it is to be in the presence of a holy God tonight.
No matter what's going on in the world, Jesus
is on the throne. He is in control. He holds
the whole world in his hands. And so today I
say, let's not focus on work. Let's not focus
on school. Let's not focus on the cares of this
life. Let's put our attention on the one who
holds our tomorrow in his hand. What a privilege
it is to serve a holy God. And I'm thankful to
be in his presence this evening. In the name
of Jesus Christ, in the name of Jesus. If you
have your Bibles tonight, I'd ask you to turn
to 1 Corinthians. We'll be in chapter 9 tonight,
beginning in verse 24. 1 Corinthians 9 and 24.
Verse 24, I'm gonna read this in the New Living
Translation. It says, don't you realize that
in a race, everyone runs, but only one person
gets the prize. So run to win. All athletes are
disciplined in their training. They do it to
win a prize that will fade away, but we do it
for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in
every step. I am not just shadow boxing. I discipline
my body like an athlete, training it to do what
it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching
to others, I myself might be disqualified. Paul
is not describing a casual jog, and he's not
describing a leisurely stroll on a Sunday afternoon.
He's talking about a race. Let's go back to verse
24. He tells us, run to win. If you're gonna
live for God, you might as well give it everything
you've got. If you're gonna run this race called
life, you might as well run to win. Tonight,
I wanna teach with this idea in mind, in it to
win it, in it to win it. Would you set your Bibles
down for another moment? Let's ask the Lord to
visit us here tonight by his spirit, to speak
to us with his word. God, our hearts are surrendered
to you in this place. In this room right now,
God, you know exactly what word, exactly what
direction each individual needs to make it through.
You know, God, that encouragement, that strength,
God, that we need to make it another day. That's
why we're setting our own ideas aside. That's
why we're setting our own preconceived notions
aside. We don't even know what's best for us.
We don't have a clue. Only you know, God. We
surrender this service to you, God. We want to
receive from you, mighty God. We surrender to
you, Jesus. In the name of Jesus, we pray. The
Lord bless you. You may be seated. I want to
go back to our main text and look here at verse
24, 1 Corinthians 9, 24. Paul does not say, run
to be seen. He does not say, run to fit in. He
does not say, run to say that you participated.
Paul says run to win. And so how do we run to
win? Let's look at verse 25, the very next verse.
Paul tells us to consider athletes, those that
compete in the physical. Athletes discipline
their bodies. We just recently saw this because
the Olympics, the Winter Olympics in Italy just
wrapped up. These athletes discipline their bodies.
They regulated their sleep and their diet. Successful
athletes have to regulate their habits and they
have to regulate their environment. They all
have to. Successful athletes, on the highest
level, they do not leave their performance up
to chance. Successful athletes do not gamble
on greatness. But it's intentional. Successful
athletes have to train. They have to discipline
themselves. And this verse says that they do
it to win a prize that will fade away. But Paul
contrasts that with us, those who are disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says we do it for
an eternal prize. And I believe tonight that
if the world would discipline itself for temporary
fame and fortune and temporary recognition and
reward, how much more should the people of God
discipline itself for relationship with God,
for purpose, for fulfillment? How much more should
the church be willing to discipline themselves
for heaven, for an eternity with Jesus? Verse
26, Paul tells us, like athletes, we also must
run. with purpose. We should not do just enough
to get by. We should not just simply go through
the motions. Paul says we're not just shadow
boxing. In other words, we're not fighting an
imaginary opponent. Ephesians 6 and 12 tells
us that it's true we don't wrestle against flesh
and blood, but we do fight against principalities
and powers. We do fight against the rulers of
the darkness of this world. Paul tells us we
absolutely do fight against spiritual wickedness
in high places. And so this race called life
is also the fight of your life. And Paul tells
us that we must run with purpose. We must be
intentional. We must do our very best. We have
to run to win. And so back to 1 Corinthians 9,
let's look at verse 27. Paul tells us here as
well, like athletes, disciples of Jesus must
be disciplined. Disciples need discipline. In
fact, you may notice that the only difference
between these two words, disciple and the word
discipline, are two letters, I -N, N. And that's
my message to you tonight. What is in you determines
whether you will win. You cannot win publicly
if you have not disciplined privately. You do
not finish strong accidentally. You do not endure
without intentional conditioning. If we are going
to run to win, we must discipline what's on the
inside. That's why tonight we're saying we have
to be in it to win it. Back to verse 24, Paul
tells us we must run to win. In the King James
Version, it's worded this way, run that you may
obtain. That word obtain means to seize or to
grasp. or to take hold of. It implies intention.
It implies pursuit. It implies hunger. But Jesus
exposes something that disqualifies many runners.
He's talking about wrong motives, because we
have to run to win, not run to be seen. It's
what's on the inside that matters. And so tonight,
we're going to continue our look on the Sermon
on the Mount. Sister Michelle Farrell started
this series last week and did a fantastic job,
I might add. Thank you for that. I'm thankful
we have an opportunity to be filled. If we'll
hunger and thirst after righteousness, the Bible
says we will be filled. And I'm thankful today
that we can draw closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Where she taught from was Matthew chapter 5.
That's the first chapter of the Sermon on the
Mount. And Matthew chapter 5, if you read it,
it's outward. It's relational. It's very visible.
It deals with how we treat people. That's what
Matthew 5 talks about. Jesus on the Sermon on
the Mount here in the beginning in chapter 5
addresses anger versus reconciliation. He talks
about retaliation versus loving our enemies.
Jesus handles the topics of lust and adultery
and divorce and contrasts that with a healthy
marriage. Jesus talks about integrity. Jesus
tells us how we must respond when we are wrong.
In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus tells us we need
to be the light of the world. We need to be the
salt of the earth. Matthew chapter 5 is about
outward. It's about our relationships. It's about
what other people can see. It governs our public
interaction. Matthew chapter 5 confronts our
speech and corrects our conduct. Matthew chapter
5 regulates our reactions. It demands visible
righteousness. But then when you go to chapter
6, Matthew chapter 6, Jesus shifts from what
people see to what only God sees. Because it
is entirely possible to behave correctly in public,
but to still be corrupted in private. It's what's
on the inside that matters. So that's why Matthew
chapter 5 addresses external behaviors, but then
Matthew chapter 6 addresses internal motives.
In the first half of this sixth chapter, Jesus
addresses three spiritual disciplines. He talks
about giving, praying, and fasting. But I want
you to notice something powerful before we get
into these individual topics. Something that
really stood out to me is that Jesus did not
say, if you do these disciplines. That's not
at all what he says. When you go to verse 2,
he says, when thou doest thine alms. Verse 5,
when thou prayest. Verse 16, when ye fast. We
see here quite clearly that Jesus is assuming
participation. Because, of course, we all know
that we should. should give and pray and fast.
But Jesus is addressing motivation. Matthew chapter
six, verse one. In this verse, Jesus references
giving. And he basically says that even if you
do the right thing, but you do it for the wrong
reason. In this particular example, if you're
doing it just to be seen, he says you have no
reward of your father, which is in heaven. And
so we can clearly see that the issue is not activity.
The issue is authenticity. The issue is not what
to do. We all know what to do. Sometimes the
issue could be how do we do it? Maybe the issue
is why do we do it? Because the truth is that
you can give and still lose. You can pray and
still drift. It's entirely possible to fast and
to still be carnal because it depends on the
inside. It depends on your motives. And so in
this race that we are running, if we choose to
run for applause, Jesus tells us that applause
is your prize. If you choose to run for recognition,
recognition is your crown. If you choose to run
for attention, attention is your trophy. But
if you run for eternity, eternity is your reward.
If you run to win, not to be seen, if you run
to win, Jesus Christ himself is your reward.
So I'm going to go back to 1 Corinthians 9, and
let's look at verse 27. Paul tells us, he says,
I discipline my body like an athlete, training
it to do what it should. But then Paul says something
I find to be incredibly sobering. He says, otherwise,
I fear that after preaching to others, I myself
might be disqualified. I want you to notice Paul
was not afraid of losing his preaching voice.
Paul knew that his influence was not in jeopardy.
Paul knew that no matter what happened, he would
have a ministry. That's not his concern. Paul
was afraid of losing his spiritual integrity
because Paul understood that public strength
can hide private weakness. Paul understood that
ministry success can completely hide a lack of
devotion. He was in it to win it. That's what
Paul was saying. He says, run to win. He tells
us, be in it to win it. That's what Paul was
doing. He didn't want to just look like he was
running. He didn't want to just do enough to
get by. He didn't want to do just enough to go
through the motions. He didn't do just enough
to get other people off of his back. But back
to verse 27, Paul says that he disciplines his
body. In the King James Version, it says, I keep
under my body. The NIV, New International Version
says, but I strike a blow to my body. That's
aggressive. That's forceful. That doesn't sound
like a good time. That is intentional self -governance.
That is keeping our flesh in check. He says,
I strike a blow to my body. Why? It's because
your flesh does not want to win spiritually.
Your flesh and your spirit are always working
against each other, and you have to choose, am
I going to surrender to the Spirit of God, or
am I going to do what my flesh craves? There
are always that enmity with each other, the Bible
says. Your flesh wants comfort. Your flesh wants
indulgence. Your flesh wants applause. Your flesh
wants convenience. But victory requires discipline.
And so let's go back to Matthew chapter 6, and
I want to look at these three disciplines that
Jesus addressed. The first, of course, has to
do with giving. In verse 4, Jesus tells us, give
your alms in secret. and thy father which seeth
in secret himself shall reward thee openly. I
want you to know tonight that giving is not first
about money. It is about mastery. That's why
2 Corinthians 9 and 7 says, For God loveth a
cheerful giver. If it were all about the money,
it wouldn't matter if you gave begrudgingly.
It wouldn't matter if you gave of necessity.
But God doesn't want that. The Bible says that
God wants a cheerful giver because our intentions
matter. Giving is a discipline. Giving is what
disciplined disciples of Jesus Christ do. Giving
disciplines greed or wanting too much. On the
other hand, giving disciplines fear or being
scared of having too little. Giving disciplines
self -preservation. When you give consistently,
you are telling your flesh, you are not in charge.
When you give sacrificially, you are telling
anxiety, you do not own me. When you give what
you have to bless the kingdom of God, you are
telling God, God, I trust you. I trust you with
everything I am. We're emotionally tied to our
finances and our resources and our ability to
provide for ourself. But when we give cheerfully
as God commands, there is probably few better
ways to tell God, I trust you with everything
that I am and everything that I have. Money is
one of the greatest diagnostic tools of the heart.
And that's why later in this same chapter, Matthew
chapter six, look at verse 21. Jesus says, for
where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also. If your heart is chained to possessions,
you cannot run to win. If your heart is bound
by fear, you cannot run to win. Giving. loosens
the grip of materialism and it strengthens dependence
on God. You cannot be in it to win it and put
all of your trust in your own ability and your
own resources and your own plans. You win by
going beyond your flesh. You win by launching
out into the deep, Brother Daniel. Ironically,
you win by losing, losing control and trusting
God. That is a discipline that every mature Christian
should partake in. But that's only the first
one Jesus addresses. I want to go down to verse
6 to talk about this new one. Jesus is talking
about prayer. Jesus says, But thou, when thou
prayest, enter into thy closet. And when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which
is in secret. Prayer is alignment. Prayer is
not performance. Prayer is not poetry. Prayer
is not public spirituality at all. There's obviously
a purpose behind corporate prayer. I'm glad we
all come together at the beginning of service
to pray together, or even at the altar. But if
that is the extent of your prayer life, you are
not disciplined. You are not in it to win it.
You are not running to win. But this is a discipline
that every Christian must have, and that is a
consistent and faithful prayer life. Prayer is
recalibration. Prayer is relationship with God.
That's why 1 Thessalonians 5 and 17 tells us
pray without ceasing. James 4 and 3, ye ask and
you receive not because you ask amiss. And so
from that verse, I would say that we learn that
prayer disciplines selfishness. Prayer disciplines
emotional impulsiveness. Prayer disciplines reactionary
behavior. Before prayer changes your circumstance,
prayer first changes your perspective. Before
God will fix your external world, God chooses
to stabilize your internal concerns and your
internal issues, your internal perspective. The
longer you pray, if you really have a prayer
life and you really do it and you give it all
you've got, the longer you pray, the quieter
your ego will become. The longer you pray, the
more your will will bend to God's will. In fact,
Jesus himself is the greatest example. This is
Luke chapter 22, verse 42. Nevertheless, not
my will, but thine be done. That is internal
victory. Even before the external victory of
the cross and the grave and rising up to heaven,
he's coming back one day. We serve a victorious
God. But let's not skip past that first victory.
The first victory was in the garden of Gethsemane.
The first victory was when Jesus crucified his
flesh and said, not my will, but thine be done.
A prayerless believer is an undisciplined runner.
If you only pray. When you are desperate, you
are training sporadically. If you only pray publicly,
you are shadowboxing. But when you pray daily,
when you pray privately, when you pray consistently,
you are becoming conditioned for endurance. And
now to the third discipline that Jesus mentions
in Matthew chapter 6. I want to talk about fasting.
He mentions this verse in verse 18. that thou
appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father
which is in secret. Fasting confronts our appetite.
Job 23 and 12, Job says, I have esteemed the
words of his mouth, the words of God, more than
my necessary food. Fasting says that God's spirit
outranks my flesh. Fasting disciplines your appetite.
Fasting disciplines your emotional volatility.
Fasting disciplines indulgence. When you fast,
you are telling your body you are not the boss.
When you fast, you are saying no to what your
flesh craves the most. When you fast, you are
saying no to your flesh and yes to the Spirit
of God. We all know how it's like when you fast.
Your flesh is screaming. Your stomach is growling.
Your mind is complaining. But your spirit grows
stronger. If you cannot say no to yourself, you
cannot consistently say yes to God. Fasting strengthens
the authority of God's Spirit. Fasting strengthens
the authority of God's Spirit because it weakens
the authority of your flesh. The Spirit of God,
your flesh, are always fighting against each
other. And the beauty about fasting, it strengthens
the authority of the Spirit. And it's not unrelated
to the fact that it also... weakens the authority
of your flesh. But there is a broader training
regimen. I've talked about, as Jesus did in Matthew
chapter 6, giving and praying and fasting, but
there is a broader training regimen even beyond
these three disciplines that Jesus mentioned.
A few that I want to share tonight that I felt
God to lead me to discuss. Athletes do not train
one muscle group. They develop balance and endurance.
Athletes develop coordination. And if we are
in it to win it, we must expand our conditioning.
The first one I think of tonight I want to encourage
you with is when we read, when we study, and
when we meditate on the word of God, we are training
conviction. Joshua 1 and 8 says, This book of
the law shall not depart out of my mouth, but
thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Psalm
119 and 11, thy word have I hid in my heart that
I might not sin against thee. Regardless of where
you are on your journey closer to God, you cannot
outgrow scripture. You cannot substitute devotion
with inspiration. The word builds doctrinal muscles.
That's the discipline that you need. The word
of God will stabilize your worldview. The word
of God will fortify your discernment and your
wisdom. You need to make it another day. If you
do not consistently read the word of God, you
will be spiritually malnourished. It's just a
fact. Each and every day, I urge you, get in
the Word of God. And don't just read it to say
you've read it. Read it to understand it. Read
it to apply to your life. Read it to meditate
on it. It's a discipline that every healthy,
mature Christian has to master. We have to be
in the Word of God. Because daily devotion conditions
your thinking. Meditation deepens your retention.
Not just hearing it and understanding it and
moving on, but retention. Applying it to your
life. Study sharpens conviction. It allows you
to hear the voice of God in everyday life. If
you know what the word of God says, it's amazing
how in your everyday life you will find endless
ways to apply it. There are things that you would
never understand in your flesh, but if you are
full of the word of God in your everyday life,
it would just be obvious to you. God will make
your path straight. His word is a lamp to your
feet and a light to your path. We have to be
in the word of God. And so, if you are biblically
weak, you are spiritually vulnerable. But here's
another one I want to talk about. When we are
humble, when we obey, when we repent, When we
are accountable, when we are submitted, we are
training character. Hebrews 13 and 17 tells us,
obey them that have the rule over you and submit
yourselves. What about James 4 and 10? Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall
lift you up. I want you to know today that repentance,
a real life of repentance, each and every day
with a broken and a contrite heart, humbling
yourself before God and recognizing his sovereignty,
a true life of repentance disciplines stubbornness.
Humility disciplines ego. Submission disciplines
pride. Because on the other side of the coin,
rebellion would disqualify runners. I've seen
it way too many times. We all have stories. Rebellion
disqualifies people on this race called life.
Hidden sin will sabotage your endurance. Arrogance
will corrode your longevity and your perseverance
in this race called life. But character will
keep you in the race when charisma would not
stand a chance because it matters what's on the
inside, not necessarily what's on the outside.
I'm thankful for the outside, but it starts on
the inside. We have to be in it to win it. And
so if you are going to run to win, it's going
to come from who you really are on the inside.
If you cannot repent, you will fall. If you cannot
submit, you will isolate. If you cannot humble
yourself, the Bible says so plainly that God
himself will humble you. On the other side of
the coin, we can be encouraged because if we
will humble ourselves, God will exalt us in due
time. I heard somebody say before that if you
exalt yourself, God will humble you. But if you
humble yourself, God will exalt you. In other
words, I think this is actually the way they
worded it since I said it wrong. That if you,
your job is to humble yourself. And if you will
humble yourself, God's job is to exalt himself.
But if you do his job for him, he won't hesitate
to do your job for you. If you will humble yourself,
God will exalt you. If you will exalt yourself,
God will humble you. It's a promise, but we today
can be encouraged that if we will humble ourselves,
God will exalt us. Internal governance determines
external durability. That internal discipline
literally determines the success we have on the
outside. Here are some other disciplines that
come to mind. Church attendance, corporate worship,
and fellowship with those of like precious faith.
That produces unity. That trains unity. It's
a discipline you must have. Hebrews 10 and 25
tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves
together. Psalm 133 and 1, behold how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity. Corporate worship strengthens faith
and trust in God. Fellowship strengthens accountability.
You gotta have it. Faithful attendance to the
house of God strengthens your devotion. On the
other hand, isolation weakens resolve and determination.
Community reinforces discipline. We need each
other quite desperately. We're not called to
serve God by ourself. No man is an island. We're
called to be in a community of believers and
not just to encourage each other in the sense
of optimistically, but encourage each other in
the sense of accountability. I was in Hebrews
10. It says to provoke one another to good works.
We need that. I need people in my life that can
talk to me. I need people that, if I'm not in
church, they'll check up on me and make sure
everything's okay. We need it. We're not built
to do this by ourself. That's not God's intention.
God has community for you. God has relationship
with brothers and sisters in the Lord for you.
And yes, that strengthens us. And yes, that keeps
us accountable. But we have to have it. It's
a discipline that is necessary to be a mature
Christian. You are not designed to train alone.
So I say let's run this race together. Let's
be in it to win it together. Let's make it to
heaven together. I'm so excited for the day we're
going to be in heaven together, dancing on streets
of gold. It's a process. It's a journey. We all
have to do our part. And if we will be faithful
to the house of God, if we will be faithful in
our relationships with one another, if we will
be faithful. Faithful to corporate worship. That
is a discipline that every mature Christian must
have. And then there's one last area of discipline
that I want to focus on tonight. And that's this.
When you encourage others, when you serve others,
when you mentor others, when you choose to disciple
others, you are training purpose. Galatians 6
and 2, the Bible tells us quite plainly, bear
one another's burdens. Colossians 3 beginning
in verse 23, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily
as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that
of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the
inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. Encouraging
builds resilience in others and serving disciplines
selfishness and mentoring multiplies strength.
When you invest in others, if you will choose
tonight, I'm going to begin investing in others.
You actually in doing so will reinforce your
own stability. You will have a purpose that money
cannot buy if you will look beyond yourself and
invest in the life of other people. If you will
invest in others, you will literally sustain
perseverance. You will have a purpose in the
kingdom of God. A self -centered runner will
eventually burn out. A kingdom -minded runner,
on the other hand, will multiply their impact.
A kingdom -minded runner will make a difference.
So if you want strength, if you want encouragement,
if you want stability, seek purpose. And then
every other benefit is a byproduct of purpose.
If you have a purpose straight from God, if you
serve a purpose in the kingdom of God, that's
where your blessing and your strength and your
encouragement come. It comes from purpose. If
we will invest in others, if we will disciple,
if we will mentor, if we will do our very best
to be a blessing, that will train purpose in
our life. But I do want to end with this thought.
And it's a sobering thought. I wish maybe I could
end on a happy note tonight, but reading this
lesson, preparing this lesson, I felt God give
me some direction for how we should pray tonight.
And I want to share with you an often quoted
statement, but I want us to apply it to our spiritual
lives. And that's this. We've all heard this
before. You are only as strong as your weakest
link. When we read 1 Corinthians 9, Paul feared
being disqualified. But it wasn't because he
lacked gifting. And it wasn't because he lacked
revelation. It was because he understood vulnerability.
He understood that you are only as strong as
your weakest link. An example that came to mind
is a basketball player from North Carolina. He
grew up in the Charlotte area. He even went to
college in the area. The greatest three -point
shooter in the history of the world, ever. Nobody
can touch Stephen Curry. He's crazy. It's unbelievable.
His release is quick. His range is limitless.
His accuracy, it's legendary. He's going to be
in the Hall of Fame, no question. Stephen Curry
is the man. But believe it or not, even though
he holds all these records, you may have glossed
over the fact that throughout his career, he
has actually missed significant stretches of
seasons because of ankle injuries. His shot is
elite. But his weakness is structural. And so
in those games that he missed, he was not on
the bench because of his work ethic. He was not
on the bench because of his shooting form. He
was not on the bench because of his playmaking
abilities. Everybody wanted him on the court.
He was on the bench because of those pesky ankles.
He was on the bench because anybody, even Stephen
Curry, is only as strong as their weakest link.
Because it does not matter how strong your gift
is if your foundation is fragile. And it doesn't
matter how solid you appear on the outside if
you are crumbling on the inside. Here's another
example I want to share with you, one that's
near and dear to my heart. Children, when they
grow up, there's no schedule that just everyone
follows. Different children are going to have
different strengths and weaknesses at different
times. And that's something you maybe don't realize
as much until you have your own children. But
Claire, she's now right at 40 months old, three
years and four months old. And so she's just
right at that age where you can really see some
of her strengths and her weaknesses. And Claire,
her entire life has really been very gifted at
observation, at communication, at memory. She's
a communicator. And, I mean, she literally, she
talks too much if I've got to be honest with
you. She just, she knows in her entire life,
she's just known how whatever she needs, whatever
she wants at any given time, she has been gifted
at letting you know her needs in just all kinds
of ways. She's been very observant. She's very
socially smart. well beyond her years. It's kind
of weird. But I want to remind us today, and
Claire's a really good example, not that I mean
to pick on her, but you're only as strong as
your weakest link. Because I know exactly what
it's like to go to the doctor's office at her
checkups, and on that questionnaire survey they
have at the very beginning, when it came down
to language and communication and relationships
and... Claire literally was off the chart. Every
given time, whatever the best case scenario was,
literally, she was better than that. And you
would feel so proud sitting in the waiting room.
But I know what it's like to go from that to
when you leave the doctor's office and you look
at the pediatrician's notes. And she said that
my daughter had a gross motor delay because she
was very late to crawling. She was very late
to walking. She would do anything but crawl,
literally. She would roll. She would scoot. On
our bed, our bed is taller than Clary is probably
now. But she would slide off to where her feet
could barely touch the ground. And then she would
go from that position straight to rolling. She
couldn't even crawl. It made no sense at all.
And so that's always reminded me, you're only
as strong as your weakest link. On one side,
she could communicate better than some kids three
times her age. It's so weird. But then at the
same time, I mean, it's just crazy. I literally
remember a few times where she would speak in
full sentences, but I could not understand her
because she had a pacifier in her mouth. Those
two things don't belong together. You are only
as strong as your weakest link. She reminds me
all the time. And one more story I'll tell you
about here that encapsulates this better than
probably anything else. She loves lights and
sounds and Christmas and music and all that.
So we went to Tanglewood. My sister and I took
her. We went to Tanglewood this past Christmas.
And we're there at Tanglewood in the... in the
Clemens area, and she likes Japanese food, so
we said, all right, well, we're going to leave
Tanglewood to go to Kimono on Country Club. And
just the way the GPS took us, we passed right
by the Robano's house. And Sister Sandra keeps
up with Claire and Chloe for us. She's a great
blessing to our family. But Claire has always,
even from a young age, very observant, always
looking out the window, and always knows where
we are. If I go a different way than I usually
go, she will literally ask me, where are we going,
and did you miss your turn? And she's done that.
She's just been like, two years old. And so even
though we were coming from a different direction,
she recognized, wow, we're passing Nana's house.
And she was so upset when we didn't turn into
Nana's house. And then when I stayed straight,
she's used to, if I take a right coming out of
their house, we're going to church. Or excuse
me, we're going home. But if Ho -Ho, Brother
Jorge, takes a left coming out of the house,
then that means... We're going to church. She
doesn't understand that those two roads connected
about five miles, but she just thinks how you
leave is where you're going. And so when we passed
her house, she just automatically knew, all right,
well, obviously we're going to church. When I
passed the exit on 421, she was like, Daddy,
you missed your turn. We're not going to church.
And she had just turned three. It's unbelievable.
And so I'm over here thinking, my daughter is
so smart. And you know how we parents can be.
I'm just so proud of her. I'm thinking about
all this. She's blowing my mind. We get to dinner.
My sister and I are talking about it. I say,
wow, it's crazy how she can do that. I don't
know another three -year -old that would even
care, honestly. How in the world can she do that?
And my sister's like, yeah, that's crazy. And
we're just so proud of her. We're smiling. We're
just so proud. We're going to turn to her and
tell her, wow, you're a big girl. You're so smart.
Just so proud. We turn, we're smiling, and we
both turn at the same time, and Claire is literally
licking shrimp sauce off the table. And immediately
I remembered, she is only three years old. Because
at the end of the day, you're only as strong
as your weakest link. If I could tell you something
tonight as it relates to spiritual disciplines,
you're only as strong as your weakest link. You're
only as strong. As your weakest link. You're
only as sturdy. As your weakest devotion. You're
only as mature. As your weakest discipline. As
it relates to God. And his word. Your knowledge
may be strong. And your talent may be strong.
And your influence may be strong. But tonight
I ask you. What is your weakest link? Is it private
prayer and fasting? Is it faithful giving? Ask
yourself tonight, is it consistency? Is it humility?
Is your weakest link a life of true repentance
before God? Is your weakest link submission?
Hebrews 12 and one tells us, let us lay aside
every weight and the sin which does so easily
beset us and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us. Weights and sins will
trip runners right before the finish line. So
my word to you tonight is to strengthen that
weak link. Condition the neglected area. Train
that hidden muscle because disqualification rarely
happens at your strength. More often than not,
it's gonna happen at your vulnerability. Would
you stand tonight as we prepare to pray? I have
one more verse I wanna share with us tonight
and I do wanna end with encouragement because
this is the solution straight from God. James
4 and 8 tells us, draw nigh to God and he will
draw nigh to you. I want to urge you tonight,
you cannot drift into victory. You cannot stumble
into endurance. You cannot coast into crowns.
You have to discipline into them. The difference
between a disciple and discipline are just those
two words, I -N -N. And what is in you determines
whether you finish. And so if I could urge you
tonight, if you are in this casually, you will
fade. If you are in this race emotionally, you
will fluctuate. You'll ride the wave. If you
are in this socially, you will drift. But if
you are in it with discipline, you will endure.
So train the inside. Strengthen the weak link.
Avoid disqualification. Do what Paul says. He
says, run to win. Be in it to win it. And if
you do, when you cross that finish line, God
is going to tell you, well done. Thou good and
faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.
Can we come draw nigh to God in this place tonight?
Can we do our very best to get as close to the
Lord in this place tonight? He says, draw nigh
to me and I will draw nigh to you. Come to me
with humility and with repentance and with sincerity,
and I would do more with you than you could do
with yourself. Let's go all in today. Let's run
to win. Let's be in it to win it. Let's ask God
to strengthen us today. Whatever that weakest
link is, whatever that thing is that maybe we've
been neglecting, whatever area of life maybe
we've chosen to overlook and pretend like it's
okay, God is reminding us with his word today,
it's not okay. That weakness could bring everything
down. You're only as strong as your weakest link.
You're only as capable as God allows. You're
only as spiritually mature as your weakest discipline.
Let's be disciplined today. Let's run to win.
Let's be in it to win it. Let's pray all over
this room. Let's surrender to the Lord all over
this room.