Let’s Lose Some Weight – 4

                                                             Let’s Lose Some Weight – 4

Subject – Pick Up the Pace

By Rick Welborne

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NKJV)                                                                                                                                                                                                                ¹  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
²  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
³  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 

--I have said for at least the last 40 years that I wanted to lose weight and in my mind, I really thought I was attempting to do that. Two years ago this March I decided to give up tennis because of pain. Not your friend.

--I started biking outdoors and really was enjoying what I was doing and actually lost a little weight but still was struggling. I saw deer, rattle snakes, raccoons, rabbits, and even one Florida panther. Beautiful!

--I had finally built up enough stamina and conditioned my rear-end to endure the 31mile loop at the Santos Trails (the paved part). I was so happy I could do the loop in less than 2 hours.

--One day something happened on the trail that was extremely aggravating, extremely humiliating, and most importantly, extremely motivating. 

--You see, when someone says something negative to us or about us we have a choice. We can take those words and build resentment or use those words to be a launching pad for better things. Let me explain.

--At almost the 9-mile marker I was almost to the top of a half mile hill and I was breathing pretty hard, and in my mind, pushing myself at a really good pace, something happened.

--Another biker passes me and he is clipping pretty fast as he whizzes by me. I had never seen him before or since, but here are his words to me as I am sucking wind.

“Are you ever going to pick up the pace?”

--My first thought was one of humiliation and embarrassment, not only because he was going so fast around me but also, that he would have the audacity to say, “Are you ever going to pick up the pace?”

--My humiliation quickly turned to aggravation and even anger as those piercing words got deep into my spirit. Someone told me a long time ago that almost every negative statement has some truth to it.

--As I thought about that I began to ask myself a few questions: Could I actually pick up my pace? Yes. Would picking up my pace give me a faster time? Yes. Would picking up my pace help me lose weight? Yes.

--As I began to calm down from my anger Holy Spirit began to speak to me. I use my time on the bike to pray and to worship so He magnified those words in my spirit man: “Are you ever going to pick up the pace?”

--“Are the people of Life Church ever going to pick up the pace?”

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV)
²³  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
²⁴  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
²⁵  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

1. Pick up the pace in the area of seeking after God.

--Wasn’t that what we were trying to encourage all of you to do during the first 21 days of prayer and fasting? Did you take advantage of that time? Did you fast? Did you pray? 

--Did you come out to the week of prayer and earnestly seek God corporately with the rest of us? I can seek Him at home. Okay, did you seek Him at home during that time? Probably not.

--Maybe you are like I was when I was in Elementary School and our teacher would ask us every Monday how many of us went to church? How many of you prayed? I would raise my hand because we blessed the food.

Hebrews 6:1&11-12 (NKJV)
¹  Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
¹¹  And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,
¹²  that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 

--The writer of Hebrews is telling us to grow past still being in Elementary School and to not become sluggish (to pick up the pace) in our relationship with God.

--Years ago James Dobson did a survey on Christians comparing their walk with God to where they would be in school. The results were sad but probably even worse today.

--Most men were at a fifth grade level or below in their Christian faith. Before you point your finger ladies, your score was not a whole lot better. You were at a seventh grade level or below. 

--Dobson’s conclusion was that little to no effort was being practiced in these men or women to help them grow spiritually. Just listening to a sermon once a week will never be enough. Pick up the pace yourself. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (NIV) ¹⁶  Be joyful always; ¹⁷  pray continually;
¹⁸  give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.                                                  ¹⁹  Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 

--Do you remember when you first fell in love with your sweetheart and you thought about them 24/7? You wanted to talk to them all day long. You showered them with compliments.

--You wanted to spend time with them and you would spend every dime you had to buy them a gift. Sadly, something happens over time and you began to take them for granted. You lost your passion.

--Jesus warns the church about letting our passion for Him dwindle.

Revelation 2:4-5 (NLT2)
⁴  “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
⁵  Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

--Jesus is saying to all of us, “Are you ever going to pick up the pace?”

2. Pick up the pace in the area of missions. 

--Wow, Pastor Rick, what do you mean? Our church is in the top ten in the state in mission’s giving and in the top fifty in the nation out of over 13,000 churches, that’s pretty good. Are we giving Him our best?

--The verses I am about to read are going to sound harsh but sometimes I think we need a shock of reality to wake us up. The people in Malachi were bringing offerings to God but not their best.

--God took it personally that they were bringing to Him just tokens of their abundance and even the tokens they brought were insulting to the Lord All-Powerful.

Malachi 1:6-10 (NCV)
⁶  The LORD All-Powerful says, “A child honors his father, and a servant honors his master. I am a father, so why don’t you honor me? I am a master, so why don’t you respect me? You priests do not respect me. “But you ask, ’How have we shown you disrespect?’
⁷  “You have shown it by bringing unclean food to my altar. “But you ask, ’What makes it unclean?’ “It is unclean because you don’t respect the altar of the LORD.
⁸  When you bring blind animals as sacrifices, that is wrong. When you bring crippled and sick animals, that is wrong. Try giving them to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? He wouldn’t accept you,“ says the LORD All-Powerful.
⁹  “Now ask God to be kind to you, but he won’t accept you with such offerings,“ says the LORD All-Powerful.
¹⁰  “I wish one of you would close the Temple doors so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you and will not accept your gifts,“ says the LORD All-Powerful. 

--We all act like we are excited about Jesus coming back and when it is mentioned from the pulpit how many of you are expecting Him to come back soon, we all shout. Are we truly sincere?

-These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, Isa. 59.

--I believe the Lord is speaking to all of us in these last days, “Are you ever going to pick up the pace?” We all believe that many of the prophecies have been fulfilled for Jesus return. Amen! What about this?

Matthew 24:14 (NKJV)
¹⁴  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 

--I privately speak with many of our missionaries who are concerned about the church having an escape mentality about the rapture while avoiding their responsibility to reach the nations.

--We play a major part in the return of Jesus (the rapture) by making sure this gospel is going to the ends of the earth. Time to stop with the tokens to God and get serious. “Are you ever going to pick up the pace?”

3. Pick up the pace and get the lead out!

--Years ago when we went to Kentucky to the horse farms they gave us this information about horse racing in light of “Get the lead out”

--It would refer to horse races, where the official handicapper assigns weights that each horse is to carry, to try to make them all even. In the weigh-in, the total weight was made up of the weight of the jockey & saddle, then with lead plates added until it came up to the handicappers assigned weight.  

 --In the back stretch of the race, some riders were known to dump their lead weights to reduce the load on their horse and hopefully increase its speed at the end of the race. 

--When riders would “get the lead out," their horses would sometimes speed up in the crucial final seconds of a race. It looks like we are in the final stretch. We must seek God, increase our missions, and get the lead out.

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NKJV)                                                                                                                                                                                                                ¹  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

“Are you ever going to pick up the pace?”