Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – Rules for Running a Rewa...

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Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – Rules for Running a Rewa... · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: I'd like you to turn to two separate scriptures for
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the reading. Please, first, if you will locate Hebrews twelve,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: I'll be reading in a moment the first two verses
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: of that chapter, Hebrews chapter twelve. And once you found that,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: please locate Philippians chapter three. I'll be reading three verses
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: from Philippians three right in the center of the chapter.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the New Living Translation, which may
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: be a little different from your version. By the way,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: it's a good time to say this. This being a
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  Speaker 1: new year, might be a good time for you to
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  Speaker 1: consider purchasing a Bible. You may wish to have another
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: version than the one you have become accustomed to using,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: or perhaps you have not purchased one for yourself in
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: a long time. It may be a good time for
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  Speaker 1: you to consider doing that. I have learned that no
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  Speaker 1: one can really grow spiritually, not truly grow, without a
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  Speaker 1: regular intake of the scriptures. It's like food during the
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  Speaker 1: day and through the week. We need nourishment, and the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Biblical nourishment is one of the keys to spiritual growth.
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  Speaker 1: So give thought to that. I want to read first
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  Speaker 1: the Philippiums section, and then I will read for you
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Hebrews twelve, or I'd like you to leave your bible
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: open to that, because we'll begin there in a few moments.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Once you find the place stand for the reading of
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: God's Word Philippins three, I'll begin at verse twelve. I
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things,
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  Speaker 1: or that I have already reached perfection. But I press
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  Speaker 1: on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first
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  Speaker 1: possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not
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  Speaker 1: achieved it. But I focus on this one thing forgetting
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  Speaker 1: the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I
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  Speaker 1: press on to reach the end of the race and
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  Speaker 1: receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is calling us. And then Hebrews twelve, verse one. Therefore,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of
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  Speaker 1: witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: so easily trips us up, and let us run with
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: endurance the race God has set before us. We do
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  Speaker 1: this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion, who
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  Speaker 1: initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him,
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  Speaker 1: he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: seated in the place of honor beside god Throne. Our
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  Speaker 1: desire is that we would be enlightened by the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: as the spirit of God illumines us, with an understanding
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  Speaker 1: of what it says, of what it means, and how
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  Speaker 1: it applies. Please be seated. Just leave your Bible open
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  Speaker 1: there in your lap or this time before the message,
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  Speaker 1: and maybe place your hand on it here and as
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  Speaker 1: I pray, Our hope is to see the print from
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  Speaker 1: these pages come out of the page and land on
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  Speaker 1: our minds and hearts and help us see the relevance
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  Speaker 1: and the application of what these words mean to us
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: who live today. That's our goal for our worship. Let's
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  Speaker 1: pray we pause our Father after a busy week and
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  Speaker 1: a great day of celebration, time with family and friends,
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  Speaker 1: as well as some time alone to reflect and meditate
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  Speaker 1: on things eternal, to meet, to spend time with one another,
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  Speaker 1: and most importantly, to hear from you, because you never
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  Speaker 1: stutter or stammer, because you have a way of connecting
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  Speaker 1: with us where we are and in whatever may be
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  Speaker 1: our situation. We rely on you to talk straight, to
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  Speaker 1: give us counsel. We need to hear, reproof we need
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  Speaker 1: to receive, and encouragement to give us hope. Each of man,
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  Speaker 1: each woman, each child, each teenager occupying a place in
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  Speaker 1: this room has been appointed by you to be here.
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  Speaker 1: You brought us together, and because we are now together
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  Speaker 1: in this room, we want to thank you for all
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  Speaker 1: you mean to us. These past twelve months have been
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  Speaker 1: marked by surprises, by heartbreak, by testing, as well as
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  Speaker 1: by laughter, great joy, wonderful companionship, fun and work. It's
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  Speaker 1: been a full year. We pray for wisdom, having lived it,
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  Speaker 1: that we will learn from it so that we are
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  Speaker 1: able to say none of those days was lived in vain,
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  Speaker 1: and we're on the brink of a tomorrow that we
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  Speaker 1: cannot predict. In light of that, Father, we pray that
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  Speaker 1: we might hear what you have to say to us,
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  Speaker 1: we might take it seriously, and we might not forget it.
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  Speaker 1: We pray that it will land with full force so
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  Speaker 1: that we get it and we get on with our
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  Speaker 1: lives with a greater sense of wisdom than we had
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  Speaker 1: when we came to this place. Lift black print off
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  Speaker 1: white pages and turn it into truth. To live by
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  Speaker 1: as you do that, Lord, remind us of what we
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  Speaker 1: have in being able to meet and assemble together without
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  Speaker 1: fear of being interrupted. It's a rarity not enjoyed in
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  Speaker 1: all countries around this big world. It's ours because men
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  Speaker 1: and women in uniform, fighting in dangerous places have won
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  Speaker 1: our freedom and helped us sustain it. Wise leaders have
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  Speaker 1: guided our steps. Courageous warriors have fought the fight. Many
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  Speaker 1: of us have parents that led us in the right way,
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  Speaker 1: and they're now gone, and we thank you for the
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  Speaker 1: memory of their lives, for the wisdom of their counsel.
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  Speaker 1: We now have teachers to teach us. We have mentors
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  Speaker 1: to build into our lives. We have friends to encourage us,
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  Speaker 1: family to love us. We are rich. Indeed, we want
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  Speaker 1: you to know Lord that we trust you completely, and
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  Speaker 1: we do not in any way shirk the responsibility of
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  Speaker 1: doing what we need to do to prepare for the
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  Speaker 1: race and to run it well. We pray that you
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  Speaker 1: will find us faithful, diligent, committed to your will, determined
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  Speaker 1: to live your plan not for our sake but for
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  Speaker 1: your glory. Give great strength when that is needed, Give
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  Speaker 1: us hope along the way that we're on. The right road.
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  Speaker 1: May this time of quietness become meaningful as we prepare
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  Speaker 1: ourselves for what we're to hear and then to live.
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  Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, we pray everybody said, amen.
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  Speaker 1: I have two statements to give you as we step
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  Speaker 1: into the new year. Both of them are are fairly obvious,
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  Speaker 1: but it is easy to forget each. Here's the first.
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  Speaker 1: We cannot change the past. Say that with me. We
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  Speaker 1: cannot change the past. Here's the second. We cannot predict
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  Speaker 1: the future. Let's do it. We cannot predict the future. Now.
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  Speaker 1: What's amazing is that even though we know that and
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  Speaker 1: can say those words, and it probably use those words
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  Speaker 1: in our lives on a number of occasions, we still
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  Speaker 1: try to do both. And sometime we're unfortunately successful in
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  Speaker 1: worrying over the past or fearing what's out there in
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  Speaker 1: the future. I say successful in quotes. Looking back, we
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  Speaker 1: realize the things we regret, the things we should not
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  Speaker 1: have said and done, the decisions we should not have made,
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  Speaker 1: and we want to live there and want to beat
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  Speaker 1: ourselves up because all of those things actually happened. But
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  Speaker 1: the truth is it's all in the past. We can't
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  Speaker 1: live there. If you do you live under a cloud
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  Speaker 1: of shame and self defeating guilt. You can't change the past,
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  Speaker 1: or we can learn from it, but we can't change
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  Speaker 1: it now the future. How many people pay enormous sums
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  Speaker 1: of money to connect with people who can so call
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  Speaker 1: tell them their fortune or give them direction for what's
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  Speaker 1: going to happen. They don't know. We don't know what
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  Speaker 1: a day will bring. We don't know what an hour
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  Speaker 1: will bring. We don't even know if we will live
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  Speaker 1: to see sunset. We can't predict it. The past is done,
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  Speaker 1: the future is yet to be lived. What we have left, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: is the present. And when I'll say that, I want
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  Speaker 1: to give you a statement here that will be the
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  Speaker 1: theme of everything I have to say. It is this
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  Speaker 1: run today's race. Today, we're in a race called life.
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  Speaker 1: It began when we took our first breath. What we
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  Speaker 1: began when we were first conceived. Nine months later, we
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  Speaker 1: sucked down our first breath of earthly air, began to
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  Speaker 1: live our lives on what we call our birthday. We
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  Speaker 1: live that from now till the last moment when we
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  Speaker 1: have lost our last breath. Between birth and death days,
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  Speaker 1: we're in a race. We run that race, one moment
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  Speaker 1: at a time, one day at a time. We can't
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  Speaker 1: run yesterday's race. We run it. We can't run tomorrow's race.
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  Speaker 1: We don't know where it's going. You only have now.
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  Speaker 1: It's amazing how vacant now can be. Aw Tozer put
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  Speaker 1: it this way, we think of ourselves as inhabiting some
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  Speaker 1: parenthetic interval between the God who was and the God
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  Speaker 1: who will be. And in this ever present now we
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  Speaker 1: are lonely, with that ancient and cosmic loneliness. Today I
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  Speaker 1: have good news. There's no reason to be lonely, because
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  Speaker 1: God has given us the present. He certainly has not
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  Speaker 1: been absent from the plans for the present. Now, all
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  Speaker 1: of this prepares us beautifully for Hebrews chapter twelve. If
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  Speaker 1: you have your Bible, crack it open to the first
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  Speaker 1: two verses, and look with me at a word picture
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  Speaker 1: that becomes vividly clear. In fact, it's written in ways
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  Speaker 1: that are not even mysterious. You can see them as
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  Speaker 1: you read them. The writer to the Hebrews, whoever he was,
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  Speaker 1: No one knows for sure who wrote this letter, imagines
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  Speaker 1: life as a vast arena a stadium. Every stadium has
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  Speaker 1: two parts, the larger part would be the stands, the bleachers,
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  Speaker 1: the seats that surround the track or the field down
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  Speaker 1: below where the athletes are. The first part would be
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  Speaker 1: those who surround the runners. In this case they're runners,
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  Speaker 1: and then the second part would be those who comprise
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  Speaker 1: the athletes. Now spiritually speaking, based on what the Hebrews
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  Speaker 1: twelve one and two section says, the spectators are all dead,
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  Speaker 1: but they form a great cloud of witnesses. My Bible
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  Speaker 1: reads we are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses.
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  Speaker 1: The Greek term translated witnesses is marty race. We got
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  Speaker 1: a word or martyrs from it. Not all of them
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  Speaker 1: are martyrs, but some of them are. If your mother
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  Speaker 1: and dad knew the Lord and they're gone, they're among
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  Speaker 1: the cloud. They're among the crowd. If your mentor who
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  Speaker 1: built into your life has now passed, he's up there
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  Speaker 1: or she's up there. If former pastors you've known and
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  Speaker 1: loved and had a part in your life have gone on,
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  Speaker 1: they're there, along with those in church history throughout time.
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  Speaker 1: It is a massive number of people who are there
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  Speaker 1: to cheer us on, to say you can do it.
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  Speaker 1: Stay in the race. We've run it. It's worth it.
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  Speaker 1: They're in this massive crowd, it's easy to forget that
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  Speaker 1: they're there. Napoleon, in his Egyptian campaign, led his troops
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  Speaker 1: among the pyramids, and he paused wisely as their leader,
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  Speaker 1: and he pointed to those great remnants of great antiquity,
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  Speaker 1: and he said to his men, soldiers, forty centuries looked
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  Speaker 1: down on you, wise words, I say to you today.
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  Speaker 1: All of those who have known and loved the Lord
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  Speaker 1: God surround you. Now that they've gone. You're surrounded by
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  Speaker 1: those who cheer you on. Not literally, you don't hear them.
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  Speaker 1: They don't literally see us, though there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: legendary stuff written that those that have passed on see
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  Speaker 1: everything here. How could there be happiness in heaven if
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  Speaker 1: they're looking at us on this earth as well make
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  Speaker 1: such a mess of things. So the point is they
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  Speaker 1: are there in spirit, They are there in effect to
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  Speaker 1: be our cheering crowd. I did a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: drama work in high school, and there was nothing like
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  Speaker 1: performing in front of a mentor who taught us how
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  Speaker 1: to act on the stage. If you're in music and
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  Speaker 1: you perform your music in front of those who are
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  Speaker 1: professional musicians and capable far beyond your ability. It does
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  Speaker 1: something to you when you sing or you play your music,
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  Speaker 1: because you're surrounded by individuals who have been there. They know,
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  Speaker 1: they know what you're going through, they know what you're experiencing,
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  Speaker 1: they know the challenge of what it is. Now, interestingly,
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  Speaker 1: we read of a race here in these verses. Let
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  Speaker 1: us run with endurance, the race God has said before us.
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  Speaker 1: That word race in the original language is agone, a
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  Speaker 1: g o n agone. We get our word agony from it.
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  Speaker 1: We're running a race, and it is arguous, it is demanding,
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  Speaker 1: it is challenging. I've never lived a year that wasn't challenging,
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  Speaker 1: nor have you. What's ahead of us will include tests
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  Speaker 1: we don't know. We couldn't predict them. Remember, we can't
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  Speaker 1: predict what's out there. But you can be sure of this.
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  Speaker 1: It's an agone race. There will be agony. A Bunion
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  Speaker 1: saw it as that and wrote a whole book on
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  Speaker 1: the pilgrim's progress as he described various obstacles, various distractions,
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  Speaker 1: various events that face an individual in life. As that
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  Speaker 1: individual is running the agonne the agony, the agonizing, demanding,
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  Speaker 1: tough race. There will be times of heartbreak, and there
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  Speaker 1: will be also moments where you will be exhilarated with
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  Speaker 1: the thrill of the run. But this race is there
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  Speaker 1: for us to run now, so much for today. As
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  Speaker 1: far as that analogy is concerned, I want to give
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  Speaker 1: you seven rules for running a rewarding race. Every Bible
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  Speaker 1: has a blank sheet somewhere. I've got some at the
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  Speaker 1: end of my Bible. I have a couple at the
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  Speaker 1: very beginning, or you may have a wide enough margin.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to write the rules down. They're not complicated,
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  Speaker 1: they're not lengthy. They can be easily written and easily forgotten.
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  Speaker 1: But remember the old saying, thoughts disentangle themselves over the
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  Speaker 1: lips and through the fingertips. So you will disentangle your thinking.
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  Speaker 1: If you write down the rules, that will go with
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  Speaker 1: you throughout the new year and hopefully throughout the rest
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  Speaker 1: of your life. Will base everything I have to say
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  Speaker 1: about these rules and the scriptures back to verse one. Therefore,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: so easily trips us up, and let us run with endurance.
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  Speaker 1: The race that is set before us. The original literally
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  Speaker 1: reads the set before us race. In light of that,
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  Speaker 1: I'll give you the first rule. Rule number one. God
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  Speaker 1: has predetermined your race. If you don't know how to
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  Speaker 1: spell predetermined, look on your neighbor's notes and you'll get it.
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  Speaker 1: God has predetermined your race. Don't take that lightly, and
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  Speaker 1: don't hold back if you're afraid of it. Some people
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  Speaker 1: here predetermined and they think, oh, we're a bunch of robots.
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  Speaker 1: Don't go there. It's ridiculous extreme. If God is God,
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  Speaker 1: then there are no surprises. And if he is all powerful,
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  Speaker 1: then there is nothing that occurs that is outside his
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  Speaker 1: realm of power. If he is in control, then there's
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  Speaker 1: nothing out of control, meaning out of his control. So
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  Speaker 1: he has predetermined your race. The race you run is
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  Speaker 1: the one he has set before you. Let me say
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  Speaker 1: three things about it before I go to Rule number two.
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  Speaker 1: Not one of us just determines our own race. You
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  Speaker 1: don't call your own shots, You don't shape the future.
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  Speaker 1: Not one of us determines our own race. Two. No,
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  Speaker 1: two races are identical. Your race is different from your
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  Speaker 1: partner in life, your husband, your wife, is different from
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  Speaker 1: your children. Each one of your children's races is different
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  Speaker 1: from one another. Your neighbor's race is not your race.
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  Speaker 1: My race is not the race of another pastor in
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  Speaker 1: another church. It's my own race. That's his race. You
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  Speaker 1: have your race. No two races are identical. Three Each
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  Speaker 1: race requires endurance. In fact, the original says, through endurance,
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  Speaker 1: run the set before you race endurance. That word is
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  Speaker 1: from two words put together in the Greek language to
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  Speaker 1: abide under. It was used for a beast that would
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  Speaker 1: carry your burden on a long trip. You would place
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  Speaker 1: the things you were to carry on the trip on
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  Speaker 1: this animal, and he would or she would abide under
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  Speaker 1: the load. That's the word used for endurance. So let's
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  Speaker 1: get this clear. Speed isn't a factor. Endurance is the
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  Speaker 1: factor holding up under the load, going on, not stopping,
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  Speaker 1: not quitting, not slowing down. Another thing I say is
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  Speaker 1: that since another's race is not your race, it's foolish
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  Speaker 1: to compare. People do that all the time. I don't
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  Speaker 1: know why we lost our son and they still have theirs. Stop.
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  Speaker 1: That's a dead end street that'll only deepen your grief.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know either. I don't know why he got
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  Speaker 1: the promotion and you didn't I don't know why she
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  Speaker 1: was chosen and you weren't. Don't know. Frankly, I can't care.
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  Speaker 1: Comparisons are odious, says one of the old fables. God
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  Speaker 1: has planned each race, and let me tell you what's
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  Speaker 1: essential acceptance. The day I learned to accept the race
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  Speaker 1: God has lined up for me is the day I
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  Speaker 1: find a great deal of peace in running it. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: my hope for you this new year is that you
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  Speaker 1: will submit yourself to God's sovereign arrangement of things. Don't
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  Speaker 1: overthink the race, don't waste time anticipating it'll be one
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  Speaker 1: way or another. Live it every day today. Remember run
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  Speaker 1: today's race today as it comes. Run it. I wake
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  Speaker 1: up in the morning, I sometime will sit on the
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  Speaker 1: edge of my bed and I will think a thought like,
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  Speaker 1: Today's a day, Lord that You've designed for me. Help
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  Speaker 1: me live it well. Help me through the things that
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  Speaker 1: occur that are challenging. May I be what I should
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  Speaker 1: be today? And then I will name several things that
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  Speaker 1: I know are necessary for me to live a life
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  Speaker 1: that honors Him, and I lay it off for him.
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  Speaker 1: I have no idea what the day whole, just like
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  Speaker 1: you don't, Okay, Since that's true, let's go to the
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  Speaker 1: second rule. Here's rule number two. Preparing for the race
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  Speaker 1: is your responsibility. Write that down next. Preparing for the
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  Speaker 1: race is your responsibility. If you want to make each
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  Speaker 1: day count, you need to prepare for it each day.
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  Speaker 1: What's involved in it? Well, look at the verse. It's
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  Speaker 1: right here in front of us. Let us strip off
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  Speaker 1: every weight that slows us down. Okay, that's one, and
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: let us strip away the most besetting sin. That second,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: please observe that weights are not sins. Look at the verse.
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  Speaker 1: Let us strip off every weight. The word means bulk encumbrances.
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  Speaker 1: It's what you see in a basketball game when a
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: player is on the bench and the coach said, hey, Frank,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: get in there. Frank reaches down and tears off the
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: warm up pantsy's been wearing, throws aside the shirt and
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: goes onto the court to play the game. I mean,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: you watch him just off and think, boy, that's the
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: kind of clothing you need to buy when you're ready
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: to go to bed. You're on. Okay, strip off the
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: things that will get your way when you play the game.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: I've never seen a runner on a track run with
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: sweat clothes on. I see in practice with sweat clothes
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: on for August reasons. But you run when you've stripped
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: down to the basics. Often shoes you wear don't even
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: have socks. Swimmers, I'm told shade their bodies to get
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: rid of even the hair on the body, every little
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: part that can slow you down or encumber the race,
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: get rid of. Strip away. I like the way this
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: renders it. Strip away. These are weights, They're not sins.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Their habits you formed that have slowed you down in
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: the previous year. Procrastination, worry, fear, indifference, lack of passion,
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: those are all weights. Strip them all. You want to
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: have this new year count, you want to make it,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: make every day meaningful. Skip rid of the excess weight.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: I might as well get specific. You may be really overweight.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: I'm not looking at anybody, I'm looking at the whole colors,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: just like this. Okay, you might be one that really
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: struggles with your weight. Okay, it's your job to get
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: rid of it. God won't wake you up tomorrow morning, Skinny.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: I tell everybody that I'm marry, take a lot of pictures,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: because you'll never be thinner than at your wedding. Okay,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: so weddings are over, you're now at it. Lose the weight.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: If you don't, it'll be an encumbrance to your future,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: to your running. Keep it down, maintain it. No, it
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean if you weigh three hundred and seventy five
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: pounds you can't be in the race. It just means
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: you won't win. I've never seen a great, big fat
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: guy when a race I've ever received. Sin. One, Get
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: off the track, Get off the what do you call
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: those things? Yeah, yeah, whatever that is, don't go there. Second,
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: strip away the besetting sin, literally the most besetting sin.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Look at this especially my Bible reads the sin that
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: so easily trips us up. I'm intrigued by that. First,
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: it's got a definite article the it's got to be one.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: I've heard people tease that everybody has a besetting sin.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: It may be anger, it may be agreed, it may
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: be lost. You know, you could name them sloth or whatever.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: I don't think that's it. In the context, which goes
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: back to chapter ten and takes you all the way
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: through the Hall of Faith in chapter eleven, all these
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: people who believe gods who he said he was and
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: did what God told him to do. They all are
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: people of faith. So I believe the besetting sin is unbelief,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: not trusting God, not taking him seriously. That's the besetting sin.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: Got to strip it off Lord. This year, as I
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: step into these twelve months, I want you to know
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: I take you seriously. I don't know what you have
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: in mind. I know this, I'm getting a year older,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: and I know that I've set in motion some habits
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: that haven't been good for me. And I want you
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: to know I'm going to trust you to lead me
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: each day in this race in a way that will
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: lead me into victory. See, it's a daily matter. Every
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: single day starts in the morning, ends at night. From
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: bed to bed. During your waking hours, you are able
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: to trust God and take him seriously, or go through
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: the motions all the while just building your worry list.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: This would be a great year for you to throw
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: your worry list away. Most people I know have a
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: worry list longer than a prayer list. Get rid of
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: the worries. Trust God. I don't mean that as a cliche.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: I mean it seriously. Trust him. It's a besetting sin
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: and it will haunt you since it's your responsibility to
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: prepare for the race. That's a good place to start.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Rule number three here we go. Keep on running with endurance,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: Keep on running with endurance. See the word run in
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: verse one. At the end of the verse, let us
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: run with endurance the race that is set before us.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: The Greek says, through endurance, keep on running, through endurance,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: keep on running. Every day it will call for endurance,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: it will call for endurance. Eugene Peterson in the message
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: renders it. We better get on with it. Strip down,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: start running, never quit. We'd better get on with it.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Strip down, start running and never quit. Strip down, start running,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: and never quit. I'm gonna warn you ahead of time,
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: though I cannot predict the details, I will tell you
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: throughout the new year, your steps will be dull by
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: temptation to give up. You'll fall into a slump. You'll
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: want to toss in the towel. You'll let discouragement take over.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: You'll want to take an early retirement from the disciplines
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: of life. And those disciplines are requirements that will lead
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: to endurance. Discipline. And I thought of that word. I
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: was reminded of a book I've read more than once
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: called The Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Every man hearing me right now should get that book
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: and read it, The Disciplines of a Godly Man. If
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: your husband doesn't get it, wives buy one for him,
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: and you need to read the book before the new
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: year is over. Kent Hughes rights. Those who have watched
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Mike Singletary, perennial All Pro when he played the game,
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: two time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Remember the
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl twenty five called the Dream Team when the
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: Chicago Bears won it. Sports fans will remember have observed
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: his wide eyed intensity and his churning, crunching samurai hits.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: They're usually surprised when they meet Mike. He's not an
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: imposing hulk. He's barely six feet tall, weighs maybe two
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty. Where's the greatness come from? Discipline? He
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: writes in italics. Mike's Singletary, he writes, is as disciplined
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: as student of the game as any who has ever
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: played it. In his biography, Calling the Shots, Mike says
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: that in watching game films, he will often run a
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: single play on the film fifty to sixty times. Same
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: play fifty to sixty times, and that takes him three
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: hours to watch one half a football game, which is
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: only twenty to thirty plays. Because he watches get this,
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: he watches every player, because he mentally knows the opponent's
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: tendency given the down, the distance, the hash mark, the
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: time remained. Because he reads the opposition's mind through their stances,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: he is often moving toward the ball before it has
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: been snapped. Mike Singletary's legendary success is a testimony to
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: a remarkably disciplined life. We who love the arts have
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: all appreciated the works I would name of Leonardo da
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Vinci to name one of the greats. We're impressed with
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: his attention to detail. We wonder at the anatomical perfection
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: of his brush. We forget that Leonardo da Vinci, on
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: one occasion, drew a thousand hands before he was satisfied.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: He could draw the hand a thousand hands before he
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: was satisfied. Could say the same for Michelangelo. Thomas Edison,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: who invented the incandescent light, came up with it after
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: a thousand failures. Yosha Heifetz considered it his day, the
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: greatest of the violinists. Began playing the violin at age
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: three and early began to practice four hours a day.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Until his death at age seventy five, when he had
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: long been the greatest in the world, he still practiced
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: four hours a day. That amounts SHO one hundred and
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: two thousand hours of practice. He no doubt gave his
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: own Hear hear Tabrettarevsky's response to a woman's fawning remarks
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: about his genius, Madam, he said, before I was a genius,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: I was a drudge. Show me a person who is
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: excellent in what he or she does. I'll show you
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: a person who's committed to discipline. They work at it,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: and they work at it, and they work at it,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: and they work at it in time doesn't matter. They
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: are driven to do it with excellence. Can Hughes concludes,
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: we will never get anywhere in life without discipline, be
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: it the arts, business, athletics, academics, and the spiritual life.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: Preparing is your responsibility. Running with endurance will require discipline
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: every day, every day, some days more than others, but
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: every day. Okay, here we go. Remember God has a
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: predetermined race, all the race. He's prepared one for you.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: It's your responsibility. Keep on running with endurance. Here's the
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: fourth rule, number four, Stay focused on Jesus throughout the race.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: Stay focused on Jesus throughout the race. Where do I
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: get that? Verse two? We do this, we do what
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: run with endurance by keeping eyes on Jesus the champion.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: The verb translated to keeping our eyes literally means to
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: look away at Jesus, meaning look away from all the
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: distractions and focus on him. Force yourself to turn away
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: from the things that would discourage and distract you, and
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: they happen every day, so that you can focus on him.
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: What would Christ do? How would Christ handle this? Christ
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: doesn't work in me? And Lord right now, I know
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: that you're using what I'm going through for your purpose
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: in your plan for my race that you predetermined. None
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: of this is surprising to you. Lord, and you and
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: He have this conversation together. You turn your attention away
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: from all of the distractions as you focus your mind
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: on him. There is no greater secret to staying in
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: the race then focusing full attention away from the distractions
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: and onto the person of Christ. Let me tell you
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: what will happen. The obstacles that occur will not feel
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: his daunting. They won't be as daunting. The journey will
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: not seem as long, the grief will not be as deep,
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: the distractions will not have an appeal. The temptations will
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: be less and less. For you. Now, with all that
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: behind us, turn to Philippians three and will wrap it up.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: Here's rule number five. Don't concern yourself with the past.
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: Paul says this in verse thirteen. I'm not a cheap perfection,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: but I focus on this one thing forgetting the past.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: Forgetting the past. Look at Paul, this one thing. It
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: comes in two parts. We look at both separately. Forgetting
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: the past. Some of you are incredible historians. You can
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: remember every offense that happened this last year. You can
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: remember that. You can remember everything has been said against you,
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: and you rehearsal. Uh, what a waste, What a foolish
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: waste of time. People say things they shouldn't say and
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: lands in your ears. Maybe they meant to hurt you.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: It'll only hurt you if you let it. Forget it.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: I love the lion from the songs. I think it's
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: one nineteen one sixty five. Great peace of they who love,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: by Lord, nothing shall offend them determine this new year.
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: You're not going to be offended. Well, let me tell
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: you It'll be true only if you forget the past.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: I don't mean you forget the lessons to be learned.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: Are the truths you've been taught. You know better than that.
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: This is looking back, either to gloat over achievements you
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: have accomplished or entertaining self defeating thoughts over things you've
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: failed to do. Doing the former will only increase your pride.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: Doing the latter will steal your joy. This is forgetting
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: things that you can fall back into. How about great achievements?
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: You go there long enough, you're filled with pride, arrogance,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: You're all impressed with all the great things you've done.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: There's a great line in New York when you lived
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: there for a while, Forget about it. I like that.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: Forget about it. I want to say that to people
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: who come, Uh, you have no idea what they did
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: to me. Forget about it. That was then, this is now.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: You can't change then. Yeah, they shouldn't have done it.
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: I know that they may even know it. Now, get
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: over it, get past it. And if you're the type
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: that likes to keep track of all the great things
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: you've accomplished. That's great, Write it on toilet paper and
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: then flush it. That just occurs to me is the
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: way you can solve the problem. Nobody else as impressed.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: They're all busy, remembered all the great things they did,
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: and they all get bigger. They all this gets sweeter
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: as the years go by. Oh, I remember when I
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: founded the church. Oh, there were only two of us,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: and one was unfaithful. On and on and on it goes.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: You should have known my former mate. Oh you talk
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: about a terrible husband. Really you, I have to remember
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: a terrible husband. Will let help you get past your
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: former mate?
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: Come?
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: You let her or him keep you under that shadow?
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: What a terrible way to live. Now, forget about it
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: completely and totally, forget what lies behind. Let it go
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: and continue to read the verse. We're in thirteen. I've
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing, pauls.
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: It's my goal. Forget what's behind. I look forward to
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: what's ahead in that grave. That's how to live the
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: present day. Okay, let's review number one. Remember God has
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: predetermined your race. Number two. Preparing for the race is
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: your responsibility. Number three, keep on running with endurance. Number four,
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: Stay focused on Jesus throughout the race. Number five. Don't
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: concern yourself with the past. It's there, it has lessons
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: that taught you great. That's fine. But the achievements or
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: the failures. Don't focus on that or make a big
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: deal out of either. The failures are forgiven by the
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: grace of God, as you have brought them to the Lord.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Leave it alone. As far as east is from the west,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: he has removed transgressions from us. Now Number six. Rule
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: number six, Lean hard into the future. I've chosen those
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: words carefully. Lean hard into the future, he says, I
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: forget what lies behind, and I press forward, or look
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: forward to what lies ahead. It's the idea of a
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: relentless pursuit, straining every muscle. There's passion in the word.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: It's used of every runner who goes hard for the tape.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: You've even seen them fall as they reach the end.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: They have given every ounce of energy they can, and
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: they come to the tape and they lunge into it.
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: In ancient days there were chariot drivers. Maybe he had
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: that in mind, and the chariot driver had a little
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: tiny platform on which the sand in his little chariot.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: He had stat he's in front of him, ready to run.
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: He had the he had the reins to hold on to,
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: and he would lean forward. You see it when you
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: see films of this as it's enacted, leaning forward into it,
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: Stretch herself into the future, anticipate what God may be
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: ready to do. Dream big, think beyond the the outline,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: the perimeter of what you've always done. Live your life
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: on tiptoe. I used to love the way Ray Ortland
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: would would say it, he said when he when he
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: finally learned to Ray's gone now, along with his wonderful
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: wife Anne, whom we knew in California for years, wonderful people.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: Ray said, when I finally learned to preach, I realized
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: the secret was to preach on tiptoe, lean into it.
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: It's a picture of passion. Passion. Take on life with
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: a passion that that's a that's a key to victory.
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: It becomes a quest. Remember the name Robert Ballard. Some
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: of you may Robert Ballard. He had a thirteen year
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: quest that was finally realized. And the National Geographic magazine
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: came out with the article as it showed the Titanic
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: incredible pictures of this massive ship that had sunk and
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: taken over fifteen hundred lives with it. On the twelfth
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: of April nineteen twelve, Where was it? What does it
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: look like? Robert Ballard was determined, and he finally found her.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: Listen to his words. My first direct view of Titanic
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: lasted less than two minutes, but the stark sight of
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: her immense black holl towering above the ocean floor will
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: remain forever ingrained in my memory. My lifelong dream was
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: to find this great ship, and during the past thirteen years,
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: the quest hear the word, the quest for her had
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: dominated my life. Now finally the quest was over thirteen years.
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: Robert Ballard lived on tiptoe. One of these days, I'm
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: going to discover that ship one of these days. All
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: the money we poured into it will be worth it
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: one of these days. And the picture shows as this
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: eerie probe is down over two miles deep, fifteen hundred
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: and twenty two souls perished. The strobe light penetrated that grave.
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: On the first of September nineteen eighty five, there she was.
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: If you think about the new year, what is your quest?
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: Where are you going what has you on tiptoe excited
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: about life? That's why I'm so against retiring from life.
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: Don't misunderstand I'm gonna saying it's something wrong with retiring
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: from your work. If that's what you want to do,
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: do it. Just don't retire from life. Don't hang a
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: don't disturb sign on your door. Don't act like life's over.
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: So many who retire early die early. Fact, some people
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: die and live on fourteen fifteen years and don't even
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: know they're dead yet. Don't go there, no thanks. Why
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: Because some of the greatest things you will ever experience,
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: you need age to experience them, and the aging will
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: prepare you for what you've longed to be in others' lives.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: A mentor and encouragement, a point of reference. It's amazing.
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: We don't realize that the value of that until we
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: remember what a mentor meant to us. Make that a quest.
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: Could that be the reason God gives you another year?
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: Certainly it's not just to do what you want to
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: do or to spend all your money on you. Surely
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: there's something beyond that. It's a passionate quest we often
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: refer to it is pursuing a dream. Our dream is
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: to run a good race, to give it our best effort,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: to put aside all thought of a tourist in life.
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: And you are engaged in the race as you run
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: it with passion, and you anticipate the seventh rule, rule
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: number seven. Here we have it. Rewards await you at
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: the end. See how Paul writes of it in Philippians three.
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: Press on to reach the end of the race. That
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: would be the end of your life. When you come
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: to the final moment of your life and you receive
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: calling us. Rewards await you at the end of the race.
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: Rewards await you. It's an interesting He doesn't tell us
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: what the prize is. If you're gonna run in the Olympics,
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: guess what. Bronze silver gold, that's what you're thinking about.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: Bronze silver gold. You play ball in college, All American,
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: maybe even Most Valuable Player or Heisman Trophy. You get
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: into the pro ranks, maybe all Pro I'll make all
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: maybe the Hall of Fame, specific pride. But here it's
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: the heavenly prize. It's got to relate to heaven. It's
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: called that. So since he doesn't tell us, I've come
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: up with my list. Here are a few. When you
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: come to the end, and then you step into the
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: Lord's presence, you will hear his words, well done, good
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: and faithful servant. You imagine that, for he, our great
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: shepherd of the sheep, says to you, good job, well done.
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: How about the crown of righteousness or the crown of
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: unfading glory. There are five crowns mentioned in the New Testament.
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: They await you. And when the crowns are placed before
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: you and on you, guess what. The first chance you get,
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: you will bow before the Lord God, and you will
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: lay your crowns before him. Then a great picture before
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: I imagine that marriage supper of the lamb. You gotta
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: you can't eat with all those crowns on your head,
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: so you dump all the crowns at his feet. Here
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: they are, Lord, They're all for you. How about your
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: very own place heaven? Is that great? Think about it?
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: You have your own place where if I go, I
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: will go and prepare a place for you. And if
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: I prepare a place for you, says Jesus, I'll come
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: again and receive you to myself. You've got your own place.
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: It isn't a mansion. King James translations out to lunch.
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's not a mansion, but it looked like
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: a mansion, even if it's an apartment with one room.
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: Why because it's in heaven. Every place there is magnificent.
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: Why because the Savior is there, the unending presence of
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: the Lord, all the characteristics of home in heaven. In
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: case you haven't taken the list lately, Usually they're named
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: that funerals, and I think, why do we do just
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: at funerals. Let me name it to people who aren't
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: yet cadavers are dead yet. I probably shouldn't have said
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: it quite like that anyway, Now that you're still living,
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: every tear wiped away, no sorrow, no longer any death
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: or threat of death, no mourning, crying or pain, no
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: temple or church. I won't if you go to church anymore. Now.
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: The great thing is the Lamb is the church, the
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: Lamb the Lord or the temple. You go before Him
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: and there's no night there, and there's no need of
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: a light or a lamp, no light of the sun.
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: The Lord God will illumine every bit of it, all
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: of that and a thousand more things await you while
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: you live today. Today, I tell you it's worth it.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: A little boy, I was born in the little town
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: of El Campo, between Houston and Corpus CHRISTI and my
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: mom and dad, and my granddaddy and grandmother. Our family
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: went to a little, sing little church in El Campo,
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: and we were there July I was eight. In nineteen
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: forty one, we moved to Houston. My dad got involved
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: in the war effort World War Two. But I remember
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: those first eight years of my life laying down on
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: a bench. You know some of the things. I count
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: the tiles. There were one hundred and sixty five one
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: way in that ceiling and one hundred and twenty six
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: this way. I was really interested in the sermon. Whatnot
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: this one? I was just a little kid. I'd lean
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: on my mom and I'd sleep a little. But every
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: once in a while I'd hear a song. It's kind
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: of stuck with me. One that we haven't sung here ever,
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: is a song many of you have heard. Who spent
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: first eight years of your life growing up in a church,
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: and for the years that followed, I'm pressing on the
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: upward way New heights. I gaining every day, still praying
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: as I'm onward bound. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Lord,
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: lift me up and let me stand by faith on
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: Heaven's table land, the higher plane I have not found. Lord,
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: plant my feet on higher ground. The new year can
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: be higher ground for you. But you need the rules
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: to follow. Read them regularly, rehearse them you come to
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: the place where you can actually name them without looking.
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: God has predetermined your race. Preparing for it is your responsibility.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: Keep on running with endurance, Stay focused on Jesus, don't
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: concern yourself with the past, lean hard into the future,
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: and remember rewards await you. Unless, of course, you don't
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: know the Lord, and if that's true, you can set
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: aside all the rules. You're not yet one of the
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: athletes on the field being encouraged by the spectators. With
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: Christ as your focus, you begin by knowing Him and
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: then you're able to focus on him. I must never
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: take for granted that all who hear my words are
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: already in the family of God. Some of you are not.
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: You've never trusted in Christ alone for your salvation is
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: a great moment to do that. Then when you do,
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: you enter the race and you begin the journey that's
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: so fulfilling and rewarding, marked by His pleasure in his presence.
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: Bow with me, will you please. Right where you're sitting,
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: you can trust in the Lord Jesus. Turn your life
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: over to him. Take him by faith, Thank him for
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: dying for you. Tell him you want him in your
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: life to give you a purpose for living and a
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: reason to go on and hope beyond the grave. All
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: of that he'll provide forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: Right now, you can move from the realm of death
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: to life, from darkness to light, from fear and worry
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: despair to purpose and meaning and definition and a reason
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: to go on, filled with hope. And it all revolves
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: around Jesus. Trust him now, take him now. We're here
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: to help you in your journey, but you'll need to
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: let us know that you've just come to Christ. You'll
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: like to begin to grow and learn what this Christian
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: life is all about. That's why we exist. Lord God,
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: lift us up and let us stand by faith on
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: Heaven's table land, a higher plane we've not found, so
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: we need you to plant our feet on higher ground.
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: Break us free from the misery, of the past and
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: the worries about tomorrow, and rivet us to the present
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: with a commitment to serve you on tiptoe. Use these
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: words that I've shared here in the lives of those
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: who are afraid to die. Bring Him. We pray to
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: a place of faith in Jesus. I ask it in
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: Jesus name.
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 2: I love the simplicity of the Gospel, and I never
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 2: grow weary of singing it, or telling it or reading it.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 2: But as simple as it is, unless God by his
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 2: Spirit opens our eyes, we will not see Christ. Until God,
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 2: by his Spirit awakens us from within to recognize the
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 2: mountain of our sin. Will never see it.
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: But when he.
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 2: Does, then also he reveals Christ to us so that
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 2: we can flee to Him and find refuge in Him alone.
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 2: I love this next song. I didn't write it, but
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 2: it is a wonderful reminder of the Gospel. And so
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 2: as we rehearse these truths, may your heart's be encouraged again.
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: And the best part of all is that it's true.
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 2: We believe in the Father who created it.
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: All there is MHM, and we believe that you never.
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 3: And all therein.
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: Is His has a love. Heavenly Father he heard to say,
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: so to lift us from the all we believe believe
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: in Jesus. The fall is only so.
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 2: Existing, uncreated before time can he.
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: Done the sadrifier for sin He died, then rules again.
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 4: Tanso, simple man, we believe, believe in the spirit.
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 3: Who makes believes one.
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 2: Our hearts are.
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: Filled with his present. The calm further has come.
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 3: His keen dummon forms in his pla.
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 4: Unhindered my allSome man, his church upheld by his hands, weeping.
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 3: Though the earth be removed and time be noble. These
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 3: two are signor God's bad shalling.
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 5: Whatever may change.
• 1:10:39
  Speaker 1: His things are shut.
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 2: So we've come back.
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 3: Tens are cast down, hidto the plane.
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 2: When he come so trouble, this is what remains. Oh,
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 2: it's not such as.
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: To sees hers.
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 5: Then, with the honor we program really welcome that, he said,
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 5: And the sea will give up. Father, he's too trying
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 5: around with them, he said.
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 2: Really.
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 6: The preceding message, Rules for Running a Rewarding Race was
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 6: copyrighted in twenty fourteen, and the sound recording was copyrighted
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 6: in twenty sixteen by Charles R. Swind All, Inc. All
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 6: rights are reserved worldwide. In the preceding message. Charles R.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 6: Swind All, Inc. Is grateful for the permission to use
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 6: Steve Green's performance of We Believe. Lyrics and music by
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 6: Dan Scott and Nathan digasare copyrighted in nineteen ninety one
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 6: by Dayspring Music and up in the Mix Music sound
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 6: recording copyrighted in two thousand and eight by Steve Green Ministries.