Victory on the Horizon

Victory on the Horizon

Victory on the Horizon

East Salem Baptist Church

Jan. 5, 2020

The scripture I am going to focus on this evening is in but to start off with I want to dwell on another one of Paul's writings.

Intro: Paul says this in

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.

I think it is good to look at where we headed from time to time. Especially if we are driving. What do we want our lives to look like at the end of our Journey? With that being said I hope everyone has lots of journey left in them. There are small legs of every journey and it is important to be successful in them as that it leads to success in the big picture.

I am not a resolutions guy at all. Not that I don’t have stuff I need to work on I just think it is important to evaluate your life very regularly. The old saying is ``how do you eat an elephant and it is one bite at a time. If you try to comprehend every problem at once you can easily say what is the use.

I think it is also important to think about the ones we want next to us at the end of a journey on how we can influence them or how they have influenced us and pass that onto someone else.

I have been very self conscious about my faults and failures especially over the last few years. Not in a sense that I am not forgiven of them or that God’s grace is not enough but the sense on how some failures could affect those around me. How can I learn from failures?

In the same manner I pray that through victories that only have come through my Lord Jesus that I hope my life in places has encouraged others also.

To finish a race you have to start it. It is plain and simple. I see people that just want to sit on the sideline and watch. Armchair quarterbacks if you will. Which if truth be told I am not fond of. I like people in the game. God gave us one quarter in the game of life. I think we should be good stewards of it. Life is short and eternity is long.

We all have races. We are running the race of running for Jesus and with Jesus.

We have smaller races on the side that we are running.

Some are different places of the race. Some quite frankly have never started the race. Sometimes we run with the wind at our back sometimes we run with it hitting us in the face.

Sometimes we run on level ground sometimes it is going up hill. Sometimes it is through the mud that wears on us and weighs us down.

One thing's for sure when the sand in the hour glass is flowing the good news is we have a cheerleader in the race running besides us cheering us on. That is Jesus Christ.

Because of Jesus we should be encouraged to run and run a good race after he has done so much for us.

Sometimes we don’t want to run because we are not sure we are going to do well or even finish. After all who wants to spend time and effort if they think they are going to be humiliated.

Some this evening may be excited about a new year. Some may dread it. Here are the cold hard facts: it is here and in your face. You are the one responsible for how you live it.

Read

In him we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

These verses summarize much of chapter 8 which is a great chapter in encourage you to read it on your own time. Sometime I would like to go through the whole chapter but for tonight I would like to focus on these three verses.

I think it is important when we step out in new journeys we understand that we have love and support. God loves you and is here for you and East Salem Baptist Church is here for you.

I am excited to step out on a new journey to be the Associate pastor at East Salem.

My overall goal is to be helpful. To just encourage people to grow in Christ and love people. I know that we are starting a new year and I wish I could just preach a message and were all good and off we go. We all know that life doesn’t work like that but I can tell you this through Jesus know matter what happens it is going to be o.k.

I like what Paul writes we are more than conquerors. That means through Christ we are going to overcome this world when we pass on if Christ doesn’t return first. We are going to get to spend eternity with him. We hear this a lot but we need to be reminded all the time. The ones that have placed our faith in Jesus will overcome because of Him.

This gives me encouragement to serve Christ to push myself to encourage others. To live life for him. We don’t have to worry about taking risks living for him.

Earlier on in the chapter in Roman 8:6

I do not have to live in fear, fear of being a failure living for Christ. If what we set out to do doesn’t have as big a turnout as we thought it doesn’t mean I am out of the race or I am on the sidelines. Jesus is not going to fire us.

Because I know at the end I am a conqueror.

It gives us the right to get back up when we get knocked down over and over because our identity is in Christ not into failure.

Some people never start anything because they think what if people see me fail. What if I don’t do it well enough. I would rather people see me fail than never try. I am being real. Well I set on the bleachers my whole life because what if I missed the shot. My friend you missed all the shots sitting on the bench.

There is a big difference from failing when you are trying. Compared to failing to try.

You know it the same as the Church you hear people come up with ideas and people will say what if it doesn’t work? I am thinking what if it does work?

I am glad this church is not like that. Unfortunately I have been in some that are that way.

The most dangerous state we can be in is living with a ceiling mentality. Well this is as high as we can go. I am satisfied with the numbers we have. Well we probably aren’t going to get any bigger.

They have a title for people that think like that and I am not going to say it.

Sometimes people say numbers are not important. It is the quality of worship or discipleship. I kind of pondered this before. Maybe it is not about numbers.

Then one day I took all 3 kids to the park. When I came home at the end of the day I only brought home one. When I got home Risa where are the other 2. I said I don’t know. It was that day that God showed me numbers matter.

That is just a made up story by the way I would never have all three kids with me at the same time.

I don’t want to be around people like that and I for sure don’t want to be in a church like that. There really in my sight our two types of people, people that fold after defeat or become more determined. Which are you?

You think God looks down on us and says I see you were trying to lead some people to Christ. I see you were trying to do some good in my name. I see you were trying to lead your family in a bible study. I see you were trying to talk to some coworkers about me.

It looks like you didn’t do a very good job at it so just stop it. Just stop trying to do something good for me until you get better at it.

I don’t think so.

I think knowing that someone is rooting for you is of great encouragement. Someone wanting to help us. A security measure put in place to let us know hey if you stumble if things don’t work out exactly the way they should just know that you can fall back on this.

Most people in general have worries about failures. What If I take this new job and it doesn’t work out? What if I try to parent my household by God’s rules and everyone dislikes me or it doesn’t go as planned. What if I feel like God is wanting me to cut people out of my life that is not healthy for my walk with him.

What if? What if? What if? No one wants to come crashing down. Whatever the situation we are if we are in Christ we don’t have to face the fear of Jesus turning his back on us. I don’t know about you but that is very reassuring for me.

What is scary is if we don’t have the security of Jesus.

Paul says that neither death nor life. Well there are two pretty big items there.

If we can’t be separated by death nor life.

Paul says that angels or rulers can not drive a wedge between us and God.

Nor things present nor things to come.

You know we can become so fearful of what is over the horizon. Some folks look forward to what is ahead. They see a new opportunity to be better. To find better situations that they are in now. They are excited and think tomorrow is going to be a little better than today. They have the mindset hey I did o.k. Today but tomorrow I am going to do better.

Then there are other people that are very fearful. They lock up thinking into the future. They think I don’t think it is very good where I am at. If I try to do something different it might get a whole lot worse. I think I will just stay where I am at and endure.

I am just going to sit here and hope Jesus comes.

I mean get excited when I think about Jesus returning also but I am going to try to keep moving forward until he does.

I think it was Albert Einstein said

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

I think that is where we can look to God’s love as a safety net. The cold hard facts is sometimes we don’t want to stop and take a look at ourselves because we know that it is going to take change and work to get off the merry-go-round that we are on.

We have become comfortable with either failure or complacency. God is looking at us in a sense of getting up if you fall I am not going to love you less.

You know Darrion is trying to start to walk everytime he tries to take a step not holding on to something he falls on his rear. I promise you my thought process is not hey you didn’t make it. Stay down you loser. You're never going to make it.

No it is get up and try again you are going to make it. Whether it takes 2 more times or 2000 more times I am still going to love him and encourage him. I would much rather him try than just sit there.

I love this part neither heights nor depths.

We can easily get the mind set that if we accomplish something people are going to love us more.

In the same regards if we fail at something people are going to love us less.

I like the way Paul describes this spectrum you can’t go high enough or deep enough to shake off God’s love. If this were true God would have never sent Jesus to die on the cross for us.

Jesus love inspires me to try to look to him for an example of loving people more. Being kinder to people. Being more patient with people. Being more forgiving with people.

Because we know Jesus love we focus on being more like him.

This is why we have the freedom to try and fail and try and succeed. Jesus Christ already paid for my failures. He did.

The very end of verse 39 says that not any created thing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Well I can tell you it says created thing. There is nothing that God didn’t create so nothing can separate us.

You know as you go through the year. I am just going to say this because it is true we are all going to fail. We are that does not give us the right just to quit.

I mean I get it sometimes we sin and fail so bad we just want to put a paper bag over our head or go hide under the bed or move to the artic circle I get it. We think we have blown a hole in the tire so big and let all the air out that it will never work again. That is not Jesus.

When God’s word says thou shall not and you shalled. I don’t even know what that means. The legalistic Christains are pointing out that I can’t believe they did that. Previously in the chapter in verse 34 Jesus is interceding for you for us at the right hand of God.

There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.

Taste and see that the LORD is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!

No matter how tough the road is in front of us. How hard the challenge we can not forget the love of Jesus that with us and in us. I hope we all accomplish God sized goals this year but we have to remember if we do stumble or stutter to regroup and remember who we are in Christ and that is conquerors

As we go through the year our focus can be on victories or it can be on faluires but if it is anything besides Jesus we are out of focus.

I have to throw in a spurgen qoute and I am done.

I looked at Jesus, and the dove of peace flew into my heart. I looked at the dove of peace, and she flew away.

May our sights alway be on Jesus.