Amen. All right. I just want to say thank you once again for everybody being here.
And I'm going to hand this off to somebody. You just said it with your stuff. Thank you, sir.
Strange pulpit. Not that it's strange in a bad way, just different. So anyway,
okay, so and I just also want to just take the time to thank Brother
Justin and his wife Emily for all their hard work and for stepping up and
just taking on the challenge of leading a church. It's not an easy job. So and
then, of course, brother Matt and his wife, Miss Rachel, and they've sacrificed
a lot to make this thing happen. So I just want to say thank you for
everything that they did to set everything up. And we're having some
feedback issues. Is that what's going on? This is off, though, right? Okay.
Is it? Is it okay? It's still ringing. Okay. All right. I'm tone deaf, so you can
tell when I sing. But anyway, so let's look down at our bibles here. Verse
number one, Hebrews Chapter 12. It says, Wherefore seeing we're all also we
also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay
aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let
us run with patience the race that is set before us looking into Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God. We still having some feedback stuff
here. You could just switch me off and I could go to this. If
it's just try to adjust it. All right. Did you put me on the
mic or hold the pedestal on? Okay. All right. Sorry. That's
the thing about starting a new church and all the new sound system
and stuff. It just takes a while to kind of say it's still
again. Let's just switch it off from that later. Can you? We
good? Okay, I'll just try not to move around a lot. But
anyway, so those verses are very powerful versus the title of my
sermon this morning is the SFBC or Sure Foundation Baptist
Church Motor Speedway. Now this city is famous for the
Indianapolis 500. And that's a race that's held here every
year. Of course, if you were from around here, probably from
whatever distance the that's a very it's a very famous race.
And it's known all throughout the world and about 325,000
people cram into that speedway there and watch people race
around a track going in circles of left hand turns for
it's 500 miles, right? That's why it's called the
500. But I kind of want to compare, you know, driving in a
race or, or the motor speedway, and kind of just kind of
compare that with how church life should be for us and the
things that we could think about when we start this new
church, maybe where your mindset should be. And I just
thought it'd be interesting because I did a tour of the
speedway when I was here last time. I want to go to the
Pacers game last night, but I was too tired. But I went to
the speedway me and brother Justin went on a tour. And I'd
never seen it before, obviously, and they call it the
brickyard because it used to be laid in brick or whatever. But
it's got some pretty, it's got some pretty cool history to it
and things like that. But the Bible refers a lot to athletic
competitions, especially in Paul's epistles. He likes to
see seems like he was a sports fan. And there goes my
other distraction. Sorry about that. It's like 730 in the
morning or something where I live. So anyway, so sorry for
all the distractions anyway, but in Paul's epistles, he seems
like he's a sports fan because he brings up races and
fighting and different types of things. And I'm not an
expert on racing by a long shot. I've never actually
watched a full race on television ever in my life.
I've watched a couple highlights here there when
Jeff Gordon was like at his, in his prime, which was a
long time ago, he was kind of like the Michael Jordan
of racing there for a while. But I think that, you
know, obviously, a lot of people don't like him. But is
that true? Like people don't like Jeff Gordon? Do you
even know who Jeff Gordon is? Okay. I'm dating myself
here. But I don't even think he's an Indy car racer.
So it's, you know, anyway, but I'm not an expert
obviously, on racing. But I do think it's a cool
comparison to the Christian life. And in Hebrews chapter 12
one, it puts the race of the Christian in perspective
for us. You see how it says that we need to run
the race with patience. So let us run with patience,
the race that is set before us. So every person
in this room, you know, obviously, just as a human
being, our race starts when we first are born in
this, in this planet. And then when we die, the race
is over. But as Christians, you know, whatever age that
you become a Christian, there's also another race.
It's that Christian race. And you're trying to, you
know, live the best Christian life that you can in
this world before it, you know, because that race,
that deadline, that finish line is going to be when
you die also in the Lord on this earth. So, and
when it says there's a great witness, there's great
witnesses compassed about, I think of a circle and a
racetrack is kind of just like a big circle with
a bunch of turns. I mean, obviously, different tracks
look different, but there's a lot of spectators
watching people race around these tracks, right? And
you can't really catch all the angles. And it's so
big that you depend on where you sit. That's the
best seat. I mean, that's kind of what I perceived
when I was there. But the Bible says in, in
Hebrews 12 one, it says we're compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses. And whether we
realize this or not, there's people that are up in
heaven that are watching what we're doing also.
That's what it says, right? That we're compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses. There's
people that came before us that are probably
cheering us on and maybe you're their favorite
racer. And they're like, yeah, get those people
saved. Yeah. You know, I mean, I don't know, but
it says they're compassed about us. That means
they're encircled about us and they're watching
what we do. Obviously, God is watching what we do.
And that's more important than anything. But, you
know, Paul's talking about this race and he's, he
brings his compass about by the cloud of
witnesses. People are watching what we're, what
we're doing. And even people on this earth are
watching what we're doing. So the race that we
run is really important. And how we run that
race is, is going to make or break a lot of
things in our life, in the Christian life. And
sometimes we're going to fail. Sometimes, you
know, we're going to, you know, have a flat
tire or we're going to, you know, maybe
hopefully not crack, not completely crash and
total the car because then it's over. Right. But
our goal is to finish the race or to run the
race with patience. Now in race car driving,
that's not really so much a thing, you know,
but there are patient moments that they have
to do when they're doing their maneuvers
around people. And again, I'm again, not an
expert. I just saw, you know, some stupid
movies about it and it's probably not realistic
at all. But like Talladega Nights and that's
definitely, that's definitely not one that you
would judge your racing by. But anyway, so, but
our life as a Christian is like kind of like
an Indy car race, just a lot slower. But we
go in circuits of life also, don't we? We
go around in circles and it's like every year
there's a new year. Every year there's
new seasons that we go through and we have
our seasons and we have, you know, our
race is not 500 miles. Our race is however
many years we're on this earth and like
racing time, at times we're moving fast, but
around the corners they have to slow down,
don't they? So there's times in the Christian
life where we, you know, we, we hit the,
we pedal to the metal, put the nitrous in
or whatever, and then we, we hit it. But
sometimes it's good to throttle back. You
know, it says to, you know, that it's to
run your race with patience because if you're a
sprinter or, you know, just put it in
perspective of someone that's running a foot
race, which is probably what Paul's talking
about, or a chariot race or something. But
if you, if you think about that, you, if
you're running a long distance, you don't
sprint the whole time. You have to pace
yourself and realize what your pace is. And
if you've ever trained for running before, you
know that you can't just sprint the whole
way and think you're going to win because
you're going to gas out and then you're
going to not finish the race. So, and
if you don't make a pit stop in
a car, your tires aren't going to get
fixed, you know, whatever else that they do,
you know, they run in there with the
jacks and change all the tires and all
that stuff. And if you don't maintenance
yourself, if you don't maintenance your
life as a Christian, then, you know, the
car is going to be having some problems.
So, um, I kind of picture really
ultimately we're following the driver, the
real driver of our church is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's, he's behind the
wheel. And I would say, and I'm not
trying to like be blasphemous for
anything, but like the power of the
Holy Spirit might be the car that he's
driving. Okay. So Jesus had a lot of,
you know, he was filled with the Holy
Spirit and you know, we as Christians
also are supposed to follow and
emulate Jesus Christ. Right. And so we
want to get in there and, and, you
know, follow Christ and try to emulate
his life and how he lived his life and
to keep his commandments and do what
he said. So if we want to run the
best race, we look at the person that
ran it before us, right? Look at verse
number two and the text that says
looking at the Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith. So he authored
it, he finished it. He, he's the one
that did it for the joy that was
set before him, endured the cross,
despising the shame and is set down
at the right hand of the throne of
God. So he, he did the victors. He got
the victory and, and, and, and
showed the way for us to go forward.
Now, again, but I can picture also, you
know, cause obviously we're supposed
to be like Christ. So we also are in
our own spiritual race. And of course,
if you're saved today, the power of
the Holy spirit, you should have the
power of the Holy spirit in your life
too. Everybody gets the spirit of God
when you get saved, that's just how
it works. And he seals us onto the
day of redemption, but Jesus Christ, he's
not, he not only authored and
finished for us, he finished the race
for us, but he also set the track
record. You know, there's, nobody's
going to beat that record. He, he did
it better than anybody else flawlessly.
And if you're looking at it in terms
of racing, you know, and his car had
max power. His was the, it was faster
than Ferrari and whoever else makes these
fast cars. But again, I'm not an
expert in that. So I'm not, people
are like Pastor Thompson Ferrari is
not the fastest car. I know the
Mustang is, but just made in America,
baby. No, I'm just kidding. But, uh,
let's turn over to Luke chapter nine,
Luke chapter nine. So when, once we
start the Christian race, you know,
we do have a responsibility to, you
know, we want to get sin out of our
life, which is, you know, while
you're turning there, I'm just going
to mention this real quickly that
we're supposed to lay aside every
weight because weight is going to hold
you down. So whatever's holding you
back from living the Christian life and
from running that race, you got to
get rid of that. You got it. And we
didn't, we didn't start getting rid
of the things that are going to hold
us back. And that could be sin, but
it could just be other things in
life that are stopping you from
serving the Lord with all your might
and winning that race. And, but it
does say in the sin, which does so
easily beset us. And if you're,
you're already a center, you
already have problems, but you know,
to lay aside some, we have to
learn to lay aside sin to serve the
Lord better. And that's just a fact.
And so the more weight you have
on when you're racing or running a
race or driving in a race, you
know, I'm sure that they spec all
that stuff out. This is exactly
how much you have to weigh when
you're driving the car this year.
And, you know, this is, you
can't have, you know, your soda
pop in the middle. I don't know
what they, what they do, but I'm
sure that they have all that stuff
specced out. They have the
weights all checked out. So we as
Christians also don't want to
have that weight and that sin.
And so we need to get the sin
out of our life as we start to
run the race. And you know, the
only way you're gonna do that
is by the power of the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Spirit. That's
the advantage that we have.
You know, unsaved people can
quit smoking. Unsaved people
can quit drinking. Unsaved people
could stop doing certain sins,
but you're never going to have
the power that a Christian would
have to defeat sin because of
the power of the spirit. Now,
are we ever going to be
perfect and sinless? Not until
Jesus comes back and then
we'll get, you know, then we
really will have the Ferrari
bodies, right? You know, we'll
have the bodies, you know, and
actually better than that
because they'll never run out
of gas. I mean, we're going to
be immortal. That's what the
Bible teaches, right? So Luke
chapter nine says in verse
59, it says, and he said unto
another, follow me. But he
said, Lord, suffer me to first
to go and bury my father. And
Jesus said unto him, let the
dead bury their dead, but go
thou and preach the kingdom of
God. So Jesus doesn't end to
our excuses. He, you know, he's
just like, well, my dad died.
He's like, let the dead bury
their dead. I mean, that's
pretty harsh, but he's making
a point here. You know,
whatever's that weight is,
it's besetting you because all
these people kind of have
legitimate, what seems like
legitimate reasons to, you
know, not run that, you know,
to, to not fall right away.
But I think that God wants
us. This is, this, this
passage is showing us that God
wants us to start right away.
And he wasn't even, you know,
he was like, let the dead bear
their dead, but go thou and
preach the kingdom of God. And
it says in another also said,
Lord, I will follow thee, but
let, but let me first go bid
them farewell, which are at
home at my house. So he just
wants to say goodbye to his
family. I mean, is that so
much to ask what's Jesus say?
And Jesus said unto him, no man
having put his hand to the
plow and looking back is fit
for the kingdom of God. Now
it's not saying that you're not
saved or if you don't follow me
right away, you're not saved.
It's just saying, Hey, you
gotta be able to forsake all
that you have to follow Christ
and some, and that's a price
that some people are just not
willing to pay. Turn to Luke
chapter 14, verse 25,
because don't you think if
you're a professional athlete
and I'm just going to, I like
to use sports as, as these,
for instance, because athletes
have to give up a lot of
stuff in order to be the
best. And I'm not saying
that's what we should do.
I'm just saying to be a
Christian, sometimes we have
to give up a lot of stuff to
be the best Christians we can
be. Now look at Luke chapter
14, verse 25, it says, and
there were multitudes with
him. And he turned and said
unto them, if any man come
to me and hate not his
father and mother and wife
and children and brethren and
sisters, yay, and his own
life, he cannot be my
disciple. Now that verse
probably bothers a lot of
people. I don't think that
he's necessarily saying that,
you know, you have to hate
them like you would hate
like a homo or something,
right? Well, I'm talking
about, I think he's talking
about your, your love for
me should seem like hate
to anybody else that would
interfere with that. God's
supposed to be number one
in our life. The Lord Jesus
Christ is supposed to be
number one, and that is
above father, mother,
children, anything else. And
so we're supposed to follow
him, you know, no matter
what. And it says verse 28
for which of you intending
to build a tower sit not
down first and count the
cost, whether you have
sufficient to finish it. He's
making a point here. When
you become a Christian, you
know, you have to count the
cost of being a Christian.
And sometimes people aren't
willing to pay that cost.
And that's why a lot of
people get out of church and
things like that. But to
come to this church, you
know, you do have to count
the cost because it's going
to cost you some extra
gas money. If you're
living from out of town,
it's going to cost you
some extra time that you're
not used to spending. If you
didn't already have a great
church you were going to, or
if you're just not, you
know, maybe you just weren't
going to church at all,
then, you know, you've got
to count the cost of what
it's going to take to be a
member of this church
because sometimes it's going
to cost you. And, you
know, sometimes we have to
sacrifice in order to be
the best Christians that we
can be, you know, and
being out of church is not
really an option. We all
should be attending church.
Well, I'll get to that
here in a minute here, but
it says, lest happily after
he has laid the foundation
and is not able to finish
it, all that behold it
begin to mock him. And
the same thing is going to
happen to you when you,
you know, when you get
saved and you go to all
your family members and
you try to get them all
saved and you're just like
on fire and then they
watch you. They just
think, oh, he's just
going through that little
church thing. You know,
let him, he'll come back,
he'll come back. And
when you fail, that's
exactly what they're going
to do. They're going to
mock you. Oh, I thought
you were a church person,
you know? Oh, what are
you drinking that beer? I
thought you said that
alcohol was wicked. You
know, we don't want to
fall from our steadfastness
folks. We have to
maintain, um, our, you
know, our walk with
Christ, because if you
don't, if you don't
finish, if you don't
finish the race, if you
just kind of jump out of
the Christian life and
start living and going
back to Egypt, then
what's going to happen
is you're going to get
mocked by your family,
by your friends and
everybody else that you
said, oh, I'm a strong
Christian. I'm this, I'm
that. And, and so the
point is to finish it.
Right. So, um, let's go
to Titus chapter three,
verse eight. So when I'm
likening that, and again,
I don't want to sound
blasphemous, but in
racing, there's this
thing called the pit and
the pit is not, you
know, the pit sounds
like the pit of hell,
right? But the pit is
where the maintenance
gets done for the
vehicles. So when a car
comes in and they're on,
you know, they're on a
pit stop, you've heard
of a pit stop, I'm
sure they drive into
that pit stop. And
that's when everybody
jumps out and starts
maintenance in the
vehicle. Right. And I
would say that a church
is likened unto that,
that if you're not in
church, then you're
going to have a problem
with your maintenance
because this church is
going to have three
services a week, Sunday
morning, Sunday evening.
And then we're going
to have a Wednesday
night service. And
it's, it's really
important for us as
Christians to get our
weekly maintenance. And
so if you're not in
church or you're
skipping church, I mean,
you're, you're, you're
missing important
fellowship, you're
missing important
friendship, you're
missing important
edification from the
preaching. And, you
know, that's more
important than you
actually realize. So
what does a pit crew
do? Well, they
refuel the car when
it comes in, change the
tires, help and driver
changes if necessary.
They're cross trained
to do whatever they
need to do as fast
as possible. The boss on
the site is the crew
chief. So that's what I
would liken to, like the
pastor or the spiritual
leader of the church is
the crew chief. And so
everybody that's in the
church, when we're
together, you know,
we're, we're, we're in
the pit, but not the
pit, obviously the pit
of heaven, right? But
it's like the
maintenance shop, right?
And we have people that
work within and do a
lot of tasks and
chores in the, and
there would be the pit
crew. So then you
have the crew chief who
kind of leads, but
I'll, I'll, I'll get
into that in a few
minutes here, but, um,
you know, we need
multiple pit stops, you
know, to maintenance
ourselves in the
Christian life. We can't
just go to church once
and say, Oh, I went to
church once. You know,
that's not going to
help you, but what a
race they're going
around and around the
track, right? So every
single week you should
be going around and
then, you know, after a
certain amount of
laughs, I'm not sure
how many, how much
that is, but they do
have to stop and take
them and take a
maintenance check. Right.
So, and, and you're
going to get that when
you come to church via
preaching, via
encouragement, being
edification of the
fellow believers and
worshiping and praising
the Lord, because really
it's all about the
Lord. That's why we're
here today. That, that
should not be lost in
this message at all, but
we're here to praise
the Lord and to thank
him, you know, his
mercy endure forever,
his goodness to us. You
know, we can't thank
him enough. I mean,
the great gift of
salvation is something
that we should always
be thankful for. And
it's an unspeakable
gift that we've gotten.
So we need fellowship
with believers too. You
think, well, that's not
a big deal. I can just
watch on YouTube. You
know, the problem with
that though, is that,
and I look, I think
that watching sermons on
social media is good,
but there's nothing like
actually being here in
the services and being
with God's people and
being encouraged to be
together. But, um, I
wanted to, uh, I preach
this before I preach it
not too long ago, but I
really hold to this
thought that there's four
areas in our life where
we have to get, um, you
know, in our daily lives
that we have to do, uh,
to balance out. Now when
your car has that
sensor, it goes, you
know, nowadays they have
sensors. You used to
have to listen, you
know, when the tire was
flat or whatever, but
now they have sensors.
And when that sensor
goes off, you start
freaking out, right?
Because you're like, oh
man, I got a nail on my
tire or something.
But tires are supposed
to be balanced and
rotated on a certain
amount, you know, every
certain amount of miles,
I think. And they
also, uh, have to be
filled to a certain
level. And if your
tires are out of
balance, that means
your car's not going
to drive. Right. So
in a race, obviously,
you know, picturing
that as the Christian
race, that, you
know, if you're all
that stuff's out of
balance, then you're
going to not be
balanced in one of
those area. If you
have like less tire
pressure in one tire,
then all the other
tires, your car's
not going to drive
right. So everything
should be maintenance
in our lives. So, and
I would say, go
ahead and turn to
Joshua chapter one,
verse eight, Joshua
chapter one, verse
eight, and one fatal
flaw that they did
when they started to
put this church
together, they forgot
to put a clock in
the back for me to
look at. And so that's
a mistake with
pastor Thompson, but
anyway, Joshua
chapter one, verse
number eight, the
Bible says this book
of the law shall not
depart out of thy
mouth, but thou shalt
meditate therein day
and night that thou
mayest observe to do
all, excuse me, to
do according to all
that is written therein
for then thou shalt
make thy way
prosperous. And then
thou shalt have good
success. So one of
the things that I
think that you need
to have to bet, to
maintenance your,
your, your spiritual
life is to read your
Bible daily. You can't,
you can't just not
read your Bible and
think that you're
going to be
spiritual that day at
all. And the Bible
actually says thou
shout, you know,
meditate there in day
and night. This is
Joshua talking to the
children of Israel. This
is something we should
be doing. We should be
reading the Bible and
we had a Bible
challenge at our church.
And we do, we've been
doing that since we
were very Vancouver, but
it's good to read the
Bible, you know, that
much for a month, but
obviously you might not
be able to keep that
pace in your daily
life, but at least
read some, at least
read the Bible once a
year and make sure
that you're reading it
daily because you don't
want that out of
balance. The next thing
go ahead. Turn to
Hebrew chapter 10,
verse 24. You want to
be successful? Read your
Bible. And these aren't
really in a particular
order, but you want to
be successful, go to
church. You want to,
you want to be a
balanced Christian, go to
church. When, whenever
the doors are open,
whenever you, you know,
obviously some people
are three hours away. I
don't expect you to
show up here on a
Wednesday night unless
maybe you're on
vacation or something,
but I'm talking about
the people that live
here that are local to
this area. Hey, try to
be here on Wednesday
night, try to be here
on Wednesday night. And
the, because the more
church you go to, the
better off you're
going to be. Look at
the Hebrews 10, 24
says, and let us
consider one another to
provoke. So what are
we supposed to be
doing? What's, why are
you saying this? Well,
because we're supposed
to consider other
people. You know,
Jesus died saving
others. Jesus thought
about others besides
himself. And, you
know, sometimes we
think, well, it's just,
it's okay to just skip
church, but it says,
let us consider one
another to revoke unto
love and to good works.
So part of the purpose
of coming to church and
coming together and when
people see your face,
they're like, oh, hey,
they're a church, you
know, that's, that's
encouraging to me. And,
and you can talk about
things that you're
reading about in the
Bible, or you can talk
about soul winning or
whatever, whatever you
want to talk about, but
we got to provoke and
consider other people
and to provoke them to
love and good works.
It says, not forsaking
the assembling of
ourselves together. So
are, is it a command of
God to assemble together
or not? Is that what
the Bible says? Not
forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as
the manner of some is
because some people have
the manner and manners
like a habit. So some
people have a habit of
forsaking church. They
have a habit of
forsaking the assembling
and some people have that
manner, but it says,
but exhorting one
another. And so much the
more as you see the day
approaching. So does it
say, you go to church
more as you see the day
approaching or less
more so we're supposed
to go to church more as
we see the day
approaching. What day is
it talking about the day
of Christ, the day
that Christ returns, you
know, we should go to
church more and not
less. And what does
this world need? They
need more church, not
less. People are so
concerned about, you
know, what's going to
happen in the white
house. Well, we need
to be concerned more
about what's happening in
the church house. And
we need to consider
other people besides
ourselves, because if
you're not here, you
know, it discourages
other people. You might
not think it, but after
a while, they're like,
well, how come so and
so never comes to
church anymore? And it's
just like, well, you
know, they just don't
find it important.
Something else is more
important. And, you
know, don't let that
be your manner. I
think that as this
church is beginning, you
know, try your best
to be here at every
service if you can. So
the first thing you
need to do to
maintain your spiritual
life and to make
sure your race car is
running right is to
read your Bible daily,
day and night, go to
church when the doors
are open. And the other
thing is pray daily.
The Bible says pray
without ceasing. Now
you're like, well,
that's impossible. Pastor
Thompson. Well, maybe
that's not what it
means in reality. Maybe
it just means without
quitting. Don't quit your
prayer life. Don't just
pray every time
something's going bad
in your life and you
never pray when
something's going good
or you never thank God
for the things that he
does for you. And so
that should be a daily
thing in Psalm 55 or 17.
You can turn there if
you want, but if not,
just listen. It says in
Psalm 55 or 17 evening
and morning and at noon
will I pray and cry
aloud and he shall
hear my voice. So
obviously maybe you're
not here to the point
where you're praying
three times a day. I'm
not saying pray for
six hours on your
knees. Like some of
these bozo preachers
try to claim that
they do. Nobody's going
to pray on their knees
for six hours. That's
just not possible
every day. I mean come
on. I don't believe you.
But you know when
we think that you know
because I mean you
don't want to be out of
balance. So now the
other thing is we need
to go soul winning on a
regular basis. And I
think that at least a
weekly soul winning is
what we should be doing.
Proverbs 11 30 says the
fruit of the righteous is
a tree of life and he
that when his souls is
wise. So our fruit as
save people is to make
more trees. The fruit
of the righteous is a
tree of life. So we
want to make and
replicate what we
already are. If you're
already a soul winning
Christian we want to
make other soul winning
Christians. How do you
do that? Well you win
souls. Says he that
with his souls is wise.
That means you're smart.
It's a good thing to
do. It's spiritual. And
so if you don't do these
four things then your
spiritual life is going
to be out of balance.
I'm not saying that's
the only things that we
should do but I just
think if you focus on
those four things then
your life will be more
balanced your Christian
life and you're not
going to be you know
going around like if you
just say you have one
flat tire and three
full tires. Well you're
still out of balance
right. So you don't
want to be so out of
balance with these other
things that you're
lacking in another area.
Overdoing prayer time.
I mean I'm not saying
don't pray but you could
overdo it to the point
where you're not doing
other things that you
should be doing and just
like Bible reading if
you're if you're reading
tons of Bible but you're
not actually getting out
and applying it then what
what it's it's it's
still going to leave you
out of balance. If you're
not going soul winning
you're going to lose
your love for Christ.
You know we're supposed
to be doing the first
works which Jesus said
follow me and I'll make
you fishers of men.
That's the first works
right. And if you're
you know if you're out of
balance then your
car isn't going to make it
for very long when you're
out of balance.
Now so I want to talk
about the crew chief.
So the crew chief is
the pastor or spiritual
leader you know in my
little comparison here
today. So the pastor
or spiritual leader or
the deacon or an
evangelist some ordained
man of God is the crew
chief and he oversees the
pit and the pit crew
and leads and guides them
coordinating the pit crew
and conferring with the
driver analyzes TV
broadcasting via
flat screen monitors in
the pit box.
So you know the pastor
is the overseer and
bishop you know the
bishop you know we're
supposed to be leading
the church and watching
over the flock and
making sure that
everything that the
rules are enforced.
And you know the really
big thing that we're
supposed to do is preach
the word of God
uncensored unencumbered
we're supposed to preach
the word of God no
matter what it says no
matter who it hair lips
no matter who it upsets
even if it's the people
in our own church they
can't you know people
love they love hard
preaching until it lands
on their doorstep and
then they get all
offended and whiny and
sniveling and you know
you have to be prepared
to get your toes stepped
on every once in a
while because you know
you might be rah rah
rah then then your
sin gets picked on and
look brother Justin
hopefully isn't going to
do this I would advise
him not to do this but
to pick one person to
just preach against that
week because usually they
don't show up that's
what happens but you
know we shouldn't operate
that way but the word
of God when you preach
it and when you preach
the whole counsel of God
then the word of God is
going to you know it's
going to sting you at
some point you know
it's going to it's going
to pick on something that
you're not doing right
that's why the word of
God is supposed to be
preached the word of God
is quick powerful sharper
than a two edged sword
piercing even to the
divided asunder of soul
and spirit and of the
joints and marrow and as
a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of
the heart the Bible can
read your mind the
Bible can read your heart
the Bible is so sharp it
can cut soul and spirit
and divide them asunder
and so it can get into
your inward parts and you
know it's a it's a
spiritual thing the word
of God but it is like
into a sword and you know
a sword slices and
sometimes it slices you
in places that you don't
like but you have to
understand that church
like this you're going to
get preached your sins
are going to get
preached about at some
point so and I'm
entrusting brother Justin
to run this pit stop run
this pit crew while I'm
not here obviously I'm
going to be monitoring
from flat screens from
afar but you know I'm
I'm you know I'm the
pastor of the church but
I also want you to
respect the leadership
that's in place here and
no he's not a pastor no
he's not an evangelist or
anything like that but
that's the plan that you
know he is trained and
gets that and that
happens so I want you to
turn to Hebrews chapter 13
because I want
to make sure that people
are treating the
leadership right and you
know when in Hebrews 13
it has three different
instances that I really
like to go to and the
first one is verse number
seven it says remember
them which have the rule
over you who have spoken
unto the word of God
whose faith follow
considering the end of
their conversation so
let's talk about the
pastor let's talk about
the spiritual leader says
remember them that have
the rule over you so how
should you remember them
just like think about
them and go I just
remember you know
remember them in prayer
remember your prayers fit
you know think good
thoughts towards them you
know don't you hate when
people go thoughts and
prayers thoughts and
prayers or this my
thoughts are with you
it's like well thank you
so much you know it's
doing absolutely nothing
but you're a heathen
he's not listening to if
you're praying anyway I'm
just kidding but but
it says who's you know
that you have to remember
them which have the rule
over you and you know
the pastor or the
spiritual leader has the
rule over the church
that's you know and
this is not a normal
setup for most churches
most churches are deacon run
they have a deacon board
that tells the pastor what
he can do what he can't do
this is a pastor led church
and so that's the way it
is and if you if you
prefer something else then
go someplace else there's
plenty of churches that
you can go to that don't
have that model but that's
the model we have and
so it says to follow
their faith considering the
end of their conversation
that's talking about
their lifestyle the way
they live their life skip
down to verse 17 verse 17
says obey them that have
the rule over you and
submit yourselves for
they watch for your
souls as they that must
give an account that they
may do it with joy and
not with grief for that
is unprofitable for you
so it says remember
them it says obey them
so if Justin's telling
you what color car to
buy then that's that's
a red flag right you
know he shouldn't have
that much control your
personal lives you know
we're our job is to
get up and preach the
word of God and to rule
the house of God okay
and you know we can
suggest things through
preaching but if you do
them or don't do them
that's your choice you
deal with it yourself
and that's between you
and God and you know
you don't want to have
that attitude where only
God can judge me you
know people get those
stupid tattoos you know
he's going to judge you
for that tattoo too so
well we're supposed to
it says submit yourselves
for they watch for your
souls you know that's
what an overseer does
that's what a pastor does
what a bishop does and
that they may do it with
joy and not with grief
don't be a pain in the
neck to the spiritual
leadership here don't be
a pain in the neck and
that that purse that
wheel that always has
to get grease because
you just always have a
problem about something
you're upset you're
offended about whatever
and you're just being a
problem you want to be
a joy to them and
because you don't want
them you don't want
Justin to hate coming
here because he has to
deal with you every
single week it's like oh
man you know you want
to be a blessing to the
leadership now look at
verse 24 says salute
them all them excuse
me that have the rule
over you and all the
saints they have Italy
salute you so you know
salute is to say
hi or you know that's
what we would do today
shake hands with them
or whatever don't avoid
them because you're mad
or bitter about
something that they
preach you should you
know honor your
spiritual leadership you
know what I'll say
this from the start
treat his you know
treat brother Justin's
wife nicely
treat his family nicely
you're like well why
are you saying that
because usually the
people that like to
attack they attack the
wife that's what Satan
did in the Garden of
Eden and I just noticed
it in many different
settings I've noticed that
my own church when we
started that people
and it's usually women
like to pick on the
wife of the leader I
don't want that
happening here if I find
out it's happening I'm
going to you know come
down here and crack
some heads and I'm just
kidding but I'll crack
your skull you know
spiritually with some
preaching you know you
don't want to make
Justin's wife miserable
to be here you want to
have her feel welcome
and be blessed and
you're like well I've
never heard of that
happening trust me it
happens you know I've
had my wife you know
walk into a room full
of ladies and then the
one wife says hi
to everybody else oh
hi how are you doing
then when my wife
walks in she's just
like won't even talk to
them like what's
that all about people
just get this weird
thing with pastors wives
or leaderships wives
and I just want you to
be respectful not only
to brother Justin but
also to his family turn
to First Thessalonians
chapter 512 First
Thessalonians 512
says and we beseech you
brethren to know them
which labor among you
and are over you in the
Lord and admonish you
so there are people
that are over you in
the Lord that would be
the spiritual leader and
to admonish you that
word admonish means to
warn or reprimand
someone firmly advise
or urge earnestly
warn of something to be
avoided it's the job of
the spiritual leader to
get up and reprimand
people even maybe just
in private but
to advise or urge
earnestly you know it's
basically like a warning
it's basically like hard
Bible preaching which is
what our church is based
upon hard preaching
soul winning I mean
those are the two things
that people would say that
the new IFB quote unquote
are famous for is
that they like the hard
preaching but the hard
preaching is something that
you are going to have
to just deal with and
it's the job of the
spiritual leader to get
up and do that and like
I said people love sermons
where it's ripping on
everybody else's you know
this the sermons that
are the most popular
that used to be when
they were able to be on
YouTube or sermons
ripping on fags sermons
ripping on the Jews they
still love those ones
and look rightly so
but then when it comes
to their own issues they
get these little hurt
feelers you know
so you know like the
hard preaching don't be
a candy you know what
Baptist and timid
and cowardly and sissy
and thin skinned because
if you're thin skinned
you're not going to last
very long around here
verse 13 says and to
esteem them very
highly in
love for their work sake
so you might not like
Justin like his face
you know you might want
to punch him because of
his what his face looks
like or whatever but
you better esteem him very
highly though if
you don't like maybe maybe
there's something you just
don't like about somebody's
personality or whatever but
you're still supposed to
respect them you're still
supposed to esteem them
highly white in love
for their work sake the
work here is going to be
hard and nobody understands
what being a spiritual
leadership is like until
you become a spiritual
leader and it is not
always easy it can be
very difficult getting
up and preaching is fun
it's the best part of
being a pastor or a spiritual
leader but that's not all we
do you know when
you're taking phone calls
about people's marriage
falling apart and you have
to you know and try to
sort out all these crazy
family dynamics because
divorce is such a rampant
thing in our culture you
know it didn't used to be
that way pastors are having
to deal with situations now
that they've probably never
had to deal with you
know at least in this
country so and
without help
without helping the leader
this church is going to
fail without supporting
the leader this church is
going to fail and you don't
want the pit boss to
fail you want to help him
because you know what this
church is if you don't have
a leader then then
you know you're going to be
in deep trouble so turn to
Exodus chapter 18 Exodus
chapter 18.
So I want
Justin to delegate some
of his duties and I think
it's good for you as a
Christian to help
with tasks around the church
you know the leader
can't do everything.
And so you know
as a working church there
should be people willing to
work.
And in Exodus chapter 18
Moses is doing all the
work he's like you know
he's from for the time he
gets up to the time it gets
dark he's like preach
you know counseling people
basically and so he doesn't
have time to do anything else
and his father in law comes
to visit him and
he's watching this all go
down.
And look at verse 13 says it
came to pass on the moral
that Moses said to judge the
people and the people stood by
Moses from morning until
evening when Moses father
in law saw that he did to
the people he said what is
this thing that that do is to
the people.
Why sit is that myself alone
and all the people stand by
the from morning to eat under
evening and excuse me under
even and Moses said unto
his father in law because
the people come on to me to
inquire of God when they
have a matter they come on
they come to me and and I
judge between one and
another.
And I do make them know the
statutes of God and his
laws and Moses father in law
said unto him the thing
that thou doest is not good.
So is it good for the man
of God to work hard.
Absolutely.
But what he's doing is he's
taking up all this time with
this you know judging
everybody's little small
situations big or small
and says thou wilt surely wear
away both thou and this
people that is with thee for
that this thing is too heavy
for thee thou art not able to
perform it thyself alone
harken now unto my voice I
will give thee counsel and
God shall be with thee be
thou for the people to God
word that thou mayest bring
the causes unto God
and thou shalt teach them
ordinances and laws and
shalt show them the way
wherein they must walk
and the work that they must
do.
So this is talking about
delegation delegating duties.
So Moses job was to teach
them the ordinances and show
them the way that they must
walk and the work they
must do and that's kind of
what the pastor or spiritual
leader is supposed to be
doing also.
And to you know I mean even
acts they had to hire you
know they had to make this
position of deacons so
that the pastor wasn't
waiting tables basically for
the the you know in the
daily administration and he
had to get somebody to come
in and do the work.
So now we're 21 says
moreover thou shalt provide
out of all the people able
men such as fear God men
of truth hating covetousness
and place over the place
such over them to be rulers
over thousands and rulers over
hundreds rules over fifties
and rules over tens.
Now we don't have millions of
people in this church so you
know we don't have to have
that kind of thing in place.
But it's just this the
Bible is painting us the
picture here of you know who
should be put into the
leadership positions of men.
Well first of all able men
people are able to do the
work and people that actually
love God and fear God and
that they're men of truth.
They love the truth.
You know there's you know in
this church I hope that you
love the truth because our
goal is to make sure that you
know the truth.
Jesus said you should know the
truth and the truth shall make
you free.
So first 22 says and let them
judge the people at all
seasons and it shall be that
every matter or great matter
that they shall bring on to
the very small matter they
shall judge so shall it be
easier for thyself and they
shall bear the burden with
these.
So I'm just saying this to
you as we start out.
Bear the burden with the
leadership help out whatever
it is that you can do.
Obviously we have the ushers
in place you know keeping the
door you know that's kind of
like what the ushers did in
the Old Testament.
There are like doorkeepers and
porters and you know
providing service count you know
counting the offerings or
whatever.
And you know we need
musicians we need piano
players we need you know
people that can play in an
orchestra.
We need help cleaning the
building is not going to
clean itself and it's pretty
small so it's not going to be
that hard to clean.
But you know they can't again
Justin can't do it all
himself.
And so we need people to step
up in these areas.
And so any captains you know I
mean the more so wanting to
do the more times you put in
the more people are going to
need to help out with stuff
like that.
So and obviously people that
want to be hospitable and
there's going to come a point
where Justin can't take
everybody out to lunch the
first time they're a visitor
like today I can't I can't take
you all to lunch today I'd love
to do that but we're going to
have to bring a lunch to us
today.
So but that's just you know
to be maybe you could be
somebody that takes visitors out
to lunch or you know wants
to help out in those types of
ways or video ministry social
media folding bulletins closing
and opening those are all
things that are are things
that are a blessing to the
man of God that that's going
to be leading here and it's a
blessing because
you're sharing the burden
with the leadership.
So that's what Moses was
recommended to do and you know
what he did it was a good
idea and his father in law
was right that he was doing
too much.
Now let's I want to talk
about the caution flag real
quick.
So in racing there's this
caution flag where they I
don't know if they wave do
they actually wave a flag as
anybody know they wave a flag
like a real one.
It's not just like some screen
or something.
OK so they wave this flag
for you know and it's for
dangers when you're racing
it's wave for dangers
for a wreck or
or some kind of debris on
the track.
Right.
And so they're cautioning
people because when you're
going 200 miles an hour and
you hit another car or you
hit some kind of debris it's
going to do some damage right.
So that caution flag is
waived.
And so I guess in
go and turn to Philippians
chapter 3 verse 1.
And I would just say to
caution you a little bit.
You know Paul kind of gives
this little safety talk at the
beginning of Philippians
chapter 3.
And you know because everybody
if you've worked someplace
you know as a man or even if
you're a woman if you've
worked someplace they always
say safety is the most
important thing right.
Don't they.
Safety first but then they
really don't mean it.
Safety first wink wink wink.
Yeah.
Get out there and get the
production done.
You know but they'll say
safety first but you know we
really should think of the
safety of our children the
safety of our families.
And you know when there's some
kind of wicked person we need
to be able to recognize that.
So Philippians 3 1 says finally
my brother and rejoice in the
Lord to write the same things
to you to me indeed is not
grievous but for you it is
for you it is safe.
So why is he why is he telling
us he wants them to be safe
because there's danger out
there.
There's wolves in sheep's
clothing there's people that
will try to infiltrate this
church and influence you to
quit influence you to leave
and you know you have to be
aware of this because that and
think about this if they're
coming to you to try to start
drama start problems that they
think you're weak.
So if so if someone does that
be offended they try to turn
you against the leadership
here they try to turn you
against me or or or against
other people in the church.
Just know that they came to
you because they think you're
weak and wolves perceive
weaknesses right.
And so they're talked about in
the Bible as being wolves and
sheep's clothing and what
wolves do.
They circle they pack up and
they circle around waiting to
find the weakest person you
know the weakest animal out of
the group and then they go
and kill that animal and
they go after the small ones
and they go after the ones
that are hurt.
So just you know be
offended like hey what do you
think I'm weak or something.
Just tell them say hey let's
go talk to brother Justin we
can talk about this problem
together with him and then
watch them stop doing that.
And really they're going to
try to do that stuff and
seeker they'll try to drag you
off into a corner somewhere.
Just be aware of that kind of
stuff because this is
something that I've dealt with
many times and there will be
people that are bad that will
come and try to infiltrate
infiltrate this church it says
in verse 2.
Beware of dogs.
So that's a good sign to
avoid also when you're
sowing but beware of dogs.
Beware of evil workers.
Beware of the concision.
Beware.
And so Paul saying hey this is
safe for you.
This is let me give you a
safety talk.
Beware of dogs.
Now I don't think he's
talking about real dogs but it
could be a secondary but he's
talking about queers.
That's what the Bible compares
dogs and vile beasts with
queers.
OK.
And so we don't allow queers
in this church.
We throw them out.
And you know if someone even
has a man bond I'm going to
be suspect of them.
So.
Evil workers would be just you
know wicked reprobates false
prophet type people would come
in and then it says beware of
the concision the concision is
talking about like the Jew the
Jew that doesn't believe in
Jesus you know because we're
all Jews in here spiritually
right.
But we're Jews on the inside.
I'm talking about the Jews
that are Jews on the outside
that like to do this.
You know and they grow those
little funny curly things and
wear top hats look trying to
look like Abraham Lincoln or
something.
And you know they tie things
around themselves and they try
to make a spectacle of
themselves.
But the other thing they do is
they try to Judy eyes
Christianity because people go
to Judeo Christian religion
it's not Judeo.
It's Christian religion.
Christ was everything.
Christ is everything.
And they don't believe in
Jesus.
So we should be aware of them.
Beware beware of dogs.
Beware of evil workers beware
of the concision.
So you know the caution flag
that I would say for you
when we're starting this
church to be aware of these
types of people and try to
recognize you know I'm not
saying you know pin the tail
on the false prophet I'm going
to try to figure out who the
false prophet is here every
week.
You'll know you know
sometimes you won't know who
they are.
I mean Balaam is a perfect
example of that.
Like when you read about
Balaam you're like is he
saved or is he not.
Like what's the deal.
No he wasn't.
The Bible says in the New
Testament he was a false
prophet.
It says he was a he did
divination.
You know he was a money
grubbing false prophet.
And so Cain was a false
prophet.
And I think there's another one
mentioned who's the other one
I'm thinking of Cain Balaam
and Cora.
Yeah Cora was a false
prophet.
He was gain seen against
Moses.
He was trying to overthrow and
assert the leadership
of the children of Israel by
saying well we're all holy
to Moses and that's really all
he said.
I'm sure you know according to
you know that's all the
scripture says that he said
but the Bible says he was a
false prophet.
You know what he got opened
up the earth and dropped him
into hell with all
all that pertain to him.
So we've got to be aware of
those types of people.
Now the other thing is we
we need to have some zeal in
the race.
You know most a lot of a lot
of the famous drivers are
people like that have a lot
of charisma.
They're really zealous and
passionate.
You know Dale Earnhardt Jr.
was a really popular racer and
he's been dead for a long
time.
I don't I'm not even sure
where he died.
I know he's not an Indy car
but he was NASCAR right.
But people liked him because
of his bombastic attitude
and the way he carried
himself.
And I don't really know again
much about racers or racecar
people but you know people
do flock to even even in
sports world and basketball and
football people like that
charismatic you know
competitor.
And so I would liken that to
us having zeal for the
things of God.
Now my favorite racer in the
Bible is I'll tell you who it
is but quite certain.
Second Kings Chapter 9.
But my favorite racer in the
Bible is found in Second
Kings Chapter 9.
And you know he's got a few
chapters about him here but
Second Kings 9.
This guy was a fast racer.
He was he he just put the
pedal to the metal.
He was very zealous for the
things of God.
Second Kings 9 20 says and
the watchman told saying he
came even unto them and
cometh not again.
And the driving is like the
driving of Jehu the son of
Nimshai for he driveth
furiously.
So furiously driving.
And so he's my favorite racer
in the whole Bible and
because you know he's got he's
got some pretty cool stuff
that he does in the Bible.
I mean obviously he's killing
people but I mean he's
killing bad people.
He's killing the people that
God told him to kill.
He's you know he's killing
you know all the house of
Ahab.
He kills jet heat.
Well he doesn't kill Jezebel.
He just says who's with me and
then the eunuchs throw her out
the window or whatever.
And she kind of gets eaten by
dogs after that.
But then.
But what's what's interesting
though is when she gets
thrown out the building it says
that he trode over her.
So it's like you know she
hits the ground and he just
doesn't even stop.
He just like you know you
know walk over the top of her
body.
So he trode over the top of
he trode with a because he's
in a you know he's in a
chariot or something.
So I don't know if he did it
with his horses but it kind of
seems like I just kind of
picture it like he just like
literally walked over a dead
body to walk in that says he
sat down and ate some food.
He's like go bury her for
she's a king's daughter or
whatever.
But Jehu was the the fast
and furious before the movies
even came out.
So see there's no new thing
under the sun.
It says he drove furiously
right.
So he's kind of a man after
my own heart because I like to
drive furiously too.
But the second Kings Chapter
10 verse 15 if I actually had
a fast car I'd probably be in
a lot of trouble all the time.
So my right foot is not saved
for sure.
It is in sin constantly.
But you know his driving was
known by his zeal for God
right.
And you always catch it he's
just always driving around in a
chariot.
So it's like that's his car.
That's the car for back then.
And second Kings Chapter 10
verse 15 it says.
And when he was a part of
thence he lied it on John
Adab this the son of Ray
Raycab coming to meet him
and he saluted him and said
unto him is that heart right.
As my heart is is with my
heart.
And John Adab answered it is if
it be give me thine hand and
he gave him his hand and he
took him up it took him up him
in into the chariot.
So so you know he's he's like
just he's riding his driving
furiously is driving his
chariot and he sees this guy
he likes he's like come on up
in the chariot right.
He stops he's like are you
are we good.
Yeah yeah bro come on let's
take a ride.
And then verse 16 says and he
said come with me and see my
zeal for the Lord.
So they made him to ride in
his chariot.
It's funny how it says they
made him to ride his church
like once he got in it's
like he ain't getting out now
buddy.
You know you ride with those
people and it's like your
fingers are implanted in the
dash after you're done like
and sometimes it's not because
they're driving fast it's
because they drive bad.
But but he said come with me
and see my zeal for the Lord
you know and that's what we
should be showing forth as
Christians and in this church
is that you know your zeal is
going to be contagious to other
people and other people are
going to want to follow the
zeal that they see in this
church.
So if we're zealous for
soul winning we're zealous for
Bible preaching we're zealous
for the things of God then you
know we are going to affect
other people in a good way.
And so you know with race car
drivers their zeal as racers
makes them popular.
Well and I'm not saying I
want you to be made popular
but popular as far as someone
to follow because your zeal is
very evident in your life.
And the next thing I want to
talk about is putting your
past sins and failures in the
rear view mirror.
Now first John chapter 1 9 says
if we confess our sins he is
faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
Nobody in this room is without
sin.
You know if we say we have no
sin we lie.
We deceive ourselves.
And so we have sin.
So the best thing to do is
confess your sin to God and
move on because it says he's
faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
So you know and none of us
deserve to go to heaven in here.
Nobody deserves to go to
heaven.
Nobody is good enough to make
it there on their own.
Someone else had to do it for
you.
The Lord Jesus Christ and we
just need to own up to what
we're doing wrong and confess
it and move forward and leave
that in the rear view mirror.
So it's just like a racer
that finishes a race you know
what's he looking forward to
the next race.
You know hopefully not looking
you're not looking behind you
on all the mistakes you made.
You don't want to live in
that guilt.
You know the apostle Paul
probably had a lot of guilt but
you don't see it affecting his
Christian life.
He just you know people are
like that's the guy that was
killing people you know at
first but then he proved
himself.
He proved himself to be a great
man of God and he did great
mighty things.
But what if you just kept
living with the fact that he
had it was holding everybody's
coats while Stephen was done
with that.
As a matter of fact I think
that's the thing that that
motivated him.
God to say why you know it's
hard for you to kick against
the pricks.
I think you feel bad about
what he did.
I think it affected him but
he's so motivated by his zeal
in the wrong way.
But he left that stuff behind
him and just serve God.
He can't take it back.
And so some of the things
that we've done you know
you're going to feel bad
about it maybe the way you
parented before or just you
know sins that you've
committed even as a Christian or
sins he committed in your
past.
Look put that stuff in the
rearview mirror and focus on
what's before you.
Look at Philippians chapter
3 verse 13 Philippians chapter
3 verse 13.
Philippians 3 is just an
excellent chapter in the
Bible but Philippians 3 13
says Brethren I count not
myself to have apprehended but
this one thing I do.
Forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching forth
onto those things which are
before.
Paul says just forget about
that stuff.
Look forward to your Christian
life and what you need to do
now.
Stop living in the past.
Stop parenting out of guilt.
Stop living in guilt about
everything.
You confess that stuff to God
and you move forward.
And don't be like oh I don't
know if he's going to
forgive me.
Doesn't it doesn't say he's
faithful and just to forgive
your sins and to cleanse you
from all righteousness so just
quit living there.
Just when you know.
When we say we have an
advocate with the Father Jesus
Christ the righteous.
And so you know just just stop
quit quit living in the past
because you know your your
failures are going to be a
reality failures a reality in
life.
If we never try anything we're
never going to fail at
anything either.
So we want to set out with
this church to be at maximum
speed as far as as a racecar
driver right.
We want to get out there and
not let anything hold us back
including our past sins.
And you know we all crash
and burn sometimes you know we
all fail in some way shape
or form.
But you know get a new race
car get back in the get back
in the race right.
So we only have one life
to live as mortals and we
know we never know when the
race is going to be over.
We're going to be immortal
when Jesus comes back but we
only have one life to live
here.
And and so this is the time
to do our maximum work to get
all the trophies we can store
up for us in heaven.
And that's I want to just go
to my last my last topic
here which is the checkered
flag.
So the checkered flags waved I
think at the beginning of a
race at the end of the race.
So in the Indy 500 when I
was at the tour it said that
they drink milk or something
is like a famous thing that
they do.
I was like why like milk
really.
But it's some tradition they've
done and probably helps the
milk companies sell a lot of
milk for NASCAR or something I
don't know.
But you know that's you they
pop the champagne they get
their their vehicle featured
and the media and everybody
comes over and watches what
they're doing and things like
that.
But we want to obviously these
are carnal things that people
look forward to that these
drivers look forward to you
know and they're doing it for
something that really doesn't
matter.
They're driving around taking
lots of left turns for things
that are not going to matter
in eternity.
But the things that we're
doing the race that we're
running does matter and it
matters how we run it matters
how we finish.
So turn to First Corinthians
924.
I know that I'm almost done
here.
But First Corinthians 924.
The Bible says give you a
second turn there.
First Corinthians 924 says no
you not that they which run
in a race run all but one
receive at the prize.
So only one person gets the
victor's trophy in a in a
regular race it says then Paul
says so run that you may
obtain.
The nice thing about
Christianity is that we all
win in the end.
It's not like even if you
fall out of the race you're
still going to heaven.
So even if you quit church and
go back to your life of Egypt
or whatever you want to do you
know you're still going to
heaven if you're saved.
So you can't lose your
salvation.
That's great.
But he's saying run that you
may obtain.
What's he talking about.
Well you know we want to
finish this life as a victorious
Christian.
We don't want to end up some
place backslidden in some hotel
or something doing drugs.
We want to you know be
at the end of it.
God's pleased with us.
He says well done.
Now good and faithful servant
enter down to the joy of my
Lord look at verse 25 and
every man that strives for
the mastery is temperate in
all things.
Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown.
But we an incorruptible
so we're trying to get
rewards as say people you're
like well what's the motivation
for doing good works when we're
already saved forever.
Well the motivation for doing
good works is you know
obviously I never think of it
as rewards.
I always think of it as
helping people but because we
help people because we live a
good Christian life that does
get us rewards.
So so
finishing the race is
important and how you finish
the race Paul said in Second
Timothy Chapter 2.
Or excuse me second Timothy 4
6 he says for I am now ready
to be offered in the time of
my departure is at hand he
knows he's getting ready to
die says I have fought a good
fight.
I have finished my course
isn't a race called it's
called a racetrack but it's a
course right.
I have finished my course I
have kept the faith and that
should be the goal of every
single Christian in this room
is that hey I did my best.
I fought the good fight.
And as you're like it's
Christian it was saying a good
fight because the faith the
work that we have is it's a
fight.
It's a fight.
We're going to always be
fighting about something.
And it's like he said I fought
a good fight.
No he's like Muhammad Ali
or something you know he's
floating like a butterfly
stinging like a bee or
whatever.
You know he said I fought the
good fight and he did.
I mean he he did more things
for the Christian faith than
anybody else probably besides
Christ in my opinion.
But I mean that's my
opinion.
But one thing I do know is
that he finished his course.
And he was happy to say that he
started off bad didn't he.
But he ended up good.
The opposite of the other saw
the other saw in the Bible
started off really good and
then ended up bad.
Ended up killing himself with
his own sword.
So the great thing about
being a Christian in the
Christian life unlike racing
is that we don't really get
the even if we don't win
the race as far as like
being in first place we we
still win.
What do I mean by that.
Well you know we laugh about
the everybody gets a trophy.
You know all that you know
everybody gets a trophy.
You know everybody in
Christianity everybody does get
a trophy consolation prize.
You know maybe you weren't the
best Christian.
Maybe you weren't the
apostle Paul maybe you just
get you know someone gets
saved and they don't do
anything for Christ but
they're saved.
They still get a trophy.
So it is a biblical concept
right.
You still what's the trophy
eternal life.
That's the trophy.
Everybody gets a trophy you
know.
So be happy about that.
And you know that's just the
baseline reward that
everybody receives because
they're saved.
And I think that's pretty
cool.
So everything else that we do
is a cherry on top of that.
And so let me give you an
example.
And just as tithing as an
example okay.
Your tithe goes towards
soul wanting invites.
Bibles DVDs and other
resources.
Money that goes towards
supporting missionaries which
we do.
Which all those things lead to
other people getting saved
right.
So not only if you're if
you're so many already and
you're doing all these other
things to get rewards.
Even just giving unto the
Lord is helping and you're
getting dividends that you
don't know someday.
Like I don't know how God
divides it all up.
He's a better mathematician than
even Justin is.
And because he's Chinese.
But I'm just kidding.
But he is a good mathematician
I'm not lying.
But but those dividends how do
we count all that.
Well we can't.
But you know who does keep
track of it.
God.
God knows everything that we
do and every dime that we
give to the church as far as
tithing goes for free will
offerings.
That money goes towards
something that can help get
someone saved.
And like Brother Stuckey we
support him as a missionary.
I mean Pastor Stuckey called
Brother Stuckey for so many
years of star hard for me.
But I mean over 10000 people
saved in their ministry last
year.
So how do you how do you track
those rewards.
You know our church gives money
to them and we don't have to
be over there.
We don't have to fly over
there.
We don't have to do all that
stuff.
They're there.
They're doing it all.
But we do get a piece of the
pie by rewards by dividends.
And you know you might not think
that you know your money goes
anywhere but it does.
And it goes to feeding
everybody today too.
But unlike other churches we're
not going to have some
fundraiser to try to get you
know everybody to go to camp
or you know for we're not
going to do a car wash where
we charge people for money
because we don't charge money
for things.
You know a church should be able
to run off the finances they
have.
If you don't have the
finances then don't do the
stuff.
It's kind of how it works.
But last verse here is second
Timothy Chapter 4 verse 8.
So Paul finished his course.
He kept the faith.
And it says in verse 8 there
says Henceforth there is laid
up for me a crown of
righteousness which the Lord
the righteous judge shall give
me at that day and not to me
only but unto all them also
that love is appearing.
So what's Paul saying he's
saying it's not just me.
There's other people.
And it says but unto all them
also that love is appearing.
Do you love the Lord Jesus
Christ today.
Are you going to be excited
when he comes.
Well he's going to give you
a righteous crown also.
And so you know we have a lot
of opportunity to do great
things at this church.
And you know we have a mega
powered high octane new I.P.
church started in the Midwest
now and you know it's going to
count for something.
I believe this church is going
to do great things.
My vision is that through this
church we start other churches
within the two of the four
hour area of this church and
who knows the area.
I mean I don't have a map in
front of me but there's St.
Louis and Chicago Louisville all
these different places.
I mean Columbus Cincinnati I mean
there's just like all these
big cities like this doesn't
exist in the West.
It's like Portland.
Nothing for long.
Portland Seattle.
OK that's two and a half hours
away but you know most of the
other cities are just not that
big.
But you know there's a big
opportunity here to do great
things and I'm really looking
forward to see what this
church is going to do.
We've got the brick yard.
We've got the pit here so to
speak.
We've got the track.
We've got the greatest driver
ever with the most powerful
race car ever leading us the
Lord Jesus Christ.
We have the power of the Holy
Spirit.
The owner is our you know the
owner of everything.
He's got all the money.
He's got unlimited resources
and he's the best.
He has the best sponsors.
You know he's benevolent.
He's not just a dictator he's
just not trying to make money.
It's all his anyway.
Right.
So and we can you know what we
can talk to our owner.
You know most places most
companies or most sports
leagues you can't even go talk
to the players you know
without you know some security
guy rushing off.
You can't talk to the owner
but you know what we can talk
to our owner.
We can talk to God we go
right to the throne room of
God and ask him for whatever
we need.
So what do we need.
Well we need team SFBC
racing team.
Everyone needs to take part.
We need to keep pace to win
the race.
And this Christian life is not a
dead sprint.
You know we have to slow down
and take and take the turns
right.
And you know don't burn
yourself out.
Obviously I want you to do
good works but don't burn
yourself out.
And to put pressure on
ourselves to perform is not a
bad thing either.
You know we should be
pressing toward the mark of
the high calling of God
through Christ Jesus in Christ
Jesus.
We should be pressing towards a
mark.
Well that's not what racing
is.
The apostle Paul said I press
toward the mark.
What's the mark winning the
race getting getting to the
finish line.
And we need to put pressure
on ourselves to stay spiritual
to maintain good works to
maintain the car right.
And we need to observe the
yellow flag caution warnings.
And just don't get don't
crash.
And what do I mean by crash.
Well don't get out.
Don't let you know wicked
people or any other reason get
you out of the race and help
the pit crew boss to be
successful.
Today we're starting our
engines and we're at the
starting line and the
spiritual race is about to
begin for this church.
And you know our race does
actually matter.
It means something and it isn't
some vain thing like running
around in a literal circle on
cars and then like it's just
all that stuff is vanity.
It really is.
But what we do in this life
echoes in eternity right.
So you know green means go
green means go.
And that's what what they do
at the starting line.
The lights go down at least
that's on the video games
I've played before.
That's how it works.
But I just want to say this
let's get out there and run
that race.
All right.
Let's pray Lord we thank you
so much for this great church
starting here.
And Lord I just want to say
thank you to you Lord
especially for the great
blessings that we could just
start a church pretty much
anywhere and a bunch of people
are going to show up.
I want to thank you Lord for
the great success it is this
morning.
Pray that you would just be
with the soul winners and
Lord bless the food that
we're going to receive today.
You just bless each and every
single person that came here
and help take them home
safely when they return home.
Pray you just do a great
mighty work in this city and
in this town and that made
many great churches to be
started from this church plant
alone.
And we thank you Lord.
We love you in Jesus name we
pray.
Amen.