Finishing Strong: A Call to Faithfulness in 2025

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast,

where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to

this podcast.

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen

you in the word of God.

Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has

for us here today.

We are going to look into the word of God here this morning, and

I want to just briefly bring a challenge to you about finishing

strong, finishing faithful.

I know it's the last Sunday of the year.

We're only a few days and It'll be over.

20, 25 will be over.

So today we're going to be looking at finishing this year strong,

but not just finishing this year strong, because Lord willing,

God will give us a few more days than just at the end of 2025.

But really what I want to talk to you guys about this morning on

a.

On a larger scale is finishing out our Christian life in.

In a faithful manner, in a manner that reflects the call that

God has given us in our life, reflects the hope that we can find

in our salvation.

The main text here this morning that we're going to be in

is second Timothy, chapter four.

Second Timothy, chapter four.

We are at a good stopping place in our study in Romans.

We just finished Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

When we come back in the new year, we'll be looking at Romans

chapter nine.

But here this morning, I thought that it would be appropriate

to speak on what it means to finish well, what it means to push

towards the mark.

This past year, in the spring, I had the opportunity, privilege,

challenge, however you want to look at it, to run a half marathon,

and you don't know what a half marathon is.

That's 13.1 miles.

It's like you're half crazy.

You're full crazy.

You go 26.2.

But I had a chance to run a marathon in half marathon, should

say.

And so as I was running, I was training for this.

It wasn't like I just went one day and said, okay, I want to do

this.

It was something that I trained for.

And as I was running, it was.

It was very difficult.

The first few miles in my mind, I was thinking, how in the

world am I going to do this?

I just didn't feel well.

The first couple miles, I'm like, I got to go 11 more miles.

This is not going to happen.

Then about mile four or five, I started feeling good.

I started my.

Maybe it was just that the pain was there still, but I Was getting

numb or whatever, and I just felt good.

I was like, okay, I can make this.

But when I got to about a mile 11, I was.

I was really struggling, and there's a lot of pain.

And I said, okay, I gotta finish this, because if I don't finish

this, I'm number one.

I'm gonna be embarrassed, and my ego is gonna be hurt, but I really

want to do this.

I really want this goal to be accomplished.

And when I got to the last mile, there was someone there, and

there was, like, a little marker there, one of the workers,

and they say, hey, one more mile left.

You can do it.

And there were some people cheering there in that last mile,

and we were pushing forward, and I was probably only going about,

I don't know, a step faster than just walking at that point.

I was just struggling to get through it.

But then there was this last turn, and when I turned, I saw the

finish line and there's all these people cheering.

And I. I saw people were already done.

They were sitting over there, like, thinking about chocolate milk,

and they had all this food there.

And I was like.

So I said, I'm gonna run as fast as I possibly can till the end.

So I emptied out the tank.

I went full speed now.

Full speed.

If I was watching on video, probably look like me, you know,

just walking, you know, jockeying.

But I felt like I was flying till the end.

And when I finished that, that race, it was.

Felt like an accomplishment.

Give you a little reward there, they give you a little medal,

and they give you some free food.

And it was exciting.

And I thought about that, and I thought about.

As Christians, how often do we think, you know, what the.

The best is behind me?

You know, I. I used to be able to serve the Lord.

I used to effectively give out the gospel.

But yet, you know what?

I'm tired now, and the.

And the world's dark, and I don't really know how much I can

do.

The Bible says here that we are to push till the end.

Paul in second Timothy, chapter four, is essentially giving

his last words.

And now we know through other elements of history that Paul goes

to be martyred for his faith, for his preaching.

But here he's speaking to young Timothy and he's telling him,

look, I'm.

I'm finishing.

This is his testimony.

And I hope that all of us can use this as a guide for what we should

strive to be in our own lives as we finish the course that God

has given us.

And I'm not just talking about 20, 25.

Even though it would apply to that.

We started out 2025 with the pink go.

We were to go and tell the world about Jesus Christ in our communities,

in our workplaces, in our families around the country.

We went to different states and had missions trips and, and this

year in 2026, we're going to have an opportunity to go across

the world and preach the gospel.

But here in second Timothy, chapter four, verse six, Paul says,

for I am now ready to be offered, so I'm ready now to be sacrificed

for God.

I've given everything I want to be poured out.

I've done everything that I can.

And he says, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Paul recognizes that his race is almost over.

For some of us, physically, we might understand that, hey, I, I,

I am realistic to know that I have more years behind me than I

have before me.

I, and it's okay to recognize that.

But Paul says here, I, I'm almost done.

I'm, I'm almost there.

But this is his testimony.

In verse number seven, he says, I have fought a good fight.

You know what?

Living the Christian life is in some ways a battle.

We know that Ephesians tells us that we're in spiritual battle

and it is a fight.

And the Bible does say in the book of Jude to contend for the faith.

What we have to understand is that sometimes in our Christian life

we're fighting for the wrong things.

The Bible tells us to fight the good fight, to contend for the

faith instead of bickering amongst ourselves or complaining

about our circumstances around us.

The Bible says to fight the good fight, to fight for the things

of God, to, to sacrifice not for our own desires, but to sacrifice

for what God has given us in our lives.

And so he says, here, I fought a good fight.

How many of us would say, you know what my fight is is not against

the things of this world necessarily the, the flesh and blood,

but it's a spiritual battle that I'm willing to fight for the

Lord.

I'm willing to die to my flesh.

I'm willing to follow him in obedience, to yield to the spirit,

to say, I'm fighting this good fight.

And he says, here, I finished my course.

He says, I finished the race.

Here I'm pushing forward.

I've kept the faith.

Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which

the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not

to me only, but unto all them that love his appearance.

So he says, hey, there is a reward, there is a prize.

Now, we know in other passages of scripture that Paul mentions this.

This prize.

And it's not a prize that will rot away.

It's not a prize that will rust.

The crown that they would run for back at this time would be a

crown of leaves that would be wrapped around their head, and there

would be this.

This praise that came along with that, but those leaves would

wither and fade.

That metal that I got from finishing that half marathon is.

It's not even real gold.

It's not even real.

It's just plastic rubble.

The reality is, that's good.

I don't even know where it is right now.

Probably going to fade away one day.

But the reward that we receive in loving the Lord and being faithful

and actually trusting in his grace and walking in faith, the Bible

says, yes, we have the reward of everlasting life.

But in First Corinthians, chapter three, it says that we have

other wonderful, everlasting gifts and prizes that we receive.

And he says here, he lists one here in verse four.

Excuse me, verse eight.

In chapter four, he says, there's this crown of righteousness

which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day,

and not to me only, but unto all them also.

That love is appearing, folks.

The Bible tells us here that there are rewards for serving him.

And it's not a selfish thing to desire those rewards if our heart's

in the right place.

The Bible speaks in first Corinthians, chapter three of the

motives behind our service to him.

And if our motives are selfish motivations to get people to praise

us for service, the Bible says that that will be washed away, that

that will be burned up in the fire like wood, hand stubble.

But those things that we do for the Lord with the right motivations,

with the right heart, the Bible says those are eternal blessings.

That's what Paul references the Christian life as a race in many

places in.

In Scripture.

I want to point out just a few of them to you here so you can see

the analogy that he builds.

We see in.

In First Corinthians, chapter 9, most of you know this passage

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

of scripture, but in First Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 24,

1 Corinthians 9:24

he references the Christian life to a race.

And.

And I.

And I think that this is important here because he's giving

that eternal perspective to what we're doing here in the Christian

life.

He says, don't run like you're running a race here on this earth,

because the rewards that we receive on this earth are corruptible.

But the things that we do with eternal Perspective with the spiritual

focus, with the kingdom in mind.

Those are the things that will last.

He says in First Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 24, Know ye not

1 Corinthians 9:24

that they which run in a race run all one receive at the prize,

so run that you may obtain meaning this.

Strive to do what God has called us to do.

Let's not get complacent.

It's so easy to get complacent in our Christian lives.

It's so easy to look around and go, well, you know what?

That person's gifted in that way, and that's what they're going

to do.

But for me, you know what?

I'm just complacent in where I'm at.

I'm comfortable with where I am.

And God does bring comfort.

But the comfort of God does not lead us to a place of apathy.

The comfort of God does not lead us to a place of complacency.

The comfort of God should leave us to a place of motivation.

It should lead us to a place of striving forward for the prize

that he has given us.

And so verse 25 says, and every man that striveth for the mastery

is temperate in all things.

So.

So what he says is this.

The.

The striving for the Lord is not an easy thing.

It's a.

It's.

It's a life of discipline, folks.

We have to live disciplined lives if we want to serve the Lord.

We can't just go about every day thinking what's best for me?

What do I want?

What.

What makes me feel good.

You know, there was days in the.

The training process of running that half marathon that I.

I didn't want to get out and run.

I wanted to eat that extra dessert.

I wanted to do that.

But the reality was in that moment is I want to train.

I want to do this.

And so there's an essential teaching that the Bible tells us

that we must live disciplined lives, disciplined lives following

those things that God has called us to do.

And so he says, just like these athletes that are running these

races here in the time that Paul was living, he says that they're

temperate in all things.

Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown.

But we an incorruptible.

So, folks, the reason me running that race meant nothing anyone.

We see these.

These athletes that.

That give their whole lives to one sport, right?

And I'm not saying that that's necessarily wrong.

But when that sport is worshiped, when that becomes the

end all be all, and they think that that's how I'M going to go down

in history.

The reality is, is that there is going to be a day where all of

us are judged not for what we do, but for what we believe in.

And the Bible clearly teaches here that what we're doing is something

that's going to return eternal dividends.

There's other passages of scripture that speak to the race.

I think we could go to many of them here this morning.

I just want to go to a few.

Acts, chapter 20, verse 24.

Acts 20:24

We know that the Bible speaks here of Paul finishing his course,

his race, with joy.

Acts 20:24 says this.

Acts 20:24

But none of these things move me.

This is Paul's testimony.

Neither count I my life dear unto myself.

So, so we see that in this race, it's not a selfish endeavor,

it's a selfless endeavor.

It's a.

It's a humble endeavor to put the Lord first.

And he says, so that I might finish my course with joy and the

ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the

gospel of the grace of God.

Paul says, you know what brings me joy, you know what brings

me satisfaction, is following the plan that God has for my life.

What was God's plan for Paul?

It says here, to testify the gospel of the grace of God, to proclaim

the truth of God to those around him.

And you might say, well, that that's Paul's mission.

But what's my mission?

Well, we go to Matthew chapter 28 and see that that's all of our

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

mission.

The Bible gives us something called the Great Commission.

It's actually Jesus extending this purpose for us and in our lives.

The Bible very clearly tells us that as Christians, all of us

have the ultimate purpose of leading people to Jesus Christ, to

glorify him.

Through that endeavor.

The Bible says to make disciples go ye into all the world

and preach the gospel to every creature.

And that.

And that can look different for different people, right?

For some people, God's calling them to South Africa.

For other people, God that they've called, been called a Middletown,

Delaware.

We all have different areas of our calling, and we all have different

ways in which we preach the gospel.

Not all of us are called to preach the gospel behind a pulpit,

but all of us are called to proclaim the gospel by the way that

we live our lives.

And so to run the race with that type of focus means I've got

a purpose.

And I'm not going to get distracted by the things around me.

Folks, if, if we reduce our Christian faith to staying faithful,

to say why I'm in church every single Sunday morning.

That's a good thing.

That's a start.

But just being in church does not mean that we are doing what we

are called to do.

This is the corporate worship.

This is the family.

This is coming together and saying, hey, we're rallying up.

We're coming together.

We're worshiping our king.

But church is not just Sunday morning for one hour or if the pastor

goes along, an hour and a half.

Church is more than the Christian faith is.

Every single day.

24 7, 365, we take it with us, and that's running the race.

But sometimes there's distractions.

I mean, if we're honest, hey, I'm.

I got.

I. Pastor, I.

You.

You get to do this for a job.

I've got to go to work.

You know, I've, I've got, I got a family.

I've got activities.

I, I realize that.

I've got a family too.

I realize that.

I realize that there's all different things that are pulling

us every which direction.

But.

But I want to take you to another passage of scripture where

it deals with the race here.

And It's Hebrews Chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Hebrews Chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that we are to lay aside every thing

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

that holds us back.

Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1.

Hebrews 12:1

Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud

of witnesses, and there's some debate about who those witnesses

are.

But I mean, believing that obviously there are folks that have

come before us, we know that other people have run this race before

Paul's run this race.

Someone, someone maybe that you've looked up to in your church

that has gone on into glory.

They.

They have run the race.

And so we've got other people that have seen us.

And, and it says here that, that we can understand that we're

not the only ones on this race.

He says, let us lay aside every weight.

And the sin which doth so easily beset us says, hey, shed those

things that hold you back from doing what God has called you to

do.

You know what?

There.

There have been times when I, I was running and, and I had to make

a decision on whether or not I wanted to bring that with me.

So, for example, like, I'm really thirsty, right?

If I'm running and there's these things that, you know, some

of you guys know, they have like these book bags that have water

behind them, and you can hold them and you can just on them go

drink that.

And.

And the reality was, is, yes, I want that water.

But also that's added weight.

So I've got to make a decision.

Is that going to hold me back?

Is it going to pull me back from actually what I need to be doing?

And the truth is that there's some things in our life that might

not be, like, completely evil, but they might be something that's

pulling me away from what I truly need to be doing in Jesus Christ.

This distraction over here, I know I need to recognize that this

is allowing me to love something more than I love what Jesus

has called me to do.

And ultimately, loving Jesus, we.

We know that the Bible tells us to lay aside those weights and

the sin which does so easily be set us and let us run with patience.

Now, that word, patience is an interesting word because it's.

How can we run with patience?

Well, we think of patience as someone just sitting down and waiting.

Okay, I'm gonna run this race just sitting in a chair.

That's not gonna work.

So this word patience in the original Greek is.

Is a word that we would translate as endurance.

To run with endurance, to run with faithfulness doesn't mean it's

a sprint.

Actually, the Christian life can't be a sprint because it's.

It's.

It's long.

It's a long run.

It's.

It's.

It's a distance thing.

So he says, run with patience, the race that is set for us.

Like I said, some people's races are longer than others.

But at this point in time, we all have a race to finish.

You're here today, and you're drawing breath.

You have a race to finish.

And the question would be this.

Not just am I going to finish out 20, 25?

Well, I hope that you do, but am I going to finish the time that

God has allowed me to live here on this earth to the best of

my ability for his purpose in my life?

And that purpose is to glorify him.

The gospel of Jesus Christ, it's not about to get f. It's not

about getting followers.

It's not about getting people to like us.

It's not about getting people to accept us.

Folks, if we're striving for people to like us and accept us,

we might be at a place where there's going to be some type of

conflict.

Because me serving the Lord is not always going to have people loving

what I'm saying and what I'm doing.

Actually, sometimes it's going to get people upset, because the

gospel is something that's very polarizing to our culture.

Why because the Gospel doesn't say that I'm a good person.

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

There is none good.

No, not one.

We all are in desperate need of something bigger than us.

I'm going to tell you something here this morning and it

might make you bristle your hair up a little bit.

The reality is this.

You, you, me, we are not enough to save ourselves.

So.

So what do we do?

Well, we just give up.

We quit, we get depressed, we look to other things.

No, the Bible gives us exactly what we are to do when we recognize

that we are not enough to save ourselves.

And I would take it even a step further.

None of us have the personal capability of being faithful to our

Savior because all of us have that temptation of sin in our lives.

All of us are struggling with the old man.

So what do we do?

The Bible tells us exactly what to do.

Hebrews chapter 12, the next verse, the very next verse.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 12, verse one tells us to run the race, Lay aside

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

every weight, go forward.

But then we see in verse number two exactly what we are to

do.

It says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Looking unto Jesus, the.

The creator and sustainer of our faith.

So what does it mean to finish the race with patience?

What does it mean to look forward to what God has called us

in our life?

It's to love God more and to serve him more and to yield ourselves

to his plan for our lives to draw nearer to Jesus.

It's not about trying harder.

I used to think that if I can just write one more sermon, if I

could, if I could just win one more person to Jesus Christ, then

maybe I can reach the pinnacle of being a Christian.

Folks, we can never do enough to match what Jesus Christ has done

for us.

So what do we do?

The way that we please him is to cling to him, to draw nigh to

him as he draws near to us.

You go back just a few pages in your bible.

Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 10 tells us how we can hold fast to our faith,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

how we can hold tightly to what God has given us.

And essentially what we're going to see here is the same teaching

that we saw In Hebrews chapter 12, looking to Jesus, the author

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

and finisher of our faith.

Go back to Hebrews chapter 10, look at verse number 22.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

And I think that this will be something that we can kind of understand

in our own minds.

And then we'll conclude here this morning, Hebrews chapter 10,

Hebrews 10:22

verse 22 says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance

of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience

and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast.

Let us hold on to the profession of our faith without wavering.

So the Bible says here, hold on, don't waver, don't, don't quit,

don't hesitate.

But then he tells us here at the end of verse 23, how we can do

that.

He says, for he is faithful.

That promise, meaning the only way that we can stay faithful is

by staying true to the one who is faithful to us, the one who was

faithful in the midst of our unfaithfulness.

Verse 24.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and

to good works.

And so this is not just an individual endeavor.

This is an endeavor that means that we need to be around other people,

to consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works,

not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, as the manner

of some is, but exhorting one another, challenging one another,

and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

And so we're to call.

We're called to be faithful, and we're called to challenge others

to be faithful as well, by loving them, by con.

By provoking them.

Now, some of you say, I like provoking people, but maybe not to

love and good works.

No, provoking one another.

That means stirring one another up, not to get angry with

each other, but to come to a place of love and good works.

And so we think about all these things and we wrap it up.

And I think that the best way that we can do that is by how we

started the service this morning.

Philippians chapter three.

Philippians, chapter three.

Paul says, here we all have a calling.

We all have a purpose.

It's not a purpose of self exaltation, it's a purpose of exalting

the Lord in our lives.

We never should get to a place in our lives where we say, I have

arrived.

I'm there.

I'm super Christian.

I'm number one.

I've got it all figured out.

Just come to me and I've got all the answers.

No.

Philippians chapter 3, verse 12.

Philippians 3:12

Paul says, not as though I already attained either.

We're already perfect.

But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am

apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Meaning this I.

We.

We must be apprehended by Christ Jesus.

He must have our hearts.

He doesn't have our hearts.

It doesn't matter where we're at on Sunday morning.

It doesn't matter where we're serving.

God wants our heart.

He says in verse 13, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended,

but this one thing I do.

Forgetting those things which are behind, good or bad.

Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto

those things which are.

Before pressing forth, I press toward the mark for the prize of

the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

I hope you see a theme in all of these race analogies.

Always in Christ Jesus, it's always about being faithful in the

one who is faithful looking unto Jesus, the author and finish

of our finisher of our faith.

And then it goes on to say in that Hebrews 12: Passage, the reason

why Jesus is the author and finisher for our faith is because

he was willingly and joyfully willing to go to the cross for our

sins.

And he didn't just stay on the cross, he didn't stay in the tomb,

but he conquered death in the Resurrection, therefore extends that

gift of grace to us all.

That's the greatest news ever told.

Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

That's it.

That's what.

That's our purpose.

And so as Christians, what do we do?

As Christians, we say, lord, I know that you've given me a purpose.

I know sometimes I can be distracted.

But, Lord, give me strength, give me the wisdom to be able to

allow myself to go forward and not be distracted by the things of

this world.

Let's finish 2025 strong.

Let's do our best to keep going.

Now, by the way, someone says, well, next year, what's the theme

for next year?

Well, the.

I'll tell you guys that in a few weeks.

But the theme should all.

So.

So we don't just put go on like, all right, we went in 2025,

now we stopped going.

Every single vision for each year is just going to be like, we're

going to build on it.

So we never stop going.

Right?

We don't just get to the end of 2025 and say, well, now we don't

take any more mission strips.

No, that's why we have mission trip plan in 2026.

That's why we want to continue to add more missionaries in 2026.

It's all part of the Christian walk.

Let's add go to our lives.

That's not just a theme, but it's our lifestyle to go.

And for some, like I said, you can go to your community, you can

go to your workplace, you can go, maybe there's someone here that

God is pressing your heart to go into missions.

I, I, I hope so.

I would hate to lose you here at the church, but I would love to

see God deploy you into the field.

I'm excited to see what God's going to do in 2026.

I'm excited to see what God's going to do in the time that he has

in each and every one of your lives.

But let's push towards the race.

Let's, let's push towards the finish line.

For some of us, you might say, Pastor, I'm, I'm exhausted.

I understand that.

And there's a time for physical rest.

What I would also say is this.

Give everything that you can.

It might not be like you're, you're sprinting anymore.

You might not be able to do all those things that you were able

to do in the past.

I used to go knock on 100 doors a week.

Maybe you're not able to do that, but maybe what you're able

to do is what God has given you today.

And I know you can, because the Bible says that whatever God

is asking you to do, he'll give you that strength to do it.

Philippians 4:13.

Philippians 4:13

It doesn't mean he's going to give you the strength.

Do anything you want.

He's going to give.

He's going to equip you to do the job that he's required you in

your life and that he's calling you.

And so I end with this.

Let's be faithful to His Word.

Part of being faithful is just being faithful to what this says

right here.

So easy to drift.

It's so easy to say, well, well, culture says this, so maybe

we can just compromise in this area.

Well, that makes more sense over here.

So let's know, let's stay faithful to His Word, not, not our

feelings, but what the Word of God says and allow the word of God

to drive what we believe and, and how we feel and what we do in

our lives.

Let's be faithful to his service.

He has called us all to serve Him.

Now, we're not saved by our service, but we are saved to serve.

So let's think about where God has us to serve.

Let's think about how we can be faithful to his command.

What's the greatest commandment?

To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and

to love our neighbor as ourselves.

That's the great commandment.

Let's think about that commandment this year.

If, if I love God with everything.

And if I love my neighbor as myself.

I don't have to worry about rules and legalism.

All I have to think about is this.

If I love God completely, I'm going to obey him.

If.

If I love my neighbor as myself, I'm going to treat them the

way that God tells me to treat them.

So I would encourage you to think about that commandment.

Let's be faithful to that commandment of loving God with everything

and loving our neighbor.

And then lastly, let's be faithful to his commission, the commission

of the Gospel, the commission of preaching and teaching the word

of God to those around us and making disciples.

Folks, I would love to see a bunch of people come to Christ here

in the Middletown, Delaware area.

I would love that.

You know what I would love even more?

Not just to see them come to Christ, but to see them planted in

a church and see discipleship happen and see each individual take

someone under their wing and say, hey, look, this is what I've

gone through, and this is what you will go through.

And this is how you can get through it in the word of God.

Folks, the Bible says to make disciples, let's strive not just

to see people become religious, let's strive to see followers

of Jesus Christ.

And we're the ones that are to do that.

But you have to be a disciple to make the sign.

So here this year, let's strive to say, you know, I want to

be faithful to the Lord.

I want to be faithful to Him.

I want to follow him to the best of my ability so that others

will see my good work and glorify my Father, which is.

And so here in 2026, we're going to be talking a lot more about

how you be involved.

How can you make disciples?

I don't make a disciple.

God makes the disciples.

But I'm a vessel to be used to preach that truth to those around

me, to teach in the times of difficulty.

And each and every one of you, I believe this.

I believe if you're a believer in Jesus Christ here this morning,

you all have that call in your life.

I have that call in my life.

The find someone who I can preach and I can teach and I can

encourage and I can strengthen and I can love and I can serve.

You might not be able to reach a hundred people, but you can reach

one.

But I would also go a little bit further here this morning not

to assume that everyone here is a believer in Jesus Christ.

I would say this here this morning, you can't be a disciple

unless you believe in Jesus Christ.

As your personal savior and to trust in him and to know that he

alone can change your life and he can take you from darkness into

marvelous light, that he can take you from the place of your life

in which you say, I don't know if I can do this.

I don't know if I can handle this.

I don't know if I'm good enough.

And teach you that, yes, you need him and that he can change you.

And as the Bible says In Romans chapter 12, transform you.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And as Romans chapter 8 says, to conform you into his.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

That's the purpose.

That's the idea.

And so if you don't have Jesus Christ as a savior this morning,

if you have not trusted in Him, I would encourage you to start

2026 with that greatest decision that you could ever make,

Edison.

But if you do know him, let's think about how we can go into 2026,

finish this year strong and push forward and run that race with

endurance to run that race, focus on the word of God, to be faithful

to what he has called us to do and understand that even when we

stumble, the way we understand our failures is to go to him and

say, lord, I have failed you, but you never fail me.

Lift me up, give me the strength, encourage me.

Give me the opportunity to walk in your truth, your word here.

6.

I'm going to ask if you're able to.

To stand with me, every head bowed, every head closed as the music

plays.

I'm going to give you a chance to respond here this morning.

Maybe God has been working in your life in certain areas and you've

been fighting against it because you don't know how it'll

work.

You don't know what it'll look like.

You have a lot of hesitancy because maybe, maybe you're not sure

about what's next.

I'm going to tell you in ministry, in service, in loving God

and loving others, we might not know what the next step is, but

we know where the final step goes.

And we know that one day we will be with our Savior.

And everything that we do now for the kingdom of God, everything

we do now for eternal focus and the eternal perspective will

one day make sense to us.

So I would encourage you to think about that now.

Am I willing to invest into the eternal perspective what in my

life has been causing me to be weighted down and not be able to

do the things that God has called me to do?

Maybe for you, you don't know what God is calling you.

Let's just start with the Most basic thing, to love him, to love

others, to follow his word.

God will reveal and open doors in your life and show you where to

go.

But just start with that relationship with him, the authority,

ministry of your faith.

And so as I lead us in a word of prayer here, I'm going to ask

if you would like to come forward.

We've got some folks up here that can show you in the word of

God what it means to know Jesus as your Savior.

Men, we've got some men up here, ladies.

We can have a lady meet with you and we can show you what it means

to trust in Jesus as your Savior.

But number two, maybe you just need to come up here and talk with

the Lord and, and ask him to give you strength.

Ask him to give you that victory over something that might

be weighing you down.

Maybe it's just a doubt, maybe it's a fear, but at the end of the

day we know that God can wipe away all those things.

So maybe we want to just ask him this morning to give you wisdom

and direction of what the next step of your life is when it comes

following him and running this race.

And maybe you just want to come this morning and say, lord,

give me the strength to finish this race.

As Paul says, I fought the good fight.

I finished my course, I kept the faith.

We can talk so much more about what it means to be faith this morning

to only by God's grace.

So may we think about that this morning.

Lord, I pray to be in this time of invitation working hearts

and lives.

There's someone who needs you as savior.

Lord, may today be the day of salvation.

I pray that work in the hearts and lives of believers here this

morning to push forward run the race finish course.

We ask all these things in Jesus name.

Amen.

As the music plays follow as the Lord leads here this morning.

Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church

podcast.

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for for you.

If you would like to find out more information about our church

or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro Middletown BaptistChurch.com

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Thank you so much.

God Bless.

Have a wonderful day.