Strive to be Refreshed

Good evening everyone! Thank you for joining us tonight. If you have your Bibles or digi-bible with you, open up to . That’s where we will plant our flag tonight. 

Last week we started our new series Re-Fresh, and we looked at . When we began this series looking at 2 Corinthians, and the goal was for each one of us in here to examine our life to see if we are a child of God, but also to bring hope to your life. Sometimes in the Christian walk, we get caught up tasks, rituals, services, and many other things that we lose excitement for Christ. Our goal is that we will be refreshed again in our Christian walk.

With that said, how many of you in here have done something in your past that was just flat out stupid, and possible just kind of unspeakable? Yeah? Good, Evan why don’t you come up here and tell us all about your favorite sin… Just kidding. Holy smokes I’m just kidding, you can stay there. All joking aside, we all have screwed up, quite possibly in some pretty big ways throughout the course of our lives. 

I know for me personally, I’m 29, or as Dave frequently reminds me “in my 30th year of life,” thanks for that Dave. And still to this day, I remember one of my biggest foul ups as a kid.

Some of you know that I am the youngest of four in my family. And with my 2 brothers and older sister, it was not an uncommon thing for them to kind of team up on me, rag on me, poke fun at me, cause they could, I was little. Now like any good southern gentlemen in this room, you were undoubtedly taught at some point in your life that we don’t treat girls like we treat boys. You don’t rough house with girls. You don’t joke around with them like you would boys, and even when you're frustrated, you react differently when you’re frustrated with girls than you are boys. 

So one fateful evening when I was probably like 5 or 6 years old, staying with my grandparents, my siblings were just letting me have it. They were making fun of me, making me feel bad. I was in tears, and I just snapped. My sister was unfortunately standing right next to me and I decided I was going to give her a little pop in the belly to get her to stop making fun of me. The problem was, on top of the fact that I was trying to punch my sister, was that she was holding a pool stick right in front of her. I punched the pool cue. It smacked her square in the nose, and boom, blood everywhere. 

Instantly I do as all of us have done at some point or another and I scramble around the house trying to get paper towels, comfort my sister, telling her, “shhhh…… shhhhhh… shhhhhh, it’s okay, it's not that bad, you can’t tell mom or dad."

Needless to say that when my father came to pick me up and take me home, it was one of those hauntingly quiet rides. And when we arrived I knew I was a dead man walking and when we got inside my father made sure that the lesson of respecting my sister and women in general was a lesson that I only needed to learn, once. 

Looking back, I would never do that again, but it is something in my past that was stupid but did not define me. The same goes for our Christian walk. Our life in Christ is the same way, our previous life no longer has control or defines who we are as an individual.

Now this is a silly story from when I was a child but we can all make that connection of something that we have done that we desire to leave behind as we strive forward in search of a new start, a refresh.

Read with me in

[Slides: (CSB)]

12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

How hard is it to forget your past?

Why should we forget what lies behind us and strain towards what lies ahead?

Every day, Christians wake up to battling fleshly desires. You understand what I mean by “the flesh,” right? You might be thinking, “ew, gross I don’t want to understand what you’re talking about.” And you’re not wrong. It should be repulsive. Because when Scripture talks about “fleshly desires,” it’s usually talking about these desires and passions that we have that are not wholesome, they’re not good for us. These addictions, struggles, trials that we face that we can’t seem to overcome and whenever we fail against whatever we look back and can’t help but think, “man, I am a colossal screw up." 

But the good news of what we read here and last week in , talking about the old self passing away and the new self coming, we get to celebrate that because of Jesus our past does not define who we are anymore. No matter what sin or sins we have committed, our lives are not defined by our sins and failures, even though the spiritual warfare we face claims we cannot move forward because of our sin addiction.

We cannot hold on to our past addictions, struggles, and sins because Jesus on the cross defeated all past, present, and future sins, addictions, and failures. When we look at tonight’s Scripture passage, we learn a lot about becoming refreshed in Christ. When you are a child of God, you strive for what is to come, not for what has happened the past.

Verse 14, Paul invites his listeners to strive together for a goal set before them. And that invitation extends to you as well. But how do we do that?

We have a more significant calling over our lives than what we could ever imagine. Tonight, there are three things I want you to see or pursue to help you become refreshed.

[Slide:]

1. A refreshing life in Christ comes from determination.

Some of you in here tonight are really battling. You are looking forward to a season in your life where you can feel this sense of being refreshed. I want to tell you that the battle you are going through right now does not need to win or control you. The refreshing season comes through determination.

An athlete doesn’t become an all-star by listening to training and lectures, watching documentaries or game tape, reading books, or even cheering on the sidelines of games. The all-star or champion bets that way by getting into the game and determining to win.

Becca laughs at me because occasionally I’ll get fixated on a new hobby and I’ll do all the research, I’ll watch all the YouTube videos, I’ll start looking at equipment, but I never become eh expert in this field unless I pull the trigger and actually do it. At one point told her that I was going to pick up bladesmithing and learn how to make knives. I’ve gushed over fly-fishing and telling her how we can travel to these really beautiful parts of the world. But no matter how much YouTube I watch, I’ll never be an expert in these things unless I take the plunge and actually start doing these things. 

Whatever your pursuit is It will come at a cost. Through your time, energy, and resources, but the question for each of us is this: are we willing to put in the work to experience a refreshing life in Christ?

A quick disclaimer… when I say to pursue a refreshing life, I am not saying there will not be pain, persecution, and a battle over the course of your Christian life. Instead, when you are determined to go all in for Christ, you will be refreshed and energized to now live with a purpose.

This is no passive thing. A life, living in Christ, is one that we must take seriously. Our struggles with sin are legit. You know this. I know this. One of my favorite old dead guys to read is a guy named Thomas Watson and he hd one of the best one-liners about this that I can think of. He said:

[Slide: Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.]

This is what we are talking about when we talk about, “Spiritual Warfare.” It’s not just, oh I should work on this and maybe earn some good luck on my side because I’m behaving. This life in Christ, the struggle against sin, the reality of Hell, it is all something to take extremely, serious.

[Slide:] 

2. We must lay aside our regrets.

Many Christians I interact with know that Jesus has died for their sins and their pasts, yet they struggle to let go of their pasts. Earlier tonight I asked you these two questions, “How hard is it to forget your past? Why should we as Christians forget what lies behind us and strain towards what lies ahead?” I asked you these two questions because as a Christian you are no longer driven by your struggles, skeletons in your closets, and your past. I know that each person in here has sinned, even since you have saved by Christ. We are all sinners, so we all sin. That’s what sinners do.

Does it mean it is okay to sin? NO! But, it does mean that our identities after Christ has taken over our lives have changed from simply being sinners, to instead, being a child of God who daily has their sins washed by the blood of Jesus.

We cannot continue to hold on to our sinful habits and past. Remember that Jesus died on the cross and covered all of our sins, addictions, and struggles that we have, do, or will ever struggle with. The key though, is that every day we need surrender these struggles over to Him and watch them eventually have no hold on you.

Remember what we said last week about what it means to be in a relationship with someone. When you’re in a relationship with someone, your affections and desires change. When you are in a relationship with Jesus your affections and your desires become more like his. 

Do you sin and you struggle, absolutely. Are you broken about it as Jesus hated sin, absolutely. Do you take that brokenness to Jesus? Yes, every… day. That is what it looks like to wage war against sin in this Christian life. 

[Slide]

3. Devotion leads to a refreshing direction.

Every believer must devote themselves to the Christian walk. Paul in Hebrews talks about the Christian life as a race. Not a sprint, but a distance race. One that requires endurance. 

[Slide ] 

12 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What does a runner need to do daily? (Train)

Now, when we think about an athlete training, we know that they do not practice doing everything and playing every position. No, every athlete specializes in one area where they can get stronger and become the best they can be. The winning athletes are those who concentrate and keep their goals in front of them, so they do not become distracted.

The best way to think about it is this way: Christians are to be devoted entirely to their calling. You are not going to be amazing in everything you ever do. I hate to be blunt, but you will be great at some things. Right now, as a Christian teenager, you need to become a devoted follower of God.

When you become a follower of Christ, you are no longer like the unsaved person who is controlled by their past. Instead, you are a Christian running the Christian race by looking forward.

I want you to become refreshed in your Christian walk that you become a devoted follower of Christ who has sinned, but now live a life not controlled by your past, but instead by your future in Christ.

Application

Tonight, I want you to take a moment to think about your own life. Right now, what can you give over to God that his holding you back from being fully refreshed by God?

How can you become a devoted follower of Christ?

Conclusion:

I hope by looking at this context from the athlete perspective, it allows you to examine your Christian walk. I would love to see each student here tonight become refreshed and not see your Christian walk as tiring because Christ’s work on the cross gives us a purpose. Do you remember Jesus’ last words on the cross? It. Is. Finished. He wasn’t talking about just the moment that his heart was about to stop beating. With those three little words you can know as surely as you know anything in this world that sin’s hold over you, It is finished.

There’s a song that I love so much. It’s called All I have is Christ and I think it paints this picture so clearly when it says...

But as I ran my hell-bound race

Indifferent to the cost

You looked upon my helpless state

And led me to the cross

And I beheld God’s love displayed

You suffered in my place

You bore the wrath reserved for me

Now all I know is grace

When you go home tonight, take a few minutes to write down the sins, struggles, and addictions that are holding you back from being all in for Christ. Then give it to Christ and allow Him to refresh you to make you new again, because guess what, if you are in Christ, sin has lost its grip on you and you now walk your days knowing that what Jesus purchased on your behalf makes all the crap of this world fade away and seem worthless.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

Let’s close in prayer.