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 It will be helpful if you can keep your Bible open to Philippians chapter 3.

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 And for many of those who have watched long distance running before, you know that the

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 winner is only decided when he or she crosses the finishing line.

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 Well, you know that picking the winner right from the start is never going to be a straightforward

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 answer.

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 The competitors that you know may not actually win it no matter how impressive his past record

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 may be.

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 Many of those who start the race well, but then as you watch the race, you'll find that there's

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 going to be lots of twists and turns before the winner finally emerges in the end.

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 The picture of an athlete participating in the race is what the Apostle Paul was trying

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 to bring across to the Philippian Christians.

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 In today's passage, he used the metaphor of a race to describe to the Philippines living

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 up a Christian life.

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 So how does he explain it?

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 First of all, he describes about the race itself, verse 10 to 11.

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 Secondly, he warns about the obstacles to avoid, verse 12 to 13.

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 And finally, he highlights the motivation to finish the race, verse 14.

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 Paul started off by saying, the Christian life is all about race.

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 If you were to look with me together from verse 10 to 14, you may have realised that the words

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 athlete or race are not mentioned explicitly in these few verses.

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 But, there are many other words that describe it very clearly.

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 Notice how the words pressing on, straining forward, go and price keep appearing in these verses.

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 If you look carefully again in verse 10, take note of the number of times the word may appear in these sentences.

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 It's quite clear over here that Paul is not talking about something that he had done in the past,

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 but something that he is still doing in the present.

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 What we call purpose is to describe the Christian life as an athlete running in the race.

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 That the obvious question will come to your mind.

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 What is the race about?

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 You do not have to look far to verse 10 and 11 to find your answer.

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 Let me read it out for you.

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 Verse 10.

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 Yes, the race is all about knowing Christ.

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 But hang on, wait a minute.

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 Does not Paul already know Christ by this stage?

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 I think it is important for me to clarify that Paul is not talking about the fact that he is not safe.

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 After all, he has already mentioned in verse 12 and 13 that he is safe in the hands of the Lord.

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 And looking further back in verse 9, Paul also speaks about how he is safe in Christ.

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 It is the only reason why he has found right with God.

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 You see, the reason why Paul would describe Christian life as a race is because knowing Christ does not stop at the beginning of your Christian life.

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 Many of you who are married here will know that your marriage does not end on the day of your wedding.

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 You can't say that you know your wife completely because you have just married her.

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 You know that it is just the beginning of an exciting journey for you.

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 You will look forward to the rest of the marriage because you want to draw near to her.

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 You want to get to know her better.

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 How do you know Christ better? You may ask.

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 Does it mean that you just need to read the Bible more to find out more about him?

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 If you look with me to verse 10 again,

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 you will look at verse 10 again.

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 If you look with me to verse 10 again,

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 you will look at the Bible and see how you are a Christian.

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 You will look at the Bible and see how you are a Christian.

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 It is very similar to that in the marriage.

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 Because we are united to Christ.

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 We want to pursue Him.

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 We want to draw near to Him.

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 And we want to know Him better.

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 How do you know Christ better?

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 You may ask.

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 Does it mean that you just need to read the Bible more to find out more about Him?

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 If you look with me to verse 10 again, you will find that knowing Christ means we share

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 in His suffering.

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 We become like Him in His death.

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 In other words, Paul is saying over here that if you want to know Christ,

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 you do not only understand Him through His words.

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 You need to follow the pattern of the life that He lives.

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 For many of the married or attached men over here,

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 if you were to remember your courtship days,

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 one of the things you always try to impress your other half is to develop the liking for the hobbies that she likes.

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 For example, your wife or your girlfriend will like arts.

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 And therefore, she enjoys going to the arts,

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 I mean she enjoys going to the museum or enjoy going to the arts gallery.

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 Those activities may not be something that you like to do.

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 But because your other half likes it, and because you love her,

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 you will naturally find that over time, you gradually start to appreciate,

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 you gradually start to develop an interest in going to the museum and going to the art gallery.

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 This is exactly what Paul is saying over here.

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 If you were to flip back across to chapter 2,

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 Paul told the Philippians that because they have been united with Christ,

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 they would like to follow his example.

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 His example of humility,

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 his example of obedience,

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 and his example of self-sacrificial love.

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 They would want to follow the way of the cross that Jesus, he himself, had gone through.

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 Paul left the Philippians with no doubt that this is the same pattern of life for any of the followers of Jesus,

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 including Paul himself.

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 There is no exception.

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 This is why when Paul wrote this letter to the Philippines,

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 he was in the prison cell.

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 That is the reason why Paul was ready to give up his life for the Gospel.

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 That is the reason why, if you were to read through the last half of chapter 2,

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 Paul mentioned that many of his co-workers, like Timothy,

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 were willing to labor on,

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 they were willing to suffer,

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 and they were willing to risk their life for the work of the Gospel.

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 They were doing this purely because they wanted to know Christ.

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 They want to share in his sufferings.

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 Well, obviously a common question will come to your mind right now.

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 So what does it mean for you and me to share in his sufferings?

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 I am sure many of you here will know about Mo Farah.

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 Who can forget the pride and the sheer joy he has brought to the whole British nation

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 when he won the 10,000-meter Olympic champion last year?

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 You know when I recently started to read about the keys to his achievement,

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 there are only two words that summarizes his rise to the top.

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 Hard work and drafting.

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 I remember coming across an article where one of his college coaches,

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 in his earlier days, encouraged him to change his lifestyle,

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 encouraged him to train his training methods,

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 by living with a group of 10-year athletes.

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 Now as some of you are aware, 10-year produce lots of world-class athletes.

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 And one of the reasons why 10-year runners are so successful,

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 is because they are so humble, and because they are so hardworking.

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 And what they do is to run, they sleep, and they train all the time.

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 I think this is exactly the same image of how Paul would describe a Christian life to the Philippines,

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 and similarly to us over here.

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 A Christian life is a race. It is not a bed of roses.

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 This is because Paul knows it is a hard and difficult journey.

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 It is a journey that requires lots of self-sacrifice.

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 A journey that requires lots of hard work.

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 And a journey that may even cost your very own life.

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 Well, it is hard and difficult, isn't it?

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 You may tell me, Andrew, I am no superman like Paul or the Apostles.

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 How can I keep pressing on?

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 This is actually a very good question.

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 Because if you look again, you need to verse 10.

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 The answer lies in knowing the power of Christ's resurrection.

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 Notice the surprise in the order of this powerful sentence

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 that Paul is describing here, compared to what we expect.

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 But many of you over here would know from the Bible knowledge

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 that Christ first died on the cross, and then subsequently raised from the dead.

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 But here we see that Paul reversed the order to describe the state about a Christian life.

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 The question is, why does he do that?

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 That's because Paul knows we need the power of Christ's resurrection to walk the way of the cross.

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 That's why he says in verse 12 and 13 that he did not consider he has made it his own race.

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 It is the Lord Jesus himself who did it for him through the power of his resurrection.

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 The race is tough, the race is demanding.

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 It is impossible to do it on his own effort.

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 But the wonderful news is that Christ is already at work and will continue to work in us.

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 But for some of you over here who have not given your life to follow Jesus,

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 let me say that there is no point for you to talk anything about the race at all.

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 Because we have not even known Jesus yet.

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 So let me encourage you, let me plead with you to give yourself a chance to know this Jesus

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 who is so wonderful and so worthwhile to pursue.

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 But for the majority of you over here who have already started your Christian life,

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 let me say that there are two dangers that we can find ourselves falling into.

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 I think the first danger is that we can fall into a delusion that we will have an easy life

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 after we become a Christian.

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 Where the reality could not be further away from this.

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 I know many of us over here who have not experienced persecution and sufferings

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 like what many of our brothers and sisters have gone through in Syria, Nigeria or even Egypt.

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 But we know on the other hand, the ordinary life itself is not like a gate of roses.

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 It is never steel, it is never plain selling.

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 The jobs that we face each day are either too mundane or too many dead lives.

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 We have difficult bosses and colleagues that we have to deal with in our workplace.

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 We have mortgages or renters to pay each month.

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 We face struggles in parenting our kids.

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 We are not doing enough to please and communicate with our spouses.

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 We struggle with contentment.

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 We struggle with relationship issues.

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 Our daily devotion times seem like a chore.

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 And coming to church, coming to house group meeting, coming to prayer meeting, fulfilling my greetings and hospitality duties.

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 WOW!

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 It just feels so tiring.

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 It just feels so overwhelming.

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 Dear friends, I've got an encouraging news for you.

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 If this is what you are experiencing today, let me welcome you to the Christian life.

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 The solution is not to give up on what you are doing, but to keep enduring those struggles,

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 to bear with the feelings of those around you, and to exercise tolerance with the imperfection

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 of others.

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 This is what it means to follow the example of Christ.

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 This is what it means to press on in your Christian life.

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 There is also a second danger, the second danger we can easily fall into, is to think that

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 we can do it all by our own effort.

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 And the trouble is, when the journey gets tough, you'll find that you simply cannot carry on

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 any longer.

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 Well, a couple of years back in Singapore, I went through a brief period of depression

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 because of some health-related issues.

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 I went through some trying and difficult times of going through scanning tests, one after another,

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 I had to go through a few years without any issues or problems being identified.

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 I think it was only then that I realised that I made a mistake.

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 A mistake of thinking that the solution to my health problem was to keep going for one test

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 after another.

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 I have forgotten to draw on the power of Jesus' resurrection to help me to press on, whether

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 in good health or not so good health.

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 Most of you who have participated in the marathon, who probably have realised that not all the people

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 who start the race actually end up in the finishing line.

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 Those people usually give up midway through the race due to one reason or another.

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 Some as you have observed, give up because physically they don't just feel right.

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 But some others, as you may have discovered later, just stop running because they are either

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 distracted by the things that they see around them or simply because they are caught up in

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 a conversation with a friend that they have not seen for a long while.

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 I see that the Apostle warns the Philippines and similarly to us, the obstacles that may

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 prevent us from following Jesus to the end.

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 Look at me down to verse 12.

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 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it

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 my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

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 If you look at this verse, Paul is telling the Philippines about the obstacles that may

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 prevent him from pressing on in the Gospel.

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 Notice the first obstacle he mentions here.

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 It is the danger of thinking he is already there when he is not.

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 Now the question is, why does Paul want to share about this concern of his to the Philippines?

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 As Paul wrote this letter to the Philippines, he knows that the Philippines themselves are

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 in great danger.

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 Great danger of being led astray by wrong teachings and therefore not standing firm in the Gospel.

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 Notice how in verse 2 of the same chapter, Paul is warning the Philippine Christians to watch

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 out for those false teachers.

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 Apparently the false teachers have been saying to the Philippine Christians,

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 It is good and well that you come to faith in Christ, but unless you are circumcised according

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 to the Jewish laws, you do not really belong to him.

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 Paul solved a serious problem that comes with this teaching.

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 Because the false teachers have turned from Christ and put their confidence in their religious

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 activities.

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 They have stopped running the race.

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 They thought they had arrived.

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 They were setting their minds on earthly things because they thought that their citizenship is

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 over here.

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 There was no longer any need for them to go the way of the cross.

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 I recently went on a two-week trip to France with a couple of my friends from my home church

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 back in Singapore.

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 As part of the trip preparation, I can assign a task.

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 The task of booking for the train tickets and accommodation.

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 I would like to think that I did a relatively good job of doing the two things above, especially

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 given the short amount of time that I have.

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 However, as I got on the trip, I realized I have a problem.

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 The problem was that I have forgotten an important task on planning how to travel from the train

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 station to the place of accommodation.

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 You see, I know most of the places I have looked is very close to the train station.

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 But the problem is that little do I know, when we arrived there, I have to start panicking

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 on how to work my way to the apartments on the train stations.

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 You see, the mistake I made earlier was to think that we have arrived once we are at the train stations.

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 But the truth is that it is the apartment, not the train station where my destination should be.

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 So if the first obstacle is to think that we have already finished the race,

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 the second obstacle that Paul warned the Philippines from running the race

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 is the danger of being distracted by the past.

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 Look down with me to verse 13.

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 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

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 But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward what lies ahead.

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 Well, what we see here is a picture of an athlete, not constantly looking back from where he came from.

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 But notice over here, Paul is not describing what he had witnessed at the cross-country race.

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 It is something that he has experienced before.

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 If you look back to verses 4-6, Paul actually listed up all his past privileges.

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 Paul listed up his past achievements.

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 Not because he wants to boast that his CV is much better than the false stitches.

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 But because he wants to show to the Philippine Christians that these are all rubbish.

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 They contribute nothing to his salvation.

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 That's why coming back to the passage here in verse 13,

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 Paul is able to say that he is able to forget what is behind.

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 He is able to strain forward what is ahead.

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 It is important to take note that forget here does not mean not being able to remember or record.

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 When the Bible talks about forgetfulness, it talks about the fact that we no longer take into account of where we came from or what we have achieved before.

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 It is like an athlete not taking into account whether he has a favourite tab or underdog tab before he starts the race.

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 You see, Paul was deeply concerned about the dangers facing the Philippine Christians.

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 He was worried that they were no longer striving for the gospel.

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 They were in danger of turning from Christ to their past religious background and past religious activities.

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 Thinking that this is the way that will keep them right with God.

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 But Paul says over here that this is also the way that stops them from running the race.

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 Turning back means they want to stop their gospel ministry.

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 Turning back means they want to stop following Christ.

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 Why I think this passage has similar warnings for us over here in the 21st century.

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 The dangers of thinking that we have arrived, of trusting in who we are or in what we have done,

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 these are things that are still very real in our circles today.

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 Some of us pride ourselves in our Christian upbringing.

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 We boast about our regular attendance in church.

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 We boast about the fact that it belongs to a good Bible teaching church like IPC.

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 We also boast about the number of ministries we are actively involved in.

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 We boast about the number of ministries we are actively involved in.

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 You see, let me clarify myself.

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 Those things are not wrong to yourself.

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 They are good things.

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 And something that we should be thankful for.

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 But the problem starts when we begin to think that we have done enough.

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 We start to look back to what we have achieved in the past.

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 We want to take it easy.

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 And therefore we want to avoid the hard work of following Christ.

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 I believe one of the key reasons why many of us sometimes fall into this trap.

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 It is because we have turned our eyes from pursuing Christ to pursuing other earthly things.

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 We would like to think that we can now have a free ride all the way through.

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 We can fall into a temptation that we can continue to live like the rest of the people around us, without the need to keep following Christ.

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 For example, we think that we should pursue our education in the best colleges and universities.

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 We must strive for excellent progress in our career path.

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 We must make lots of money.

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 We must live in a good house.

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 We must aim for a good quality of life and an early retirement.

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 You see, the priority of following Christ has been replaced by the pursuit of comfort and riches in this world.

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 All because we think that we are already there.

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 All because we think we have done enough as a Christian.

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 Where does this leave us?

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 If the goal of knowing Christ means that we are to share in His sufferings,

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 if knowing Christ means that we have to be mindful of the threat of obstacles,

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 surely the million dollar question is, is it worth it?

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 Notice in verse 14, that Paul's focus is not on his past background or achievements, but on the future Christ.

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 His aim, his goal is to finish the race.

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 You see, there is no motivation or incentive for Paul to give all that he has to run this hard race,

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 if there is nothing that awaits him at the end.

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 Paul wants to keep running because he knows the surprise that awaits him at the finishing line.

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 Well, what is the surprise that awaits us?

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 Can we know anything about the price from the passage?

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 We mentioned earlier, back in verse 10, that Paul's purpose of running the race is to know Christ.

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 But you see, there is no way that he can know Christ fully until he reaches the finishing line.

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 That's the reason why Paul mentioned in verse 12, he is not there yet.

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 But the day will come, the day will come, when he will be perfect.

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 Paul also mentioned in verse 11, about attaining the resurrection from the dead.

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 Although Paul has experienced the power of his resurrection, when he becomes a Christian,

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 deep in his heart, he knows that this is just a foretaste of a better thing that is to come.

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 A future resurrection that will arrive.

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 And he is very certain that this will be the price that will await him.

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 Even though right now, he does not know how he will end up there.

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 Finally, Paul knows in verse 14, that this price is about entering heaven.

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 Notice on the passage, notice on the verse itself.

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 It's all about looking forward to God calling us up to enter into this place with him.

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 What is the price that you are aiming for in your life today?

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 I would like to clarify at this point, that this price is very different from an Olympic race.

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 When you can't be sure that you win the price unless you are among the best runners.

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 It's therefore important to realize that it is not our running that earns the price.

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 You only have to run to receive the price.

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 If you are not yet a Christian, just in case you are working through your mind,

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 you are figuring out how to obtain this price.

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 Let me say, let me tell you, you don't have to run to earn this price.

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 The price is already offered to us as a gift by Jesus, whom he paid for with his very own life.

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 Can I invite you to receive this wonderful gift that Jesus is offering to you today?

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 For the rest of you, some of you have already been counting the cost of being a Christian.

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 You may be looking over the shoulders of your friends and your peers beside you.

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 They are staying in big houses, they are driving big cars,

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 they are living an attractive lifestyle, they are having a successful career.

00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:12.299
 You may be thinking right now, should I cut back on my ministry involvement?

00:29:13.299 --> 00:29:17.299
 Should I join a bigger church, never mind whether they teach the Bible properly,

00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:21.299
 so that I can just be a Sunday Christian?

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 Maybe, maybe then I can divert my time and energy to start pursuing the things my peers have been doing.

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 Dear friends, think through it again.

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 Isn't it wonderful to know the certainty of the price that awaits you at the end?

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 Surely it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

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 Surely it has to give you the motivation to keep pressing on.

00:29:52.299 --> 00:29:57.299
 In conclusion, I remember back in my university days in Australia,

00:29:58.299 --> 00:30:01.299
 there are a lot of friends around me that I look up to.

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 They were faithful, they were committed Christians then.

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 They were serving actively as fiber-sized leaders in the university fellowship group.

00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:17.299
 They were doing lots of evangelism, doing lots of discipleship ministries.

00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:22.299
 However, the sad reality is that when I catch up with them much later,

00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:25.299
 they were no longer attending church.

00:30:26.299 --> 00:30:31.299
 Their focus and their drive are centred entirely in the state,

00:30:32.299 --> 00:30:36.299
 around their career, around their possessions, and around their lifestyle.

00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:43.299
 Some twisted away because they got themselves involved in non-Christian relationships.

00:30:44.299 --> 00:30:48.299
 You see, they are no longer interested in running the Christian race,

00:30:49.299 --> 00:30:51.299
 because they think they have already arrived.

00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:54.299
 They want to move on to other things,

00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:59.299
 because their focus is no longer on the Christ in heaven,

00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:02.299
 but more on the things on this earth.

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 Dear friends,

00:31:04.299 --> 00:31:09.299
 let this passage remind us that we are in for a long haul.

00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:13.299
 Our goal in life is about knowing Christ.

00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:16.299
 It's about sharing in His suffering.

00:31:17.299 --> 00:31:19.299
 Beware of falling back on your past achievements,

00:31:20.299 --> 00:31:23.299
 or to think that we have already arrived.

00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:26.299
 It may be a path with a head,

00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:27.299
 but take heart,

00:31:28.299 --> 00:31:29.299
 it is worth it,

00:31:30.299 --> 00:31:34.299
 because of the Christ that awaits us in the end.

00:31:35.299 --> 00:31:36.299
 Shall we pray?

00:31:44.299 --> 00:31:47.299
 Heavenly Father, we want to ask for forgiveness

00:31:47.299 --> 00:31:50.299
 for the times that we have acted,

00:31:51.299 --> 00:31:55.299
 and behave as if our Christian life has already stopped.

00:31:58.299 --> 00:31:59.299
 We want to thank you for showing us this evening

00:32:00.299 --> 00:32:02.299
 that our Christian life is a journey.

00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:06.299
 It is a journey that is exciting and wonderful,

00:32:07.299 --> 00:32:08.299
 because we have known the Lord Jesus Christ.

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 Father, we know that this journey is not easy,

00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:16.299
 but we are encouraged from today's passage

00:32:17.299 --> 00:32:21.299
 that we can follow the footsteps of our Lord Jesus.

00:32:22.299 --> 00:32:24.299
 We thank you that although He was rich,

00:32:25.299 --> 00:32:26.299
 yet for our sake,

00:32:27.299 --> 00:32:28.299
 He became poor for us

00:32:29.299 --> 00:32:30.299
 by walking the way of the cross.

00:32:31.299 --> 00:32:34.299
 Dear Father, we want to pray

00:32:35.299 --> 00:32:36.299
 that you will help us

00:32:37.299 --> 00:32:38.299
 to see that it is such a wonderful privilege

00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:40.299
 to share in the suffering of Christ.

00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:44.299
 May we press on in our journey ahead,

00:32:45.299 --> 00:32:46.299
 and keep looking forward to the day

00:32:47.299 --> 00:32:50.299
 where we can see you face to face again,

00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:54.299
 where we are waiting to receive the prize from you.

00:32:55.299 --> 00:32:57.299
 We pray all this in Jesus' name.

00:32:58.299 --> 00:32:58.299