1 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:07,680 You're very welcome to today's Triumph Church podcast. 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:10,440 We pray that you enjoy the message. 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,280 Last Sunday I I spoke something that the Lord had placed 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:25,160 strongly on my heart for 2026 and it was this refuse to draw 5 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:27,600 back. If you haven't heard that 6 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,760 message, you can go back and listen to that online. 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:33,240 Go back and listen to that. It's on our website. 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,160 That's easy a place to go triumph church dot IE, but that 9 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:40,200 was based on the Scripture in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 38. 10 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,080 It said now the just shall live by faith. 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:50,480 But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. 12 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,200 God wants us to actually draw close to Him. 13 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,480 Read Psalm 91. He wants you to be as close as 14 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:04,200 possible because in that place is where He's able to provide 15 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,160 all your need. When you're walking away from 16 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,800 the Lord, when you're keeping him at arm's length, when you 17 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,680 turn your back on Him and run away from Him, it's hard for him 18 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,400 to get his blessings to you. And as your heavenly Father, He 19 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,200 wants to so draw close to God. This morning is going to be kind 20 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,160 of a continuance of of that message. 21 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,160 And I'm going to be going to be talking about pressing forward 22 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:29,960 in Christ. All right. 23 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:32,680 There's a lot in the Bible, a lot in Paul's, Paul's writings 24 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,280 about refusing to draw back and about pressing forward in 25 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,680 Christ. Following Jesus is not standing 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,680 still. You know our our salvation when 27 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,600 we accept Jesus as our Lord. It's not just done all right, 28 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,640 It's a done thing. There's nothing more to do at 29 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,200 all. I can just stand here in my 30 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,000 salvation, in Christ and that's it. 31 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,040 That's not what God wants for us. 32 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,040 It's not standing still. It's movement, it's direction, 33 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,920 it's momentum, it's forward moving faith. 34 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,759 And many believers don't walk away from Christ. 35 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:12,920 It's not often that you have someone that just makes a rash 36 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:17,320 decision and at a split moment they just walk away from Christ. 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,320 That's not something that that really happens that often, 38 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,720 Especially if you know the Lord and you know his goodness and 39 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,080 you know his love and you know his peace and you've seen him 40 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,920 move in your life, man, you can't just walk away from that. 41 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,680 But there's a lot that simply stop pressing forward. 42 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,240 They stall, they begin to settle, they begin to live off 43 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:45,000 of yesterday's victories and yesterday's revelations. 44 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:52,360 But God wants to do more in your life. 2025 was great, but God 45 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,760 wants to do more for you in 2026. 46 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,920 Living as a a Christian, we're not meant to live in neutral. 47 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,480 You're not going to go anywhere in neutral. 48 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:09,360 You need to put the car and drive right, put it into gear 49 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,840 and have Ford moving faith. And Paul understood this very 50 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:17,440 deeply near the end of his ministry, after planting many 51 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:23,000 churches, after riding near 3/4 of the New Testament scripture, 52 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,520 after enduring suffering and and persecution and seeing many 53 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,880 miracles in his life, he still had this to say in the book of 54 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,400 Philippians in chapter 3 and verse 12. 55 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,400 And we're going to kind of hover around a couple scriptures there 56 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,920 in Philippians this morning. But in Philippians chapter 3 and 57 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:44,200 verse 12, Paul says, I don't mean to say that I have already 58 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:49,200 achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection, 59 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:55,880 but I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ 60 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:01,520 Jesus first possessed me. Paul is saying I'm not done yet. 61 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,640 And I heard, heard a number of older ministers say in the past 62 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,480 they'd say I'm, I'm old. I could retire, but I don't want 63 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,880 to retire. I just want to refire. 64 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,880 Sometimes we discount people when they're older in the 65 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,200 twilight years of their life. But they've lived through so 66 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:20,560 much. They've seen so much. 67 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,600 They've they've experienced so much. 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,680 They've applied their faith to so much. 69 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,600 They've seen God move so much in their lives. 70 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:35,800 Young people like myself still have a lot to learn, right? 71 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,280 The Apostle Paul says that I haven't learned everything yet. 72 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,120 There's still more to this life to press forward in Christ. 73 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,080 And our daily walk with Christ isn't about just refusing to to 74 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,640 draw back as we talked about last week, but it's also 75 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,360 pressing forward. It's drawing closer to him. 76 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,680 I love Sean saying in his testimony, our, our life's 77 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,160 pursuit should be drawing closer to God. 78 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:07,640 That should be our life's pursuit drawing closer to God, 79 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,160 not the things of this world. Because when we leave this 80 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,320 world, all of that stuff perishes. 81 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,680 There is no one who's going to be carrying their 60 inch telly 82 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:23,760 with them into heaven, right? Like sometimes we, we, we put so 83 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:27,960 much, put so much into these things, right? 84 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:33,160 That are nothing. They're nothing but drawing 85 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,440 close to God. That's eternal, that's in this 86 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,200 life, but it's also for eternity. 87 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,200 And listen, when you're drawing closer to God, you're, you're 88 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,160 kind of like, 'cause this gravity, right? 89 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,280 If you're drawing closer to God, everyone around you can't help 90 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:58,240 but be caught up in that, right? Your life matters. 91 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,160 Your life has great significance. 92 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,840 There is no one in this room whose life does not matter. 93 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,480 Amen. Your life has so much more 94 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:17,960 significance than you know. Sometimes we look in the mirror. 95 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,960 We may not realize it, we may not think it, and the devil may 96 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,000 be trying to talk to our minds. You're nothing. 97 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,880 You're you're nothing big. The Lord has you on this earth 98 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,400 for a purpose, and he has a plan for you. 99 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,600 So this morning I want to talk about pressing forward in 100 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:36,760 Christ. And the first thing I want to 101 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:41,440 talk about this pressing forward requires letting go of what's 102 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,160 behind. That can be the bad things, but 103 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,080 it can also be the good things. Paul continues in Philippians 104 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,000 chapter 3, we just read verse 12 and in verse 13, Philippians 105 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,720 313, he says, no, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved 106 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,320 it. But I focus on this one thing, 107 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:05,240 forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. 108 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,560 I notice here that Paul doesn't say that the past is, is 109 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,280 meaningless, right? It's important that we learn 110 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,600 from our past mistakes. We can learn a lot from other 111 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,000 people's mistakes. We can learn a lot from history. 112 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,120 So we don't discount the past, right? 113 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,240 But we don't live there. We don't abide there. 114 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,560 We can't plant a flag. And this is where I'm going to 115 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:27,640 stay, right? Because time keeps on moving. 116 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,480 Your life keeps on moving. You can't be be bound by your 117 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,520 past. Time is moving forward. 118 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,200 Life is moving forward. That is in the past. 119 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,720 It doesn't have to control you, but it's not it's not 120 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,080 meaningless either. It just means that it's not 121 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:52,760 supposed to master you. You're not who your past says 122 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:59,920 you are, right? You're who God's word says you 123 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:04,240 are. Let me say that again, all 124 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,440 right? Your past is or you're not who 125 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:11,600 your past says you are. You're who God says in his word 126 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:18,200 that you are, and in his word he says that you are more than a 127 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:24,840 conqueror, not just a conqueror. Like it'd be great enough to be 128 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:26,200 just a conqueror, wouldn't it, Sean? 129 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,760 Not just a conqueror, but more than a conqueror. 130 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:36,240 That means more than enough. Anything that comes my way, God 131 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,080 has given me provision through whatever it is. 132 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:43,520 He supplies all my need, right? Provision to overcome that in an 133 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:47,840 overwhelming way. Not just overcome it, you know, 134 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,160 like, oh, I barely made it over that hill. 135 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:54,600 Oh, thank God, right? Overwhelming, overwhelming 136 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:56,720 victory. Hallelujah. 137 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,040 I can do all things through Christ, who does what 138 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:08,240 strengthens me, in my strength, in my ability, what I know, what 139 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:15,160 I've trained for, what I can do, or in Christ's ability, in His 140 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,920 strength, what He has enabled, what He has given me. 141 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,720 Amen. Some people are held back by 142 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:28,160 their past failures. Their failure whispers You'll 143 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,880 never change, you'll never be good enough. 144 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,680 You can't do that. Others are held back by past 145 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,280 success. They're success whispers you 146 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,160 don't need to grow. You've got what you need. 147 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:49,160 You know what to do. But both voices stop forward 148 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,080 movement. We're not defined by our 149 00:09:54,080 --> 00:10:00,240 failures, our past, but we're also not defined by our success 150 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:07,200 either. We're defined by God's word and 151 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,480 that's it. This is my identity. 152 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,440 Why do you think the devil worked so hard to attack 153 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:16,280 people's identity? Or you don't know what in the 154 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,320 world you are. You sometimes you can't even 155 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,200 address people by what's obvious, right? 156 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,840 The devil wants to attack identity because he's the God of 157 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,160 confusion. If he can cause people to be 158 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,560 confused, then it's going to be very difficult them for them to 159 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:36,960 find out what their true identity is, who they really 160 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,840 are. God created us in His image. 161 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:44,680 He didn't create us for failure. He didn't create us for 162 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:48,160 mistakes. He created each of us to be able 163 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,920 to triumph in this life through Christ. 164 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,840 Amen. God's not limited by our past, 165 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:04,920 so let's not get stuck there. In Isaiah chapter 43, God was 166 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,600 reminding Israel that he was present with them, that he's 167 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,680 rescued them from their things in their past so many times and 168 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:15,800 is reminding them of that. And Isaiah was speaking to the 169 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:22,000 from the Lord, though, saying don't get stuck in your past. 170 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:24,720 And that can be easy to do sometimes. 171 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,200 But God's not limited by her past, not any part of it. 172 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:33,200 And we know from Scripture that if we humble ourselves before 173 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:38,160 the Lord, he's going to do what he's going to lift you up, isn't 174 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,760 he? So the key here is our humility, 175 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,680 keeping a humble heart. All right, humble. 176 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:51,680 Your humility keeps you from living in your past failures, 177 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:55,760 your past mistakes, your past sins, But humility also keeps 178 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,560 you from relying on your success and the things that you do 179 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:03,960 really great, right? We want to be in a place of 180 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:08,240 humility where we are focused on Christ, where we're drawing 181 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,400 close to him. Humility is the key. 182 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:17,320 In Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 18 and 19, Isaiah was talking 183 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:21,800 about the past and he says this, don't forget all that. 184 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,400 He's reminding them of all the things that the Lord has done. 185 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:27,640 He says don't forget all of that. 186 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:37,080 It is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 2025 was a 187 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,800 really good year for a lot of us, right? 188 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,000 But don't get caught up in that, all right? 189 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,840 2026 is going to be so much more. 190 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,920 It is nothing. 2025 is nothing compared to what he's going to 191 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,840 do in this year and in your future. 192 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:01,800 In verse 19, he says for I am about to do something new and 193 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:06,320 that can make us really nervous. The Lord says sell your home and 194 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:07,920 move. He's doing something new. 195 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:11,760 Lord said something similar to us. 196 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,160 Sell your home and move to Ireland. 197 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,280 I've got a plan for you there. I've got a purpose, something 198 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:19,960 new. Oh boy. 199 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,040 Thank God he didn't tell me that I'd be starting a church, right? 200 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,320 I probably would have had a really difficult time moving 201 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,320 then if I knew where he, I knew where his plan and purpose was, 202 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:37,640 was heading. I hate speaking in front of 203 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,800 people. Makes me nervous. 204 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,120 I used to. I still get nervous. 205 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,880 That's right. But the Lord's doing something 206 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,040 new. And he says, see, I have already 207 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:58,840 begun. We're only two weeks. 208 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:00,600 Today's just the 11th of January. 209 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,920 The Lord's already begun. He's already making provision 210 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,920 for what it is that you need in 2026. 211 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,680 He's already making things happen behind the doors, behind 212 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:17,760 the scenes that you can't see. All is that required of you is 213 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,720 that you trust the Lord. So all He wants from you, just 214 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,760 trust me here. Just get into the passenger side 215 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,000 of the car, all right? And let me do the driving. 216 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,840 All right, I'm going to take you places that you never even 217 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:34,720 dreamed about, new places that you have a difficult time even 218 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:40,320 imagining, right? The Lord has great plans for us. 219 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,800 Second thing I want to talk about today as pressing forward 220 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,520 is a choice. It's not something that's 221 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,040 automatic, it's a choice that you make. 222 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:56,480 Paul continues in Philippians 3 verse 14 or 14. 223 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:01,400 He says I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the 224 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:06,120 heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus Jesus is 225 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,120 calling us. Pressing forward here. 226 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,840 Paul's using intentional language, isn't he? 227 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:18,880 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the 228 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,960 heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling 229 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,160 us. You don't drift forward 230 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:27,840 spiritually. You know what I mean by 231 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,200 drifting? It's like the wind blows you and 232 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,360 you just kind of drift in there. Oh, wow. 233 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:34,840 You don't drift forward spiritually. 234 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:40,560 You don't accidentally mature. You don't stumble into 235 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,600 obedience, you don't fall into growth, all right? 236 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:51,160 Spiritual growth happens when you're purposeful and when 237 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:57,200 you're intentional. And what you need to do is 238 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:04,160 develop spiritual disciplines to move forward in the Lord, to 239 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,440 continue to grow spiritually and mature, you need to develop 240 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,280 spiritual discipline. So what does pressing forward 241 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,120 look like? What are some spiritual 242 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,840 disciplines that you should develop and have in your life? 243 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,160 The first one is praying when you don't feel spiritual. 244 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,800 Do you feel spiritual every single time you pray, right? 245 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:31,720 Are you led by your emotions? Are you led by how you feel? 246 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,160 Well, I just don't feel like praying today. 247 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:39,200 So, right, I didn't feel like getting up out of bed today, but 248 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,720 aren't you glad I did? Maybe, I don't know. 249 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,920 I wish you would have slept in Pastor Brad, Pastor Amy, she's a 250 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:50,640 lot nicer, prettier than you are. 251 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,040 But it's a spiritual discipline. Prayer is a spiritual discipline 252 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,080 about creating time to study God's Word. 253 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,359 That's something you have to be purposeful and an intentional. 254 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,119 Listen, time doesn't just manifest itself. 255 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,800 A lot of time. Time gets away from us, doesn't 256 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,240 it? If you're not purposeful and an 257 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:15,920 intentional, before you know it, you're like, oh man, I just 258 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,400 don't have time now, right? It's gone. 259 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,960 Where did this day go, right? You have to be purposeful and 260 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:28,400 intentional, consistently attending and being part of your 261 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,080 church. That's a spiritual discipline. 262 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:38,440 I'm here every Sunday. Yeah, it's a spiritual 263 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,360 discipline. Maybe I won't be here next week. 264 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:43,800 I don't know. You need to be like, who's 265 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:50,080 preaching, right? Sean, Carlos, James, anyone You 266 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:51,400 guys on next week? Let's get in. 267 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,640 It's a spiritual discipline, all right. 268 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,320 Obeying God, even when it's costly. 269 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,520 Sometimes obeying God costs us something. 270 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:07,120 Caution something. Yeah, that's a big. 271 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:12,920 That's a big home swimming pool. Don't have much use for a 272 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,400 swimming pool here. We get all the water we need. 273 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:18,080 You want to go swimming? Just step outside. 274 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,000 All right. Trusting Him even when 275 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,560 circumstances are contrary. And the circumstances are 276 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:30,800 contrary A lot, aren't they? But are we going to trust the 277 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:36,520 natural or are we going to trust God's word the the Super over 278 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,560 our natural? You know, faith isn't denying 279 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:45,120 circumstances. A lot of times circumstances are 280 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:50,920 very real, right? But God can change those 281 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:53,080 circumstances. We have testimonies this 282 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:58,120 morning, this morning of God changing circumstances, right? 283 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,720 God can change anything. The Bible says with God, all 284 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,320 things are possible. I love in Jeremiah where he 285 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,840 says, behold, I'm the God of all flesh. 286 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,680 Is there anything that's too hard for me? 287 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,040 It's not often that God asks us questions in the Bible, but he 288 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:20,440 asks us a question there. Is there anything that's too 289 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:26,360 hard for me to us in our our little pea brain minds? 290 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,360 All right, here, let me say my pea brain mind to make you feel 291 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:31,800 better. You know, like we think 292 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,320 sometimes a lot of things are just too big. 293 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:39,320 This is just too hard. How can God possibly do this? 294 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,360 But with God, all things are possible. 295 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:47,360 He created everything that we see, right? 296 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:53,080 We live in a world, We live in a universe, a Galaxy that God 297 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,760 created. If He can do that, then what in 298 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:06,160 your life is He not able to do? Think about that. 2026 is going 299 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,520 to be amazing. The last thing I want to talk 300 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:14,640 about this morning is pressing forward means fixing your focus 301 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:19,440 on Christ. Paul's strength came from where 302 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:24,360 he was looking, right? And sometimes those, those 303 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:27,520 storms and those things that we deal with, those things go in 304 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:33,000 our life are really big and are really loud and are directly in 305 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,440 front of our face, right? But you just need to be, excuse 306 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,640 me, sorry, sorry, you're in my way here. 307 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,800 I'm looking at Christ, right? Let's move. 308 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:43,360 Move aside. All right? 309 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,240 I'm looking at Christ who's the author and the finisher of my 310 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,920 faith. Do I have complete trust in? 311 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:51,400 I don't have, I don't have faith in you. 312 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:57,000 All right, step aside. I'm focused on Christ, on His 313 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,240 provision, on Him providing for all of my need according to his 314 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,600 riches and glory by Christ Jesus. 315 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,720 Earlier in this passage, Paul said, forgetting the past and 316 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,120 looking forward to what lies ahead. 317 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:15,880 Forward focus always has a direction, and that always needs 318 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,560 to be on Christ, on Christ alone and nothing else. 319 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:22,960 There's nothing else that's more important in your life. 320 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:27,800 When Peter was walking on water, that's an amazing story, isn't 321 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:29,600 it? And what happened when he took 322 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:34,160 his eyes off of Christ? He started to sink, didn't he? 323 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,560 It's that same way in our life. When we take our eyes off of 324 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,280 Christ, what's going to happen? We're going to start to sink. 325 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,400 That's where the the, the things of this world become bigger and 326 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,480 larger than Christ in our lives. But when we keep Christ our 327 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:56,840 focus, when we're fixed solely on him and him alone, The first 328 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,480 thing you should do when this world presents a problem, when 329 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,120 something starts to happen, you get, you get bad, some bad 330 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,360 information about, about something, go to the doctor, get 331 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,600 bad. What's the first thing you 332 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,240 should do, Right? Well, thank you, doctor. 333 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,680 I appreciate you doing your job. I appreciate that. 334 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,760 You know, God bless you, right? But can you step aside for a 335 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:23,280 minute, right, because I'm looking at Christ and Christ 336 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:31,640 alone in Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 puts it really 337 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:37,240 plainly says therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge 338 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,800 crowd of witnesses to this life of faith. 339 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,920 I picture that's where my, my mom is this she's gone on to 340 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,520 heaven, right? Like she's up in glory 341 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,440 worshipping God in his presence. I picture her part of this, this 342 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,320 massive crowd of witnesses, right, who are cheering us all 343 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,480 on. I wish we could hear it. 344 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,520 I wish we could hear that noise. Have you ever been in a stadium 345 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,840 with like 66,000 people? Win the try? 346 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:13,080 Yeah, They just scored some points. 347 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,400 It's wild. It's madness, isn't it? 348 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,600 Come on, The World Cup's going to be coming up here soon. 349 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,640 Yeah. There's going to be stadiums 350 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:30,640 full of crazy people cheering for a ball being kicked around. 351 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,760 They're losing their minds over it, right? 352 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:44,800 Man, the noise from heaven, the crowd that's cheering us on. 353 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:47,120 Picture it. Therefore, since we are 354 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:50,240 surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of 355 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:55,080 faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down. 356 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,240 Listen, the devil is going to try to pile as much as he can on 357 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,440 you, this worry, this thought, whatever it is to try to weigh 358 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,520 you down. Because if nothing else, if he 359 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,680 can't keep you from sprinting, if he can't keep you from 360 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,760 running, then at least he wants to make it difficult for you. 361 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,320 So you have to trudge ahead, right? 362 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,160 Make it hard for you to move forward in Christ. 363 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:24,160 Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially 364 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,920 the sin that so easily trips us up. 365 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:31,680 And let us run with endurance, the race that God has set before 366 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:33,960 us. Like how it says, let us run 367 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,240 with endurance. One of the sports I used to do 368 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,760 when I was in secondary school was was track and field. 369 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,440 I was a sprinter, right? I was fast. 370 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,080 I could run short distances really quickly, but you want me 371 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,160 to run a long distance? Oh, man, my sight is killing me. 372 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,000 Just put me to death now. Take Me Home. 373 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:52,000 Jesus. Right. 374 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,600 I do not want to run another kilometer, please. 375 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,520 Right. It's not about running quickly. 376 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:02,880 It's about running with endurance. 377 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,680 It's about today I'm taking a step forward. 378 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:09,040 Tomorrow I'm taking a step forward. 379 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,480 The day after I'm taking a step forward. 380 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,000 I'm not looking behind me at all because I'm moving forward. 381 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,240 I don't care about the past except for to learn from my 382 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,040 mistakes and failures and not do them again right? 383 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,560 But I'm focused on Christ. When I'm focused on Him, I'm not 384 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,440 going to be taking steps backwards. 385 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,960 I'm not going to be walking away from Christ. 386 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:30,560 I'm going to be pressing forward. 387 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:35,240 My eyes focus solely on Him and taking steps forward. 388 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:40,360 Then in verse 2, it says we do this by keeping our eyes on 389 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:45,560 Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our 390 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:47,840 faith. He's our champion. 391 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,600 You know, way back when you could have like a champion fight 392 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,120 your battles for you so that you won't have to fight them. 393 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:01,760 Could have a champion do it. Well, Jesus is our champion. 394 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,040 He fought all of those battles for us. 395 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:09,480 He's already accomplished what is impossible for us to do. 396 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:14,080 Those needs that we have, he's already, he already has those 397 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,760 provided. All's we have to do is tap in 398 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,560 and trust him and believe that he's bringing that will to pass 399 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,680 in our life. Amen. 400 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:29,160 So Paul ends this section in Philippians and what we've been 401 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,960 centered on this morning by urging believers not to settle. 402 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:35,800 That's something that's really easy to do. 403 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,520 Just settle. This is good enough, right? 404 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,440 You can just do this for me. Lord, that's that's good enough. 405 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,000 God doesn't want us to settle. The apostle Paul says in 406 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:54,400 Philippians 315, he says let all who are spiritually mature agree 407 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,600 on these things. And he says, if you would 408 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,440 disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain 409 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,800 to you. So he's basically saying, 410 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,520 listen, what I've said is the truth. 411 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,840 And if you disagree with it, well, that's all right. 412 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,280 God's, I'm just going to believe that God's going to make it 413 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,800 plain to you so that you'll agree with what it is that he's 414 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:18,680 trying to tell you. Amen. 415 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,800 It's the truth. Spiritual maturity isn't knowing 416 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:29,400 more. It's not how much you know, but 417 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,200 actually walking in what you know. 418 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:37,920 We're all at different places in our walk with Christ, right? 419 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:43,200 Some of us have been believers for many years of others of us, 420 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:48,320 we may be new believers. It's not where we're at in our 421 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,080 race, all right. We should never compare 422 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,000 ourselves with another person. My life is completely different 423 00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:57,640 than your life. God has a completely different 424 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,600 plan and purpose for your life than He does mine or the person 425 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:06,920 in front of you or behind you. We are all running our own race. 426 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,080 No one has the same race. So it's really foolish to 427 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:17,240 compare your race, your life with someone else, right? 428 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,720 The point is, is that what you know? 429 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,840 You're actually walking in it. You're refusing to draw back, as 430 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:28,200 we talked about last week, and you're pressing forward with 431 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,880 what it is you do know. Listen, you're not going to 432 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:38,040 arrive until you reach heaven. But that means that you're no 433 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,400 longer on this earth. As long as you're on this earth, 434 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,360 you're going to be growing and growing and growing and growing 435 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,240 and drawing closer to God and drawing closer to God and 436 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:51,280 drawing closer to God and living victory to victory to victory. 437 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:55,400 Faith to faith. All right, keep moving forward. 438 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,760 2026 is a year where you need to keep moving forward. 439 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:06,240 Don't draw back, don't settle. Don't plant a flag and say, this 440 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,120 is cool. Where I'm at right now, I'm just 441 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,560 happy with this place. Well, if you do that, you're 442 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:15,120 limiting God in your life because he's doing a new thing. 443 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,360 Not, not what he did yesterday in your life. 444 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,040 He's doing something new. Amen. 445 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,880 Expect it. And if you're not expecting 446 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:28,360 anything, like we said earlier, what are you going to get? 447 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,760 You're going to get nothing, all right. 448 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,440 So expect God as you draw close to him. 449 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:38,880 The Bible says when you draw close to God, he will draw close 450 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:43,400 to you. And listen in that place where 451 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,720 you're in close proximity from God. 452 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,760 And it's not natural really for for our flesh to draw close to 453 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,560 God. All right, the devil will do 454 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,840 everything in his power to keep you from drawing close to God. 455 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,200 Oh, watch another Netflix episode. 456 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:05,120 Stay home from church today. Oh, don't fellowship with this 457 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:10,120 person, right? The devil will do everything in 458 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,760 his power to keep you from drawing close to God. 459 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:21,840 But that's something that you have to, you have to refuse and 460 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:26,080 instead pursue God, push forward with him. 461 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,960 Amen. And when you do, you are going 462 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:35,880 to be so incredibly blessed because in God's presence is 463 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,600 such fullness of joy, the Word says. 464 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,560 Thank you for listening to the Triumph Church podcast this 465 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,120 week. If it was a blessing to you, 466 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:51,040 share it with someone you know. For more information on Triumph 467 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:56,960 Church, you can visit us at www.triumphchurch.ie.