Pressing On

If you don't know me, if you're visiting, my name is Niels, one of the elders here.

It's, yeah, welcoming you more formally.

It's great to be with you.

It's great to bring you God's Word.

In a moment, in a moment, Cecilia is going to read.

If you've been doing our Bible reading plan that started off, we started the year with

Philippians.

It's just nice to have this really encouraging New Testament book at the start of the year.

It's a great letter, one of Paul's favorite churches.

And so I thought, why don't I speak on that?

So in a moment, I'll be speaking on Philippians 3, this wonderful chapter of Christian basics

that will be good at the start of the year.

But Cecilia is going to read for us in a moment.

Let me first pray.

Father, thank you that you are the God who speaks, the God who loves us, the God who comes into

our life.

Pray that you would speak to each one of us now as Cecilia reads.

And we hear those words that you spoke back then, that you're still speaking now.

And as I then try to explain it, speak to each of our hearts, no matter where we are at,

no matter what this year has been like so far for us.

Please speak to us, encourage us, and help us to press on with you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Today's scripture reading is Philippians chapter 3, verse 1 to chapter 4, verse 1.

Philippians 3:1

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same things to you is no trouble to me, and is safe for you.

Look out for the dogs.

Look out for the evildoers.

Look out for those who mutilate of the flesh.

For we are the circumcision.

We worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.

Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.

Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews,

as to the law, a Pharisee, as to Sil, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish.

In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,

but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith,

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings because, like him in his death,

that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own,

because Christ Jesus had made me his own.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own,

but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on towards the goals of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Let those of us who are mature think this way,

and if in anything you think otherwise, God will review that also to you.

Not only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Brothers, join in imitating me,

and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

For many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears,

walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their end is destruction, their God is their belly,

and glory is their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

But our citizenship is in heaven,

and from it we await a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,

who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body,

by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for,

my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

Great. Thank you for reading, Cecilia.

And so, yeah, there's a lot in this passage.

We're not going to look at everyone, everything,

but wonderful things here.

Now, Christianity is, I think, it's the weirdest religion in the world, right?

If you have spent time with people from other religions

who are serious about their religion,

you will notice how different it is.

And what is the big difference?

Well, it's grace, isn't it?

The fact that it's not about what we do.

It is about what Jesus has done.

And most religions, you know,

Islam has the five pillars of Islam that you need to do to get to heaven.

Or in Buddhism, there's the eightfold path.

And I don't know the number for Hinduism,

but, you know, there's things that you need to do.

And yet, as Christians,

well, we believe it's all about what Jesus did, right?

It's he lived a perfect life.

And if we trust in him, we get that counted to us.

And everything we've done wrong,

Jesus died for it.

We don't have to make up for it with good things, right?

And so there's no laws to give.

There's no pray this many times a day,

not do this, do that,

no offerings.

And that's a wonderful thing.

I mean, we see it here in this first half of this chapter, right?

What is the,

this is the Apostle Paul writing,

and verse 9,

this is what it's like to be a Christian.

Verse 9,

to be found in Christ,

not having a righteousness of my own,

that comes from the law,

but that which comes through faith in Christ.

The righteousness from God,

that depends on faith.

I'm right with God.

I'm accepted by him,

purely by faith in Jesus,

by what he has done,

and not by my own efforts in keeping the law.

He's writing about people who,

you know,

Jewish people who said,

no, no,

you need to keep the law to be a Christian.

And he says,

well,

I'm more Jewish than anyone.

I'm more law keeping than anyone,

but that's all rubbish.

No,

we need Christ.

Only he can make us right with God.

But that's a wonderful thing.

I mean,

and once Jesus has done that,

it's great.

If you're a Christian,

I hope you know that,

right?

If you feel tempted,

you know,

to prove yourself,

yeah,

on Instagram,

or at work,

that you know,

no,

I'm already accepted fully by God.

It's a wonderful thing.

But then,

how do people respond?

When you say that,

well,

if I share this with religious people,

that,

you know,

Jesus has done everything.

You can go to heaven

just by trusting him.

They always say,

but then,

why should I be good?

Why should I make any effort

to pray,

to be holy,

right?

You're already accepted.

You're already righteous.

You already got in.

What's the point,

right?

You know,

why do that?

It's a good question.

I mean,

the New Testament

asked that question,

right?

Famous chapter,

Romans 6,

shall we continue to sin?

Because we are not under law,

but under grace,

right?

It is a very good question.

Maybe that's something you wonder.

You're here as a visitor,

or you're not a Christian,

and that seems so strange,

right?

That you're already fully accepted.

Why would you do anything?

I mean,

the logic makes a lot of sense.

I mean,

silly example.

Back when I was at university,

I studied electrical engineering,

and there was a subject I had to do

called electrical circuits.

And anyway,

there were four tests.

Yeah.

And I had to pass three out of four.

So I passed the first three,

and then what did I do?

Well,

I stopped going to lectures,

right?

And then for the exam,

I just went in,

and I wrote my student number

and the date,

and then when the exam started,

I handed in my paper

and went out.

Why would I,

right?

I've already passed.

That makes sense,

right?

I've got so much better things

to do than this,

right?

Doing an exam,

I've already passed.

You can see the logic.

Well,

why isn't,

how about Christianity then,

right?

If Jesus has already done everything,

what should we do?

So,

as we start a new year,

I thought that's a great thing

to preach on

at the start of 2025.

And what does

Paul say?

Well,

the thing is,

we are not there yet.

The thing I want to preach on

is 3.12 to 4.1.

And a few times he says,

we are not there yet.

Verse 12,

not that I have already obtained this

or am already perfect,

but I press on

to make it my own

because Christ Jesus

has made me his own.

Brothers,

I do not consider

that I have made it my own,

but one thing I do,

forgetting what lies behind

and straining forward

to what lies ahead,

I press on

toward the goal

for the prize

of the upward call

of God in Christ Jesus.

You can hear it.

I press on

because I'm not there yet,

right?

I haven't obtained it yet.

I'm not perfect yet.

And it seems so contradictory,

right?

Aren't we perfect in Christ?

Just when you trust in Jesus,

you're perfect.

Well,

there's,

the difference is between

in status

and in practice.

Right?

In status

and in practice.

Christ has given us

a status.

And we are right with God.

We belong to him.

Verse 20 talks about

our citizenship

is in heaven.

Right?

Citizenship talks about,

you know,

legal and rights

and those kind of things,

right?

So,

so legally,

yeah,

we belong to Christ.

We,

we're citizens

of heaven.

But Paul is thinking

of practical reality.

Right?

He's thinking of

knowing Christ

and being like him.

Of our thoughts

and words

and deeds.

And the thing is,

that hasn't changed yet.

Right?

Paul says,

I'm not yet perfect.

I'm not there yet.

Right?

Having a legal status

doesn't change

your life.

We still have a lowly body,

not yet a glorious body.

We're not yet fully like Christ.

I mean,

a silly example,

what makes a Hong Konger?

You can talk about

a legal status,

right?

And so,

in that sense,

I'm a Hong Konger.

I've been here

eight and a half years.

I'm a permanent resident

of Hong Kong.

I'm a real Hong Konger.

Except,

I don't really look like

a Hong Konger,

right?

When it's 20 degrees,

I still wear shorts

and t-shirts.

I still don't know

how to fill in

the dim sum menu.

You know,

I want to buy lunch.

I want to order,

I want to say takeaway

and they give me lemon tea.

If you can work that out.

Those red envelopes,

for years,

I thought they were called

light cheese.

Right?

Yeah,

red,

named after the fruit.

That's what I thought

until someone corrected me.

I'm not a Hong Konger,

right?

In status,

yes.

In practice,

no.

But,

it's the same thing

with Christ.

Paul says,

that's me.

I have Christ.

I have the ID card.

Yes.

But,

in practice,

I'm still earthly.

In practice,

I'm not yet who

I want to be.

I'm still not like Christ.

But,

I want to be.

And,

and God wants us to be,

right?

God doesn't want us

to just give us

a new legal status

and then for the rest

we stay the same

old,

sinful people.

No.

God wants us

to be transformed.

He wants to make us

all we can be.

He wants to make us

like Jesus.

Isn't that the most

wonderful thing?

And,

it's not just that,

you know,

God wants it.

Hopefully,

we want it.

Right?

We don't want to be

the people that we

used to be.

We,

we want to be

different.

We want to be like Christ.

We want to be

more loving

and more holy

and more other-centered

and more devoted.

Right?

We want to live for Christ

like,

anyway,

like Paul does,

but even more.

Paul says,

I want to do more.

Right?

But that's the thing.

We should want it.

Right?

Hopefully,

we want it.

I mean,

going back to

electrical circuits,

the problem is

I just wasn't

interested.

Right?

I wanted to do telecoms

and this was just

an obligatory,

irrelevant subject to me,

so I had no interest

in it.

If I really was

passionate about

electrical circuits,

of course,

I would go to the lectures

and try to do well

in the exam,

even if I didn't need to

because I was interested.

So,

the person who says,

well,

hey,

if Jesus has done

everything,

I don't need to.

That person doesn't

want to be holy.

They have no interest

in knowing Jesus.

They just,

why should I?

Well,

they don't want to.

But ideally,

as Christians,

yeah,

the right thing is that

we want to be different.

We want to know Christ more.

We want to pursue Him.

We want to love Him more.

Right?

We want to be like Him.

And that is

the Christian life.

Verse 15,

Paul says,

let those of us

who are mature

think this way.

Yeah,

we're not there yet.

That is being

a mature Christian

is having this mindset.

Which is kind of weird,

right?

Because you think,

if I'm mature,

I've arrived.

And Paul says,

well,

mature means being immature.

Mature means

knowing that you

have not arrived yet.

Yeah?

But that is

what Paul wants.

So,

I don't know,

how do we see ourselves?

I hope we rejoice

in our salvation.

I hope we rejoice

that we have Christ

and we have His righteousness.

Right?

We are fully accepted

and yet,

as Christians,

I hope we want to,

we want more.

Right?

We want to know Christ more.

We want to change.

We want to be more loving.

We want to be more patient.

We want to

please God more.

We want to

live a life

that reflects Him more

here in the world

around us.

Or do we want to stay

the old sinner

that we used to be?

But then,

what do we do?

And Paul says,

well,

I press on.

Right?

Press on like Paul.

Three times he says it,

right?

Verse 12,

I press on

to make it my own.

Verse 13,

I strain forward

to what lies ahead.

Verse 14,

I press on

towards the goal.

I press on.

I pursue.

I mean,

Paul,

he used to pursue Christians

to put them in prison,

right?

And now he says,

no,

I'm pursuing Christ.

I'm pursuing my goal.

I run.

I strain forward.

The idea is

this race

where there's the finish line

and he's running ahead

to try and get the finish line.

That's what Paul was doing.

Even though he's very careful,

look,

this is not me achieving

my salvation,

right?

It is still grace,

right?

Verse 12,

I press on

to make it my own

because Christ Jesus

has made me His own.

Jesus has already

made me His own.

Jesus has already done it.

He's brought me to Himself,

but now I want Him.

I want to pursue Him.

He's pursued me,

but now I pursue Him.

And that's,

yeah,

so we are saved by grace,

but Paul wants it.

What does Paul mean?

Yeah,

just knowing Christ,

being like Him,

right?

Seeking to grow

through reading

and praying

and becoming more loving

and holy

and,

you know,

looking for ways

to love people,

looking for ways

to spread the gospel,

looking for ways

to,

you know,

do all the stuff

that,

if you've read Philippians,

you see Paul do,

right?

If you've read

the first two chapters,

so many things

about gospel centrality

and about putting others first,

all that kind of stuff.

Now,

we read that

and maybe you think,

well,

Paul is this crazy maniac,

right?

I mean,

this is Paul.

Paul is,

he's a bit nuts.

He's a super Christian

and I'm just ordinary.

But actually,

Paul says that

this is for all of us,

right?

Verse 17,

brothers,

join in imitating me

and keep your eyes

on those who walk

according to the example

you have in us,

right?

Follow my example.

Follow those who are like me,

people like Timothy

and Epaphroditus

who we read about

in the,

if you've read chapter two,

right?

Now,

that shows that Paul

doesn't mean

do exactly what I did.

I mean,

think about Paul,

right?

He planted

over 20 churches.

He wrote half

the New Testament

and he says,

okay,

imitate me.

It doesn't mean

that we should do

exactly the same thing

as he did,

right?

We can't.

No,

he's thinking about

a mindset,

a mindset

that we want to grow,

a mindset

that we want

to press on.

I mean,

standards don't really work.

I mean,

standards are a problem,

right?

Because either we think

we've met them

or we think

we can't meet them,

right?

Maybe if the standard

was,

okay,

read the Bible every day

and pray two times a day

and then you've done enough.

I mean,

when you've done that

then you just think,

hey,

that's fine,

I can relax now,

I've done everything.

That's not right.

That doesn't help.

Or you think,

I could never do that

and you despair.

No,

Paul doesn't think like that.

I mean,

clearly it's not about

a standard,

right?

Otherwise,

Paul would have met it,

right?

Surely if it was about

a standard,

Paul could have said,

I've done enough,

right?

I mean,

he met Jesus

on the road to Damascus.

He's an official apostle.

He planted over 20 churches.

He's now in prison

and he says,

hey,

every single prison guard

has heard the gospel from me.

Surely if anyone has done enough,

it's Paul.

But he says,

I'm not there yet.

I press on.

So,

of course,

the real standard is Jesus.

If you're like Jesus,

then you can relax,

right?

If you're perfect,

but we're not.

No,

it's just a mindset.

A mindset that,

hey,

we want to grow.

We want to press on.

No matter where you're at.

And I think it's so helpful

that he just says,

one thing I do,

forgetting what lies behind.

Verse 13.

I just,

I forget what lies behind.

I strain forward.

I just,

I want to press on now.

Because we find it so easy

to look forward,

to look back.

But Paul says,

hey,

don't worry about the past.

Don't think about the past.

Maybe some of us,

oh,

back when I was a student,

then I did a lot of evangelism.

And so now I can relax.

Maybe,

you know,

before I had kids,

I was a CG leader

and I was on the music team.

And so I've done my bit

and now I can relax.

But that's not Paul's thinking.

Paul says,

I press on.

So don't think about

what you did in the past.

Are you pressing on today?

Right?

Today,

are we,

are you trying to grow?

Are you trying to become more loving?

Are you pressing on

and knowing Jesus?

Or we look back in despair.

Maybe it's the start of the year

and you've looked back at 2024

and you feel like such a failure.

I'm so useless,

right?

I've struggled to pray.

I've struggled to read.

Every quarter,

I start a Bible reading plan

and I give up

and I'm just useless,

you know?

Paul says,

forget what lies behind.

Don't worry about that.

Can you pray today?

Can you press on today?

Can you read something today?

Right?

It's a mindset.

How can we press on today?

Because God knows

all of us are different.

Some people,

they're young

and single

and fit

and maybe you,

you have a big family

and a very demanding job

and,

you know,

that's different.

And one person

is a very young Christian

and someone else

has been a Christian

for decades,

right?

Pressing on looks different

for each one of us.

Don't compare yourself

with others.

Don't,

you know,

maybe you're a young Christian

and this year

you want to read

one of those big

Old Testament books.

that's a great thing

for you to do.

Someone else,

maybe you've read the Bible

cover to cover 15 times.

I mean,

for you there would be nothing.

Is there something else

you can do?

How can we press on?

And for each of us

there will be things

we can do.

Maybe there are sins

we can fight.

And we can pray.

We can read something.

We can find ways

to serve Christ.

We have gospel decisions

that we can make.

Right?

But is that our desire?

Are we seeking to grow?

Hey,

we're in Christ.

We have His righteousness

but we want to be

more like Him.

So,

this year,

2025,

right?

Let's say

I'm not there yet.

I want more of Christ.

I want more holiness,

more love.

What can I do?

How can I keep running?

How can I keep straining?

forward.

And that matters.

It matters,

I mean,

partly for ourselves,

partly for the world,

right?

We want to shine like stars.

We want people

to see Jesus

in our lives.

Of course,

we want our lives

to more and more

radiate His beauty

and glory.

Although Paul also says,

he goes on

in the same passage,

by the way,

that pressing on

is also safe.

And why?

Well,

Paul wants to warn us.

I mean,

he does a lot of warning.

I mean,

he warned them about

Judaizers who tell you

to keep the law.

You don't need that.

But he also says,

watch out for fakes.

Watch out for fakes.

Verse 17,

brothers,

brothers,

join in imitating me.

Keep your eyes

on those who walk

according to the example

you have in us.

For many,

of whom I have often told you

and now tell you

even with tears,

walk as enemies

of the cross of Christ.

Keep focused

on people like me

and people like me,

but watch out

for those people,

right?

I'm telling you,

I'm warning you,

don't follow them.

Now,

what kind of people?

It doesn't give much detail,

but we can work out

a few things,

right?

I mean,

certainly,

he's saying,

watch out for these people

who say,

they say they are Christians.

Christians.

I mean,

I think the Philippians

know that there's a difference

between those who follow Jesus

and those who don't,

right?

They see persecution,

they've been converted.

They don't have to watch out

for that they're in danger

of following those

who don't know Jesus.

So,

there will be people

who say they're Christians,

but verse 19,

their end is destruction,

right?

These people

are not with Jesus.

They're not going to heaven.

So,

they seem to be fake.

But why not?

Well,

the problem

is their life,

right?

They walk as enemies

of the cross of Christ.

Walking

is the Bible word

for our daily life,

our normal

day-to-day behavior.

And that behavior,

he says,

it's enemies

of the cross,

right?

They are denying

the cross

by their lives.

And why?

I think

they're saying

that sin doesn't matter.

Right?

Verse 19,

their end is destruction.

Their God

is their belly

and they glory

in their shame.

Who is ruling

their life

is their belly,

their stomach,

their physical desires.

That is their God.

That is the one

ruling their life.

They glory

in their shame.

They do shameful things

and they're proud of it.

They glory in it.

I think

their mind

is set on earthly things.

Their focus

is just this world,

right?

Rather than

our citizenship

is in heaven.

So it seems

these are people,

yeah,

they're living

this indulgent,

sinful lifestyle

and they think

it's fine.

They think

it's normal.

And that is wrong.

And I think

that that makes sense,

right?

Because

that is how we started.

If Jesus

has done everything,

then

I don't need to

do anything.

I can just live

however I want.

Well,

it's the opposite

of pressing on.

No,

Paul says

that that's not right.

If people like that,

they're fake.

It's very tempting though.

That's why he warns them,

right?

Maybe you find it hard

to be a Christian

and you're in your office

and here's this other person

and they say

they're a Christian

but they,

you know,

they're completely dishonest

in all their business dealings.

They just live for pleasure

and you're having

a hard time

and you think

in a way

it would be nice

to be like this person.

But Paul says

no,

no,

no,

that's a fake.

That's someone denying the cross.

They're focused on earth.

We are citizens of heaven.

That's our focus,

right?

We pursue Christ

unlike them.

I don't know

if that's something

that's tempting for you

but that is Paul's warning.

You know,

press on

because you want to be safe.

Now,

I know I get two responses

when I say that.

Some of you will say,

hey,

but aren't we saved by grace?

Surely we're not saved

by what we do

and so they are not condemned

by what they do.

How can you say it's fake?

Well,

the thing is,

yes,

we're saved by grace.

We're saved by what Jesus has done

but Jesus doesn't just give us a status,

right?

Jesus comes into our life.

Grace changes us.

It gives us new desires.

He gives us the Holy Spirit

who wants to make us holy

and so Christians

want to be holy

and a Christian

who has no desire

for holiness,

well,

is there a Holy Spirit in them?

That's the question

the Bible would ask,

right?

Are they,

yeah,

is there really grace at work

if there's no change

in desires?

And the other response

that people say

is people are worried.

Hey,

my life isn't great.

You know,

I look at my life

and it's so rubbish.

I'm really not pressing on.

Am I a fake?

Right?

I know that sounds very tricky

especially because

Paul does seem to distinguish

between some people,

right?

In verse 15,

he says,

let those of us

who are mature

think this way

and if in anything

you think otherwise,

God will reveal that also to you.

So there are some people

who are not pressing on

and Paul says,

hey,

God will sort you out.

He's not worried.

Well,

there's other people,

yeah,

in verse 18

where he's really

telling with tears

don't be like them.

I think it's good to remember

it's not about a standard,

right?

It's about a mindset,

about a direction.

It's not about

have you reached this standard?

No,

what is the direction

of your heart?

Right?

Do you want to know Christ more

even if you don't know

him very well now?

Do you want to know him more?

Do you want to be more holy

even if you're not

very holy now?

Do you want to press on?

If you don't want to,

if you're happy as you are,

if you don't want to change anything,

then it's a problem.

But if you want to,

even if there's not much

pressing on yet,

I think

Paul isn't worried about you.

Just keep pressing on.

That's the thing,

right?

It's just staying safe.

Keep pressing on.

That's the best way

to know,

you know,

just press on.

It's like with exercise.

How much exercise

is enough,

right?

We want to be fit.

We want to make sure

our heart is okay

and those kind of things.

We want to do some exercise.

Maybe you don't know

if it's enough or not.

The best way

is just keep doing exercise,

right?

Don't think,

well,

I'm going to stop

just in case I've done enough.

No,

let's keep going.

And so Paul says,

just press on.

It's good.

It's great.

It keeps you safe.

But ultimately,

staying safe

is not the main thing,

right?

Look,

who do you want to be?

That is what this passage

is asking,

right?

Do you want to be someone

and your God

is your belly?

Do you want your stomach

to be your God?

That's who controls my life.

Or do you want Jesus

to be your God,

right?

Do you want him

at the center of your life?

That's much more beautiful,

right?

That is his beautiful love

and glorious holiness,

right?

You want him to be

in your life,

right?

Surely you want to be

like Paul

rather than like

one of these people

indulging themselves.

And that is who

you will be,

right?

Jesus is committed

to you.

Jesus says,

Paul says,

our citizenship

is in heaven

and from it

we await a Savior,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

who will transform

our lowly body

to be like

his glorious body

by the power

that enables him

even to subject

all things

to himself.

Jesus is going

to make

the whole universe

his and he's going

to make you

fully his

one day

when he comes back

and your lowly body

will be changed

to his glorious,

to be like

his glorious body.

But that power

is here now

today,

right?

Jesus,

he would love you

to be more holy,

right?

If you want to know

him more,

he is there

to help you.

But if you want

to beat that sin,

he is there

to help you.

You can know

more of Christ now

with the power.

He is more powerful

than your sin.

He is more powerful

than your cold heart.

He can do everything.

So,

let's press on.

In this new year,

by the Spirit's power,

let's press on.

Let's pursue Christ.

Let's try

and become more like him.

Maybe,

no,

let's talk about it later,

over coffee,

over lunch.

Hey,

what are things

that we can do?

How can you know me?

You're with your CG members.

What do you think

I should do this year?

How can I press on?

What are things

that are not helpful

that I should stop doing?

How can we help

each other press on?

Don't keep going.

And even if

the past few days

were rubbish,

let's press on today.

Let's make this

a wonderful year.

Let's make 2025

the year

where we keep pressing on,

where we keep pursuing.

Christ

for his glory

and for the good

of the whole world.

Why don't we pray together?

Lord Jesus,

thank you for making us

your own.

We didn't deserve it,

but you came down

and you

will

one day

make us like you.

Father,

we want to press on

this year.

Help us to follow Jesus.

Help us to see

what we can do.

But yeah,

help us see

how wonderful it is

to know you more,

to know Jesus,

to become like him.

Help us press on.

Help us to watch out

for those who would

lead us astray.

Help us to keep

running the race.

And would you

be with us?

By your spirit,

would you

keep changing us,

make us more

and more like Jesus,

which is a wonderful

thing.

We need your help

with that.

We can't do it

by ourselves.

But thanks to

you and your spirit

and your grace,

we can keep

running the race

this coming year.

And so we pray

this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.