Honor your calling
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
In 2015, I had stepped off the stage of a church in San Diego, CA. I had just finished leading worship. As was my practice, I took my usual seat in the front row, on the left side of the sanctuary.
The pastor began to preach from Philippians 3. And he read the following passage...
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
All of a sudden, something stirred inside of me. I heard the Lord speak to my heart, “Are you ready?”
You see, prior to this moment, Janelle and I had been praying and planning to start a church in Glastonbury, CT. For the past 3 years, we had been visiting Connecticut, a place we had ever lived in. We didn’t even know anyone in CT, let alone the town of Glastonbury! Nevertheless, we believed God was calling us to move there.
We had tried to move a couple times. Each time, God stopped us. The year previous to this moment, our hearts were broken, because we were “this close” to moving to New England, but then I read the following verse...
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
As much as we want to leave, we believed God was calling us to temporary put church planting on the shelf because He was calling us to a present work at our current church. He wanted us to lay down our future desires for our friends who presently needed us.
Btw, I think it’s a good time to mention… any time you need to make a big decision, let God direct you thru His Word. If you’re willing to listen, He’s ready to speak. And He’ll never steer you wrong. As much as we wanted to move, I’m glad we didn’t. Because what we learned during that year helped prepare us for what God is doing now at TRC.
Anyways, I had sat down that morning with church planting fully on the shelf… collecting dust for. For all I knew, it could be years before we picked it back up. So, when I heard, “Are you ready?” I was caught by surprise!
After church, I asked Janelle, “Are you ready to move to Connecticut? Because I believe God said it’s time.” She replied, “I’ve been waiting on you homie.” A few months later, we arrived in Glastonbury with 4 duffle bags, 3 little kids, and an iMac… the place God had called us to. And in 2016 (a year later), The River Church had its first church service - the reason God called us to Connecticut.
And all of this connects to today’s passage. We’re currently going thru the book of Philippians and discussing the theme of HONOR, in a sermon series titled, “Put Some HONOR on My Name.” And today, I’d like us to see how we can HONOR our calling.
I want to begin to answer two questions:
What is my calling?
How can I HONOR my calling or fulfill the work that God is calling me to?
So, let’s jump into our passage…
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
What do you know? Same passage I heard back in 2015!
Anyways, Paul starts off by saying, “Not that I have already obtained this...” What’s he talking about? What hasn’t he obtained yet?
Well, previous to this, Paul talks about attaining the resurrection from the dead; which is just another way of saying, “being fully alive in Christ.” This is what he hasn’t obtained yet. That sounds confusing because by faith...
We are made ALIVE when are sins are forgiven (our sins being the thing that brings death upon us).
We are made ALIVE by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are made ALIVE by gaining access to the personal presence of God, which is where true LIFE is found.
Paul had new LIFE in Christ. So, what does he mean, “I have NOT obtained this?” Well he’s referencing the fact that though eternal life starts the moment we turn from our sin and place our faith in Jesus, it’s not fully experienced (we’re not fully alive) until Jesus calls us home to heaven or He returns to earth. If we’re still on earth, we’re still being called towards a greater experience of eternal life. We haven’t finished the race yet. And at this point, Paul had not finished his race.
Therefore...
Run toward your calling in Christ.
Run toward your calling in Christ.
First and foremost, calling is about responding to Jesus’s voice. I believe we are all being called to Jesus. Sin separated us from Him. But Jesus died on the cross to forgive us for our sin, and bring us back to God. And His voice calls out to the world, “Be reconciled to God!” We see this clearly at the end of book, where it says...
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
And since Jesus calling to us, let’s RUN towards Him!
As a runner, I appreciate the many parallels between running and Christian living. And understanding calling is as simple as seeing Jesus as the finish line. If you’re not in heaven, then keep on running. In a marathon, you don’t stop at mile 6 and thinking “That’s far enough.” You’re not done to you cross the finish line. If you stop early, we call that a DNF - Did Not Finish.
Nobody who enters a race wants to DNF. But too often we risk the DNF in our spiritual race. For whatever reason, we stop running towards Jesus. Maybe we get distracted. Maybe we start running towards sin instead. Maybe we even get filled with pride and think, “I’ve been running for a long time. I know a lot about the Bible. I’ve arrived.” Whatever the reason, we stop running, but we didn’t cross the finish line.
Paul understood the race. If he was alive, he wasn’t finished. The goal was still calling him forward. So, he kept running. We need to keep running too. So, what are some ways we can make sure we continue running the race before us?
[Look down and] Remember: You have a bib on.
[Look down and] Remember: You have a bib on.
A bib is that paper with a number on it, attached to a runner’s clothes, usually by safety pins. It signifies that you have registered to run the race. And you don’t take that bib off until you cross the finish line. When you have a bib on, you keep running.
If you call yourself a Christian. If you have decided to follow Jesus. You are marked by the cross. You have a Jesus-bib on. By faith, you’ve accepted what Jesus did for you on the cross and have made Him your Lord and Savior. The cross of Christ has radically impacted and changed your life. It’s marked you like a bib. And now you’re running towards Jesus as our goal and prize. “You make the race your own, because Jesus has made you His own.” You don’t stop running until you cross the finish line!
Speaking of which...
Remember: You’re running to win!
Remember: You’re running to win!
As you grow in your faith, you begin to experience what Paul said...
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
You hear Jesus calling you and you’re like, “I going to do whatever it takes to get there as fast as I can! I’m running to win.” And those who are trying to win can’t afford to stop running.
Now, some of you may hear this and mentally push back against me. Even some of you runners. You’re like, “Run to win?!? I just run for fun. Hey, a mile ran and a mile walked is the same distance, right? As long as I get to the finish line, why do I need to run?”
I get that. I’m running my second marathon this year. I know there is absolutely NO CHANCE of me winning. It’s highly unlikely that I’ll run the entire time. I’ll need to take walk breaks. So, I get how the illustration breaks down a little bit.
But here’s why I’m sticking with “running to win” when it comes to this spiritual race we’re in: It’s the example God’s infallible and inerrant Word gives us!
Paul says, “I press on!” That Greek phrase can also be interpreted “persecute.” And may have a connection to verse 6, when Paul said he used to persecute the church. Paul passionately ran at full speed to destroy the church. Now, he’s running full speed toward Jesus!
Which brings up an interesting principle… think about how much our lives, families, and world would change if we ran towards Jesus with the same passion we used to run towards sin with! We made time for sin. We exhausted ourselves for the temporary pleasures of the world. But for Jesus, we give up and walk. But Paul’s like, “Run to win!”
And Paul gives us two practices that’ll help us run this way:
Forget what lies behind. When you run a marathon, you don’t think about mile 2 once you pass it. You think about the next mile. You keep pressing forward. Some of us focus too much on our past. That mile is over and done with. Keep running forward. As you do...
Strain forward to what lies ahead. Here in Connecticut, we run for months, thru the grueling heat and humidity. Why? Because training gives us strength for the marathon. So that on race day, we confidently know we have what it takes to keep running. In the same way, when we put our faith in Jesus, we received the Holy Spirit. And now, we have resurrection power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us! And that strength gives us the power and confident to run to win.
If we remember that we’re in a race and we got the power to win, we’ll press towards that finish line But just in case you still don’t think you can run this way, check out verses 15-16...
Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
In other words, Paul’s like, “Trust the process. Eventually, you’ll see God’s given you everything you need to win. Just keep running.”
… but here’s something else that’ll help us run: We gotta...
Train with like-minded runners.
Train with like-minded runners.
Paul said...
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
You guys hear me say it all the time: God designed the Christian life to be done in relationship. We see Paul reinforce that here. He says, “Let’s train together.”
My friend Walter told me about an interview of world class African runners. One thing that stuck with him was they said, “We never run alone.” Running together helped them run to win.
I believe it. Over the past year, a major reason I’ve improved as runner is because I train with the Glastonbury River Runners. Training with like-minded runners helps me meet my goals. The same is true in our spiritual walk. We are called to train and run together. And we must HONOR that because that’s part of God’s process.
So, how do you train? Better yet, who do you train with? Because I bet the answer will reveal how you run. For example...
For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Who are these “enemies of the cross?” While they could be actually enemies (people who oppose the Kingdom of God), I think two phrases give us hints at their identity...
Paul says they bring him to “tears.” Now, this could reference Paul’s compassionate heart towards his sinners, but the sense of the passage seems to indicate Paul’s tears are towards people who should be running towards Christ and are not. And this breaks his heart.
Additionally, its says they “walk AS enemies of the cross of Christ.” They aren’t actual enemies. But they “live just like” them.
I think these are Christians who have been training with the wrong people. And it’s impacting how they run. If you’re training for a marathon, you can’t spend all your time with people sitting on the couch eating donuts. You can’t spend time with people who are sleeping. You got to be with people who are running. People running 3 hours on Saturday morning. People doing speed work at the high school track. People who take the race seriously because they’re running to win!
So, how can we know if we’re training with the wrong people? 4 things...
Their end is destruction. Look ahead to their “destination” - what’s their goal or finish line. Are the people your training with headed towards Jesus, where life is found? Or, are they headed towards hell - towards destruction?
Their god is their belly. Who is their deity (or god)? Are they responding to the call of Christ or personal pleasure?
They glory in their shame. What do they desire in life? Do they aim to please Jesus or do they seek after sin - and even glory in the shame it brings?
Their mind is set on earthly things. This is similar to the first item… what direction are they focused on. Are they focused on running to win or are they distracted by the temporary things of the world. Are they running towards the next mile marker or did they stop and sit down at Dunkin?
Jesus is calling us to run to win. To finish the race strong! And we can’t do that if we’re training with people won’t HONOR that calling. So, who should we train with?
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
2 quick characteristics of those who are training to win:
Their citizenship is in heaven. Like I mentioned earlier, these are people who know they have a bib on. They know they are in the race and running toward Jesus, their Savior. No matter the circumstances, they keep running with hope, knowing the finish line will be worth the moments of exhaustion.
They trust the process. They believe in God’s transformation process. They believe God’s promises. They obey God’s commands. They wait on God. They hope in God. They are confident in God’s power to get them to the finish line. So they press on. They strain. By faith, they run to win.
These are the kind of people you want to train with. Run with people who are headed towards Jesus and running to win. Because that’s what HONORING our calling is all about...
Yes, calling involves a general call where God is inviting all people to be reconciled to Himself by faith in Jesus Christ.
Yes, calling involves a specific call where God invites us to do a unique work He’s planned for us, according to our giftings - like starting new churches (or something else).
But both general and specific callings require us to always be running towards Jesus. If we’re doing that, we’ll HONOR our God’s call on our lives.
Response:
Response:
So, as we close, how are you running? And who are you training with?
I believe God has called Janelle and I to run in Glastonbury for the rest of our lives. To help people hear the voice of Jesus who is calling them from the finish line. And training to win with this. That’s what The River Church is about. So, let me ask: Will you run with us?
I ask because I believe God has you here for a reason. By God’s wisdom, your calling intersects with our calling. He’s strategically placed you here. So, whether you’re here for as long as us, longer than us, or just for a season, come run with us! Let’s passionately pursue Jesus together. Let’s HONOR our calling from God together.
But before we close in prayer, I realize some of us need to respond to God’s calling for the first time. You haven’t registered for the race. Maybe up to this day you’ve been an enemy of the cross. I know that sounds harsh, but I want to be real because we got to take this race seriously. Truthfully, it’s a race we all need to run. And it’s the most important race of our lives. Jesus said...
For the one who is not against us is for us.
I believe the inverse is true too. If you’re not for Jesus, you’re against Him. You may not feel that way, but God’s word says differently. And it’s because our sin is serious. All the times we’ve rebelled against God is a big problem.
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
As I’ve said before, sin in not a joke. It makes us an enemy of the cross. But don’t miss that last line, “The reason the Son of God - Jesus - appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus did that on the cross. And the good news (the gospel) is you can be made right with God by turning from your sin and putting your faith in Jesus. You can register for the race today - it’s free! When you do, you’ll get a bib and receive supernatural power to run toward Jesus - the Voice who’s been calling out to you all your life.
Let’s pray...
Father, we hear your call today. And we’re ready to respond to it. We’re ready to HONOR that calling. We’re ready to run. Give us your Holy Spirit power - change and strengthen our hearts - so we can run towards you, and to win. And give us courage and wisdom to train with other like-minded runners. We know it is your plan that we run together. Whatever you got to do, we want to forget what lies behind, and strain forward towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. In Your name, amen.
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