Stop Trying, Start Training

All right, well, amen. Last Sunday, we started this series called New Life, A Fresh Beginning

with Jesus. And first of all, how many of y'all enjoyed that choir special we just heard?

Wasn't that a lot of fun? Yeah, I thought they did awesome, man. It got a little soul

up in here. There's nothing wrong with that every once in a while. All right. I would

like to invite you to take the Word of God with me and let's go to... Let me make sure

this is working real quick here. Y'all, we are good to go. Let's go. Let's have a little

Jesus clap that the slides are working today. If you've been coming here for a little while,

you've seen days when they just did not want to cooperate. So we are grateful that that's

all on track today. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention 2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

17. This is our second Sunday in this new series called New Life, A Fresh Beginning

with Jesus. If you wouldn't mind, if you're able to and willing, would you join us in standing?

We'll just read this verse briefly and then ask God to bless our reading of the Word today.

And I hope that He speaks to you as He has to me and I know many others in our church. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 and verse 17. Everyone looking at a copy of God's Word if you can and if you just

can't get your eyes on one, then we have it up here on the screen. Let's read together.

Ready? Begin. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and see,

the new has come. Can you read those two words highlighted on the screen up top in front of

you? Ready? Begin. New creation. And God, we ask you to remind us that as many of us are in

Christ, we are a new creation. The old has passed away. The new is here. Yet sometimes we find

ourselves chasing after the old. We find ourselves going backward. Remind us, God, that every day,

every morning can be a fresh beginning with you. You're doing something new in the life of our church.

We see it. Recognize it. Show us our place in it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

Thanks for standing. So 2 Corinthians 5, 17 teaches us this foundational truth to the Christian life

that the old is gone, the new is here. The old way was the way of the Old Testament. The law

that none of us can measure up to. The sin that easily tears us down, holds us back. We can't seem to

shake it. And therefore, we could never match up to the expectations that God's law set for mankind.

That is the old way. Then Jesus came and he replaced the law. He is better than the law.

Jesus came and showed the flaws of the law. That while it would reveal our sinfulness,

the truth about us, it would never bring us to God. But Jesus could do that. Jesus was the way

that you and I could have a relationship with God. The only way that that would be possible.

And so if we have followed that way and we have chosen the Jesus way, then now we are in Christ.

We are no longer in our flesh. We are no longer in or under the law. Now we are in Christ. We are under

grace. We are now living free. And if we are in Christ, we are a new creation. The old is gone. The new

is here. Last Sunday, we looked at Isaiah 43 and 44 and we read how God is doing a new thing

in the life of our church right now. Man, we showed that slide last Sunday of all those kids who have

gotten baptized in just recent months and weeks. And we see that God is doing a new thing. And we

didn't even have the two up there from last Sunday. Or the ones that are yet scheduled to come

and be baptized and give testimony, public testimony to what God is doing in their life.

God is doing a new thing in our church. And often he starts with the younger ones.

Oftentimes he starts with your children, your grandchildren, the generations coming up behind

you because they might be less calloused. They might be less hardened. They might be more open to the new

thing that God is doing. So the question is, do we see what he's doing? This new thing. Today,

I want to talk to you about this simple concept. Stop trying and start training. This came from

someone who taught me, man, this guy teaches me something every time I heard him speak. How many

of you ever heard of Craig Groeschel, pastor of Life Church in Oklahoma City? Anybody? We got like

six of you, maybe. That's all right. Hey, if you have a chance to hear his podcast or go online and

watch his preaching, I've never heard him preach anything off base or unscriptural. If you have,

come talk to me. We'll look at it together. But personally, he's blessed me, convicted me,

and moved me every time I've heard him speak or read one of his books. And so I got this concept

from him. God showed me this. And I realized the biblical truth that supports it. So the theme for

today, and it's probably going to be a recurring theme over the next several weeks, is stop trying,

start training. Stop trying, start training. What do we mean by that? Well, let's go to the Word of God.

Galatians chapter 1 and verse 10. You and I find ourselves trying to do all kinds of different things.

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

words. We'll try to lose weight. We'll try to be a better dad or a better wife. We'll try to be a

mother. We'll try to be a better son or daughter. We'll try to be a better friend. We'll try to be

a better employee. We'll try to make more money. We'll try to handle our finances better. We'll try

to get up and do the things that we need to get done. We'll try to get up early in the morning. We'll

try to go to bed earlier. We'll try to do all these different things that are worthy endeavors,

and we should do those things,

but try, try, try,

and what happens so often,

we fail, fail, fail.

Paul wrote this in Galatians 1.10.

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God?

Am I trying to please people?

If I were still trying to please people,

I would not be a servant of Christ.

You know what?

That is the motivation usually behind our trying.

Our endless trying is usually to please somebody else.

Maybe it's to get your spouse off your back.

Maybe it's to get your boss off your back.

Whatever it is, it's usually to please someone else.

Maybe you have a mentor that you've let down

and you're trying to win their approval again.

Whatever it is that you're trying to do,

most often when we boil it down to its very basic reality,

it's we're trying to please somebody.

So, Paul says, I'm not doing that.

I'm not trying to please anybody.

I wouldn't be a servant of Christ if I was.

So now let's look at 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16.

If the children have their sermon listening guides

where they get to draw and write in a question for the pastor

or something like that, this verse is on there.

All scripture is inspired by God,

is profitable for teaching, for rebuking,

for correcting, for training in righteousness.

You see the difference in those two words?

There's trying, which Paul says, I'm not doing that.

I'm not trying to please people.

Over here in 2 Timothy 3,

we read that the Word of God is there to train us

in righteousness.

So the man of God or woman of God

may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The Bible is there to train us.

God does not ask us to try, try, try.

Instead, he says, if you walk with me,

I will train, train, train you.

And there's such a mind shift between those two words.

There's such a different outlook on life

between those two concepts.

God tells us to treat our children this way.

He says, train up a child in the way he should go.

And then even when he is old, he will not depart from it.

God works with us that way, doesn't he?

He doesn't say, man, you better try to follow me.

You better try to be good.

He knows we can't be good.

We can fake it for a while,

but that's all it is, is faking it.

God says, let me train you.

Let me walk with you.

Let me lead you.

This is going to be a lifelong process.

You're not trying.

You're in training.

So that's what we're asking ourselves to do today

is stop trying and start training.

This could be the first time

that you wrap your head around this concept

in your entire walk with Jesus.

Maybe you've been a born-again Christian for decades,

but you've been thinking about it

as I'm trying, trying, trying to follow God,

to do what's right, and man, it's hard.

Yes, yes it is.

But you know what?

If you have a simple redirection

of how you're looking at this,

then you realize that training is hard.

How many of you ever trained for something?

Anybody?

Slip your hand up.

Bruce, what'd you train for?

Marathon?

It's awesome.

Did you run it?

Twice.

Bruce is just flexing on us over there.

I've run two marathons.

That's awesome, man.

I bet that took a little bit of training.

Just a little bit.

I bet you didn't just go around

around the track at the school a couple times.

You're like, I'm good to go.

Well, my brother ran one of those,

and it liked to kill him.

We have very different body types,

my brother and I.

I want to start with like a 5K, okay?

And then maybe someday before I'm dead,

we'll get to a marathon.

We'll see.

But y'all, training is hard, is it not?

You can't just go eat whatever you want

and then run a marathon.

How many of you ever trained for football?

Anybody in the room?

We got more football players than that.

Come on, get your hands up.

Here we go.

How many of you have trained?

There we go, there we go.

How about basketball?

Anybody?

Volleyball?

Softball?

Baseball?

Tennis?

Golf?

How many of you have a lifelong training relationship

with golf,

and it feels like you haven't progressed all that far?

Yeah, yeah.

Me too.

Anybody who's played golf with me,

Jacob Browning, can tell you.

That man needs to keep training.

Really bad.

I know I do.

Y'all, training is difficult.

Training is hard.

But here's the thing.

When you're training,

you don't get mad at yourself

for not succeeding right away

because you recognize

that you're not performing yet.

You're not there.

You're training.

So when we're training in the Christian life,

we don't get upset and aggravated in ourselves

that we mess up sometimes

because we recognize,

just like Paul said,

he said,

I have not attained.

I have not been made perfect.

What does he mean by that?

I haven't reached where God is taking me yet.

I'm on my way,

but I'm training.

And I think that is the shift

that many of us,

including myself,

need sometimes in our walk with God

is we've got to stop trying,

trying, trying,

and recognize that we are training with Jesus.

1 Corinthians 9

is where we'll spend the rest of our time this morning.

1 Corinthians 9, verse 25.

1 Corinthians 9:25

I'm reading from the New Living Translation.

If you want to look on, go ahead.

But I've got it on the screen here.

All athletes are disciplined in their training.

The other versions will say something similar to this concept,

but I love that this New Living Translation

had the word training in here.

It really jives with what we're trying to drive across this morning.

All athletes are disciplined in their training.

Well, we know that, don't we?

If you're a real athlete,

then you're going to be disciplined

in whatever you're training for.

If you're an Olympic athlete,

you don't get there just by skill.

You can't.

You can't get there just by talent alone.

You have to train for the disciplines

that you're trying to succeed in.

So athletes are disciplined in their training.

They do it to win a prize.

Back in ancient Greece,

when the Olympics were invented,

what was the prize that they were trying to win?

It was a little wreath

that would go over their head of leaves.

Obviously, it was the status,

it was the attention,

the glory that came with being the winner,

the victor of their particular event.

But that wreath of leaves would fade away so fast, right?

They would strive, strive, strive,

and work, work, work

to win an event for a prize that would fade away.

I've heard stories of Olympic athletes

getting into financial trouble later

and literally selling their gold medals

to try to pay bills.

The prize that you win on this earth

is never guaranteed to last.

But we do it.

We train.

We are disciplined in our training

for an eternal prize.

God's not promising us a trophy

or a leaf wreath

or a gold medal.

He's promising us

rewards in heaven,

glory and honor

and blessing

that we can then turn

and give right back to our Heavenly Father.

The Bible says that whatever

we do for Christ

will result in gold,

silver, and precious stones

that we will receive in heaven someday.

It's an eternal prize.

So we are disciplined in our training

because we know there is something waiting for us

that will not fade away.

Verse 26,

So I run with purpose in every step.

Here's where we're going to bring it home, okay?

I am not just shadowboxing.

I'm not just fighting at the air.

I'm not just fighting with no opponent

or no purpose.

There is intention and purpose

in everything I do.

I discipline my body like an athlete,

training it to do what it should.

Paul is writing this to us

and he's saying,

this is what I have to do

to successfully run this Christian life.

I have to discipline my body.

I have to discipline my spirit.

When I run,

when I take a step on this journey with Jesus,

I do it with purpose.

Y'all, as a church, okay?

Now individually,

we need to take this to heart.

But as a church, together,

we're all gathered

and this is a perfect opportunity

for us to re-identify ourselves as a church.

Do we run every step as a church with purpose?

Is there a reason for every ministry we have?

Have we identified the prize

that lies ahead of us?

We are training.

We are training as a church.

We are not yet there.

We've been here since 1876, haven't we?

Maybe not here,

but we've been in existence since 1876.

We've been around a long time.

Some of you have been around close to that long.

But we have not yet arrived at our goal.

We have not yet achieved

what God established this church

in Henrietta, Texas to be.

So if we are looking ahead

to a prize that we know won't fade away,

you know what won't fade away

in the life of our church?

Those baptisms that happened.

You know what won't fade away

is the time that you spent instructing young people.

The time that you spent on your knees

crying out to God

for people to be saved,

for their lives to be transformed.

Those things will not fade away.

Man, there's all kinds of things

the church can do

that will be forgotten,

that will fade away,

that will not truly make much of an impact

for the kingdom of God.

But there are some things

that we are called to do.

We are called

to lift up Jesus in our home.

We are called

to pour into somebody else

and try to

take someone's hand

and walk with them

toward becoming like Jesus.

We are called

to share the good news of Jesus with others

and lead them

into church

where they can get up

and testify

of the decision that they've made

to place their faith in Jesus

and they can get up there

and get baptized

and say,

I'm walking with Jesus now.

We are called

to do these things

and those things

don't fade away.

So if the goal

of our church

is discipleship,

becoming more like Jesus,

becoming a disciple,

a follower,

a true follower

of Jesus,

then what are the purposes

of the things

that we actually do

in our church?

what about the preaching?

What about the singing?

What about the offering?

What about the announcements?

What about the kindness ministry?

What about the Sunday school?

The youth group?

What about the benevolence committee?

What about the different things

that our church does?

We've got to put everything

under the microscope

and say,

are we running with purpose

in every step?

Because if not,

we're not training well.

Instead,

we're just trying.

Well,

I don't really know

if this is going to

fulfill the mission

of our church,

but I feel like

we need to try something,

so let's try this.

Let's try that.

I remember

back 30 years ago,

we did this

and it seemed like

people enjoyed it,

so let's try it again.

Let's not try,

let's train

with purpose

in every step.

Then,

we know

we're pursuing

the goal,

which is Jesus,

which is making

much of Jesus,

which is raising

our children,

our friends,

our family,

everyone in our circle

to make much

of Jesus.

So,

stop trying,

start training.

How do we prepare

for that?

How do we get ready

for that?

Number one,

we equip ourselves.

If you've ever

trained with something,

you realize

you've got to go out

and get the equipment,

don't you?

If you're going

to run a marathon

like Bruce did

twice,

you're probably

not going to

dress like

you're herding cattle.

Now,

maybe he did.

I don't think so.

How many of y'all

ever watched

American Ninja Warrior?

Anybody on TV?

I love that show.

My kids love it.

We got some

American Ninja Warrior

fans in this church.

All right.

Maybe we need to have

an A&W party

up here sometime

and have a little

watch party

when they have

the next season.

How many of y'all

ever heard of

Lance Peacus,

the cowboy ninja?

Anybody?

There you go.

That's like

taking it down a level.

All right?

Yeah,

I've watched

American Ninja Warrior.

How about Lance Peacus?

Now we know

who the real fans are.

Lance Peacus

wears jeans

every time

and early

when he would

start running

those first couple

races before you

get up to the

nationals level,

I think he ran

in cowboy boots

a time or two.

He's running

this obstacle course

where you got to

jump and swing

and climb

and all this

physically taxing

stuff.

He's running

in jeans

and cowboy boots.

He would have

a cowboy hat on

that would inevitably

fall off at some

point while he's

running his race.

And I've seen

because I've

been a little bit

of a diehard

on American Ninja Warrior.

I've seen

him suffer

because he didn't

have the right

clothes on at times.

You see these guys

get out there

and they're wearing

their athletic outfits

and their nice shoes

and shorts

and tank top

or whatever

and they're able

to have the freedom

of movement

to do whatever

they need to do.

It's important

to wear

the right equipment.

My kids

just the other day

discovered that

football players

have not always

had full face masks

on their football

helmets.

And they're sitting

there thinking

man

how did they

do that?

Well

they got hurt

a lot.

That's what happened.

They got a lot

of concussions.

It was rough.

Nowadays

you got all

the technology

and the fancy helmets

and the coach

could be talking

to you in there

and I saw recently

some of the newest helmets

have like

head up displays

that you can see

you know

plays and all this

in your visor

and it's just crazy

what they can do now.

The equipment

is important

if you're going

to train well.

If you're going

to get ready

to train

as a Christian

what do you need

to equip yourself with?

Well

you probably need

to download

the YouVersion

Bible app

on your phone

so you can

have the Bible

with you

when you're not

always carrying

that paper copy

with you right?

I bet there's

sometimes in your life

in your day

that you go around

that you don't

always have a

copy of God's

word on your

person do you?

But you probably

have your phone

don't you?

So maybe

there's an opportunity

to download

the Bible app

that you can go

read good devotionals

on there.

You can have

reminders pop up

that hey it's time

to read God's word.

You can have

a verse of the day

that always pops up

that gets a little

bit of scripture

into your day.

Maybe you need

to have some

memory verses

like Emma

was memorizing

the word of God.

Maybe we can

take her cue

and start learning

some of God's word.

Put a little sticky note

up on your mirror

that has a Bible verse

on it.

You need to equip

yourself

set aside a time

set aside a schedule

that will help you

prepare

to train.

What do we need

to do

to equip ourselves

to train

as a follower

of Jesus?

And then number two

how do we plan?

And that's what

we're talking about

with scheduling.

How many of you guys

we asked last Sunday

and I reminded everybody

on Facebook this week

and the Facebook group

but I said

I would love

if some of our church

would commit

to a time

to pray for God

to move in our church

and show them

how they can help

and have a key part

in our church

going forward

this new thing

that God's doing.

And I was so blessed

to see comment

after comment

pop up on that

Facebook reminder

that I put out

said man I've been

doing at 8 o'clock.

I did it at 8 p.m.

on Wednesday.

I did it at 5.30

when I wake up.

All kinds of people

were popping up

saying I've been praying.

I'm praying.

We have to plan.

It is not in our nature

to say I'm going

to dedicate my day

to God.

None of us

are going to do that

just by ourselves

on our own.

We're not going to do that.

That's not in our flesh.

That's not in our nature.

We have to intentionally

plan to do this.

So if we're going

to train for Jesus

if we're going to train

to see the next generation

turn into Jesus followers

if we're going to train

to actually make a difference

in the lives

of our loved ones

and beyond

then we have to

plan for it.

We can't just

be unhealthy

and then hope

that somehow

we become healthy.

We have to plan

to be healthy

don't we?

You can't just change

all your eating habits

overnight without maybe

going to the grocery store

first.

You've got to stock yourself

with food that will be

good for you.

You can't just

plan to

go to bed

at a certain time

without maybe

telling someone

to remind you

and setting things

in place

to help you

not do the same

habits that have

been tearing you down.

So what plans

do we need to set

in place

to train

for Jesus?

So it leads us

to these last two questions.

What can you add

and what can you change?

maybe there's something

that you're currently

not doing

that will help you

train

and you don't say

I'm going to try

to start doing this

you say no

I'm going to start

training

and this is how

I'm going to do it

and when I don't

do it

I recognize

that it's okay

because I'm not

trying

I'm what?

Training

that's right

I'm not trying

to be

a follower of Jesus

I'm training

to be a follower

of Jesus

I'm not trying

to be like Jesus

I'm training

to be like Jesus

because all by myself

I don't know how to

so I need to let

God train me

in how to do this

so is there something

you need to add

or is there something

you need to change

that will help you

train

to be like Jesus

I love this quote

man I've been using

so many quotes

from her recently

Corrie Ten Boom

a Dutch

prisoner of war

who was helping

the Jewish people

and was

captured

by her family

she and her family

were captured

by the Nazis

and put into

terrible terrible

concentration camp

where she suffered

greatly

for Jesus

but she gave us

so many great quotes

especially knowing

what she went through

she said God has

plans not problems

for our lives

man the problems

that she endured

makes it so much

more powerful

to hear those words

come from someone

like her

God has plans

not problems

for our lives

the life of a Christian

is an education

for a higher service

God is training

you for something

all of you

every one of you

last week we talked

about how God's moving

in the younger generation

and he is

we see evidence

of that

but God is training

all of you

for something

younger

middle aged

older

everyone

every category

God is training

you for something

otherwise

he loves you

so dearly

he'll bring you

home to heaven

to get a jump start

on all of eternity

in that loving relationship

that he's going to enjoy

with all of us

for all of eternity

in his presence

but if he's waiting

on that

because he's training

you for something

still

he's still got a purpose

for you

you've still got a role

to play

he's training you

for something

incredible

that he wants to do

through you

so don't try

train

we're talking about

new life

a fresh beginning

with Jesus

I pray

that this concept

of training

not trying

can help you

begin fresh

with Jesus

I hope it can help

you overcome

something that has been

dragging you down

getting you down

depressing you

to understand

that God does not

expect perfection

from you

God does not expect

you to be like him

without his help

he's going to help

you

let him train you

let him pick you up

when you fall

let him set you back

on your feet

what would it look like

for our church

to be a church

of people

in training

not trying

what would it look like

would we be a church

that constantly

sees people

stirring those

baptism waters

giving evidence

of life change

would it be a church

that when you

speak the name

of First Baptist Church

in Henrietta Texas

and beyond

people would say

I don't know

that's a group

of people

that seems like

they really care

that's a group

of people

that seems like

they really love

Jesus

I know that guy

said a bad word

on the job site

but I know

he instantly

turned around

and said

man forgive me

Jesus didn't

want me to do that

that's not honoring

to God

is it somebody

that could be

that their life

could be changed

by people

who are training

to be like Jesus

and what does

that mean

for us

what does that

mean for our church

does it mean

that we cut

some things

that aren't

purposefully

moving us

toward being

like Jesus

does it mean

we add some

things

that we've been

dropping the ball

in

does it mean

that we

change some

things

tweak some

things

that can be

more effective

in leading us

to be

like Jesus

church

we're not

trying

we're what

we're training

so let's do

that

God I pray

that you would

speak to us

right now

I've spoken

your word

I've spoken

the truth

that I believe

you gave me

to preach

from your word

today

but I can't

individually

go to every

person in this

room and say

here's what

you need to

do

if I did

that I

would be

wrong

in whatever

I told

them

but you

individually

can speak

to each

of our

heart

and you

can show

us exactly

how we

need to

change

for you

how we

need to

train

you can

show us

the area

we've been

maybe hurting

ourselves

in reaching

our goal

you can

change our

hearts

you can

change our

minds

so I'd

ask that

you would

do that

God I

can't lead

this church

where it

needs to

go

but you

can

so I

pray that

you would

start with

me

that you

would start

with my

family

and you

would go

out to

our

church

staff

and our

volunteer

leadership

and go

on through

every heart

of everyone

in this

room

and everyone

watching

online

and everyone

who calls

this church

their home

that you

would change

us

to make

us

trainers

people

in training

for your

glory

because we

want to see

what thing

you're going

to do

God

you're raising

up new

life

all around

us

help us

to not

miss it

show us

what it

is

that God

has

for me

in my

house

would y'all

look at the

screen real quick

real quick

when God

is about to

do a mighty

new thing

we looked at

this last

week

he always

sets his

people praying

so can we

do that now

can we pray

can we

can we bow

our heads

together

and we're

about to enter

into the

Lord's

supper

it's a

perfect

appropriate

time

to reveal

our hearts

to God

and just

say God

I'm not

hiding anything

I'm not

holding anything

back

I'm an

open book

you show

me what

you have

for me

right now

it's going

to be

different

for every

one of

us

but you

show me

what shift

needs to

happen in

my thinking

what shift

needs to

happen in

my heart

God I'm a

vessel for

your service

you train

me

I'm not

going to do

anything in

my own

strength

can we pray

now

God your

people are

praying your

people are

looking to

you our

hearts are

open and

as we enter

into a time

of Lord's

supper speak

to us God

move in our

body move in

our midst we'll

give you the

glory in Jesus

name music's

going to play

for just a

couple of

minutes let's

use this time

as a reflection

to open our

hearts to God

and ask him to

speak to us

peace

about

Fur

how

how

how

how