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Good morning, everybody. We are wrapping up our

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series on track today, and I'm gonna begin

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by reading 1 of the verses of our

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scripture, first Corinthians chapter 9 versus

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24 to 27. I'm gonna read first 24

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now, and then we'll come back and read

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some more a bit later. Listen friends for

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the word of God as it is proclaimed

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by God's servant.

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The apostle Paul.

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Do you not know

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that in erase, the runners

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all compete, but only 1

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receives the prize, the

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run in such a way

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that you may win it.

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This is the word of God for the

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people of God.

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Thanks peter guy.

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Paul's is coming right out and talking about

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winning here at the beginning.

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As we wrap up our July sermon series,

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exploring some of the sports metaphors throughout scripture.

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I wanna talk about a pretty significant,

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sporting event that honestly, you may not know

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very much about, in fact, in unless you're

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a student of ancient Greece,

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and how many of us are early students

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I may... In Greece, this particular sporting event

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is almost certainly not on your radar,

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but it was a big deal in the

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ancient Greek, and then Roman Worlds. It was

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called the Espn games,

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and they were a fixture of Greek and

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Roman culture for almost a thousand years.

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First held in 5 82 B,

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according to legend, the Games were established by

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Sis,

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to honor the Sea god poseidon.

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The espn games were held in the

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spring of these second and fourth years of

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the Olympia, which means that they were held

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the year before the Olympics and the year

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after

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the Olympics.

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Something called the Pi games were held in

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the third year of the Olympics, which means

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that there were games every single year

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because the greeks were pretty enthusiastic about their

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sports. And this tradition of the Games continued

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until the fourth century ad. So they started

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in 5 82 Bc, and they ran all

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the way to the fourth century

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Ad.

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Now, the contest of the Espn games included

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the Olympic sports,

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plus a few others like Chariot Races, And

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boxing and something called pan creation,

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which was an ancient

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equivalent of something akin to mixed martial arts

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And the games were, popular for for many

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centuries before the Romans emerged on the scene.

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Now, eventually,

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of course, the the Greeks fell to the

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Romans. And for more than 200 years beginning

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in 01:46.

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Bc.

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The Games were

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displaced

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because those Pesky Romans destroyed the city, which

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had once hosted them

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the Games

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continued mind you because everybody loved them, but

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they didn't return

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to the Is for which they were named

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until the... Early forties

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Ad,

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which brings me to the reason that we're

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talking about them today.

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This me games early were held on the

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Is of cor,

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which is the the narrow bit of land

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that connects the mainland of greece in the

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north with other area to the south, and

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they resided there for more than 400 years

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until the Romans destroyed ko in 01:46

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Bc. They were then

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displaced for 2 centuries.

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But the Romans understood how important cor was

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as both core cultural and economic hub, And

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so Caesar himself actually had it rebuilt in

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40 4BC,

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and understanding the the cultural relevance of the

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Games, which is something the romans we're good

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at, understanding the cultural relevance of events,

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they eventually moved them back to their home

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on the Is, and they did that in

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42 or 43

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ad d.

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That was about 7 or 8 years before

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Paul founded the Christian church there.

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After Paul left cor, to plant new churches

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and new places, the Games

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became a useful reference

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for, meta metaphors in his writing to the

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to church at Cor, which he did several

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times, 2 letters of which

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remain in our new testament.

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This cultural

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institution that had been a staple of life

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in cor for hundreds of years in a

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society that celebrated sports annually as a mark

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of their life together, gave Paul for helpful

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images to describe what it means to be

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a follower of Jesus,

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which continues to be our subject for today

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as we can include our series

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on track.

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Throughout July, we've been reading various places in

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scripture that use sports metaphors to describe the

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life of faith We read from the letter

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of the Hebrews talking about the importance of

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perseverance.

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We read from ec,

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which tells us about the idea of e

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anonymity,

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and we read from the second letter to

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of Timothy, which emphasizes

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integrity.

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Today, Paul is

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referencing the

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Games, which would have been central

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to the the cultural identity of cor Christians

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of the of the church to whom He

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is writing, and he's emphasizing an idea that

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is central to both athletes

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and

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disciples.

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The idea of of discipline.

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The disciplined life is a life of focus

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and commitment and self control. It's a life,

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dedicated something bigger than our own narrow wants

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and interest.

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Okay. Let's read the next

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in first corinthians chapter 9, this is verse

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25.

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Athletes

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exercise self control in all things

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They do it to receive a perishable wreath,

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but we, an imp 1.

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So there are 32 sports

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represented in 20 24 Paris, summer Olympics from,

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alphabetically speaking they go from aquatic, which include

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swimming and diving and water polo and something

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called artistic swimming.

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And they go all the way through wrestling.

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And there are the the Marquee sports that

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we all know, like gymnastics and track field.

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And then some fun ones that we may

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be surprised are there, like, Bad admit and

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hand ball. And I can only assume that

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Pickle ball will be in a lineup.

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Someday soon.

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All of these sports

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feature the finest,

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the most accomplished athletes in the world. To

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me, the most inspiring thing about the Olympics

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is getting the chance to see these extraordinary

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humans from all around the world showcasing their

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very

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unique skills,

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in such a variety of endeavors. If you

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had a chance to watch any of the

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opening ceremonies on Friday, you saw the joy

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and the, excitement of our shared humanity on

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full display and the anticipation of of every

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athlete

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in the games.

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Even with

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the politics and the financial

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distractions of in the potential negatives of such

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a global event, the ancient history of such

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athletic extra

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makes them makes clear just how much they

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they mean to us as human beings, and

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the fact that the apostle Paul

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lived in a culture that took such games

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so seriously

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connects us to his context in a a

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very real, very unique and very authentic way.

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Paul knew that and his audience knew then

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just as we know now that the competitors

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in these athletic

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competition demand so much of themselves

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and in order to participate, athletes,

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exercise, self control in all things.

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Paul said.

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To be an athlete

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at any level, but but especially at the

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level of international competition

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requires

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discipline.

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I think of Steph Curry,

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1 of the stars of the Usa basketball

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team and maybe the greatest jump shooter of

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all time.

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It's well documented that, he takes thousands of

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shots, a week, hundreds of shots a day

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year round, and he's done that for dick

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aids in order to stay sharp. And if

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you've ever watched him play, you know that

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his his jump shot is a thing of

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precision and creativity

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and beauty. Aids

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I think of Michael Phelps, the swim who

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is the most decorated Olympia of all time.

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In his career, he set 39 world records,

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he won 28

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Olympic metals, 23 of them were gold,

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and he had to eat up to 12000

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calories a day. To maintain his training regimen

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when he was winning all of those metals,

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and I don't care. I don't care how

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much you like to eat. Consuming 12000

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calories a day is a workout in and

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of itself.

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And I think of

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of simone bile, perhaps the greatest calories Jim

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missed of all time. There are 5 gymnastics

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elements it's that are named after her, which

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means that she is the first,

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and in some cases the only person to

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have done that particular move, so she's innovative

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and incredibly

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gifted

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I mean, she's a legend, and she's a

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marvel to watch because of her incredible ability

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for sure, but also because of more work

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than we can imagine.

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She trains 6 or 7 hours a day,

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6 days a week with only Sundays off,

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and I affirm the Sundays off. Thing,

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and that includes strength training and circuit training

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and endurance training in addition to all the

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specific

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gymnastics training.

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And those are 3 superstars,

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kind of transcend figures. Those 3,

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but we could talk about example after example

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of the more than 10000

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athletes from more than 200 countries who have

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who have poured so much of themselves into

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preparing, after for these Olympics. Now,

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the training was not as sophisticated in the

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first century as it is today. Of course.

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Right? The science of sports has

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advanced I me over the past half century,

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of or so.

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But the fundamental principle is

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the same today as it was in the

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biblical era, athletes,

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exercise, self control

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in all things.

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Paul says.

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For what, though,

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in to what end

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in pursuit

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in pursuit of what goal.

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In the Games, originally, the the prize was

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well, makes me laugh every time I say,

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it it was a a crown of dry,

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wild celery.

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And then it changed to a pine wreath

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in the roman era, and,

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Paul allude to it. These these athletes participate

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for a a wreath.

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Eventually, there was some monetary reward.

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And, of course, there's always the glory of

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winning.

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But but then,

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a vast majority of those who compete,

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don't win anything at all.

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They...

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People are willing to put themselves through all

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of that. For it for a crown of

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leaves in the biblical context or a medal

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of some variety with some notoriety for sure

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in our modern context depending on the sport,

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in a pursuit that lasts

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at most for a few years

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for just a small portion

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of their lives.

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But what about the eternal stuff?

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That's what Paul's is asking in this reading.

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What our faith offers is so much more

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significant than earthly

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prizes. I'm talking about Paul's talking about meaning

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and a purpose and assurance,

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and salvation.

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If it's true

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as Paul says,

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and as the different biblical authors that we've

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read in this series have said, which is

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to say, if it's true what the bible

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says or that what's required in sports can

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teach us about what's required in faith,

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then we should take serious

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this call to discipline.

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Alright. Let's finish the text just a couple

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more versus

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to finish up chapter 9 and our readings

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for this series.

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Paul says, so I do not

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run aim.

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Nor do I box as though beating the

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air.

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But I punish my body and enslave it

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so that after proclaiming to others,

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I myself

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should not be disqualified.

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Now having chosen this text to I feel

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like I need to clarify something about that

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last verse. I

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I punish my body and enslave it

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00:12:51,592 --> 00:12:53,046
is honestly a little more

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00:12:53,580 --> 00:12:55,980
it sounds a little more dismal. And English

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then Paul meant it in Greek. And Paul's

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theology,

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and it's particularly clear in his letter of

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the Romans, all us. All human beings are

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either

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00:13:04,988 --> 00:13:07,458
slaves to, and that's the word he uses

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00:13:07,458 --> 00:13:08,972
slaves to Christ,

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us or slaves to sin. All of us

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00:13:11,782 --> 00:13:12,981
are slaves to 1 or the other,

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it's our choice, which 1 were slaves too,

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The whole point of grace and mercy is

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that it delivers us from captivity to sin

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from captivity,

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slavery to sin.

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And so the the English word is problematic

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for sure,

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given the centuries of history since Paul's ministry.

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But it's a good thing to be subject

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to the grace and and love of God.

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His basic premise.

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Is true even though the language of slavery

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is not the most helpful in my opinion.

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And then the the Greek word that our

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translation interprets as punish

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actually means to exhaust.

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And so what Paul is saying here is

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that his energy, his effort, his his discipline

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is spent

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intentionally

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pursuing his relationship.

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With god, which, of course is the whole

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point of the faithful life.

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In those 2 verses we just read here

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at the end,

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to me, his his most... His more helpful

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00:14:19,766 --> 00:14:21,829
verse is the 1 who uses first in

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00:14:21,829 --> 00:14:22,543
that last reading.

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When he says, I do not run aim.

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00:14:28,369 --> 00:14:29,564
I think that's a good word. I think

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it's an important

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bit of advice for everybody who considers themselves

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followers of Jesus. The the Christian spiritual journey

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is not an aim 1. The Christian spiritual

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00:14:41,159 --> 00:14:43,778
journey is not a a passive 1. The

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Christian spiritual journey is not an accidental or

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an unintentional 1.

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As we've talked about in this series, the

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Christian spiritual journey is marked by perseverance.

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It's marked by e, it's marked by integrity,

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and it seems to me,

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perhaps most of all,

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the life of Christian disciples ship, is marked

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by

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discipline.

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Those 2 words are are related after all,

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type shit and discipline.

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The same century that the Games were established

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a greek philosopher named Hair quiet,

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00:15:21,945 --> 00:15:24,264
was born. Now, again, unless your student of

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00:15:24,264 --> 00:15:26,345
philosophy or, Greek history.

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Hair may not be a name you immediately

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00:15:29,304 --> 00:15:31,720
know, but he had a found influence on

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Greek thought, helping shape the ideas of later

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00:15:34,759 --> 00:15:37,320
philosophers Plato and Aristotle whom we've all heard

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00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,911
of and who made lasting

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contributions to human

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progress. And her colitis

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00:15:43,713 --> 00:15:45,759
wrote something that fits our subject for today

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I think he wrote, the content of your

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00:15:48,437 --> 00:15:50,055
character is your

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00:15:50,514 --> 00:15:50,834
choice,

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00:15:51,473 --> 00:15:52,213
which means

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00:15:52,672 --> 00:15:54,590
that who we are is based on what

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00:15:54,590 --> 00:15:54,910
we

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00:15:55,403 --> 00:15:56,938
Do, Paul would certainly

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00:15:57,634 --> 00:15:59,966
agree when he says, I do not run

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00:16:00,502 --> 00:16:01,002
aim.

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00:16:02,573 --> 00:16:03,471
And then her

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00:16:04,087 --> 00:16:04,485
went on.

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00:16:05,938 --> 00:16:06,657
Day by day,

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00:16:07,616 --> 00:16:08,495
what you choose,

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00:16:09,534 --> 00:16:10,514
what you think

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00:16:11,293 --> 00:16:12,512
and what you do

410
00:16:13,370 --> 00:16:14,304
is who you become

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00:16:16,969 --> 00:16:17,446
That's true.

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00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,105
Day by day, what you choose,

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00:16:21,741 --> 00:16:22,616
what you think.

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00:16:23,108 --> 00:16:24,324
And what you do

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00:16:25,177 --> 00:16:27,483
is who you become. This is the apostle

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00:16:27,642 --> 00:16:30,603
Paul's point to the Corinthians and and much

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00:16:30,603 --> 00:16:33,098
more importantly, if you ask me, it's Jesus

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00:16:33,157 --> 00:16:34,514
point to us all.

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00:16:36,030 --> 00:16:39,156
Discipline means the training, the obedient the order,

420
00:16:39,315 --> 00:16:40,134
the morality,

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00:16:40,588 --> 00:16:43,612
the the world that defines who we are.

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00:16:44,805 --> 00:16:45,305
Discipline

423
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,877
of shapes our character. It guides our thinking

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00:16:48,877 --> 00:16:52,059
and action, it it molds our understanding of

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00:16:52,059 --> 00:16:54,446
what we will and will not do.

426
00:16:55,899 --> 00:16:56,399
Discipline

427
00:16:56,860 --> 00:16:58,720
has the power to correct us

428
00:16:59,339 --> 00:17:00,860
when need be. It has the power to

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00:17:00,860 --> 00:17:03,034
get us back on track when we stray,

430
00:17:03,273 --> 00:17:05,132
it has the power to deliver us

431
00:17:05,511 --> 00:17:07,369
when we need saving. Discipline

432
00:17:08,148 --> 00:17:10,646
informs how we relate to others

433
00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:13,757
And I don't know about you, but I

434
00:17:13,757 --> 00:17:14,816
don't wanna live aim.

435
00:17:16,075 --> 00:17:17,433
I wanna live with the clarity of who

436
00:17:17,593 --> 00:17:19,111
I am. I wanna live with the clarity

437
00:17:19,111 --> 00:17:19,990
of who I'm called.

438
00:17:20,724 --> 00:17:23,214
To be, and before I am anything else

439
00:17:23,828 --> 00:17:24,863
before I am anything else,

440
00:17:25,659 --> 00:17:26,556
I am a follower

441
00:17:27,171 --> 00:17:28,126
of Jesus Christ.

442
00:17:29,558 --> 00:17:32,763
He to teaches me. He corrects me. He

443
00:17:32,763 --> 00:17:33,880
he empowers me.

444
00:17:35,077 --> 00:17:36,295
He saved me

445
00:17:36,673 --> 00:17:37,311
long ago.

446
00:17:38,124 --> 00:17:40,037
Any, he will be with me to the

447
00:17:40,037 --> 00:17:40,537
end

448
00:17:40,913 --> 00:17:41,413
of

449
00:17:41,869 --> 00:17:44,181
this life, and he's gonna be waiting for

450
00:17:44,181 --> 00:17:45,137
me when this life.

451
00:17:45,869 --> 00:17:46,424
Is over.

452
00:17:47,536 --> 00:17:48,433
If I am

453
00:17:48,885 --> 00:17:51,346
to be disciplined to anything in the world,

454
00:17:52,538 --> 00:17:53,173
it's to him.

455
00:17:57,971 --> 00:17:59,270
This coming school year

456
00:18:00,129 --> 00:18:03,266
is gonna be my oldest son's senior year

457
00:18:03,725 --> 00:18:04,285
of high school.

458
00:18:05,175 --> 00:18:07,159
And his little brother is going into the

459
00:18:07,159 --> 00:18:10,517
eighth grade. And these days, I I find

460
00:18:10,572 --> 00:18:11,866
myself being confronted

461
00:18:12,318 --> 00:18:13,374
more and more

462
00:18:13,763 --> 00:18:14,263
often

463
00:18:14,877 --> 00:18:15,695
by these

464
00:18:16,070 --> 00:18:16,570
reminders

465
00:18:17,263 --> 00:18:19,967
that our time as parents is limited.

466
00:18:21,491 --> 00:18:23,395
Some of the days are certainly long and

467
00:18:23,395 --> 00:18:25,878
and the challenges of of parenting are many

468
00:18:26,567 --> 00:18:27,202
to be sure.

469
00:18:29,123 --> 00:18:30,421
But the years are short

470
00:18:31,437 --> 00:18:32,874
and our time within this finite.

471
00:18:33,672 --> 00:18:35,507
And if I could if I could choose

472
00:18:35,507 --> 00:18:36,305
the 1 thing,

473
00:18:37,199 --> 00:18:39,596
that Whitney and I have taught our boys.

474
00:18:40,315 --> 00:18:43,271
1 principle that will stay with them for

475
00:18:43,271 --> 00:18:46,097
the rest of their lives, 1 eternal truth

476
00:18:46,313 --> 00:18:48,245
that has become part of who they are

477
00:18:48,700 --> 00:18:49,597
and who they

478
00:18:50,052 --> 00:18:50,927
will forever be.

479
00:18:52,138 --> 00:18:54,373
That may very will be our subject for

480
00:18:54,373 --> 00:18:54,613
today.

481
00:18:56,289 --> 00:18:57,806
All of our kids choose their own path,

482
00:18:57,966 --> 00:19:00,201
all of us have chosen our own paths.

483
00:19:01,333 --> 00:19:02,550
I want them to

484
00:19:03,326 --> 00:19:04,304
know and

485
00:19:04,761 --> 00:19:07,311
be filled with what we're talking about today

486
00:19:07,311 --> 00:19:07,811
because

487
00:19:08,188 --> 00:19:08,928
I know

488
00:19:09,717 --> 00:19:11,409
as do you, I'm sure

489
00:19:11,783 --> 00:19:13,793
from hard won personal experience

490
00:19:15,041 --> 00:19:16,733
that the world will compete

491
00:19:17,266 --> 00:19:18,140
for their loyal.

492
00:19:19,432 --> 00:19:22,066
That the universe will present them with lots

493
00:19:22,066 --> 00:19:23,742
of alternatives to the way of Christ.

494
00:19:25,179 --> 00:19:27,907
That there will be distractions that and side

495
00:19:27,907 --> 00:19:28,407
roads

496
00:19:28,864 --> 00:19:29,582
and hardships.

497
00:19:31,338 --> 00:19:33,412
Self control will sometimes be hard,

498
00:19:34,701 --> 00:19:37,638
Aim will sometimes be tempting. The easy path

499
00:19:37,638 --> 00:19:38,376
will sometimes

500
00:19:39,146 --> 00:19:40,360
seem more appealing

501
00:19:40,733 --> 00:19:41,606
than it really is.

502
00:19:43,766 --> 00:19:45,596
My hope and prayer for them is the

503
00:19:45,596 --> 00:19:47,131
same as my daily prayer

504
00:19:47,665 --> 00:19:48,381
for myself.

505
00:19:49,177 --> 00:19:50,871
For the the discipline

506
00:19:51,405 --> 00:19:52,932
to follow the way of priced.

507
00:19:54,361 --> 00:19:54,861
Because

508
00:19:55,473 --> 00:19:56,450
it's the path

509
00:19:56,824 --> 00:19:58,571
that will always keep us on track.

510
00:20:01,112 --> 00:20:02,200
And then, pray