Race Day Week 3

How awesome is it that we have such amazing leaders that even if our Pastor is gone for a week, we have an amazing service that goes off without a hitch? Pastor Nathan is in Washington, DC for the Christians United for Israel conference, and while we always miss our Pastor when he is away, we got the opportunity to hear from Youth Pastor Trey Harper.

This Race Day series has been focused on NASCAR and relating the spiritual aspects to our lives, but if you are anything like Pastor Trey, NASCAR just isn't your thing. However, regardless of your like or dislike for this sport, these messages have been very applicable to all of our lives.

1 Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

These verse is not politically correct in today's society. In order to protect our Children's fragile emotions, everyone gets a trophy, even the team that comes in dead last. Why? Because we don't want to harm their self esteem, we don't want to scar them for life, and we definitely don't want them feeling sorry for themselves. Everyone is a winner, but that isn't reality. In reality there are winners and there are losers. But too many of us still have that everyone win's mentality as we have grown older.

Guess what, this isn't little league anymore, and just as the verse in Corinthians states, not everyone is going to win. So what if as Christians we weren't simply in it for the participation trophy, what if we were actually in it to win it? What if we made the conscious decision every day to win, rather than simply participate?

1 Corinthians 9:36 "Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air."

You see, we sometimes get distracted by temporary/earthly accomplishments. Our progress towards Christ should be so much more important. Discipline is the only thing that will get us closer to Christ. Trying and training are not the same things. Trying occurs when it's convenient. Training occurs no matter what.

Here are some ways you can start training TODAY!
Read your Bible every day for at least 10 min, Become a Dream Team Member, and Join a small group.

Realize that discipline is your responsibility. It isn't your spouse or your pastor or you friend's job to make sure that you remain and continue to be disciplines in your pursuit of Christ.

What if we were all in it to win it as Christians? How might we change the world?

It is all up to you.