Philippians Part 17- How to win the race: Obtaining the Goal| Colin D

This message was preached  by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on July 3rd, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Three times his testimony is recorded. Three times taken up to heaven, he has great revelation etc. Stoned, whipped, chased. But he did not give up.

This great apostle Paul accomplished so much and yet he felt there is more. We are living at one level in Christianity but there is more. Paul did not feel he had attained everything.  He tells us what he is focusing on and what he has got. Then he tells us in Philippians 3: 15 what it is to be mature. If you desire to be mature we need this mind set. That we are not perfect. We all make mistakes. This side of eternity we will never be perfect but one day when we pass on from this life we will be like Jesus.

Although we struggle with weakness and sin, we are being changed. With the Word of God in me I can become more and more like Jesus. God loves me just as I am but he won't leave me like that. That process is called sanctification. We are works in progress.

Q. Does this transformation happen automatically? Is it let go and let God?

Paul said in verse 14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Pressing on is exerting energy. It is effort.
We were children of darkness at one time. In the sovereignty of God we got saved.

Jesus took hold of you and adopted you as a son. He gave a purpose for your life.
If heaven is all that there is then we should go to heaven now.But it is not! We have a purpose and a mandate.

There was this General Mellelan. Great military general who could administrate and train but he did not want to fight. The result is they lost the battle. He was fired and replaced by a scruffy guy who won the battle. He wrote to the President and signed off your to be counted on.

We have a purpose. We need to find that out. We have a mandate.

Q. Which general will we be like?

God has blessed us with so much. We have a mandate to fulfill. Paul did not feel he had accomplished everything. Paul realized that there is a long way to go.
In life we have made mistakes. We have hurt and been been hurt. We have let people down too. We can live in the past, good things and bad. We can hold onto bad or rest on our laurels. Forgetting what is behind. There is energy and force. You can have gym membership but do you actually go? The Christian life is like this. If it isn't, something is missing.

The ultimate goal is that we become like Jesus. Romans 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”.

If you want to win the marathon you get into training for many months. In the same way.
God's plan for us is to become like Jesus.

1 John 2:6- Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Gal 4:6- Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.”

It's not a cake walk. It's hard work.

Q. How does this transformation happen?

1.      As we are exposed to the word of God.

Heb 4:12- “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart”

James says it's like looking into the mirror. Forgive, love, give, share. We need to make sure we have sufficient intake of the word of God. A  thirty min sermon on Sunday is not enough.
There is good stuff on the web and bad. Go to the Regions beyond website. There is a lot of resources there. Read a book, listen to a sermon. We are starting In-Depth Discipleship Training ( IDT) and Purpose Driven life.

2.      We need the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit caused you to be born again. We need more of him in our lives. Spend time in worship. We put up our worship every week. We need to be people of the Word and the Spirit. Too much word and you'll dry up, only Holy Spirit and you can blow up.

When you walk with the spirit he gets into your daily life.

3.      Community

We need one another. If I'm locked up in a room I can't sin against another. It's on relating that my imperfections are delt with.

The Bible is full of One another.

Acts 11:26-“So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch”
Barnabas and Paul went to Antioch. And taught great number of people. They were called Christian first there.

If you want to mature, do the above and the end result is we will be little Christ bringing transformation  to the city. It takes effort.
They result is we will be people who don't just hear but will also do.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.

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