INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Have you ever heard someone say they just wish they could start over again?
• Have you ever felt that way?
• When I played Golf, well, what I played was really called Hack, there were times you could take a Mulligan.
• Let’s say you hit a terrible tee-shot, usually you could take a mulligan, which meant you got to tee off again as if the first slice into the woods never happened. Usually you could get one per round.
• A couple of weeks ago I began this mini-series exploring why your soul could be struggling with inner peace; the conclusion was that your soul was waiting for you to do something.
• In the last message I shared, I suggested the soul is waiting for you to truly follow Jesus.
• Now this week, we will finish this series by examining the blessing of indulging our soul’s desire to follow Jesus, NEW BEGINNINGS!
• When you follow Jesus, when you develop a relationship with Jesus, you can experience New Beginnings.
• SLIDE #2
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
• I want you to let this verse sink in for a moment……
• How much of your current struggles are built on the foundation of past issues that STILL to this day haunt you.
• Maybe it was something that you did, maybe it was something that was done to you; nonetheless, you are still haunted.
• Jesus has a GREAT gift He wants to give to you as well as eternal life! NEW BEGINNINGS!
• These New Beginning will allow you to FINALLY rid yourself of the past and to fully embrace an AWESOME FUTURE with Jesus!
• LET’S LOOK AT OUR TEXT TOGETHER TODAY! Let’s start with verse 13 in the book of Philippians.
• SLIDE #3
• Philippians 3:13 (HCSB) Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
In order to be able to experience New Beginnings…
I. Recognize your need for a New Beginning.
• In the previous verses in chapter Paul talks about his previous life achievements in his past. Paul had quite the resume.
• Paul was near the top of his filed in achievements, he sure had a lot of past accomplishments to hang his hat on.
• Take some time to read the earlier part of the chapter.
• For Paul life was good. He was educated, envied, and held a high position in life.
• Paul could have lived out his days persecuting the church.
• Paul was not one of those who was a drug addict, or an alcoholic, he was an important person, the envy of all around him.
• Something happened to Paul.
• Paul was religious as they came, he was blameless concerning the Law (Philippians 3:6). Paul was a confident man! (Philippians 3:4)
• Something happened to Paul.
• Paul, or Saul as he was known then, was zealously persecuting the church. (Philippians 3:6). He was so religious, he could not stand this NEW faith, it had to be destroyed!
• Something happened to Paul!
• SLIDE #5
• Acts 9:1–6 (HCSB) — 1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 “Who are You, Lord?” he said. “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting,” He replied. 6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
• PAUL MET JESUS CHRIST ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS!
• Something happened to Paul!
• Paul did go from being RELIGIOUS TO MORE RELIGIOUS, Paul transferred his life from that of being based on religion to one built on a RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST!
• Once this happened, Paul realized he needed some NEW BEGINNINGS!
• SLIDE #6
• Philippians 3:7 (HCSB) But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.
• Paul realized it was time for some New BEGINNINGS!
• When Paul speaks of Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it., Paul did not regard himself as having obtained the final knowledge of Christ and the fullest conformity to him.
• Some may have taught that performance of Jewish rites could bring such perfection, but Paul knew it was not so. One thing, therefore, was the consuming passion of his life.
• Where are you right now? Do you think you have arrived yet? Paul wrote most of the New Testament and did not believe he was where he needed to be yet.
• When we do not think we have a need for new beginnings, we will not strive to change, we will not invest ourselves in a new pursuit, we will simply keep doing what we are doing.
• This is not just for those without Jesus, it is for those who think they have arrived.
• Paul at anytime could have rested on his past, or he could have stood with false pride thinking he made it, all the while, cheating himself out of something wonderful!
• Once a team reaches a Super Bowl or a World Series, it can be difficult to repeat because the athlete tends to think they made it, they hit perfection, so they do not work as hard.
• Do you think you have reached the World Series or Super Bowl of faith?
• Let’s look at verse 13 again!
• SLIDE #7
• Philippians 3:13 (HCSB) Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,
• SLIDE #8
In order to be able to experience New Beginnings…
II. Strive to reach past the past.
• Paul speaks of his past. He speaks glowingly of his past, but he also puts his past in perspective.
• Philippians 3:7 (HCSB) But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.
• Something that is interesting about the past, is that the past can be something special, something you can build upon, or the past can be a terrible experience, one that you want to forget, but it keeps pulling you into the depths of despair.
• If you are going to be able to experience NEW BEGINNINGS, one thing you will need to do is you will need to forget what is behind you.
• Using the metaphor of a footrace, Paul describes his Christian life as involving the continual forgetting of “what is behind,” and the relentless centering of his energies and interests on the course that is ahead of him.
• “Forgetting” did not mean obliterating the memory of the past (Paul has just recalled some of these things in vv. 5–7), but a conscious refusal to let them absorb his attention and impede his progress
• Kent, H. A., Jr. (1981). Philippians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon (Vol. 11, p. 142). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
• Paul did not allow his Jewish heritage (5-7), or his accomplishments as a Christian (9-12) impede his progress in the race he was now running!
• One of my favorite movies is Napoleon Dynamite. It is a cheaply made silly movie. Uncle Rico, who is Napoleon’s Uncle, was living in the past of his supposedly glorious football days in High school.
• Uncle Rico was so busy living in the past, that life was passing him by.
• If your past was awesome, build on it, do not try to live in it. If your past was not so great, forget it and do not let it destroy your future.
• Churches can be so bad about living in the past, both if it was great or terrible.
• A church will try to live in 1970 when it is 2015. For me the the glory years would have been going to my home Church in Vandalia from 1983-1990.
• When we moved, it would not be fair for me to compare all other churches to that time period, because NONE of them would measure up.
• Instead I choose to incorporate what I can where I am and make new GLORY years!
• The past can do so many terrible things to your future whether your past was good or bad.
• What do you find most of your thoughts and conversations center on? The past or the glorious future?
• I know way too many people trapped by the past, it is time to get past the past!
• When Paul encourage us to REACH FORWARD TO WHAT IS AHEAD, this implies giving it our all.
• REACHING implies STRAINING with all your might! Laying aside the past takes great effort; however, it is necessary.
• You cannot experience NEW BEGINNINGS if you are hanging on to the old endings.
• Let’s look at verse 14
• SLIDE #9
• Philippians 3:14 (HCSB) I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
• SLIDE #10
In order to be able to experience New Beginnings…
III. Joyfully pursue the ultimate prize!
• Notice Paul has a goal in mind! He is not just running aimlessly, but rather with purpose.
• I believe one will not be able to forget the past if they have no goal for the future to reach for!
• SLIDE #11
• 1 Corinthians 9:26 (HCSB) Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air.
• Paul’s goal was the complete knowledge of Jesus, which he would have once he got to heaven to be with Jesus!
• When the goal was reached, the prize would be in hand!
• Paul wanted to keep the main thing the main thing!
• He paints a great picture of the goal, the thing for which God grabbed him in the first place. God had a purpose for Paul, and he declares here that his mission in life is to pursue that purpose no matter what.
• Past successes and failures will not stand in the way, nor will present circumstances. Paul’s seeks the prize of the upward calling, and nothing is going to distract him from pursuing it
• Runge, S. E. (2011). High Definition Commentary: Philippians (Php 3:12–14). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
• This drove Paul, what drive you?
• Paul wants to hear God call his name and summon him to the victory stand, where he will meet Jesus face-to-face and know him in perfect intimacy. Earthly prizes do not last. Eternal prizes do. The goal can never be realized on earth. It is a goal that pulls us heavenward.
• Holman New Testament Commentary - Holman New Testament Commentary – Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians.
• SLIDE #12
• THING ONE THING TWO!
CONCLUSION
• Are you stuck in a glorious past? Are you stuck in a not so glorious past?
• Paul offers two things for us to do that will allow us to experience NEW BEGININGS!
• Forget the past, stain forward to fulfill the calling you have from God.
• When we you decide to fulfill the GREAT POTENTIAL you have in Jesus!
• I hope today is the day!
