SERMON
NOTES

We have begun the year 2026! How do we move on, go forward, with our mixed bags of victories, unresolved, messed-up pasts, and uncertain, even scary futures?

Jesus calls us to God-sized living. He said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). So, how do we live this kind of God-sized, abundant Life?

Paul's suggestion, based on his own life, is to be proactive. He doesn’t give us the picture of a life that is leisurely, nor is it one of frenetic activity. He pictures his life, ever since Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, as one of an athlete running with purpose and discipline (Philippians 3:13-14; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. In the latter passage, he adds the example of a professional boxer who doesn’t waste his time “shadow boxing”). His purpose was to “win”; his discipline was to live in obedience to Christ.

• What was Paul’s idea of winning?
  • A Goal that he was meant to reach
  • A Prize that he was assured of winning
    • Living with purpose whose goal was Jesus

Paul’s life now had purpose. Just like a runner runs to the finishing line, Paul’s finishing line was Jesus: he was Jesus-oriented. He lived his life as a runner, “looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of his faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He has just mentioned how his earnest desire was to “know Christ” (v.10). Is your main desire this year “to know Christ” in a way that is deep and intimate, as he knows you?

• Spiritual maturity (“holiness”), the result of the life of purpose

His life direction was no longer earth-bound. It was onward, to maturity, and upward, heaven-bound. Christ had not called him to aimlessly wait around until he was ready for him. Christ had “taken hold of him” (v.12) in order to mature him – make him just like himself. Thus, as he “ran,” Christ kept building him up – Paul was a work-in-progress – not yet complete, but getting there (see 1:6).
Is your goal in 2026 to “grow up” as a brother/sister of Jesus? Do you want to become just like him (see Romans 8:29a)?

• Promises that become our foundation

Paul doesn’t actually specify what his “prize” would be – but he knew what he was promised. Later in his life (in what is possibly his last letter), he looked forward to a “crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8). He knew his prize would also be being in Jesus’ presence forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17), along with the mind-blowing, unimaginable gifts that were waiting for all believers. But the sense is not just the content of the prize but also the absolute certainty of it.
How can the absolute certainty of the prize that is waiting for every believer give you hope for the future and strength for the present?

• What was his strategy to win?
• Refusing to allow the past to affect his present
• Determination to “press on,” whatever the circumstances
• Forgetting what lies behind

Forgetting does not mean amnesia. But the reality is that our pasts – both the bad and the good – can hinder our moving forward. There is that sinful past that we may regret, and carry its guilt as well as that past with its shame and bitterness when we were sinned against. But there is also that past with its shining accomplishments that we cannot let go. Paul knows that God’s redeeming love can “re-story” all of that – if we allow him to – so that they no longer affect us negatively. In fact, God may even use them to encourage you forward!
What are you holding on to that you need to relinquish into God’s hands, so that your past no longer hinders your going forward?

• Straining to what lies ahead

Paul uses words that point to a personal determination of heart and spirit to keep running; to get up when we stumble. This is no time for “let go, and let God.” God wants to actively engage with us as we run this “race of faith.” Winning is not reaching the finishing line first – it is reaching the finishing line, whatever happens. Because God’s grace is working in you, through the Holy Spirit empowering you (see 1 Corinthians 15:10)
What are the ways that you can be determined (or resolved) in your following of Jesus Christ this year? How can you do it in growing in your knowledge of him, in your obedience to his direction?

• Deep humility that recognized his own need, and a dependency on others

Paul was humble enough to know that he was far from complete in his “God-Life” (v.13). Just because he was doing things for Jesus and his Church didn’t mean he was automatically closer to God. He also knew that he couldn’t do it alone: he needed his “brothers and sisters” in Christ to help him grow.
How honest are you with yourself about your relationship with Jesus? How much will you depend on your Christian fellowship (=your church) to help you grow this year?

God wants us to live “God-Sized”! We can grow into that only when we “run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2)