Don't Lose Momentum - Shaundra Connelly - April 26, 2026

Thank you for joining us today.

We hope God speaks to you.

We hope dreams come alive and faith is ignited so you can impact the world and those around you.

For God's kingdom.

Enjoy the message.

So good morning again.

There we go.

Y'all learned from the first time.

That's cool.

That's cool.

So listen, I'm Sean Connolly.

I'm one of the, uh, dream teamers here if you don't know who I am, but I'm one of the dream teamers here.

Um, our pastors are out of town.

They are in North Carolina.

Pastor Damon is.

Preaching in North Carolina.

So I get the honor of speaking to you all this morning.

Oh, y'all so kind, y'all so kind, y'all so kind.

I appreciate it.

So what we're gonna do is, um, we're gonna pray.

We're gonna pray one for our pastors while they're preaching in North Carolina, and then we'll pray for the message here.

So can we pray? Can we pray? Y'all go pray with me or you gonna hit me, pray by myself.

I heard a mixture of things.

You pray.

You pray.

We got you.

We got you.

Well, let's pray together.

Father, I thank you Lord for today.

I thank you, father for what you've already done in this service.

I thank you Father for, uh, pastor Damon and Pastor Tai as there a way.

I pray that, Lord, that the word that comes outta his mouth is going to minister to people like never before I pray that lives are changed, I pray that your, the message comes out clearly for him and for those that are listen.

God, I pray that, Lord, that even in this service as you are speaking, or the, the message that you've already placed in my heart, that it comes out with clarity and precision that it will change lives here.

God, I pray that your anointing is here and in North Carolina I pray that your fire will come through.

I pray that, Lord, that each person that is under the sound of my voice and their voice, that God, that their hearts will be receptive to what it is that you wanna say and what you wanna do.

Open our hearts and our minds to receive what it is that you are saying.

Today.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, y'all, so okay.

Over the past few weeks, or actually a couple of months, our pastors have been in the, about being courageous.

We've been talking about being courageous, and we've been into First Chronicles as well as in, uh, Joshua one, nine.

And every week we have been saying a scripture.

And if this is your first time here, I'm gonna just tell you what we're gonna do.

Uh, Patricia, you can go ahead and put that first scripture up there.

But what we're gonna do is you're going to read this scripture, but in front of it, I want you to put your name.

So, in other words, it's gonna say like, what Chandra be strong and courageous, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Can we do that together? Yeah.

All right.

So on the count of three, we're gonna read this together.

Now, here's the thing.

I know some people when we say on the count of three, some people start at three, some people start after three.

So what I'm gonna tell you is we're gonna start after I say the number three.

Okay? We all got it.

All right.

So one, two.

Three Chandra, be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid.

Do not be discouraged for the Lord's your God will be with you wherever you go.

Alright, so as we were, as we've been in this series, and as I was preparing for the message this morning, I started to think about what our pastors have already been talking about, and I began to ask this question.

You don't have to answer the question out loud, but you can answer it within yourself is the question is, have we lost momentum? Have we lost momentum? And I'm not talking about just any momentum.

Have we lost any courageous momentum? Because we've been talking about being courageous, and I know that sometimes as time passes, sometimes we lose the oomph or the momentum that we had established.

We went in and went all fire, and then two weeks later it's like, okay.

So the question is, have we lost courageous momentum? So today's message is don't lose momentum.

So we're gonna jump into Philippians three 12.

That's gonna be our focus scripture, and then I'm gonna give you some context and all those different things and then we'll be outta here.

Y'all know me.

I don't hold you long.

It may be about about 15, 10, 5 minutes.

I'm just kidding.

It won't be that short, but it won't be for a long time.

So Philippians three, 12 through 14.

Somebody said amen on the five.

I mean, you gotta gimme some room.

I mean, let the Lord move all.

So Philippians three, 12 through 14, not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect.

I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus, brothers and sisters.

I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead I pursue as my goal.

The prize promise by God heavenly, God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

So as I was reading the scripture, I started to ask a series of questions.

I don't know about you, but whenever I'm reading certain scriptures, I begin to, I wanna understand what was happening at that time for those scriptures to have been written.

I wanna understand the context because sometimes all of us are maybe guilty of this is at times we take scripture outta context and until we actually read or understand what is going on, then it's like, ah, I get it.

Now I understand what, why the person said what they said.

So in this scripture around this time, I will tell you that the person that has written this, it is a letter.

It is, it is in the book of Philippians, and he's writing to the Church of Philippi.

Now, the person that has written this is Paul.

Paul at this particular time is in prison.

Now, theologians don't know where exactly he's in prison.

They don't know if he's in, in, uh, Ephesus or if he's in Rome.

But what we do know for a fact is that he's in prison.

And Paul has made a decision at this particular time while he's in prison.

I want us to understand that while he's in prison, he has made it a point to write a letter to the Church of Philippi to encourage them.

He's in prison and he's written a letter to the Church of Philippi to encourage them and to thank them and to also bring some correction.

So then what is happening in the Church of Philippi that he felt compelled to write this letter? I can tell you this, that during this time there's a lot of things that are going on during this time.

In the Church of Philippi, the Christians are being persecuted and ostracized.

They are being, they're Christians because of their passion for Christ.

They are being beaten with rods and then they are being thrown into prison because they are passionate for Christ.

And then there are people that they are also seeing because they are Christians, they are ostracized.

They don't get to experience the different things that everybody else gets to experience.

They don't get the civic in, in, uh, things that they're entitled to that they can't worship in the places where other people can worship because they have declared that Jesus is Lord, come on.

So these people.

They are dealing with all these different things coming at them.

And then there is a Caesar that is also declaring that he wants to be called Lord.

So you have a church that is dealing with all of this, and Paul decides it's time to encourage them.

But at the same time, while the church is dealing with all of this, believe it or not, there's a fight that breaks out in the church.

Two women who were followers of Christ strong in their faith have a fight, and Paul says it is time to address them.

The reason why I believe that Paul makes it a point to write a letter to the Church of Philippi is because these people have began to lose their momentum.

You have all of these different things happening around them, and then there is a fight that happens on the inside of the church, and Paul is like, mm-hmm.

I know that you're frustrated.

I get all the different things that are happening around you.

I get all the frustrations, I get all those things, but you cannot lose momentum.

You cannot lose momentum.

Why? Because there are so many things that matter.

If you lose momentum, then other people's lives are at stake.

If you lose momentum, as the Bible has talked about in Matthew 28 19, go, therefore the great commission, go therefore, and make disciples.

If we lose momentum, how many disciples are we making? Paul puts it this way in Philippians two, four.

Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interest of others.

It's not just about us.

Other people's lives are at stake.

He even warns them in in Philippians two 12 where he says it like this.

Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act.

In order to fulfill whose good pleasure, I mean, good purpose, God's good purpose, we cannot lose momentum because it is God's good purpose, not our good purpose.

So in this time, there are so many things that are happening with the Church of Philippi, and Paul is telling them, you have to endure.

I know that you're enduring all the things.

You cannot stop moving forward because the mission cannot stop with you.

I get that there's, and this would, I know that I'm talking about what happened with them, but I would imagine some of you are walking through the same thing.

There are so many different things that we see and experience, but can I just encourage you? Don't lose momentum.

Don't lose momentum.

So I'm gonna identify what are the things that will cause a person to lose momentum? The first thing is external resistance and internal conflict.

That's on your paper.

I will try to, um, finish and give you all the blanks.

I know PD will probably see this and he'll be like, was that, were you throwing a jab at me? I am not throwing a jab at our pastor.

I am not, but I will try to finish the blanks.

So external resistance and internal conflict.

So what is an example of external resistance? An example of external re resistance will be others loud disbelief.

And I'm not talking about loud in volume, I'm talking about loud in impact.

So at this time, as I've given you a quick little snapshot or review or whatever you wanna call it, of what was going on back then, during that time, there were Jewish people who did not believe that Jesus was Lord.

So they, they were the ones that were declaring, oh, these people are passionate for Christ.

They need to be beaten with rods.

They need to be thrown into prison.

They need to be separated from everything else because of their impact on the lives of of the other people.

It became a loud disbelief, meaning loud, meaning it was so loud that it began to cloud their judgment or even cloud their belief in themselves.

Some of us.

Have been walking through so many different things, and it's not necessarily that it's so loud in volume, but it's so loud in impact on your life.

Maybe it's some of the things that somebody has told you.

I don't know why you think that you can do that.

You are not skilled to do that.

I don't know why you're believing that the Lord will provide you gotta do it all by yourself.

It's on you.

I don't know why you're believing in Jesus Christ as Lord Savior.

There are other, other religions that you can follow.

It could be that someone else's loud disbelief and what you've been holding onto could be causing you to lose some momentum.

Have you lost momentum because of others'? Loud disbelief.

The other thing, an external resistance would be the appearance of failure.

The appearance of failure.

Just think about this, this church.

Philippi, essentially their pastor, if you wanna, he's the apostle.

He's, he's one that they trust Paul, they trust him so much and they love him so much that they sense someone to provide goods.

They sent PHY to provide goods to Paul while he was in prison.

They respected Paul, but Paul was also in prison.

So it can look like the appearance of failure because you're seeing it with your natural eye, but it really isn't failure.

Can I tell you what Paul? 'cause I would imagine for Paul to make this statement, there had to have been some form of conversation Paul says to them now.

Now I want you to know in Philippians one 12.

Now I want you to know brothers and sisters.

What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

In other words, don't get it twisted.

I, I know it looks like it may, I may have failed or maybe that the Lord has failed or maybe all these different things.

But can I tell you that it has served a greater good? I was thinking about the this the other day, and it was like, as I was putting this message together.

The Lord is constantly speaking and he brought something back to my remembrance, and it wasn't that long ago, it was probably like two weeks ago that this happened.

Um, so the other day I was at work and I had to, I orchestrated something at my job and I had to propose something.

And when I proposed the idea or orchestrated the event to propose the idea, I was met with resistance.

I was met with resistance and at the end of the day I felt a little bit like, man, did I just feel or not like I felt, I felt, honestly, I felt angry.

I'm just gonna keep it real.

I was like, I'm so glad that this is at the end of the day because it's time for me to go home.

And I was like, in fact, I was so bothered that I called a friend and I was like, can I tell you just what happened just a little bit ago? I am so annoyed and I felt like I have failed.

And then the Lord is amazing because here, here is I.

I'll just tell you what happened.

So I'm thinking that I failed and I carried that for a couple of days.

I was stressed about it.

I would bother.

I was bothered by it.

I was annoyed by it.

All the different things.

And then two days later, what I was proposing as a great idea for a team, there was a, a better idea that came forth that we were able to do.

What I thought was a failure was a win because it introduced a different idea that answered a greater problem than the original solution to a different problem.

Can I tell you this? That sometimes we think that what we see is a failure, but can I also tell you that our interpretation of a thing is not a determination of God's sovereignty? Our interpretation of a thing is not the determination of God's sovereignty.

What do I mean by sovereignty? His control, his power.

He has full knowledge and full authority about what is going on.

And just because our interpretation means that we failed in God's eyes.

He says, now brothers and sisters, I know it looks like you may have fallen or you may have failed, but can I tell you the truth? It is all working out for a greater good, but because of our interpretation, it causes us to lose momentum.

Don't lose momentum.

The next thing is the internal conflict.

Internal conflict.

I told you that there was a fight that broke out.

It became an internal conflict, but can I also tell you that sometimes what the internal conflict is is comparison.

We're looking at people, we're looking at society, we're looking at, um, culture, and we're seeing all the different things.

And I, I would imagine the reason why I would imagine that Paul had to address this, because remember this church, they don't get to experience what everybody else is experiencing.

They can't worship in the places where everyone else can worship in.

They don't have the civic or the uh, uh, they don't experience civilization, if you will, in the way in which everyone else is experiencing it.

So in their own way, it's like, how is it that I am passionate about Christ and I'm enduring all these different things.

But those people over there, they get to experience all those freedoms.

They get to just enjoy life.

They get to, it looks like they're winning.

Meanwhile, you're over here struggling.

It can feel like, man, the moment that I made this decision, the moment that I made the decision to do all the different things, all hell broke loose.

I get that.

But then Paul tells them in Philippians three 19, and he says, I'm saying this with tears in my eyes.

Their end is destruction.

Their God is their stomach, their glory is their shame, and they are focused on earthly things.

Our citizenship is in heaven.

He speaks to their citizenship because of what they are enduring.

Our citizenship is in heaven, and then he encourages them and says, stand firm in the Lord.

I get what you see.

I get what you're enduring.

I understand what you're walking through, and it looks like failure.

But stand firm, don't lose momentum on the back of your sheet.

I wrote out a few different things and it's not an exhaustive list, so otherwise I would have multiple sheets of paper, I would imagine.

But I want you guys to just take a minute and I wanna, I wanna ask you two questions, and this is between you and the Lord.

I'm not gonna ask you to hand me your papers, this is in class.

But what I want you to do is ask yourself the question, have I lost momentum, is the first question.

Have I lost momentum? Then the second question is, what has caused me to lose momentum? And I want you to circle the thing that applies to you.

I'm gonna give you a minute.

Hopefully y'all are okay with silence just for a second.

My teacher used to say, when you're done, look at me.

I was never done 'cause I was not a good student.

Lemme just say that.

I'm sorry.

So, as you all are beginning to look at me, we're gonna go back to.

The first scripture that we read, because what Paul did was he taught, he demonstrated what they could do in a situation where it seems as if there's external resistance and there's internal conflict.

The first thing that Paul does, he says in verse 12, not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect.

Not that I have already reached a goal or am already perfect.

In other words, we are not finished and I am not perfect.

The first thing that he identifies, I am not.

We are not finished, and I'm not perfect.

We have not reached the goal.

And yes, I get frustrated too.

Yes, there's a resistance coming at me.

Hello.

I'm in prison.

Yes, there are different things that are coming in my way.

Yes, I am annoyed by different things.

I am not perfect, but we are not finished and sometimes we have to give ourselves that reality check.

You are not perfect.

I am not perfect, and we are still on this journey.

There is a purpose.

There is something greater.

There is something that God has assigned to us that we are to accomplish, but we have not accomplished it yet.

Can we agree? All right.

The first thing that he says, I, I am not perfect and we are not finished.

And in order for us to have that reality check, there are three things that we also have to do quickly assess.

We just did one.

The first thing is quickly assess.

The second thing that we do in order for us to have the reality check, is to look to Christ in Philippians two, five.

Paul begins to tell them, he's like, have the attitude of Christ and he gives them the characteristics and he breaks it down.

For the Church of Philippi, the first thing is you quickly, it says, what's causing me to lose momentum? The second thing is you look to God and then the third thing you do, he gives, he tells them to look to good godly examples because in Philip in Philippians three 17, he says, join in imitating me or others.

He's telling them, you don't have to just think about yourself or look to yourself, but look to God and look at Godly examples, but you also have to quickly assess.

We can't change anything if you don't know that there's something happening.

The second thing that he tells them is, but one thing in verse 13, but one thing I do forgetting what is behind.

In order for us to maintain or build momentum, we have to first give ourselves a reality check, and then we too have to let go, forget or let go.

Here's the truth of the matter.

You cannot erase your memory.

I'm sorry they haven't created that yet.

You can't erase your memory, but what we can do.

Bring whatever it is that may be holding us back, back to the father.

It is just like what Ms.

Bonnie said a couple of weeks ago when we were, when um, we were talking about mental health and all of those different things, and Ms.

Bonnie is a mental health counselor's sized mom, and she was talking about sometimes there are different things that maybe we've been holding onto that we can go back to the Lord and we have to surrender it back to him and let him deal with the things on our heart.

So how do we let it go? We have to let go by giving it back to the Lord.

The third thing that he tells them that we have to do, he says, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, or another version actually says, straining toward what is ahead.

So we have to let go.

We have to give ourselves a reality check, but then we also have to keep stretching.

The stretching is a response to the internal conflict.

The stretching is choosing to go beyond what is actually comfortable.

It is a choice of whether you're on, whether you're going to stay where you are, well, you feel like you're in control.

Or you're going to stretch and trust the Lord and allow him to be in control.

So how do we do that? Well, here's the question.

What have we been instructed to do by the Lord that we've been hesitant about doing because it's uncomfortable.

Here's the answer.

Do it.

Sometimes we overcomplicate it.

Earlier, uh, we had a challenge by Fabiola and she was talking about different personalities, type A personality, type B personality, and a type A personality is a matter of a person having full control over what's happening.

And sometimes because we are trying to have full control over what's happening, it causes us to lose momentum on what God has instructed us to do.

So we're gonna put it in the language of Nike.

Just do it.

The fourth thing that Paul demonstrates to the Church of Philippi, he says in verse 14, 14, I pursue as my goal, or I press on toward the goal.

So if the stretching is a is, is is a response to the internal conflict.

The pressing is a response to the external resistance.

Pressing means that there is something that is coming against you that you have to keep pressing in order for you to get to wherever it is that you're trying to go.

So it's two things that are required of you.

You have to stretch and you gotta press.

It is an acknowledgement of the fact that yes, there are things that are coming against you.

I, I know that there are things that are coming against you and I know that sometimes maybe fear creeps, creeps in.

I know that frustration creeps in, but you gotta stretch and you gotta press.

So press beyond the resistance, the number five, and we're almost done ba you can come up, truly.

I told you I'm gonna keep you off for like 15 minutes.

I really don't know how long I've been up here.

Number five, he says in verse 14, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has promised, or another version is I pursue as my goal, the prize promise.

So what is he saying? He's, he's saying he's not pursuing or going after just IEO thing.

He's going after a specific thing.

He's going after the prize for which.

God has promised not just a prize, he's going after what the Lord has said.

This is for you.

This is for this house.

This is for your family.

This is for your church, this is for your community.

All those different things.

He's going after a specific thing that is assigned to you.

So what does that mean? You gotta have clear vision.

You have to have clear vision and not just clear vision on your particular goals.

Clear vision on what the Lord has instructed you to do.

And in order for you to do that, you've got to do what the Bible says.

Write the vision and make it plain if you don't.

I think about when a person is, um, bow and arrow.

I've never shot a bow and arrow, so hopefully I say this correctly.

But when a person is shooting a bow and arrow, arrow in practice, they're looking at a bullseye.

They're aiming towards something.

They're not just shooting at the trees and hoping it lands somewhere.

They're shooting at a a destination, a specific thing.

So write down what the Lord has said.

And then the last thing I want to tell you.

Is that Paul specifically says to win the prize for which God has promised.

Can I encourage you guys today that you win? That's the gag.

You are pressing, you're stretching, you're surrendering it back to the Lord.

You're giving yourself a reality.

But it is you that will get the benefit.

But God gets the glory, he says, Paul said in the beginning of the book of Philippians, he says, I just had a serious moment.

I just totally lost the scripture.

Right then.

That is the enemy or is that I'm 46.

I don't really know.

I don't know what is happening.

But anyway, he that began a work in you.

Listen, the Lord will move.

Amen.

He ain't gonna get memory, ain't gonna get me.

Uh, he that began a work in you who is faithful to complete it.

He is.

So the moment that we re remember the fact that it is not on us, we are to press, we are to stretch, we are to let go, and we are to surrender, and we're also to give ourselves a reality check, but it's truly he that began it, and it is he that finishes it.

The question is, will you allow yourself to maintain or build momentum? I started thinking about Joshua.

How, when the Lord told him, be strong and courageous, and if Joshua had made a decision that, you know what, the resistance is too strong.

The, the conflict is too much.

I'm not gonna do this.

I'm good.

I'm just gonna stay right here where it's comfortable.

If Joshua had made that decision.

There would've been generations that would've never experienced the promise.

Think about that.

Generations not a generation.

Generations that will have never experienced the promise.

If we lose momentum, that same urgency is on us.

If we lose momentum and we decide.

That's too much.

I'm comfortable right here.

I know what you're saying, Lord, but you know what? I'm not stretching.

I see the resistance, all the politics, all the different things that are on the news, all the different things that may cause discouragement.

You know what? I'm good.

I'm not gonna press.

That decision generations will not experience the promise.

I know that's a harsh reality, but it is truly a reality.

There are generations that were relying on you and we get to choose if we are going to press and if we are going to stretch.

And the thing is, the Lord has already said, you win.

So why wouldn't we do the thing that he's asking us to do? He's already promised it.

The question is, do we believe him? Do you believe that he's faithful? Do you believe that he'll hold his word? True.

Do you believe that what he's already promised you, that you will get to experience? Are we going.

To keep the momentum.

Thanks so much for joining us.

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