Psalm 96 says, “Let the skies sing for joy. Let the earth join its chorus. Let the oceans thunder and the fields echo the ecstatic praise in the air until every swaying tree joins in lifting up the song of joyful praise to our glorious God.” >> Praise him all you creatures great and small. Praise him summer, winter, spring, and fall.

Howling wind, rushing streams, rolling hills, and crashing seas, lift your voice and worship your creator. Praise him gleaming moon and burning sun. Praise him all you spinning spheres above. Shining stars, golden beams, choirs made of galaxies, lift your voice and worship your creator. Holy, you are holy.

Earth and heaven sing forever. Holy, you are holy. All creation praise creator. Praise him who stepped into what he made. Paid our debt and pulls us from the grave.

Every heart will sing and every soul will be redeemed. We’ll hear your voice and worship your name. Holy. You are holy. Earth and heaven sing forever.

Holy. You are holy. All creation praises the creator. This my great endeavor lasting home. I’ve been saved.

Heaven is my home. I can’t wait for that day when I see you face to face. For I was made to magnify my maker. Yes, I was saved to worship my savior. I was made to worship my maker.

Savior. Holy. You are holy. Earth and heaven sing forever. You are holy.

All creation praises the creator. Holy. >> Psalm 100 says this, “Sing your way into God’s holy presence with joy.” Realize what this means. We have the privilege of worshiping Yahweh, the God of the universe.

He created us, and we belong to him. Worship him in the beauty of his holiness as you wait for him. If faith can move the mountains, let the mountains move. We come with expectation, waiting here for you. Waiting here for you.

You’re the Lord of all creation. Still you know my heart. The author of salvation. You loved us from the start. Waiting here for you.

With our hands lifted high in praise. And it’s you we adore. Singing hallelujah. You are everything you promised. Your faithfulness is true.

We’re desperate for your presence. All we need is you. Waiting here for you. With our hands lifted high in praise. And it’s you we adore.

Singing hallelujah. Hallelujah. Singing hallelujah. Waiting here for you with our hands lifted high in prayer. And it’s you we adore singing hallelujah.

Waiting here for you with our hands lifted high in prayer. And it’s you we adore singing hallelujah. >> Waiting here for you. Hallelujah. For the Lord God almighty reigns.

Hallelujah. For the Lord God almighty reigns. Hallelujah. Oh. Are you Lord God almighty?

Worthy is the You are worthy. Oh, worthy. Are you Lord God almighty? Worthy is the lamb. Hallelujah.

For the Lord God almighty reigns. Hallelujah. For the Lord God almighty reigns. Hallelujah. Holy, holy, holy are you Lord God almighty.

Worthy is the lamb. You are holy, holy, holy are you Lord God almighty. Worthy is the lamb. And I’m desperate for you. And I’m lost without you.

This is the air I breathe. This is the air I breathe. Your holy presence living in me. This is my daily bread. This is my daily bread.

Your very words spoken to me. And I’m desperate for you. And I’m lost without you. And I’m desperate for And I I’m lost without you. Holy, holy are you, Lord God almighty.

Worthy is the lamb. You are holy. Holy, are you, Lord God almighty. Worthy is the lamb. You are holy.

>> Gracious Father, we are humbled to be called your children. Your word says, “Behold what manner of love this is, that even we, who were lost and astray, wandering like sheep out in a ravine or bramble bush, you came after us, you pursued us, you chose us, you adopted us, you made us your own, and by your son’s blood, you redeemed us. We thank you, Father. And so, we come before you as your children, ready to hear your word. We want to get low so that we can lift you high.

Come before us, Lord. Fill us with your presence. Remind us of your goodness, and help us to finish the race strong. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Thank you. May be seated. Well, today, I get the privilege of inviting my dad, Rick Smith, to to preach from the word this morning. Kids, you’re welcome to take off for kids church. But, I got to Growing up, I got to sit under his preaching, and so I get to do that again today.

And so do all of you. So, let’s welcome my dad, Rick Smith. Come on up. >> Good morning. Good to be here with you.

What a privilege to be here each time we’ve come to spend time with you. We kind of like to hang around hang out around Tiger these days. To be with Jason and Whitney and June the dog. No, no. Four four special young people that Logan, Weston, Ryan, and Bethany have blessed our life, and I know they are blessing to you as are Jason and Whitney, and it is just a encouraging time to be here.

I want to tell you, when we come here, we feel truly blessed and loved, and enjoy this is kind of like another church home. We have a good church home in Tri-City Baptist, about 200 mi south of here. And so we are there a lot and that’s where I pastored for 10 years. And love the people there as well. So Tri-City, by the way, is not the same Tri-City as Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, not the same.

They have about 20 times as many people. But we have some really good people there and so that’s where we’re from. We’re going to look at the race of your life. Will you bow with me in prayer? Father, we just come before you acknowledging that without you we can do nothing.

We are in fact desperate for your touch, for your strength, for each new breath we take, each step we take, each beat of our heart it is from you and is to be as unto you. So Lord, we give you this time. Thank you for this church family and for Pastor Jason and and Whitney and the rest of the team here. Thank you so much for the good music today that has caused my heart, our heart to be lifted to you in praise and adoration and worship. And we thank you, Lord, for that great, great privilege together.

Lord, we pray that you’ll work in each of our lives and speak first of all to me, I pray, in Jesus name. Amen. What is the race of your life? I believe the Apostle Paul had that image in his mind reflectively time and again as he thought about his Christian journey. Now, the scriptures talk about our daily journey being a walk.

Second Corinthians 5:7 says we walk by faith and not by sight. So there’s an aspect where we take one step after another after another as we walk hand in hand with the Lord. It’s also referred to as a battle. And so, we are in a spiritual warfare, and Paul talks about it. I won’t go into the length and breadth of it, but Ephesians 6:10 to 17 or 18 there, he talks about putting on the armor of God and standing strong as we walk with the Lord and that our adversary the devil is opposing us at every turn in the road.

And so, we realize that the Christian life is a battlefield as you look on your notes. Spiritual warfare is being waged every day. And so, we want to be reminded of that. And the second aspect of that whole idea is in the death and resurrection of Christ, our victory is secure. I believe that we are not fighting for victory.

I believe we’re fighting from victory. The battle has already been won, and we are rejoicing in that. And before we jump any further into the passage here, I want us to just look at 2 Timothy chapter 4. And I want to ask you to read if you or stand if you would with me as I read. 2 Timothy 4:1-8.

It’s a great passage. Apostle Paul writing his last letter. He’s writing it from Rome. And he says, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. Preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and understanding or instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to miss. But you, be sober in all things. Endure hardship.

Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. For I’m already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course.

I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. You may be seated. A little bit about this great passage of scripture. The Apostle Paul is writing it, I believe, from the Mamertine Prison in Rome.

It is a dark, dungy, dank, and depressive location. It is a horrible place to be. But Paul is writing with a triumphant joy in his heart because our circumstances don’t determine our joy. Our savior determines our joy. And so he was writing, reflecting on his life, and he was looking in the rearview mirror for a period of time.

You know, we don’t drive looking in the rearview mirror all the time. And by the way, I was a TriMet bus driver for 2 years and 8 months up here. You know that? During my time in schooling, and I did learn to look in the mirror, but I didn’t stare at the mirror. I reflected.

I looked. I glanced at the mirror, but I tried to keep in front. You know, the challenge was keeping 40 people happy that stood behind you or sat behind you in those days. But I realized that you have to focus on where you’re going, but sometimes you reflect on where you’ve been. And I think in this portion of scripture, Paul is looking in the mirror a little bit because he’s saying, “In the length and breadth of my life.”

And he might have been in his 60s, maybe 70 or so, we don’t know. It was probably about 66 AD that he wrote this. He was in prison, Nero was the emperor, crazy, manic a man in the king’s role there for the Romans. But here he was in prison for the work of Christ. And he was in a a desperate strait, it would seem.

He’s coming to the end of his life. In fact, when he says, “My departure is near.” He’s talking about his death. And yet he’s not saying that, ringing his hands, worrying about his life. He realized that he can he can trust the Lord.

In fact, he would write earlier that person who is absent from the body is where? At home with the Lord. And he says, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” So, he’s not worrying about how long will I live, but how will I live as long as I have on Earth as unto the Lord. And so, his great statement that he gives is, “I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.” There’s a true story told of a country of a foreign country that had a golf course that had an unusual problem at that golf course. Now, some of us when we talk about problems at golf courses, it’s not the same as this. But it is a difficult problem because the golfers would be out on the fairway, they would tee off, and then monkeys would come from the trees, and they would grab the golf balls and scamper up the tree.

Can you imagine that? I mean, I guess you get a good excuse for We’re getting a hole-in-one, right? My ball disappeared. So, that would happen and so that the golfers were getting frustrated. These monkeys would come, grab a ball, take off with it, and then they would eventually drop it because they didn’t want to eat a golf ball.

And so, in the course of time, they had to come up with a con- a conclusion, a a response for these bewildered and frustrated golfers. Finally, they came up with a decision. They would put up this sign, and this sign read this: Play the ball where the monkey drops it. What that meant is you take it right where it is. It’s like playing the hand that you’re dealt in life.

We can always dream about something being different in our life, or maybe even regretting some decisions we’ve made, but in in essence, we have to live today. We can’t live yesterday. It’s already gone. We can’t live tomorrow because it’s yet to come. So, we have today to live.

And I think the Apostle Paul, who doesn’t know when he’s going to die, but he knows it’s likely and it’s soon, he wants to live for Christ today. He wants to make his decision to follow the Lord today. In a sense, he was playing the ball where the monkey dropped it. The fight that is good, the spiritual warfare, the Christian life is a battlefield. Spiritual warfare is being waged every day, and in the death and resurrection of Christ, our victory is secure.

But not only is the fight good, but the finish course is to be run. It’s to be run. I’m going to keep a finger there in 2 Timothy, and I’m going to turn over to 1 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul loved this image of a race. He doesn’t tell us about what he physically did in terms of running any race, but he tells us in the spiritual realm how important it is to run the race well.

He says in first Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim.

I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” Paul is saying that even in that time in his life and later on when it comes to the end of his life, he wants to finish strong. Wants to finish strong. Sometimes I have friends or family members who ask what can they pray for me about. What would you say if someone said to you even today, “Well, what what can I pray for you about?”

What would you like prayer about in your life? Here’s what I want to say and what I do say from time to time, “Pray that I finish strong. Pray that I finish strong.” We realize when we get to a certain age and certain amount of gray hair and cetera, we’ve lived most of our life. There’s no kidding us about that.

So, the question is not how long have we lived, but how are we living now looking to the future. I want to finish strong. I want to hit the tape. Plenty of times I’ve been to track meets and and watched runners and the exciting thing to see even if you don’t win in that particular race is that you give your best at the end of the race. You see runners time and again pick up their speed as they run towards the end.

That’s what Paul is saying he wants to do. Running the race in Christ, believers are to endure for God’s glory. Running the race in Christ believers, and if you know Jesus Christ, you are believer. And we’re to run in Christ for the glory of God. As we look at our study notes here, principles of the race.

I’m going to mention five principles for running the race well. How you can run the race of your life. The first principle, believers are running the race together with other believers. Now, that that seems strange, doesn’t it? When we think about it in one sense, because when you run in a race, you are typically running against other people.

You may have a teammate running, too. But you are thinking about winning, but in the Christian life, we’re to run together. In other words, your success is my success, is our success. You win in Christ, I win in Christ, we win in Christ. We’re all in this together.

It’s not like how can I compete and do the best apart from anyone else, but how can I do my best competing with everyone else? I want your success, whether it’s a mission mission trip to Mexico or ministering to your neighbor across the street or sharing the gospel with someone that’s hurting in a hospital. How do we run the race and how do we run it together? The church, the body of Christ, is a success that’s shared together in Christ. There’s no competition in the body of Christ.

We are to complement one another in this work, in this race. The believers are running the race together with other believers. That’s one principle here. As we go back to 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul uses the we and us a lot in his writings. In fact, he he uses over a couple dozen one anothers together in scripture.

Love one another, build up one another, encourage one another, pray for one He’s We’re in it together. We need to remember that. Secondly, believers are to train to run the race well. How do we train in the Christian life? One encouraging thing I would encourage you to do is to read this book regularly.

Read the scriptures. Read the Bible. Make it a priority. Now, some people say I read this in this amount or this much Bible or I read this much in a year or whatever. You can determine that before the Lord, but I would encourage you to pick up this book and read in the Bible every day.

Every day. I have a goal as I read in the Bible and I can be beyond that goal in terms of how much I read, but I want to be in the Bible every day. Isaiah 40:8 says the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God abides forever. It’s an eternal perspective when we read the scriptures. And I praise God for your church because you preach the word.

And I’m sure you teach the word as a priority for people. In fact, Paul says give attention to the public reading of scripture, which we did and which you do. And I watch you on YouTube, by the way. I’m watching you. And I’m praying for you.

And I’m rejoicing with you. And not only with your pastor and his wife, but I’m I’m rejoicing with you. And we pray and watch your videos as well. A third aspect, and this is really important, believers are to run the race with endurance because it is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

When I was in seventh grade Cottage Grove, where I basically grew up. I remember being on the track team as a seventh grader and I was a sprinter on the team. And one particular day, I don’t remember if I think it was a 440 yd run. They didn’t have 400 m going at that time. But I was going to run the 440 at a track meet.

And I was excited about it, but I had the mindset of a sprinter. And back then I think it was 70 yd sprints. Things were different back in the old days. You know, remember horse and buggy to the track. So I got in this 440 yd race and I took off and my thought was well, I’ve got to grab the lead and hold it the whole the whole way.

About 150 200 yd into the race. I was winded. I realized I’m not going to finish this very strong at all. Other runners are passing me by. I was not running an endurance race.

I thought I was in a sprint. I was not in a sprint. The Christian life is a marathon. It is a marathon. It’s not just a sprint for a short time.

It’s a marathon for a long time. The year was 490 BC. The forces of Greece from Athens won a decisive battle over the forces of King Darius I of Persia near a small coastal town in Greece called Marathon. One Greek runner ran non-stop from the battlefield in in Athens or to Athens to carry the news of their great victory. He arrived.

But unfortunately, he then fell dead. He had run the whole distance without stopping and ran 26 mi and died with a news of of victory. It’s interesting that the length of a marathon today is just over 26 miles. Not named after that man so much, but named after that little village, the marathon 26-mile run. This man gave maximum effort as he completed his course.

And we have a marathon that we are to run in as well. It’s not just important that you have a good start in your Christian life. It’s how you’re doing today looking to the future tomorrow. That you run well. That you run with endurance.

You run the race that is set before you. Paul said, and he used this term that we’re going to look at here three times in scripture. It’s only used three times in this way. He used it first of all in 2 Timothy 4:7. He says, “I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.” Verse 7. The course idea, finish the course, is all about literally running. Literally running to the end.

Literally running to the end to complete the race. He said in Acts 40 or 20:24, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course in the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” He wanted to finish his course, and he wanted to finish it well. He wanted to finish it strong. He wanted to hit the tape as he finished.

He wanted to push through the tape. He wanted to give his best to the at the end of the race. And so he spoke of that. And this was, of course, before he even came to the 2 Timothy passage. But one other time it’s used in scripture, in Acts 13: 25, same word used.

It says, “And while John, that is John the Baptist, while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he, but behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.'” So, as Jesus was talking about John the Baptist, he was saying he finished his course as long as he ran his course. We think John the Baptist was probably about 31 when he died. Remember when his he was decapitated by Herod there in a a horrible situation.

And yet, John had completed his course. His course was to exalt Jesus Christ. His course was to be the forerunner to the Messiah. He was to baptize Jesus Christ, though he did not feel worthy of it. In fact, he didn’t he didn’t didn’t even feel worthy to to place the sandal on his shoes, but he did it in service to the Lord.

He fulfilled his job. And so, he finished his course, and he completed it as God would have him to. Believers are to run the race with endurance because it is a marathon, not a sprint. For believers are to run the race that God has given uniquely to each person to run. We see that with John the Baptist.

His His race was a short race. He didn’t know how long he would live. He was imprisoned and then, of course, killed, but he did what he was supposed to do in the amount of time he had on Earth. We don’t know how long we’re going to live. James 3 talks about life is but a vapor, or James 4, life is but a vapor.

It’s here for a brief period of time, and then it’s gone. So, each person is to uniquely run their race as unto the Lord. I mentioned John 21. If you would turn to John 21 in your Bibles, I want us to look at a particular scenario that I find very interesting. Because our tendency as human beings is to compare ourselves to one another.

Have you noticed that? It is probably the worst-case scenario when you’re in junior high. I mean, what if you have the wrong shoes? Or the wrong clothes, or your hair is not the way you think it should be, or whatever it may be. It’s an awkward, challenging time.

But we keep doing that as we get older sometimes, too, don’t we? We compare ourselves. Maybe other things. We’re not worried about the shoes any longer. But we’re comparing ourselves to other people, how things have gone in their life, and how things are going in our life, and how things have happened here and there.

And that was happening even to the Apostle Peter. So, Jesus Christ has died a substitutionary death, died for the whole world, paid the penalty for our sins, past, present, future, died on the cross, was buried in that tomb of Joseph of Arimathea for some 3 days, and then physically, bodily, personally, eternally resurrected from the dead. And we say we have a living Lord and a living savior. And so, now, after this, Jesus is showing himself alive from the dead for some 40 days to, probably 12 different appearances to over 500 people. He is showing himself that he is, in fact, yes, the resurrected Christ.

On one of those occasions, in fact, the third time with the disciples, he was sitting around the Sea of Galilee with them. They just had a great haul of fish because they obeyed Jesus. And by the way, you know it was fishermen that were a part of this whole thing because John, who was a fisherman, said this earlier. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of large fish. Sound like a fisherman?

That’s not all. All full of large fish, 153. That’s a fisherman. It was a wonderful, exciting time. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Then you drop down a little bit later, Jesus is talking to Simon Peter about his love for him. And then Peter does something interesting. He asked about John. It says in verse 19 of chapter 21, “Now this he said signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.” And then he had spoken this.

He said to him, “Follow me.” Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved. John does not mention his name in the possible as the possible John in this book that he is writing. But he’s the disciple whom Jesus loved is the reference to him time and again. The one who also leaned back on his bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays you?”

So So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” We know that Peter is going to die. And that’s been described and that’s going to come out in this whole passage. But Jesus said something very interesting to him. Verse 22, Peter’s just asked, “Lord, what about this man?

What about John?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. You follow me.” Now Jesus was not saying that John will be around.

He was just saying, “If I I him to just what is that to you? In other words, you live your life. Don’t worry about John. Don’t worry about what happens in other people’s lives. Don’t let that be something that you’re always concerning about how are they doing, how am I doing, you know, test scores.

People do that, compare test scores or compare other achievements in life or what they’ve attained or whatever the case may be. We need to say with what Jesus said to Peter, you follow me. That’s what’s important. You follow me. John the Baptist only lived 31 years.

Paul was probably closer to 70. Moses lived 120 years. Joshua 110. I mean, people live different lengths of times. Different things happen to people.

Men and women in scripture, but God has a plan for each person. Believers are to run the race that God has given uniquely to each person to run. Now, when we’re running, we want other people to succeed. We’re wanting them to do well. We’re wanting to bless their lives and encourage them in all that they do.

But remember, we are responsible to discipline ourself and run our race as well. And then, the fifth principle. Let me go over those principles real quick. Principles of the race, believers are to run are running the race together with other believers. Secondly, believers are to train to run the race well, do whatever we can.

Three, believers are to run the race with endurance because it is a marathon. Marathon, not a sprint. Fourth, believers are to run the race that God has given uniquely to each person to run. Just remember, you are unique. You are one of a kind.

I mean, the earth with 8 billion people can handle just one of us, right? We are different. Our DNA, fingerprints, faces, life, backgrounds, experiences, what’s happened in our life, what will happen, it it varies from person to person to person. We’re not to compare ourselves to other people. We’re to run our race because God has uniquely called us to who whatever he calls us to in the course of life.

And he tells us in Psalm 139 that God has ordained the days that we live when as yet there was none of them. God knows just how many days you live, how many beats of your heart over the course of your life. He knows it all. He knows the the end from the beginning. So, we can trust him with our life.

And when when strange things happen and hard things happen and difficult experiences come, we can trust him. When I was 9 years old, we made the only real move we made when I was growing up. I was born in Lebanon, Oregon. Anyone else Lebanon? No?

Okay. You’re just scratching your head. Okay. Born in Lebanon, Oregon. And then at 9 we moved to Cottage Grove.

My dad was a logger. He was cutting down more trees down towards Cottage Grove than Lebanon, so we moved. And we’d only been there a matter of a couple months, I suppose. And I came home from school, Latham School, came home to find out that my dad had been in a terrible logging accident. I didn’t know how terrible.

9-year-olds can only handle so much information. I just saw my mom weeping and overwhelmed with grief. Tears just flowing. And that was not my mom. She cried I’m sure from time to time, but I had never seen her like that.

And so my 11-year-old brother, my 7-year-old sister at the time, we were just wondering what’s going on. Dad’s hurt. Dad’s hurt in the woods. And found out it was a really bad accident. Log came rolling down the hill.

With the sound of the chainsaw going, he could not hear men yelling out, “Look out, Clint. Here comes a log.” It crushed his leg and So my mom was given the news from the doctor. Doctor said, “Your husband has a 50/50 chance of living.” Again, 9-year-olds don’t need to know that.

They did know to need to know that we’re praying about it. They did need to know that the church family we just became a part of was supporting them and praying for them at that time. The body of Christ was gathering and supporting and praying. And I’m here to say that the God answered the prayer in the affirmative and my dad recovered. And I praise the Lord for that.

That doesn’t always happen. I realize that. As I look back, older now, I realize just how gracious God was to allow my dad to teach me to be a man, a Christian man. How important that was to me. And so thankful.

But you never know what God’s going to do in our life. Tragedies happen. Difficulties occur. Unexpected events unravel. We we need to realize that God is the one who’s working in each of our lives uniquely and personally because he loves us so much.

He cares about us. He’s concerned with what happens in our life. And number five, believers are to run hard through the race to finish strong. Run hard through the race. We we run as hard as we need to in the course of the race because we know when we get to the end, we want to finish strong.

And then finally, the priority of running by faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible, not just difficult, but it is actually impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.” So, all that we do in running this race and living this life, in in going towards the end, on focusing on the finish, we do by faith in Christ and Christ alone because we can’t do it on our own. We can only do it as Christ empowers us, encourages us, and strengthens us each new day.

One of the things I do, and I want to encourage you to think about it, I sit down sometimes and write a list of what I have in Christ. I write like notebooks. And sometimes I write things like that, all that I have in Christ, saved eternally in Christ, forgiven forever, going to heaven, citizenship is in heaven, blessed to be a part of the body of Christ, I’m adopted by God the Father. On and on and on. It’s a fun thing to do, but it also reminds us of all we have in Christ.

So, we’ve looked at the fight that is good. We’ve looked at the finished course that is run. We each run our race, we run it as unto the Lord. And finally, the future, our Lord’s return. Paul ends this section by talking about the actual return of Christ when he says this.

He said he just said, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.” Then he says, “In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. Now, this is not work salvation, because we’re not saved by works, are we?

So, it’s not talking about work salvation. We’re only saved by the grace of God and our faith as we repent and believe in Christ. So, when he says rewards and crown of righteousness, he’s talking about how God honors people in heaven for how they lived down here on Earth. God does give out rewards in that respect. In the future, there’s laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day.

And not only to me, but who else? But also to all who have loved his appearing, who have anticipated his coming, who looking forward to being with Christ forever and ever and ever. The scriptures have repeatedly promised the return of Jesus Christ. Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior, Christ Jesus, Paul writes there in Titus 2:13. And then finally, the scriptures promise that believers will be rewarded one day.

All the trials, disappointments, heartache, tragedies, all the stuff we go through in life, all those things God will will use them to accomplish his greater purpose, and we will be with Christ forever and ever and ever when we come to know Jesus. Come to know the one who run the race for us. How are you doing in your race? How’s it going on the track? What do you see for the future in terms of your race?

Do you see living as under Christ? Some people say, “Well, when I get to be 70 or so” and I can say that cuz I’m in that category. I can kind of take it easy. Kind of coast to the end. I mean, I’ve served for years.

I’ve done this and I’ve done that and No, I don’t see that anywhere in scripture. You say, “Does the scripture allow you to retire?” I think it does cuz I’m retired and I believe it. I believe you can retire, but not to retire from something, but to retire to something. What am I retiring to?

Productive Christian living and service as unto the Lord. You see, we’re still to keep on actively serving the Lord. We have a a goal. We’re still running the race. You may be in your 70s or even 80s and you say, “Am I still not You’re still in the race.”

God sees you still on the track. You say, “I can’t do all that I used to do.” I understand that. If I were to race with any one of my grandsons here, I would probably lose. Don’t tell them.

They already know it, actually. I know I can’t do all that I used to do, but I do have today to live as unto the Lord. I have this time in my life. I have this season of service, and it is a good one, and I praise God for it. And I want to challenge you, make sure you’re staying on the track, you’re staying in the race, you’re continuing to endure for the glory of God in Christ Jesus.

Let me conclude with a story. The 19 68 Olympics were in Mexico City, well over 6,000 ft high. And in this marathon race, there was a runner from Tanzania. His name was John Stephen Akwari. In the course of this race, and he’d had a lot of success up to this time, but in the course of the race, and they felt it was probably because of the elevation, because a number of runners had dropped out of of the marathon race, the 26-mile marathon race.

And Akwari, as he ran several miles, and then he suffered a fall. He dislocated his knee. He had severe muscle cramps. And he injured his shoulder. Time to step off the track and retire No, he didn’t.

He continued on. Bloodied and bruised, he continued on. In fact, he came into the stadium an hour more than an hour after the winner had already won. But John wasn’t giving up. He kept on running, and he went through the finish line.

And somebody asked him afterwards, “Why in the world would you keep running? Why didn’t you quit?” He made an interesting statement. John said, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

I want that to be me. I want that to be me. I want to be finishing strong. I don’t know how long I have, nor do you. God determines that.

But as long as I have to run, I want to run the race with endurance in Christ, and finish, Lord willing, to the glory of God. Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead, gave us new life, gave puts us in the race, equipped us with all we need to run the race, and then he empowers us to do that race as we walk by faith and not by sight. Encourage you in your running the race. Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for the great, great privilege we have to know you, to be robed in the very righteousness of Christ, to be adopted into the family of God, to be a part of what you’re doing on this earth.

And Father, I pray that you would use each one of us in a fresh, new way today and in the days ahead. Father, that we would not see our self heading to the sideline, but Father, that we would see our self coming back on the track for the honor and the glory and the praise of Jesus Christ. In whose name I pray. Amen. >> Would you stand and join us?

>> How I long to breathe the air of heaven, where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets, to look upon the one who bled to save me and walk with him for all eternity. There will be a day when all will bow before him. There will be a day when death will be no more. Standing face to face with he who died and rose again. Holy, holy is the Lord.

>> And every prayer you prayed in desperation, the songs of faith we sang through doubt and fear, in the end we’ll see that it was worth it when he returns to wipe away our tears. There will be a day when all bow before him. There will be a day when death will be no more. Standing face to face with he who died and rose again. Holy, holy is the Lord.

And on that day we’ll join the resurrection and stand beside the heroes of the faith. With one voice, a thousand generations, sing, “Worthy is the lamb who was slain.” And on that day we’ll join the resurrection and stand beside the heroes of the faith. With one voice, a thousand generations, sing, “Worthy is the lamb who was slain.” >> Amen.

Well, we have a couple of things as you go. First of all, sign up for the car show, which is coming up quickly. The sign ups will be in the breezeway on your way out. And if you are looking or no, if you are an usher or a greeter, there is a meeting for you in the prayer room, room 102. And before we do all that, I’d like the Mexico team to please come on up here.

We would love to pray for you. And I’m going to ask Jim to come up and pray, I think. >> Yeah, and I’ll just give a just brief outline of what we’re going to be doing in Matamoros, Mexico, and then beyond that as well. So, the seven of us that are traveling Ken Erickson is also going to be traveling with us. We’re going to be meeting up with Patrick and Shaylin O’Connor, and we’re going to be really coming alongside the folks that are there.

There’s going to be long-term missionaries we’re going to be working with, as well as local pastors in Mexico. And that’s really what short-term mission trips are all about. It’s not about us coming in and saying, “Here’s how we’re going to do things.” It’s us coming and saying, “How can we serve you? How can we bless you?

How can we pray for you?” And so, there will be a a couple main things we’re going to be doing two VBSs while we’re down there with the the local churches, and then we’re going to be visiting a prison. And so, it’s just going to be an awesome time. Possibly some minor repairs, construction, things like that. But some things that you guys can be doing as a church, we see this in scripture, the church sends missionaries out to bring the gospel and to serve in other areas around the world.

What you can be doing is praying. And not everybody is called to travel to another nation. We don’t see that in scripture that that’s a requirement. We feel called to do that at this time, but but know that this is a whole body endeavor. The entire body of Christ is involved because as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, you can help us by your prayers.

Paul was convinced that your prayers are powerful and effective and make a difference. So, know that you’re just as involved as we are. So, we’re actually be going, you are going with us in spirit, all right? And for with that, I’ll ask Jim to pray for us. >> Let’s all hold our hands high.

Put our arms around these folks. Abba Father, we just thank you for the privilege of coming before you. For the privilege of being part of your will and your way. And in this time, I pray that your merciful hands, your loving arms should be around this group. Keep them safe.

Show your love. And may all that happens be for your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen. >> Amen.

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 7,853 words.