kids, and the oldest is Judah. The next
Speaker 1: one is Kai. Judah is four years old. Kai is
Speaker 1: two years old. And so they have been teaching these
Speaker 1: children how to ride bikes, and now they have these
Speaker 1: new fangled bikes out now that don't have pedals. Have
Speaker 1: you seen those? So there's strider bikes are called strider bikes.
Speaker 1: And when the kids can kind of latch onto the
Speaker 1: strider bike thing, they can. I am gonna get to
Speaker 1: the Bible just a minute. I think some of you
Speaker 1: are like, wait, I came to church and she's telling
Speaker 1: me a story. You bet, because it's gonna work really good.
Speaker 1: You just wait. We're gonna get to the Bible in
Speaker 1: just a minute. Okay, So back to the strider bikes.
Speaker 1: And if you can get your kid to get on
Speaker 1: this strider bike and kind of understand that there's no pedals,
Speaker 1: they end up being able to go really fast. So
Speaker 1: they have these legs and they're gonna be going running
Speaker 1: as fast as they can with these strider bikes. Well,
Speaker 1: in pewallup at the Pull Fairgrounds, they have a motocross
Speaker 1: flat track racing. Anybody ever heard of that? You can't.
Speaker 1: I didn't either. So they to get you to get
Speaker 1: your you know, the bait on the hook, they run
Speaker 1: these little races with strider bikes. And so they'll fill
Speaker 1: the arena up at the pub fair with dirt and
Speaker 1: then they'll build this track with kind of hills and uh,
Speaker 1: the rest of the night. For the rest of night,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be you know, screaming motorcycles and craziness. Right,
Speaker 1: But they kick it off with these little kids, and
Speaker 1: so Mimi and Papa had to go and watch, of course,
Speaker 1: So they have Judah and Kai, the four year old
Speaker 1: and the two year old down in the pit down there.
Speaker 1: When we get there and we're up in the grand stand,
Speaker 1: you know, up in the stands or whatever. But you know,
Speaker 1: Mimi cannot sit down on the bench. That's not the
Speaker 1: place for Mimi. So Mimi found her way right to
Speaker 1: the right to the rail watching. And as I'm watching
Speaker 1: these kids and they're out there, they're they're going around
Speaker 1: as Andre down there with their kids and and kind
Speaker 1: of giving them, giving them hints or whatever, I notice something.
Speaker 1: I noticed that my little Judah, she he's going really good.
Speaker 1: He's he's he's he's gonna win. He's the cutest one
Speaker 1: out there. He's got the best helmet, it's got the
Speaker 1: you know, the spikes on the top, the mohawk thing. Oh,
Speaker 1: he is good win, I just know it. But there's
Speaker 1: another little guy out there that catches my eye. He's
Speaker 1: in green Judah is in a red jacket and this
Speaker 1: little guy in green is actually on pretty fast, and
Speaker 1: I'm thinking to myself self, we got a problem here.
Speaker 1: This little guy just might win. We have a problem.
Speaker 1: So I'm starting to analyze, how many of you ever
Speaker 1: analyze a sporting event? And you could be the coach
Speaker 1: if you were let, if you were allowed. So I'm watching,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, we have a problem. That little guy's seat
Speaker 1: was raised up so high that it wasn't like he
Speaker 1: was sitting. He could actually his legs were straight, and
Speaker 1: he was running with that thing. And I looked over
Speaker 1: at Judah and his seat was a little lower, so
Speaker 1: he was kind of sitting, and so he didn't have
Speaker 1: the right angle right. So no, this is not gonna work. No, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no. So I'm standing at the rail. We got
Speaker 1: to take care of business. Mimi. Can't have little guy losing,
Speaker 1: So I yell, I said, I said, And he's like
Speaker 1: a Sai call here. So he comes over to me.
Speaker 1: I said, Austin, raise that seat up right now. He's
Speaker 1: gonna lose if he doesn't. We have got to get
Speaker 1: this situation fixed. He's like, mom, no, you don't understand.
Speaker 1: So much is on the line. So they raised the
Speaker 1: seat and that little guy had the bestled little option,
Speaker 1: you know, possibility to win. Right. So they clear the
Speaker 1: track and they get them all over in the pit
Speaker 1: over here, and then they bring them all on and
Speaker 1: they line up at the starting line right here, and
Speaker 1: the dads are bent over at each one of the
Speaker 1: kids and they're like, you know. The kids are like,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy, you know, where's my lollipop? I don't
Speaker 1: know what I'm doing. And the dad's are like, come on, buddy,
Speaker 1: old poll you're gonna do this. Now. Look down there
Speaker 1: there's the end line right and you're gonna go okay,
Speaker 1: you know, but the dads are down there and Mimi's
Speaker 1: over here going come on, buddy, old pal. So but
Speaker 1: you know, down on the track, the kid is, you know,
Speaker 1: having a great time. Anyway, I videoed it and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna share it with you. Are you ready to see it?
Speaker 1: Are you with me here? Okay, let's go ahead, and
Speaker 1: says race day. Do you see the video? Okay, see Austin.
Speaker 1: Now watch for Juda's face when that guy gets out
Speaker 1: of the way. He's got his game. Now look at
Speaker 1: that first place. Listen to me, God, that is Pi
Speaker 1: right there. Took him forever to get around. He doesn't
Speaker 1: he doesn't know. He's got something else taking out. Don't
Speaker 1: come on, watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it.
Speaker 1: Who that was a race. Mimi was hob a right
Speaker 1: to lose it. But he won. Did you see that?
Speaker 1: Just barely? His adversary, the guy, that little kid in
Speaker 1: the green, he was a fast one, but he won
Speaker 1: just barely. And I'm sure it's because of his Mimi
Speaker 1: screaming at him the whole time, keeping him focused. So yeah,
Speaker 1: when I yes I was loud, and yes I was ridiculous,
Speaker 1: And if you listened really well in the back there
Speaker 1: there was the lady standing next to me, goes, she's
Speaker 1: really loud. And I didn't know that until I watched
Speaker 1: the video. I'm like, okay, shut up over there. I'm
Speaker 1: naem anyway. I know that I was in my place
Speaker 1: and doing my I was in my lane because the
Speaker 1: Bible says that we are all surrounded with a great
Speaker 1: crowd of witnesses, and when you are relegated off of
Speaker 1: the track, your race is done. Now you have to
Speaker 1: be in your great crowd of witnesses, and your job
Speaker 1: is to cheer them on. And let me just tell you,
Speaker 1: this is sideline, and this isn't my sermon, but I
Speaker 1: will tell you that that will be my job, and
Speaker 1: I will do it well. And when I die, if
Speaker 1: I look down and I see you run in your race,
Speaker 1: you might hear me screaming, especially for see you slowing down,
Speaker 1: especially if I see your adversary sneaking on you. So
Speaker 1: just be listening. Just be listening. So let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and turn to Hebrews twelve, because I want to prove
Speaker 1: to you that is in the Bible. We're gonna be listening,
Speaker 1: yeah uh, Or we're gonna read it out of the NIV.
Speaker 1: It says, therefore here you go. Therefore, since we are
Speaker 1: surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
Speaker 1: throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
Speaker 1: easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race
Speaker 1: marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
Speaker 1: Pioneer and perfector or some of your your translations might say,
Speaker 1: the author and the finisher of your faith, for the
Speaker 1: joy set before him. He endured the cross, scorning its shame,
Speaker 1: and sat down at the right hand of the throne
Speaker 1: of God, Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners,
Speaker 1: so that you will not grow or lose heart in
Speaker 1: your struggle against sin. You have not yet resisted to
Speaker 1: the point of shedding your blood. In other words, quit
Speaker 1: whining till I see blood dripping. Go down to the
Speaker 1: end of that chapter or not well, kind of midway
Speaker 1: Verses twelve and thirteen. Therefore, strengthen your feeble knees and arms,
Speaker 1: and feeble arms and weak knees, make level the paths
Speaker 1: of your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled,
Speaker 1: but rather healed. Now, this passage of scripture is so powerful,
Speaker 1: so powerful, and so today I want to take a
Speaker 1: few minutes and just kind of break it down for you.
Speaker 1: I want that when you're finished, that you have a
Speaker 1: new kind of vision for your day to day life. Okay,
Speaker 1: so Jesus won his race. Would you say he crossed
Speaker 1: the finish line? The adversary could not keep up. Jesus
Speaker 1: won his race. My question to you and I is
Speaker 1: how are we doing in our race? So we're on
Speaker 1: the track. If your second heir, if you're alive, your
Speaker 1: heart is beating, you're on the track, and you will
Speaker 1: not get off that track. The race is not done
Speaker 1: until the day you go to glory. So we're in
Speaker 1: the race. The race is competitive, you have an adversary.
Speaker 1: You may win, you may lose, but you're running the race.
Speaker 1: And so today I want to bring to you some
Speaker 1: points out of this passage, and I call them the
Speaker 1: ways of winning. These are some things that Paul, well,
Speaker 1: we say it's Paul, the writer of Hero Hebrews. He
Speaker 1: gave us some really good inside things, kind of like
Speaker 1: when I said, Hey, Judah's gonna lose if we keep
Speaker 1: that seat too low. We got to make some adjustments.
Speaker 1: And if we make some adjustments, Judah will win. But
Speaker 1: if we don't make some adjustments, Judah will lose no
Speaker 1: matter how hard he tries. Amen. So let's look at
Speaker 1: this passage and see what we can do here with this.
Speaker 1: Let's pick up some ways of winning. Therefore, let's go
Speaker 1: back to verse one. Since we are surrounded by such
Speaker 1: a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything
Speaker 1: that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Okay,
Speaker 1: so this is our first little bit, our winning way.
Speaker 1: Let us throw off every in everything that hinders and
Speaker 1: the sin that so easily entangles. Let me break this
Speaker 1: down just a little bit. So note the word throw.
Speaker 1: We'll get back to that one. Everything that hinders and
Speaker 1: then sin. So there's two things that he's telling us
Speaker 1: here that we need to watch out for, something that
Speaker 1: hinders and sin. So what I'm hearing is that the
Speaker 1: thing that hinders is not sin. It hinders. It's not sinful,
Speaker 1: but it hinders. So the word for hinders in the
Speaker 1: Greek is the word There's a couple of words there,
Speaker 1: but the one that I kind of grabbed onto is bulge. Bulge. Yes,
Speaker 1: I said it bulge. And you know, bulges aren't sin,
Speaker 1: but they sure keep you from being able to do things.
Speaker 1: And the other day, you know, I mean, I don't know,
Speaker 1: a while back, things are getting a little bulgeer than typical,
Speaker 1: and I bent over and it's kind of hard to
Speaker 1: bend over, and I thought, wait a minute, what is that.
Speaker 1: It's a bulge. Bulges aren't sin, but they're a problem
Speaker 1: that get in the way. So what is a bulge?
Speaker 1: It might be an attitude, it might be a habit,
Speaker 1: it might be something that you got in your life
Speaker 1: that isn't a sin, but it's hindering. You, and so
Speaker 1: he's telling us. This writer says, hey, listen, look for bulges.
Speaker 1: May the Lord right now identify bulges in your life.
Speaker 1: There's a meme that I saw about ten years ago
Speaker 1: on Facebook that still sits in my head. So I
Speaker 1: want us to keep with this idea of running a race.
Speaker 1: And the top half of the meme says what I
Speaker 1: think I look like I run, and it is just
Speaker 1: the coolest, like one of those pictures they're just the
Speaker 1: athlete lady just run and just sleep and just sweating,
Speaker 1: and she's winning her race. And then the bottom half
Speaker 1: is what I actually look like, and it's kind of
Speaker 1: this with a lot of bulges right, kind of barely
Speaker 1: making it right. So the writer says, here though, watch out,
Speaker 1: watch out for the bulges, watch out for the sin.
Speaker 1: The sin is so easily entangles. The thought is that
Speaker 1: you're running and all of a sudden you trip up
Speaker 1: because there's stuff around your feet, and you have all
Speaker 1: the abilities, you have, all the strength, you have, all
Speaker 1: the talent, but there's this thing that's kind of wanting
Speaker 1: to get get around your feet, that kind of and
Speaker 1: have you ever just go ahead and start keep running
Speaker 1: even though you're kind of got stuff. But you know
Speaker 1: you don't want to take the time to get rid
Speaker 1: of this stuff, so you're just gonna run with it.
Speaker 1: How far can you run? And how fast can you run?
Speaker 1: And will you win the race? Now? Doctor Brian Simmons
Speaker 1: also adds to this, and in his translation he says,
Speaker 1: let go of every wound that has pierced us. So
Speaker 1: he takes the hinder the bulge, and he likens it
Speaker 1: to a wound. So he's saying, people have got the wound,
Speaker 1: has got to go. Oh no, wait a minute, I
Speaker 1: deserve that wound. They hurt me. I'm a victim here.
Speaker 1: I didn't ask for the wound, but it's become my identity.
Speaker 1: What would you be like if you didn't have that wound?
Speaker 1: Have you seen yourself without your wound? Have you seen
Speaker 1: yourself without your offense? Can you still see yourself without it?
Speaker 1: I don't know. But wounds that we keep on the
Speaker 1: inside end up being a hindrance. Wounds that we keep
Speaker 1: inside that hasn't been let out into the light, where
Speaker 1: light can heal, where the anointing salve of the Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit can come and heal. I am calling you, the
Speaker 1: writer here is calling us to throw off your bulges,
Speaker 1: throw off the sin that entangles, and deal with your wounds.
Speaker 1: Because Jesus wants you to run your race to win.
Speaker 1: He wants you to run the body of Christ is
Speaker 1: supposed to run the race individually and collectively to win.
Speaker 1: The wind is bringing Kingdom of God to earth. The
Speaker 1: wind is becoming more. The wind is more more of
Speaker 1: Christ in me. We can't do it with bulges, we
Speaker 1: can't do it with wounds. We can't do it with
Speaker 1: the sin that so easily entangles. So he says, to
Speaker 1: throw it off. Now, if you're gonna throw it off,
Speaker 1: that takes think of throwing it takes I don't know
Speaker 1: how many muscle groups to and it takes a little
Speaker 1: bit of oomph, little grit. It's not this cannot be.
Speaker 1: I don't want to, okay, I don't know. No. This
Speaker 1: means people have got today right now, throw it off,
Speaker 1: throw it off, be done. Please talk to you about
Speaker 1: this before be done. This is your day, This is
Speaker 1: your day. The way of winning is to throw it off,
Speaker 1: all right, say number one, throw it off. We got
Speaker 1: a lot more to go, oh dear. Then it says,
Speaker 1: let us run this race with let us run with perseverance,
Speaker 1: the race marked out for us. So here's another way
Speaker 1: of winning. Number one is to realize you are in
Speaker 1: a race. How many human beings wake up and just
Speaker 1: think it's another day, and they were gonna drink their coffee,
Speaker 1: eat their food, drive the work, get out, yawn, come on,
Speaker 1: do nothing. They think they that's their life. But that
Speaker 1: was the day of their race. That was a day,
Speaker 1: that was a lap around the track. And there were
Speaker 1: others on that track, some being your adversary, and they
Speaker 1: took that day very seriously, and you didn't because you
Speaker 1: didn't realize you were running a race. The first race
Speaker 1: that you are set and this Bible says, my word
Speaker 1: says the race set out before you. In other words,
Speaker 1: God has a race set up for you, and you
Speaker 1: are running it every minute of every day, and you're
Speaker 1: meant to win that race. The first race that you
Speaker 1: have to win is the race inside of yourself. Your
Speaker 1: race every moment of every day is to subdue the
Speaker 1: flesh and sinful carnal nature withinside of you. That is
Speaker 1: your first race, and that is your first adversary. Your
Speaker 1: first fight is what happens between your ears every day.
Speaker 1: Do you get prideful. Do you get frustrated, do you
Speaker 1: get angry? Do you rise up? And whatever? Are you
Speaker 1: in disobedience? Are you drawn away with fleshly desire? The
Speaker 1: first race, the first adversary, is within yourself. And every
Speaker 1: day you run that race. And I will say to
Speaker 1: you people, if God win it, work with me to
Speaker 1: win it. I'm in that same race. But when I
Speaker 1: can look over and see you and go, you got this,
Speaker 1: then come on and you're looking at me, tewing joel,
Speaker 1: You're better than that. Come on, you got this. You're right,
Speaker 1: You're right. Okay, okay, okay, I'm gonna win. First race
Speaker 1: is within Another race is in your marriage. Every day
Speaker 1: you get up, every word that you speak, every interaction
Speaker 1: you have with your spouse is part of the race.
Speaker 1: And either you are lacks a daisical or negative or
Speaker 1: ruining of that race to the victory, or you are
Speaker 1: getting yourself to the victory in your marriage. The Bible
Speaker 1: says he who creates trouble for his family will in
Speaker 1: hair at the wind. Our marriages are supposed to reflect
Speaker 1: our marriage with the heavenly Father. It's to make the
Speaker 1: world jealous of us. I want our marriages to be
Speaker 1: so strong. I want your sexual lives to be so
Speaker 1: pure and so good that the world wishes they were you.
Speaker 1: How many of the churches wishing they were the world
Speaker 1: in the sexual realm? Come on, people, they don't have it.
Speaker 1: I just spit all over. Just don't ever sit close
Speaker 1: to me, because I will spit on you. I promise
Speaker 1: it's the glory spit coming. I'm gonna baptize you in
Speaker 1: one way or the other, so the word of God
Speaker 1: coming out of my mouth anointed spit. Sorry, my brain,
Speaker 1: It's just I wish you could visit me inside of
Speaker 1: my brain. I work so hard to keep it cool.
Speaker 1: Where was I? Oh? Your races, your marriage, Stop trying
Speaker 1: to look at the world and wish you could be
Speaker 1: that you be godly husband? And what? Get game face on?
Speaker 1: Our community? Our church. This is our race. This church
Speaker 1: is not a mistake. This church is divinely planted right
Speaker 1: in the middle of Hell itself. And He gathers all
Speaker 1: of you to come. And we're all a little weird. Okay,
Speaker 1: we're all a little off, we're all a little wrong,
Speaker 1: and yet we have to settle in next to each
Speaker 1: other and look at each other. And then God says,
Speaker 1: we actually have to love one another and we have
Speaker 1: to get along. So deal with me. People love me,
Speaker 1: and I will with you. But don't cause a problem
Speaker 1: in this church because when we do have problems. Oh,
Speaker 1: I work so try, I try so hard. May it
Speaker 1: not be me? Because we're running a race. Every Sunday.
Speaker 1: We run a race when we get together, you guys worshiped, Ah,
Speaker 1: how beautiful was this morning? How beautiful this morning? For
Speaker 1: early morning prayer where you know, be pre service prayer. Usually,
Speaker 1: you know, we have a little circle of people. But
Speaker 1: I was noticing people were coming in and just kind
Speaker 1: of filling in this sanctuary praying. They weren't sitting there
Speaker 1: checking their phone. They were they were they were starting
Speaker 1: to pray. We got a church of prayer warriors here.
Speaker 1: This is our race. You're a you have an assignment.
Speaker 1: This is the race you're assigned to. I better keep moving.
Speaker 1: We have a nation. I mean, we can keep going.
Speaker 1: What is your race? You have a lot of races,
Speaker 1: A lot of things are on your race docket. So
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about what does race mean? Race
Speaker 1: is the Hebrew word agona, a g ona agona. I
Speaker 1: don't know, it's agona algona agona no l or agona.
Speaker 1: The word means to a struggle, a conflict of many kinds.
Speaker 1: So I'm just here to tell you that your race
Speaker 1: is gonna be a struggle. So if you wake up
Speaker 1: in the morning you go, what is like the hold, Well,
Speaker 1: it's because you're on your race, and your race is
Speaker 1: an agony. And your race is to make you sweat,
Speaker 1: and your race is to make you get up and
Speaker 1: stretch and say I'm gonna win and I got this,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna work hard, and you got all of
Speaker 1: me today, God, and I'm gonna do my very best.
Speaker 1: And when my spouse snart is snarky to me, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go I love you, honey, instead of going back
Speaker 1: at him. And you know, when the thing's your race
Speaker 1: is the race to win in it is a struggle.
Speaker 1: So stop whining and thinking it's just you and everybody
Speaker 1: else has it easy. That spirit of self pity wants
Speaker 1: to just rise up. I'm tired. Oh no, what it
Speaker 1: is anymore? Well, that's for the day you die, and
Speaker 1: you're not gonna die for a very long time. So honey,
Speaker 1: get on your bike and ride. It's been way too
Speaker 1: long since I've been up here. Let's run with endurance
Speaker 1: or perseverance. The race set up for the word perseverance
Speaker 1: is hoopo mone. It means it has the word patient
Speaker 1: involved in it. You cannot run with endurance or perseverance
Speaker 1: without patience, So it's a different It's a certain kind
Speaker 1: of patience though people, how many of you love patience?
Speaker 1: I am the worst in a's office when you have
Speaker 1: to sit in the waiting room and be patient because
Speaker 1: you're a patient. They call you a patient because you
Speaker 1: have to be patient as you wait in the doctor's office.
Speaker 1: But there's two, there's different kinds of patient. Barkley says
Speaker 1: that this patience is not the patience that sits down
Speaker 1: and accepts things as they are, But perseverance and endurance
Speaker 1: is the kind of patience that masters the problem. So
Speaker 1: what he's saying here is when you're in your conflict,
Speaker 1: when you're in your struggle and you're in your race,
Speaker 1: you gotta keep there, you gotta stay there, you gotta
Speaker 1: have patience. But it's not the patience just says throws
Speaker 1: up your hands and says, this is just the way
Speaker 1: it's gonna be. This is just how I am get
Speaker 1: over it. It's the patience that says, get to work,
Speaker 1: girlfriend and friend out here. I can't call you a
Speaker 1: boyfriend that would really go not go over well, Church
Speaker 1: friends out here, because you're gonna master it. And I
Speaker 1: am here to say, you are gonna master your marriages.
Speaker 1: You are gonna master your children, You are gonna master
Speaker 1: your families. You are gonna master yourself. You are gonna
Speaker 1: master this church, is gonna master this community. In Jesus' name. Okay,
Speaker 1: next next section here, I gotta keep going fixing our
Speaker 1: eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith.
Speaker 1: Maybe your Bible might say author and finisher. The word
Speaker 1: fixing there has a very interesting connotation. It means more
Speaker 1: than just to look at. It means to choose to
Speaker 1: look away from everything else and do fix How many
Speaker 1: of you, how many of us? How many times have
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, Jesus is my thing, But look at them?
Speaker 1: How come they have it good? I kind of want
Speaker 1: what they have. My eye isn't fixed on Jesus. My
Speaker 1: eye scans Jesus when it's convenient, and I spend the
Speaker 1: rest of my time looking everywhere else but his word here,
Speaker 1: says another way of winning is that we fix our
Speaker 1: eyes on Jesus and we look away from every temptation
Speaker 1: and every distraction and everything around us. Jealousy only happens
Speaker 1: when you're not looking at Jesus. Disappointment only happens when
Speaker 1: you're not looking at Jesus and you're looking down at
Speaker 1: what you got in your hand right now. But Jesus
Speaker 1: calls those things that are as aren't as though they are.
Speaker 1: Sorry about that. Kind of lost my power there because
Speaker 1: I got my words all mixed up. I know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Fix your eyes on Jesus, Oh so good,
Speaker 1: throw it off, square up, and endure everything you got
Speaker 1: in front of you, and get in the race. Get
Speaker 1: on that starting line, race every day number three. Fix
Speaker 1: your eyes and finally, for the joy set before him.
Speaker 1: He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down
Speaker 1: at the right hand of the throne of God for
Speaker 1: the joy set before him. For the joy. Now, here's
Speaker 1: another winning way that is not normal. And if you
Speaker 1: want to be a good Christian and get over your
Speaker 1: finish line with a win, you're gonna have to embrace
Speaker 1: joy in your race. Now, remember what the word race means.
Speaker 1: What's the word race mean? What? You want me to
Speaker 1: be joyful in my agony? That's not normal. You don't
Speaker 1: understand my life. You know what happened yesterday? I lost
Speaker 1: my job, So you're gonna look like everybody else who
Speaker 1: lost their job? Are you gonna win your race? And
Speaker 1: I will tell you right now, Jesus endured the worst
Speaker 1: on that cross, and this passage tells us it's a
Speaker 1: little hint as to how his flesh was able to
Speaker 1: endure that cross. Because in the middle, in the middle,
Speaker 1: not afterwards, in the middle, while they're spitting on him,
Speaker 1: streaming at him, ripping his clothes off, betraying him, pounding
Speaker 1: nails into his skin, dying agonally, an awful death, he
Speaker 1: was able to look and somehow reach outside of and
Speaker 1: beyond his struggle to the finish line. Now, when somebody
Speaker 1: crosses the finish line and wins the gold medal, what
Speaker 1: do they do? What do they do? They are incredibly joyful,
Speaker 1: And so what Jesus is telling us. Come on, brother,
Speaker 1: the saints of the Living God, you are in your race,
Speaker 1: and I dare you in the midst of your struggle,
Speaker 1: in the midst of this where your heart is aching
Speaker 1: and your spirit is growing faint. I want you to
Speaker 1: just take a minute, and I want you to stop,
Speaker 1: and I want you to fix your eyes Jesus, and
Speaker 1: I want you to somehow reach all the way to
Speaker 1: the end, when that marriage is reconciled, when those children
Speaker 1: come to the Lord, when this community feels revival, when
Speaker 1: you win over all of those things inside of you
Speaker 1: and find what that's gonna feel like, what's your attitude
Speaker 1: gonna be like. And if you grab that, you drag
Speaker 1: it to your now. And this is how you position
Speaker 1: yourself for the joy. He was able to endure the cross,
Speaker 1: and I will tell you, brothers and sisters, this is
Speaker 1: his way of winning through you Psalm five. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: read it out of the passion and I'm gonna read
Speaker 1: one more thing and I'll be done. Okay. I pray,
Speaker 1: I pray, I pray that the Lord is talking to
Speaker 1: you in the midst of this. Oh Jesus, right now,
Speaker 1: just say Father, speak to me, Father, speak to me.
Speaker 1: I'm in my race, I'm in my struggle. Speak to me,
Speaker 1: Speak to me, Speak to me. FA. Just open your
Speaker 1: heart up even now, to change, to shift, to throw
Speaker 1: something off, to step into endurance. Hallelujah. Here's Psalm five.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start at verse eleven. For the first ten verses,
Speaker 1: David is telling us very eloquently how evil everything is
Speaker 1: and how horrible life is. And then on verse eleven,
Speaker 1: always watch when David and the Psalm says the word.
Speaker 1: But now let's not be dt. Don't go there. But
Speaker 1: because he shifts, and in the midst of all of
Speaker 1: the horribleness of verses one through night through ten, he says,
Speaker 1: but let them all be glad. Whose those who turn
Speaker 1: aside to hide themselves in you, may they keep shouting
Speaker 1: for joy forever overshadow them in your presence as they
Speaker 1: sing and rejoice. Then every lover of your name will
Speaker 1: burst forth with endless joy. Lord, How wonderful you bless
Speaker 1: the righteous your favor? Wait a minute, did he write
Speaker 1: this at the finish line? He wrote it in his struggle,
Speaker 1: How wonderful you bless the righteous? Your favor wraps around
Speaker 1: each one and covers them under your canopy of kindness
Speaker 1: and joy, the ways of winning the ways of winning.
Speaker 1: Throw it off, square up and endure You got this
Speaker 1: fit your eyes? What are you looking at? Henry Joice?
Speaker 1: Henry Joye. Let's all stand. There's one more thing, one
Speaker 1: more point, and we'll be through the barbed wire fence.
Speaker 1: Like Dunaway says, just one more point, Holy Spirit, Just
Speaker 1: close your eyes right now, take a deep breath, and
Speaker 1: let the Holy Spirit touch your heart. I'm almost done,
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. We are in our race, we are in
Speaker 1: our struggle, we are in our fight, we are in
Speaker 1: our conflict. Hallelujah. Each one of you right now, just
Speaker 1: determine you're gonna win. You're gonna win. Your adversary might
Speaker 1: be sneaking up, but you're gonna cross that finish line. Oh,
Speaker 1: you're gonna do it. He ain't gonna win, he's not
Speaker 1: gonna nudge you out. You're gonna win. You're not going
Speaker 1: to succumb. So let me read it in the passion.
Speaker 1: So just let this, these waters words just roll off
Speaker 1: of you, soak you. As for us, we have all,
Speaker 1: we have all of these great witnesses who encircle around
Speaker 1: us like clouds. So we must let go of every
Speaker 1: wound that has pierced us and the sin we so
Speaker 1: easily fall into. Let the Word do the preaching here.
Speaker 1: Then we will be able to run life's marathon. Race
Speaker 1: with passion and determination, for the path has already been
Speaker 1: marked out for you. You have a path. Don't be fooled.
Speaker 1: You have a path. We look away from the natural realm,
Speaker 1: and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus, who birthed faith
Speaker 1: within us, and who leads us forward into faith's perfection.
Speaker 1: His example is this. His heart was focused on the
Speaker 1: joy of knowing that you would be his. So he
Speaker 1: endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation,
Speaker 1: and now sits exalted at the right hand of the
Speaker 1: throne of God. I'm gonna go down now wait to
Speaker 1: hear these ones. Are you ready for these ones? This
Speaker 1: is that twelve and thirteen that I read earlier, But
Speaker 1: I love how he says it. So be made strong
Speaker 1: even in your weakness, by lifting up your tired hands
Speaker 1: in prayer and in worship. This is a house of
Speaker 1: prayer and of worship. And we will do that in
Speaker 1: this house. And when you cut me in those doors
Speaker 1: and you are tired, and your hands are tired, on
Speaker 1: your feet and legs and knees are tired, all you
Speaker 1: gotta do is come in here and praise and worship.
Speaker 1: Don't stand there watching don't stand there in your troubles.
Speaker 1: Don't stand there and whine. I would say, lift up
Speaker 1: your tired hands and worship and pray. Lift up your
Speaker 1: tired hands in prayer and worship, and strengthen your weak knees.
Speaker 1: You can't run when your knees are weak, So when
Speaker 1: your hands are busy worshiping, your knees can run. As
Speaker 1: for you, as for you, keep walking forward on God's path.
Speaker 1: On God's paths, all your stuff ways will be divinely healed.
Speaker 1: Let's say it. As for me, let's read it. It's
Speaker 1: up here on the screen. But ask for me. I
Speaker 1: will keep walking forward on God's paths, and all my
Speaker 1: stumbling ways will be divinely healed. That is your promise. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Ho take that one home, memorize that one, because people
Speaker 1: of God, you're gonna win. With God's help, You're gonna win,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna start pedaling. You're gonna get your gang
Speaker 1: face on, you're gonna go fast, and just as the
Speaker 1: adversary thinks he's got you, you're gonna cross the finish
Speaker 1: line and you will win. Hallelujah, per team, come on up.
Speaker 1: Prayer team, Come on up. I want to challenge you
Speaker 1: if there is any bit of this sermon that your
Speaker 1: heart has said that is my word. I want you
Speaker 1: to come up here and pray it, settle it, make
Speaker 1: it be. And if you don't want to come forward,
Speaker 1: I might give you a little out and that would
Speaker 1: be turned to your neighbor and say that really got me.
Speaker 1: Pray with me on that, because our house is not
Speaker 1: a house of fake okay. Our house is a house
Speaker 1: of transparency and honesty and accountability and wonderfulness. Amen, Father
Speaker 1: God in Jesus, name us in the ways of winning,
Speaker 1: Train us in the ways of winning, us in the
Speaker 1: ways of winning. We love you, we praise you. Halleluja.
Speaker 1: Let's worship