Courageously Go For The Gold 1

Hello Everyone,

Eight female badminton players were disqualified from the London Olympics for not trying to win.

The crowds booed at the embarrassment and finally the officials put an end to it.

The Badminton World Federation announced its ruling after investigating two teams from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia. It punished them for "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport".

I Corinthians 9:24-27 ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷ No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

 

•      If I were to ask you “what is the mission of…“the summer Olympians”? What would you say? (Answer) To Win.

•      How do you know if they are accomplishing their mission?

•(Answer) Whether or not they are winning their games.

•      How do you know if they are winning their games?

•(Answer) They keep the score.

•

Can you imagine what a game would be like if the teams just lined up and played each other but didn’t bother to keep the score? What would be the point? This isn’t tee ball! 

 How about our Christian life in 2012?  What’s our mission?  To win! 

How do we know if we’re winning?  We have to keep score!

When I was a kid they had an old oak board that hung on the wall just to the left of the platform. It was the churches way to keep score. Every Sunday faithfully displayed in Black and white letters on the oak board were:

• Attendance

• Offering

• Decisions

If anyone could ever be considered a gold medal Christian, Paul would qualify.

In these four verses in 1 Corinthians we are going to see how Paul Personally Models Characteristics of a Genuine Winner.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil