27 Sep “PRESS ON ” | Part Two: “Looking Forward”

Announcements:

All announcements can be found at:  waterschurch.guide

Key Verse: Philippians 3

Good things are happening at Waters Church.  We are committed to pressing on as a Church.  God uses all things for the good of His people.

Legacy Offering is next weekend.  We are looking forward to what God has in store for our church.  10% of this offering will be going to Let Love International and partnering with organizations fighting sex trafficking.

Philippians 3:13–14 (ESV).

We cannot press on (move forward) if we don’t forget what is behind us and strain ahead.  We need to be more concerned about where we are going than where we have been.  Straining ahead is to keep running.  The Bible is pro-running:

1 Corinthians 9:24, Hebrews 12:1

Q. Refresher question from last week, what are you forgetting to forget about?

Point 1: (Last week)

I PRESS on when I REMEMBER God has a CALL on my LIFE.

Philippians 3:12 (ESV)

God has a call on our lives.  We don’t deserve his mercy and grace but he freely gives it to us. The call on our lives is to be made perfect.  We are in the process, we are not perfect but Jesus is perfect.  Jesus is secure in who He was and what God wanted Him to do and He got it done.

TRUTH: God CALLS His people to become like CHRIST.

Romans 8:28–29 (ESV); 1 John 4:17 (NLT) ; 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

The Holy Spirit is given to us so we can become more like Jesus.

1. MEDITATE on where you’re GOING.

Philippians 3:15 (ESV)

We need to think about where we are going and keep thinking about where we are going.  We need to remind ourselves we are going to heaven.  We get excited when we are looking forward to something. We should be excited about where we are headed.

Q. What kinds of things do you look forward to that create excitement in you?

Pastor Tim showed us an illustration of a rearview mirror.  If we focus on what is behind us (the past) we will not see what is ahead of us.  If we are not careful the Devil will keep us stuck by sticking a rearview mirror in our faces.

Q. What imageS keep popping up in your ‘rearview mirror’ and why are you allowing them to cloud your vision of what is ahead?

Colossians 3:1–4 (ESV)

BEST CASE SCENARIO for Christ-followers:

1. I live a long life serving God’s purposes for me here on Earth and then I die and go to heaven.

WORST CASE SCENARIO for Christ-followers:

2. I die immediately and go to heaven.

Philippians 1:21–25 (ESV)

Paul served God’s purposes and he knew, either way, He would one day be in heaven.

Matthew 6:19-20 (ESV)

Q. What does it mean to lay your treasures in heaven?  Why is it important to not store them on earth?

2. GUARD who you’re JOINING.

Philippians 3:17-25 (ESV)

Our relationships need to be right.   We need to surround ourselves with people who care about people.   

Q. Who is someone that you can call upon in times of trouble?

Q. Who is the person you are investing in (who is your Timothy)?  If you don’t have one, think about who it could be and start investing in them.

3. KNOW who you should be AVOIDING.

Philippians 3:18-19 (ESV)

We are to love our enemies, but we don’t have to hang with them.

Q. What is an example of where you had to avoid certain people for the sake of pressing on?

Our call is to be like Jesus.

WE CANNOT PRESS ON WITHOUT BEING IN RELATIONSHIP WITH HEAVEN-ORIENTED, JESUS-CENTERED, GOSPEL-DRIVEN FRIENDS.