Prayer: DISTRACTED: Win the Race of Life

Introduction

Let me begin with a discipleship question: how will you follow Jesus in prayer and dependence on God this week?

Main Points

In this lesson shaped by Calvary Boise's teaching on DISTRACTED: Win the Race of Life, Christ invites us to receive truth with humility, practice repentance, and walk in faithful obedience.

Sin and Salvation

So we are still in the book of first Corinthians and we are going through the distracted series we've looked at all these different. Things that can get us distracted from the things God wants in our lives and keeping our focus on Jesus we've looked at divisions.

• Disputing difficulty things like pride hype sexual immorality just to name some of the things that we can get distracted by and last week.
• Pastor Tucker went over chapter 8 and the things that Paul was addressing is just how we can get distracted by some of our.
• Freedoms by holding on to the freedoms that we have instead of loving the way that Jesus would have us love and so given.
• Getting that focus back on that we start coming in here to chapter 9 in chapter 9 we see Paul he's acting kind of.

Like a player-coach I don't know if you guys know what a player-coach is if you guys have ever played sports at all I. Know some of you have but a player-coach is what it is it's someone who plays the game and they're also coaching so they're.

Hope in Suffering

To the section where he's going to go ahead and answer the question that they're hopefully asking and he knows this because he's a. Leader like we know about laying down freedom's because you gave us the example about you know the unclean meat that we're nuts or.

• The meat sacrificed to idols but what about our rights so that's the next thing it's what about our right so he's gonna be.
• Answering that questions that they're gonna be asking what about our rights and Paul is an apostle and he's gonna start this first section.
• Of scripture just by letting them know that he's legit an apostle because some of them were like I don't know are you an.
• Apostle and they probably couldn't like use that inflection or say it like that was a probably letter so he's answering he's like yeah.

I'm impossible so he lays that down in the very beginning of this section I'm an apostle just one sent by the Lord one. Commission and specifically in this sense he has a specific authority that comes with his Apostleship so he's saying yeah I'm an apostle I'm.

Family Discipleship

Refrain from working to having a secular job he's like it's my right to come and share the gospel and to live off that. So he's laying down his rights and if you just continue reading verses 7 through 18 he gives the biblical case for why these.

• Are his rights use some just practical examples like soldiers going to war not having to you know buy their own guns and their.
• Own jets and things like that people who are you know working in a vineyard not you know being able to partake it the.
• Fruit from that vineyard and then he gives just some biblical reasoning so go ahead and read those at home and you'll get that.
• Later so he goes over his rights but to summarize this whole section about his rights we're gonna go ahead and look at verse.

12 and you'll notice it's not on the screen and there's a reason for that one is because we forgot to put it in. To is so we can focus on it so look at this and listen carefully to verse 12 this is what it says after.

Mission and Witness

Is something you can demand because of something you have done or who you are so because of something you have done or who. You are so an example might be for freedoms is you may have the free to get such in such a job and earn.

• Wages but if you do get such in such a job and you make an agreement to earn wages if you do the work.
• You have it right to those wages so he's saying guys we're taking it up a level he's like not only do we need.
• To give away our freedoms as people who are partakers in the gospel but we need to also be able to give up our.
• Rights in the same regard so kind of a recap of that first part Paul's example he's saying what am I doing I'm laying.

Down my rights for the sake of the gospel so this next section is why I'm doing it he wants to be that example. To them so there's a that section is verse 19 through 23 and we're gonna look at a couple key verses so verse 19.

Hope in Suffering

That Paul was actually completely against Christ against everything that Jesus stood for everything that he represented against his people and you can look. At that in the book of Acts chapter 9 I'm not gonna read it to you but I'm gonna summarize it that Paul was.

• Going around towns and imprisoning Christians and dragging them back to another place in the hopes that they would be in prison and eventually.
• Be murdered and this was something that he did now I want to help you guys grasp the rillette like the reality of this.
• Because something like oh yeah Bible stories I've heard that before what if that was you or someone you knew that was actually spending.
• Their time like this is what I want to do with my life I'm going to go around travel around towns try to find.

People that I hate I'm going to try to actually like find a way to capture that I'm gonna drag them back somewhere else. So that they can be murdered this is like legit hate this is like crazy and like fury rage like this is another level.

Faith and Obedience

But instead Jesus says man what you're doing this life that you're living it's hard it's not it's not easy it's difficult and he. Shows up with compassion to him and because Paul met the real Jesus Paul was converted he said I want to follow you is.

• Not the Jesus that he thought he knew it wasn't the Jesus that he thought he was trying to destroy it was a totally.
• Different person and we met when he met him further himself he decided I'm gonna go ahead I'm gonna follow him and it reminds.
• Me of a mission statement when he once had Orkin didn't Lee do have that we want to help all people meet and follow.
• The real Jesus today and that's what happened in Paul's life so that's why that's why he's totally changed from going out and trying.

To have Christians murdered - I want to do anything and give up anything I can that some would be say that some others. Would be able to meet the real Jesus and this reminds me of some of our missionaries that reminds me of the Browns who.

Mission and Witness

The real Jesus so to recap kind of those first two things he's saying what am I doing I'm laying down my rights for. The sake of the gospel why am I doing it to help any and all people meet the real Jesus in this last section.

• Why you should do it - this is a verse 24 through 27 says verse 24 do you not know that those who run.
• In a race all run but one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain it I don't know if.
• You guys were ever kids but I was once and when I was a kid sometimes I would all of a sudden find myself.
• In a race I was totally not aware I was in you're like hanging out with a bunch of friends and like someone just.

Touches something like some car and they're like I win or like you're like just hanging out and like he's like hey why are. We like picking up pace all of a sudden and you're running and they're like we're racing you're like no we're racing I want.

Conclusion

We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.

Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.

Conclusion

We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.