Running with a Purpose

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Good job, good job.

All right, it is now time for Children's Church if we have any children six and under that want to go.

Y'all can head this way.

Thank you Jennings and Macy and choir for those good songs.

We will be in First Corinthians chapter nine, First Corinthians chapter nine starting in verse 24.

First Corinthians chapter nine, starting in verse 24.

That's in the New Testament kind of close to the middle of the New Testament. First Corinthians chapter nine.

Verse 24.

We'll read through the text then we will pray and get started.

Don't you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize.

Run in such a way to win the prize.

Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything.

However, they do it to receive a crown that will fade away.

But we a crown that will never fade away.

Let's pray. Father God, we come to you today.

We thank you for your word.

I pray God that you would just help me as I preach and teach this morning.

I pray that I will grow in your word that each one of us here would grow in your word.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would be in this place dear Lord.

There are no good words that I can speak that will come from me.

So dear Lord, I pray that every word today comes from you.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would open our ears and open our heart to hear from you today.

God, you know what's going on in our life.

You know our worries, our fears, our distractions today, and I pray that you would free us of those things in these next few minutes.

I pray that you would just help us to hear your word and to grow in your word.

And I ask all this in Jesus name. Amen.

Paul had just talked about in the verses before this, his duty, his job, what he longed to do.

And that was share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everybody he could share the gospel of Jesus Christ with.

And it's said in the verses before, look, I'll become all things to all people so that some may come to know the Lord.

And Paul said, whatever it takes, I'm going to do.

Whatever it takes for the kingdom of God, I'm going to do.

Whatever I have to be, if I'm around Jews, I'll live like the Jews.

If I'm around Gentiles, I'll live like the Gentiles.

I'll be what I need to be to reach those that I need to reach.

Now, it's not that Paul was changing who he was, but there are times that you have to understand the people you're trying to reach.

And there are some things in our life that we do or don't do that that are of no real significance.

But if there's something that we do that's of no real significance, that may hinder someone else from listening to the gospel message that we want to share with them,

then maybe there are some things we can do to change ourselves so that maybe people will pay attention to us and listen to us.

And so Paul says, whatever it takes within reason, it's not sinful in any way.

Whatever it takes, I'm going to do for the gospel. I'm going to do so that people will hear about Jesus Christ.

But what Paul recognizes is that to live for Jesus Christ and to share the gospel and to do the work of the gospel is not easy.

It is not easy.

Now, I would venture to say that everybody in here that's a Christian today, and maybe I'm wrong,

but I'll go on a limb and I'll say that probably everyone who's a Christian would say that it's not easy.

Now, it is pretty easy to live for the world because the world doesn't really judge you for anything these days.

You pretty much can do anything that you'd like to do, and you can do it.

And if it makes you feel good, you're probably not going to think twice about it.

And whatever makes me happy is good with me. And that's the worldly way to do things.

And in many ways, that is really easy to do.

Now, that's not to say that there's not some guilt and shame there.

There probably is even when we're living for the world.

But to live for the Lord is not easy.

Now, it's beautiful. It's wonderful in so many ways.

It brings great joy and great blessing in our life, but it's not easy.

Because now when those things that we are tempted to do, we are aware in God's Word that God's Word said,

this is not a good thing. Well, now there's this battle that ensues

because there's this fleshly part of us that wants to do the things of the world.

But then there's the Holy Spirit within us that's convicting us,

and we have the Word of God that guides and instructs us.

And so there's difficulty sometimes because some of the things that God's Word calls us to are difficult

because there are some pleasures of this world that we enjoy in the flesh.

And God's Word may say, that's a sinful thing. It's not healthy for you.

There are certainly plenty of things in this world that we are tempted by.

There are things in this world that God says, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.

That, to me, is probably one of the most difficult commands

because our natural human tendency is we want to lash out at those that do us wrong.

And so God's Word is full of things that are difficult for us to live by and that are hard,

and it takes a lot of endurance. It really takes us seeking God and praying to God

and being in good spiritual shape to run the race that is before us.

And that's kind of what Paul is talking about here, that our Christian walk,

that our life in Christ is a race. And the moment that we begin to put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ

and say, I'm going to live for you, Lord, and not for myself, then we enter into that race.

The moment that we say, God, forgive me, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior,

and Jesus Christ is the only Savior who can cleanse me of my sins,

and I will follow him from this point forward.

The moment we say that, we have entered the race. We have become part of God's family.

We have entered into the kingdom of God. And here in these verses we look at today,

Paul is talking about that very idea, doing the work. It's hard.

You do whatever you have to do to do the work of the Lord.

And in verse 24, he says, Don't you know that the runners in a stadium all race?

So we're all in a race today. Some are racing for the kingdom of God,

and some are racing for the kingdom of Satan. We're all in a race today.

Our lives are racing and running and going somewhere, but the question is,

what are you running to? What race are you in? Are you in a race to meet your own

desires and to do what's right for you and to live for the flesh?

Are you in the race of running for the kingdom of God, to represent the kingdom

of God, for the glory of God? So we all are in a race. But what does he say?

He says, But only one receives the prize. Now, in the case of Christians,

praise the Lord, that all that would be part of the winning team will win the prize.

There's two teams. We can run for team Jesus or we can run for team Satan,

but there's only one team that's going to win. Spoiler alert, it's going to be team

Jesus because he's already won. The day that Jesus Christ would nail to a cross,

the day that he gave his life for you and me, the day that God raised him from the

dead, Jesus has won. Praise the Lord. That's good news for us today that we can

choose today to follow Jesus and to say, I am going to run with Jesus Christ who

gave everything for me. And that is the winning team. Now, we live in a world that

says, Oh, there's lots of ways to heaven and oh, God's not going to judge us for

this, that, and the other. Oh, God, he's good, he's gracious, and he's going to do

this, that, and the other. But God's words tells us clearly that it is only through

Jesus Christ that our sins are forgiven. There is no other way. There is no other

name under heaven by which men can be saved than that of Jesus Christ. There are

no shortcuts. The only way that we will spend eternity with God in heaven is to

put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and to run the race with endurance,

keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. So we all are

running the race today. But the question is, are you going to win the prize today?

The prize is to spend an eternity with Jesus Christ. It's to spend an eternity

in the presence of God. It's to spend an eternity without pain and without

suffering and without fear and without worry and without death. That is the prize.

Praise the Lord. So Paul says we're all running, but only one is going to win the

prize. What does he say at the end of the verse? Run in a way to win the prize.

There's only one group that's going to win, and that is those who are following

Jesus. So he says, therefore run in a way to win the prize. And what about us

today? Are we running in a way in which we are going to win the prize today? Are

we running aimlessly? He says that later on in verse 26. He says in verse 26,

therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly. Are we running aimlessly

today? What would it mean to run aimlessly? Well, I think it would mean to run

aimlessly would be running for the things of the world, chasing after the things of

the world, running with no real end in sight, no real goal in sight. The only

goal is I'm going to run for myself and whatever makes me happy, I'm going to just

run. I'm just going to do what I want to do. I don't have a destination. I don't

know what I'm running for. I don't know what I'm running to. I'm just going to

run. A good example of that would be Forrest Gump. Have you ever seen Forrest

Gump before? I think it was right after Ginny died. And what did he do? He just

took out running and ran for what, like five years or something I think he run?

He just run five times back and forth across these United States until

eventually one day he just stopped in the middle of the road and he said, I'm

tired. I think I'm going home now. He was running aimlessly. He didn't have

anywhere to go. He didn't have anything on his mind. He just took out running.

And maybe that's some of us today. Maybe some of you today have just been running

through life aimlessly. You don't know where your destination is. You don't know

what you're running for. You're just stressed. You're just overwhelmed. Life is

too much. You're just running. You're just trying to get away. You're trying to

escape. You don't know what you're going. You don't know what you're doing. But

there may be some of you here today and like Forrest Gump, you say, I am tired.

Well today I've got good news for you. Today you can stop running aimlessly and

you can run into the arms of Jesus Christ. You can run in a way that is

going to net you the prize of eternal life. And so many times we get caught up

in this world because the prizes of this world look so good that we run to this

prize and we run to that prize. Have you all ever played those games? It's like

the glass case. It's got all the stuffed animals. And you put, well nowadays it's

about $5 you put in there and you can use the claw and you can go down and you

can win and you'll spend $25 and you'll be like I'm going to get this stuffed

animal and you finally win the stuffed Sonic the Hedgehog and you get it and it

was like five cents and made in China and you put all that energy and all that

time and all that effort into it and you finally reach down there and you get it

and you realize you ain't got nothing. You finally get the prize and you realize

the prize and you say what am I going to do with this? And then the first kid you

see you say hey you want this? And that's what the world is to us. We see all this

stuff in the world and boy it looks good. It looks like it's really something. It's

on the other side of the glass. We'll do whatever we do. We'll keep trying to

grab it and we'll grab it and grab it and we get it and we finally get it and then

we realize we don't have anything. So we need to focus our eyes today on a better

prize. We need to try to obtain today a better prize. We need to make sure we are

those who are running today as those who are going to win the prize and that is

forgiveness of our sins and eternal life that comes through Jesus Christ and

Christ alone. So what does he say in verse 25? He says now everyone who

competes exercises self-control in everything. What's he saying there? He's

saying to be able to run the race you've got to be in shape. It's going to take

some self-control. It's going to take some determination. It's going to take

you to be to really be focused on what you're trying to do. Now does anybody

know what tonight is? Super Bowl. There you go. Tonight is the Super Bowl and

there are going to be 106 men out there playing in that Super Bowl and they are

all going to be in tip-top shape and they have been working out since they

was in peewee football most of them and they have been training and they have

been eating right and they they read books to to increase their

inter-excellence so that they can do all that they can do and they try and they

try and they prepare and they prepare all they can and they've beaten all the

other teams and there are two left and tonight they will play but there will

only be one who is victorious. At the end of the night tonight there's either

going to be green confetti or red confetti falling. Hopefully it's going to

be green. We'll pray for you. Hopefully tonight there's going to be green

confetti but there's only going to be one who's going to win the prize and if

we want to be those who are going to win the prize we have to be like a runner.

People that go to the Olympics, people that make it to the Super Bowl, news

flash, they're not sitting around eating potato chips all the time watching TV.

They're just not. Now here's the thing with us. Here's our struggle because

we see people that that are healthy or we see people that are successful in a

lot of ways and we say I want to be like them and I'll say well great you can be

like them. Here's what you need to do. You need to change your diet. You need to

change everything you do. You need to start saving money. You need to start

doing extra. Well I don't want to do that. I just want to be rich and famous and an

awesome athlete. Well you can't be one without the other. We ever see people in

our life that are like I'm talking about strong Christian men or women like men

and women of faith and we read their stories and we say golly I want to be

like them. It's okay. You want to be like them. Spend 50 hours a week in God's word.

Spend 30 hours a week in prayer. Put others as more important than yourself.

I don't want to do that. I don't have time to do that. I want to be that man or

woman of faith that's strong that lives for God that does all these great things

for the kingdom. Well I don't actually want to put any effort into it but we

can't have one without the other. We can't be strong men and women of faith

that live for God and serve God and do great things for the kingdom of God if

we are not in spiritual shape. And that's what Paul is saying. You are in the

midst of a race and if you are running this race for God then you better make

sure that you are in good shape. You better make sure that you are not

running aimlessly. You better make sure that your eating good

spiritually. You better make sure that you're not putting junk

into your body. You better make sure that you are in the word of God. You

better make sure you are in prayer. You better make sure

that you are seeking God first. You better make sure that you love others

and if we are not doing those things and making it a point to doing those

to doing those things, then we are spiritually unfit.

And how long will we be able to run the race?

Not very long.

It takes time.

It takes a long time.

People who run marathons and people who make it to the Olympics and people who make it

to the Super Bowl, they are in the shape they are because they have worked and they have

worked and they have worked to prepare themselves for the task at hand.

So what about us?

Those who have entered into the kingdom of God, those who are part of the race, are we

making every effort to make sure that our bodies and our souls, our spirits are ready

to do the work of God?

Are we willing today to put the work in?

Maybe we are, or maybe we're not.

Maybe you say, I'm not quite ready for that.

I'll come and sit on this pew for an hour on Sunday mornings and listen to a few songs

and preaching, but if I don't get anything out of that, well that's all I'm willing to

do.

Well, that's a good place to start, praise the Lord.

But if we really want to grow, then it's going to require us to seek God every day and to

seek His word.

That's how we're going to grow.

And there will be some today that aren't willing to put any work into it, but we need to pray

that God will help our heart to change and our attitude to change, that we would be those

who are willing to put the work in for the kingdom of God.

He said, now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything.

However, they do it to receive a crown that will fade away.

Okay, so look, He acknowledges in this world tonight, somebody's going to hoist that Super

Bowl trophy, that shiny silver Tiffany silver trophy, and it's going to glisten in those

lights and it's beautiful, it's going to be beautiful and they're going to kiss it and

they're all going to just have such a great time with that trophy.

But guess what's going to happen to that trophy?

It's going to one day, it's going to be tarnished.

It's not going to be of any importance whatsoever.

We look at these Olympic athletes, boy, they train, they train, they train, and they get

that gold medal.

They always eat.

I don't know why they buy them.

Do y'all know why they buy them?

I got a gold medal.

But they get these things and this gold medal is beautiful and it's shiny, or you get a

silver or even a bronze.

That's something to cherish that you can be the third best in the world at anything.

That's pretty phenomenal.

Sometimes we, you know, we're so foolish, we see people say, well, the US, they only

got bronze in that race.

Are you kidding me?

That means they were the third past this person in the world in that race.

But even a bronze medal or a silver medal or a gold medal, it's going to fade away.

It's not going to have any significance back in the old days in the Olympics, which Paul

would have been familiar with, with these games that they would have had in Corinth

or Athens or these other games that they would have had.

The prize for winning would have been a crown that would have been placed on their head.

It would have been a crown of olive branches, olive leaves, or in Corinth sometimes it would

have been pine branches.

And that's what would have been placed on your head.

And that would have symbolized that you were victorious, that you have won.

Now in our day, we don't put crowns on our athletes anymore.

We give them medals and trophies and whatnot.

But in Paul's day, this, this, this illustration would have fit perfect because those who were

going to run the race in those days, when the victory was won, they would receive a

crown.

But how long is a crown made of olive branches going to last?

It's not going to last very long.

Soon it will become brittle and dead and that will be the end of that.

And Paul says, they do it in a way to receive a crown that will fade away.

But of our race that we run for the Lord, Paul says, but we, a crown that will never

fade away.

So Paul says, look, you guys get it.

You see the best athletes around, you see how they work and you see that there is a

reward that they receive.

And Paul says, then how much more so should we who are on team Jesus run the race to serve

the Lord knowing that we too will receive victory in the end.

So Paul says, get ready, make sure you're in spiritual shape.

We see this language about crowns frequently in the New Testament, the crown of righteousness,

the crown of life.

We see different crowns that are mentioned.

Now I don't know what those crowns are going to look like.

I don't think that we're going to have physical crowns that we're going to wear when we get

into the presence of God.

Maybe we will.

But I believe that this is symbolic language, that when we receive our crown of righteousness

or crown of glory or crown of life, that it's saying you have received these things, that

you have been made righteous through Jesus Christ, that you've received life through

Jesus Christ, that we are in the glory of God, that we are victorious.

That crown represents authority and it represents victory.

And I think it's symbolic language that tells us that if we run the race, if we've put our

faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then we will receive a crown.

That is, we will receive the victory and all that comes through that victory through Jesus

Christ.

So how are you running today?

Are you just in the rat race of this world?

Man, it's tough if you are.

Maybe you don't know the scripture.

Maybe you've never put your faith in Jesus Christ.

Maybe you are just running aimlessly today.

Well, if I could, I'd like to shift your focus to Jesus Christ this morning to give you someone

to run toward, to give you hope to run toward, to give you love to run toward, to give you

forgiveness to run toward, to give you one who has lived his life in such a way to give

you an example to run toward.

If you're just running aimlessly today, Jesus Christ wants you to run to him today so that

your sins may be forgiven.

Maybe there are some of us today and we entered the race and we got our number, but that's

as far as we got.

We got to the registration table and then when we got on the track and we made it 100

yards, we said, this is tough.

And we've gotten lazy at our walk with God and sometimes that happens.

We want to be those today that are refreshed, that we would ask God to show us the areas

where we fail, that we would begin to put the work in today, that we would begin to

seek God, that we would begin to crawl and we'd begin to walk so that we could begin

to run for the kingdom of God.

The question is today, how are you running?

And will you be victorious at the end of the race?

Well, I can tell you, you won't be if you don't follow Jesus Christ.

But if you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ today and you run with him and you

run for him, then there will be victory for all of eternity.

So don't lose hope.

Don't give up.

Run with your eyes on Jesus.

Let's pray.

God, we come to you this morning.

We thank you for your good word and I pray, dear Lord, that you would just help us.

I pray that you would help those today, God, that maybe they don't know you.

They don't know of Jesus Christ.

They've never asked Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior.

They've never asked for their sins to be forgiven.

They've never repented, dear Lord, as your word commands us to do.

I pray today that if there are any that have just been running aimlessly, that maybe today

the Holy Spirit is working on their heart, that today they would confess their sins,

that they would repent, dear Lord, that they would put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ

to know that they are loved, that their sins have been forgiven, dear Lord, that they have

a point to life, that they have something to run far now.

God, maybe there are some in here today and they are yours, but maybe they have not been

running like it.

Dear Lord, sometimes instead of running to you, we're running in the other direction

and that's not a good place for us to be.

So I pray, God, that you would be with us.

Maybe we've become a little lazy in our attitudes or lazy in our time with you, lazy in listening

to you and responding to you, lazy in caring for other people.

God, I pray that you would help us to do what we need to do to seek you and to draw closer

to you, that you would help us to be in better shape, dear Lord, that you'd begin to restore

our souls today, that you'd restore our minds today, God, that we would be those who realize

that we are running a race, the most important race in our life.

God, it is not always easy to live in this life.

There are plenty of things that are difficult and hard and trusting in Jesus does not make

those things go away.

But it does make them a little easier, dear Lord, to know that Jesus has run the race

and he has been victorious and he is here to run with us if we would just trust him,

dear Lord.

That, God, we have victory through Jesus, that he conquered sin, that he conquered death

and God, that even when we fail, that there is mercy and that there is grace.

So I pray, God, that we come to you today and receive your grace, that we would all

seek you, that we would all seek to grow in you, that we would be found faithful, dear

Lord, as those who are running for your kingdom and running to do your work.

And even when it's difficult, God, that we would be the men and the women that we need

to be to do your will.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

As we stand and sing, if God has spoken to you in some way today, now is your chance

to respond.

If you need prayer, come up front.

I'll be glad to pray for you this morning.

Maybe you made that decision today that you decided you wanted to run for Jesus today.

I pray that you'd come down and let us know that we can baptize you this morning as God's

Word commands.

But if God has spoken to you in some way today, now is your chance to respond to Him.

We will give you

None unknown with me I still will follow For I'm none alone with me I still will follow

I'm gonna go with thee, I still will follow.

I'm turning back, I'm turning back.

Amen, thank y'all for coming this morning. I hope everybody has been blessed by being in God's house.

Don't forget that if you are going to be part of the group that is going to make meals for Mr. Paul and Ms. Linda,

please hang out up front here for a minute. Michelle is going to give y'all some instructions,

let everybody figure out who is going to do what day. So please hang out for a few minutes after the service to do that.

Michelle, would you close us with a prayer please?

I'm glad we love you.