Let Us Run

All right, how many of you have enjoyed the service so far? Can you say amen with me?

Amen. Isn't that awesome? It is great to see God moving in the young people of our church and our

community, and that is kind of what we've been talking about in our series on new life, a fresh

beginning with Jesus. Much of this came from resources put out by Craig Groeschel, pastor of

Life Church in Oklahoma City, and we are a few weeks into this now, and so we are talking about

God doing a new thing. We've seen evidence of that in the baptisms. We saw the video earlier in the

service of last Sunday when two of our young people, one of our graduating seniors even, getting

baptized and giving evidence of their faith in Christ. So God is doing a new thing. Can we see it?

Yes, absolutely we can. So we talked about that a few weeks ago, and then we talked about how we need

to stop trying and start training. Let's say that together. Ready? Stop trying, start training.

How many times in our lives have we tried and tried and tried and failed and failed and failed,

and maybe God is trying to get our attention and saying, hey, stop trying so much in your own strength

and start understanding that I'm training you to be who I say you are, which leads us to our identity,

and that we do what we do because of what we think of who we are. And so instead of believing the old

lie that we believed all throughout our lives of who we are, God is instead getting our attention

saying, listen to me and believe that you are who I say you are, and then that determines your behavior.

So our behavior is born out of our identity. Well today we're going to be, I'm sorry, last week we

started this kind of sub-series within this whole series about new life in Christ, and we talked

about laying aside every weight, and we had a very visual illustration of how extra weight slows us

down, didn't we? For those of you who weren't here, you're wondering why people are laughing. That's

because I had a foot race down that aisle and that aisle against one of our fastest teenagers,

and he smoked me, all right? During the service, okay, it happened. Y'all don't want to miss what's

going on here in church because you never know what might happen during the service. Well then I loaded

him up with I don't know how much weight with a weight vest and medicine ball and kettlebells and

all this, and I barely beat him that second time through. Extra weight really makes a difference, and there

might be something in our lives that we either need to lay aside because we've been holding on to it,

maybe a bad habit, a self-destructive habit in our life, or there's something that's holding on to us

from our past, from our past, and in Philippians we read that we are to forget what lies behind

and press forward toward what lies ahead. So that brings us, that catches you up very briefly in our

series text we've been looking through. It's in your bulletin, 2 Corinthians 5 17. If anyone is in

Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and see the new has come. Man, we're celebrating new

today with our graduating seniors. What an exciting thing as they embark on a new endeavor, a new journey,

a new starting point in their life, and together as a church we can do the same thing. So today

we're talking about let us run. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. Hebrews 12,

Hebrews 12:1

1 and 2. While you turn there, you'll put a finger in Hebrews 12 and then flip over to Philippians 3.

Hebrews 12 and Philippians 3 will be bouncing back and forth between those two passages of scripture.

And as you find your place in those two passages, I want to share a couple of thoughts with you about

running. How many of you, maybe you follow me on Facebook and you saw that I've started training for

a 5k. Anybody? There's a couple of you. The rest of you, I don't blame you. Facebook, you know, isn't

always where I spend my time, but that's all right. I've recently started training for a 5k. It's the first

one in my life. I know that's shocking to you. I look like somebody who runs 5ks all the time. But it's not.

This is the first time I'll be doing this. I'm not running one next week or next month. I'm thinking

like maybe December. It's going to take a minute for me to train, all right? But I've started doing

that, just doing some slow jogs around my neighborhood, just getting started. And I have

some thoughts to share with you about running. I went for a run but came back after two minutes

because I forgot something. I forgot I'm out of shape and can't run more than two minutes.

Truth is, I ran 22 minutes straight the other day without stopping. Now, when I say run, it's like,

you know what I mean? But I didn't stop. So there you go. I don't run. And if you should ever see me

run, you should start running too because something is probably chasing me. One of my kids' teachers

told him that one day in school and I won't say who it is. That was fun. That is very true. And then

this is probably my favorite here because I wear Nike shoes. That awkward moment when you're wearing

Nike and you still just can't do it. For those of you who don't know, Nike had a commercial,

just do it, all right? Just put it in context. Listen, running, training for anything is difficult,

is it not? That's why these jokes are funny because we all know it's hard. It's difficult.

And this is a quote that I wanted to share with you. I don't know if I've ever used a quote from

Oprah Winfrey before in a message, but this one was actually pretty applicable. Running is the

greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it. And that is so true.

Most of my life I have not run and I've gotten out of it the fruit of not running.

And just the little bit of time that I've spent over the last couple of weeks beginning to run,

beginning to train, I can actually see little fruits of that in the rest of my days.

And as I try to transform my personal lifestyle, I know many of you are also trying to do the same

thing, maybe in a different area of your life. You can see and agree that you get out of it

what you put into it. So let's see what the Word of God has to say about this. Hebrews chapter 12

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

and verse 1. I know we've got quite a number in here. If you're able and willing, would you join

us in standing as we just read these two verses together? Hebrews 12 and verse 1. Therefore,

since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance

and the sin that so easily ensnares us. We talked about that last week. Let us run with endurance the race

that lies before us. And now flipping back over to Philippians chapter 3. And let's read verse 13.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

One thing I do, forgetting what is behind, talked about that last week, and reaching forward to what is

ahead. We're going to stop right there, and we'll pick it up there next Sunday. Actually, in two Sundays.

Sorry about that. Y'all, let's ask God to speak to us from His Word today. Lord, we ask for just that.

We thank you for every member, every regular attender, every guest who's with us this morning.

Thank you for every graduating senior. Thank you for those who couldn't be here and are joining us online.

I want to welcome all of them, and I just am grateful for them joining us in worship today.

I pray that none of this would be in vain, that you would speak to us individually, personally,

to our hearts and our lives. Show us the next step we need to take with you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

You may be seated. Number one in your bulletins, I want to challenge you, start moving. Start moving.

Y'all, that is the secret to my running a 5K, is I have to start moving, right?

If I never start moving, then I'm never going to run a 5K. What does that mean?

If I never go out and take my first run, and I'm using this free app called the Nike Run Club,

and it's free. That was the part that got me interested.

I'm not going to throw a bunch of money into it.

But listen, I've got these guided runs, and there's this coach in my ear,

and the whole thing of those first runs that I started out with a couple weeks ago is,

if you're pushing too hard, you're going to quit.

So stop pushing so hard, and just start moving.

Just get out and start moving.

Y'all, sometimes that is the exact step we need to take in our walk with Jesus,

is just start moving.

Take a step.

The reality is, if some of us opened God's Word tomorrow morning,

before we got our day started, and read one Bible verse,

that would be one more verse than we did the day before.

If we prayed one sentence to God in prayer,

that would be one more sentence than we had prayed the day before.

So we're moving, right?

We started.

It's not that you go from zero all the way to where you want to be,

or where you think you should be.

It's that you start.

You begin.

So, Hebrews 12 says,

let us run.

Philippians 3 says,

pressing forward to those things which are ahead.

Reaching forward to what is ahead.

Let us run.

Sometimes you've just got to take the first step.

Martin Luther King had a great quote,

and when I was a junior high English teacher,

one of my problem students,

I know teachers, you have never had a problem student before, right?

Nobody, they're all perfect little angels.

I'm sure you guys were all perfect angels.

I had a problem student my first year teaching.

I only taught for a couple years,

but she was just bound and determined to give me grief every day.

And so I became bound and determined to win her over.

And by the end of that first semester,

she was giving me this on a little thing that sits in my office back there

as a Christmas present.

So we really made some strides together.

But she found this and thought that I would want it.

It had special meaning for me.

And I thought it applies so well to what we're talking about today.

Faith is taking that first step,

even when you don't see the full staircase.

I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to run a 5K.

I hope so.

I hope I can run a 10K.

I hope I can run a 15K.

I don't know if I'll ever be a marathon guy.

My brother, any of y'all remember my brother preached here several months ago?

He ran a marathon one time,

and I heard what it did to his feet at the end of that.

I don't know if I want to do that.

But that's all right.

I don't have to see the whole staircase of where this is going to end for me right now.

I just take the first step.

And sometimes that's what faith looks like.

We don't know where God is going to lead us.

I guarantee you these seniors that are graduating high school

don't know where their lives are going to be five years from now,

but they don't have to.

They just take one step forward with Jesus,

and then another one,

and then another one.

And as God keeps leading them,

and as God keeps leading us,

then we arrive where he wants us to go in his timing.

It's walking together with him,

but we've got to start moving.

Philippians 3.13,

straining forward,

reaching forward,

pressing forward

to what lies ahead.

The problem is,

we get impatient,

don't we?

We get impatient.

We want it all to come at once.

In today's world in which we live,

we can get everything at the push of a button.

Our phones are there.

They're the wealth of all the information

that we never had growing up,

and all we've got to do is Google it now.

If we want to talk to somebody,

we can talk to someone instantly.

The world we live in is absolutely instant,

but some things are never meant to come overnight.

Some things are never meant to come instantly.

So we have to remember that God's timing

is better than our timing.

God's timing is perfect.

Maybe there's a relationship

that you wish would just be fixed overnight.

In the young couples,

married, adults,

whatever you want to call that class,

that the Tillers and Bryants are leading back there,

we just started a marriage seminar today.

And man, it's fantastic,

but it's realizing that

not everything is going to get fixed overnight.

Sometimes you've got to put the work in,

but it's taking the first step

in understanding that God's timing is perfect.

So start moving.

And then number two,

keep going.

Keep going.

Real basic,

real simple stuff here today,

but sometimes it's the basic and simple things

that trip us up, isn't it?

So we've got to start moving,

and then we've got to keep going.

Hebrews 12 run,

Hebrews 12 one,

going back to our main text here,

run with endurance,

the race set before us.

Let us run,

but let us run with endurance.

Let us run with sustaining that pace.

That coach who's in my ear when I start running,

he says,

if you're running at a pace

that you can't sustain for the whole run,

then slow down.

Some of you are probably expert runners,

and you're like,

that's not good advice.

Well, it is for me when I'm starting out, okay?

Maybe someday I'll get to where you are.

I'm looking around.

Do we have any expert runners?

But listen.

Wait, what just happened?

Oh, yes, Wade.

That was good, Wade.

That was good.

He's a runner at heart, man.

He is a biker.

That's true.

Listen, we run with endurance.

The main thing is that you keep running,

that you keep going.

And young people, I'll tell you,

it is so much more important

that you continue and are faithful

in your walk with Jesus

and, like, hit singles

instead of home runs all the time.

You know what I mean?

Sometimes the temptation

is to try to achieve

great, huge, big things all at once,

but do you know how great,

huge, big things are achieved?

By little by little

achieving the simple, basic things every day.

When you get to the place

where you're doing the things

that you're supposed to do

every day, day after day,

night after night,

when it's hard,

when it's annoying,

when you're tired,

when you're emotional,

when you don't want to,

then all of a sudden you arrive

at the day where you look back

and say,

oh, wow, how did I get here?

This is actually where

I always wanted to go.

But it's because I just kept moving.

I just kept going.

Philippians 3 says,

I press on.

I keep going.

Nothing's going to stop me.

Nothing's going to hold me back.

I recognize that I could stop myself.

I recognize that the devil could stop me.

I recognize that others in my life

could stop me or slow me down.

But between me and Jesus,

I'm going to rely on him

to let me keep going and press on.

Progress demands persistence,

not perfection.

And man, I thank God for that, right?

If progress with Jesus demanded perfection,

we'd all be out of luck.

None of us would get anywhere

where we're trying to go.

But progress just demands persistence.

Jesus just says,

walk with me.

Let me lead you.

Remember, you're not trying.

I'm training you on how to do this.

So we're letting God train us

and get us to where he wants us to go.

There might be young people in this room

that God wants to be a pastor.

God wants to be a missionary.

God wants to be a school teacher.

God wants to be a doctor.

God wants to be a mechanic.

God wants to work in retail,

work at Sonic.

I don't know what your future is

or where God has you

and there's a circle of people

waiting for you

to bring Jesus into their life.

But you're never going to get

where God wants you to go

unless you persist

at the things he has for you right now.

So, let me ask you this.

I've got to run down here and grab it.

Here we go.

Anybody know what the difference in this and this is?

One's white, one's black.

Glad we got that out of the way.

Now, what do these mean?

What is this?

Starting out, beginner, right?

Beginner level at some kind of martial arts.

Over here, what do we have?

Expert.

Expert, right?

Professional.

Top of the heap.

What is the difference between these two belts?

A white belt is a beginner.

A black belt is an expert.

But the truth is,

a black belt is a white belt

who never stopped training.

That's all it is.

Now, that illustration's not original to me.

I heard it from others

who probably heard it from others.

But the truth is,

that is absolutely true.

That every one of you

might be starting out as a white belt

in something in your life.

Right now,

these guys are a white belt

at being an adult,

at being on their own,

at launching out into the world

and paving their way.

They're a white belt.

But they could get to a black belt

if they never stopped training.

What does that mean

in our walk with Jesus?

You might have been a Christian

or a church member

or a tender

or someone you would say

is a Jesus follower

for many, many, many years.

But the truth is,

you're still a white belt.

Because at some point along the way,

you stopped training

and you never got

to where God wanted to take you.

Doesn't mean you don't know about God.

Doesn't mean you can't answer

a bunch of Bible trivia.

But it means that God

has not grasped your heart

and grown your faith

like he wanted to.

So you've got to back up

and start training again

and let God take you

from here to here.

There's nothing special

about this person

except they were here

and they trained and trained

and trained and trained

and trained and trained

and they got here.

The only difference

between me right now

and me when God willing

I can run my first race

is that I don't stop training.

You know half the reason

I'm telling y'all about this

on Sundays

is because I want y'all

to hold me accountable

so I don't stop training.

because it's hard

it's not fun.

And I've tried

to get in shape before

but the difference this time

is I'm not trying

I'm training.

Training to be who God

wants me to be.

My question to you

is are you training

to be who God

wants you to be?

If you are

you're either

at a start moving phase

or you're at a keep going phase.

Either start moving

or keep going.

Galatians 6.9

says let us not grow weary

of doing good

because in due season

at the right time

we will reap

if we don't what?

Give up.

We will reap.

Y'all I don't know

what that looks like

for you.

Seniors down front

and there's a couple

in the crowd.

I don't know

what it looks like

for you to reap

the harvest

that God has for you.

But I do know

that you won't get there

if you don't start moving

and then keep going.

So in your walk

with Jesus

maybe that means

you open your Bible

and spend a little more time

than you have before.

Maybe that means

you bow your head in prayer

and spend a little more time

with God

than you did before.

Maybe it means

as you go off to college

you get involved

in a ministry

in a church

or a collegiate ministry

on your campus

and you get a little bit involved

more than you have before

and you keep growing

and keep going

in your walk

with Jesus.

Church it means

the exact same thing

for us.

I don't know

what it looks like

for you.

I'm accountable for me

and for my family

and as for me

and my family

we're going to keep going.

We're going to keep growing.

James 4.8

Would you turn there

with me very quickly?

James chapter 4

James 4 · chapter mention

and verse 8.

It's one book over

from Hebrews 12.

James 4 and verse 8.

Draw near to God

and he will draw near

to you.

Say man I've tried.

I've tried to fix my marriage.

I've tried to get closer

to my kids.

I've tried to prioritize

God in my life

and something just always

gets in the way.

Something distracts me.

Listen.

If you draw near

to God

you will see

him drawing near

to you.

It's just

usually

we stop training.

Don't we?

At one point in time

we were moving closer

to Jesus

and then at some point

the cares of this life

the distractions

of this life

pulled us away

pulled us off the path.

But if we draw near

to him

there is a promise

from God

that he will draw

near to you.

And when God

draws near in your life

what a transformation

that makes.

When God draws near

to this church

what a difference

this church makes

in the community

in our individual lives.

together as a body

we start to see

incredible things happening.

We start to see

those baptism waters busy.

We start to see

people coming

that hadn't come

in a long time.

We start to see

relationships getting

healed and mended.

We start to see

God moving

in ways that we

never imagined

he could move

when God

draws near.

But first

we gotta take

the first step.

And then we gotta

keep going.

So

practically

how do we

draw near to God?

Number one

we prioritize

our quiet time

with Jesus.

We've been talking

about that.

How much time

do we actually

spend

in this book?

And how much

time do we

actually spend

speaking to the

one who is

always there

always ready

to listen?

Number two

we prioritize

others

over ourselves.

Boy that's a hard

one isn't it?

In American culture

it's always number

one isn't it?

It's always me

first.

But that

doesn't bear

the fruit

that God

wants for us

in our lives.

So we're

training

to spend

more time

with Jesus

we're training

to prioritize

others over

us just

like Jesus

did.

We're learning

from him.

And then number

three we're

unashamed

to speak his

name.

That's how we

draw near to

God.

When we go

out and point

someone else

to Jesus

then we are

as close to

God as we

could ever be.

Paul said

my brethren

brothers and

sisters my

heart's desire

my prayer to

God for my

people is that

they would be

saved.

That they would

know Jesus

in their life.

And that is my

prayer for my

people and I

hope that's your

prayer for your

people.

That they would

know Jesus.

They're not going

to know unless

we're unashamed

to speak his

name.

So our takeaway

this morning will

be done.

Is God help

me not to

quit.

But to take

that next step

toward being who

you are calling

me to be.

I pray that for

us as a church.

God help our

church not to

quit.

But to take the

next step toward

being the church

that he's calling

us to be.

Graduates I pray

that for you.

That you would

say God help me

not to quit.

Now that I'm

finishing high

school and I'm

moving out on

my own and

there's nobody

in my ear

reminding me hey

you should go to

church.

Hey you should go

to youth group.

Hey you should

read your Bible.

There's nobody

in your ear.

Some of you

haven't had that

anyway.

But some of you

have.

And it's going

to be a

difference.

It's going to

be a distinction

to get out

there on your

own where

nobody is

doing that.

But God help

me not to

quit but to

take the next

step as I go

to college.

To take the

next step as I

go to work.

Take the next

step as I move

out on my own

toward who you

are calling me

to be.

Then we'll get

to see the fruit.

Get to see the

blessings.

We'll get to

reap the rewards

together.

So that's my

prayer for you.

Would you bow

your heads with

me and we'll

pray right now.

God I thank you

so much for our

time together this

morning.

I thank you that

you've spoken to

us all throughout

this service.

the young people

have performed to

the best of their

ability to honor

and glorify you.

The graduates

have gotten up

and we've gotten

to see the fruit

of their hard

work over their

years of high

school.

And God that's

not to glorify

them and to

say oh wow what

incredible people

they are but it's

to reflect the

praise back to you

as each one of

these people

professes to know

you as their

savior.

That they place

their faith in

you.

And so all this

accomplishment all

these great things

bring glory back

to you God.

I pray that that

would be true of

each of our lives.

That there wouldn't

be any man woman

or child in this

room who would

walk out of here

today without having

a personal

relationship with

Jesus.

That's our prayer.

That's our hope.

That's why we

gather here each

Sunday.

And God I ask

that you would

show each of us

what our next

step is.

some of us

might need to

start beginning

just like I had

to do a couple

weeks ago.

Some of us

might need to

just take the

next step.

Just keep

moving toward

what you've

called us to

be.

God give us

patience from

you.

Help us to

understand that

you're training

us toward a

wonderful fruit,

a wonderful

blessing that you

have in store

for us.

It's in Jesus

name we pray.

Amen.

Brother Greg's

going to lead

us in one

verse of

this song.

This is a

time of

prayer.

Y'all can

keep your

seats.

But could we

enter into a

time of

prayer as a

church as he

sings over us?

And if you'd

like to sing

quietly and

join him,

that's fine.

But let's

keep our

seats, heads

bowed, you

know, kind of

an attitude of

just focusing on

the Lord right

now, focusing on

his voice.

And just for a

couple of

minutes before

we dismiss

today and

celebrate our

graduates, let's

just ask God,

what is it you

want to show us

from church

today, from

your word

today?

And I'll be

right down

front if you'd

like to come

down front and

meet with me and

pray with me.

I'm happy to do

that.

But let's go into

a time of prayer

right now.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.