Move Forward

Move Forward

Phil. 3:12-16

This month, I’ve been preaching a series titled “All Things New”. Week 1, we looked at what it means to be “Born Again”. Last week, we looked at the fact that it’s “Never Too Late” to accept the new life that offers through His Son, Jesus. Which brings us to this week, it is time that we “Move Forward”. Truth is, everyone makes mistakes. But starting over with Christ means moving away from your failings and moving toward God in obedience.

This morning, I want us to take a look at a passage that was referenced in last week’s message. Turn with me to Phil. 3:12-16. Read…

If we are going to truly “Move Forward”, there are four things I want to share with you this morning that we need to find within ourselves:

1. DISCONTENTMENT

God didn’t save us so that we can sit back and take it easy on the way to heaven. God saved us because He loves us and because He wants us to bring glory to His name. Why is it that so many believers are content with coasting to the finish line?

I love to use cruise control when I drive. Many times if I don’t use it, I’ll find myself either driving too fast or too slow. There is a problem with cruise control though. A lot of times we can become so relaxed we forget where are or we lose focus.

That’s what happens to many of the dying churches today, they’ve turned on the cruise control and have become so relaxed that they have forgotten where they are and they’ve lost focus. Just because a church doesn’t seem to progress or doesn’t seem to grow doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily doing something wrong. It may just mean that they’re not doing anything at all, they’ve become comfortable, they’ve fallen asleep.

JOKE:

A young boy was attending the funeral of his grandfather, who drove a greyhound bus for a living. He leaned over to his parents and said, “When I die, I want to die in my sleep like grandpa…not like the passengers he was driving!”

Spiritually speaking, we need to be careful not to fall asleep at the wheel. There are lives at stake. Instead, here’s the attitude we need to have: However much ever I read my Bible last year, it wasn’t enough…(prayed, gave, served, worshipped) it wasn’t enough! We must never become content with where we are. We must move forward.

This year, God may want some of you to teach Sunday School class or get involved in one of our many ministries…to ignore that calling would be the same as setting your spiritual life on “cruise control”.

It would’ve been easy for me to ignore the call that God placed on my life. I could’ve kept my career, making good money, making President’s Club, winning trips to the Bahamas, living in our new home, near family and friends…but I would’ve been coasting, I wouldn’t be moving forward.

We need to become dis-satisfied..not with where we are in life, but with where we are in Christ. We need to stop comparing ourselves with everyone else. We look around and say, “well, I’m at church every week and they’re not so I must be doing something right.” That’s not wise. When you compare yourself to anyone other than Christ Himself, you are developing a false sense of security. When you compare yourself to Christ, you will quickly recognize how short you really fall.

Paul says:

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended

As I said last week, you’re never going to make it anywhere if you think you’ve already arrived. Turn the cruise control off, and put the petal to the medal. If we’re not careful, we can allow ourselves to get to the point of complacency. We need to find some discontentment...

2. DEVOTION

but one thing I do

This is a pretty significant saying throughout the Bible:

To the rich young ruler, Jesus said, “One thing you lack”.

To Martha…who was busy working in the kitchen; criticizing her sister Mary…Jesus said, “But one thing is needed.”

In Ps. 27:4, David said: “One thing I have desired of the Lord.”

And here, Paul says: “but one thing I do”. This was a statement of devotion. You see, Paul’s Christianity wasn’t a sideshow. It wasn’t just a compartment of his life.

Think of it like a wheel…a wheel has many spokes, and so do we in our lives: work, school, hobbies, family, church. And for many people, these spokes have nothing to do with one another. Their church life doesn’t show up at work, on the basketball court, etc. And for many, if we were to get an inside look at their family life at home…you’d never dream they also had a church life.