Christ Church Sermon, Cornhole: Aim for the Goal, July 12 2026

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Thank you for listening.

Scripture this morning comes from the

New Testament book of Philippians,

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. Brothers and sisters, I do

not consider myself yet to have taken

hold of it. But one thing I do,

forgetting what is behind and straining

toward what is ahead. I press on toward

the goal to win the prize for which God

has called me heavenward in Christ

Jesus.

>> Hear what the spirit is saying to the

church.

>> Thanks be to God.

Well, good morning.

>> As we continue our game on sermon

series, today we're going to look at a

pretty popular game. I think most people

know, the game of cornhole. Anybody ever

play cornhole? It's like a a newer

version of horseshoes. Now, the goal of

the game is to get to 21. And you do

that by getting these bean bags to

either be on the board or in the hole on

the board. So, your job is to get it to

be on the board.

That wasn't very good. That was even

worse.

There we go.

Oh, that one didn't stick. One more try.

All right. So, I got one point. If you

get it in the hole, you get three

points. Now, in order to be good at

cornhole, you have to stay focused on

the goal. And clearly, you have to

practice. I got a lot more of that I

need to do. But good cornrow players

make sure the distance is exactly

correct. 27 feet between the boards. If

it's outside, they take into account the

wind. They develop consistency. They

throw every bag the same and with

intentionality. Now, no one makes every

shot. But when experienced players miss,

they don't just give up. They learn from

that miss. They make adjustments. They

focus on the next opportunity because

every throw is another opportunity to

get to 21. Well, life works a lot the

same way. Every day we are aiming our

lives somewhere. Our calendars, our

spending, our our our relationships, our

priorities, our habits, those all reveal

what we are pursuing. Now, some people

spend their life aiming for success.

Others aim for security. Some chase

recognition. Others pursue comfort,

wealth, achievement, popularity,

control. And none of those things are

necessarily wrong in and of themselves,

but none of them were ever meant to be

the center of our lives. So the question

is not whether or not we are aiming. The

question is what or who are we aiming

at? Now the Apostle Paul reminds us that

as followers of Jesus, we have a

different target than the world. Our

lives are to be centered on Christ. Our

purpose is to be shaped by his calling.

And our goal is not simply to accumulate

more or to accomplish more or to become

more comfortable. Our goal is to become

more like Jesus, to know him, to follow

him, to reflect him, to live the life he

created us to live. Now faith is not

drifting through life hoping we end up

we are where we are where we want to be.

The goal of faith is choosing day after

day to p pursue Christ with intentional

direction because we don't drift towards

spiritual maturity. We drift towards

distraction. We drift towards comfort.

We drift towards whatever demands our

attention in that moment. But growing in

our faith, well, that requires purpose.

It requires focus. It requires us to

keep our eyes on the goal even when life

becomes difficult.

Now, I'm sure most of us know what it

feels like to be distracted, but I want

to share a few scenarios and see if any

of these uh resonate with you. You start

cleaning one room of your house and you

somehow end up organizing photo albums

from 10 years ago and never finish the

room you started cleaning. Anybody?

Couple honest people? or you sit down to

answer an email and a half an hour goes

by and you've checked social media,

you've read the news, you've watched

three videos about cats and you've

completely forgotten why you opened up

the computer in the first place. Or my

favorite one, you walk into a grocery

store because you need bread and milk

and you leave the grocery store with 25

items, none of which are bread or milk.

Have anybody ever been there? Right? It

happens all the time. Distractions are

everywhere. Technologies made

distractions even more constant. Every

notification competes for our attention.

When the pastor's microphone doesn't

work, it takes our attention from what

we're supposed to be doing. Every

advertisement promises us things that

that really aren't true, but we look at

them anyway. And everything pulls us in

different directions. Our culture even

celebrates being busy, multitasking, uh

always moving. But being busy is not the

same as being purposeful. In fact, it's

possible to spend our entire life being

busy and running without ever moving

towards the goal. You see, being

distracted is one of the biggest dangers

of the Christian life. As we slowly

become distracted, prayer becomes less

consistent. Reading scripture becomes

occasional. Worship becomes optional.

serving becomes inconvenient

and faith moves from being the center of

our life to becoming one more item that

we try to squeeze into our busy calendar

if we have time.

The en enemy understands something that

we often forget. The enemy realizes he

does not have to convince us to reject

Jesus. All he has to do is keep us

distracted enough to stop pursuing

Jesus. And that's when we begin to

drift. Little by little, our focus

shifts. Our priorities change. Our

passion cools off. And before we realize

that, we've spent months or even years

aiming at things that that don't really

satisfy. That's why Paul's words in

Philippians are so powerful. He reminds

us that we cannot become distracted from

our calling. Now, as a quick reminder,

if you weren't here a couple of weeks

ago, Paul writes Philippians from inside

a prison cell, chained to a guard. His

freedom has been taken away. His future

is uncertain. He's not sure if they're

going to release him or if they're going

to execute him. Now, most people in

Paul's situation would probably spend

most of their time looking backward.

They would replay old regrets. They

would question past decisions, you know,

like the ones that got them into prison

in the first place. Or they would become

preoccupied with their present

circumstances. But Paul refuses to let

prison become the defining reality of

his life. Instead of focusing on what is

happening to him, he focuses on where

God is leading him.

Listen again to his his words, the one

thing I do. Now that phrase is important

because Paul had all kinds of

responsibilities. He had planted

churches. He mentored leaders. He wrote

letters. He preached the gospel. But

underneath everything else was one

defining priority, one focus, one aim.

Forgetting what lies behind and

straining toward what lies ahead. I

press on toward the goal. Now, that

language that Paul uses there is from

athletics. It's a picture of a runner

leaning forward towards the finish line

with every ounce of energy they have,

their eyes fixed on the finish line.

They're not looking to the side. They're

not looking behind them. They're not

coasting through the finish. They're

giving it everything they have to finish

that race. Everything is directed

towards finishing strong. That's the

same picture as the Christian life. Our

life should not be casual or complacent.

We shouldn't be coasting. We should be

continuing to press on toward the goal

because Jesus is worth pursuing.

Paul is not telling us that the past

doesn't matter. He's saying the past

does not get to determine our future.

He's not pretending that life isn't

difficult. He's declaring that God's

calling is bigger than yesterday's

failures. He's also telling us that

God's calling is bigger than yesterday's

victories. And God's calling is bigger

than today's circumstances. And that

should be encouraging for all of us

because all of us carry things from our

past, whether they're mistakes or

regrets or disappointments or broken

relationships or even successes, things

that went well in our past that prevent

us from moving forward to something God

has for us because we want to dwell in

those successes.

Now Paul is challenging us not to build

our life by looking in the rearview

mirror. But he tells us to keep our eyes

on Christ. Keep moving towards the goal.

Keep aiming our life in the direction of

God's calling because every day is

another opportunity to come become to

take a step closer to what God is

calling us to do. And that means we have

to be focused. Anyone who has played

cornhole knows that focus matters. The

goal is simple. I mean, it's simple. All

you have to do is put the bean bag in

the hole. It's right in front of you.

But actually hitting the target requires

concentration. If you're if you're

thinking about something else while

you're throwing or if you're looking a

different direction when you're throwing

or if you're listening to what's going

on while you know you're throwing,

you're not going to hit the target. If

you're thinking about all the times you

missed, you're not going to hit the

target. If you're like me and all you

want to do is, for an example, get one

on the board, you're praying that you

hit it, your chances of hitting it are

pretty slim because you're not focused

on what you should be focused on. Your

chances of hitting that target decrease.

The best players understand that every

throw needs fresh focus. You can't make

a shot when you're thinking about the

last one. You can't hit the target if

everything else you are doing is

everywhere else except on that target.

The same thing is true spiritually. Our

attention becomes divided. We begin each

day with good intentions. We may even

wake up in the morning and say, "Today

I'm going to spend time with God." But

before we know it, the day takes over.

Our phone starts beeping before our feet

even hit the floor in the morning. Text

messages demand returns. Uh, kids need

something. Work deadlines loom. News

alerts flash across the screen. Social

media invites us to to get lost in that

world. And by the end of the day, we've

been pulled in a hund different

directions. And somehow Jesus gets

whatever is left over at the end, if

there's anything left over. Now, here's

the problem. We're not always doing bad

things. Sometimes we're doing good

things. It's a good thing to spend time

with your kids. It's a good thing to

work hard, to serve others, to support

uh what's going on in the church, to

help neighbors, to meet

responsibilities. None of those things

are wrong. In fact, all those things are

given to us by God to do.

But even good things can become

dangerous when they begin occupying the

place that only belongs to God. Anything

that consistently captures our attention

more than Christ will eventually shape

our heart more than Christ.

Distractions are subtle. You know, it's

one missed prayer, one skipped Sunday,

one week without opening scripture, one

season where work becomes

all-encompassing,

one habit that slowly replaces our time

with God. And little by little by

little, without even realizing it, our

focus shifts. Think about a boat on a

lake. If you go out in a boat on a lake

and you just want to float close to the

shore, if you turn the motor off and you

don't put the anchor down and you just

sit in that boat, before you realize it,

you will have drifted a long way from

shore

because there's nothing to keep you

stable.

A gentle breeze is all it takes to get

you way out beyond where you thought you

were. And that's exactly the same way

spiritual drift happens. Not through one

dramatic moment, but through countless

small distractions. And eventually we

look up and we wonder, how did I get so

far away from where God wants me to be?

That's why throughout the gospels, Jesus

reminds us of what we are supposed to

do. Everywhere you look in the Gospels,

we hear Jesus saying follow me. He

didn't say, "Admire me." He didn't say,

"Think about me occasionally." He didn't

say, "Fit me into your schedule whenever

you have time." He said, "Follow me."

Following requires movement, but it also

requires focus. It's what Pastor Kelly

talked about last week when she talked

about Simon says. If you don't focus on

the person who's calling out what to do,

you miss them saying Simon says and you

lose the game. You have to focus. Kelly

admitted she's horrible at that game cuz

she doesn't focus. I will say I'm also

horrible at that game because I don't

focus that way either. But you can't

follow someone if you're constantly

looking somewhere else. You got to keep

your eye on the one that you're

following. Every day we get a choice

about where our attention will go. Every

day we get to decide what will shape our

thinking. Every day we get to determine

what will receive our best energy. And

over time those daily choices determine

the direction of our life because what

consistently has our attention will

eventually have our heart.

Have you ever driven somewhere that

you've driven a hundred times? So you

know where you're going. and you know

how to get there and then you get there

and before you get out of the car you

think how did I get here like you can't

remember the last part of the drive.

It's not cuz you don't know the drive.

It's just because you were thinking

about a conversation you had with

somebody else yesterday. You were

thinking about what you had to do when

you left after you were done wherever

you were and you're not thinking about

driving. So you don't really remember

how you got to where you are going. You

just get to your destination and think,

man, how did I get here? Our hands were

on the wheel. Our eyes were technically

on the road, but our mind, man, it was

somewhere else.

The same thing happens in our spiritual

life. We keep moving. We stay busy. Our

calendars are full. We accomplish

things. We show up at church on a Sunday

morning. We're running from one thing to

the next. And from the outside,

everything looks like we're being

productive. But if we're honest, we

haven't intentionally followed Jesus in

quite a while. We just kind of ended up

there because we're used to ending up

there. We've been moving, just not

necessarily in the right direction. But

movement is not the same as direction.

We can be incredibly busy and still be

spiritually stagnant. We can accomplish

a great deal and still miss God's

purpose. We can fill every hour of every

day and still miss the relationship with

the one that gave us the hours in the

first place.

That's why Paul reminds us to press on

towards the goal.

Goals require intentionality. They

require focus because no one

accidentally becomes more like Jesus. We

become more like him by choosing every

single day to fix our eyes on him.

Refusing to let the distractions of life

pull us away from what is most

important. It's incredible to me when we

read Paul's words what he chooses not to

dwell on. He had every reason to live in

the past. He could have said, "God can

never use me of because of all the

damage I did to Christians before I had

my encounter with Jesus on that road to

Damascus." He could have lived off his

past accomplishments. He was a religious

leader. He was well educated. He was

wellconed. He knew all the right answers

and he could have focused on that. He

also could have become bitter about his

present circumstances.

He was faithfully serving Christ. And

now he finds himself sitting in prison,

chained to a guard. And it would have

been easy for him to ask, "God, after

everything I've done for you, how did I

end up here?" But instead of doing any

of those, Paul says, "Forgetting what

lies behind and straining forward to

what lies ahead." Now, he's not

literally erasing his memory. He's

saying his past no longer controls his

future. Paul refused to let yesterday

become more important than what God

wanted to do today. Now, many people

struggle when they're throwing their

bags of life because they're not focused

on what the goal is. They're focused on

what's going on over here or what went

on in the past or what went on with

their friends or their family. So,

they're not focused there. They're

focused here. and they throw

and they miss

cuz they're not even paying any

attention. We do that in our life all

the time. We say, "I wish I would have

made different choices. I wish I would

have said something different." Or, "I

can't believe I made that mistake." Or

we say, "Man, wasn't it great when we

did this? Can't we redo that again?" But

here's the thing. Neither neglect or or

or nostalgia is going to move us

forward.

We can't hit today's target if our eyes

are on yesterday's throw. But God's

grace frees us from both. God's

forgiveness releases us from our

failures.

God's calling keeps us from settling for

our past successes. So the past may

shape us, but it doesn't have to define

us.

And because of Jesus, our story is

actually never finished. Every sunrise

is another reminder that God's mercies

are new every morning. Every day is

another day to trust God and follow him

and take one more step closer to where

God wants us to be. So even if we did

really good yesterday, we can get even

closer by keeping our focus on him

today. If we totally screwed up

yesterday, we can get back on track by

keeping our focus on him today.

Nobody becomes a skilled cornhole player

by accident. It takes repetition,

practice, adjustment, and focus. In case

you haven't realized, I probably play

cornhole once a year. I'm never going to

be good at that game. But the same is

true spiritually. Spiritual maturity

doesn't happen accidentally or

automatically. We have to work at it. We

work at it by doing those typical Sunday

school answers. You know, pray, read the

Bible, go to church. Those are all

important. We also work on it by worship

and serving others and generosity and

obedience and community.

Now, none of those things help us earn

God's love because God's love is free.

However, all of those things help put us

in a position to become more like

Christ. Paul is telling us to press on.

That phrase describes effort and

perseverance and determination. Not

because salvation has to be earned. It

doesn't. It's free. But because knowing

Christ becomes the greatest pursuit of

our life.

As followers of Jesus, we may never

fully arrive, but we continue growing

and continue learning and continue

trusting and continue becoming more like

him every day. As we think about Paul's

challenge to press on towards the goal,

the question is not what should somebody

else do. The question is what is one

thing I can do to press on towards that

goal. Now for some of us that might mean

setting aside the first few minutes of

every morning for prayer before the

demands of the day take over. For

others, it might mean mean reading one

chapter of scripture every day or every

week and listening for what God has to

show us from what we are reading. For

someone else, it might mean literally

putting our phone down, turning off the

television, or creating space

and silence so we can hear what God has

to tell us. could mean joining a small

group or serving on a ministry team or

inviting a neighbor to worship or

reaching out to somebody who you know

you have to reconcile with. Now, none of

those things are dramatic in and of

themselves, but over time,

small intentional choices shape the

direction of our lives.

Our lives will always move in the

direction of what consistently has our

attention.

As a church, the same is true. Will we

allow distractions from the world to

determine our direction or will we fix

our eyes on Jesus and continue pressing

forward towards the goal? I believe God

has got some incredible things in store

for Christ Church. And it's not because

of our plans or our abilities, but it's

because of God's faithfulness. God is

still calling people to follow him. He

is still transforming lives. He is still

using the church to bring hope to the

community. So, we can't get distracted.

We can't become comfortable. We can't

spend all of our energy looking

backward. Instead, we need to do what

Paul did. We need to press on towards

the goal. Keep growing in our faith.

Keep serving with joy. Keep inviting our

neighbors

Keep sharing the love of Christ and

every day in every decision keep aiming

our lives and our church toward Jesus.

We don't become the church God is

calling us to be through one spectacular

moment. We become the church that God is

calling us to be from hundreds of

faithful decisions over years of working

towards the goal. people praying and

serving and giving and encouraging and

inviting

and growing and following Jesus

together.

Every step matters. Every act of faith

matters.

Every time we choose Christ over

distraction, we move one step closer to

God's purpose for us individually and as

a church. So let's join Paul, forgetting

what lies behind and straining toward

what lies ahead. We press on toward the

goal for the prize of the heavenly call

of God in Christ Jesus, allowing us to

always be focused on our next throw.

Let's pray. Lord, we are so grateful

that you

will help us reach the goal. But we have

to keep our eyes and our focus and

attention on you. Help us to not be

distracted from all the things that come

from all different directions.

But help us keep our focus on that prize

and to continue day by day taking step

by step

getting closer to you every step of the

way.

And just watch where we end up when it's

all over.

Thank you for guiding us and thank you

for being patient with us when we do

become distracted. and thank you for

helping us get back on

the path towards that goal. We ask all

of this in your son's name and everyone

said, "Amen.