Wildwood Calvary Chapel 1/5/14 Philippians 3:12-16

“Press on from Complacency” Good morning Wildwood How are you guys? Great to be here with you… I love this church and your staff, you guys are really, really blessed in so many ways… Happy new year! Are you excited about the new-year? I always love the New Year because it gives me a chance to do this thing all over again… To give it another shot! I does not matter what 2013 was like…we get to try again in 2014… BUT, what I would like to talk with you about this morning is: The danger Complacency! The danger of Complacency! The danger of slowing down in your pursuit of God!

Complacency the danger of looking at your life or even this past year and being “OK” with WHO you are, with WHERE you’re at and WHAT you’ve accomplished!” It is defined as: a smug satisfaction w/Yourself … It’s to look at your life and say to yourself… you know…I’m good enough! No reason to try harder, no reason to go further… I’ve done enough…You have grown complacent! It’s like a football player who thinks he’s got everyone beat running to the end zone…so he slows down and end us getting caught…he grew Complacent

AND the same thing can happen in our spiritual lives! Complacency is the enemy of progress & Growth! And the devil knows this! He does not just want to get you to sin, he’s working equally hard to get you to sleep! To slow down, to stop in your spiritual progress forward! This was Paul’s concern with the Philippians

You see, Paul wrote the letter of Philippians as the most positive & encouraging of all Paul’s letter’s! He was joyful because The Philippians were doing really good spiritually… BUT Paul wanted them to “keep it up” not slow down, not become too satisfied where they were, but to “press on” HE DID NOT WANT THEM TO GROW COMPLACENT… That why he writes to them here in Philip 3…He says I’ve not attained…So I PRESS ON! I’ve not arrived so I keep going!

You see, the answer to Complacency: Is a Spiritual Dissatisfaction with where you are! Spiritually speaking we should always be “content” in the Lord in our circumstances, with the lot God has given, with the material things we have!…BUT we should NEVER be content where we are in relationship to him, at our level of spiritual growth into his likeness we should always want MORE of Him…To be more like HIM! As Paul cries earlier in Philip 3 I want to know him more… Is that your cry? I want to know him more and more! Warren Wiersbe said: “A sanctified dissatisfaction is the first essential to progress in the Christian race & divine dissatisfaction is essential for spiritual progress”

You see, It all starts with being “dissatisfied” with how little you have & know right now! Complacency says “ahh it…good enough! But a serious follower of Christ says “So much further to go & to grow” This is what Paul addresses here in Philip 3!!!! Let’s read what Paul wrote to them Philip 3:12-16 The title of the message this morning is: “Pressing on from Complacency” Let’s Pray! A number of years ago I did what only 1/2 of 1% of all Americans ever dare do, I put on my best running shoes and along with 30,000 other runners, I ran my first (and I might add) MY ONLY LA Marathon….IT WAS CRAZY! BUT I’m so glad I did it…Because it has been a great source for sermon illustrations every since…BECAUSE the Christian Life is described so often as a race! But I remember the start gun when off and 1,000’s of runner’s slowly made their way through the streets of LA, the sound of Randy Newman’s song, “I love LA” echoed off the high rise building throughout Downtown LA. And I started out my race ready, (8 months of training) confident, strong and running at very steady pace for the first 5 miles or so, when my friend, running with me, started to complain of a cramp…so what do I do? do I stop? Do I Slow down? Nurse him back to health? Actually I left him behind & forged forward. (So much for teamwork at this point in the race) But I had a goal & was doing good, Mile 8, 10, 15 still feeling pretty good. Then 16 my calf started to cramp, mile 17 my ham strings joined in! 18 My quads started to scream in unison… 19 my gluteus maximus joined the party! AND when I hit 20, “A whole other race began”!!!!

My leg’s turned to Jello, my strength & vitality started to weaken, I struggled, every leg muscle hurt, they had no strength left in them, I had to start using my hips and swinging my Jello-legs just to keep moving! With every step I started to cry out: “I want my mommy”…I had done what they call “hit the wall”

(I was trying to pretend I was a 22 year old from Kenya Africa, but I realized at that moment I was a 35 year old “white guy” from Riverside!… AND through the next LONG miles every step felt like needles…I was soooo close to giving up!

BUT THEN other runner’s started to notice and offer me encouragement “OF COURSE this was AS THEY were PASSING me by! (It seemed like Everyone started to pass me up, Women, Young kids, guys running in banana suits, the crazy barefoot hippy guy passed me, Old ladies with walkers…Passed me by! “Keep it up sunny”. Even my friend I left at Mile 5 caught me & passed me…Ricky come on man you can make it! I thought I left you behind? Now he left me behind!

But Throughout those last miles, people were offering encouragement to motivate me to keep going, keep pushing…and it helped! The crowd was

cheering for us…ahhhhh. Go! You can do it! So I gritted my teeth and grimaced my face and pushed through to the finish the race… AND SO I entered, & ran & I finished my first, and only marathon. (3hours, 34min 22 seconds…) That time forever etched in my memory! (Because My friend beat my time by two minutes) I never ran another…BECAUSE only crazy people do that!!!

But let me tell you there were so many moments those last few miles where I wanted to quit! AND I could have easily reasoned, well “I had done enough of it, hadn’t i? I ran most of it didn’t I? 21-22 miles is good? I was IN a marathon wasn’t I? I could have easily stepped out & said… enough! Hey look a Starbucks?

But listen you cannot just ENTER a marathon to be a marathon runner! You got to run the race! You have got to go forward, you got to finish!

WELL this is how Paul describes the Christian Life! A race! We all must enter the race, we all must run the race and we all must finish the race…! And Paul uses himself as an example! And uses the most “Athletic language” in the bible! V14

NOW, it’s important to note that Paul is NOT talking about getting saved! Or running to be saved…He already mentioned that earlier about a righteousness from God which is through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

But what Paul is describing now is what we all must do once we are saved! Salvation was not the end! It’s just the beginning of a race! God’s not done when He saves us! Now wants us to sanctify us! To make us holy! HE wants to make us more like Jesus!…. Being saved is just getting on the right path! Getting saved is JUST THE BEGINNING of a JOURNEY with God! “We are resting in Jesus for our salvation, but we are to, RUN with Jesus for our sanctification” Even though God declares us righteous by faith in Jesus… I am not righteous in my conduct? So, That’s now my aim and goal & Gods! To make me what God declares me to be! To conform me and you into the image of Jesus! That’s what this life NOW is about, And Paul calls that a race! We have not reached the finish line yet…In fact we will never quite get there this side of heaven…but we strive for it… we are still running!

BUT you see the danger is this: complacency ahhh…good enough, slowing down, no longer running! BUT Notice how Paul Encourages them to keep going it…V12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on! V13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended V14 so I press towards. Paul is saying is even though I am saved, I am not finished yet, I’m not holy yet, I am not like Jesus yet! I have quite a ways to go…But I’m still running, I’m not giving up till I get there!!

Not attained means "Ive not obtained, or grabbed it all” Paul says I’ve not got it all yet…so I press on And “Perfect” means complete or finished…I’m not that so I press on And the phrase “press on” “dē ō kō” in the greek means– active earnest endeavor to chase & capture…it speaks of one who in a race runs swiftly to get the goal, hunting term catch the prize… What Paul is saying is I’ve not arrived yet! I’ve not finished! I’ve not caught it, I’m not perfect yet, I’m not at the finish line yet, I’m not like Jesus yet, so I keep running towards the goal to catch the prize..

Now, Obviously some must have felt they had done enough...I’m good enough! I’m saved, isn’t that enough? That’s the unfortunate mentality of many in the church! I’m saved, I’ve got my fire insurance. And so they stop or never run, never go forward… But that would be like me entering the race, & the starting gun going off and me walking away & never actually running and then saying…”I ran a marathon” But did I? Puritan Thomas brooks once said: People act “that since Jesus Christ hath done all for us, therefore there is nothing for us to do but to joy and rejoice! Therefore away with all works…But he said “I should look with one eye on all Christ has done for me, and with the other eye on all He requires & desires of me to do! You see being saved is just the start of the race… Now I need to run!

2.Now Others no doubt saying the opposite! That you can arrive, you could become so holy that your perfect in your conduct! “sinless perfection” That you could be perfect like Jesus in your conduct! How? Maybe just wear a bracelet WWJD…that’ll do it! (Cop was wearing one. Guy in a Christian bookstore…He wouldn’t pay that for that!)

I like what Spurgeon said he said whenever anyone tells me they can be sinless and perfect, I take a Pitcher of water and pour it over their head to see how perfect they really are… They always reveal they are not!

But see the danger is: Complacency! “No need to try or do anything more… …I’m good right where I am! And The thing that kills achievement and drive is complacency. Satisfaction! LET ME ASK YOU? How satisfied are you with where you are at spiritually? Have you ever said to yourself …good enough? Sufficient? Satisfactory? I used to get that on my report card “Satisfactory performance” and at the time I was satisfied with satisfactory…are you? As someone said “If your own performance looks perfect to you, it isn’t because you’ve done a perfect job. It’s only because you have imperfect standard!” Our standard is Jesus, so how you doing? We need to run the race! Paul did! BUT, What was it that motivated Paul to press on & keep going? How was he able to keep going! 3 things… that form the body of our message!

#1.He wanted to Lay Hold of His Purpose V12 (Really Christ’s purpose for him)

V12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. I love this verse: Paul wanted to lay hold of that for which Jesus laid hold of him! The phrase “Lay Hold of” is better translated apprehend! As it is in V13

Paul says “I want to apprehend that for which Jesus apprehended me”

It means – To lay hold of so as to make one’s own, to take possession of. It has the idea of pulling down, To catch hold of it or possess it Wuest says again like a football player who not only wants to catch his man, but wants to pull him down!!

We use that term apprehend to describe arresting a criminal! “We have apprehended the suspect” We got a hold of them & arrested them, in custody! The other day I was on Santa Monica Blvd sitting at a Taco Bell I was very engrossed in my reading and I did not even notice that I had Instantly become surrounded by police officers and US Marshalls! and all of a sudden I hear someone yell out… “Get you hands up right now” Get you hands up where I can see them” and I looked up and right next to me was a police man with a shotgun aimed and ready, then I noticed all around me were police cars and police men with guns drawn, pointing towards me…I put my hands up and stood up and started to walk backwards and as I turned I noticed they were not pointing them at me but at the car beyond in the drive through of Taco Bell! Then they yelled at me get out of the way! I’m like yahh! And I bolted out of the way…You don’t have to tell me twice…And I watched as they apprehended and arrested the guy hands up, out of the car down on the ground… The suspect was apprehended! That’s the term Paul is using here! Paul said Jesus apprehended arrested he is obviously is referring to what happened in Acts 9 when Jesus Arrested him! Apprehended him on the road to Demascus, when he was going to kill Christians! Jesus stopped him and in that moment, and took Paul into custody! Jesus got a hold of him and made him his own!

Paul is saying Jesus arrested me, he laid hold of me, he possessed me! I became HIS possession! BUT WHY? Why did Jesus save me? Why did Jesus take possession of me & make me his own? For what Purpose? THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO DISCOVER AND DO! That’s why I am running this race! I want to know what it is and I want to get all of it! You see Paul realized Jesus saved him for a purpose! And he lived his life to know that purpose and to do iT!

Ever hear someone say: I know this is what I am on this earth to do…I have been born to do this…well as a Christian we should ask? What has Jesus SAVED me to do? Cause he did! He does not fish for fun, he caught you for a purpose!

Without purpose life is meaningless! So many take their own lives because they feel their life has no purpose! No hope, no reason to live! Someone once said “Life without purpose is activity without direction. It’s motion without meaning” Ralph Barton, one of the top cartoonists of the nation, left this note pinned to his pillow before taking his own life: “I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day.” And he took his life! He had no purpose! The great Francis Schaeffer once said- Man made in the image of God, has a purpose, to be in relationship to God who is there, BUT man forgets his purpose & thus forgets who he is & (forgets) what life means!

Listen, let’s be honest even the Christian life at times can seem dry and meaningless IF WE DO NOT DISCOVER the purpose for which Jesus saved us!! We may believe & know we have heaven awaiting us, “but we OFTEN fail to see the PURPOSE of life while we wait!” But God has one, for today, for now! That’s why He saved you! For a reason!! He arrested you for a reason!!

What I’ve learned is when we discover & do our purpose, the Christian life becomes abundant! That’s how our Christian life on earth has more meaning & JOY! Unfortunately Some never discover that! Live their Christian life without…

Now the bible is clear there is a purpose why we are here: 1.To Know God & be saved! Why he created us…John 3:16, 2Pet 3:9 not willing that any should perish...all would come to repentance! John 17:3 This is eternal life…to know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent! 2.created To Serve God! He saved us to serve him Heb 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Ro 12:6* Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. Acts 1:8 And you shall be my witnesses… God saved us to serve him! Given you gifts! 3.To Glorify God! 1Co 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. God arrested, bought you, so you might glorify Him! Rev 4:11 says For Gods pleasure all things were created! 1Co 10:31 whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 4.And Ultimately God’s purpose is To conform us to the image of Jesus Christ! You see God’s purpose for you and I in this life is to mold and shape us to be like

Jesus! We are his workmanship! His purpose is to make us servants & witnesses of His power and Glory! That we might be instruments of praise worship & Glory to HIM! Both now & forever! To Know God, please God, glorify God, serve God…etc! BUT God also has a specific purpose for us! He had one for Paul! When Paul was arrested on the road to Demascus… God said Acts 9:15-16 “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” God has a specific purpose for Paul’s Life. To proclaim Jesus to Gentiles and kings and Israel! And to suffer many things for Jesus sake! And Paul knew this, in all of his letters Paul said he was an apostle not by will of man or his own but the will of God! This was what Jesus arrested Paul for? And Paul wanted to lay hold of this calling, this purpose and live it and do it with all his might! To run!! And Paul did!! He said to Timothy at the end of his life I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, and now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, that the righteous judge will give me on that day… Paul did it, he lived for his purpose! No wonder his life made an impact!

HOW ABOUT YOU??? If God has a specific purpose for Paul then he has one for you! What’s YOUR purpose? Why did Jesus save you? Have you discovered that? James Montgomery Boice said.... effective disciples...are aware of the purpose for which Christ called them”… again He does not go fishing for fun! Arrested you for a reason… we need to lay hold of THAT! It make life now make sense. Have you laid hold of why Jesus laid hold of you! …Then Run to find & do that!

Or maybe you have been resisting arrest! Maybe today you will finally surrender! Not only did Paul Lay hold of his purpose,

#2.He Let Go of the Past V13 V13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. What Paul is saying is here is how I keep going! I forget the past, and I reach for the future!

When it comes to a runner running a race, one of the worst things he can do is Look back behind him! When that happens, it slows the runner down, it causes them to veer one way or the other to get out of his lane! Or maybe even stumble Many a sprinter has looked back during a race and lost! MANY HAVE LOOKED BACK AND STUMBLED! Or got passed on the other side…“When you running a race all that matters is what’s ahead of you not what’s behind you!”

Race cars do not have back up cameras! Airplanes do not have reverse gear! One direction forward! ! Forget about what’s behind, and look at what’s ahead!

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?

Unfortunately the reason many are not running the race and have grown complacent is: They are living in the past! The land of “what if’s and how comes?”

Now, when Paul says he forgets the past he is not saying do not remember anything! there are many times in the Bible we are told to remember! Remember what the Lord has done…Communion is about remembering! NOR is He saying that we cannot ever learn anything from our past! Certainly we can learn from our successes & mistakes… NOR He is saying that he is trying to erase or eradicate every single bad memory out of his mind! BUT what he is saying is he is no longer living there! He’s no longer allow it to affect him! He’s NOT entertaining the past! Forgetting in the Greek means- “no longer caring for not being concerned with it, not bringing it to mind so that it effects you! so, its NOT ERASING IT, simply NOT ALLOWING IT AFFECT YOU anyore! BREAKING POWER WHICH HOLD YOU BACK!

Isn’t it true when we think of things in our past we not only conjure up the memory, but often times the emotions as well! We can get worked up into a frenzy or discouragement or disappointment simply by entertaining the past! Charles Erdman said There are some persons who allow their moral and spiritual progress to be hindered by the “burdens of memory”, they fix their minds so definitely upon past experiences that they have no strength and no courage for present effort…do you allow the burdens of memory to haunt you? You got to leave the past behind!

Paul says: I JUST DON’T LIVE THERE ANYMORE… We can learn from the past but we “cannot live in the past and move forward at the same time” “The biggest obstacle to our spiritual progress forward is living in the past” “You cannot run looking over your shoulder at what could or should have been” As Charles Kettering American engineer in the early 1900’s said: “You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” “We cannot live for yesterday and today at the same time… Skip Hietzig said “If you want to live a miserable life, live it looking over your shoulder at the past”

And unfortunately many people DO!!!, They are living in yesterday or even in tomorrow, so much so that they are missing today!

As Boston used to sing…Don’t look back! A new day is breakin, It’s been too long since I felt this way, I don’t mind where I get taken, The road is callin, Today is the day… I could sing it for you… Thank you pastor!

AND Here is the problem with looking back: Complacency Complacency breeds & feeds on the past…DOESN’T IT? We chose NOT to press on today because of what happened yesterday! Whether that be a failure or a success! We either wallow in our failure or we revel in our achievement and both halt our progress today!” Skip Heizig said: “we either live in the land of Regrets or land of Reminiscing” Paul could have lived with regret! Over how he persecuted the church, arrested & killed Christians! How could God use me now? He could’ve been Shackled by regrets! Or he could have reminisced on all he’d accomplished! As he listed in Phil 3:4-7…Look at all I’ve done for God! It could have led to relaxing his drive…But he didn’t! He forgot those things, Yesterday was yesterday leave it there

But many live in the land of REGRETS! Our bad choices, our sins, our mistakes, our failures! Or the past failures and sins of others! And some people rehearse over and over all they have done or others have done to them! They punish themselves for past injuries! holding on to stuff someone did years ago! Those past regrets breed complacency, why try? Why invest? Why strive? Why work so hard? You’ve got to let them Go! God wants to do something new, something great! And you are allowing past regrets to take you out of the RACE!! WHY???? OR some live in the Land REMINICING- Oh I remember the good old days, I remember when we used too…I remember when the church was…I remember when I was on fire… I remember when I used to share my faith and go to midweek study and give my tithes! I used to tech bible studies, I used to teach the children! I used to be involved! Your reminiscing about all you did in the past! As if God’s done with you!! like there can never be days like those again! BUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY? YOU CANNOT LIVE ON YESTERDAYS RACE, YOU HAVE TO RUN TODAYS RACE! NOW! What about NOW, what about TODAY, what about this NEXT YEAR! Warren Wiersbe said there are A lot of leeks and garlic CHRISTIANS Contsantly LOOKING BACK…The “good old days”, but where they really that Good? Are you living in the past! Let it go!!! You cannot go forward until you do! The reason some of you here are not going forward in you growth & in your service of the Lord in effectiveness Is your hung up on the past! Past hurts, past regrets, past failures! Gods gonna do a new thing in your life

INSTEAD of living in the past, Paul gives the remedy for not doing that reaching forward to those thing’s which are ahead. “Reaching” is– Most athletic term to

stretch out to or towards; to stretch (one’s self) forward to. Paul is using the picture of a runner stretching towards the tape at the end of a race. Last burst of energy at the end…

Weirsbe says it’s Leaning reaching forward- means literally stretching as in a race!

Or it’s like when you are reaching for something that just out of reach, you cannot quite get it, Don’t you hate that! But its right there, so you keep trying! Stretching reaching, For me it tends to be things above me, for some reason)

When run, I take my Dog out with me….and often she pulls me because she smells something and she pulls towards it… I am fighting her trying to hold her back….She is a mini- Pincher! She’s Ferocious! But she wants to smell it so bad, she is stretching, reaching for it with all her might! Hoping to get to it…trying to get a whiff of that wonderful fragrance!!!! I don’t know what it is, I’ve never got down there to smell it…..BUT That’s how Paul is describing our Christian life!

Paul’s giving the remedy for not living in Past guilt it’s answered by moving ahead! Don’t live in the dumps of the past, move your life forward to a higher level in Christ! Press on! Exert effort forward, reach to what’s ahead! Get every fiber of your being into the race…

So he sought to lay hold of his purpose, he let go of the past, finally, #3.He Looked forward the Prize V14

14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The word for Goal is– Greek skopos –it meant a “distant mark looked at”, the goal or having the end in view. Figuratively It’s the tape at the end of the race. Paul is saying I got my eyes on two things as I run! 1)The goal line, the finish line…the tape! And #2)Just beyond that The prize! 1.The Goal! Is to finish! To cross that line! If you keep you eye on the goal you will keep running! If you keep the end in view you will not stop! Paul is saying The end is in sight, the finish line is just ahead! Keep your eye in that goal! And worst thing you can do is relax your effort as you get closer to the finish!

When I ran the marathon I really like that they mark off every mile with a banner or a sign! Because the finish is so far away, I will get overwhelmed! BUT when they have those mile markers, I would just look for the next one…that’s where I am going and I would run, once I got to that one I looked ahead to the next one…until eventually I saw that finish line!

You got to keep your eyes on the goal…The goal is finishing! The goal is becoming more like Jesus everyday! The Goal is doing my purpose as long as I have life!

Hebrews tells us to Run the race with endurance looking onto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith! Jesus is the marker the goal!

BUT WE ARE ALMOST THERE, HANG ON, THE FINISH LINE IS JUST AHEAD! 2.I got my eyes on: THE PRIZE- there seems to be a lot of discussion about what the prize actually is that Paul had in mind? Some say the prize of heaven! The prize of experiencing our full salvation…Crowns and rewards for our service, faith running the race,...in the games of that day they would get a leaf crown, but we get ones that do not fade…Paul said! Its certainly all of those things! BUT specifically Notice Paul says the prize is “the upward call of God in Christ” Of course my mind goes right away to the “rapture” as Paul later described to the Thessalonians! That Trump of God will sound, and the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the air and forever will we be with the Lord! Paul lived with the anticipation of Jesus upward call! That’s what I am waiting for! You see, the prize is not only heaven or crowns, or stuff The prize is JESUS HIMSELF! Paul said: That I may know him! That’s what I live for! To become more intimately and fully acquainted with him!...someday very soon, we will!!!! When we see him we will be like him, for we will see him as he is! When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away with, and THEN I WILL KNOW AS I AM ALSO KNOWN! YOU SEE, the prize is getting to the end, being with Jesus, being fully conformed into his likeness and Knowing him in his fullness!!!!! WOW! What a prize! Eye has not seen nor ear heard nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things God has for us! He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or things! No wonder Paul described this as the Indescribable gift! That’s where we are headed as we run this race! This was what motivated Paul and should motive us to PRESS ON from complacency! In fact It’s the same thing drove Jesus! Hebrews also said Jesus did the same for us…for the joy that what set before him he endured the cross and despised the shame! He pressed on for us and now we press on for Him! to know Him & see him and to be like him to the glory of God! So, Let me close with this APPLICATION: 15-16 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Therefore…have the same mind to RUN! If you don’t understand…God will show you…he will reveal to you the truth! Only walk, run in what you know today…and God will reveal it…so press on brothers, so press on sisters, so press on Calvary chapel South Maui…The race is not over, God is not done…I new thing hes gonna do!

We need to have an attitude like John Akhwari who ran In the 1968, Mexico City Olympics in the marathon.. Along the way as he ran, he stumbled and fell, severely injuring both his knee and ankle. at 7 PM and a runner from Ethiopia had won the race. Everyone else had finished and people were actually going home, when all of a sudden a police siren caught every-one’s attention. Limping through the gate came 36 year old Akhwari with his leg wrapped in a bloody bandage. The people cheered. A reporter at the gate asked him the question that was on everyone’s mind: “Why continue the race after being so badly injured and no chance of winning?” He replied, “My country did not send me 7000 miles to begin a race; they sent me to finish a race”

How about you Are you running your race? Maybe your not! You’ve had some set back! Now you’re In the stands, No longer running or maybe you have really slowed down…maybe your asleep! Time to wake up and get back in the race! Laying hold of your purpose! leaving behind the past! Looking to the Goal and Prize! Jesus! Its coming soon the upward call of God! Are you ready? Maybe you would say…NO! Starts today! Or maybe you have not entered the race yet! You have been resisting arrest! But Jesus is trying to get a hold of you! Listen, You must first enter the race before you can run the race! Jesus has been trying to register you, he paid for it for you, but he will not take the first step you must take the first step to enter the race! Gospel!