(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So four years, four year anniversary and you know what's been wonderful about 2022, we got to celebrate our second year anniversary, our third year anniversary and our fourth year anniversary all in the space of six months. What a blessing, what a blessing. Now every time we come to an anniversary I'm just constantly reminded about the beginnings of this church and as I said earlier it surprised me that we still are here. Like blessing about the church is the strangest church that I've ever been part of. I tell you that okay. You know just obviously the very start of the church was due to some doctrinal issues that were coming out of my sinning church and different families that were leaving and you know my heart, my goal was just to keep everyone together, to keep everyone in fellowship, to keep everyone motivated and soul winning and when we started this church I really did not expect that we would, you know, I guess in my heart I would, you know, obviously every church I want to see it continue to the day of Jesus Christ but really it was just an extension of what New Life Baptist Church was for us in Queensland and I wasn't sure how long we would last. Honestly a church that doesn't have a full-time pastor, a church that's traveling from Queensland, you know, on an almost weekly basis and you know I wasn't sure if I'd be able to preach up there and take care of the responsibilities for New Life Baptist Church and be down here and also just to to be a pastor and a leader for this church and you know one thing that I've learned with this church and look these are things that I've learned in life anyway, you know, I've been saved since I've been four years old, is that church is not really about the pastor. You know church is not really about you as an individual person. Church is called in the Bible as the body of Christ, okay. It belongs to Jesus. Jesus is our foundation. Jesus is our head and it's up to Jesus how long this church continues. It's up to Jesus if he wants the church to continue until his return. It's up to Jesus if he wants it to end earlier or whatever plans Jesus Christ has with his church. It's all for Christ. It's all done for Jesus Christ and one thing that, you know, that I've seen over obviously over my lifetime of the years are Christians who faithfully serve in the house of God, are Christians who are zealous and excited for the things of God but sometimes these same Christians lose their heart for the Lord. Sometimes they're backsliding or they're completely out of church or just they've lost the interest for the things of God and this doesn't happen just at a personal level or a family level. This also happens at a pastor level. You know my very first IFB pastor who, you know, really taught me key fundamental truths of the Bible is someone who disgraced himself in the ministry, ended up committing adultery, lost his qualification of course as a pastor and it was very disappointing to me to see a man that I looked up to fail in such a massive way but it's not just that, you know, many pastors. There are many pastors. There is one very well-known IFB pastor in Queensland, Rockhampton who did something similar, you know, he would travel to the United States and he ended up sleeping around with a whole bunch of prostitutes, stealing from the church, stealing church money to commit such horrible sins. It's an Australian pastor I'm talking about, okay, and so, you know, I see failure. I see Christians fail but then I see some Christians continue and, you know, when I think about this church, again, I wasn't expecting it to continue for four years now and, you know, hopefully the Lord gives us many more years to come but one thing that, you know, I became very aware of as a Christian is the importance of endurance, of continuing, of remaining steadfast, remaining faithful, continuing for the Lord God. Whether in Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse number 1, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 1, it says, The title for the sermon this morning, brethren, is a race of endurance, a race of endurance. Brethren, you've been set on this race track, you know, the Lord God, now that you are saved, he's placed you to run this race and, brethren, in order for you to get to the finish line, in order for you to continue running and putting one step forward one at a time and not failing and not giving up is that you would endure and due to such an important part of the Christian life and it's so easy to fail, it is so easy to backslide, it is so easy to give up the things of God and yet there are so many Christians that fail, so many Christians that I've looked up to, so many Christians that have motivated me to get in, you know, walk in a godly Christian life that I then see fail and then I'm reminded and we see great men of the Bible who fail and I see Christians today who fail and then I'm reminded that I can fail and I'm reminded that you can fail and your family can fail in our war for the Lord and so my heart is great, we've done four years, hey, let's see another four years, hey, let's continue serving the Lord every day that the Lord has given us because we've got this race to run, it's a race of endurance. So I've got six points to help you continue on this race and you know what, if we want Blessed Hope Baptist Church to endure, it does have to come down to that individual level at the end of the day. Even though Christ is the head, he's the foundation, he gives us everything we need to continue as a church, it does come down to you as an individual, it comes down to you as a family, you know, a church is only as strong as the families that make up that church and so if you want Blessed Hope Baptist Church to continue to endure, we have to endure ourselves, we have to continue remaining faithful and consistent for the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's have a look at, we're going to spend most of our time in Hebrews 12 or at least I should say, you know, it's going to be the foundation of which we are going to build this teaching on and we are going to turn to some other passages but if I get into some other passages, just keep your finger there in Hebrews 12 because that is our main text but it says in Hebrews 12 verse number one, let's look at it again. Now actually before we read this, Hebrews 11, the previous chapter is known as the Hall of Faith, okay, it's got some very well-known saints of the Old Testament that are mentioned there that were faithful to the Lord, I mean many of you would know about Hebrews 11, it's probably one of those chapters that gets preached on the most in a lot of churches but some of the names that I mentioned there, I'll just read some to you, it's Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, so you know, even the ladies there, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, hey Rahab was a harlot, Rahab was a prostitute and she's been named there in Hebrews 11 as a woman of great faith, Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, Samuel and he mentions all the prophets, I mean there are so many names listed in Hebrews 11 and so when we get to Hebrews 12, I want you to think about what is being said at the very beginning there in verse number one, it says wherefore, so because of what we just read in verse chapter 11, all these names wherefore is a conjunction, it's leading on, it's not a new thought, it's continuing the same thought, wherefore seen we also are compassed about with so great cloud of witnesses, so brethren in order for you to continue enduring in this race, number one, you have to remind yourself that you have witnesses cheering you on, witnesses watching your race as you run, this race of endurance for the Lord Jesus Christ, you say who are these witnesses, it was those names that I mentioned to you in Hebrews chapter 11, okay, they are the witnesses watching you guys run this race, hey they ran the race, they got saved and the Lord set them on the racetrack and they were able to accomplish great things for God and now they've gone to be home in heaven and they're watching the next generations, they're watching blessed up Baptist church, they're watching the great churches in this nation that are churches of Christ and they're cheering us on, continue running that race and you know this is no different to go into some sporting event or you know going to the Olympics or something, when someone's running that race on the racetrack, there are spectators cheering them on and you're cheering on your person, you're cheering on your team, you know if you go to some sporting match, not that it's great to go all the time but you know if you go to one of these things, you know if you've got a team playing, you're normally cheering on your team, you know go team or if they score a goal or whatever it is that they're playing, you know you cheer them on, it's the same thing brethren, you need to remind yourself you have witnesses, you have people watching your race and they're cheering you on, they want you to succeed, they want you to get to the finish line, they want you to endure and when I think about this, I think about these great men, you know Noah, the Noahs and the Abrahams, these people have done great things for God, knowing full well they're cheering us on, it motivates me a little bit, it gets me encouraged, you know I want to complete the race, I want to endure the same way these great people have as well and so just remind yourself, you have witnesses cheering you on and you know one of the things that gets brought up with this teaching is well, you know pastor, you know I'm not always running the race though, sometimes I'm not even running the race, sometimes I'm actually running backwards pastor or sometimes pastor I'm not even in the race, I'm actually you know far from the Lord, I'm backslidden, what about when I sin, you know is Abraham looking at my sins like it, you know I mean all these great men in heaven and great ladies in heaven, every time I fail and make mistakes and sin, are they watching me when I fail and commit these sins, I don't know if I want these witnesses watching me, no but here's the thing you need to understand, they're not watching you when you fail, they're not watching you when you sin, they're watching you as you run the race okay, they're cheering you on and the only way you can run the race is in the new man, is being in Christ Jesus, is walking in the spirit, brethren this flesh does not run the race, this flesh wants to quit, this flesh wants to give up, this flesh wants to do everything contrary to God's word and so we can't run the race in the flesh, if you're in the flesh and you're in sin, they're not watching you in sin, don't worry about that, they're only watching you when you're in the new man running the race and they're cheering you on okay, so when you get to heaven they're going to be like man what a race you ran, you know like oh man but you know full well man I made a few mistakes on that way, I made a few mistakes on that journey and of course they know that full well because hey even though we read some of these great names they also made big mistakes in life okay and just because you've made mistakes doesn't mean and you might say well I'm not on the race anymore pastor, well get back on it all right today today's a new day, get back on the race, start running that race, get in the new man, hey start crucifying that flesh all over again and get back running for the Lord Jesus Christ, we want to endure, we want to run, we want to continue, you know a race means that we're moving forward, we're getting more mature, we know more of the bible, we're living more holy, you know we have a greater love for the Lord God, we have a greater love for our brethren, we have a greater love for lost souls, the more you mature you know that you're running that race, you're getting you're taking one step at a time moving forward but not only do we have witnesses that have gone to be in heaven and brethren if you pass away you're going to be in heaven and you're going to be cheering the next generation on okay if someone if you were to pass away today you'll be in heaven right now cheering the rest of us on you know keep going blessing up at this church keep serving the Lord Jesus Christ but not only those that have gone to be in heaven but also we have witnesses right here in this church we have brothers and sisters in the Lord who are motivated by your example did you know that did you know if I was too lazy to get up this morning and I just didn't want to be in the house of God I wasn't excited you know it's going to demoralize the rest of you guys this is just how it is you know we come we're a body we come together to serve Christ but also to provoke one another unto love and good works okay and you know what if people are watching you you need to understand your brothers and sisters are watching you and you're watching them and we're motivating each other we're encouraging one another you know when we spend time in fellowship you know we're telling one another that we love each other and we want to see each other continue serving the Lord Jesus Christ so knowing that I want you to think about what kind of example are you you know what kind of example are you to the brethren do you motivate the brethren do you encourage the brethren or maybe you're a discouragement I'm not sure okay I mean consider you know consider your life if you're someone that finds church attendance important and you know you drop the ball in that area you're going to discourage others from thinking that church attendance is important you know if you think soul winning is important but you drop the ball in that area you're communicating that that's not such an important area and it can bring people to be not motivated to do the same kind of works you know we all are examples to one another and of course as a pastor I'm an example to you as well okay so I want you to consider that you have witnesses but you've also got witnesses on this earth you've got this church you've got other brothers and sisters in the Lord that may not be part of this church but they're motivated they're encouraged when we see when they see us do great works for God so brethren point number one is you have witnesses cheering you on remind yourself of that there are people cheering on you on watching you they want to see you run that race they want you they want to see you succeed so that's point number one to run that race of endurance is that you remind yourself they have witnesses cheering you on all right the next thing that we see there in Hebrew chapter 12 verse number one after it says we've so great a cloud of witnesses it says 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 so where if we're going to run this race brethren we have to lay aside every weight and the sin which doth easily beset us notice there are two things that we need to set aside okay it's not just sin but it's every weight you see there are things that we do in our life that are not sinful in of themselves but they can become distractions from serving the Lord Jesus Christ and so point number two brethren is that you need to overcome distractions you need to overcome distractions when you're running the race your focus should be the finish line right you can't be watching what's happening on the side hey you know what don't even be watching what others are doing this is a race that you're running okay and brethren you know Satan does not want us to run hard Satan wants us to in fact run the opposite direction he's going to send all kinds of temptations this world is going to send us all kinds of distractions and it's so easy to fall aside it's so easy to get distracted you know the moment you give into that temptation the moment you give into that sin is the moment you've gotten off the racetrack and you've been distracted you know to run the race we need to lay aside these weights and I'm reminded when I look at again athletes not that I watch a lot of this stuff but you know and not that I really recommend it but you know like like if someone's going to swim you know they got a race you know they got us like the the swimsuit they wear these days that's why I don't recommend to watch it because they're almost naked these days but you know it's so skin tight okay you say why is it so skin tight it's to prevent resistance they want to swim as fast as they can you know even sprinters their minds about the clothing that they wear even those that ride bikes you know the what do they call that france one the tour de france you see how these people you know the skin tight again it's not the greatest look but you know and they've got the right helmets you know to prevent the wind resistance right they're trying to uh prevent any kind of resistance any kind of distractions they set that aside so they can go as fast as they can it's the same thing brethren you know if you're going to run this race and you've got bags of cement on your legs or on your arms you're not going to run very effectively it's going to slow you down and you're going to identify what is slowing me down from enduring for the lord jesus christ what is slowing me down in this race and when you identify that which is slowing you down you've got to get rid of it okay and number one of course our sin our sin you know we are going to sin to the day we die but that doesn't mean that we stop striving to live a holy life okay sins are going to stop sins will get you out of the race all right and then you've got to go before the lord and confess that before the lord get what made right with him walk in his righteousness and you're back on the race but it slowed you down for a period of time hey we should be seeking to have victory over the sins that stop us from serving the lord jesus christ but it also said laying aside every weight okay anything that is stopping us from serving the lord and again every weight is not necessarily sinful there are so many things that are in this life that are not sinful in or themselves but they can distract you they can stop you from running that race you know the thing that i think about the most especially in this generation is social media is social media a sin it's not a sin okay it's a tool of communication but can it be a distraction can it be a weight that stops us from serving the lord can it be something that we would rather look at would rather check the facebook would rather check the youtube rather than picking up god's word and reading it and you know how it is you start looking at these things you know now you know on youtube they've got these shorts it's like 20 seconds and you're like oh 20 seconds i've got 20 seconds you press that 20 seconds and then it's finished another one comes up well that's only that's only 30 seconds watch that one then it's 40 seconds then it's 15 seconds 10 seconds before you know it you've been there for an hour now and you go what what am i doing it's look it's a it's a weight now was it sinful in of itself no of course it's not sinful in of itself but it's stopping you it's wasting your time from running the race that god has set before you there's so many weights that we have you know sporting teams is is there anything wrong with sports no you know nothing sinful in of themselves hey but you know what there are some people that are so addicted so in love with their sporting team it almost becomes another religion to them you know what and i would rather watch their sporting team to then rather than being in the house of god you know what and look again there are sports that i like i like soccer i like basketball i have teams that i would like to see win but i don't care if they win or not really it doesn't matter at the end of the day but you know what we have to be careful and understand there are things that we can enjoy in life you know we can enjoy sports we can enjoy social media we can enjoy even video games if you really want to you know things that uh you know just give you some downtime and some pleasure that aren't simple in of themselves but you have to remind yourself these things can't stop me from running the race you know why did i not go soul winning why did i not be in church why did i not pick up my bible why have i not prayed you can figure out why what that is even though it might not be sinful in of itself you have to say i have to lay that aside and prioritize the kingdom of god first all right so be careful you know be careful with the things that you allow to stop you and uh you know the other distraction that i think about in fact actually keep your finger there in in hebrews 12 and please turn with me to first corinthians chapter 9 please turn to first corinthians chapter 9 first corinthians chapter 9 verse number 24 first corinthians chapter 9 verse number 24 the bible reads know ye not that they which run in a race run all let me stop there brethren we're all running this race you might think well that's the pastor's race or that's the evangelist or the deacons or you know whatever the missionaries race to run no all of us you know you know you might still be at the start line you go i don't want to run this race well if you're saved you're there on the track okay god has placed you there we all run why do we run it says here but one receiver for the prize why do people go and compete because someone wants to be the champion someone wants to win they want that prize and brethren the prize is not heaven because heaven's a free gift okay it's a gift it's not of your efforts but now that we are on our way to heaven we want to be able to maximize the rewards that jesus christ wants to give us we want to be able to maximize the prize when we get to the finish line for jesus say hey you've run world here's your prize you've reached the finish line we want to be able to maximize that prize but then it says at the end of verse 24 so run that you may obtain so i don't want you to think for a moment because i used to think this as a Christian as the young Christian i thought about one receive the prize does that mean only like some of us get rewarded no no no okay it's just saying that in a real world scenario when you're running a race there's one champion there's one that gets the the gold medal all right there's one that lifts one team or one person that lifts the trophy but then it says at the end of something so run that ye and where ye is plural run that ye may obtain so it's not just one person that gets the prize all of us are going to get the prize for the service that we do for the lord jesus christ but we ought to be running with us with the mindset that there's a prize to achieve this is why we have to overcome distractions and one of the other great distractions that i've seen in my life that i see sometimes even amongst my church members is that we're distracted by a fellow church member brethren we're not racing against each other okay we all have a race to run you put your head down you put your eyes on the prize okay don't get distracted by other christians don't think oh well i went so winning where was sister so-and-so today where was brother so-and-so today hey i was at the fourth year anniversary where was brother so-and-so brethren don't have that attitude it's horrible it's horrible okay i mean i i really despise when people are putting down their fellow christians well i'm running the race where's so-and-so forget so-and-so there's one that wins a prize this is your race you run the race you maximize your rewards and as you run the race guess what you're going to be an encouragement to that the person that you're worried about but if you're just critical you're not going to encourage them you're going to discourage them you're going to potentially get them out of the race brethren we all have a race to run okay i've got my lane brother les you've got your lane all right brother martin you've got your lane we've all got a prize it's jesus christ at the end it's heaven at the end and let's keep our eyes on the prize run and let's not get distracted let's not compare one another we're all made differently different personalities different strengths and weaknesses yeah different natural abilities god has made us each different so why do we compare each other why do we compare one man to another man or one woman to another woman or one child to another child or one family to another family it's horrible i hate that attitude that i see in churches you know people that thumb up their nose that so-and-so oh they're not quite like us oh they're not dressed appropriately you know oh they're still struggling with sins it's all you okay you know i i despise this kind of attitude that i see so many times in church and i never want that to be something in our church and blessed are baptist church i want us all to be focused on the prize that we have to win so brethren we have to overcome the distractions look at verse number 25 it says and so first corinthians 9 25 it says and every man that's striver for the mastery is temperate in all things i want to come back to that thought later on is tempering all things okay now now they do it so you know the worldly athletes now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we and incorruptible that gold medal is going to disappear all right that trophy people are going to forget about it another team's going to win it next season and that team will be forgotten okay it's a corruptible crown it's not going to last forever but brethren the prize that we have at the end is incorruptible it's going to last forever verse number 26 i therefore so run not as uncertainly he goes look i run i'm not uncertain about my race he goes so fight i because hey we're also soldiers for the lord christ sometimes the spiritual warfare as well as a race it's a so far i not as one that beat off the air so he goes look when i run i know there's a prize hey if i'm fighting i'm not just fighting air there's a real spiritual war taking place he says why because then it says then verse number 27 but so this is what he does but i keep under my body and bring it into subjection what did i say earlier this flesh does not run the race this body needs to be brought under subjection this body does not want to run that's why we have to run in the new man okay we have to submit ourselves to god's will submit ourselves to god's word so we can run and then it says there lest that by any means when i have preached to others i myself should be a castaway you know paul is very careful he says look when i'm encouraging when i'm preaching to others when i'm preaching god's word i'm reminding myself that i've got to keep my body under subjection i'm going to make sure that the preaching applies to me as well that i'm making the changes that i'm running the race otherwise he himself will be a castaway and again i started by saying there's so many pastors so many men that i've looked up to that have fallen away they preach to others but then they become castaways okay what i'm trying to say is brethren you know and i'm going to be careful as well as a pastor i'm preaching to you guys the importance of running the race but i've got to run the race okay it's so easy to preach to others and not make the changes that you need during your own life it's so easy to look at other people this way again don't worry about others it's so easy to look at others but what about you are you running the race hey what are the weights what are the sins that you're struggling with hey you fixed yourself you fixed your family don't worry about other people you run the race you don't want to be someone that preaches to others and then you become a castaway it's like hey what happened to this person they were serving the lord faithfully you know they were living for the lord and now where are they they've gone into the world they're living like anybody else you know and it's so sad when you see christians you know get off the race track and fail why because they've been distracted they've been distracted and again brethren pastors fail i hope i never fail but i'm not my man okay and it could happen all right these things can happen okay again we want to make sure that we're not what's the word i'm looking for we're not basing our race on a man okay on just a man in fact that's one of my other points that i'll get to in a moment but brethren make sure you keep this body under subjection make sure you remind yourself that you've got a wicked flesh that does not want to cooperate with the words of god does not want to run the race run the race it is part of that weight that is stopping you from running as effectively as you can now i did mention earlier that it said there that in verse number 25 and every man that strive for the master is temperate in all things okay and this brings me to my third point this brings to my third point but it says so my third point is basically this run with patience run with patience and before before i get into that point i just want to quickly read to you from galatians 6 7 you don't need to turn there but galatians 6 7 says this be not deceived god is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap for he that sowed to his flesh and we've got to keep this body under subjection we don't want to sow to his flesh we don't want to give this flesh what it wants brethren because it says for he that slove to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that served to the spirit that's the new man shall of the spirit reap life everlasting and let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not you see brethren if we give into this flesh all right the bible says that we'll become weary in well doing you know you're going to get tired of serving the lord it's going to happen you're going to get tired of being in church you're going to get tired of reading the bible you're going to get tired of hearing preaching okay and when you start to get weary and burdened and and press low and you start saying man this race it's too heavy for me i'd rather get out of this i want you to understand why that's happening it's because you've sown to the flesh you've given the flesh what it wants you you know you when if you you got a choice in your life right you got the flesh you got the spirit you got the old man the new man you've got to decide i've got to walk in that new man i've got to sow to the spirit and the more you sow this to the spirit the more you're going to reap spiritual things things that are incorruptible things that will get you motivated serving the lord but if you just keep sowing to the flesh the old man the old and look we all sow to the flesh you'll never stop because the flesh is there but if you keep sowing to that flesh the flesh the flesh will have what he wants when god is asking you to run the race when god is asking you step out and do something great for him the flesh is going to say no you're going to reap corruption all right brethren so please please be careful about this battle this this this race that you have even within yourself this this uh this struggle and when you find yourself just losing interest for the things of god remind yourself it's the flesh and i need to set that aside it's a weight that's stopping me from serving the lord so to combat that flesh you've got to reap so you got to sow to the spirit to the new man okay you just got to step out and do what god wants from you you know i've i've had people say to me you know what about when i just don't want to do what god wants me to do how do i what do i do when i you know i there are things that god says i just say i i don't really want to do it what do you do how do you do it you know what the answer is just do it anyway just do it anyway you know i i don't always have the will to do things that god wants me to do but you know what you're just going to make that decision okay well not my will lord but thine be done okay you know i'm sure hey some thank god for many of you that went soul winning yesterday but you know what did i really want to get wet did i really want to get my pants all you know uncomfortable and and you know get my socks all wet when i stepped into a puddle you know is that really what i wanted to you know i didn't want that did you want that who wanted that you know what god wanted he wanted the gospel being sent to to these streets he wants the gospel going to the lost brethren there were three people saved yesterday that's not nothing that's amazing three souls going to heaven three souls they were on their way to hell yesterday and now saved and going to heaven you know why not because we really wanted to the flesh did not want to but because we said you know what we're just going to do what god wants regardless of how we feel about it that's how you run the race it's not easy just do what god wants you to do and you'll find that the more you do what god wants you to do the more you're going to start to love what god wants you to do you know it's going to be easier every step that you take in this race that you're running my third point was run with patience run with patience my first point was you have witnesses cheering you on my second point was overcome distractions my third point is run with patience now i really want this to be understood very well as well because it is a race and when you think about a race you think about you know you got to run as hard as you can as fast as you can and yeah that's true for a sprint that's true for a hundred meter sprint or something like that but your christian life is not a sprint it's not a hundred meters it could be a hundred years okay it's your whole life from the time that you're saved to the time you go home to be in heaven brevin it's a marathon is what it is okay it requires patience okay sometimes you can run hard sometimes you can run fast but sometimes you have to slow down sometimes look this is the christian life all right there are times i'm excited there are times i just pick up god's word and i'm just going through chapter by chapter book after book after book and i'm done reading the bible because i'm excited and there are other times i'm like man you know i mean this book again it's not that exciting the genealogy etc and i might just take one chapter at a time okay and so you've slowed down okay but sometimes you do have to slow down you don't want to become weary in well doing as as was said okay your life doesn't have to be just constant you know you wake up in the morning and you're singing praises to the lord and then you know you you know you you get up and just go so in and then you come home and you gotta go to work and you're like i got church on tonight you come to church and it's just it's just constant constant go go go go go if that's your life you're going to burn out a lot of these christians that i've seen serve the lord they've burnt out they've just done too much one pastor i spoke to that uh stepped down from ministry just said i was doing too much i burnt out there were just too many activities there were too many ministries i just couldn't keep up my body my mind my spirit just couldn't keep up with what my church expected me to do and i just thought why didn't you slow down okay you've got to slow down look i'm not saying go backwards i'm not saying stop racing just slow down hey still move forward still take one step at a time still continue to grow you know the bible says here a little very little okay sometimes yeah you know what you can start you're running hard great but then slow down you know it's a marathon marathon runners they conserve their energy they know when it's time to run hard they know when it's time to slow down but they don't stop they keep going even if it's just one step at a time and brevin again this is important for you to remember because as other christians are serving the lord sometimes you're going to get the thoughts in your head well i don't just serve the lord as much as they do but are you serving the lord you say yes i'm serving the lord then praise god for you you're in the race okay and uh you know again i've been safe since i was four years old brethren and there are times that you know i just i've just slowed down i you know i just wasn't excited for the things of god you know maybe i just wasn't in a good church i wasn't hearing motivating uh preaching or things that were getting me uh push pushing me for the things of god but you know in my heart i just always wanted to pick up god's word and just say god what do you have to teach me today just it's slow slow and steady is that saying slow and steady wins the race that's true it really is true and um one of the biggest concerns that i have for newer christians is the excitement that they initially have of being saved and i think if you've been saved and you remember that excitement and you want to tell everybody about the lord and you just want to you probably just want to start reading the book of revelation the very first thing because it's probably you know what's going to happen in the future and you just want to go soul winning you just want to get encouraged and you know what and you look at other christians you go why are the christians serving the lord like well i'm so excited and and i see that in new christians and i'm really worried when i see that because they're very zealous they're very excited and i don't want to blunt that excitement it's not like i want them to be less zealous hey you know they're running hard right now praise god but i know they're going to burn out if they keep going this way and they do they do burn out you know uh you know here i here i am serving the lord jesus christ and then i see these christians just run past me they're just serving the lord they're just doing great things and they're running hard and look you know great you know if you're able to keep that up praise god but then you see those same christians just completely fall off the radar where are they where are they going what church they belong to are they going soul winning you know are they reading their bibles sometimes they become cynical or they become critical of other churches of other believers you know oh you know this has happened or that has happened and so they're discouraged and yeah because you burnt out you went too hard too fast reverend as long as you're taking one step at a time this is not a race of speed okay it's not it's not a race of speed why because we all get saved at different times you know what someone can be saved on their last day of life the thief on the cross okay well the moment he got saved that was his race that's what he had it was a short race he couldn't even move but his story's in the bible his story has motivated so many christians over the generations to get saved and to understand the simplicity of trusting christ alone we get saved at different times you know i had the blessing of growing up in a christian home not all of you had that had the blessing of growing up in a in a home where my parents love each other some of you have grown up in broken homes you know non-christian homes you know we can't all think that we're running the same race or you know look again being mindful and running with patience knowing when it's time to slow down okay knowing when you're being stretched too hard you know for me you know the travel between the states you know having 11 children that requires a lot of work i can't run as fast or as hard as a pastor that has all his children as teenagers or maybe has one or you know a few kids you know i can't run as hard as that person because i've got other things to take care of okay but it's knowing your limits it's knowing how hard you can run when you can run and when to slow down but it's again it's not about going backwards not falling out of the race it's just taking one step at a time running with patience as i said earlier in the passage that we read in first corinthians temperate in all things that that that that word temperate means to be in self-control knowing when you get tired and slow down you know if you're doing a ministry in this church and you say pastor i don't think i can continue right now i need a break tell me because i've seen christians have mental breakdowns in church because they just couldn't continue doing the ministry that was placed upon them you know that's that's that's not one reason why we have a very simple church in that sense is number one well because we don't have a full-time pastor but number two i don't want to burn people out i just want to see you guys taking one step at a time small steps forward that are well grounded established and strong rather than taking massive giant leaps and then burning out all right now go back to hebrews chapter 12 hebrew chapter 12 and verse number two hebrew chapter 12 and verse number two the next part of this race it says here looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him look at this endured the cross jesus christ also had a race of endurance he endured the cross brethren so who are we to set our sights on on pastor kevin as we run the race as brother so and so has said the distraction that might come no you set your eyes on jesus looking unto jesus the author and the finisher of our faith who's going to help us finish this race who's going to get us to the finish line it's jesus he also had a title of endurance he endured the cross despising the shame and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of god for consider him let's consider jesus that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest you be weary look at this be weary and faint in your minds why do christians get weary and faint like i said they run too hard and too fast but their eyes are not on jesus the fourth point that i have for you brethren is set your eyes on the pace set up set your eyes on the pace set up okay have you seen races where there's usually one guy at the front and everyone's just trying to keep and maintain uh relatively same speed as the guy in front okay and and if it's a long race they're happy for that person to be at the front they know that they're consuming some level of energy and they're hoping to get to that point to the to the front line uh at some point well that pace set for us as christians is jesus christ this is why we can't get distracted looking at other christians our eyes must be on jesus our eyes must be on jesus he also endured the cross okay he suffered he had he he went through so much more anguish and pain on the earth than what you're going to go through and christ endured the cross for you to set you an example that as you serve and live for jesus christ you too can endure this race that has been set before you but you've got to set your eyes on jesus brethren if blessed hope of this church fails if this pastor fails you know what it's going to hurt it's going to discourage you but when that happens i hope it doesn't happen okay but if it happens to some other pastor some other church or some other person you look up to you need to remember my eyes are on christ i have to look at christ i told you about my first ifb pastor when i found out that he's destroyed his ministry brethren i was hurt like you know the close i think i've never experienced shock you know where people might have a car accident and you know their their body goes into shock well that was probably the closest to shock that i've experienced you know when i thought about how my pastor who i looked up to failed so severely he hurts it's like someone took a knife and just stabbed it in my heart and i had a hole you know and i was like for for a few weeks just so miserable so sad thinking how could my pastor fail in such a bad way but at the end of that two weeks i guess i was moving to some extent i don't know it's hard to explain but at the end of that i said hold on why am i so upset he's just a man he's just a sinner that's been saved by grace like i am and then i reminded myself oh the reason i'm feeling so sad is because my eyes have not been put on christ i was looking at man i was trying to be motivated and encouraged by man i learned my lesson in my mid-20s hey my eyes have to be on jesus all the time and i know this sounds horrible what i'm about to say but i kind of expect christians to fail now i expect people to you know give up on the lord i still expect pastors to fail and when this happens it's discouraging yes but you know what i'm no longer miserable like it was that first time because i just reminded well that's man and i'm just going to serve jesus christ he never he's never going to fail he's endured more than anyone else if my eyes are on him the author and the finisher of my faith then i know i'm going to continue to run this race and so you find me these days anyway at least as i've grown and matured in christ that very little discourages me in service for the lord very little i mean it probably has to be something really close and personal like my family that might get me really upset and discouraged but brethren really when i see people fail and and i see conflicts in churches or problems and you know what my eyes are on jesus anyway i'm going to get to the finish line anyway because jesus christ will never leave me nor forsake me you know what my eyes are upon him and you know lord you can take care of the rest of the issues that pop up i'm not going to get distracted i'm going to continue running that race and so brethren set your eyes on the pace setter psalm 118 verse 8 says it is better to trust in the lord than to put confidence in man it is better to trust in the lord than to put confidence in princes a prince is someone that has authority please don't put your trust and confidence in someone authority okay don't put your trust and confidence in the politicians don't put your trust and confidence in your pastors in your religious leaders your trust and confidence must be on the lord jesus christ all right can you go back to uh hebrews 12 i think you're there anyway verse number four hebrews 12 verse number four so point number four brethren was see your eyes on the pace setter verse number four it says you have not resisted unto blood striving against sin and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children so remember just remind yourself that you're children of the heavenly father it says my son despise not thou the chastening of the lord nor faint hey we want to endure so we don't want to faint we don't want to give up it says nor faint when thou art rebuked of him brethren you are going to be rebuked by god okay you're going to be chastened by god when you when you when you walk in your own ways when you commit sin against him when you don't when you don't fulfill his will in your life you're going to face the chasing of the lord but we're reminded in this passage here not to faint when this happens rather it says in verse number six for whom the lord loveth he chasteneth so brethren when you're facing the chasing of the lord remind yourself god loves me and scourge of every son whom he receiveth you know we've all been corrected by the lord we've all been we've all faced difficulties because of our sins and god has stepped in and brought that rod of correction to chasten us it says god deal with you uh sorry uh sorry verse number six for whom the lord loveth he chasteneth and scourge of every son whom he receiveth look at verse number seven if ye endure chastening hey that's what we're trying to it's a race of endurance guess what when god and chastens you you've got to endure that okay when ye endure chastening god dealeth with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not point number five reverend in order for you to continue to endure is you have to appreciate correction you have to appreciate it when god steps in and corrects you okay and it doesn't feel good i have to chasten my kids from time to time it doesn't feel good on their bottoms for them it doesn't feel good for me as a father i don't like to inflict that kind of pain when they have to correct my children and you know what but when you endure it okay this reminds us that god loves us okay look at verse number 10 it says for they verily speaking of heavenly earthly fathers for they verily for a few days chasten us after their own pleasure but he for our profits that we might be partakers of his holiness what's going to help you endure the chasing of the lord is remind yourself he's doing it for your profits god does not want to destroy you he wants to correct you so you can grow so you can mature reverend endure the chasing of the lord you know what it's not nice when you go through it but when you're facing it learn to love it and say thank you god for correcting me thank you god for loving me as a child thank you lord because i know this is going to profit me i know this is going to bring me uh more holy closer to you you know more like jesus christ so i can run the race more effectively see god our father he wants us to reach the end line he wants us to have the maximum prize and brevin when we deviate just like any sporting event just like any race there are rules aren't there there are rules you know in soccer there's offside rules in soccer if you go and you foul your opponent you'll get a yellow card and if you do it again you get a red card you break the rules like someone steps in corrects you when you commit a foul whatever sporting events same thing in the christian life you're running the race there are rules this is the rule book run according to god's commandments when you break his commandments god will step in give you that yellow card maybe a warning you know he'll give you that time of mercy to get things right sometimes that red card and he's going to have to pull you out and fix you up for a while but it's for your profit it's going to get you back on the race and you can run more effectively than you have in the past so point number five brevin is appreciate correction can you please turn to james chapter five james chapter five again stay there in hebrews actually you don't need to stay there in hebrews 12 anymore but james chapter five and verse number 10 james chapter 5 and verse number 10 james chapter 5 verse 10 says take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience so this is why we have so many great stories in the old testament is that there are prophets that have suffered they've gone through the suffering right but they suffered it with patience verse number 11 look at this behold we count them happy which endure you have heard the patience of job and have seen the end of the lord and the lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy brevin i don't look from besides the lord jesus christ when we think about a human being in the bible who's suffered the most i think most of us would agree job suffered the most he lost it all he lost everything that he had he lost his children as well okay and what the lord allowed him to go through that suffering okay but what did we see in verse number 11 behold we count them happy which end you are god i don't know pastor kevin going through hardships going through chastisement going through problems and persecutions it just brings me down no if you endure you're going to be happier than you've ever been god's going to do a great work in you that maturity the patience the ability to go through more hardships the ability to be an example the ability to run harder than you've ever run before god uses problems trials tribulations okay to mature you to make you a better runner to profit you and brevin if you endure if you don't give up you're going to end up happier you're going to have a happy life brevin that's what i want i just want a happy life i don't know about you i don't you know i don't want to live a hundred years and just be miserable every day of my life i'd rather live 20 years and be happy every day of my life and in that 20 years whatever whatever god gives me right i mean i'm 42 now god gives me another five years hey if i have five years of happiness then it's all worth it at the end because i got to enjoy life i got to enjoy the experience i got to enjoy the race that god has set before me and so brevin part of that of course is appreciating the correction when god sends it your way okay so don't give up when going through difficulties endure it get through it see what god wants to develop in you when you get to that end line there all right the next point that i have for you brethren is uh let me what can i get to turn to can you please turn to ephesians chapter 2 turn to ephesians chapter 2 ephesians chapter 2 point number six the final point for the sermons this morning and uh you know one of my old pastors had a had a saying that i liked a lot and um because it is a hard life christ christ you know living a christian life is hard and we know about the spiritual warfare we know that we have so many enemies and uh and we have a fight to you know we have a fight to to fight we have a battle to fight right and he would often say my old pastor he would say we don't fight for victory we fight from victory we fight from victory meaning that we're already victorious we've already won and if you're saved you've already made it okay the bible says in first john five five who is here that overcometh the world but he that believeth that jesus is the son of god brethren we've already overcome the world because we've trusted jesus christ as our savior we've placed our faith upon him what i'm trying to say brethren point number six is that as we run this race we need to run as reigning champions run as though you've already won you've already been victorious sometimes when i when i see these interviews of sporting teams that have won like a championship the next thing is like we just want to win that again we want to prove that we can win it a second time and so they go out the next season as reigning champions they've got that title they know they're victorious they've really proven themselves well brethren it's the same for us we're already victorious because we're in christ jesus okay he's already done the race he's already endured the cross he's done everything necessary for us to be home in heaven you know i'm not discouraged when i see this world become more wicked when i see the filth in this world you know because i remember oh revelation ah new heavens new earth oh the melody reign of christ oh i get to rule and reign with christ we win brethren did you know that have you ever read the end of the bible we win okay we win we get to spend eternity with the lord god forever we overcome the flesh we overcome death we overcome sin all in the power of jesus christ we're already victorious and remind yourself of that is that hey we don't fight for victory okay we fight from victory we're reigning champions so run like reigning champions okay run like reigning champions ephesians 2 5 you're there i believe it says even when we were dead in sins have quickened us together with christ by grace you are saved so for these are for those that are saved look at verse number six and hath this is present tense okay and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in christ jesus brethren you're already in heavenly places you're already in heaven and say oh no i don't think i am you are because you're in christ jesus okay christ jesus is in heaven and because you're in christ jesus you're seated in heaven places already your place is set you've made it you've already won the race brethren so show everybody else that you're a winner show everyone else that you're a champion that you love the lord that you know you've won the race and run with that attitude not running i don't know if i can make it you've made it already now get to the finish line and show us how hard you can run because you are the reigning champion you've got the power of christ to get you to the end you're victorious already you're in heaven already okay i mean obviously from from time's perspective in the present tense we're not there but spiritually we are as far as god is concerned we've already made it okay so run as a reigning champion now can you please turn to second timothy chapter four second timothy chapter four second timothy chapter four verse number six just in conclusion as paul is writing to pastor timothy here it you know appears very much so that paul is coming to the end of his life you know probably the lord has revealed to him that you're not going to live much longer and it says in second timothy chapter four verse six blessed uh brethren why are we called blessed about this church why we call that because we love his appearing we want to see christ come back okay we want to be with him in the clouds at the rapture receive those resurrected bodies to see how god will change this earth for the righteousness of christ so i can't wait brethren to be in the clouds for the loved ones that have gone before us the brethren that we read about there in hebrews 11 and all the christians that have gone before us we're all going to be caught up together in the clouds the blessed hope to come okay and brethren if you've got that joy you've got that joy to reach the finish line to see christ in the air hey he's going to reward you he's going to give you that crown of rejoicing all right and to all of them that love his appearing the sorry the crown of righteousness okay and so we ought to be excited to reach that finish line to see jesus christ in our new resurrected bodies caught up in the clouds but notice what he said he says i have fought a good fight i have finished my course brethren we've got a race to run okay you don't finish it until you go to be the lord okay you don't finish until you go to be the lord and again i want you to receive maximum rewards i want you to endure christianity is not easy being saved is the easiest thing in the in the earth okay because christ has done all the hard work okay salvation is free it's a free gift going to heaven is the easy part but running the race that's the hard part running the race the flesh gets in the way the world gets in the way the devil gets in the way okay we don't set our eyes on the right thing okay we're not ready to run we've got the weights we've got the sins we've got all these problems that stop us from running brethren we need to make sure that you remind yourself i want you to endure i don't want you to give up you know i want to see you again in 10 years and know whether you're in this church not in this church that you're still serving the lord faithfully you know you're still running that race you're still fighting that fight that god has put forward before you you know i want to see a reigning champion i want to know that you have victory in this earth you know who cares you know if you don't make a great name for yourself who cares if you don't have the great career and the great riches and the great prosperity that this earth offers you brethren the prize at the end that's incorruptible anything that you earn on this earth is corruptible okay so make sure that you set the kingdom of god first and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you so brethren just in conclusion the race of endurance the six points i had for you this morning number one remind yourself that you have witnesses cheering you on number two overcome distractions number three run with patience number four set your eyes on the pace setter that is jesus christ number five appreciate correction number six run as reigning champions all right let's pray