Last Sunday's Sermon Notes: Celebration Service 8/31/08
gotta start w/ Sumpen funny...
A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents. The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 PM for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated a fortune of $3.50. Then my wife's father died and left us ten million dollars."
Today we continue a new sermon series entitled God’s Olympics…
Today’s Focus is Strength…
But before we jump into that…I want to share something the LORD through in my lap this week that has to do with last week’s focus on BALANCE…Tony Dungy…
I don’t know what it was about this week but the LORD kept throwing stuff in my face, reviewing what we’ve been talking about, so let me share a little bit on FOCUS…Rick Warren…
Today’s Pentecostal Evangel…Asafa Powell…
So, now that completes our story time, I’ll preach my sermon now…
We’ll let Asafa Powell give us the first point of our Olympic sermon today…
1. Strength is found in praying
Psalm 55:17…Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He will hear my voice…
Matthew 26:41…Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak…
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18…Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you…
Psalm 42:8…The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me – A prayer to the God of my life…
Olympic Games, Barcelona, 1992
This was to be his moment. Though he had been plagued by injuries throughout his career, on the evening of August the third, 1992, Derek Redmond had never felt stronger.
He broke quickly in lane five, quickly making up the stagger on the runners in lanes six through eight. Then Redmond felt something pop in his right leg. He had torn his hamstring. As the other runners finished the race, all eyes turned to him, helpless and motionless on the track.
Suddenly, a man appeared next to the injured runner, who, in spite of his injury, was determined to complete the race. Redmond's father had been watching in disbelief from the grandstand. Now, he provided a much-needed shoulder as his son hobbled in agony toward the finish line.
A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents. The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 PM for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated a fortune of $3.50. Then my wife's father died and left us ten million dollars."
Today we continue a new sermon series entitled God’s Olympics…
Today’s Focus is Strength…
But before we jump into that…I want to share something the LORD through in my lap this week that has to do with last week’s focus on BALANCE…Tony Dungy…
I don’t know what it was about this week but the LORD kept throwing stuff in my face, reviewing what we’ve been talking about, so let me share a little bit on FOCUS…Rick Warren…
Today’s Pentecostal Evangel…Asafa Powell…
So, now that completes our story time, I’ll preach my sermon now…
We’ll let Asafa Powell give us the first point of our Olympic sermon today…
1. Strength is found in praying
Psalm 55:17…Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He will hear my voice…
Matthew 26:41…Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak…
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18…Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you…
Psalm 42:8…The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me – A prayer to the God of my life…
Olympic Games, Barcelona, 1992
This was to be his moment. Though he had been plagued by injuries throughout his career, on the evening of August the third, 1992, Derek Redmond had never felt stronger.
He broke quickly in lane five, quickly making up the stagger on the runners in lanes six through eight. Then Redmond felt something pop in his right leg. He had torn his hamstring. As the other runners finished the race, all eyes turned to him, helpless and motionless on the track.
Suddenly, a man appeared next to the injured runner, who, in spite of his injury, was determined to complete the race. Redmond's father had been watching in disbelief from the grandstand. Now, he provided a much-needed shoulder as his son hobbled in agony toward the finish line.
2. Strength is found in leaning
Even Christ himself needed someone to lean on…
Matthew 27:32…Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross…
After the soldiers beat, no scourged our LORD, mocking and spitting…he was half dead before they even nailed him to the cross…Jesus needed help to carry his cross to Golgotha…
We need one another
There is no shame in leaning on family, friends, the church…
When you feel beat up, lean on the LORD and His people…
It is not a sign of strength to refuse to need anyone, to be a recluse or loner…that kind of individualism is not a sign of strength but weakness…anybody can shrivel up into themselves becoming bitter and ugly…
It is better to trust someone even if you are betrayed than to have never loved at all..
Olympic Games, Mexico, 1968
Out of the cold darkness he came. John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania entered at the far end of the stadium, pain hobbling his every step, his leg bloody and bandaged. The winner of the marathon had been declared over an hour earlier. Only a few spectators remained. But the lone runner pressed on.
As he crossed the finish line, the small crowd roared out its appreciation. Afterward, a reporter asked the runner why he had not retired from the race, since he had no chance of winning. He seemed confused by the question. Finally, he answered:
"My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish."
3. Strength is found in finishing
2 Timothy 4:7…I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…
This sermon series is centered around Paul’s words in
1 Cor 9:24 thru 27… (front of bulletin)Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified…
We have already focused on this scriptures mandate for discipline, being temperate in all things, focusing on eternity, fighting for what’s right…
The word that stuck out to me this time was…disqualified…
In order to qualify for the Olympics one must have incredible strength in whatever sport he or she is competing in…
I wonder if our lives would look any different if we recognized that our Christian life, how we run this spiritual race…is being qualified or judged by our Creator…scary stuff…None of us will ever qualify, that’s why Jesus came, that’ why the gospel is our only hope…but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try…the grace Jesus bought on that cross is not something to be taken and then trampled upon as we run the race any which way we choose…I don’t believe in cheap grace…
We are athletes in God’s Olympics…If we are Running the race of the Christian life, Commitment, Focus, Balance and Strength are important tools for the journey…
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