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[0:00] All right, well, good morning, church. How many of y'all were here last Sunday and heard my friend Ed Upton speak? Did y'all enjoy Ed? I thought he did an outstanding job, and I appreciated him being willing to come and do that.

[0:11] Thank you for allowing me and my family a Sunday off. We were out in California and then Arizona with family and had a wonderful vacation time there. But it's great to be back. We're looking forward to getting back.

[0:24] Number one, you spent a little bit of time in California, and you remember how wonderful the weather is. And how crazy everything else is. No, it's just, it's hard to take a Texan out of Texas and have him be happy for too long.

[0:38] Anyway, let's get into it today. We've been in a series on new life, a fresh beginning with Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5.17 has been our series text.

[0:50] If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, and see, the new has come. We've been seeing a lot of new in our church.

[1:02] We've got a new sign out there. We've had God working new life in our church, evidenced by the baptisms we've been seeing. We've seen new faces attending.

[1:12] There's a lot of new happening in our church, and we thank God for that, because God is the God of new. Old things are passed away, and God is doing something new in our church.

[1:25] Much of the study and content comes from Pastor Craig Groeschel of Life Church in Oklahoma City. And I want to remind us, in our very first sermon, we learned that God is doing a new thing.

[1:39] Do you not see it? We do see it. And then secondly, we learned we need to stop trying and start what? Training. That's right.

[1:49] We've got that part down, don't we? Stop trying, start training. Oftentimes, we encounter difficulties in our life, and we try to defeat them, try to defeat them, and we fail and fail.

[2:00] But then God wants us to kind of reverse our mindset on that and say, you stop trying and allow me to train you to be who I say you are and who I want you to be.

[2:13] So then we got into you do what you do because of what you think of you. We do what we do because of what we think of ourselves.

[2:25] Our identity determines our behavior. And again, if we have a mind shift to see ourselves as God sees us, then we behave according to who God says we are, not who we have always thought we are.

[2:40] So there's a shift there. And then this is the third Sunday in this little sub-series. We've kind of shoehorned into this. And the first Sunday was lay aside.

[2:51] Lay aside every week, every wait. Do you remember what happened on the Sunday when we talked about laying aside the wait? Anybody want to remind me what happened?

[3:04] Thank you for that. He said, you got smoked. Yes, I did. I had a foot race with one of our teenagers who I think is in here somewhere. Anyway, yeah, he's back there.

[3:15] And I lined up on that aisle and he lined up on that aisle and we just had a foot race down to the front and he blew me out of the water. Wasn't even close. Then I burdened him down with a weight vest and kettlebells and a big medicine ball and we ran again and I barely beat him.

[3:34] It was very revealing. Anyway, weights do slow us down. There's no way that kid could lose to me in a foot race unless I added a whole bunch of weight to him and obstacles that he had to run with.

[3:47] So lay aside every weight. Two questions there. What are you holding on to? And then what is holding on to you? We find that one in those two verses, Hebrews 12 and Philippians 3.

[4:00] And these are kind of the texts for this series that we're in right now. So what are you holding on to? What is a sin problem? A self-destructive habit that you might still be holding on to? And then secondly, what is something from your life that might be holding on to you?

[4:15] Philippians 3 reminds us to forget what lies behind. And then number two, two weeks ago, let us run.

[4:26] Let us run. That was graduation Sunday, senior Sunday. We talked about how it's important to have a goal that we're moving toward. Start moving. Reaching forward to what lies ahead.

[4:39] And then keep going. Run with endurance. Again, drawing from Hebrews 12 and Philippians 3. So that should catch you up. If you forgot or maybe you missed one of those weeks, then you should be kind of caught up on where we are.

[4:53] And today, we're wrapping up this mini-series here from Hebrews 12 and Philippians 3. Look at Jesus. So first week was lay aside the weight.

[5:08] And then let us run the race that God has set before us. And now we are reminded to look at Jesus. So let's look at the Word of God. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2.

[5:22] Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2. If you'll turn in your Bibles over there, we'll read from it together. Hebrews 12 and verse 2.

[5:42] Therefore, I'm going to begin in verse 1 and we'll catch you up here. Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.

[5:56] Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. And here we are keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.

[6:10] For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now would you turn over with me to Philippians chapter 3.

[6:26] Philippians chapter 3. We're going to read in verse 13.

[6:44] One thing I do, about halfway down verse 13 of Philippians chapter 3. One thing I do, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

[7:06] Would you pray with me? God, I thank you so much for your word that is alive. It addresses every problem in our life. It gives us grace for every day.

[7:16] I pray that your word would speak to us today. Adapt every word that comes from the reading of your word and the preaching of it.

[7:28] Adapt it to our personal lives and situations. Personalize it for us, Lord. And if there's anybody here who doesn't know you as their Savior, let them not leave here today without establishing that relationship the first time.

[7:41] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, so look at Jesus. That is kind of the conclusion of our series here from Hebrews 12 and Philippians 3.

[7:56] I want to share a quote with you from a woman who was Dutch and allowed many Jews to hide in her and her family's house many years ago in the days leading up to the Nazi concentration camps, the Holocaust back in World War II.

[8:13] So she says, as someone who sacrificed much for God's people to be saved from their oppressors, and then eventually she herself was taken prisoner and sent to a Nazi concentration camp where she suffered unimaginable things.

[8:31] And she said later in her life, if you look at the world, you'll be distressed. Well, that's probably true, especially considering the things that she endured. If you look at the world around you, you will be distressed.

[8:45] I wouldn't have to probably convince too much of you to agree with that. I think we all pretty much agree the world around us is full of problems. It's full of stress.

[8:55] It's full of distress. If you look within, you'll be depressed, which is often the case, isn't it? We probably have let ourselves down more than we've let anybody else down, and we've let other people down, haven't we?

[9:11] We probably know the truth about ourselves, and that often depresses us maybe more than it energizes us. Because we know our innermost thoughts.

[9:23] We know our weaknesses. So if we look outside, we're distressed. If we look within, we're depressed. But if we look at God, we will be at rest.

[9:37] Our eyes must be fixed on Jesus. If our eyes get fixed on anyone or anything else, we will be distressed or we will be depressed.

[9:56] Ultimately, our eyes must remain on Christ to find rest for this journey. So number one, eyes up.

[10:07] Eyes up. Hebrews 12 says, keeping your eyes on Jesus, looking unto Jesus. That is the key to the Christian life.

[10:19] Eyes up. Hebrews 12, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

[10:34] Why are we looking at Jesus? Because he walked this path before we did. And he did it perfectly. Why are we keeping our eyes fixed on Christ?

[10:45] Because he is our example. He is our role model. He is our goal. He is our prize. We keep our eyes on the what? Yes.

[11:00] Keep our eyes on the prize. I was seeing if y'all could get there with me. We keep our eyes on the prize, and the prize is Jesus Christ. He is the one we are striving to please.

[11:14] He is the one who has rescued us. He is the one whose grace sustains us, whose blood has washed us from our sins. He is the one who has given everything for us, and he is our goal.

[11:28] He is the light at the end of the tunnel. So we look to him. Eyes up. Now, Isaiah 45, 22 shows us it has always been this way.

[11:42] From the very beginning, the goal is to get our eyes back on our creator, on God. Isaiah 45, 22, turn to me and be saved, for I am God and there is no other.

[11:56] Have you ever heard in the world today that you just believe what's best for you and let me believe what's best for me and don't tell me that you're right and I'm wrong? You ever heard that kind of thing?

[12:08] It's especially popular in our culture and society today. The Bible tells us the exact opposite of that. God is very inclusive in that he wants all men and women to come to him, but he's very exclusive when he says, I'm the only one that can save you.

[12:31] I'm the only one. If you go to another church that says any other way to be saved other than placing your faith in Jesus alone, that is not correct.

[12:44] The only way to be forgiven and to have a relationship with God is through Jesus Christ. That's it. There is no other way.

[12:55] I hear all the time, well, all us churches should just get along because we're all preaching the same thing. Well, we're not all preaching the same thing. Thank God many are. Thank God many of our churches here in town are pointing people to Jesus, but I dare say there's probably some who aren't.

[13:12] All across this world, there are people who gather in churches and they add to the scriptures, they add to the gospel message, or they take away from it. It's either, oh, God doesn't think your sin is that bad, or it's you have to jump through all these hoops that we have created to get to God.

[13:32] But the reality is, you just have to turn to Jesus. You turn to Jesus and say, I know I'm a sinner. I know Jesus died for my sin, and I place all of my faith in the risen Savior, Jesus Christ.

[13:48] He will forgive me. He loves me. He will make me his child. That is the way of salvation, and there is no other. And that's according to God himself.

[14:00] He says, I am God. Buddha's not God. Mohammed's not God. Throw in whatever, anybody else who's ever tried to represent themselves as a deity on this earth, they are not God.

[14:17] Fortunately, you are not God of your life. I am not God of my life. There is one God. His name is Jesus. Let's turn to Matthew, would you with me?

[14:30] Matthew chapter 14. Now, I think I'm preaching to the choir mostly in this room. I think most of you would agree with what we just talked about.

[14:41] There is one God. His name is Jesus. He's the only way to salvation. But what does that have to do with us now? Once you have placed your faith in Jesus, say, yeah, I know that.

[14:52] I believe. I put my faith in Jesus. I've been baptized like Heather was this morning. What does that mean for me now? Matthew chapter 14, verse 22.

[15:06] This is right after the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus and his disciples, they're probably on a high after this amazing miracle. With Jesus multiplied this small amount of food and fed so many people.

[15:21] Now, they're leaving. Verse 22. Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and go ahead of him to the other side, the Sea of Galilee, while he dismissed the crowd.

[15:38] After dismissing the crowd, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. Jesus would often do this. By the way, it's a good idea after a big win or a big loss to go off by yourself and pray.

[15:55] Recenter yourself on God. Give him the glory for what just happened or take to him the sorrow and care that you're experiencing. Whatever those times are, it's a good idea to copy what Jesus did and go get away and pray.

[16:11] Well into the night, Jesus was there alone. Verse 24. Meanwhile, the boat, with the disciples in it, was already some distance from the land, battered by the waves because the wind was against them.

[16:25] You know, folks, sometimes in life, the wind is going to be against you, so to speak. Seems like the whole world is stacked against you. You know why? Because it is.

[16:37] As a child of God, this world is stacked against you. But be not afraid because Jesus has overcome the world.

[16:49] There is no power greater. There will be all sorts of power and obstacles rise up against you as a child of God. But your power, the one that is walking with you, the one who is talking with you, the one who is leading you and never abandons you, he is greater.

[17:06] He is more powerful. So as the winds rise up against this boat with the disciples in it, what happened? Jesus came toward them. Walking on the sea.

[17:20] I love how it just throws that in there like it's an everyday occurrence. Oh yeah, Jesus was taking a walk on the sea early in the morning. I like to take a walk early in the morning when I wake up early enough to do that.

[17:34] But I don't normally, you know, go out to the city pool and take a stroll. I don't go down to Lake Arrowhead and take a nice little walk.

[17:46] Jesus, though, was doing that. Verse 25, Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified.

[18:01] It's a ghost! They said. And they cried out in fear. Now y'all, these guys had been walking with Jesus. It wasn't like they didn't know who he was.

[18:13] They believed that he was the Messiah. They believed that he was from God. So should it have been a huge leap for them to see Jesus walking on the water and realize, oh yeah, that's Jesus.

[18:26] He's different than we are, isn't he? He can do that. But that wasn't their first conclusion. Even the ones who literally walked in the physical, human presence of Jesus on this earth still didn't have enough faith to realize that's the Son of God.

[18:43] He loves us. He's our friend. He's coming to save us. No, their immediate thought was it's a ghost. We've never been like that, have we?

[18:55] Of course not. We've never had some opposition come up against us. We've never had some change happen in our life. Maybe some evidence of God actually working, but it wasn't what we thought.

[19:08] It wasn't what we planned. All they wanted was for the storm to die down, right? Just take the storm away and we can get to the other side here in peace. It never entered into their mind that God would come walking across the water to save them.

[19:24] So, when they saw what God chose to do, freaked them out. We've never been in those shoes, have we? When we saw something that God chose to do and it wasn't what we had planned, it wasn't even what we had asked for or hoped for, and it kind of spooks us a little bit.

[19:46] So, what happened? They cried out in fear and immediately, verse 27, Jesus spoke to them. Have courage, it is I.

[19:59] Don't be afraid. So, who speaks up first? Well, if you know the disciples at all, your first guess would be Peter and you'd be right.

[20:12] Lord, if it's you, Peter answered him, command me to come to you on the water. And I love this, verse 29, he said, come.

[20:23] I just, that baffles me for some reason. Maybe because I'm raising two little boys, they're not so little anymore.

[20:37] They're getting bigger and they're sitting right up here, Austin's bouncing in his seat. At least he's staying awake, that's a good thing. When I'm trying to get my kids to do something that they're uncomfortable with, do something that might make them a little nervous or a little scared, I usually don't just say, come.

[21:00] Usually, I gotta talk them through it, you know? Okay, son, now here's what you gotta do. You gotta get one foot out of the boat, okay? Just get one foot in the water. We'll work on the next one in a minute, okay? How does that feel? Does that feel alright?

[21:11] Feel like you can put the other one in now? Alright, now come on out. I got my hand out here. Come on, walk to me. Walk to me. You got this. That's what I would have done. But Jesus just says, come.

[21:27] Why do you think that is? I think it's because Peter had an opportunity here to exercise the faith that Jesus knew he had.

[21:39] Jesus knew he had enough faith to walk to him. So I think Jesus wasn't gonna coax him through it. It was just, I'm gonna issue you a command.

[21:51] Your job is to step out by faith and follow me. I'm not gonna explain all the reasons of why this is gonna work. Just gonna help you see that you have to simply obey.

[22:06] So, Jesus says, come. And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus.

[22:17] but when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me!

[22:28] So he knew that Jesus could save him. So who did he doubt in that moment? What was it?

[22:39] Himself. Right? Have you ever been there? It's like, God, I know that you're real. I know that you are great, you are powerful, you love me, you wanna help me, but I don't feel the same way about myself.

[22:55] God, I know you wanna do great things in my life, but I'm not sure I'm your guy. I'm not sure I'm your girl. I'm not sure I'm the one that can handle what you're trying to get me to do.

[23:12] I've been there time and time and time again in my life. God, I know you're strong enough to beat this habit that I have, but I'm telling you I'm not.

[23:26] I can't do it. I can't handle it. My faith just isn't strong enough. And Jesus says, listen, all you gotta do is come.

[23:39] You just have to get out of the boat, you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Peter didn't have to have some massive amount of faith.

[23:50] He just had to walk. Just literally walk. And then Jesus would take care of the rest. But Peter couldn't do it.

[24:01] He was too scared. The winds and the waves around him scared him too much. What if got in the way? What if came burrowing its way into his mind saying, what if my faith isn't strong enough?

[24:18] What if I start to sink? What if I don't make it to him? He can do that, but I can't. This is crazy. What am I doing?

[24:30] And the moment he lost his faith, he began to sink. But he had enough faith to cry out, God, save me. Anybody ever done that by testimony of uplifted hand?

[24:42] Anybody ever cried out to Jesus, Lord, help me, Lord, save me from this situation, maybe save me from myself? Yeah, I've been there. So Jesus says, you of little faith, why did you doubt?

[24:57] He reached out his hand and caught him and said, son, why did you doubt me? This wasn't about you, this was about me. Of course you can't walk on water, but I can.

[25:10] Of course you can't save your marriage, but he can. Of course you can't help your kids, but he can. Of course you can't fix your finances, but he can.

[25:22] Of course you can't beat that habit that you haven't beaten your whole life, but he can. He was training Peter. He didn't need Peter to try to walk on water, water.

[25:35] He just needed him to understand that Jesus was in control of that situation, put one foot in front of the other. When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he sank.

[25:49] When you and I take our eyes off Jesus, we crash, we sink, it doesn't end well, we get scared.

[26:02] Jeremiah 33.3 says, call to me and I will answer you and I will show you great and mighty things which you don't know.

[26:12] Listen, folks, at least Peter called out to Jesus, right? Even when he was thinking, at least he said, Jesus, save me. At least he had the sense to do that. And sometimes that's what we've got to do.

[26:25] To say, God, I know I messed up. I know you were going to do something great. I know I got in the way and messed it up. God, help. What does Jesus do? Well, you should have listened to me. Shaking his finger at us.

[26:39] What were you thinking? No, he doesn't. He reaches down and picks us up and says, next time, trust me. Come on.

[26:51] I'm the one who's got this. And as long as I've got you, you've got this too. Eyes up. Number two, press toward the prize.

[27:02] Number two, press toward the prize. Philippians three, and we'll be done in just a moment. Philippians three. This is going to be fun.

[27:15] All right, y'all ready for this? Philippians three. Number one was eyes up, look at Jesus. Number two, press toward the prize. Verse 14, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

[27:32] Eyes up, looking at Jesus, because he is our prize. Jesus gave us our calling, he drew us to himself, he forgave us of our sins, so we keep our eyes on the prize.

[27:48] There will be all kinds of other things tried to distract you. Peter got distracted by the waves around him. All kinds of people or places or things or goals or careers or desires or sin problems will try to worm their way in and pull your focus away.

[28:08] And that's why Paul reminds us to press, press, pursue the prize that God has before us.

[28:19] How many of y'all have ever seen the show that came, I don't know if it's still airing or not, they may be just delaying before another season happens, but it's this little mini golf show called Holy Moly.

[28:30] Came on ABC, I think. Within the last five years or so, they came out with a couple seasons of it. There you go, we got one, I know my kids down here watch it. Yeah, alright, well Holy Moly action, it's great man, it's extreme mini golf and it's amazing.

[28:45] I have a little clip from it here, ready? Bears, bears, bears. Alright, here we go, let's try it, we'll start it over. Here we go. Here comes the distraction.

[29:00] Bears, bears, bears, bears. Okay, let me set this up for you. This hole, they all play these different holes with different challenges on each mini golf hole.

[29:11] This one is called the distractor. So, the two golfers line up, they're ready to putt a simple, I don't know, 18 foot putt or something. In this level of mini golf, it's not that bad.

[29:23] Just a straight putt. Then this wall turns and behind the wall is some crazy, crazy thing that is going to distract them while they putt. One time it was a marching band.

[29:36] One time it was a drill sergeant like screaming at them in their ear as they try to make this putt. This one was amazing. Here comes the distraction. Bears, bears, bears, bears, bears, bears.

[29:50] Oh my goodness, it's Pat! It's Pat! Oh my goodness, it's Pat! It is paparazzi. Oh, soulless. The flashbulbs and the red carpet.

[30:04] Oh, that was a good jump. Pat, do the jump again. I recognize some of these folks from my trees, Joe. Pat, you look amazing! And now our competitors are going to have to putt down the red carpet.

[30:15] Pat, who does your beard? Pat, who did your hair tonight? Tell me about your shoes, Pat. Have you ever had much experience with a paparazzi, Joe? I really don't swim in those circles there, Rob.

[30:26] Well, I have, and it's just like this. Pat, come on, give me the shot. Right down the barrel, right down the barrel. Can he overcome the paparazzi and sink this 15-foot putt?

[30:39] Oh, you gotta see this one, Pat, you gotta see this. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! And Pat misses. These photos are gonna be all over TMZ tomorrow.

[30:50] Guy didn't stand a chance, did he? I mean, he's a great mini-golfer. They have some of the best mini-golfers in the world. I don't know where you find those people exactly, but they found them somehow.

[31:02] This guy is amazing! You watched the rest of his rounds there on that episode. He was incredible. He should have easily made that putt, but he didn't stand a chance against what was happening around him.

[31:14] He got distracted, right? Now, that's an extreme example, but you and I get distracted pretty easily. that's that's why Paul reminds us, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

[31:33] There is a goal. His goal was to simply put the little ball in the hole. He couldn't do it. He should have been able to. He was equipped.

[31:44] He was good enough. He could easily handle that putt, but he couldn't do it on that hole because he got distracted by everything else happening around him. Now, usually, that's what happens to you and me, especially if you've been in church for a while.

[32:00] You know the Bible. You've been taught. Maybe you grew up going to Sunday school, going to church. You've heard the Word of God preached. You've read it for yourself. You know what you're supposed to do, when you're supposed to do it, how to do it, but you get distracted by your spouse.

[32:20] You get distracted by your work. You get distracted by disappointment. You get distracted by expectations. You get distracted by hurt.

[32:33] You get distracted by your own flesh. You get distracted by people around you. You get distracted by the cares of this life. And Paul wants to remind us there's an upward call.

[32:48] what does it mean when he's talking about this upward call of God in Christ Jesus? Have you ever tried going upward? Is it easy or difficult?

[33:04] That's not a trick question, y'all. Is it hard or easy to go uphill? It's hard, right? But that is the call of God in Christ Jesus.

[33:15] He's calling us upward. As we walk upward, it's going to be difficult. But when we reach the top, the view is amazing. When we reach the peak or the pinnacle of our climb, Jesus has formed us into who he wants us to be.

[33:35] And then we get to enjoy a beautiful forever eternity in heaven with him. It's the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. He's leading you upward.

[33:46] There's going to be beautiful things along the way. There's going to be moments where we can stop and rest. There's going to be great times and not so great times on this upward journey.

[33:56] But he's drawing you upward because the opposite, we don't want to go there. That's drawing you away from God. That's drawing you down, further and further down.

[34:09] Jesus is calling you upward. I've been reminding us of this verse since late last year. Romans 12 2, don't copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

[34:25] Then you will learn to know God's will for you which is good and pleasing and perfect. This is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. This is the upward call. This is pressing on toward the prize of Jesus.

[34:38] So let God change your thinking. Go back to Matthew, would you? Matthew 6 and verse 25. Matthew 6 and verse 25.

[34:49] For sake of time, I'll go ahead and read. Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life. What you will eat or what you will drink or about your body, what you will wear, isn't life more than food?

[35:00] And the body is more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky. They don't sow, they don't reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they are?

[35:13] Can any of you add one moment to your lifespan by worrying? No. Why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin thread, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these flowers.

[35:31] Verse 30, if that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't he do so much more for you, you of little faith?

[35:42] So don't worry saying, what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear? Or what will happen in my family? What will happen in my job?

[35:53] What will happen in my retirement? What will happen in our church? We're having new people come in, we're having new people get baptized, we've got a new pastor, what's he going to do? Don't worry about tomorrow.

[36:07] The Gentiles eagerly seek all the same things that we get so worried about. Your heavenly father knows that you need them. Verse 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

[36:24] Follow the upward call of God and Christ Jesus and all of these things will be provided for you. All these things will be provided for you.

[36:37] Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus is calling you out. Jesus is calling us out.

[36:49] He's calling me out, he's calling you out, and he's calling us out now. He's saying, I'm calling you upward. Maybe you've been walking on level ground. Maybe you've been walking a little bit downward.

[37:00] Maybe you've been walking off to the side. God is calling you ever upward. And if you haven't been journeying with Jesus, then you're probably heading a different direction. But Jesus wants to call you upward toward himself.

[37:14] So get your eyes up and press toward the prize. He's calling you out. He's calling you now. Here's our takeaway for today.

[37:26] God, change my thinking to focus on following you and then lead me where I cannot go on my own. Let's read it again.

[37:38] God, change my thinking to focus on following you and then lead me where I can't go on my own. Would you bow your heads with me? God, that's our prayer right now today.

[37:51] That you would change our thinking to focus on you. You are our prize. It's easy to get distracted by so many other things.

[38:01] individually, even in the life of our church, God, it's easy to make other things, God, instead of you. We get used to doing things a certain way.

[38:13] We get used to things looking or feeling a certain way and that starts to become God more than you are. I pray that we would follow you into the great unknown knowing that you already know everything that's coming.

[38:29] I pray that whatever that looks like for each family, each man, each woman, each teenager, each child, I pray that you would show, personalize it for them.

[38:41] Whatever you would call us to do, God, give us the courage, the boldness to keep our eyes on you and press toward the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus.

[38:53] We can't get there on our own, God. We need your help. church right now with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, would you take a moment of reflection?

[39:04] Would you take a moment of private quiet prayer? I would ask you if at all possible to keep your seat, let the stillness allow the Holy Spirit to work in this moment, in your heart, in your mind.

[39:20] In just a moment we'll pray and be dismissed. But before then while Brother Greg sings a song over us, can we just keep this silence, this stillness, and ask God to show us exactly what it is, what steps we need to take to get back to following Him, pursuing Him, to get our eyes back on Jesus.