Getting God's Message Getting God's Message Program Transcripts
Pastor Lud Golz
Pastor Lud Golz

About the Program | Meet Pastor Golz | Contact Information | Fellowship Bible Church | Christian Resources | Donations

  Home | Transcript Archive | April | April 24, 2015

Friday, April 24, 2015

In our last visit we looked at Philippians 3:12-14, and considered what it meant to “take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.” In verse 13 Paul talks about “Forgetting what is behind.” As with taking hold this is a concept that’s important in athletics. If we’ve done something spectacular in the past, focusing on it can lead to pride which often leads to a fall. If we failed in the past and focus on our failure we might never have the courage to press on with a view to winning. During a snowboard cross race in a past Winter Olympics, one participant was way ahead of her competitors as they came to the last jump before the finish-line. She momentarily looked back to see how far behind the next competitor was, and in that split second lost her focus. As she flew into the air she reached down to grab her snowboard. That move caused her to lose her balance and she slid off course, just enough for the next racer to pass her. Paul never wanted to lose his focus by looking back. Two times in these verses Paul refers to straining and pressing on to cross the finish line with his best effort. This is seen over and over again in Olympic competition, sometimes with the winner only thousands of a second ahead of the next athlete. Paul said all of this to introduce what we will study in subsequent visits based on Philippians 3:17-21 and 4:8-9, with a special focus on Philippians 3:17: “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” I hope you’ll join us in this study on mentoring others.

 

Getting God's Message with Lud Golz, P.O. Box 167, Novelty, Ohio 44072

design by Klein Studios, Inc.