100 Year Dash: Week 2 Notes
100 Year Dash - How to Run
Run Light
Hebrews 12:1-2. "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 unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
The crowd in the stands. The "cloud of witnesses" are the heroes of Hebrews 11: Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, etc. They ran their dash by faith and finished. They are proof it can be done.
- Weights are not always sinful. They are things that slow you down: busyness, screens, hobbies that crowd out God, grudges, worry, the opinions of people...In one word- DISTRACTIONS.
- Sin that easily besets is the one that keeps tripping you. Everyone has one. Name it and lay it down.
- Runners strip off everything heavy to race. Nobody runs a 100-meter dash in a winter coat and boots, especially in Louisiana!
"What are you carrying that God never asked you to carry?"
Train to Win
1 Corinthians 9:24-27. "So run, that ye may obtain... they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."
Paul is talking to saved people. This is not about getting into heaven. It is about reward once we are there. Keep the grace foundation from the introduction in front of the people here.
Although we are saved by grace, there is a judgment of rewards.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
- 1 Corinthians 3:13-15: our works will be "tried" by fire. Gold, silver, and precious stones remain. Wood, hay, and stubble burn. "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
You can be saved and still show up empty-handed.
The corruptible versus the incorruptible crown. Winners at the Isthmian Games near Corinth got a wreath of pine or wild celery. It wilted within days. Paul says Christians run for a crown that never fades. Matthew 6:20: "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt."
Run with discipline, not aimlessly.
- "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air." No shadowboxing. Every step aimed.
- "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." Faith that works shows up as temperance in all things.
- Galatians 5:6: what counts is "faith which worketh by love." Works done by faith and love last; works done for show burn.
Forget what's behind. Philippians 3:13-14: "forgetting those things which are behind... I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
- Past failures can't disqualify you, and past wins can't carry you. Paul, the former persecutor, still pressed on.
- A sprinter who looks back loses. Today is the only part of the dash you can
Run to the Finish
2 Timothy 4:7-8. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."
Paul's last words. He wrote this from a Roman prison, near the end of his dash. He doesn't list his sermons or churches planted. He says three things: I fought, I finished, I kept the faith.
Finish with joy, not regret. Acts 20:24: "neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."
- Paul's race had a lane: "the ministry, which I have received." Yours does too. The race is "set before us" (Hebrews 12:1); we don't run someone else's.
Although I don't remember seeing this, it's inspiring:
Derek Redmond, 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 400 meters. His hamstring tore mid-race. He got up and hobbled on. His father came out of the stands, put his arm around him, and helped him across the line. The Father helps us finish too.
Have you been running and lost your purpose? Have you gotten frustrated and want to quit? Have you fallen? Stand up, brush off, and let's run together! God is holding out His hand to help you up.
He gives you the want-to and ability to do what you're called to do:
Philippians 2:13
Run Light
Hebrews 12:1-2. "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 unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
The crowd in the stands. The "cloud of witnesses" are the heroes of Hebrews 11: Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, etc. They ran their dash by faith and finished. They are proof it can be done.
- Weights are not always sinful. They are things that slow you down: busyness, screens, hobbies that crowd out God, grudges, worry, the opinions of people...In one word- DISTRACTIONS.
- Sin that easily besets is the one that keeps tripping you. Everyone has one. Name it and lay it down.
- Runners strip off everything heavy to race. Nobody runs a 100-meter dash in a winter coat and boots, especially in Louisiana!
"What are you carrying that God never asked you to carry?"
Train to Win
1 Corinthians 9:24-27. "So run, that ye may obtain... they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."
Paul is talking to saved people. This is not about getting into heaven. It is about reward once we are there. Keep the grace foundation from the introduction in front of the people here.
Although we are saved by grace, there is a judgment of rewards.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
- 1 Corinthians 3:13-15: our works will be "tried" by fire. Gold, silver, and precious stones remain. Wood, hay, and stubble burn. "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
You can be saved and still show up empty-handed.
The corruptible versus the incorruptible crown. Winners at the Isthmian Games near Corinth got a wreath of pine or wild celery. It wilted within days. Paul says Christians run for a crown that never fades. Matthew 6:20: "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt."
Run with discipline, not aimlessly.
- "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air." No shadowboxing. Every step aimed.
- "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." Faith that works shows up as temperance in all things.
- Galatians 5:6: what counts is "faith which worketh by love." Works done by faith and love last; works done for show burn.
Forget what's behind. Philippians 3:13-14: "forgetting those things which are behind... I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
- Past failures can't disqualify you, and past wins can't carry you. Paul, the former persecutor, still pressed on.
- A sprinter who looks back loses. Today is the only part of the dash you can
Run to the Finish
2 Timothy 4:7-8. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."
Paul's last words. He wrote this from a Roman prison, near the end of his dash. He doesn't list his sermons or churches planted. He says three things: I fought, I finished, I kept the faith.
Finish with joy, not regret. Acts 20:24: "neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."
- Paul's race had a lane: "the ministry, which I have received." Yours does too. The race is "set before us" (Hebrews 12:1); we don't run someone else's.
Although I don't remember seeing this, it's inspiring:
Derek Redmond, 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 400 meters. His hamstring tore mid-race. He got up and hobbled on. His father came out of the stands, put his arm around him, and helped him across the line. The Father helps us finish too.
Have you been running and lost your purpose? Have you gotten frustrated and want to quit? Have you fallen? Stand up, brush off, and let's run together! God is holding out His hand to help you up.
He gives you the want-to and ability to do what you're called to do:
Philippians 2:13
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