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なるほど

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ي

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мы

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Good job, good job.

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

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Y'all can head this way.

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

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

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First Corinthians chapter nine, starting in verse 24.

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

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Verse 24.

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

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

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Run in such a way to win the prize.

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Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything.

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

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But we a crown that will never fade away.

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

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We thank you for your word.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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

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And I ask all this in Jesus name. Amen.

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

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

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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

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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,

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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.

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

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

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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.

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It is not easy.

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

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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But to live for the Lord is not easy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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and I will follow him from this point forward.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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running aimlessly. You better make sure that your eating good

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

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

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

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

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

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to doing those things, then we are spiritually unfit.

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

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Not very long.

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It takes time.

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It takes a long time.

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

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

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

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So what about us?

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

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

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to do the work of God?

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Are we willing today to put the work in?

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Maybe we are, or maybe we're not.

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

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

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

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do.

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

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

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seek His word.

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That's how we're going to grow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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that gold medal.

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They always eat.

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I don't know why they buy them.

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Do y'all know why they buy them?

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I got a gold medal.

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

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silver or even a bronze.

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

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That's pretty phenomenal.

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

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got bronze in that race.

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Are you kidding me?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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have been pine branches.

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

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

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

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We give them medals and trophies and whatnot.

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

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

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crown.

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

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It's not going to last very long.

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

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

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

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fade away.

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So Paul says, look, you guys get it.

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

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reward that they receive.

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

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

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

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

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the crown of life.

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We see different crowns that are mentioned.

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

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

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into the presence of God.

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Maybe we will.

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

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

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

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

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That crown represents authority and it represents victory.

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

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

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

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Christ.

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So how are you running today?

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Are you just in the rat race of this world?

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Man, it's tough if you are.

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Maybe you don't know the scripture.

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

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Maybe you are just running aimlessly today.

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

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

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

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you an example to run toward.

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

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your sins may be forgiven.

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

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as far as we got.

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

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yards, we said, this is tough.

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

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

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

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

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to run for the kingdom of God.

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The question is today, how are you running?

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

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

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

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

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So don't lose hope.

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Don't give up.

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Run with your eyes on Jesus.

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Let's pray.

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God, we come to you this morning.

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

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

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They don't know of Jesus Christ.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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running like it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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those things go away.

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

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

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dear Lord.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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to be to do your will.

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And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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

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to respond.

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If you need prayer, come up front.

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

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

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

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Word commands.

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

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We will give you

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

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

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

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

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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,

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

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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.

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Michelle, would you close us with a prayer please?

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I'm glad we love you.