Introduction

Welcome back to church, everyone! Hope you’ve had a fantastic week. Today we are going to be in week 3 of our Passion series. In the first couple weeks we learned that it wasn’t the nails that held Jesus on the cross. It was his love and passion for humanity. And last week we learned Jesus was and is the humble King who serves a world in desperate need.

Jesus’ actions were fueled by a humble love, and as we’ll discuss further today, a perfect love… focused on the joy set before Him.

STORY: Tell about a time you ran a race or competed in a sport. Maybe you trained for a marathon or a 5k. Either way, make the point that this took lots of preparation and dedication. Until one crosses the finish line, one cannot lose focus.

In running terms, Jesus ran a perfect race while here on earth, and His race took Him to His eventual death on a cross. Today, we hope to learn more about the perfect love that fueled Jesus on His journey.

Jesus’ actions were fueled by a humble love, and as we’ll discuss further today, a perfect love… focused on the joy set before Him.

Main Teaching

If you have a Bible with you, I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9 where the Apostle Paul has some profound things to say about self-discipline and training; Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

As I just said, Jesus ran a perfect race. And we know from the gospels that He was very disciplined with His time, He was intentional. He was neither running aimlessly nor boxing the air. He had an eternal crown in mind, a specific mission and calling.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross…”

We are all called to run a similar race. While running through life, it’s important that we do so with endurance. Endurance requires commitment to the cause. It invites us to never give up hope of crossing the finish line.

But today, I want us to talk a little bit about Jesus as the perfecter of our faith while we run the race. God is able to refine us as we run the race with endurance. But how does this happen? What is required from us in order to experience this?

Keep Your Eyes on the Cross

We already spent time in this series discussing how Jesus suffered on the cross for our sins. It was His passion for humanity that held Him there. I believe, if we desire to experience that same passion, if we desire to experience Jesus Christ personally day by day, we must be willing to fix our gaze upon the cross.

As humans we experience this ongoing conflict between where we fix our gaze versus where we glance. For many here today, maybe you have felt empty recently. You have felt as if you do not have much to give, and today you’re here seemingly out of obligation. Maybe it’s because you’re glancing at God while gazing at the world. I want to challenge you to make a switch today.

I want to invite you to spend time gazing at God and beholding Him ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium