PASTOR'S PENS:

SERMON SERIES:
Kingdom PrinciplesFollowing Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

PASTOR'S PENS 2008

August 17th       “I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.”     Mia Hamm                 Do you know what the five circles in the Olympic symbol represent? It’s the five continents: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. They’re all linked together, as one world, because the young athletes of the world are summoned every four years to give of their best in friendly competition in the great athletic event – the Olympic Games. In ancient history the Olympics were huge. The ancient Olympic Games, part of a major religious festival honoring Zeus, were the biggest events in the ancient world. A victor of the ancient Olympics received a crown or wreath made from olive leaves, and was entitled to have a statue of himself set up at Olympia. They were a top news item back then just as they are today. They even caught the attention of the Apostle Paul. He refers to the Olympic games in a few of his letters and, in one notable passage, mentions two of the sports that were part of the Olympic competition in his day; running and boxing (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). In addition to this passage, there are several other passages where Paul compares the Christian life to the Olympics. The Christian life is like the Olympics in many ways.                 The Christian life is a wrestling match. Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Olympic wrestling is the real stuff and the wrestling match we’re involved in is the real stuff, too. Paul said that we are in a wrestling match with the powers of this dark world, namely Satan.                 Teddy Roosevelt had a little dog that was always getting in fights and always getting licked. Somebody said, “Colonel, he’s not much of a fighter, is he?” The Colonel replied, “Oh, yes, he’s a good fighter. He’s just a poor judge of dogs.” If you’re a poor judge of dogs, you’re going to get licked. I’m not talking about dogs, I’m talking about Satan. If you think he’s a pushover, you are the one who is going to get pushed over! Satan is a lot stronger and wiser than you are. There’s no way in the world that you are going to whip him by yourself. James promises us, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (4:7). How do we resist Satan? Stay in the Word. Go to church regularly, faithfully. Be a person of prayer. Get involved in some kind of Christian service. Do anything and everything that deals with your Christian faith. That’s how to resist the evil one! When you fill your life with the good things of God there will be no room for the evil.                 The Christian life is a race. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Cor. 9:24). To most people, long distance running is running a mile. But that’s child’s play. Running a mile is just warming up. Of course, in the Olympics we have all kinds of distances for running. There are the sprinters who run the 100 meters, 200, 400, etc. There are the milers, the 5k runners, the 10k runners and there are the marathoners who run 26.2 miles.                 I really wish that the Christian life was just a short sprint. Personally, I think it would be a lot easier to finish if it was, but it’s not. The Christian life is more like the marathon race.  It’s a long race. A hard race. And its one thing to enter a marathon but it’s another thing to finish the race. There are many who jump on the Jesus bandwagon but never finish the race. There are many people who confess their faith in Christ, are baptized, join the church but eventually they drop out of the race for some reason or another. In marathon running it’s called “hitting the wall.” That’s when the runner basically runs out of gas. And life is full of “hitting the wall” experiences: death, divorce, disasters. The Christian life is a tough act. If you want to win, you must persevere. Let’s determine now to finish well.                 The Christian life requires training. “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Cor. 9:25). Training to compete in the Olympics is hard work. Many athletes dedicate their whole lives to that one thing. They may spend hours every day training for their sport. It’s tough physical and mental work.                 What about us in regard to the Christian life? How much training do we perform? Or any at all? What are we talking about? How does a person train themselves spiritually? Through studying Scripture and prayer. Being part of a Bible study. These are what build us up in the faith and help us be better able to win in the Christian life. If you want to excel in living the Christian life then you must do your homework. You must train hard spiritually.                 The persevering Christian will be rewarded. “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). Obviously, the goal in the Olympics is to win the gold medal. Or any medal would be fine. We all prefer the gold, but sometimes we must settle for less. The beauty of the Christian life is that we are not striving to win a gold medal! All we have to do is finish the race and God is going to give us a crown of glory that will last forever! And it’s for everyone who crosses the finish line, no matter what place they finish!                 So how are you doing in your Christian life? Are you sidelined? Are you in training? Do you need to get up and get back in the race? Then, as the Nike commercial says, “Just do it!”