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Becoming a Champion in 2005:
Focus on the Finish
(Hebrews 12:1-3)
January 16, 2005
Sermon
In his book it’s not about the bike.. Lance Armstrong tells of his life growing up in Texas with his mother.
*Don’t quit -- you’re not a quitter*.
Today I want us to look at the race we are currently running and see
*We can finish the race of the spiritual champion by focusing on Jesus.
*
* *
We have to start by asking ourselves some hard questions.
Have I done things in my life marginally rather than excellently?
Am I too willing to give up on certain visions and initiatives?
Have I followed through on beliefs and convictions?
Have I kept commitments that were pledged?
Have I sat down in the race and quit, not finishing, when I should have kept going?
The question that arises with some regularity: do I intend to finish the race—the race of becoming a spiritual champion in 2005?
Will I be sold out to Jesus, straining to be like him more and more each day?
Will I lose the extra weight of the sins and the distractions that easily hinder my progress?
Will I stop trying harder and begin to train wisely to develop my endurance?
Will I rearrange my life around the needed activities and practices to become more like Jesus?
Will I finish the race?
Will I hang in there?
Will I stick with it until the race is completed?
Our human tendency is to quit too soon.
Our human tendency is to stop before we cross the finish line.
Our inability to finish what we start is seen in the smallest of things:
A partly-mowed lawn.
A half-read book.
Letters begun but not completed.
An incomplete landscaping project.
An abandoned diet.
Or, it shows up in life’s most painful areas:
An abandoned child.
A job hopper.
A course to finish a degree.
A wrecked marriage.
An unevangelized world.
Am I touching on some painful areas?
Any chance I’m addressing someone who is considering not finishing the race?
If I am, I want to encourage you to look at Jesus.
Don’t quit –you’re not a quitter
In order to finish the race we have to focus on Jesus.
*I.
**The Tender Encouragement*
* *
*/Hebrews 12:2 NASB/*
*/fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
/*
* *
* *
1.
The word author implies something begun or started.
2.
The word perfecter suggests something finished, brought to its full completion.
3.
And the word faith refers to the body of truth around which the spiritual champion has organized his or her life.
4.
The star in this race is Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews is writing to a people who are in the mist of being persecuted.
The runners in the competition are people who are being beaten up; they are discouraged and downcast; and often, they are on the wrong end of whips and chains suffering from overt persecution.
5.
They are counting the cost of the tough life of faith and are considering quitting.
They are looking back and wanting to go back, but the Hebrews’ writer is exhorting them to finish the race.
6.
Don’t quit.
The writer is encouraging them to look at the star runner—Jesus.
7.
And as believers today when we look at these words we must ask ourselves the same question.
Because we are persecuted today.
We are beaten down for what we believe, and often we do become discouraged and downcast in our lives.
8.
But like the writer of Hebrews I say keep your eyes on the star runner.
Focus on the finish, focus on Jesus.
*II.
**The Star Runner*
* *
1. Jesus was not a quitter.
Did he ever want to quit?
You bet.
2.
Tempted by Satan.
Burden by the needs of the masses.
Frustrated by his closest friends.
3.
Plummeted by the words and tortures of his enemies.
But He did not quit.
He finished the race.
That is why His last words spoken from the cross are so fitting,
* *
*/John/**/ 19:30/*/ /
/Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"
And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit./
4.
Stop and listen.
Can you imagine the cry from the cross?
The thunder has silenced the crowd.
The lighting has raised their eyes toward Jesus.
5.
Then drawing his last breath, pushing his feet down on that Roman nail, he shouts, “It is finished!”
6.
A cry of defeat?
Hardly.
No, this is no cry of despair.
It is a cry of completion.
A cry of victory.
A cry of fulfillment.
*A.
Who was this Jesus?*
* *
1* Jesus is the creator and sustainer of the universe.*
/ /
/ /
*/Col./**/
1:16b NASB/*
*/ —all things have been created through Him and for Him.
/*
2.
The one who holds the planets in orbit says something about his divine resilience.
3.
The one who selected unattractive, unlikable, and unreliable men to be his followers and loved them to the end.
Says something about his unyielding faithfulness to stick with people.
4.
The one who came to seek and save the lost all the way to the cross.
Says something about his passionate plan to redeem humanity.
5.
He finished the simple things: paying taxes, attending to children, going to the grave of a friend, worshiping in the synagogue, providing for his mother.
6.
Says something about his integrity and commitment to detail No unkept promises, no abandoned intentions, no friends let down, no mission left unfulfilled.
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