Speaker 1: 0:00

Now, who in here likes to win? All I do is win, win, win, no matter what. Got Jesus on my mind. I can never get enough. Is that good? Okay, all right. So, even if you're not a competitive person, people like to win, right? No one likes to say, oh, I just love to lose, I'm just the biggest loser unless you're on that show, I guess. But people love to win. Check this out.

Speaker 1: 0:28

The Apostle Paul says it like this Don't you realize that in a race, everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. So run to win we are. Paul didn't say run to finish. He didn't say run to get a participation trophy. He said run to win, run to win. So, to quote the famous theologian Ricky Bobby, if you ain't first, you're last. You know, if you ain't first, you're last. That's what he told us, sweet baby Jesus. Okay, it's in the Bible to run to win.

Speaker 1: 1:06

So if scripture tells us what to run, what to run to win, why does it feel like so often we're not? Why does it feel like what so often we're not winning? Why does it feel like so often, spiritually, we're not winning? Why does it feel like man? I want to be close to God, but there's things that keep getting in the way. Why does it feel like, financially, I want to get ahead but I keep having setbacks? Why does it feel like we are not winning all the times in our lives? Maybe for you you feel like, when it comes to relationships, you feel like you're losing relationally. All you want is intimate, loving and trusting relationships, but so often in our marriages or our friendships or even relationships with our kids, there's struggles there. Why is it that we often don't feel like we are winning? In our minds, we can't overcome in our mind, we have anxiety and fear in our thought lives. The answer for so many of us that we are searching for an answer, and the answer truthfully for so many of us, is you've been trying for too long You've been trying. For us is you've been trying for too long. You've been trying for too long.

Speaker 1: 2:07

You've been trying for too long, and it's very common, especially among Christians, to live what I call the theology of the try, the theology of trying. You hear it in our words. You hear people say well, I'm trying to get close to God, I'm trying to read my Bible, but things get in the way. I'm trying to be consistent in prayer, but I got too many kids and they keep interrupting me. I'm trying to be patient with those same kids, but they drive me nuts. I'm trying to stop procrastinating, but I'm procrastinating on procrastinating. I'm trying to eat better, but the refrigerator pulls me in. I'm trying to not make excuses, but I got an excuse for my excuses. I'm trying to go to bed at a decent time, but then Netflix pulls me in. I'm trying to start exercise. I'm trying to be better with my money. The problem for so many people is you have been trying for too long.

Speaker 1: 3:00

You've been trying for too long, and what I want to do today is I want to bring a very, very powerful change in perspective straight from the Apostle Paul and his teaching. Today we're going to talk about our spiritual how we're going to talk about our spiritual, how, how should we think about the power of the Holy Spirit to change our lives? And it's going to require a change in our mindset. It's going to require a change in our mindset. It's going to require a change in our mindset. So I came here to tell some people today the change in your mindset that you're looking for. I encourage you, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to stop trying and to start training. To stop trying and to start training. We got to start training to stop trying over and over and over again, but yet to start training to become the person who God has called you to be. See, what I want to do is I want to show you.

Speaker 1: 3:55

In Scripture, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, they would have loved this competitive metaphor that he used about to run to win a race. See when Paul said this to the city, to Corinth. Corinth was a city in Greece, and every four years guess what happened in Greece? It's happening this year in Paris the Olympic Games. So Greece was a sports town. People loved it was a competitive town. People loved competition. Even every other year they had a smaller version of the Olympic Games that they did.

Speaker 1: 4:27

So when Paul is saying this, he's speaking their language. He's like oh, this is a competitive town. They know what I'm talking about. You got to run to win, and their sports was very interesting, though. They had chariot races. That sounds kind of fun, you know the chariot race. They had boxing Okay, they have boxing. They have wrestling, john Cena, you can't see me. And then they had poetry contests. I don't really know how that fits in. But you know, while they're doing chariot races, other people are just dropping a beat in the street busting it out. You know what I mean? I used to want to be a rapper. Then I recognized I wasn't cool enough, okay Anyways. And so the Corinthians would have learned, would have loved this, and they would have leaned into what Paul was saying. Check this out.

Speaker 1: 5:14

Paul continues. He says don't you realize that in a race, everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win. All athletes are disciplined in their trying. Oh, all athletes are disciplined in their Training. They're all disciplined and they're training. They do it to win a prize that will what Fade away, but we do it. This is what I love, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with a purpose in every step. I am not just shadow boxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. So we're going to stop trying and we're going to start training.

Speaker 1: 5:54

And in the Olympic Games the athletes they were trained with these incredibly intense regiments. They would go through a 10-month pre-Olympic training regiment that was very, very strict. They would have absolutely no wine. Some people are like I'm out of that, I ain't doing that. Then they would have absolutely no junk food. The rest of us are like I'm done, I'm not doing that. But they would really, really watch what they put into their bodies.

Speaker 1: 6:18

And, oddly enough, the runners would race. When they would race, they were trained. They would run naked, not in a sexual way, just in a way that they wanted to show the purity of the body Zero percent body fat and they would run. And that's how they would do it, with no restriction on them. And I can just only imagine if I was a runner and everyone else was running naked. It would be a great motivator to try to get ahead, because I wouldn't want to see all that. You know so. But I'm just saying then the wrestlers, the wrestlers, they the wrestlers, they were wrestling extreme temperatures, they were wrestling over 100 degree summertime, summer slam wrestling temperature.

Speaker 1: 7:05

So at noon, at the heat of the day, they would wrestle and they would fight in extreme heat to train. In the winter months they would go in the snow and wrestle in the snow and drop an elbow on people and they would wrestle bulls and some horses and even lions to try to get themselves ready. And if that was me back in that day, I would just kind of hang with the poetry. That seems a lot better. You know I don't want to do the other things, you know, but when you look at Scripture, when you look at Scripture and you want to become more godly, the Bible never tells us to try to be more godly. The Bible never tells you to try to honor God with your faith. The Bible never tells you to try to be more disciplined. In fact, paul even says this when he was talking to Timothy. He said instead, train yourself to be godly. Check this part out. Physical training is good. So you say, hey, it's good to be healthy, that's good, that's a lot of benefits, but always that big, but you got to watch out for it. But training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.

Speaker 1: 8:11

Dallas Willard put it like this we are not trying to be different people, we are in training to be different people. We're in training to be different people. So, okay, what's the difference? You're like all right, jacob, I get you. No, I'm not going to try, I'm going to train. It sounds all cute. And what's the difference, jacob? Okay, I'm going to tell you. Since you asked so nicely what's the difference between training and trying. Let me break it down. Let me make it simple for you Stop trying, why Trying is an attempt to change with minimal commitment.

Speaker 1: 8:39

Trying is an attempt to change with minimal commitment. You're trying and you're often bringing a half-hearted attempt and you already got your excuses lined up on why you can't do it. I'm trying to pray, but hey man, I got to get my sleep, so I can't wake up too early. And in the afternoon time I got work and I got to eat a sandwich and then at night I'm tired. So I'm trying to pray, but I'm not. Actually, it gives us permission to fail because we've already said I'm trying, there's a way out. I'm trying to read my Bible, but you're probably not. I'm trying to be nice, but they weren't nice, so I'm not nice, because trying is an attempt to change with minimal commitment.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Training, on the other hand, is a whole different mindset. What is training? Training is a wholehearted commitment to achieve a specific result. It's a wholehearted commitment to achieve a specific result. It's going all in. You know the difference. When you're trying, you just kind of show up in hope. I'm trying to do better this time. I'm trying, but when you're training, man, you're ready to do it, you're going all in.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Let me give you two thoughts about training. Let me give you two thoughts. Number one, when you're training. Number one you get the gear. When you're training, you get the gear. And then, when you get the gear, if you're going to be a runner, what do you do? You buy the shoes. You buy the nice comfortable, soft padded socks so your feet don't hurt and it makes you feel better. And you get the nice little shorts. And then, eventually, you get the watch. You get an Apple Watch. If you're an Android user, I feel sorry for you.

Speaker 1: 10:08

I don't know what you use. You might get a runner's hat, you might get some runner's glasses. Then you get a water bottle. You get a fanny pack just to have a fanny pack. I don't even know what you need to put in your fanny pack while you're running, maybe your key or something, I don't know. But you got your fanny pack and you're ready because you got the gear, because you're a runner and you're doing it. Maybe you're training to be organized and you are a massively organized person. I love massively organized people because I am not one of them. And but if one of them, but you are and you're so pumped to be organized, so you get the gear and you get, and you got God's spiritual gift of organization. So you get God's favorite planner and you get God's favorite bookmarkers, and you get God's favorite pens and God's favorite stickers and God's favorite binders and you get the little inserts that I don't even know what they're for, but you get them because you know. You get the gear because you're in training. Second thing you do when you're in training is you create a game plan. You create a game plan. You're in training.

Speaker 1: 11:02

Rocky doesn't show up to fight Apollo Creed without training. He's got a game plan. He plays Eye of the Tiger in the background and he runs around the city and he has people following him and he's punching the air and he runs up the Capitol and everyone's celebrating. He finds a basement that has hanging frozen meat and he punches it. And he punches the meat and then he's chasing chickens around Because if I'm going to be Apollo Creed, I'm going to have to get the chickens. He's in training for it. He's ready to go for it. He doesn't just show up and try to go the distance with Apollo Creed. He had to train for it. He doesn't just show up and try to go the distance with Apollo Creed. He had to train for it.

Speaker 1: 11:37

Here you go when it comes to some people in your spiritual lives. You're over here just trying to do stuff. You're saying, well, maybe I'll do this and maybe I'll do that, and I'm coming to tell you today you got to stop trying and you got to start training. If you want to become the person God wants you to be, maybe it's time for you to buy the book that shows you how to be the person that God wants you to be. If you want to be the person that God's called you to be, maybe you got to download the YouVersion Bible app, the Pray First app. Start getting some things ready for you to do it. If you want to be the person God's called you to be, you got to find a mentor and not let that mentor chase you. But you got to chase that mentor and you've got to ask them the questions that you want.

Speaker 1: 12:17

You've got to devote your time and everyone says, well, how do you got time to do it? How do you got time to do that? Well, we've got time 2.5 hours specifically to devote to social media, so I think you can have 2.5 hours to devote to something that actually can change your life. Everyone says how do you have the time? I have the time because I make it a priority. I'm not trying, I'm in training and I'll give you an example. I'll give you an example to show you.

Speaker 1: 12:43

Now. I'm going to give a disclaimer to this example, though. This example I'm about to show you, it's about my wife, and I love to brag on my wife, and her story involved an awesome journey of recently having some weight loss, but I want to preference something here, this story I'm about to show you. Yeah, that was her external thing, but it's not just about weight loss. It's about being disciplined to become the person God has called you to be. In every area of our lives, there's certain things that we can do that you know God is calling you to do, so I want you to hear this story. Okay, this is what Erin did, okay.

Speaker 1: 13:13

So, back in the beginning of 2023, erin said to me now is the time. And I said for what? And she said now is the time. I'm going to hit my goal to lose weight, and prior to this time, she attempted to do this based on diets that other people have done that work for them. And isn't it true that often we want to connect with God based on the way that other people connect to God? But did you know that you can connect to God based on the way that you are, because God designed you, shapes you, forms you just how you are. For a reason, he loves you exactly how you are, so he can connect to you that way. And so she said I got to find something that works for me and she has to find something. That's what she said.

Speaker 1: 13:52

And she said the first thing she did on her spiritual journey of weight loss, her external thing that she was trying to do, the first thing Aaron did she said I need to spend daily time with God. She said I need to get my habit of spending daily time with God down pat. See, her first step was getting in a morning habit of daily time with God and a nightly habit of a thankfulness journal. That was her first step. And once she started to get that, guess what Erin did? She got the gear. She got the gear. She bought a membership to a food app called Noom, which is not a diet app, it's a healthy lifestyle app. Big difference From there.

Speaker 1: 14:31

At dinnertime she started to do the craziest thing. We'll all be eating dinner and Aaron also want to bring out this food scale. I'm like what is that? And the kids were like so mesmerized by it. But she would start to weigh her food because she was done trying and she was in training. She was done trying, she was in training. Then she set herself up with some goals and once she hit certain marks, she would then buy new clothes, kind of like something to look forward to. And now the best part, though here's the best part when she started to integrate these new healthy habits in her life, it began to affect the whole family. It began to affect the whole family. It started to rub off on the whole family.

Speaker 1: 15:06

And because she was in training and not trying, when we did have weeks that we weren't eating the best, when we weren't exercising, you know, like we wanted to, she didn't give up on it. She didn't say, oh, I guess I tried it and it didn't work. No, because she was in training and because she had the gear and she had a plan, she just got back on track. She just got back on track and doing it. See, because what happens when we try, shame likes to enter in. When we try, the enemy likes to speak to you and say see, I told you you couldn't do that. See, I told you you're always going to be like that. But Aaron had a training plan and she had created a plan. So when the enemy spoke, because the enemy didn't speak, she said enemy, get behind me, because I got a plan. I got a plan. So she kept going and because she was in training, she didn't beat herself up Fast forward. She did hit the goal that she wanted. But then this is the part that I love the most After she hit her goal, she said to herself I discovered in this process I always tell myself that I can't do something.

Speaker 1: 16:02

I always say she said I don't like that. I'm going to change that for me, because I don't want my kids to do that either. I don't want to do that. So she said I'm going to sign up for the Richmond 10K. And so she signed up for the Richmond 10K. She got a running buddy to keep her accountable. She ordered about 15 pairs of shoes from Amazon. I guess you could try them on. The same way, you can go to Foot Locker and try them on. There were so many shoes. I don't think she bought one of them, but I'm telling you she was out there running almost every day because she wasn't trying to be a runner, she was training to become a runner. And guess what? And then she ended up doing it. She did the 10K and it was awesome.

Speaker 1: 16:39

I tell this story not because working out makes you more godly, but because, before Aaron did something on the outside, she had to start on the inside first, because training I want you to get this training for godliness has everything to do with your identity, has everything to do with who God says you are, and it's stepping into that place. It's stepping into that, and she did it. And so I don't know about you. But when you know who God wants you to be, when you begin to understand your identity and who God has called you to be, you're not trying to become that, you get motivated and you're in training to become that. You say, man, I'm not trying to not be an angry person anymore, because I don't want to be angry anymore, I don't want to have this. I'm in training to become the kind of person God has called me to be, a person that's gentle and kind, a person that has mastered the response of the over-honor reaction, has mastered the response of the over-honor reaction. I'm going to do it that way. You're not trying, but you're in training. You're trying to get close to God. You're not trying to get close to God, but you're in training to get close to God.

Speaker 1: 17:59

Because when you're in training, what do you do? You get the gear. You get a plan. You're in training to get close to God. You get the gear. You get the YouVersion Bible out, first thing you do. You download that. You're in training to get close to God. You get the gear. You get the YouVersion Bible out First thing you do. You download that. You get the gear. You get the prayer app. You get a book. Check this out. Boom Behind you. I got this QR code that you could put out there, and this has. I made a Google Doc for anyone who is serious about getting some spiritual habits in their life. You need some recommendations for what to read, where to start. Man, this is it. This is it. Use this QR code and you can get these recommendations because you're in training to do it. You're in training.

Speaker 1: 18:36

Another thing we're giving out free LVC t-shirts in the lobby today. You want to know the reason why. Yeah, that's exciting. You want to know why? Because there's something about when you put the jersey on, you feel ready to do something, you feel ready to go. And so I love one of our kids workers, one of our kids team leaders, mindy for Kids Church. Whenever it's her week to serve, she puts on her Serve Day shirt. It's like she puts on her jersey. She's ready, she's reminding herself I'm here to serve, I'm doing it. So I encourage you to grab in gear, Grab a shirt in the lobby at the end of service.

Speaker 1: 19:08

But here you go, you get a little journal, you begin to write down what God is showing you. You take notes at church because you need a certain amount of notes to get to heaven. But there's this woman in our church, caitlin, who takes the most detailed notes of messages I've ever seen, and because her notes are so good, she's going to have a beachside mansion in heaven. I think that's how it works, maybe not? There's a guy in our church His name is Zach and he was like hey, man, I want to sing the songs that you sang on Sunday throughout my week. Can you give me a playlist of all those songs on that same QR code. There's a playlist there of all the songs we sang here.

Speaker 1: 19:43

Because we just don't need God's presence here on Sunday. We need God's presence Monday through Friday too, don't we? We need the presence of God where we're going. See, here you go, here at LVC. Our hope, our hope for you, is that everyday people will learn how to become Jesus followers. Not just everyday people come to church on Sunday and they might do something about it throughout the week, but no everyday people learning how to follow Jesus every day. So when life's complexities, when life's troubles hit because they hit, we can navigate it, because here's the truth the way in is the way on and the way that you begin to connect to the heart of God is the way that you got to continue to go forward and having these habits help because I'm in training. I'm in training for this.

Speaker 1: 20:24

Here you go. You plan to be at church every week. You're in town, you're in the house of God with the people of God, hearing the word of God to strengthen you to do the will of God. You're serving on a local team, because we are the people of God and we serve our church, we serve our city through serving our church and we have our gifts. We use our gifts to serve the body of Christ. So we're not just going to church, we're not just spectators, but we're in the game. We're doing this thing and then when you're serving with our local kids, you're making a difference in future generations. When you're coming early to set up, you're making, you're setting up the environment so people can come in and be with Jesus. When you're staying back for tear down, you're making sure we don't get in trouble with the county. And you're praying daily. And there's this guy in our men's group. His weekly prayer was for his father-in-law.

Speaker 1: 21:13

I love it. You got your study Bible and you're studying the Bible because when you're trying, when you're trying, you give up. When you're trying, when you don't feel like it, today I'll just do something different. But when you're in training, when you're in training, you don't act according to your feelings, you act according to your commitments. You're saying I'm going after this, I'm in training, I'm in training for this. You got a vision for your future. Come on, you got a vision for your life. You have a goal, you have a dream, and trying, apart from training, is unthinkable because I'm not trying to be godly. We're in training to serve God in every bit of our lives, and it's a change of mindset.

Speaker 1: 22:00

Paul says so I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadow boxing out here, but I got a goal in mind and I'm going for it. I got a dream in mind and I'm pursuing it, because Christ in me is stronger than the wrong desires in me. So I'm going after it. I'm going to discipline my body like an athlete, training to do what it should. I run with purpose. And then we say do what it should I run with purpose. And then we say God, direct me, show me your will, show me who to love, show me where to give. I got purpose in every single step, and the question I want to ask you today is this Is your body your master? Are your feelings your master? Are your feelings your master, or is the power of God through you leading you to become the person he has called you to be? So I'm not trying. I'm in training. I got the gear, I got a plan. I'm in training. How does this play out? How does this play out practically?

Speaker 1: 23:06

You're not trying to save your marriage. You believe that you are in a great marriage and training. What do you do? You get the gear. You buy some matching cheesy t-shirts. You wear those things places because it's better to look cheesy than be angry. So you're going to go to counseling. You're going to start serving together. You're going to pray together, because you'd rather pray together than cuss at each other. You're a great marriage in training. You're not trying to be a better friend, but you are a good friend in training. You're generous and you're running with the right people and you're building them up with the right words and you're showing back up for them when they need you. And even if they don't reciprocate the same love to you in the same way, it doesn't matter, you don't care, because you're saying I'm going to love that person like a brother, I'm going to love that person like a sister and you're going to continue to love them. I'm not trying to become more popular. I'm not trying to build my own brand, whatever the heck that means.

Speaker 1: 23:59

You are a godly influence and training to lead other people to the heart of God. You are, and here you go. This is the game changer. Based on who you want to be, based on who you want to be. How are you going to train? How are you going to train? Here it is Based on who, not just what, not just doing something just to do it, but who, and my prayer for you is that you will see that you are a beloved child of the Most High God, that your past mistakes don't have to define you, but that finished work on the cross can, and that, though life hasn't gone the way you hope, there is still life ahead. So, god, you say, based on who, I'm going to become Lord, how can I train? How can I find a mentor? How can I love the unlovable? How can I put some practices in my life to help me become the person who God has called me to be? Because I'm not trying, I'm in training.

Speaker 1: 25:22

Last thought, and you're not winning when you hit some goal somewhere out there in the future, you want to know how it looks to win. You win when you show up and you say God, here I am. You win when, this day, you said you know what I've been struggling with anger, but this day I chose not to be angry. You win when you say God, I give you every bit of me, help me, I'm going to follow you. You win when you spend one minute in the Bible. It doesn't have to be 10, 20, 30, just one, because you're starting to show up. You show up, come on're starting to show up, you show up, come on. Can you show up?

Speaker 1: 26:06

And that's for the Holy Spirit, saying that God wants you to show up because he's been waiting for you. He's been waiting for you to show up in your marriage to become the spouse he's called you to be. He's been waiting for some people in here. I feel like it's a prophetic word for someone to show up to the dream he's placed in your heart and you've been stuffing it down. He says I'm waiting for you. He says I'm ready, he says I'm here. So, friends, we're not going to try, we're going to train In every setback that we have experienced, god and his amazing love and his grace so wild, can take our mess and make a message and train us for what's ahead. So, god, jesus, holy Spirit, we thank you. We thank you for your love. We thank you for your goodness and your favor. We thank you that you meet us every single step, I feel the Holy Spirit saying he's with you. In every step, I feel the Holy Spirit saying he's not just waiting for you in the finish line, he's running the race with you. I just actually just have this.

Speaker 1: 27:55

I guess you could say this kind of prophetic image for someone, or maybe all of us for someone, or maybe all of us God is your Father, who's in the stands with the biggest sign cheering you on. That's like to some people in here you may have never got that from your earthly father and that's like the Holy Spirit is saying he sees you and he shows up for your games and he cheers you on. And just right now I feel like the Holy Spirit telling me there's some dads in here to start showing up. Some dads in here to start showing up. Start showing up. Come Holy Spirit, come Holy Spirit, come Holy Spirit.

Speaker 1: 28:53

We're not trying, we're in training. Maybe you're like Jacob, that sounds good, but there's some things in my life I've been trying to do and I keep failing, I keep falling back, and I just want to ask you a simple question. I feel like the Holy Spirit is saying ask this question In your trying, what has God been trying to teach you In some of your biggest heartaches? What is God teaching you in that thing? Come Holy Spirit. We're not trying. We're in training and, lord, we're in training to become the person that you have called us to be. So if you're in here today, you're like Jacob. That sounds good.

Speaker 1: 29:34

But I don't know this Jesus you've been talking about. I never made a decision to really follow him. Or maybe you're like I have, at one point in my life, but life happened, found myself distant from him. But you're saying Jacob, I'm one of those everyday people that want to learn how to become a Jesus follower. If that's you, if you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life for the first time or kind of recommit your life back to Jesus, I just want to pray with you. I'm not going to call you out. Have you come up front or stand up, nothing like that, just right where you are in your chair. If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life or recommit, just say this prayer with me. Say Jesus, forgive me for my sins, make me new. Today, I follow you. Today, I trust you. Today, I go follow you Today. I trust you. Today, I go after you In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Let's give God some praise today.