Sermon February 22nd
“This week our Sermon was from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
1 Timothy 4:8 says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Statistically, 3.5 billion of the 8 billion people on planet earth participate in some form of regularly planned exercise. From walking around the block to competition sports, many of us have chosen to pursue exercise because we know it is a healthy choice that leads to both greater quality and quantity of life. Last week we saw that it is important to Know your WHY and FIND your Mission. This week we discovered the keys to keeping your FOCUS and STAYING on Mission. YOU MUST HAVE A PLAN AND STICK TO IT. The key components to this plan are: Passion, Preparation and Persistence. GAZELLE INTENSITY describes what it means to give it your all. When the stakes are high, you tend to put more passion into your pursuits. When a gazelle is running for his life with a cheetah in hot pursuit he is going to leverage every bit of his strength for as long as it takes to run away or die trying. This is the kind of passion 1 Corinthians 9 encourages; life or death passion. PREPERATION precedes performance. You play like you practice. If you don’t do the daily work you will not be ready in the moment of need. PERSISTENCE means showing up over and over, day after day, for the rest of your days. Old age is less a factor in our declining physical ability than inactivity. Water always follows the path of least resistance. But unlike water, you have a choice. The path of least resistance is to pursue comfort but you can choose to pursue your purpose instead. There are many different things you can do to grow spiritually strong but the GREATEST SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE IS SHOWING UP.
Discussion Questions
1. How have you managed your physical fitness? Do you have a plan? Do you show up consistently?
2. How have you managed your spiritual fitness? Do you have a plan? Do you show up consistently? Are you more likely to struggle with PASSION, PREPERATION or PERSISTENCE? On a scale of 1-10 how good are you at “SHOWING UP?”
